Feral hogs have torn up part of Forestburg ISD’s junior high football practice field, prompting the district to ask the community for help. While the varsity team practices on the main field, the junior high team uses a smaller practice field twice a week. Forestburg ISD Athletic Director Cori Hayes said the damage has limited the space available for practices. view article

Eight hours into a Saturday workshop, Fort Worth ISD’s Texas-appointed board members arrived at the question they had heard from parents for weeks: Would they rein in scripted lessons?  The answer shapes the rules that the board of managers will use to hold Superintendent Peter Licata accountable. Managers are drafting superintendent guardrails and FWISD goals based on feedback from parents, students and other district residents. They will finalize the goals and limits at their Nov. 10 meeting.  The community comments led managers to draft a rule requiring the superintendent to seek teacher feedback on scripted lessons and other classroom changes. view article

His proposal is intended to lower utility costs by allowing market competition.  view article

As millions of people face heat advisories warning of dangerous temperatures across the South on Monday, frost advisories were issued in five states, serving as a reminder that the first hard freeze of the season could hit as soon as this month for some, even as oppressive temperatures remain a reality for the foreseeable future for others.  On Monday, heat advisories were in place for parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi as part of a summer-long trend that produced some of the warmest temperatures ever recorded in some cities across the country. While a temperature outlook through late September from the National Weather Service's (NWS) Climate Prediction Center anticipates that nearly all of the U.S. could experience above-average temperatures through the end of the month, a few NWS offices issued frost advisories for Tuesday, a stark reminder that chilly weather is not far off. view article

San Antonians reflect on 25 years since 9/11 with acts of service and unity   It's been 25 years and many in San Antonio still remember exactly where they were, and what they were doing on Sept. 11, 2001. The events of that day killed 2,977 people in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, but the ripple effects were felt nearly 2,000 miles away in Texas  The deadliest attack on American soil altered the course of so many lives. Over 2 million Americans would go on to serve in the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with more than 7,000 never to return home.   As the country marks the quarter-century anniversary of 9/11, the San Antonio Report shares the stories of those who survived, those who lost loved ones and others who recall how the terrorist attack shook the nation. view article

An 18-year-old young woman asked ChatGPT about violence. The bot gave her information instead of questioning and discouraging her violent urges. Months later, she killed her mother and stepbrother, then went to the local school and killed students and a teacher. The families of the victims are suing OpenAI for helping the shooter and failing to warn officials to stop her.  OpenAI is facing 30 new lawsuits from victims of the devastating school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, who accuse the company of providing “substantial assistance and encouragement” to the shooter and failing to alert police about her alarming ChatGPT interactions during the run-up to the mass killing. view article

 Texas is mobilizing emergency response crews in anticipation of expected flash flooding from a now fully-formed tropical storm that forecasters predicted would hit the southeast part of the state on Tuesday.  Federal forecasters elevated a tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico to Tropical Storm Edouard on Monday evening. The National Hurricane Center said the storm could approach hurricane strength as it approached the northwest Gulf Coast, bringing heavy rain and flash flooding potential to the eastern Houston region.  The current National Weather Service forecast says the storm will likely drop 3 to 6 inches of rain in areas along and east of Interstate 45, with highest rain chances starting in the late morning and extending through Tuesday evening. Some spots could receive 6 to 9 inches of rain and some could see rainfall rates of 3 to 4 inches an hour, forecasters said. A storm surge warning from High Island, Texas, to the Vermillion/Cameron Parish Line in Louisiana was also issued.  Forecasters said the storm, which could reach hurricane strength before it reaches the Gulf Coast, is expected to bring heavy rain and flash flooding to southeast Texas on Tuesday. view article

Scattered Heavy Rain - through Thursday

After consulting with meteorologists early this morning and out of an abundance of caution, La Porte ISD will be closed today due to the potential for local flooding and hazardous road conditions later in the day. We will continue to monitor conditions and consult regularly with area meteorologists and will provide updates as needed. Please avoid unnecessary travel, use caution if you must be on the roads, and never drive through flooded roadways. Most importantly, please stay safe and take care of yourselves and your families.

Austin is considering new regulations for massive AI data centers amid growing concerns over their significant water and energy demands.  The recent surge in water- and energy-intensive artificial intelligence data center construction has forced lawmakers across the country to find ways to protect limited local resources. Now Austin is too.  As AI use has skyrocketed, so has the need for data centers to house the servers that power it. The facilities can be expansive — some spanning more than 1,000 acres — and resource-intensive, consuming hundreds of millions of gallons of water a year and requiring more than 100 megawatts of power. The city said 1 megawatt is enough to power about 250 homes.  Communities across the country have struggled to develop policies surrounding data centers at the same pace they have been proposed and built. The same is true for Austin, where the city lacks a specific land use classification for traditional and AI data centers, leaving city leaders with limited regulatory authority. Some Austin City Council members are now racing to get ahead of the issue before a hyper-scale facility is proposed within city limits, seeking to tap into the city’s strained water and energy resources. view article

Officials in Palo Pinto and Jack counties are asking the public to avoid areas within their borders as crews battle a wildfire that’s burned about 50,000 acres. About 5% of the Ross Fire has been contained in Palo Pinto County, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. The fire has prompted the Federal Emergency Management Agency to award a Fire Management Assistance Grant to the state, according to a Tuesday news release from Gov. Greg Abbott. Through the grant, the state is eligible for a 75% reimbursement in costs made to suppress the wildfire. Over 600 households have been evacuated overnight in surrounding areas, according to the release.  view article

At least 16 show animals were killed and four are seriously injured after dogs attacked a Somerset Independent School District agriculture barn just days into the new school year. According to the school district, the animals, which included goats, sheep and pigs, were killed. They were housed inside the Future Farmers of America program’s agriculture barn located in southwest Bexar County. view article

While retailers won't go out of business overnight, many are sitting on products they can't sell.  At a recently opened Vape Time smoke shop on Shepherd Drive in Houston, a neon sign advertised "DELTA 8" on Wednesday. But inside, the advertised delta-8 had been pulled off the shelves. That's because Texas recently banned delta-8 and delta-9 products, though the cashier said he still wasn't clear what the store was allowed to sell. As a precaution, Vape Time now sells hardly any THC products. After a campaign from conservative Texas lawmakers who argued that the state's THC retailers were exploiting a loophole and peddling products to kids, a crackdown ensued. At the end of July, Texas moved to reschedule and ban the sale of several hemp-derived THC products, such as those containing delta-8 and delta-10 THC derivatives. Possessing these products is now an offense that can carry jail time.  view article

Parts of West Texas could see rounds of thunderstorms through the weekend, bringing strong winds, frequent lightning and enough heavy rain to potentially cause localized flash flooding."Some storms may produce strong winds, frequent lightning, and heavy rainfall leading to localized flash flooding," NWS forecasters wrote in their Friday afternoon forecast discussion.  For Friday, the best opportunity for thunderstorms will be mainly along and west of the Pecos River, where forecasters said moisture, instability and upslope winds could help storms develop during the afternoon.  Most of that activity should fade Friday evening as daytime heating winds down before another round becomes possible Saturday afternoon.  The storm chances aren't necessarily bringing much relief from the August heat, either. view article

Stephens County officials issued an emergency declaration Monday as a fast-moving wildfire burned north of Breckenridge and threatened to worsen amid increasing winds.  The wildfire ignited at about 1 p.m. Monday approximately five miles north of Breckenridge along Highway 67, according to a statement from the Stephens County judge's office.  Officials said the fire was spreading rapidly to the north and had crossed FM 1800. view article

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott responded with fury after Corpus Christi officials announced in March that this Gulf Coast region of more than 500,000 people could face unprecedented restrictions as its water supply dried up.  The state had already committed over $750 million in low-interest loans to the city’s plans for a desalination plant, a project that would add 30 million gallons a day to the region’s water supply. But the project had gone nowhere.   “You know what they did? They squandered it, and then they changed their plan and then they were indecisive about what to do,” Abbott said of city officials in a heated response to a reporter’s question at an unrelated March press conference. view article

Amid an ongoing stretch of extreme heat, parts of Texas are now under a federal emergency order designed to reduce the risk of blackouts.  U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright issued an emergency order effective through Sunday after the Southwest Power Pool Inc. (SPP) requested federal authority to help relieve grid stress caused by extreme heat and other factors. The order covers 17 states, including Texas.   view article

Gov. Greg Abbott raised the curtain on the third part of his plan to lower insurance costs for Texans. This section focuses on health insurance costs for small businesses and their employees. In conversations with small business owners, Abbott said, he heard time and time again that the employers were having trouble providing health insurance to their workers due to rising premiums.  Read more at: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/article316686372.html#storylink=cpy view article

The Federal Emergency Management Agency hasn’t started helping local governments or individuals, while philanthropic response lags compared to last year’s flood. view article

A fifth grade Lumberton Independent School District student reported "vulgar" language in the STAAR reading test last month, according to information from LISD.  view article

Vidor ISD superintendent Jay Killgo estimates the district has $12-13 million in damages from Harvey. Both Oak Forest Elementary and Vidor Middle School are unusable right now. Those students are going elsewhere, which is overcrowding some schools. view article

Burnet school district officials were probably expecting to get more than two years from the synthetic turf installed at Bulldog Field in 2015, but that didn’t happen and it’s now set the district back $150,000. Burnet Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Keith McBurnett, however, said the district is looking to get $105,000 back from one manufacturer. Last year, officials noticed some turf fibers sticking up higher than others, so they took a closer look, McBurnett said. “To most people, it probably wasn’t noticeable,” he said. “We had all the experts look at the field, and they looked at the backside. It needed to be replaced.” view article

North American Solutions (NAS), a leading provider of insurance and risk management services for public entities, is excited to announce that Michelle Faust, currently Director, Safety & Risk Management at Round Rock ISD, will be joining the NAS team in January. view article

A teen who was severely bruised in a "brutal and excessive" nightstick attack by a Pasadena ISD school resource officer has settled his federal lawsuit for $60,000. Cesar Suquet Jr. was 16 in May 2014 when he went to the principal's office at South Houston High School to retrieve his cell phone, which had been confiscated earlier that day. His request was declined and he was told to leave. view article

Garland ISD was one of just 10 districts statewide recently honored by The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). The district’s Risk Management Department earned a 2015 TASB Risk Management Fund Innovation Award for its creative safety video campaign. view article

Abilene ISD board approved the bid on Monday evening at its agenda review meeting. Construction coordinator for the district, Joe Humphrey, says Martinez Elementary took the brunt of the storm. view article

Three students from Stehlik Intermediate School in the Aldine Independent School District were taken to an area hospital Tuesday morning after a minor collision with a cement mixer. The wreck happened about 8 a.m. on West Road at Deer Trail Drive as the bus was transporting students to the school at 400 West Road, a school district spokeswoman said. The school is just west of Interstate 45. view article