Rangers Probe Manslaughter at Camp Mystic

The Texas Rangers believe Camp Mystic’s leaders committed manslaughter and four other crimes in the deaths of 25 campers and two counselors in the July 4, 2025, flood, search warrants show.

Ranger investigator Brant Johnston wrote that the camp skipped emergency drills and left some cabins short of counselors. Owners monitored late-night flood warnings but never moved girls from low-lying cabins, and the camp “consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death,” he wrote.

The 14 warrants seek emails, call logs, GPS data, and photos from the Eastland family, which ran the camp, and seven staff members. A state-led review found Camp Mystic had no written emergency plan required by law.

No one has been charged, and Eastland family members and other camp leaders refused investigators’ interview requests. The camp, which never reopened and is in bankruptcy reorganization, has denied liability, calling the flood an unforeseeable natural disaster.

DPS Error Stalls Voter Registrations

An error at the Texas Department of Public Safety left an unknown number of voter registration applications sitting unprocessed, and counties began receiving the backlog overnight Tuesday, less than two weeks before the Oct. 5 deadline.

The applications came through the DPS online driver’s license portal, which roughly 6 million Texans used to register between 2020 and 2024. State officials said the transactions produced incomplete records that never reached county registrars.

Officials haven’t said what information was missing, how many voters were affected, or when the problem started. Voters who registered through DPS but don’t appear on the rolls can cast a provisional ballot, the secretary of state’s office said.

Harris County, meanwhile, has about 300,000 voters on its suspense list, most often because their mail was returned undeliverable. Those voters are still registered and can vote after filling out a statement of residence at the polls.

Big Tex Gets a Resistol Hat

Big Tex will top out in a 95-gallon Resistol when the State Fair of Texas opens Friday, the first time the 55-foot cowboy has worn a hat from the Garland maker.

Resistol, which sells more than a million hats a year, unveiled its first western hat at the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition at Fair Park. “As a brand, that was our steppingstone into the traditional cowboy hat business,” President Devin Marcum said.

A crane set Big Tex back in place Friday, a week before the fair’s 140th year. Cavender’s Boot City designed his red pearl-snap shirt, taking over from Dickies after 53 years, and Levi’s supplied new 501 jeans.

His Lucchese boots carry the winning design from a contest that drew nearly 450 entries: longhorns, bluebonnets, pecan trees, prickly pears, and the 212-foot Texas Star Ferris wheel. Aaliyah McNeal, whose family lived around the corner from Fair Park, drew it.

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➤ Statewide: State Rep. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, urged Texas Federation of Republican Women members to vote Republican “even if we’re mad at them,” her first public comment on the U.S. Senate race since filing to divorce Ken Paxton. (More)

➤ Dallas: Concrete chunks fell from the Lovers Lane overpass into the far-right northbound lane of Central Expressway near SMU on Wednesday morning. No vehicles were hit, but police closed the lane with no timeline for reopening. (More)

➤ Harris County: A man charged with killing his pregnant wife fled to Italy, where judges demanded prosecutors drop the death penalty before weighing his return. Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, said the Lee Gilley case could open a “Pandora’s box.” (See Case)

➤ Denton: The University of North Texas pulled its LGBTQ+ archive page offline a day after Rep. Brian Harrison posted on X that the project promoted “transgenderism.” The page documented LGBTQ history across the South and Southwest. (More)

➤ Bruceville-Eddy: A trail of diesel fuel led officers from a drilled-open McLennan County water truck down First Street to a driveway, where they found siphon hoses and fuel cans. Jesse Davila III, 41, faces criminal mischief and theft charges. (More)

➤ Palestine: A man accused with his wife of draining more than $170,000 from an Anderson County business is wanted after skipping his federal plea hearing in Tyler on Tuesday. A judge ordered a warrant for Kenneth Prater Jr., 49. (See Charges)

➤ Spring: Simone Biles and husband Jonathan Owens listed the four-bedroom home they lived in while building their nearby dream house for $1.275 million. (More)

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➤ President Trump reportedly plans to attend Saturday’s game between No. 1 Texas and No. 14 Tennessee at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. (More)

➤ The San Antonio Spurs sold out both their January games in Paris and Manchester after roughly 1 million fans registered for tickets, setting a record for NBA games in Europe. (More)

➤ Dallas Wings guards Arike Ogunbowale and Paige Bueckers were held at Taser point by a Miami police officer in March, body camera video shows. Ogunbowale was arrested on a battery charge that was later dropped. (More)

➤ Keene ISD canceled the rest of its varsity football season and all of 2027, citing injuries and a shortage of healthy players. The North Texas district says it will seek to schedule JV and small private-school games for the players still standing. (Read Statement)

➤ Lewisville Hebron sits atop Class 6A in this week’s Texas Girls Coaches Association volleyball rankings, ahead of Duncanville and Allen. Argyle leads 5A, Wimberley 4A, and Columbus 3A. (See Rankings)

Yesterday’s Results: MLB | WNBA | Soccer | NHL | NCAA Volleyball

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➤ Texas wine grapes survived a St. Patrick’s Day freeze, mildew, and a two-month dry stretch to deliver high-quality fruit, with North Texas posting some of its best crops in years. The harvest wrapped up two to three weeks early. (More)

➤ Diesel prices hit a national average of $6.50 a gallon over the weekend, nearly double a year ago. The Texas Trucking Association estimates the spike costs independent drivers $35,000 a year, and expects consumer retail prices to climb by the holidays. (More)

➤ San Angelo landed a $20 million Defense Department grant to rebuild Christoval Road along the south side of Goodfellow Air Force Base, part of a $28.6 million road and utility project running from Paint Rock Road to South Chadbourne Street. (More)

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Can Your Gut Brew Alcohol? Surgeon Warns YES!

In a stunning new video that’s beginning to go viral, prominent gut expert and former surgeon Dr. Steven Gundry sheds light on a strange phenomenon known among industry experts as “Drunken Gut.”

Believe it or not, it’s when poor gut health conditions can lead to your body “brewing” its own alcohol.

If you struggle with severe bloating, fatigue, weight gain, or even find it hard to concentrate, Dr. Gundry says these are warning signs that something is dangerously wrong.

Which is why he’s urging everyone to check for these signs immediately.

➤  Dozens of young riders clung to sheep Tuesday night in mutton bustin’ at the Amarillo Tri-State Fair, seeing how far they could ride before tumbling into the dirt. Qualifiers and finals run Thursday through Saturday nights. (More)

➤ Thousands of Central Texas students gathered at campus flagpoles Wednesday for the annual See You at the Pole prayer event, a student-led tradition that started with 10 teens in Burleson in 1990 and now draws millions. (More)

➤ A Spurs broadcaster and his wife read Be Brave Little One to newborns in the NICU at Methodist Hospital Stone Oak. Sean Elliott, who played 11 seasons with the Spurs, visited for NICU Awareness Month. (See Visit)

➤ Rare Beauty, Selena Gomez’s cosmetics line, teased a Texas project on Instagram with a rusty truck and a plate reading “everything’s bigger in Rare Beauty.” The Grand Prairie native’s brand has no storefronts, so a pop-up is likelier. (More)

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes. 

➤ Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants stormed one Spanish city, which still hasn’t recovered. (Hear Details)

➤ Dolly Parton’s estate has accused her nephew of escalating threats, asking a court to keep him away from its operations. (Listen Now)

➤ Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to prison again in New York, capping a six-year legal saga over his overturned conviction. (Hear Story)

Have you ever tried Texas wine?

1. Yes, loved it
2. Yes, didn’t love it
3. No
4. Don’t drink wine

Yesterday’s Results:

Have you ever built a sand castle?

1. Yes, long ago: 60%
2. Never: 28%
3. Yes, in the last decade: 12%

What Texan was the first secretary of the predecessor to the Department of Health and Human Services?

Show me the answer