Good Morning! On this day in 1968, Staff Sgt. Marvin Young was killed near Ben Cui, Vietnam, while helping his men evacuate after being ambushed. The Alpine native was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery.
An item in Et Cetera today mentions that Texas A&M will be unveiling a statue of famed football coach R.C. Slocum. Our Poll asks if you would ever want a statue of yourself dedicated in your honor. Hit reply to let us know why or why not. Also, what would you want to be honored with a statue for?
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Army leaders grounded the training flights Aug. 14, and then lifted the stand-down “after a thorough review of safety procedures and flight operations.” The Combat Readiness Center at Fort Rucker, Alabama, is still investigating the cause.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Deontre Huey, 34, of Killeen, and Warrant Officer Seth Olmstead, 25, of Belton, were the only two aboard when the helicopter went down Aug. 12 during a maintenance test flight. The crash sparked a fire that burned 155 acres in Bell County.
Huey entered the Army in 2014 and Olmstead in 2023; both flew with the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade. Huey’s sister, Chassidy, said he was “extremely funny, incredibly creative, and simply unforgettable,” and asked that he be remembered for how he lived, not how he died.
Border Wall Fight Reaches Parks Commission
Hundreds of Texans packed the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission’s annual hearing in Austin on Wednesday to ask the agency to keep border barriers out of state parks.
Ninety-nine people signed up to speak, though barriers weren’t on the agenda. Cardboard cutouts of desert animals lined the walkway, reading, “No wall, no wire, no way.”
Chair Paul Foster told the crowd the commission agrees with most of them and is working with Gov. Greg Abbott’s office and the federal government to “minimize damage to the ecosystem.”
A federal judge set an Aug. 28 hearing in San Antonio on halting the work. Downriver, San Ygnacio landowners sued, saying crews entered their riverfront property without notice or payment.
Patrick Targets ‘Vulgar’ Books in Schools
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Wednesday he’ll back legislation docking public schools a letter grade in state performance ratings if they keep graphic books on library shelves.
He stood at the Capitol beside easels of book covers he called “so filthy, so dirty, so vulgar, so pornographic” that he refused to open them. Some, he said, are barred from state prisons.
The bill would require the Texas Education Agency to lower a campus’s grade over any challenged book still on the shelf. Patrick said most school boards haven’t acted under Senate Bill 13, the 2025 law that shifted book removal authority from librarians to boards.
“It’s the law and we expect you to follow the law. So we’re coming for the books,” Patrick said, adding that nothing is banned because anyone can still buy the books.
Patrick presides over the Senate and faces state Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, in November.
➤ San Antonio: Texas Cyber Command confirmed a security breach at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and the school pushed the start of the fall semester to Monday while it works through the incident. (More)
➤ Hopkins County: A deputy shot and killed an 11-year-old greyhound mix last Thursday while serving a high-risk felony warrant at the wrong address. The sheriff’s office says the dog pushed past its owner and lunged. Tatyana Carrion says it ran out to greet the deputy. (See Details)
➤ Midland County: Judge Terry Johnson was indicted Wednesday and released on $7,500 bond over a July Facebook post carrying another man’s personal information. Johnson admitted under oath to making the post. His attorney says the judge is not guilty. (See Details)
➤ Port Arthur: A Memorial High School football player says an assistant coach paddled him three times for missing school and wearing the wrong color practice pants. Texas allows paddling in schools, and the district says it doesn’t require advance parental consent. (See Details)
➤ Statewide: The share of Texas kindergartners with a vaccine exemption rose from 4.3% to 5.2% in the 2025-26 school year. Exemptions climbed in 41 states. Austin ISD went the other way, topping 95% coverage on all six required vaccines. (See Report)
➤ East Texas: A tree-killing beetle native to eastern Asia has turned up in Wood and Delta counties, along with Erath, Hardin, and Walker. The half-inch metallic green emerald ash borer has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees across North America. (See Details)
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➤ TCU’s dismissal of safety Jacob Fields followed a locker room altercation that sent wide receiver Dozie Ezukanma to the hospital, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Police are investigating the incident as an aggravated assault. (More)
➤ Houston Texans wide receiver Jayden Higgins tore his ACL during a joint practice with the Raiders and will miss the 2026 season. Higgins had been listed as a starter after catching six touchdowns as a rookie. (More)
➤ A Crandall player was airlifted to a hospital Wednesday after an injury at football practice, the district said. It’s the second medical emergency at a Texas high school practice this month. Lake Travis canceled its opener after Odin Hensley’s death. (See Details)
➤ A new state law allows game officials to immediately eject unruly fans from high school sporting events without a warning. Schools that rack up three ejection incidents in a year could lose the ability to host home games. (More)
➤ Former SMU running back T.J. Harden has entered the transfer portal after a judge granted him a fifth season of college eligibility. Harden was cut by the Seahawks on Monday after carrying the ball twice in their preseason opener. (More)
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➤ Texas data centers now lead the nation for growth, passing Virginia, with the Austin-San Antonio corridor driving much of it even as local officials pause tax breaks, add reporting rules, and turn down some projects. (See Details)
➤ Blue Origin’s proposed $674 million facility in Hutto won unanimous tax-incentive approval from Williamson County commissioners Thursday. The roughly 1-million-square-foot research site could employ 2,000 people within 10 years, though the company hasn’t committed to building it. (More)
➤ Dow Sabine River Operations gave Lamar State College Orange $25,000 for a computer-controlled machining tool, expanding a machinist program that launched in January to address a shortage of trained machinists across Southeast Texas plants. (See Details)
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➤ A statue of former Texas A&M football coach R.C. Slocum will be unveiled outside Kyle Field on Sept. 4. Slocum retired after more than five decades with the university. (More)
➤ Tons of ice are headed for the wave pool at Typhoon Texas in Katy. The one-day Cool Down HTX event on Saturday, included with regular admission, also features an Ice Dump Challenge splash zone. (See Photo)
➤ A Marine veteran turning 100 on Sept. 5 is hoping for 100 birthday cards. Weldon Bowen, who served in the final months of World War II, lives at the Watkins-Logan Texas State Veterans Home in Tyler. (Read Story)
➤ Lubbock Auto Auction picked up a Texas Historical Marker on Thursday, unveiled on its auction floor. Founded in 1947, it’s the oldest dealer auction west of the Mississippi and kept selling under a big top tent after a 1971 fire. (See Details)
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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. Clicking the links will take you directly to these stories:
➤ Two fishermen were found off the coast of Mexico after a shipwreck left them clinging to a large cooler for five days. (Hear Details)
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Would you ever want a life-sized statue made of yourself in your honor?
Army Resumes Apache Flights after Crash
