Hackers Hit Galveston-Bound Oil Tanker

A team of Coast Guard and FBI agents boarded a supertanker bound for Galveston last month after hackers broke into the ship’s computer network and knocked out its communications for about 30 hours.

The VL Prosperity left Egypt on Aug. 1, hauling crude oil for Galveston, and slowed near the Strait of Gibraltar around the time of the attack. The Liberian-flagged tanker is 1,093 feet and can carry roughly 2.3 million barrels.

Iranian state media claimed the hackers reached the ship’s propulsion, navigation, and cargo systems. U.S. officials haven’t confirmed that, but Rear Adm. Amy Grable, who leads Coast Guard Cyber Command, said the team that climbed aboard on Aug. 21 found malicious cyber activity.

Investigators are still weighing whether Iran or another foreign actor hit the two U.S.-bound tankers. “Of course we’re worried about a collision, an explosion,” Grable said, urging ships at sea to request cybersecurity help.

Texas Executes Man for Triple Murder

Texas executed LeJames Norman, 40, by lethal injection Wednesday at the Huntsville penitentiary for the 2005 shooting deaths of three people inside a neighbor’s home in Edna. It’s the state’s fifth execution this year.

Norman and Ker’Sean Ramey believed cocaine was stashed in the house and planned to steal it, court records show, but they never found drugs. They shot Samuel Roberts, 24, Tiffani Peacock, 18, and Celso Lopez, 38, inside the home.

Norman was arrested five months later, trying to cross into the United States from Mexico. He pleaded guilty to capital murder, leaving a jury to decide his sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to halt the execution.

Asked for any last words, Norman shook his head, then nodded toward a window where a sister, two of his children, and a friend watched. He was pronounced dead at 6:44 p.m. Ramey is scheduled to die next week.

Mammoth Hunter Joins Texas Billionaires

The Dallas entrepreneur trying to bring the woolly mammoth back from extinction just landed on the Forbes 400 list of America’s richest people.

Ben Lamm, 44, founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences, debuted at No. 302 with an estimated $5.7 billion, one of 43 Texans to make the list. His fortune rests on efforts to de-extinct the mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger, and the dodo.

The wealth required to make the top 400 climbed to a record $4.4 billion from $3.8 billion last year. Elon Musk still tops the country at $908 billion, with Michael Dell fourth at $263 billion. Fort Worth’s Alice Walton, the richest woman in the world, ranks 13th with a net worth of $118 billion.

Houston claimed 10 spots, led by Hilcorp founder Jeffery Hildebrand at No. 88 with $14.7 billion. Texans owner Cal McNair also debuted, landing at No. 218 with $7.7 billion.

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➤ Palo Pinto County: The Ross Fire is fully contained after 23 days, having burned 89,989 acres of ranchland and destroyed 167 structures. Crews are still knocking down flare-ups on the second-largest fire in North Texas history. (See Details)

➤ Port Arthur: About 170 workers at Golden Pass LNG left by ambulance and bus on Wednesday morning after a caterer served breakfast tacos and people started vomiting. City health inspectors are tracing where the food came from. (See Details)

➤ San Angelo: A former football coach at a charter school was arrested Thursday over pushup punishments that sent 20 students to the hospital in February. Bradley Oh and the school’s former athletic director face charges of injury to a child. (See Details)

➤ Galveston: A red tide bloom is washing dead menhaden and mullet onto beaches from Crystal Beach to Galveston Island, and beachgoers report respiratory irritation. Officials warn against eating any fish or shellfish found dead or floating. (See Details)

➤ Fort Hood: A soldier killed in a Humvee ambulance rollover during training Sept. 14 was identified as Pfc. Ethan Brewer, a medic who arrived at the post early this year. A second soldier was hurt and has been released. (See Details)

➤ San Antonio: A bookkeeper who stole $595,585 from three employers was sentenced Wednesday to 13 years in federal prison. Prosecutors say Monica Padilla, 49, spent it on home remodeling, Disney merchandise, hundreds of DoorDash orders, and her daughter’s cheerleading. (See Details)

➤ Statewide: Texas published its first state nutrition guidelines, telling residents to fill half their plate with vegetables and fruit, eat three or more servings of protein daily, choose whole grains, and cut sugary drinks and alcohol. (See Report)

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➤ The NHL could expand in Texas, with billionaire Dan Friedkin reportedly prepared to invest $3.5 billion in a franchise and new arena in either Houston or Austin. The league’s Board of Governors is expected to weigh in by December. (More)

➤ Baylor football will wear a special “Helmet of Hope” decal tomorrow, designed by a 6-year-old cancer patient from Cameron, Texas. The game against Louisiana Tech will serve as the program’s Childhood Cancer Awareness game. (More)

➤ Texas lawmakers held a Senate hearing this week on whether sports prediction markets like Kalshi should be treated as gambling, a move that could crack down on a growing workaround to the state’s ban on sports betting. (More)

➤ Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving offered to pay Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair’s $11,492 fine for writing the name of a Palestinian girl killed in Gaza on his eye black during last Sunday’s game. (More)

➤ No. 13 Texas Tech football hosts No. 22 Houston tonight for both programs’ Big 12 conference openers. (See Full Schedule)

Yesterday’s Results: NFL | College Football | MLB | WNBA | Golf | Soccer | NCAA Volleyball

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➤ Diesel in Texas hit a record $6.02 a gallon on Sept. 14, nearly double last year’s average. A Houston trucker said he’s spending $3,500 a week on fuel, and the Texas Trucking Association expects the cost to reach shoppers. (See Details)

➤ Meanwhile, Texas gas prices averaged $3.93 a gallon for regular, up 10 cents in a week and $1.14 from a year ago. El Paso drivers pay the most at $4.41. (More)

➤ Ranchers aren’t rebuilding their herds even though high beef prices are incentivizing them to do so, a Texas A&M livestock economist said. Drought, fuel costs, and the development of grazing lands are limiting expansion. (Read Story)

➤ Texas public libraries generate billions of dollars in economic value each year, according to a study from the Texas Library Association, the trade group that represents them. It credits libraries with workforce training, education, and internet access. (See Report)

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➤ A handwritten petition from a Moody Elementary student led to the replacement of his school’s blacktop playground with a mini turf football field. Leyton gathered dozens of classmates’ and teachers’ signatures before sending it to the Moody ISD superintendent. (Read Story)

➤ San Antonio Zoo opens its 40th ZOO BOO! tomorrow with daily trick-or-treating, real spider encounters, and “Zombie Brains” made from crispy cauliflower. (More)

➤ A downtown warehouse donated by Bill Miller Bar-B-Q will serve as this year’s workshop for the Elf Louise Christmas Project, where volunteers are expected to wrap more than 30,000 gifts. Over 400 Santa teams will deliver them across Bexar County. (See Details)

➤ A 1910 bungalow on Grayson Street will open Thanksgiving weekend as The Filleman House, serving lobster beignets, French cheeses, and steak in peppercorn-cognac sauce. Chef Diego Galicia, co-owner of Michelin-starred Mixtli, is behind it. (Read Story)

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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. 

➤ New research revealed just how many Americans are carrying medical debt despite having health insurance. (Listen Now)

➤ Princess Diana’s brother took aim at King Charles in a new memoir that has drawn a rare rebuttal from Buckingham Palace. (Hear Story)

➤ Uber was ordered to pay $40 million to the family of a woman killed after her driver abandoned her on a freeway. (Hear Details)

Have you changed your driving habits because of the rise in gas and/or diesel prices?

1. Yes
2. No, I won’t
3. No, but thinking about it

Yesterday’s Results:

Have you ever made a homecoming mum?

1. No: 70%
2. Yes: 20%
3. A what?: 10%

What Northeast Texas banker’s estate funded the establishment of a prominent astronomical observatory in 1932?

Show me the answer