Good Morning! On this day in 1969, dozens of Texas Rangers, state police, and local authorities were dispatched to Wiley College in Marshall—the oldest historically black institution west of the Mississippi—after a series of student demonstrations over faculty hiring practices, living conditions, and cuts to the athletics program. The school was shut down for several weeks.
Boots, a gator that’s delighted Port Aransas locals and visitors for more than 20 years, has been relocated to a sanctuary in Beaumont after people kept getting too close to him. Was that the right move? Let us know what you think in today’s Poll, and hit reply to share your thoughts.
Did you know that the team that makesThe Texas Flyover also produces a national publication called The Flyover? Click here to sign up and stay up to date with the latest national headlines—without the bias of legacy media outlets.
If you invested $100 in 1965 in gold, what would it be worth by the end of 2025? What about real estate and stocks? On today’s episode of The Flyover Podcast, host Ayla Brown breaks down a new analysis with the answer. Which choice turned pocket change into a small fortune, and which one barely budged? Watch to learn more.
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Texans Stranded in Mexico
Two Dallas residents are among the thousands of Americans in Mexico who were told to shelter in place Sunday after cartel leader “El Mencho” was killed by Mexican military forces, sparking violence across the country.
TJ Perry said “everything was being put on a code red” and described the empty streets of Puerto Vallarta as “eerie.” Juanita Cano, who is staying in San Patricio, said she “was told that this was a vacation spot for some of the people in the organization, so they’re not going to damage this place.”
An unnamed Texas man who owns a home in Puerto Vallarta said he was on one of the last commercial flights to depart the popular tourist town. “It felt like a refugee flight,” he said, adding he was“convinced they’d try to shoot at the plane with an AK-47 as we were taking off.”
Multiple airlines, including American and Southwest, canceled flights serving Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara in Jalisco, where the drug lord’s cartel is based. Gov. Greg Abbott urged Texans in Mexico to follow U.S. State Department advisories, saying “Texans’ safety is my top priority, whether they are here at home or traveling abroad.”
AI Tool Predicts Wildfire Risk
Several fire departments in the Austin area are using an innovative AI tool to predict where wildfires could pop up.
Mitigate, developed by Australian startup FiSci, evaluates terrain and weather conditions to highlight areas susceptible to wildfires, allowing agencies to determine how to deploy resources. The tool also predicts the effectiveness of specific mitigation strategies, such as fuel breaks, vegetation management, and roadway access restrictions.
Lake Travis Fire Rescue, Pflugerville Fire Department, Westlake Fire Department, and Travis County Fire Rescue are sharing a membership to the service for less than $1,800 a year. Travis County is the first county in the nation to use Mitigate.
“We all have fixed budgets,” Travis County Fire Rescue Fire Chief Ken Bailey said. “This allows us to make a higher quality decision about where we put our resources, whether or not we’re up-staffing.”
El Paso’s Fred Loya Dies
El Paso businessman and philanthropist Fred Loya Sr. died Saturday. He was the founder of Fred Loya Insurance, one of the 20 largest Hispanic-owned companies in the U.S.
Born in California in 1939, Loya was a successful agent for Farmers Insurance before founding his own company in 1974, offering auto insurance to low-income families. Today, the company has over 800 offices in a dozen states.
Loya supported youth baseball in El Paso and was known for his home’s annual Christmas lights display, which was named the best in the nation by ABC’s TheGreat Christmas Light Fight in 2014. “It’s really the family’s gift to the city of El Paso,” he said in 2017.
Loya was “a visionary, a mentor, and a pillar of the El Paso community,” according to a statement from Fred Loya Insurance. “He built not only a successful enterprise but a legacy that has impacted thousands of families throughout our region and beyond.”
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➤ Kerr County: The parents of nine Camp Mystic flood victims sued the Texas Department of State Health Services, accusing the agency of failing to enforce state law requiring camps to adopt an emergency evacuation plan. (See Details)
➤ Waco: The U.S. Postal Service is selling the city’s federal courthouse, which currently houses the U.S. attorney’s office and the U.S. Marshals Service. Both entities expect to continue using the building. (More)
➤ Katy: Christopher Knight Lopez, 40, pleaded guilty to his role in a $17 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 40 victims over nearly 10 years. Meanwhile, 47-year-old Devin Ward Elder, the CEO of a San Antonio investment firm, pleaded guilty to orchestrating a $69.5 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded 345 real estate investors. (More)
➤ San Antonio: Hundreds of people participated in the annual Texas Trail Roundup this weekend, with most walking part or all of the distance from Fredericksburg to San Antonio. (More)
➤ Waco ISD: Pamela Mitchell, a 64-year-old kindergarten teacher at J.H. Hines Elementary School, was arrested Thursday after she allegedly injured a child by twisting his arm and putting her knee on his back. Mitchell was reportedly upset that the child had broken a pencil when she stepped out of the classroom. (More)
➤ Odessa: A teacher at Permian High School was arrested for kidnapping after she took a 15-year-old student into her home due to “allegations about the student’s home life.” Tracie Garza, 53, was released on a $25,000 bond and is no longer employed by Ector County ISD. (More)
➤ Big Bend National Park: Portions of the park are included in a 111.6-mile stretch of the border slated to get a physical barrier rather than “detection technology.” Construction could begin by the end of the year. (See Map)
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➤ Houston and Texas Tech men’s basketball both dropped three spots in this week’s AP poll, landing at No. 5 and No. 16, respectively. (See Poll)
➤ No. 5 Texas A&M women’s tennis beat No. 10 Texas 4-3 in their SEC conference opener in College Station. The Aggies have now won 76 consecutive home matches and beaten the Longhorns in nine of their last 12 meetings. (More)
➤ No. 3 Texas swimming and diving secured an SEC championship this weekend, continuing their streak of 14 consecutive conference championships that stretches back to the early 2010s. (More)
➤ The Dallas Cowboys executive vice president, Stephen Jones, said the team is working on a long-term extension to hold on to kicker Brandon Aubrey for the foreseeable future. (More)
➤ Are you ready for Christ’s second coming? Unearth important historical and Biblical facts about the island of Patmos and three of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation by watching The 7 Churches of Revelation: Times of Fire. This critically acclaimed documentary is brought to you for free by RevelationMedia.
➤ Texas-based financial services job postings outpaced those in New York by 9% last year, according to a report by Partnership for New York City that examined the factors attracting businesses to the Lone Star State. (More)
➤ Oncor has submitted an application to build a 765-kilovolt transmission line from Somervell County to Howard County, a distance of more than 200 miles. The Public Utility Commission of Texas will review the application and decide which route Oncor should construct. (More)
➤ Signorelli Company, a real estate developer based in The Woodlands, is building a 20-acre “elevated lifestyle destination” in Montgomery County. (More)
➤ An analysis of Texas students who graduated high school between 2016 and 2023 showed that those who earned a credential in high school earned 15% to 20% more in wages later in life than students who were not considered college-ready. (See Details)
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➤ The damaged jersey former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith wore when he was carted off the field during the 1996 season opener against the Chicago Bears is for sale through Dallas-based Heritage Auctions. Medical personnel cut the jersey off. (See Photo)
➤ Saaith Lara, 23, donated one of his kidneys to the 63-year-old man who raised him. Lara revealed he was the donor three days before the operation at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth last December. (More)
➤ The 4,795-acre Champion Angora Ranch in Sutton County has been listed for $9.76 million. The property, owned by the same family for nearly 100 years, includes a 7,000-square-foot Victorian residence built in 1900. (See Photos)
➤ Pake South of Winnsboro had a three-day catch weight of 96 pounds and 15 ounces at the Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Sam Rayburn Reservoir on Saturday, breaking a 2024 record set at Florida’s Lake Okeechobee. The 21-year-old won $45,408 in prize money. (More)
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Do you agree with the decision to relocate Boots the alligator?
Texans Stranded in Mexico
