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Texas county votes to release Uvalde school shooting records, ending legal battle
Texas county votes to release Uvalde school shooting records, ending legal battle

CTV News

timea day ago

  • Politics
  • CTV News

Texas county votes to release Uvalde school shooting records, ending legal battle

Reggie Daniels pays his respects at a memorial at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas created to honour the victims killed in the recent school shooting on June 9, 2022. (Eric Gay / AP Photo) HOUSTON — Leaders of the county where 19 students and two teachers were killed in the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, voted Monday to release records related to the massacre, ending a yearslong legal battle over disclosure of the information. Uvalde County commissioners voted 2-1 to release the records and to stop appealing a 2022 lawsuit that a group of media organizations, including The Associated Press, had filed seeking to make the information public. The decision by commissioners came a week after the Uvalde district's school board voted to release its records related to the deadly rampage, one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. The group of media organizations had sued both the county and the school district for the release of the records. County commissioners and the school district voted to release the records after a Texas appeals court on July 16 upheld a judge's ruling that had ordered the information be made public. Both the county and the school district have not said when the records will be released. 'For me, the appellate court's decision to uphold (the judge's) ruling to hand over the video coverage was just confirmation for me that … what are we hiding?' Uvalde County Commissioner Ronald Garza told AP after Monday's meeting. 'I'm very happy that we're gonna release the information.' One county commissioner, Mariano Pargas Jr., who was the acting police chief on the day of the school shooting, abstained from the vote. Family members of the victims had also pushed to make the records public. Jesse Rizo, the uncle of 9-year-old victim Jackie Cazares, asked commissioners on Monday to release the records. Rizo is also a member of the school board. During the board's July 21 meeting, he apologized for the delay in releasing the records. 'Will it answer everything? No. Will it give you closure? I don't think anything ever will give you that type of closure. Will it hopefully make you heal or allow you to heal? I pray that it does,' Rizo said last week. Records from the county that are expected to be released include incident and 911 reports concerning Robb Elementary and other locations; video footage; ballistics and evidence logs; and reports of law enforcement interactions with the shooter and his mother. Records from the school district expected to be released include body-worn and security camera footage from Robb Elementary; student files for the shooter; and records involving Pete Arredondo, the former Uvalde schools police chief who was later indicted over his role in the slow response to the shooting. Arredondo and former school officer Adrian Gonzales have pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of child abandonment and endangerment. They are set to face trial on Oct. 20. Several officers involved, including Arredondo, were fired, and separate investigations by the Department of Justice and state lawmakers faulted law enforcement for botching their response to the massacre. Uvalde city officials released their records in August 2024. The Texas Department of Public Safety is still fighting a separate lawsuit filed by media organizations for the release of that agency's records related to the school shooting. Juan A. Lozano, The Associated Press

Trump administration fires 17 immigration court judges across 10 states, union says
Trump administration fires 17 immigration court judges across 10 states, union says

Toronto Sun

time15-07-2025

  • Politics
  • Toronto Sun

Trump administration fires 17 immigration court judges across 10 states, union says

Published Jul 15, 2025 • Last updated 6 minutes ago • 2 minute read A family from Colombia is detained and escorted to a bus by federal agents following an appearance at immigration court Monday, July 14, 2025, in San Antonio. Photo by Eric Gay / AP WASHINGTON — Seventeen immigration court judges have been fired in recent days, according to the union that represents them, as the Trump administration pushes forward with its mass deportations of immigrants in the country. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents immigration court judges as well as other professionals, said in a news release that 15 judges were fired 'without cause' on Friday and another two on Monday. The union said they were working in courts in 10 different states across the country — California, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Texas, Utah and Virginia. 'It's outrageous and against the public interest that at the same time Congress has authorized 800 immigration judges, we are firing large numbers of immigration judges without cause,' said the union's President Matt Biggs. 'This is nonsensical. The answer is to stop firing and start hiring.' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Firings come with courts at the center of administration efforts The firings come as the courts have been increasingly at the center of the Trump administration's hardline immigration enforcement efforts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arresting immigrants as they appear at court for proceedings. A spokesperson for the Executive Office of Immigration Review, which is the part of the Justice Department that oversees the courts, said in an email that the office would not comment on the firings. The large-scale arrests began in May and have unleashed fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants appearing in court. In what has become a familiar scene, a judge will grant a government lawyer's request to dismiss deportation proceedings against an immigrant. Meanwhile, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are waiting in the hallway to arrest the person and put them on a fast track to deportation as soon as he or she leaves the courtroom. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Immigration court judges are also dealing with a massive backlog of roughly 3.5 million cases that ballooned in recent years. Cases can take years to weave their way to a final determination, with judges and lawyers frequently scheduling final hearings on the merits of a case over a year out. Unlike criminal courts, immigrants don't have the right to a lawyer, and if they can't afford one they represent themselves — often using an interpreter to make their case. Courts are getting a cash infusion Under recently passed legislation that will use $170 billion to supercharge immigration enforcement, the courts are set to get an infusion of $3.3 billion. That will go toward raising the number of judges to 800 and hiring more staff to support them. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But the union said that since the Trump administration took office over 103 judges have either been fired or voluntarily left after taking what was dubbed the 'Fork in the Road' offers at the beginning of the administration. The union said that rather than speeding up the immigration court process, the Justice Department's firings would actually make the backlogs worse. The union said that it can take as long as a year to recruit, hire and train new immigration court judges. There are currently about 600 judges, according to the union figures. Immigration courts fall under the Justice Department. 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Search for Texas flood victims paused as new threat emerges
Search for Texas flood victims paused as new threat emerges

9 News

time13-07-2025

  • Climate
  • 9 News

Search for Texas flood victims paused as new threat emerges

Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here BREAKING Plane erupts in 'fireball' after crash in London More heavy rains in Texas on Sunday paused a weeklong search for victims of catastrophic flooding along the Guadalupe River and led to high-water rescues elsewhere as officials warned that the downpours could again cause waterways to surge. It was the first time a new round of severe weather had paused the search since the July 4 floods, which killed at least 129 people. Authorities believe more than 160 people may still be missing in Kerr County. Rain falls over a make-shift memorial for flood victims along the Guadalupe River in Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) In Kerrville, where local officials have come under scrutiny about the warnings given to residents, authorities went door-to-door to some homes after midnight early on Sunday to alert people that flooding was again possible. Authorities also pushed alerts to the phones of those in the area. Ingram Fire Department officials ordered search crews to immediately evacuate the Guadalupe River corridor in Kerr County until further notice, warning the potential for a flash flood is high. Search and rescue efforts were expected to resume on Monday, depending on river flow, fire department spokesman Brian Lochte said. "We're working with a few crews and airboats and SAR (search-and-rescue) boats just in case,' Lochte said. Governor Greg Abbott said on X that the state was making rescues in San Saba, Lampasas and Schleicher counties and that evacuations were taking place in a handful of others. The latest round of flooding damaged about 100 homes and knocked down untold lengths of cattle fencing, said Ashley Johnson, CEO of the Hill Country Community Action Association, a San Saba-based nonprofit. 'Anything you can imagine in a rural community was damaged,' she said. 'Our blessing is it was daylight and we knew it was coming.' With more rain on the way, county officials ordered everyone living in flood-prone areas near the San Saba River to evacuate. Johnson said people were being moved to the San Saba Civic Center, which has become a safe, high place for people to receive aid and shelter. 'Everyone is in some way personally affected by this,' she said. 'Everyone is just doing what they can to help their neighbors." The weather system brought multiple rounds of heavy rains and slow-moving storms across a widespread area, pushing rivers and streams over their banks. Heading into the afternoon and evening, the heaviest rains were expected along the I-35 corridor and east, said meteorologist Patricia Sanchez from the National Weather Service's Fort Worth office. 'A few spots might see up to two to four (inches per hour), pretty much through the evening, before the rain, the coverage of rain and the intensity of the rain, slowly decreases,' Sanchez said. Forecasters warned that the Guadalupe River could rise to nearly 4.6 metres by Sunday afternoon, about five feet above flood stage and enough to put the Highway 39 bridge under water in Hunt, the small town where Camp Mystic is located along the river. Flash flooding is seen at the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on July 5. (CNN) 'Numerous secondary roads and bridges are flooded and very dangerous,' a weather service warning said. The rains were also causing other waterways to swell farther north in Texas, where emergency crews rescued one motorist who was left stranded in waist-high rapids on a submerged bridge over the Bosque River. The man leaned onto the vehicle for support as crews tried to reach him with life jackets. 'He drove into it and didn't realize how deep it was,' said Jeff Douglas, president of the McGregor Volunteer Fire Department. 'Luckily he was able to stand next to the vehicle.' In the west Texas city of Sonora, authorities called for evacuations of some neighborhoods due to rising flood waters. In a video posted on Sunday afternoon on Facebook, Mayor Juanita Gomez said some water rescues had taken place and a temporary shelter for residents had been opened in the city's civic center. Sonora is located about 177 kilometres north-west of Kerrville. Under heavy rain, Matthew Stone was clearing branches and a log from a storm sewer in front of his home on Guadalupe Street in Kerrville on Sunday as several inches of water pooled up on the road. Multiple houses on the street overlooking the Guadalupe River were severely impacted by the July 4 floods, and Stone had to pull his older neighbors from their home before water overtook it. He said he felt safe for now. This aerial photo shows damage from flash floods along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, Texas. (AP) 'My wife was freaking out, that's for sure, but as long as that river is not coming down, we'll be all right,' he said. 'The cops have been coming back and forth, we're getting lots of alerts, we're getting a lot of support.' Just before daybreak on July 4, the destructive, fast-moving waters rose 8 metres on the Guadalupe River, washing away homes and vehicles. Ever since, searchers have used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims and to rescue people stranded in trees and from camps isolated by washed-out roads. The floods laid waste to the Hill Country region of Texas. The riverbanks and hills of Kerr County are filled with vacation cabins, youth camps and campgrounds, including Camp Mystic, the century-old, all-girls Christian summer camp. Located in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe River in a region known as flash flood alley, Camp Mystic lost at least 27 campers and counselors. The flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, experts said, and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that lacked a warning system. The sheer amount of rain was overwhelming. Former NOAA chief scientist Ryan Maue, a private meteorologist, calculated on July 5 that the storm had dropped 120 billion gallons of water on Kerr County, which received the brunt of the storm. World USA floods Texas disasters CONTACT US

Emergency crews suspend search for Texas flooding victims amid new rain warnings
Emergency crews suspend search for Texas flooding victims amid new rain warnings

Glasgow Times

time13-07-2025

  • Climate
  • Glasgow Times

Emergency crews suspend search for Texas flooding victims amid new rain warnings

It was the first time a new round of severe weather has paused the search since the flooding earlier this month. Ingram Fire Department officials ordered search crews to immediately evacuate the Guadalupe River corridor in Kerr County until further notice on Sunday, warning the potential for a flash flood is high. Search and rescue teams comb the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area in Kerrville, Texas (Eric Gay/AP) Search-and-rescue teams have been searching for missing victims of the July 4 weekend flooding. Search and rescue efforts were expected to resume on Monday, depending on river flow, fire department spokesman Brian Lochte said. 'We're working with a few crews and airboats and SAR (search-and-rescue) boats just in case,' Mr Lochte said. As heavy rain fell on Sunday, National Weather Service forecasters warned that the Guadalupe River could rise to nearly 15 feet (4.6 meters) by Sunday afternoon, about five feet above flood stage and enough to put the Highway 39 bridge near Hunt under water. 'Numerous secondary roads and bridges are flooded and very dangerous,' a weather service warning said. The destructive, fast-moving waters rose 26 feet (eight meters) on the Guadalupe River in just 45 minutes before daybreak on July 4, washing away homes and vehicles. A visitor views a memorial wall for flood victims in Kerrville, Texas (Eric Gay/AP) Ever since, searchers have used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims and to rescue people stranded in trees and from camps isolated by washed-out roads. The floods laid waste to the Hill Country region of Texas. The riverbanks and hills of Kerr County are filled with vacation cabins, youth camps and campgrounds, including Camp Mystic, the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp. Located in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe River in a region known as flash flood alley, Camp Mystic lost at least 27 campers and counsellors as well as owner Dick Eastland. The flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, experts said, and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that lacked a warning system.

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