Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Gunman arrested after 3 police officers shot in hourslong Texas standoff

FORT WORTH, Texas — An hourslong police standoff that left three officers injured in Flower Mound ended at 5:32 a.m. Thursday as FBI SWAT officers took a suspect into custody, according to a news release. Police said 60-year-old Bryan Hucabee was reported to 911 as suicidal before he shot the three SWAT-trained officers Wednesday night when they were attempting to enter the home for a welfare check. The incident occurred in the 2900 block of Termaine Drive in Flower Mound. Flower Mound Police Chief Andy Kancel said in a news conference Thursday morning all three officers who were hit were rele...

Students at North Texas school disciplined for 'slave trade' held over social media

FORT WORTH, Texas — A group of students at a school in Aledo, west of Fort Worth, were disciplined based on a slave auction they set up on social media to pretend to sell their Black classmates, according to local activists. The Aledo Independent School District learned of an incident where students at the Daniel Ninth Grade Campus cyberbullied and harassed other students based on their race, according to a statement from Superintendent Dr. Susan Bohn. The district started an investigation that involved law enforcement. The district did not specify what the incident involved and said administr...

Kneeling, raising fist during national anthem will be allowed at US Olympic trials

Athletes at the United States Olympic trials will be allowed to take part in racial and social justice demonstrations, including taking a knee during the national anthem. Guidance was issued Tuesday by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee on what should and should not be allowed at the trials, which will determine who represents the country at this year’s Summer Olympics in Tokyo. “The USOPC values the expressions of Team USA athletes and believes that their right to advocate for racial and social justice aligns with the fundamental values of equality that define Team USA and the Olympic an...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's month from hell: Power outages, COVID-19 and Republican discontent

FORT WORTH, Texas — The night of March 1, Greg Abbott ratcheted up suspense with an announcement on Twitter. "I will have some exciting news for you tomorrow," he said, as if the last two weeks had not been eventful enough. The next day he'd announce the reopening of Texas and lift his statewide mask order. The news — met with praise from some and ire by others — came just weeks after an historic winter freeze pushed Texas' electric grid to the limits, leaving 4 million-plus households without power. Nearly half the state endured boil orders and low water pressure. (Many Texans took to flushin...

Texas newspaper slams Abbott's 'mistake': Why end the mask rule and make things worse?

Before issuing his order to end mask mandates, Gov. Greg Abbott must not have looked at the recent numbers of coronavirus deaths in Texas. Or worse, he did and decided that the 59 deaths reported Monday is good enough. Either way, the governor’s order Tuesday to end the statewide mask mandate and business capacity restrictions is a mistake. Even with recent improvement in COVID-19 case totals, hospitalizations and deaths, the pandemic is not over. Another spike is possible before enough people are vaccinated to finally squelch the disease’s spread, and Abbott’s order makes it more likely we’ll...

Unbelievable: Texas knew for years its power grid was at risk but did little about it

Once again, Texans are suffering because of a failure of disaster planning and investment to prepare for the worst. First, it was the pandemic. Texas’ public health infrastructure has been shown for a year to be lacking, at both local and state levels. Leaders tried to craft a plan in 2015 to prepare for the inevitable, but it was stopped over political issues. This time, it’s an unprecedented — but, importantly, not unpredictable — stretch of cold weather and storms blanketing the entire state. Public and private sector leaders may try to say there’s no way they could have been prepared for t...

Much of Dallas-Fort Worth without power Tuesday amid record low temps, new winter storm warning

FORT WORTH, Texas — Hundreds of thousands of Dallas-Fort Worth residents were without power Tuesday as record low temperatures bore down on the region and more winter weather loomed on the horizon. Road conditions were also dangerous in many spots across North Texas, with the frigid temperatures freezing over precipitation from the weekend, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. Tarrant County issued a disaster declaration Tuesday, stating that citizens and businesses have been impacted by impassable roads and power outages. Many residences and storefronts across the county h...

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban angers Texas lawmakers

FORT WORTH, Texas — Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban’s decision to not play the national anthem drew sharp backlash Wednesday from Texas lawmakers, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is pushing to require that “The Star-Spangled Banner” be played at all publicly funded events. “Your decision to cancel our National Anthem at games is a slap in the face to every American & an embarrassment to Texas,” Patrick wrote on Twitter. “Sell the franchise & some Texas Patriots will buy it. We ARE the land of free & the home of the brave.” The Mavs haven't played the anthem at the start of any of their 1...

Lead organizer of rally before Capitol riot is using Fort Worth address to raise money

FORT WORTH, Texas — A man with Fort Worth ties who helped organize the rally that preceded the Capitol riot is asking supporters to send him money to a UPS box on Golden Triangle Boulevard after he was banned from major social media platforms. Ali Alexander, 35, was a leader of the 2020 "Stop the Steal" movement, which spread false claims about fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Alexander attended Fossil Ridge High School and has lived in Fort Worth, but his whereabouts following the Capitol riot are unknown. The day before the Jan. 6 riot, Alexander was captured on video leading chants ...

Here's how much Texas spent trying to overturn presidential election results

FORT WORTH, Texas — Two attorneys who assisted Texas with its lawsuit challenging the presidential election results in four battleground states appear to have done the work free of charge. Washington, D.C., attorneys Lawrence Joseph and Kurt Olsen were appointed by the Attorney General's Office to help Texas with the case seeking to overturn the presidential election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in the U.S. Supreme Court, according to letters obtained by the Star-Telegram through an open records request. The court did not accept the case. Attorney General Ken Paxton...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott suggested COVID-19 vaccines are sitting on shelves. Is that true?

Coronavirus vaccine providers across the state have begun to administer shots, but as Texans wait to get in line questions have arisen as to whether doses are going unused. Meanwhile, people are left wondering how and when they'll be able to get the highly anticipated vaccine that many hope will help put an end to the pandemic that has spanned most of 2020. Texas reported Wednesday that 678,925 doses have been received by providers, but only 205,463 people have received their first dose of the vaccine. In Tarrant County, 48,950 doses have been received and 10,908 administered, according to the...

Grieving during COVID: How a group of friends rallied behind a dying brother

FORT WORTH, Texas — As the sun moved behind the trees and the small Forest Hill neighborhood grew quiet for the evening, about 20 cars disrupted the peace. The drivers turned from LonStephenson Road and blared "Lean on Me." They honked their horns, held signs out of their windows and shouted their love for the 54-year-old man who lay on a hospital bed in his living room. Neighbors walked outside and watched two dozen people line the street outside of Thomas Dixon's house. They watched as masked hugs were exchanged, tears were shed and memories were relived. Some people took turns going into th...