A federal appeals court is being asked to reconsider its decision allowing the Biden administration to require that federal employees get vaccinated against COVID-19. A panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month vacated a lower court ruling and ordered dismissal of a lawsuit against the federal employee vaccine mandate, which was ordered by President Joe Biden in September. However, that 2-1 ruling by the appellate panel doesn’t take effect until May 31. On Saturday, opponents of the mandate filed a petition asking that the April ruling be vacated and that the full 17-member court hear new arguments in the case.

Austin American-Statesman. May 22, 2022.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office says a man charged with killing his wife has died after being found unresponsive in the county jail in Houston. The sheriff's office said 39-year-old Benjamin Pierce of Katy was found in a one-person cell just before 4:30 a.m. Saturday and was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The body was sent for an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Pierce was in custody on a murder charge in the Friday death of his wife, 41-year-old Leslie Pierce.

Authorities say the search by ground and air in the Texas county where a convicted murderer escaped from a prison transport bus and stabbed the driver last week has concluded as the hunt for him expands. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has said 46-year-old Gonzalo Lopez was being transported to a medical appointment on May 12 in a caged area of the bus when he escaped in Leon County, a rural area between Dallas and Houston. The department said Friday that the search was entering “a new, expanded phase,” saying some personnel will remain in the county and will conduct strategic searches of areas outside the original secured perimeter.

Social media users shared a range of false claims this week. Here are the facts: A photo identified as showing a “doorway” cut into a mountainside on Mars actually captures a tiny crevice in the rocky, barren terrain. U.S. proposals to the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations would not transfer U.S. sovereign authority over health care decisions to the WHO director-general. There were several combat deaths among U.S. service members in Afghanistan during Trump's presidency, and an investment by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ firm did not cause the recent baby formula shortage.

Around 1 in 20 residents in Arkansas and Tennessee were missed during the 2020 census, and four other U.S. states had significant undercounts of their populations which could shortchange them of federal funding in the current decade. That's according to figures from a survey the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday. In Florida, and Texas, undercounts appear to have cost them congressional seats too. In eight states, residents were overcounted. In Minnesota and Rhode Island, overcounts appear to have helped save them from losing congressional seats. In the remaining 36 states, the overcounts and undercounts weren’t statistically significant.

The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday upheld jury awards of $165 million against FedEx in a wrongful-death lawsuit stemming from a deadly crash involving a Texas family and a contract driver for the delivery company. The 2011 crash on Interstate 10 west of Las Cruces killed Marialy Venegas Morga of and her 4-year-old daughter and critically injured the El Paso woman's 19-month-old son when the family’s small pickup was rear-ended by the big rig. Truck driver Elizabeth Quintana also died. FedEx’ argued unsuccessfully that the damage awards were excessive and that a judge should have ordered a new trial.

Red state officials are coming out swinging against growing Wall Street efforts to consider environmental risk in investment decisions. Their target is “ESG,” which stands for environmental, social and governance. The principles call on investors to consider factors other than traditional financial metrics in their decisions. The acronym has become the latest culture war fodder in conservative media and in state government this year. The movement against green investing indicates how the GOP has become more willing to damage its relationship with big business to fight ideological foes. Opposition has been particularly strong in red states where fossil fuels make up a large part of the economy.

Friends and colleagues of Dr. John Cheng say they were not surprised the quiet, kind and calm sports medicine physician saved others by rushing a gunman firing on a Southern California church luncheon. The 52-year-old father who was raised in East Texas was known for doing all he could to protect people. He even had taken courses to prepare for such a horrific event, concerned about the growing number of mass shootings. Active shooter experts say that preparedness combined with Cheng’s serene disposition likely gave him a proclivity for acting heroically. Cheng was killed and five were wounded in Sunday's shooting. Authorities credit him for saving perhaps dozens of lives.

Massachusetts has reported a case of monkeypox in a man who recently traveled to Canada. Health officials said Wednesday they are looking into whether the case is connected to small outbreaks in Europe. Monkeypox is typically limited to Africa and the rare cases in the U.S. and elsewhere are usually linked to travel there.  A small number of confirmed or suspected monkeypox cases have been reported this month in the United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain. Health officials said the U.S. case poses no risk to the public. The Massachusetts resident is hospitalized but in good condition. Last year, Texas and Maryland each reported a case in people who traveled to Nigeria.

Authorities say a Texas inmate who was serving a life sentence for murder when he escaped from a transport bus last week got out of his restraints and a cage before stabbing the driver. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said Wednesday that 46-year-old Gonzalo Lopez is still on the run. Lopez was being transported May 12 to a medical appointment in a caged area of the bus. The department says Lopez freed himself from his hand and leg restraints, cut through the metal of the cage and crawled out through the bottom. Officials say he then attacked the driver.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says authorities are prepared for an expected increase in migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border amid plans to lift a public health order that has been used to turn away migrants nearly 2 million times without a chance to seek asylum. Mayorkas spoke Tuesday on a visit to South Texas, where he saw a new processing center for about 1,200 people. The department has surged personnel and equipment to the border and erected temporary facilities to prepare for next week's end of pandemic-related limits on seeking asylum at the border.

The girlfriend of a man arrested in a shooting in Dallas’ Koreatown that wounded three women of Asian descent in a hair salon told police that he has delusions that Asian Americans are trying to harm him. That's according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Police say Jeremy Smith, who is Black, was arrested Tuesday in the shooting. He faces three charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The FBI said Tuesday that it has opened a federal hate crime investigation into the shooting. Police say they are still investigating whether Smith was involved in two previous drive-by shootings at businesses run by Asian Americans. Police had said there could be a connection between those shootings and the one at the salon because the description of the suspect vehicle was similar.

Many questions remain about the shuttered Abbott baby formula plant at the center of a nationwide shortage. Although U.S. officials have a deal with Abbott to restart production, it’s not yet clear how soon the site will be up and running. Even bigger questions remain unanswered, including what caused the contamination. The Food and Drug Administration also faces scrutiny over whether it could have alleviated the current shortage by stepping in sooner. The FDA hasn’t released a final ruling on the problems at the plant or an accounting of the steps it took ahead of the shutdown.

Nearly 43,000 people were killed on U.S. roads last year. That's the highest number in 16 years as Americans returned to the highways after the pandemic forced many to stay at home. Traffic deaths rose 10.5% over 2020, the largest percentage increase since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began its fatality data collection in 1975. Preliminary figures from the agency show that 42,915 people died in traffic crashes last year, up from 38,824 in 2020. Final figures will be released in the fall. Americans drove about 325 billion more miles last year than they did in 2020. That's an 11.2% jump that contributed to the rise in deaths.

FBI says its investigating a shooting that wounded 3 women at hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown as a potential hate crime.

A survivor of the New Zealand mosque shootings three years ago says extremists should see that the violence that day achieved none of the gunman's aims. Temel Atacocugu continues to recover from his wounds and said he was heartbroken over the shootings at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. The man accused of killing 10 Black people in Buffalo was allegedly inspired by the New Zealand shootings. Brenton Tarrant subscribed to the white supremacist “great replacement” theory and aimed to sow racial discord that would force nonwhite people to leave. But if anything, the opposite happened in New Zealand as Muslims and non-Muslims embraced each other in a shared and enduring grief.

Experts are calling for a broader discussion around livestreams after a white gunman killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket. The self-described white supremacist mounted a GoPro camera to his helmet to stream his assault live on Twitch, the video game streaming platform. Twitch and other sites like Twitter and Facebook have learned painful lessons from dealing with the violent videos that now often accompany such shootings. Experts are discussing whether livestreams should exist at all, since once such videos go online, they’re almost impossible to erase completely.

The white gunman charged in a deadly, racist rampage inside a Buffalo supermarket didn’t need to travel abroad for tactical training, nor did he need to join an organization of like-minded militants who shared his world view. All Payton Gendron needed on his path to radicalization was exposure on the internet to a stew of hate-filled conspiracies, peddled in some cases by white killers whose massacres he had extensively researched online. The 18-year-old now stands accused in a murderous assault that left 10 Black people dead, and the rant-filled diatribe attributed to him fits an all-too-familiar profile — an aggrieved white man driven to violence by racist extremism.

The NCAA recently issued a warning that there are still rules to follow now that college athletes can make money off their fame and celebrity. It waited nearly a year to do so and it has raised speculation of a crackdown on some of the dealmakers working with college athletes. About two dozen states have laws regarding athlete compensation. The laws, however, have no enforcement mechanisms. There has been no indication so far that a state attorney general or prosecutor will go after a booster organization striking deals with athletes.

Austin American-Statesman. May 11, 2022.

The owner of an oil pipeline that spewed thousands of barrels of crude oil onto Southern California beaches in 2015 has agreed to pay $230 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by fishermen and property owners. According to court documents Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline has agreed to pay $184 million to fishermen and fish processors and $46 million to property owners in the settlement reached Friday. The company didn’t admit liability in the agreement that will end seven years of legal wrangling. The agreement still must undergo a public comment period and needs federal court approval. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for June 10.

The search continues for a Texas inmate serving a life sentence for murder who escaped from a transport bus after stabbing the driver. Gonzalo Lopez escaped custody Thursday. Officials say 16 prisoners were aboard the bus, but no one else escaped. The bus driver’s injuries weren’t considered life-threatening. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice says a $22,500 reward is being offered for information leading to Lopez's capture. Lopez was convicted in 2006 of killing a man along the Texas-Mexico border. The inmate escaped in Leon County, a rural area between Dallas and Houston. Classes were canceled Friday in the nearby Centerville Independent School District as a precaution.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The deaths of four storm chasers in car crashes over the last two weeks have underscored the dangers of pursuing severe weather events as more people clog back roads and highways searching for a glimpse of a lightning bolt or tornado, meteorologists and chasers say.

AUSTIN — The Texas Supreme Court overturned a statewide injunction barring investigations of child abuse for families that provide gender-affirming care.

HOUSTON, May 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Industrial Service Solutions (ISS) has acquired full ownership of San Antonio Armature Works (SAAW), an electromechanical service provider with nearly 100 years of experience serving industrial operations throughout South Texas.

Social media users shared a range of false claims this week. Here are the facts: A new abortion pill law in Tennessee doesn’t ban Plan B. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett didn't cite a need for a “domestic supply of infants” in a leaked draft opinion for a decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade. Legal records show that Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuits against attorney Sidney Powell and former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani are ongoing in May 2022. Immigrants living in the U.S. without legal permission aren't more likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born citizens.

Police say two men have been arrested in connection with a shooting that killed one person and injured 16 others at an outdoor concert in Dallas last month. Dallas police say a 25-year-old and 26-year-old were arrested Wednesday. In addition to 15 people wounded by gunfire, a woman suffered a non-gun-related injury. Jail records show the 25-year-old faces a charge of deadly conduct while the 26-year-old faces a charge of deadly conduct by discharging a firearm. Both remained in jail Thursday. Bond was set at $1,500 for Calhoun and $15,000 for Givens. Jail records don’t list attorneys for either.

President Joe Biden is stepping up his administration’s response to a nationwide baby formula shortage that has forced frenzied parents into online groups to swap and sell to each other to keep their babies fed. The White House says Biden spoke Thursday with executives from manufacturers Reckitt and Gerber about how they could increase production and how his administration could help. And he talked with leaders from Walmart and Target about how to restock shelves. The shortage stems from supply chain disruptions and a safety recall. Retailers are limiting what customers can buy, and doctors are urging parents to contact food banks, physicians' offices as well as warning against watered-down formula or making DIY recipes.

Texas authorities say a prisoner escaped from a transport after stabbing a guard in a rural county roughly halfway between Houston and Dallas. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice say a search is underway for 46-year-old Gonzalo Lopez in Leon County who escaped Thursday. Prison officials haven't provided details about the events leading up to Lopez’s escape but say the guard's injuries are not considered life-threatening. Lopez was convicted of murder in 2006. Prison records show he was most recently being held at a lockup in Gatesville, more than 100 miles from where authorities are searching.

Authorities say a sheriff’s deputy died in a crash Wednesday after his vehicle clipped the back of a semitrailer parked on the shoulder of a Houston-area highway. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Robert Adam Howard, a 27-year-old Harris County sheriff's deputy, was getting ready to begin an operation when he hit the semitrailer. Gonzalez says, “Our hearts are broken." A second Harris County sheriff’s office deputy who was riding a motorcycle was injured while escorting Howard to the hospital, but Gonzalez said that deputy was expected to be OK.

Groups representing social workers and women have challenged an Ohio city’s ban on abortion. The National Association of Social Workers and Women Have Options-Ohio told the U.S. District Court in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that the city of Lebanon's ordinance infringes on their constitutional rights of due process and free speech. Passed last May, the law criminalizes performing or helping with any abortion within city limits. Plaintiffs allege social workers could face prosecution under the law for even discussing abortion as an option with their clients. The Texas-based authors of the law called it sound and predicted victory in court.

Parents across the U.S. are scrambling to find baby formula because of supply disruptions and a massive safety recall by manufacturer Abbott. Ongoing supply problems have intensified since Abbott shuttered its largest U.S. formula plant due to contamination concerns. Pediatricians are urging parents who can’t find formula to contact food banks or doctor’s offices. They warn against watering down formula to stretch supplies or using online DIY recipes. Major retail chains including CVS and Walgreens are limiting how many containers customers can purchase at one time to conserve supplies. Meanwhile, regulators with the Food and Drug Administration are looking at importing formula to boost U.S. supplies.