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Eye on Politics: Calls for change at the Texas Legislature in wake of Allen shooting

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Eye on Politics: Calls for change at the Texas Legislature in wake of Allen shooting


AUSTIN (CBSNewsTexas.com) – A week ago, a deadly mass shooting stole the lives of eight victims after a gunman opened fire into a crowd of shoppers at a popular outlet mall in Allen. 

This shooting happened just weeks before the end of the regular legislative session. In a special edition of Eye on Politics (original air date: May 11), political reporter Jack Fink travels to Austin to hear what state lawmakers have to say in response to continued calls for action in the wake of this latest tragedy.

Every week, CBS News Texas political reporter Jack Fink breaks down some of the biggest political stories grabbing headlines in North Texas and beyond. Watch the latest episode of Eye on Politics in the video player above and stream new episodes live every Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. on CBS News Texas.

Remembering those we lost

Eight people, including three children, lost their lives in the shooting. Here’s what we know about the victims.

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Aishwarya Thatikonda 

A 26-year-old woman from India was among those killed. A civil engineer with a degree in construction management, Aishwarya Thatikonda had been in the U.S. for five years on a work visa, according to a family representative. She was a project manager for Perfect General Contractors.

“She’s loved and adored, not because she was killed under tragic circumstances, but because who she is personally,” said Srinivas Chaluvadi, her boss.   

She would have turned 27 on May 18.  

James, Cindy and Kyu Cho 

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Cindy and Kyu Cho, alongside their 3-year-old son James were killed. The couple’s 6-year-old son, William was also injured, but survived.  

In a statement sent to CBS News Texas from the Cho’s family, they asked for privacy during this time of mourning and said in part: 

“All of our attention is now focused on ensuring William leads a happy, healthy life with his extended family who love him dearly.”  

Elio Cumana-Rivas

32-year-old Elio Cumana-Rivas was described by a friend to CBS News Texas as a deep guy with a big heart. His friend also said he had great taste in music and loved the beach. 

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Originally from Venezuela, Cumana-Rivas had been living in the U.S. for the past eight months. 

Christian LaCour

Christian LaCour worked as a security guard at the outlet mall and was killed while trying to save shopper’s lives. 

“He was such a beautiful soul,” his grandmother posted on social media. “I was so proud of him and so glad I got to see him two weeks ago.”  

Daniela and Sofia Mendoza

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Fourth grader Daniela Mendoza and her sister, second grader Sofia were killed in Saturday’s mass shooting. Their mother, Ilda, was hospitalized.

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CBS News Texas


Texas lawmakers talk about gun control bill’s fate

Calls for state lawmakers to take action before the session ends increased this week.

On Monday, the gun reform group Moms Demand Action chanted in the rotunda, advocating for House Bill 2744, which would have raised the legal age to buy an AR-style firearm from 18 to 21. 

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Ultimately, a House committee passed the bill, but the measure didn’t meet deadline Tuesday night to make it to the full house for a debate and vote. 

Democratic lawmakers say they’re not giving up and will keep trying to get the bill debated in the House. Jack spoke with Republican Rep. Jeff Leach of Allen about what’s next. 

“This is happening way too much,” he said. “I’m a proud second amendment supporter, I’m a fierce second amendment reporter and I will continue to be … but if there are things that we can do to prevent this from happening again, then we ought to consider all those options.”

Watch Jack’s interview with Leach below.


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State Rep. Jeff Leach of Allen on gun control efforts in the Legislature

04:08

This week, Jack also spoke with Senator Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, whose district includes Uvalde and Senator Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, whose district includes parts of Dallas County.

Gutierrez said, “We failed in regulating guns. We have failed our communities and people and children are dying.”  

Hall feels very differently: “I know people don’t like to hear it, but it’s not guns. It’s people. We have a people problem, that’s what we need to address.”

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They are as far apart as two people can be when it comes to guns and whether there should be restrictions on AR style firearms. 

You can listen to both of their interviews below.


State Sen. Roland Gutierrez talks about fate of gun control bill

18:56

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State Sen. Bob Hall talks about the gun control debate in Texas

09:39



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Texas vs South Dakota State: Longhorns head into holiday break with a 46-point win

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Texas vs South Dakota State: Longhorns head into holiday break with a 46-point win


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After a 103-57 win over South Dakota State on Sunday, the Texas Longhorns will head into their holiday break on a high note.

Sunday’s lopsided win at Moody Center came five days after Texas beat La Salle by a 111-49 score. Texas hadn’t scored 100 points in consecutive games since it did so against McNeese State and UTSA in November 2017.

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Texas never trailed on Sunday, and freshmen Jordan Lee and Justice Carlton served as first-half catalysts for the No. 6 team in the USA Today Sports Coaches Poll. Lee started and scored 10 first-quarter points while Carlton came off the bench to score 17 first-half points on 7-of-9 shooting. Combined, Lee and Carlton had 29 points in the first half. South Dakota State’s entire team had 26.

While Texas built its 53-26 lead in the first half, eight of the nine Longhorns who played scored. The surprising exception was All-American Madison Booker, who distributed three assists and grabbed three rebounds but missed her three shots.

A perennial NCAA tournament qualifier that had split its prior games against ranked Creighton and Duke teams, South Dakota State (10-3) never cut into its 27-point halftime deficit in the second half.

Here are three observations from Sunday’s 46-point rout:

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Mwenentanda remains patient with her process

Carlton finished with 19 points and nine rebounds while senior forward Taylor Jones had 15 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. Lee and senior guard Rori Harmon respectively added 14 and 13 points for a Texas team that shot 53.9% from the field. Booker was limited to nine points, but Harmon pointed out after the game that Booker’s +/- of 41 was the best among the Longhorns.

Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda was the fifth Longhorn to record a double-digit scoring total. Over 11 minutes, Mwenentanda scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

Mwenentanda grew up in South Dakota and was that state’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2022. The school in Sioux Falls where she won a state championship is about an hour drive from South Dakota State’s campus. Mwenentanda was recruited by the Jackrabbits but she said that she was attracted to what Texas could offer her athletically and academically.

Since arriving on campus, Mwenentanda has shown glimpses of her potential since arriving at Texas, but she has mainly been a role player for the Longhorns. Sunday was the 11th time that she scored at least 10 points in a game. Just twice in her career has she played more than 25 minutes.

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Mwenentanda sees herself as a Swiss Army Knife on the Texas roster. She’s listed as a 6-foot-2 guard on the team’s roster, but Vic Schaefer has mainly used her as a “4” player this season. Mwenentanda played some in the paint last season, but she got more playing time as a guard. Training more with the post players this offseason has helped her adjust to that role this season.

“I physically prepared for it, I mentally prepared for it. I’m enjoying it,” Mwenentanda said.

Schaefer praised the play of Mwenentanda in his postgame press conference on Sunday. Earlier in the week, Mwenentanda said that she was staying patient with her process.

“Everybody’s process is different. I feel like comparing myself to other people’s process would be one reason to give up,” Mwenentanda said. “Everybody on this team are great players, are great women so even though this process is a little bit different for me, it’s not something I look at negatively because I know everybody’s working hard and everybody’s pitching in.”

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Status for sidelined Laila Phelia remains unclear

Texas senior Laila Phelia missed her third straight game on Sunday. Phelia suffered a detached retina during the offseason. Texas has not announced a timeline for her return, but Schaefer has said the program will soon release an update.

The leading scorer at Michigan last season, Phelia has played in just eight of the Longhorns’ 13 games. She is averaging 6.1 points and 19.4 minutes per game while shooting 40.5% from the field.

What’s next for Texas? Rest and one final tune-up

Next on the schedule for Texas is a home game against UTRGV (6-6) on Dec. 29. That will be the Longhorns’ final game until their Southeastern Conference debut at Oklahoma on Jan. 2, 2025.

But first, the Longhorns will get some rest. Mwenentanda won’t be able to fly back to South Dakota until Monday morning, but the rest of the Longhorns headed home after Sunday’s win. The Longhorns will return to practice on Dec. 27.

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How will the Longhorns spend their break? The three players who attended Sunday’s postgame press conference – Carlton, Harmon and Mwenentanda – said they’d take some time off, but they added that they’ll get some workouts in with family and hometown trainers.

As for Schaefer? He’ll do some work over the break, but he won’t be in his office.

“I’m going to be standing in about knee-deep water in the morning calling a duck and having my son (Logan) with me and my dog, my hunting dog, not my show dog. We’ll enjoy some time together in the morning and then we’ll wet a line and fish in the afternoon,” Schaefer said. “I’ll probably sit in my bow stand a couple of nights with my computer in my lap and watch film. I don’t really care if I see anything or not, but I usually see a lot. I get more work done sitting in a bow stand in a bow blind than I do a lot of times sitting at my desk.

“I’ll just enjoy time with family. I’m really blessed with Holly and Logan and Blair here and we’re all together at Christmas, and it’s just a special time for us. We really embrace the Christmas season.”

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Former Colorado defensive end Dayon Hayes transfers to Texas A&M

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Former Colorado defensive end Dayon Hayes transfers to Texas A&M


Former Colorado Buffaloes defensive end Dayon Hayes is set to continue his collegiate career at Texas A&M after transferring following a season-ending injury. Hayes, a 6-foot-3, 265-pound defender, began his journey at Pitt, where he played from 2020 to 2023, accumulating 13 sacks and 80 tackles over four seasons.

At Pitt, Hayes showcased his potential in his sophomore and junior years, logging around 500 combined snaps and producing 30 pressures. His breakout came in 2023 when he amassed 44 pressures and a 13% pass rush win rate, ranking 12th in the ACC. Hayes also demonstrated solid run defense, posting an average tackle depth of 1.6 yards and recording 10.5 stops for loss. His ability to set the edge and prevent runners from escaping outside made him a critical piece of Pitt’s defense.

Following his success at Pitt, Hayes transferred to Colorado as a highly sought-after addition to Deion Sanders’ revamped Buffaloes roster. He made an immediate impact, registering two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss in Colorado’s first three games. However, his promising start was cut short by a knee injury in the fourth game, sidelining him for the rest of the season.

Deion Sanders says he won’t attend the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay

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Despite the setback, Hayes’ strong early performance likely earned him a medical redshirt, granting him another year of eligibility. With his final collegiate season on the horizon, Hayes opted to join Texas A&M, bringing his pass-rushing skills to the SEC. The Aggies, coming off an eight-win season, are set to face USC in the Las Vegas Bowl. Hayes’ ability to pressure quarterbacks and defend the run should bolster Texas A&M’s defensive front, adding experience and depth to their edge rotation for the 2024 season.



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D-FW can claim Texas’ best high school football team in an otherwise down year for Dallas

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D-FW can claim Texas’ best high school football team in an otherwise down year for Dallas


ARLINGTON — North Crowley showed out on Saturday in its dazzling 50-21 victory over Austin Westlake in the 6A Division I state title game, winning the program’s second state championship and putting Fort Worth high school football on the map in front of 36,120 fans at AT&T Stadium.

Until North Crowley took the field at 7:30 p.m., there was a possibility the Dallas-Fort Worth area might boast only one state champion in 2024. Celina routed Kilgore 55-21 in the 4A Division I state championship to capture the program’s ninth state title and its first under coach Bill Elliott.

But North Texas teams came up short in the next three title games, the region’s worst showing at state since 2021, when South Oak Cliff became the first Dallas ISD school to win a recognized state championship since 1958, but Denton Guyer and Duncanville fell in the 6A state championship games.

Two-time state champion South Oak Cliff missed a last-second field goal, falling 38-35 to third-year program Richmond Randle in the 5A Division II state title game Friday night. It was SOC’s second straight loss in the state championship game.

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“The future is still bright,” South Oak Cliff coach Jason Todd said. “We just gotta find out what’s going to get us over this hump.”

Texas high school football central: 2024 state championship game stories, photos and more

Smithson Valley, from the San Antonio area, topped Highland Park 32-20 as the six-time state champion faded in the second half of the 5A Division I state title game Saturday afternoon.

In the second game of the day, eight-time state champion Southlake Carroll extended its title drought to 13 years with a 24-17 loss to Austin Vandegrift in the 6A Division II game.

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“It’ll happen one day. I’m excited about what the future holds,” said Carroll coach Riley Dodge, who fell to 0-2 in state title games as a coach.

The Dallas area claimed three football state champions in 2023 with Anna winning the 4A Division I state title and Duncanville and DeSoto sweeping the 6A Division I and II state championships, respectively. The southern Dallas County schools also swept the 6A state championships in 2022, when South Oak Cliff won its second straight 5A Division II state title.

But this year, the rest of Texas didn’t let the Dallas area, a high school football mecca, run the table. Teams from each of the state’s major metros — Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio —- won a title in each division of the UIL’s two highest classifications.

Even before this week’s state championship games, 2024 seemed to mark a changing of the guard. Neither Duncanville, DeSoto nor Houston-area power Galena Park North Shore made it to AT&T Stadium this year. Nor did 12-time UIL state champion Aledo, the juggernaut west of Fort Worth that had won the last two 5A Division I state championships.

North Crowley, coach Ray Gates didn’t ‘duck any smoke’ in bold state championship season

But North Crowley did, after knocking off both DeSoto and Duncanville this season. North Texas might not have dominated the competition as it has in recent years, but for a third straight season, the king of 6A reigns in Dallas-Fort Worth.

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“When you get to this point, there’s only one team that’s standing that’s hoisting the trophy. And fortunately for us, this year it’s us and we just happen to be from 817,” North Crowley coach Ray Gates said. “We’re elated to be able to bring that type of recognition back to our community, just to let people know that when you talk about this area, when you talk about Metroplex football, you can’t forget about us.”

On Twitter/X: @t_myah

Find more high school sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

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