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More North Texas families seek help as Salvation Army sees rising need

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More North Texas families seek help as Salvation Army sees rising need


Debbie Rose said she had to go. So, last year she did.

“I think the biggest thing was I fled a domestic violence situation in Montana,” Rose said. “I put my dog in one seat, myself in another.”

The Plano native came back to what she knew, Texas. She made her way in a two-seater and, eventually, got a job as a recruiter. In February, she was laid off.

According to the 60-year-old, she did not want to be a burden on her family’s table. So, she went to the Salvation Army in Hood County.

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“It was devastating,” she said. “It was very difficult. Very difficult.”

Rhagrean Frey with the Salvation Army in Hood County said it’s difficult for families to come into their offices in Granbury to ask for help. She said more are coming in the door.

“Since I’ve been here, a lot of job layoffs. We’ve seen an increase with utilities or just living expenses,” Frey said. “Rent has gone up in the area. And so these families who are used to living paycheck to paycheck, having that budget, having that increase, it hurts.”

Frey said their emergency financial assistance is $90,000 for community assistance. Last year, she said that number jumped to $99,000. They’ve already set it at  $100,000 for next year.

According to Frey, they assisted 126 families or elderly persons with rent, 203 people with utility bills, 57 got gas vouchers, and 28 additional people got funding for lodging. The disbursements are from October 2024 through September 2025. Frey approves the applications for funding.

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“And I hope that when those families do come in and they have little ones, that they don’t get affected by it and they don’t even realize that it’s going on, because I couldn’t imagine as a mom going home and telling my kids, you know, ‘our utilities aren’t on right now,’” she said.

Red Kettle fundraising, Frey said, will mean more this year. It’s the Salvation Army’s marquis fundraiser. The money helped Debbie Rose, who wants to get through this rough patch and back on her own. Her rebuild is a challenge.

She called it a Godsend.

“They helped me with my rent so that particular month I wouldn’t become homeless. And it helped me to find a more affordable situation where I could handle the monthly payments,” Rose said. “They connected me to other resources within the community.”

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Texas sues Netflix for allegedly spying on kids, addicting users

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Texas sues Netflix for allegedly spying on kids, addicting users


Netflix was sued Monday (May 11) by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who accused the streaming company of spying on children and other consumers by collecting their data without consent, and designing its platform to be addictive. Ram Nabong reports.



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Texas sues Netflix, alleges platform spied on kids and collected data

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Texas sues Netflix, alleges platform spied on kids and collected data


The state of Texas announced a lawsuit against streaming giant Netflix on Monday, accusing the company of spying on children and other consumers by collecting their data without consent and designing the platform to be addictive.

Texas claims that Netflix has falsely represented to consumers that it didn’t collect or share user data while it actually tracked and sold viewers’ habits and preferences to commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies.

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The lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, claims that “Netflix’s endgame is simple and lucrative: get children and families glued to the screen, harvest their data while they are stuck there, and then monetize the data for a handsome profit.”

The state of Texas announced a lawsuit against streaming giant Netflix on Monday. (Nikos Pekiaridis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“When you watch Netflix, Netflix watched you,” Texas added in the lawsuit.

NETFLIX CO-FOUNDER REED HASTINGS TO STEP DOWN, DEPARTURE IS ‘SPOOKING INVESTORS’

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The complaint quotes comments made by former CEO Reed Hastings who said in 2020, while he was still leading the streaming company, that “we don’t collect anything,” amid questions over Big Tech companies’ data collection practices.

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Netflix was also accused of quietly using “dark patterns” to keep users watching on its platform, such as an autoplay feature that starts a new show after a different show ends.

NETFLIX RAISES SUBSCRIPTION PRICES ACROSS ALL PLANS

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit. (Cheney Orr/Reuters)

Paxton said in a press release that Netflix “has built a surveillance program designed to illegally collect and profit from Texans’ personal data without their consent, and my office will do everything in our power to stop it.”

The attorney general said he’s charging Netflix under the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act and seeks to require Netflix to stop the unlawful collection and disclosure of user data, require Netflix to disable autoplay by default on kid’s profiles, and to secure injunctive relief and civil penalties.

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FOX Business reached out to Netflix for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.



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6 people found dead inside a boxcar in Texas, officials say | CNN

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6 people found dead inside a boxcar in Texas, officials say | CNN


Six people were found dead inside a cargo train boxcar in a Texas city along the southern border on Sunday, officials said.

The bodies were found in a Union Pacific train at a rail yard in Laredo, around 160 miles south of San Antonio, just after 3:30 p.m. local time, said Jose Espinoza, a public information officer with the Laredo Police Department.

The circumstances of their deaths are unknown, said Laredo police spokesperson Joe Baeza, according to CNN affiliate KGNS, and an investigation is underway.

Union Pacific operates across the border and is the only railroad that services all access points into Mexico, according to the freight company’s website.

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Temperatures on Sunday afternoon in Laredo were in the low-mid 90s, though it’s unclear whether heat was a factor.

Union Pacific said it was saddened by the incident and is working closely with law enforcement to investigate.

Laredo police said they received a call around 3 p.m. from an employee at the Union Pacific rail yard, KGNS reported. The bodies were discovered during a routine rail car inspection, police said. No survivors were found.

CNN has reached out to Laredo police for more information.

“It’s a very early phase of the investigation. There’s not a lot to reveal right now,” Baeza said, KGNS reported.

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The immigration status and ages of the deceased are not yet known, Espinoza said.

US Customs and Border Protection referred CNN to the Laredo Police Department, saying “The incident remains under investigation by Laredo Police Department and Homeland Security Investigation and Texas Rangers.”

CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, HSI and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“It’s a very unfortunate event,” Espinoza told CNN. “It was too many lives that were lost.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

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