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Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath likes what he sees at local elementary school

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Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath likes what he sees at local elementary school



Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath gets a look at learning in Wichita Falls ISD.

The state’s top education official visited Southern Hills Elementary School on Tuesday to see kids learning with new material.

Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath wanted to see how it was going in classes using reading curriculum Wichita Falls ISD paid for with the help of state funding.

“I had a great visit at Southern Hills Elementary and was able to witness curricular and instructional improvements initiated by the district firsthand,” Morath said in a statement Tuesday. “I saw kids reading Shakespeare and learning about the war of 1812 — all indications of a robust learning environment.”

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Southern Hills, Booker T. Washington and Burgess are among three WFISD elementary schools implementing Amplify Texas.

A grant of about $500,000 helped the district furnish the reading curriculum, approved by the Texas Education Agency, to campuses that feed into Kirby Middle School.

More: Students earning musical honors announced at WFISD meeting

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The commissioner, members of his team and representatives from Region 9 Education Service Center toured Southern Hills Tuesday morning.

“During his visit, Mr. Morath commended the school for their dedication and the incredible efforts of our teachers and leadership,” WFISD officials said in a Facebook post.

Morath discussed the curriculum with Dr. Donny Lee, WFISD superintendent, and Southern Hills Principal Amanda Garcia.

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School Board President Katherine McGregor and Place 2 Trustee Diann Scroggins were among those at the school Tuesday morning for the commissioner’s visit.

WFISD is expanding the Amplify Texas curriculum to Scotland Park, Zundy, Fain, Cunningham and Franklin elementary schools with the help of a $430,000 grant from the James N. McCoy Foundation.

Morath’s next stop Tuesday was Region 9 ESC where he was expected to speak to superintendents.

More: WFISD seeks to dispel rumors about Legacy High School

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Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Read her recent work here. Her X handle is @Trishapedia.



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Texas education leaders unveil Bible-infused elementary school curriculum

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Texas education leaders unveil Bible-infused elementary school curriculum



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Texas shinkansen may not operate until early 2030s, Amtrak says

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Texas shinkansen may not operate until early 2030s, Amtrak says


Photo shows Andy Byford, senior vice president of the U.S. national passenger rail company Amtrak, speaking in an interview in Washington D.C. on May 13, 2024. (Kyodo)

A planned high-speed railway service in Texas, using Japan’s shinkansen bullet train technology, likely will not be completed until at least the early 2030s, a senior executive of U.S. railway operator Amtrak said recently.

“I do not see the line opening before the early 2030s…But certainly, the early 2030s is still possible,” said Andy Byford, senior vice president of the U.S. national passenger rail company, which supports the project led by local railway firm Texas Central Partners LLC, in an interview with Kyodo News in mid-May.

Most recently slated for completion in 2026, the project is receiving technical support from Japanese shinkansen operator Central Japan Railway Co. If it goes ahead, the railway will connect Dallas and Houston, two major Texas cities approximately 380 kilometers apart, in about 90 minutes, but planning has been repeatedly delayed due to financing concerns, among other reasons.

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In the interview conducted at Amtrak’s headquarters in Washington, Byford stressed the need to secure funding from the private and public sectors to cover the projected cost, which is estimated to total more than $30 billion.

“I don’t see this project being able to go forward without federal, private and overseas investment,” said the executive in charge of the high-speed rail development program.

Byford said he is “hopeful” the federal government, currently led by President Joe Biden who supports trains as an effective low-carbon-emission transport option, will offer financial support, adding that he may be able to gain additional support from the governments of Dallas and Houston in the future.

He admitted the upcoming presidential election in November introduces some uncertainty, but he hoped having a strong business case “appeals to politicians of any stripe.”

Photo shows an N700S shinkansen bullet train in motion in Tokyo on May 28, 2024.(Kyodo)

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The trains, to be made based on the N700S shinkansen that currently connects Tokyo and Osaka, among other cities, are slated to be manufactured by a Japanese company, the executive said without naming the firm.

With shinkansen train car maker Hitachi Ltd. also providing technical support, Byford said they and other related Japanese companies have “a stellar reliability and safety record,” and Amtrak will work with its partners to ensure that the Texas trains perform at the same level as those in Japan.

While the plan is to initially use rolling stock built in Japan, the executive said “it would be our intention” to eventually create jobs by bringing manufacturing to the United States.

The new railway service will utilize Amtrak’s ticketing and reservation system, and users will be able to purchase tickets through the Amtrak app, Byford said.


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Missing Texas woman’s body discovered in alligator’s mouth: police

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Missing Texas woman’s body discovered in alligator’s mouth: police


The body believed to be a missing Texas woman was found Tuesday morning — inside the jaws of an alligator, police said.

Houston police were searching an area near the Horsepen Bayou in Clear Lake for a woman who was reported missing when they came across the grisly scene at around 8:40 a.m.

One of the officers shot and killed the gator as it chowed on the woman’s body to stop it from further damaging her remains, the department said.

Houston police discovered the missing Texas woman inside of the alligator’s mouth Tuesday. MariannePfeil – stock.adobe.com

Houston police divers were called to the scene and removed the remains — of the woman believed to be in her 60s — as well as the reptile from the bayou.

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An autopsy will determine the identity of the deceased as well as the cause of death, police said.

It’s unclear if the gator killed the woman or if it was scavenging her remains after she was already dead.

A medical examiner will work to determine this during the autopsy.

The Houston homicide division is investigating the woman’s death.


Police were searching an area near the Horsepen Bayou in Clear Lake for a woman who was reported missing when they came across the grisly scene at around 8:40 a.m.
Police were searching an area near the Horsepen Bayou in Clear Lake for a woman who was reported missing when they came across the grisly scene at around 8:40 a.m. ABC 13

The last fatal alligator attack in the Lone Star State was in 2015 when a 28-year-old man was attacked and killed while swimming. Before his death, there hadn’t been a fatal gator attack in over 90 years, according to ABC 13.

A similar tragedy occurred in Florida last September when a 14-foot gator was spotted walking along a residential street with a body inside its jaws.

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Officers pulled the beast out of a canal it had gone into — still with the body clenched in its teeth — and shot it several times.

The remains were later identified as a 41-year-old Florida mother named Sabrina Peckham who was homeless at the time of her death and living in a wooded area near the swampy canal.

A medical examiner later determined that Peckham was killed, and partially eaten, by the gator.



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