Texas
Texas soldier who drowned trying to help migrants wasn’t equipped with flotation device
![Texas soldier who drowned trying to help migrants wasn’t equipped with flotation device](https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/8tOHOPLp7jimhWhKEFkyqnv5MoQ=/1200x630/filters:quality(95)/static.texastribune.org/media/files/f308910d8df243613c7561129f2cb179/20220321%20Operation%20Lone%20Star%202.jpg)
This text is co-published and co-reported with Navy Occasions, an impartial information group reporting on points necessary to the U.S. army. Join its each day Early Chook Temporary e-newsletter right here.
The river was transferring swiftly the morning Spc. Bishop Evans jumped into the Rio Grande close to Eagle Go to save lots of two migrants who seemed to be drowning.
The chance was nice. Prior to now month, at the least 23 migrants had drowned in these waters. And rescues by Guard members patrolling the river had been an everyday prevalence.
The 22-year-old part-time area artilleryman from Arlington was discovered lifeless Monday — ending a four-day seek for his physique, which had been washed away by the river. He was one in every of 10,000 Nationwide Guard members deployed to Operation Lone Star, Gov. Greg Abbott’s prized mission to safe the Texas-Mexico border.
Evans jumped into the raging waters with no flotation gadget, the Texas Navy Division mentioned in an e-mail Tuesday in response to inquiries from The Texas Tribune and Navy Occasions.
He took that threat as a result of, like many different troops on the mission, he wasn’t outfitted with the doubtless lifesaving tools.
The Texas Navy Division ordered rescue ropes and a whole lot of ring buoys in February to extend security for water rescues. However the tools had not but arrived to most Guard members on the time Evans died.
“The incident continues to be beneath investigation, nonetheless we don’t consider SPC Evans had a floatation gadget on the time of demise,” the Texas Navy Division’s public affairs workers mentioned Tuesday in an unattributed assertion. “We solely acquired about 25 % of the requested tools as a consequence of delays from the seller and international provide chain points.”
The general public affairs workers additionally mentioned it made the request for tools in February as a part of its plan to deal with “gaps in tools and security gear.”
It’s not clear why the tools wasn’t requested till February, 11 months after the mission started in March 2021. For months, troopers have decried an absence of kit on Abbott’s rapidly deployed border mission, however the absence of water tools is the primary time that lack of provides could have contributed to a soldier’s demise.
“We consider the demise of Bishop Evans was avoidable if he had been supplied with the correct tools.”
— State Sen. Roland Gutierrez
Two Guard officers specializing in logistics advised the Tribune and Navy Occasions that the Texas Navy Division sat on a request for flotation gadgets for 3 weeks earlier than it was permitted. The delays, these officers mentioned, had been avoidable and spotlight the dysfunction plaguing the unprecedented $2 billion-per-year state mission.
The logistics officers, and eight different troops posted alongside the Rio Grande, spoke to the Tribune and Navy Occasions beneath situation of anonymity after they had been explicitly warned by army leaders in opposition to speaking to the press.
The delays are new proof of TMD’s staggering failure to make sure its troops have the tools they want. The Tribune and Navy Occasions beforehand investigated how haste and planning failures overwhelmed the division’s forms and led to vital hardship for the hundreds of troops involuntarily mobilized.
Lawmakers at the moment are calling for investigations into the dearth of kit.
“For any member of our Guard or DPS [Department of Public Safety] who’re despatched to the border alongside the river to not be assigned fundamental, cheap security tools is unforgivable,” mentioned state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, who mentioned he has requested data on whether or not service members have entry to water tools. “We consider the demise of Bishop Evans was avoidable if he had been supplied with the correct tools.”
A identified hazard
Spc. Hunter Schuler, a soldier on the border mission who represents a bunch of newly unionized troopers, mentioned Evans’ demise was tragic, preventable and pointless. He criticized the army division for not offering service members with water tools.
“It’s astonishing that with hundreds of troopers stationed alongside a river that has claimed numerous lives through the years, we’ve but [to] be issued flotation gadgets of any sort,” Schuler mentioned.
The Texas Navy Division mentioned in its assertion that service members are “strongly suggested to not enter the water at any time for his or her security” and that they aren’t given directions or coaching on water rescue as a consequence of that restrictive posture.
In distinction, Border Patrol brokers patrolling these areas are geared up with flotation gadgets and rescue ropes and are required to hold them whereas on project, mentioned Jenn Budd, a former U.S. Border Patrol agent.
Border Patrol brokers have been busy rescuing migrants for the final month from the stretch of river the place Evans died. A spokesperson for the company advised The Washington Publish that brokers rescued a dozen individuals in the identical space two weeks in the past after they had been swept off their toes by a swift present.
A Border Patrol union consultant advised the newspaper that 11 our bodies had been discovered this month on the U.S. facet of the river alongside a stretch of the Rio Grande that extends west to Del Rio. No less than 12 had been discovered on the Mexican facet.
Texas Guard officers have been conscious of the hazard for months, too. Six troops advised the Tribune and Navy Occasions that water rescues have been occurring regardless of steerage to keep away from the water.
A supply accustomed to incident reporting mentioned that Operation Lone Star troops have been performing about 15 to twenty water rescues every month.
Officers from the 2 important state companies collaborating within the mission mentioned they don’t hold observe of water rescues.
Division of Public Security spokesperson Ericka Miller mentioned that water rescues are “not data the division tracks.” The Texas Guard then admitted that it additionally does “not observe water rescues” as a result of they “should not a part of our safety operations.”
The army division acknowledged that service members had been appearing heroically to conduct water rescues, regardless of directions to remain out of the water.
“When somebody places on a uniform, they do it as a result of they wish to assist and serve the neighborhood and nation,” the division mentioned in its written response. “We’re happy with the exhausting work and dedication of our service members, not realizing the risks they could come throughout that day.”
The assertion additionally mentioned Evans might be granted a posthumous award.
“SPC [Evans] sacrificed himself, in order that anyone else could dwell,” the assertion mentioned. “That sort of selfless service act represents the troopers and airmen we’ve serving in our pressure.”
A logistics logjam
The junior of the 2 logistics sources advised the Tribune and Navy Occasions that the border activity pressure had requested the protection tools in February with a one-week supply timeframe.
Texas Military Nationwide Guard Spc. Bishop E. Evans.
Credit score:
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The senior logistics official additionally disagreed with the Texas Navy Division’s reasoning that provide chain points held up the supply.
Attempting to “get something bought in a well timed method is sort of unattainable,” the official lamented, as a consequence of administrative bottlenecks and “friction factors alongside the way in which.” Within the case of the late February buy order, the Workplace of State Administration took three weeks to course of it regardless of the one-week supply request.
Early on within the mission, the senior logistics official mentioned, items on the border had been in a position to meet essential tools wants domestically by utilizing authorities bank cards. However that observe ended because of the company’s need for higher oversight on buying, the supply defined.
Because of this, the state receives a whole lot of buy requests per day from the border mission, in accordance with the senior official. And all of them should be processed by the Workplace of State Administration, a small cadre of TMD state workers who’ve additionally confronted current criticism for his or her struggles with the mission’s payroll.
The Texas Navy Division can be struggling by a monetary crunch. Operation Lone Star’s price has ballooned to greater than $2 billion a yr, properly past the $412 million the state Legislature budgeted for the mission. This month, the division’s newly appointed chief, Maj. Gen. Thomas M. Suelzer, mentioned TMD would want one other $531 million to completely fund the mission past Could 1.
That request got here after state officers had already transferred $480 million to the army division from different companies in January to maintain Operation Lone Star going.
The division’s public affairs workers mentioned TMD’s finances woes had not affected the way it prioritizes lifesaving water tools — which was in the end permitted for buy.
Little coaching, nearly no tools
Whereas the senior official cautioned that “there’s quite a lot of elements” that result in tragedies like Evans’ demise, comparable to his native management and job description, they mentioned that a part of the duty lies with senior management to find out what tools troops must have — after which to acquire it and station it the place troops can use it effectively and successfully.
Six troops who watch the river advised the Tribune and Navy Occasions they’d not been supplied flotation gadgets. It’s unclear how widespread the tools scarcity is — although the troops signify items spanning from Del Rio to Brownsville, along with varied posts in between.
Just one service member, a soldier within the Laredo space, reported having any water rescue tools in any respect. A unit there acquired rescue throw ropes in early April after its troopers witnessed 4 migrant drownings in February and prevented a fifth, the soldier mentioned.
One airman who spoke to the Tribune and Navy Occasions mentioned early within the mission officers advised troops to not rescue individuals — together with youngsters — from the river, as a result of it might be a distraction so smugglers might transfer medicine throughout different elements of the river.
An officer who leads round 40 troopers alongside part of the river with deep water defined that “it’s simply not protected for us to authorize [water rescues]” with out further coaching and tools, particularly contemplating the hefty gear troops put on on obligation. “I perceive the intuition to save lots of lives … [but] we aren’t comfy with that stage of threat.”
Some items acquired renewed orders to remain out of the river after Evans disappeared. Others had been advised they might solely enter with flotation gadgets.
Schuler, the union consultant, additionally criticized the division for not soliciting soldier suggestions within the months since its final survey of the troops, which he mentioned “produced scathing criticisms of the mission.”
“Our hope is that the brand new TMD command workers learns from this tragedy, listens to troopers, and works cooperatively with leaders on the bottom in direction of safer working and dwelling environments,” he mentioned in a textual content message. “With the rising variety of service member fatalities on Operation Lone Star, what extra will it take for the Governor to finish this political charade? It’s gone time to let the hundreds of involuntarily activated guardsmen and girls return residence to their households – earlier than it’s too late for one more soldier.”
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Texas
Fort Worth's Sky Elements Will Be Droning North Texas with Fourth of July Celebrations
![Fort Worth's Sky Elements Will Be Droning North Texas with Fourth of July Celebrations](https://s24806.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Sky-Elements-record-setting-2023-July-4th-drone-show-Photo-Sky-Elements.jpg)
A moment from Sky Elements’ record-setting 2023 July 4th drone show [Photo: Sky Elements]
Last month, the Fort Worth-based drone light show company Sky Elements put their dazzling nighttime sky skills on national TV with an appearance on “America’s Got Talent,” earning a “golden buzzer” from Simon Cowell himself.
The 400-foot-tall, 300-foot wide display in the skies outside the the show’s studio featured a rocket liftoff and an image of Cowell in the sky as a waving, space-walking astronaut, capped by the AGT logo.
“It was really patriotic,” Cowell told the Sky Elements team after the demonstration. “And I think the way you told the story, the use of music, whether you’re 3 years old, whether you’re 100 years old, I think you’re absolutely going to love that audition.”
You can watch that AGT clip here for a cool, behind-the-scenes look at how the team’s drone show takes off.
See for yourself this coming week
Or you can watch Sky Elements in action yourself all over North Texas in the next week:
Tomorrow, Saturday June 29 at Toyota Stadium, Sky Elements will give a performance during FC Dallas’ 7:30 p.m. game against FC Cincinnati.
On Wednesday July 3, Sky Elements will perform Fourth of July shows in two local cities. The first will be the Denton Independence Day celebration at Quakertown Park, with “flight times” at 9:15 p.m. and 11 p.m.
The second will be held Wednesday during day 1 of a 2-day Sparks & Stripes celebration in Irving, with a drone and fireworks show at 9:20 p.m. at Levy Event Plaza over Lake Carolyn.
First drone light show to get FAA fireworks approval
![](https://s24806.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Pyro-drone-show-by-Sky-Elements-Video-still-Sky-Elements.png)
“Pyro drone show” with fireworks on drones by Sky Elements [Video still: Sky Elements]
In May, Sky Elements announced that it had become “the first U.S.-based drone light show company to receive FAA approval to attach fireworks to drones.”
The company had been working on obtaining the waiver for 26 months before the FAA finally granted its approval. The FAA green light allows Sky Elements to legally attach and launch fireworks from drones during their shows, creating what they call “pyro drone shows.”
It’s not the first time Sky Elements has made history. On Fourth of July 2023, the company snagged a Guinness World Records title for the largest aerial formation of words created by drones (by using 1,002 drones). Then last December, the company broke two more Guiness World Records with a 1,499-drone show in North Richland Hills.
And when Major League Cricket held its historic opening night last July in Grand Prairie, Sky Elements was there to mark the occasion with a drone light show.
Not just all over North Texas—all over the U.S., too
The DFW shows coming next week are just a glimmer of the stunning amount of events Sky Elements is booked for across the U.S. You can check out the company’s master list of performances by going here—including a patriotically astounding amount of shows it’s doing around this year’s July 4th.
Get on the list.
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Texas
Massive dust plume from Sahara Desert to bring hazy skies to Florida, Texas
![Massive dust plume from Sahara Desert to bring hazy skies to Florida, Texas](https://images.foxweather.com/static.foxweather.com/www.foxweather.com/content/uploads/2024/06/1024/512/FOX-Model-Wide-with-Dust-Tracker.png?ve=1&tl=1)
A new tropical disturbance is now being monitored for development in the eastern Atlantic Ocean just in the wake of Invest 95L, which is on the cusp of becoming a tropical depression or Tropical Storm Beryl.
HOUSTON — A massive plume of dust from Africa’s Saharan Desert is blowing across the entire Atlantic Ocean this week, set to reach the shores of Florida and Texas in the coming days and casting a haze over typically blue skies.
The plume is currently forecast to skirt South Florida late Friday night into early Saturday morning, then push into the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend.
Eventually, the plume is forecast to move into Southeast Texas Sunday into Monday, with Corpus Christi and perhaps Houston likely to see some of the effects.
Coastal communities along the Florida Peninsula and the Gulf Coast are accustomed to seeing plumes of Saharan dust over the summer, which can impact air quality, produce colorful sunrises and sunsets, and reduce the chances of precipitation.
182 million tons of dust a year carried away from Africa
As daily triple-digit heat bakes the Saharan Desert, hot, dry air rises from the surface and carries fine particles of dust from the sands. That dust-laden air climbs to the highest reaches of the atmosphere, where winds called the Easterlies or Trade Winds (blowing from east to west) carry that dust about 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean into the Western Hemisphere in what’s known as the Saharan Air Layer (SAL).
5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE SAHARAN DUST PLUME
According to NASA, about 182 million tons of dust leave Africa every year, though that amount can vary depending on the amount of rainfall south of the Sahara region.
![FOX Model Wide with Dust Tracker](https://images.foxweather.com/static.foxweather.com/www.foxweather.com/content/uploads/2024/06/668/376/FOX-Model-Wide-with-Dust-Tracker.png?ve=1&tl=1)
Depending on the amount of dust being carried by the plume, air quality can be drastically affected. This means that people who have certain types of breathing problems can experience difficulty. People in the path of the plume can also experience eye, nose and throat irritation because of the fine dust particles in the air, according to WebMD.
The dry air from the hot, sandy desert also works to suppress tropical development and significant plumes of dust and dry air are common in the Atlantic during the first two and a half months of the hurricane season.
![Saharan Dust Trend](https://images.foxweather.com/static.foxweather.com/www.foxweather.com/content/uploads/2024/06/668/376/Saharan-Dust-Trend.png?ve=1&tl=1)
However, the current situation is a bit unusual in that there is quite a bit of tropical activity percolating in the Atlantic even with a significant dust layer.
Invest 95L and another tropical disturbance just to its east are holding positions just south of the dust layer, and are feeding off available moisture to their south to skirt the edges of the dust layer as they trek west.
However, the dust layer may become an important variable in the storms’ future development depending on their track.
Texas
The Growing Financial Strain of Charter School Expansion on Texas Public Schools
![The Growing Financial Strain of Charter School Expansion on Texas Public Schools](https://www.texasaft.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/image-13.png)
Every year, the State Board of Education (SBOE) approves new charter schools following a comprehensive application, review, and public hearing process that culminates in late June. The commissioner of education also approves dozens of new charter schools through the charter expansion amendment process each year, a process which lacks SBOE input and involves minimal accountability and transparency with no public notice or hearings.
To support SBOE members in making informed decisions about approving or vetoing new charter applications, Texas AFT collaborates with a broad coalition of public education advocates to analyze Texas Education Agency (TEA) data on school districts’ finances, enrollment, transfers, and cost of recapture. The rigorous analysis we provide to SBOE members aims to:
- Estimate the current revenue loss experienced by school districts within new charters’ proposed geographic boundaries due to students transferring from their home school districts to charter schools (“charter transfers out” or “charter transfers”).
- Project the additional estimated revenue loss these districts would face if new charters were approved based on their requested maximum enrollment.
- Connect charter expansion with other relevant fiscal impacts, such as districts’ costs of recapture. Every new charter student increases districts’ recapture payments to the state that fund charter schools.
This data-driven approach not only aids SBOE decision-making but also supports local advocacy efforts. School district officials, parents, educators, and community organizations use this information to voice their concerns to the SBOE, especially in districts facing rapid charter school expansion and its negative fiscal impacts. Across Texas, charter expansion is contributing to growing budget deficits, forcing many districts to consider closing neighborhood schools and holding Voter Approval Tax Rate Elections (VATREs) to balance their budgets.
In response to public education stakeholders from across the state voicing their concerns, the SBOE vetoed two of the five Generation 29 charter applications in its preliminary vote on Wednesday, June 26, including two of the three new charters that our union has been most concerned about. One of the proposed charters was to be located within Arlington ISD, the school district with the ninth highest total estimated loss of revenue to charter transfers from the 2019-2020 through the 2023-2024 school year. These results were upheld in the final vote on Friday, June 28.
Texas AFT extends the use of this district-level data to our legislative advocacy. During legislative sessions and the interims between them, we meet with current and prospective Texas Legislature members to discuss public education advocates’ concerns about charter school expansion and share data on how expansion affects the school districts they represent. This data-driven approach is effective to demonstrate the fiscal impact of charter schools even among legislators who were initially unconcerned about charter expansion. These hard facts help counter misleading claims made by charter school marketing campaigns and the many well-funded lobbyists employed by the charter industry.
Detailed analyses of charter expansion’s fiscal impact on affected school districts can be found on our website. The results of our updated analysis on estimated revenue loss due to charter transfers are alarming. School districts statewide are experiencing a large and growing drain on their resources due directly to charter expansion, as charters enrolled about 8 percent of Texas students (ADA) in FY 2023 but received about 20% of Foundation School Program state aid for public education.
Major urban districts like Houston ISD and Dallas ISD continue to experience significant fiscal impacts due to unlimited charter expansion, while smaller school districts have seen a comparatively small number of charter transfers translate into a large impact on their budgets. School districts in the Rio Grande Valley and the Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, El Paso, and Austin areas have seen the most charter expansion over the past several years. Charter schools are rapidly expanding into rural Texas as well.
These figures represent a significant financial burden, diverting resources that could otherwise enhance educational services and student experiences in public schools. The scope of this issue is expanding, as evidenced by the increasing number of affected districts and the rising total estimated revenue losses:
- 2019-2020: $2.82 billion (at least 297 districts affected)
- 2020-2021: $3.25 billion (at least 309 districts affected)
- 2021-2022: $3.32 billion (at least 312 districts affected)
- 2022-2023: $3.56 billion (at least 322 districts affected)
- 2023-2024: $3.60 billion (at least 325 districts affected)
When considering these figures, it is also important to realize that the number of charter transfers, total estimated revenue loss, and tally of affected districts are undercounts because the number of charter transfers out from a school district are sometimes not available (i.e. masked) to comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Masked numbers are typically small although larger numbers may be masked to prevent imputation.
However, the available data reveals a growing financial strain on public education resources:
- The number of districts experiencing revenue loss due to charter transfers increased from at least 297 in 2019-2020 to at least 325 in 2023-2024.
- At least 377 districts have faced some level of revenue loss due to charter transfers over the five-year period.
The implications of these findings extend beyond district finances to the communities they serve. The growing financial pressure could lead to:
- Increased class sizes, layoffs, and cuts to pay and benefits as districts struggle to balance budgets without necessary funding.
- Reductions in extracurricular and academic programs, particularly those serving economically disadvantaged communities where charter expansion has been most prevalent.
- Potential school closures, which have devastating effects on local communities and economies, leading to longer commutes for students and job losses for educators and support staff.
The trends of increasing revenue losses and the broadening impact across more districts are unsustainable and demand immediate attention from policymakers. Action is needed to mitigate further adverse effects on public schools and ensure a more equitable approach to public and charter school funding. The data clearly shows that the financial viability of many districts is at risk, which has severe implications for educational quality and equity across the state.
These stark realities underscore the need for robust, data-driven discussions among policymakers, educators, and community stakeholders. As we advocate for a more equitable approach, we must consider:
- Implementing a more rigorous approval process for new charter schools and expansions, with greater emphasis on their potential impact on existing public schools and taxpayers.
- Developing funding mechanisms that do not disproportionately disadvantage public school districts when students transfer to charter schools or create a funding advantage for charters.
- Increasing transparency in charter school operations and finances to ensure they are held to the same standards of accountability as public schools.
- Investing in public schools to enhance their ability to meet diverse student needs, reducing the perceived need for inefficient, parallel systems such as charter schools or private school vouchers.
- Establishing a moratorium on new charter schools and on the expansion of existing charter school networks through charter expansion amendments.
- Conducting a comprehensive study of charter school impact on public education, including the fiscal impact on public school districts, the state budget, students, school employees, and taxpayers.
Texas AFT remains committed to using data-driven advocacy to protect and strengthen our public education system. We call on all stakeholders – legislators, educators, parents, and community members – to engage in this critical conversation about the future of public education in Texas. By working together and making informed decisions based on comprehensive data, we can ensure that all Texas students have access to high-quality education without compromising the financial stability of our public school districts.
The challenge before us is significant, but with continued advocacy and collaboration, we can work towards a more equitable and sustainable educational landscape for all Texas students to thrive.
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