Texas

ROWLETT, Texas (AP) — A man opened fire on a Dallas-area public bus on Sunday, hijacking it with two people aboard and leading officers on a chase that ended in a shootout in which the man was killed and three officers were wounded, according to police officials.

A man got on the Dallas Area Rapid Transit bus in Richardson, just north of Dallas, at around 11 a.m and opened fire, shattering windows, said Gordon Shattles, a DART spokesman.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Stores in Texas can soon begin selling merchandise with curbside service, and hospitals can resume nonessential surgeries. In Florida, people are returning to a few beaches and parks. And protesters are clamoring for more.

Governors eager to rescue their economies and feeling heat from President Donald Trump are moving to ease restrictions meant to control the spread of the coronavirus, even as new hot spots emerge and experts warn that moving too fast could prove disastrous.

HOUSTON (AP) — Elsy was on the phone in an immigration detention center when guards showed up with face masks and forms to sign.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — When schools started closing across the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic, they scrambled to keep feeding millions of students from poor families who depend on free and reduced-price meals every day.

Cities big and small quickly ran into problems: food workers, teachers and volunteers manning curbside pickup locations came down with the virus themselves or were too scared to report for duty. Some districts have been forced to suspend their programs altogether.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas’ lieutenant governor said Monday night that the U.S. should get back to work in the face of the global pandemic and that people over the age of 70, who the Centers for Disease Control says are at higher risk for the coronavirus, will “take care of ourselves.”

Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made the comments while appearing on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” Patrick, 69, went on the program after President Donald Trump said earlier Monday that he wanted the country getting back to business in weeks, not months.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — It took 15 minutes for the coronavirus to wreck Shelley Hutchings’ carefully calculated financial plans.

Hutchings, a bartender and performer, had lined up gigs in advance of the South by Southwest film, music and technology festival, which draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to Austin each year. She’d expected to earn about $3,000 — enough to pay her taxes and buy a new sewing machine for a tailoring business she runs.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was arrested in Texas on a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated after his wife called police to their house over an argument, according to court records released Tuesday.

The Infowars founder was booked into an Austin jail shortly after midnight and released on bond a few hours later, Travis County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kristen Dark said. Jones, 46, had a “strong odor of alcohol” coming from him and his blood-alcohol level was recorded at .076 and .079, according to court records.

Texas, USA (AP) --- Details that have emerged more than two months after a Texas police officer killed an unarmed man during a traffic stop still leave the unanswered question: Why did he pull the trigger?

Temple Officer Carmen DeCruz, 52, was charged with manslaughter Monday in the fatal shooting of Michael Dean, a black 28-year-old, in the city of 76,000 people about 70 miles (112 kilometers) northeast of Austin. Before then, Temple police had released little information about the Dec. 2 shooting.

COMMERCE, Texas (AP) — Two women were killed and a child was wounded in a shooting Monday morning at a university dormitory in Texas, officials said.

A recommendation for students and employees to shelter in place was lifted early Monday afternoon at Texas A&M University-Commerce, and police said there appeared to be no other threats. Officials have not identified the suspected shooter.

HOUSTON (AP) — A massive explosion Friday leveled a warehouse in Houston, killing two workers, damaging nearby buildings and homes and rousing frightened residents from their sleep miles away, authorities said.

The explosion happened about 4:30 a.m. inside a building at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing, which makes valves and provides thermal-spray coatings for equipment in various industries, authorities said. The building was reduced to burning rubble and debris, and some of the surrounding buildings suffered heavy damage to parts of their walls and roofs.