Dallas News

This mild and showery weather pattern is going to continue for the next couple of days. Friday may start off with areas of fog and a few showers, but the bulk of the day will be mostly cloudy and mild. Highs will be in the upper 60s to lower 70s. The next good chance of more widespread rain will be …

AUSTIN — In the latest test of a controversial Texas abortion law, a judge on Thursday moved to dismiss a lawsuit against a doctor who openly violated the six-week ban. The decision doesn’t overturn the law, known as Senate Bill 8, but it calls into question the novel enforcement mechanism that anyone can sue. The statute relies on private citizens to bring …

The FedEx delivery driver who authorities say kidnapped and killed 7-year-old Athena Strand in Wise County allegedly told investigators she was alive after he accidentally hit her with his truck, but he panicked, put her in the vehicle and then killed her, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit released Thursday. Wise County authorities say 31-year-old Tanner Lynn Horner, a FedEx contract …

You know the story of the canary in the coal mine? Miners took caged canaries into the mines, and when the odorless carbon monoxide killed the birds, it was time for the miners to flee. Canary in the coal mine has come to mean the issuance of a first warning about something before anyone knows about it. In this story, …

A former Dallas police officer faces a murder charge in the shooting of her neighbor in Fort Worth. 43-year old Cathryn “Cat” Lafitte was booked into Tarrant County jail Aug. 15. She faces one murder charge and one charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Dallas Police Department officer Cat Lafitte painted one of the pillars in Deep Ellum …

The additional remains of Arlington Seaman 1st Class George Coke Jr. were interned at a memorial service on Dec. 7, which commemorates the 81st anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Coke’s remains are interred at the Parkdale Cemetery in Arlington, where the sailor’s first set of remains was buried in 2017. The family worked with the Arlington Historical Society and others in the …

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House gave final approval Thursday to landmark legislation expanding protections for same-sex and interracial marriage after months of debate and negotiations. The Respect for Marriage Act is now en route to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law. “Today, Congress took a critical step to ensure that Americans have the right to marry the …

A fire extinguishing system at the Dallas Morning News facility in Plano went off unexpectedly Thursday evening, leading to the evacuation of dozens of employees. Around 6:30 p.m., emergency crews were notified of a structure fire at the Dallas Morning News printing plant, located in the 3900 block of West Plano Parkway in Plano, about 22 miles north of downtown …

A Richardson man accused of storming the U.S. Capitol building in January 2021 and threatening Democratic lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on social media entered a guilty plea Thursday to multiple felony and misdemeanor charges. Garret Miller, 36, was arrested in the weeks following the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. According to a federal complaint, Miller shared videos on social media …

AUSTIN — House Democrats on Wednesday selected a new leader for the first time in six years, tapping 10-session veteran Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio to head the party’s caucus in the chamber. Fischer’s selection as chairman came a day after the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, a mostly Democratic group of House members, elected Rep. Victoria Neave Criado of Dallas as its …