WASHINGTON — With the U.S. Senate scheduled to break for August recess early next week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, has indicated that he wants to take up revised voting rights legislation before senators leave for the summer. It’s what the Texas Democrats have been jockeying for, ever since 57 of them fled to Washington from Austin earlier this …

The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in North Texas has exceeded the high point of last summer, before vaccines were available, the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council says. Figures reported Thursday showed 1,979 people were hospitalized in the service area that includes Dallas-Fort Worth. The Department of State Health Services recorded last summer’s high as 1,965. Dallas County reported 537 people …

An appeals court upheld the murder conviction of Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer who fatally shot Botham Jean in his own apartment Sept. 6, 2018. Since a jury convicted her in 2019, Guyger has argued that her mistaken belief that she was in her apartment negates her culpability for murder. She asked the Fifth Court of Appeals in …

Ralph Langer, a retired editor and executive vice president of The Dallas Morning News who led the newsroom during one of the most closely watched daily newspaper wars of the 1980s and 1990s, has died. Langer, 84, died at his home Thursday from complications that followed a broken hip, including a bacterial infection, according to Kathy Langer, his wife of 61 years. …

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — An investigation is ongoing into a possible drowning involving a child in the Spring area. Thursday afternoon, Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Deputies respond to the 3000 block of Hirschfield Road to a possible child drowning. The child was taken to a hospital via LifeFlight in unknown condition.  

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — For more than a year, the city of Houston’s health department has been testing wastewater to get a better idea of how fast the virus is spreading and what is to come. Now, the Chief Medical Officer for the City of Houston Dr. David E. Persse said the levels of the virus have more than tripled …

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo has raised the county’s COVID threat level Thursday from orange “significant” to red “severe.” “Severe” is the highest level and calls for unvaccinated people to stay home unless they need to leave for an essential reason such as going to the grocery store. According to the threat level system, “severe” is …

Seventeen stolen vehicles were recovered from a chop shop in Seagoville on Tuesday, according to the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department. Most of the vehicles were pickups and SUVs that had been reported stolen from Dallas, Coppell, DeSoto, Duncanville, Lancaster, Mesquite and Waxahachie, the department said in a news release Thursday. Chop shops are used to strip parts from stolen vehicles …

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Deep moisture will remain over Houston Friday, bringing more widespread clouds and scattered downpours. If you do get any rain, you’ll probably get less than half an inch, but some of the heavier downpours could drop a quick inch in some spots. Your chance of rain is at 40%. Temperatures will drop into the mid 70s …

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A 51-year-old woman has been charged with murder in connection with a crash along the Eastex Freeway that killed a grandfather who was driving home with his three grandchildren. Houston police said Cathy Ann Gilley was behind the wheel of the Ford F-150 truck that slammed into a 75-year-old man’s vehicle. Investigators believe Gilley, who remains …