H-E-B is launching tap-to-pay services across all its Texas stores, allowing customers to make quick, contactless payments using digital wallets like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay.
The gist
Starting on Oct. 7, H-E-B will roll out tap-to-pay technology across Texas, beginning with stores in the San Antonio area, according to a news release from the grocery store.
All stores in the region will offer the service within a week. For locations outside the San Antonio area—including Mi Tienda stores in Houston—access to the tap-to-pay service is expected by the end of October, as per the release.
The details
Customers will be able to use tap-to-pay at:
Registers
Self-checkout lanes
H-E-B restaurants
H-E-B pharmacies
The tap-to-pay service will not be available at fuel pumps, but customers can use the service at fuel station payment windows, according to the release.
What they’re saying
“This has been one of the most requested services from our customers and partners,” said Ashwin Nathan, H-E-B’s group vice president of marketing and payments, in the release. “We are excited to make this technology available at all H-E-B locations.”
SPRING, Texas (KTRK) — An investigation is underway after Spring ISD teachers were accused of giving elementary special stickers that are believed to be sleeping aids.
The district said two Northgate Crossing Elementary School teachers were removed from class and placed on administrative leave as police investigate the allegations.
It’s not out of the ordinary for Lisa Luviano’s daughter to come home from school with something to show.
On Sept. 24, it was this sticker with a starry nightlike design.
“She said, ‘It is a sleeping sticker.’ I asked, ‘Where did you get this?’ And she said, ‘My teacher gives it to me for sleeping time,'” Luviano said.
Luviano claims her daughter told her that other kids in her class also get it.
“The next day, we went to the school. We brought the evidence up there, and we filed a report. We did say we wanted to file criminal charges if this is something that is true,” Luviano said.
The expectation was that the school would notify other parents after nearly two weeks went by. Luviano grew increasingly concerned.
She decided to loop them in on her own by sending a mass text.
When Najla Abdullah got it, she began questioning her 4-year-old, asking him if he had ever received a “special sticker.”
“He said, ‘Yes, mommy. I get a special sticker.’ I said, ‘What does it look like?’ He said, ‘I get it right here on my hand, and it has the storms with the clouds and the star and the moon,'” Abdullah said.
Abdullah and other parents started calling the school and reporting it to Child Protective Services.
Some told ABC13 that they even took their kids to the hospital to get checked out.
“Every night, my son will come home. He’s staying up. He’s not sleeping,” Abdullah said.
Luviano claims her daughter exhibited similar behaviors.
“I just felt bad because all of the things she was going through made sense,” Luviano said.
A formal notification from Spring ISD came Tuesday, exactly two weeks after Luviano reported the incident.
The district sent Eyewitness News the following statement:
Spring ISD is aware of allegations that two staff members at Northgate Crossing Elementary School allegedly administered sleeping supplements to students on Sept. 24. These staff members were immediately removed from the classroom and placed on administrative leave pending an ongoing investigation by the Spring ISD Police Department. The district takes every allegation of educator misconduct seriously and will take all necessary measures to ensure that our students are educated in a safe and nurturing environment.
“It took them two weeks, and now they are finally saying something. All the parents are here. We want answers,” Luviano said.
ABC13’s Alex Bozarjian caught parents confronting an assistant superintendent for the district outside the school on Tuesday.
She later spoke with him and another administrator, who called the district’s delayed communication a “failure.”
Luviano and her husband want to see criminal charges come from this.
“Who is guilty for this? Who had been doing this to our kids? Because they are not telling what the side effects are in the long run,” Luviano said.
The district has not identified the two staff members in question.
Parents are now questioning how long this went on and if it goes beyond just special stickers.
“My trust was broken by this teacher. We opened our hearts to,” Luviano said.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A jury has reached a decision on a 60-year sentence for Gerald Goines, convicted of murder in connection with the botched 2019 drug raid that killed two people.
The jury failed to reach a decision on Monday after discussing his sentence for more than eight hours. Deliberations resumed at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday.
The state asked for life in prison, while the defense asked for a minimum sentence of five years.
Closing arguments were supposed to finish on Thursday, but Goines appeared to have a medical issue and was taken away on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance.
The sentencing phase for former HPD officer Gerald Goines, convicted in the 2019 Harding Street raid, was interrupted by a medical issue Thursday.
Because of an ongoing gag order, no additional information was released on what the medical issue may have been.
“It’s one of the most stressful events anybody could ever go through,” said veteran Houston criminal attorney Kent Schaffer, reacting to the incident in the courtoom. “Which begets the question of how did these people feel who were innocent that he (Goines) came in and testified in their trial, and put them away, how did them and their family members feel? Did they have punishment and cardiac problems? Probably.”
Schaffer says while medical emergencies are not that common in courtrooms, they do happen.
“I don’t think it will get much sympathy for him,” said Schaffer. “I mean, look. Jurors are smart. They’re going to say, OK, so the guy had a bad reaction to what’s going on, but he put himself in this situation. He’s responsible for the deaths of two people, and God knows how many people who were locked up and prosecuted who shouldn’t have been locked up or prosecuted.”
Dennis and his wife, Rhogena, were killed in a shootout with police.
It was on Jan. 28, 2019, when a Houston police narcotics unit, led by Case Agent Gerald Goines, broke open the door of the Tuttle home at 7815 Harding Street, trying to serve a no-knock warrant. Goines lied on an affidavit to obtain the initial no-knock warrant, claiming the couple was dealing heroin.
Jurors have heard from members of the victim’s family, as well as Goines’ supporters, including former first lady of Houston Elyse Lanier and her daughter, Courtney Lanier Sarofim.
Goines took care of Mayor Bob Lanier for years, helping with his basic needs over the last few decades. Both women testified they consider him part of their extended family.
Milton remains a powerful and dangerous storm. Milton currently a category 4 storm but is expected to regain wind intensity back up to cat. 5 later this afternoon after undergoing an eyewall replacement cycle. As Milton makes a turn to the northeast, the outer rain bands coming ashore can produce tornadoes across much of the Florida Peninsula on Wednesday. Life threatening, record surge is expected in Tampa Bay, where there can be 10-15 ft of storm surge. Milton is forecast to make landfall as a cat. 3 major hurricane, but can potentially make landfall at cat. 4 strength since it is possible the shear to the west will not be as strong as previously thought.
Hurricane Leslie is slowly losing intensity in the open central Atlantic and is not expected to directly impact land. There are also two areas the NHC has highlighted for potential development, but neither will have any impacts to Texas.
October 7, 10:00 p.m.
Milton’s winds weakened to 165 mph but it’s still a category 5 storm. The weakening is due to an eyewall replacement cycle. It may very well stay a category 5 storm through Tuesday since it’ll be moving through a very warm eddy of water called the Loop Current. It’s expected to hit the west coast of Florida near Tampa Bay Wednesday night as at least a category 3 hurricane.
October 7, 4:00 p.m.
Category 5 Hurricane Milton is now tied with Hurricane Rita for the third strongest hurricane on record over the Gulf of Mexico with winds of 180 mph and gusts up to 220 mph. It is still expected to make landfall as a category 3 hurricane Wednesday night along Florida’s west coast with a storm surge up to 15 feet possible in Tampa Bay.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Houston’s largest airport is getting ready to open the doors on its highly-anticipated expansion project.
The Houston Airport System announced this week that the Terminal D-West Pier at Bush Intercontinental Airport will open on Oct. 22.
The 160,000-square-foot expansion will feature six new gates that can accommodate wide-body planes. IAH said the expansion will support increasing passenger demand while also enhancing the overall travel experience.
The terminal will also feature a children’s play area.
The Terminal D-West Pier expansion is the latest completed step in the airport’s $1.458 billion IAH Terminal Redevelopment Program. Next, IAH plans to open a new international processing area in two phases this upcoming winter and next summer.
With the expansion, IAH said the airport will add 250 newly-hired employees to work at 16 new shops and restaurants.
The construction to expand Terminal D began nearly five years ago in November 2019.
For many Houston-area travelers, traffic around IAH is top of mind. With the expansion announcement, the airport said it anticipates releasing more good news when it comes to improved traffic flow in November and December.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Brutal child abuse allegations said to have taken place over a four-day period landed a Houston couple behind bars.
The 5-month-old victim was allegedly brain dead when she was hospitalized on Sept. 29. The child ultimately succumbed to her injuries on Wednesday, according to investigators.
Glenn Wayne Smith and Jasmine Ellison were arrested for injury to a child and serious bodily injury.
The couple has no criminal history or past run-ins with child protective services, according to law enforcement.
What investigators find so disturbing about the allegations is that even if the injuries were inflicted accidentally, the couple is accused of watching the infant get worse and worse and waiting to bring her to the hospital.
The infant’s mother, Ellison, appeared in court for the part she allegedly played in the heart-sinking death of her baby girl, Ja’nae Smith.
“The abuse is said to have taken place over a four-day period, or the most recent abuse, in which the child was in the care of both this defendant and the child’s father,” prosecutors said.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office described Ja’nae’s final days as a “horrific weekend that began on Sept. 26.”
During that time, it is alleged that Ja’nae’s father, identified in court records as Smith, was abusing the child, and Ellison failed to take action.
It all allegedly took place inside their north Harris County home on Plumwood Drive.
Investigators say Ja’nae was partially paralyzed and throwing up blood, yet Ellison and Smith waited until Sept. 29 to call 911.
“The child was found with multiple serious injuries including swelling and bleeding of the brain, no brain activity at the time of admission, blood coming out of her mouth, broken ribs, healed broken ribs,” prosecutors read in court.
The child was assessed at the Texas Medical Center, where she ultimately died from her injuries.
“Medical staff said the injuries were likely caused by aggressively shaking the child,” prosecutors said.
Ellison and Smith were questioned by detectives.
“Both ended up giving statements to police that were inconsistent with the injuries,” investigators said.
The attorney who represented Ellison in probable cause court claims the 23-year-old mom sought medical care for her daughter but didn’t specify when.
“And was told to bring her in if the child got worse, and it appears the child declined while my client was at work,” the attorney representing Ellison in probable cause court said.
Eyewitness News spoke briefly with Ja’nae’s grandmother, who investigators say often visited the couple’s home, but she declined to comment.
Smith was initially being held on a $1 million bond, but it was later reduced to $250,000. Ellison’s was set at $150,000.
Customers reported another Verizon outage on Monday morning, according to downdetector.com.
The initial spike of problems happened around 6:45 a.m. C.T., the website showed.
Verizon has not put out a statement on the cause for the reported outage.
The problems were mostly reported on mobile phones. Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia were among the cities with the highest outage reports on Monday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — Two men are dead after an apparent murder-suicide in north Harris County.
Sheriff’s investigators said the two men in their 20s are brothers.
The shooting happened shortly before 2 a.m. Monday at a townhome in the 15100 block of Ella Boulevard near West Airtex Boulevard, just west of the I-45 North Freeway.
When deputies arrived at the scene, they found both men dead with gunshot wounds.
Investigators said their mother was home during the shooting and was the one who called 911. She was taken to the hospital after an apparent panic attack.
The woman told deputies she heard some kind of disturbance in her son’s bedroom. She reportedly broke through the locked door and found both of her sons shot.
Investigators believe the 22-year-old brother shot his 24-year-old brother with autism and then turned the gun on himself. One pistol was found at the scene.
HCSO said deputies have responded to previous calls at the address regarding mental health issues and disturbances involving one of the sons.
“At this point, we don’t have a motive. We’re still trying to figure that out. But we did know medical history with one of the sons. At this point, that’s all we have in terms of what could possibly be the motive. But that hasn’t been confirmed yet,” Sgt. Sidney Miller said.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, or worried about a friend or loved one, help is available. Call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential, emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Milton is now on the cusp of category 5 status with 155 mph winds. Category 5 begins at 157 mph. The hurricane is still projected to make landfall as a major category 3 storm along Florida’s west coast Wednesday evening. Due to the large storm surge predicted to go as high as 12 feet, evacuation orders are now underway in many coastal communities, and local residents are encouraged to heed the advice of their local emergency managers.
October 7, 9 a.m.
Milton rapidly intensified to a category 4 hurricane early Monday morning, sustained winds of 150 mph. Milton will continue to strengthen over the Gulf. As it approaches landfall, Milton will remain a major hurricane with winds closer to 125 mph. Tropical storm, hurricane and storm surge watches have been issued all along the Gulf coast of Florida, including inland counties. Rainfall forecasts between 5-10″ with isolated spots over 15″ will be possible. Storm surge forecast along Tampa Bay, 8-12′.
Meanwhile, deeper in the Atlantic, Leslie is slowly losing intensity as a category 1 hurricane in the open central Atlantic and is not expected to directly impact land. Hurricane Kirk is becoming less organized in the northern Atlantic and is anticipated to bring heavy rain and strong winds to western Europe later this week.
October 6, 4 p.m.
Milton continues to rapidly intensify and is now a Cat. 1 hurricane. Milton is expected to become a Cat. 4 hurricane by Tuesday as it moves east through the Gulf. The latest track has Milton making landfall in the western coast of Florida Wednesday as a major hurricane. No impacts to Texas.
October 6, 9 a.m.
Tropical Storm Milton is forecast to quickly intensify while it moves eastward in the western Gulf of Mexico this week. Unfortunately conditions look conducive for Milton to become a major hurricane by the time we get to Tuesday. It is expected to make landfall as a major hurricane Wednesday somewhere along the western coastline of Florida. No impacts to Texas.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Basin we also have hurricane Hurricane Kirk and Hurricane Leslie, though neither are going to impact the US.
