HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The Seattle Mariners rocked Astros ace Framber Valdez with eight hits and three earned runs, but Alex Bregman, Jason Heyward, and Kyle Tucker launched home runs to do away with Houston’s closest American League West challenger on Tuesday and lock up the ballclub’s fourth straight division title.
The Astros dropped the Mariners, 4-3, to qualify for the postseason, which Houston will start in the AL Wild Card Series against the team with the third-best wild-card record. Houston had a chance at a bye into the AL Division Series and needed the second-seeded Cleveland Guardians to lose their remaining games beginning Tuesday. But the AL Central champs defeated Cincinnati to deny the Astros.
Houston Astros’ Jason Heyward gestures to the dugout as he rounds the bases on his two-run home run against the Mariners on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024.AP Photo/Michael Wyke
Houston might not know its first playoff opponent until the final day of the regular season. The Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers currently hold the second and third wild-card spots, but the Minnesota Twins, Seattle, the Boston Red Sox, and the Tampa Bay Rays are still in contention. Five games separate these teams.
The best-of-three AL Wild Card Series begins on Tuesday, Oct. 1. The Astros host all series games, including a winner-take-all third game, if necessary. The winner advances to the best-of-five AL Division Series against the Guardians, which begins Saturday, Oct. 5, in Cleveland.
A column of water more than 30 feet tall sprayed across the southbound lanes of Broadway at 59th Street Wednesday morning and stalled traffic to the causeway.
There is a 2-inch water line break connected to a 20-inch water line in the median near 59th Street and Broadway, Galveston spokeswoman Marissa Barnett said. It’s unclear what caused the apparent water line break sometime before 7:30 a.m., but city staff suspects it could be from the line’s age, Barnett said.
The column of water was taller than the famous live oaks that line Broadway, shooting diagonally from the median at 59th and Broadway almost to the sidewalk beside Burger King.
The water line break and subsequent repair work will likely affect businesses in the area, Barnett said.
Workers at the Shell gas station attached to the restaurant said they weren’t sure what caused the leak.
Traffic was stalled from the intersection all the way to the causeway about 3 miles away before 8 a.m.
Drivers should expect delays while crews work to repair the line, Barnett said.
The maker of the popular party game Cards Against Humanity is accusing Elon Musk’s SpaceX of trespassing on and damaging a plot of vacant land the company owns in Texas.
In a lawsuit filed this week at a Texas court, Cards Against Humanity alleges SpaceX has essentially treated the game company’s property — located in Cameron County — as its own for at least the past six months.
The lawsuit said SpaceX, which had previously acquired other plots of land near the property, has placed construction materials, such as gravel, and other debris on the land without asking for permission to do so.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cards Against Humanity, which is headquartered in Chicago, had purchased the plot of land in 2017 as part of what it said was a stunt to oppose former president Donald Trump’s efforts to build a border wall.
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The company said 150,000 people had each contributed $15 towards the effort.
Over the years, Cards Against Humanity says the land has been maintained in its natural state. It also says it contained a “no trespassing” sign to warn people they were about to step on private property.
The company is asking for $15 million in damages, which it says includes a loss of vegetation on the land.
WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders announced an agreement Sunday on a short-term spending bill that will fund federal agencies for about three months, averting a possible partial government shutdown when the new budget year begins Oct. 1 and pushing final decisions until after the November election.
Lawmakers have struggled to get to this point as the current budget year winds to a close at month’s end. At the urging of the most conservative members of his conference, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had linked temporary funding with a mandate that would have compelled states to require proof of citizenship when people register to vote. But Johnson could not get all Republicans on board even as the party’s presidential nominee, Donald Trump, insisted on that package. Trump said Republican lawmakers should not support a stop-gap measure without the voting requirement, but the bill went down to defeat anyway, with 14 Republicans opposing it.
Bipartisan negotiations began in earnest shortly after that, with leadership agreeing to extend funding into mid-December. That gives the current Congress the ability to fashion a full-year spending bill after the Nov. 5 election, rather than push that responsibility to the next Congress and president. In a letter to Republican colleagues, Johnson said the budget measure would be “very narrow, bare-bones” and include “only the extensions that are absolutely necessary.”
“While this is not the solution any of us prefer, it is the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances,” Johnson wrote. “As history has taught and current polling affirms, shutting the government down less than 40 days from a fateful election would be an act of political malpractice.” Rep. Tom Cole, the House Appropriations Committee chairman, had said on Friday that talks were going well. “So far, nothing has come up that we can’t deal with,” said Cole, R-Okla. “Most people don’t want a government shutdown and they don’t want that to interfere with the election. So nobody is like, ‘I’ve got to have this or we’re walking.’ It’s just not that way.” Johnson’s earlier effort had no chance in the Democratic-controlled Senate and was opposed by the White House, but it did give the speaker a chance to show Trump and conservatives within his conference that he fought for their request. The final result – government funding effectively on autopilot – was what many had predicted. With the election just weeks away, few lawmakers in either party had any appetite for the brinksmanship that often leads to a shutdown.
Now, a bipartisan majority is expected to push the short-term measure over the finish line. Temporary spending bills generally fund agencies at current levels, but some additional money was included to bolster the Secret Service, replenish a disaster relief fund and aid with the presidential transition, among other things.
HOUSTON, Texas — A Texas man with a long history of mental illness who has repeatedly sought to waive his right to appeal his death sentence faced execution Tuesday evening for killing his 3-month-old son more than 16 years ago.
Travis Mullis, 38, was condemned for stomping his son Alijah to death in January 2008. His execution by lethal injection was set to take place at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.
Authorities say Mullis, then 21 and living in Brazoria County, drove to nearby Galveston with his son after fighting with his girlfriend. Mullis parked his car and sexually assaulted his son. After the infant began to cry uncontrollably, Mullis began strangling his son before taking him out of the car and stomping on his head, according to authorities.
The infant’s body was later found on the side of the road. Mullis fled Texas but was later arrested after turning himself in to police in Philadelphia.
Mullis’ execution was expected to proceed as his attorneys did not plan to file any final appeals to try and stay his lethal injection. His lawyers also did not file a clemency petition with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.
In a letter submitted to U.S. District Judge George Hanks in Houston, Mullis wrote in February that he had no desire to challenge his case any further. Mullis has previously taken responsibility for his son’s death and has said “his punishment fit the crime.”
In the letter, Mullis said, “he seeks the same finality and justice the state seeks.”
Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady, whose office prosecuted Mullis, declined to comment ahead of Tuesday’s scheduled execution.
At Mullis’ trial, prosecutors said Mullis was a “monster” who manipulated people, was deceitful and refused the medical and psychiatric help he had been offered.
Since his conviction in 2011, Mullis has long been at odds with his various attorneys over whether to appeal his case. At times, Mullis had asked that his appeals be waived, only to later change his mind.
Shawn Nolan, one of Mullis’ attorneys, told the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals during a June 2023 hearing that state courts in Texas had erred in ruling that Mullis had been mentally competent when he had waived his right to appeal his case about a decade earlier.
Nolan told the appeals court that Mullis has been treated for “profound mental illness” since he was 3 years old, was sexually abused as a child and is “severely bipolar,” leading him to change his mind about appealing his case.
“The only hope that Mr. Mullis had of avoiding execution, of surviving was to have competent counsel to help the court in its determination of whether he was giving up his rights knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily and that did not happen,” Nolan said.
Natalie Thompson, who at the time was with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, told the appeals court that Mullis understood what he was doing and could go against his lawyers’ advice “even if he’s suffering from mental illness.”
The appeals court upheld Hank’s ruling from 2021 that found Mullis “repeatedly competently chose to waive review” of his death sentence.
The U.S. Supreme Court has prohibited the application of the death penalty for the intellectually disabled, but not for people with serious mental illness.
Mullis would be the fourth inmate put to death this year in Texas, the nation’s busiest capital punishment state, and the 15th in the U.S.
Mullis’ execution is one of five set to take place in the U.S. within a week’s time. The first took place Friday when South Carolina put inmate Freddie Owens to death. Also Tuesday, Marcellus Williams was scheduled to be executed in Missouri. On Thursday, executions are scheduled for Alan Miller in Alabama and Emmanuel Littlejohn in Oklahoma.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Fall is here, but the weather still hasn’t gotten the memo. Thankfully we don’t have to wait long for some humidity relief. The first fall front will approach Southeast Texas Tuesday, bringing with it a line of scattered showers and thunderstorms.
Tuesday will bring another hot afternoon as temps climbs into the low-to-mid 90s, but we do have a healthy 60% chance for cooling showers and thunderstorms as a weak cool front approaches. The highest chance of rain for Houston will be in the 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. window. While this weak front does blow in some storms Tuesday, it won’t push all the way through until sometime on Wednesday.
How long do you expect these summertime temperatures to continue?
High temperatures should remain at or above 90 degrees for several days this week, but with the humidity dropping behind the front, you’ll notice some heat relief during the second half of the week. The front will give us several crisp mornings in the 60s, but we only get two days of highs in the 80s with this one.
How long will we have to wait for our first real taste of fall air?
We’ll likely have to wait until at least mid October for the chance of a meaningful cool front to visit us here in Southeast Texas
What are you tracking in the tropics?
We are tracking what is now Tropical Storm Helene that is currently moving through the Caribbean. It is expected to move north into the southeastern Gulf Wednesday as a strong tropical storm or hurricane. It looks to most likely make landfall in the Big Bend or Panhandle area of Florida Thursday as a major category 3 or higher hurricane. No impacts are expected for Texas. Head to our daily Tropical Update page for the latest on what’s happening in the tropics.
The man suspected by the FBI of planning to kill former President Donald Trumppossessed a list that included dates from August to October of venues where Trump had appeared or was expected to be — and is suspected to have traveled near the golf course where the incident took place and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort multiple times in the month leading up to his arrest, prosecutors said in a detention filing on Monday.
In their memo, prosecutors further revealed that suspect Ryan Wesley Routhallegedly sent a letter “several months prior” to his arrest to a civilian witness that stated, “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you.”
Man accused in apparent assassination attempt wrote note indicating he intended to kill TrumpDepartment of Justice via CNN Newsource
Routh, 58, is expected to appear before a judge on Monday. He was ordered to appear in a West Palm Beach federal court for a pre-detention hearing.
Routh has already been charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number for the Sept. 15 incident that took place at Trump International Golf Club.
According to prosecutors’ detention memo, when searching Routh’s car following his arrest agents found a total of six cell phones — one of which contained a google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico.
Agents further found “a notebook with dozens of pages filled with names and phone numbers pertaining to Ukraine, discussions about how to join combat on behalf of Ukraine, and notes criticizing the governments of China and Russia.”
Cell site records obtained by the FBI confirmed Routh first traveled from Greensboro, North Carolina, to West Palm Beach on Aug. 14, and “on multiple days and times” from Aug. 18 to Sep. 15 his cell phone was located near the golf course as well as Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago. They did not list the specific dates or the exact number of times Routh is suspected to have traveled near Trump’s properties.
Trump was playing golf on the course when a Secret Service agent spotted a gun barrel poking out from the tree line near the sixth green, according to investigators.
The agent then fired in the direction of the rifle and saw Routh fleeing the area and entering his Nissan vehicle, according to the criminal complaint.
Routh was allegedly 300 to 500 yards away from the former president and did not fire a shot, according to investigators. Trump was not in Routh’s line of sight, according to the Secret Service.
Witnesses reported the license plate number to authorities, and the suspect was stopped and detained.
In the area of the tree line where the suspect was seen, agents found a digital camera, two bags, including a backpack, and a loaded SKS-style 7.62×39 caliber rifle with a scope, according to the complaint. The serial number on the rifle “was obliterated and unreadable to the naked eye,” the complaint states.
Routh did not enter a plea for his initial charges and his arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 30.
The investigation is ongoing and the FBI has been going through Routh’s social media and criminal history and speaking with family members to get more clues.
Investigators further revealed that three days after they arrested Routh, a civilian witness contacted them with information that Routh had dropped off a box at their residence several months ago that contained “ammunition, a metal pipe, miscellaneous building materials, tools, four phones, and various letters.”
“One handwritten letter, addressed to “The World,” stated, among other things, “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you,” the filing said. “I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.”
Routh suggested Iran should feel “free to assassinate Trump” and himself in a self-published book from February 2023.
In the book, which ABC News has unearthed following Sunday’s incident, Routh directed an apology toward Iran, apparently for his previous support for Trump, who withdrew the U.S. in 2018 from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal with Iran.
Agents further said they had reviewed a book authored by Routh, which has previously been publicly reported on, titled, “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment and the Global Citizen-Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea, WWIII and the End of Humanity.”
In it, Routh wrote he “must take part of the blame for the [person] that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless, but I am man enough to say that I misjudged and made a terrible mistake and Iran I apologize. You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the deal. No one here in the US seems to have the balls to put natural selection to work or even unnatural selection.”
The suspect was also a booster of a number of causes, including the war in Ukraine, an ABC News analysis of his apparent social media profiles shows.
As authorities try to unravel the motive and details of the case, sources said investigators were looking at whether Routh was frustrated with Trump’s position on Ukraine.
ANGLETON, Texas (KTRK) — Two people have died, and five others are hospitalized after a manufactured home in Angleton collapsed on top of a family, authorities said Sunday.
According to the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office, at about 5 p.m., several family members were working on the home in the 2000 block of CR 49, just east of Highway 288, when it collapsed, trapping them beneath the structure.
In audio heard from dispatch, it appears the family was trying to re-level the home when some of the cinder blocks broke, pinning them underneath.
“They are still going to be pinned underneath the house until we get the fire department out here. The house is still laying on them,” responders said over radio dispatch.
Multiple local EMS, fire, and law enforcement agencies responded to the scene and rescued five people.
Of those rescued, four were flown to the hospital in critical condition. One person is stable at a local hospital.
Tragically, however, authorities have confirmed the deaths of one minor and one adult.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Fall is here, but summertime temperatures stick around for several days this week. The first fall front will approach Southeast Texas through midweek, potentially bringing some much needed rain to portions of Southeast Texas. We’re also keeping a watchful eye on the Gulf with an area of interest now in the western Caribbean.
Temperatures Monday will start in the low-mid 70s with afternoon highs back in the low 90s. there is a 20% chance for showers too in the afternoon as a sea breeze develops and move inland.
How long do you expect these summertime temperatures to continue?
High temperatures should remain at or above 90 degrees for several days this week. However, the combination of the midweek cold front and what could be hurricane Helene in eastern Gulf could decrease the humidity, so it might not feel as hot later this week. Needless to say, temperatures will be near or above 90 degrees all week.
Any promising rain chances in the near future?
A cold front will approach Southeast Texas Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. And while this front won’t bring the first taste of fall this time, it could help produce some showers and storms each day depending on when the front arrives. This front will also probably not make it to the coast, but there is a 40% chance for rain for everyone Tuesday and Wednesday.
How long will we have to wait for our first real taste of fall air?
At this time, it looks like we’ll have to wait until the first week of October for any chance of a meaningful cool front to visit us here in Southeast Texas, but next week’s front should at least drop the humidity and bring us some mornings in the 60s by next weekend.
What are you tracking in the tropics?
We continue to see signs that a tropical low could lift out of the Caribbean and into the Gulf this week. There are a lot of scenarios on the table for what it could do and where it could go, so our best advice right now is to simply stay weather aware until we get a better handle on where it is most likely to track. Head to our daily Tropical Updatepage for the latest on what’s happening in the tropics.
Capturing the vastly diverse landscape of America is no easy feat, but one new study analyzing diversity across all 50 states has determined Texas is the second most diverse state in the country.
The video above is from ABC13’s 24/7 livestream.
According to WalletHub’s annual “Most Diverse States in America” report, Texas’ diversity falls second to California, which ranked No. 1. The study ranked each state based on six main categories: socioeconomic diversity, cultural diversity, economic diversity, household diversity, religious diversity, and political diversity.
Texas earned 70.48 points out of a possible 100, falling behind by less than a third of a percentage point behind California’s 70.77 score.
To read the rest of this story, visit our partners at Houston CultureMap.
