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Wednesday, May 3, 2023

5/3 WAKE-UP CALL: Suspected Texas Shooter In Custody

 


A four-day manhunt in Texas for a gunman accused of killing five neighbors ended Tuesday when authorities, acting on a tip, said they found the suspect hiding underneath a pile of laundry in the closet of a house. Francisco Oropeza, 38, was captured without incident near the community of Conroe, north of Houston and about 20 miles from his home in the rural town of Cleveland. That’s where authorities say he went next door and shot his neighbors with an AR-style rifle shortly before midnight Friday. Oropeza had been shooting rounds on his property and the attack occurred after neighbors asked him to go farther away because the gunfire was keeping a baby awake, according to police. 


Oropeza will be charged with five counts of murder, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said. Bond was set at $5 million.

➤BORDER TROOPS NOT TO ENGAGE IN SECURITY: The Biden administration will send 1,500 additional troops to augment security at the southern border, U.S. officials said Tuesday, as the looming end of pandemic-era immigration policies has officials bracing for a surge in illegal crossings. The Department of Homeland Security said that it requested the 90-day deployment and that Defense Department personnel sent to the border will not interact with migrants. Instead, they will support U.S. Customs and Border Protection by performing “non-law enforcement duties” that include monitoring sensors and cameras, as well as “data entry and warehouse support,” according to a DHS statement. The U.S. soldiers will come from a variety of active duty Army units and will serve for 90 days in mostly administrative and transport roles to free up law enforcement and Border Patrol, according to two senior U.S. officials familiar with the deliberations.  The Pentagon said the Department of Homeland Security requested the troops, which will arrive as early as May 10.

➤DEM LAWMAKERS PUSH FOR DEBT-CEILLING INCREASE:  House Democrats are trying to force a vote on a debt-ceiling increase. They took the next step in starting a discharge petition, a legislative maneuver that allows a majority of lawmakers to bring a bill directly to the floor without the leadership’s cooperation. The GOP controls the House 222-213, so for a petition to succeed, Democrats would need the support of at least five Republicans. Lawmakers can start gathering signatures on May 16, according to an aide. The GOP sees the debt limit as an opportunity to rein in spending, while Biden and Democrats say they won’t be pressured into cutting federal programs. The U.S. risks defaulting as soon as June 1 if Congress doesn’t raise the debt limit, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said yesterday. The U.S. technically bumped up against the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling in January, but special accounting maneuvers have enabled the government to meet its obligations.

➤TWO 10-YEAR-OLDS WORKED AT McDONALD'S WITHOUT PAY, SOMETIMES UNTIL 2 AM, FED SAY: Two 10-year-olds were found working at McDonald’s, where they prepared and served meals, worked the drive-thru and the cash register and cleaned the store, according to federal labor officials. The children would occasionally work as late as 2 a.m. and were never paid at a McDonald’s restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky. The restaurant let one of the 10-year-olds use a deep fryer, a task workers under the age of 16 aren’t allowed to do under federal law as it’s considered dangerous equipment.

➤BRITTANY BREWER, OKLAHOMA TEEN FOUND DEAD, WAS SET TO REPRESENT TOWN AT PAGEANT: A missing teen girl who was found dead on a rural Oklahoma property along with six other people, including a convicted sex offender, was set to represent her town at a state beauty pageant this summer, her heartbroken father said. Brittany's father, Nathan Brewer, remembered the 16-year-old as an “outgoing person” in an interview Monday, shortly after her remains were discovered alongside those of her friend, 14-year-old Ivy Webster, near the town of Henryetta.


➤COSTNERS CALL IT QUITS: Kevin Costner was pictured wearing his wedding ring as he cuddled two women in Las Vegas just a day before his wife filed for divorce. Christine Baumgartner, who tied the knot with Costner in 2004, filed the petition to separate from the Oscar and Emmy winning actor on Monday. It comes six months after she told him to quit Yellowstone because his busy filming schedule was impacting their family. The split is said to be due to 'irreconcilable differences,' with Baumgartner asking for joint custody of their three children - Cayden, 15, Hayes, 14, and Grace, 12. Costner, 68, has taken on a new Western project that he is set to direct, produce and star in and has a mammoth shooting schedule of 220 days. And there are rumors he may star in the sixth season of the hit series Yellowstone.

➤TRANS SUPPORTERS DISRUPT TEXAS LAWMAKERS: Supporters and opponents of a Texas bill which would outlaw gender-affirming care for minors made their presence known in the state Capitol on Tuesday. The vote was delayed on a technicality. If Texas manages to pass Senate Bill 14, it will join at least a dozen other states that have outlawed gender-affirming care so far - Georgia and Tennessee being the most recent, according to a U.S. News report published on Tuesday. Johnathan Saenz, president of Texas Values, which led support for the bill, told WFAA that there should be more mental health support for children, rather than medical interventions. 'When you have kids go through gender transitions, it harms them,' Saenz said. 'Let's focus on the heart instead of thinking that removing body parts is somehow going to make their mind feel better.' But Ricardo Martinez, who heads LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Texas, said government should not interfere in healthcare. 

➤WH SPOX FUMES AT QUESTION: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre fumed at a reporter's question over why President Joe Biden won't recognize his seventh grandchild that his son Hunter fathered with an ex-stripper. Lunden Roberts, 32, is suing the president's son in an Arkansas lawsuit in a row over unpaid child support for Navy Joan, 4. Hunter appeared in court on Monday where a judge ripped into him for redacting many of his financial records.

Press secretary KJPK also told a reporter she'd answer his immigration question 'if the dramatics would come down just a little bit' when pressed on a bizarre migration stat. Jean-Pierre said Monday illegal immigration is down 90%, but current trends could see another record breaking year. Pressed Tuesday, she said she was referencing a new parolee program, not illegal migration overall.

➤FORD POSTS $1.8B PROFIT: Ford Motor posted $1.8 billion in first-quarter net income, reversing a previous-year loss, as the company rebounded from supply-chain troubles and commanded top dollar for its pickup trucks and SUVs. The Dearborn, Mich., auto maker said after the close of trading Tuesday that strong recovery in output of F-series pickups and buyer demand for high-end models fueled its bottom line. The company stood by its earlier forecast of $9 billion to $11 billion in pretax profit for the year. Earlier Tuesday, Ford for the second time this year cut prices on its electric Mustang Mach-E, reducing the sticker by as much as 8% on some versions. 

➤BUD LIGHT TO GO HEAVY ON ADS: The maker of Bud Light is working to make amends with its distributors, who say they have taken the brunt of the backlash to a company promotion with a transgender influencer. Anheuser-Busch InBev, the country’s largest brewer, has pledged to boost its marketing spending on Bud Light, accelerate production of a new slate of ads, and give a case of Bud Light to every employee of an Anheuser-Busch wholesaler, distributors said. The efforts are continuing a month after Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender social-media star, spoke in an Instagram video about a personalized can of Bud Light that the brewer had sent her as a gift. The April 1 post sparked a boycott that caused sales to plummet for both Anheuser-Busch and its independently owned distributors. The distributors’ employees, many of whom drive trucks bearing the Bud Light logo, were confronted by angry people on streets, in stores and in bars.  In the week ended April 22, Bud Light’s U.S. retail-store sales fell 21.4% compared with the year-earlier period, according to an analysis of Nielsen data by Bump Williams Consulting. Meanwhile, sales of rival brands Coors Light and Miller Lite each grew about 21%.


🏈EX-RAIDERS WR HENRY RUGGS III TO PLEAD GUILTY IN FATAL DUI CASE: Former Las Vegas Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs III unconditionally waived his right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday and will plead guilty to one count of DUI resulting in death and one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in a 2021 case in which he's accused of killing a woman in a car crash. According to a plea agreement presented Tuesday in Las Vegas justice court, Ruggs will serve three to 10 years in Nevada state prison. The case now moves to the 8th Judicial District Court for a hearing on May 10, when he is expected to formally plead guilty.

🥊DEONTAY WILDER ARRESTED ON FELONY CONCEALED WEAPON CHARGE: Former heavyweight boxing world champion Deontay Wilder was arrested early Tuesday in Los Angeles for possession of a concealed weapon. The Los Angeles Police Department announced that Wilder, 37, was taken into custody at 1:15 a.m. local time Tuesday morning. He was released on a bond of $35,000 approximately five hours later. The charge is classified as a felony. Officers pulled Wilder over in Hollywood for illegally tinted windows and an obstructed license plate on his Rolls Royce. Officers smelled marijuana during the stop and found a 9mm gun in an ensuing search of the vehicle.

🏈CHIEFS RE-SIGN JERICK MCKINNON. DECLINE EDWARDS-HELAIRE OPTION: The Chiefs re-signed one veteran running back, Jerick McKinnon, to a one-year contract while declining the fifth-year option on the contract of another, Clyde Edwards-Helaire on Tuesday. General manager Brett Veach suggested on Monday that a deal with McKinnon, who turns 31 on Wednesday, was imminent.

⚾ROCKIES RIGHT-HANDER GERMAN MARQUEZ TO HAVE TOMMY JOHN SURGERY: Colorado Rockies right-hander German Marquez will undergo Tommy John surgery, the veteran starter told reporters Tuesday. Marquez was placed on the 15-day injured list Friday with right elbow inflammation. He does not have a date yet for the surgery. Rockies starter Antonio Senzatela, who could take Marquez's spot in the rotation, is back with the club after a run with Triple-A Albuquerque.

🏀NBA SCORES:
  • New York Knicks 111 Miami Heat 105 
  • Los Angeles Lakers 117 Golden State Warriors 112


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