MILLARD COUNTY, Utah — The body of a man reported missing since April 18 has been found in a hiking area in the west Utah desert.

According to the Millard County Sheriff's Office, the body of Jonathan Barratt Brantley, 22, of Longview, Texas, was positively identified after being discovered in the Notch Peak area on Thursday.

The cause of his death has not yet been determined.

Brantley had been missing since his car was discovered abandoned at Notch Peak and Tule Valley in the West Desert. His cellphone, according to deputies, was left inside the vehicle at the time.

“Our deepest condolences go out to Jonathan’s family and friends during this extremely difficult time," the sheriff's office said in a statement. "We express gratitude to all who put forth efforts in the search for Jonathan including those who spread the news of his search via social media.”

This story was first reported by Jack Helean at KSTU in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Supreme Court could potentially expand second amendment rights as it takes a look at a New York law.

Currently, New York law requires people seeking a concealed carry license to show a “proper cause.”

In 2008, the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to keep arms at home for self-defense.

Now a new case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association vs. Bruen, questions whether handguns can be carried in public for self-defense.

In order to conceal carry, New Yorkers must prove that they have a great need for the license and that they face a “unique danger” to their life.

Conservative justices are in favor of striking down the New York law, arguing that it goes too far and imposes a burden on the Second Amendment.

Some justices are open to considering to allowing New York to ban guns from crowded places.

Arguments were held in November, months before a gunman opened fire at a Buffalo grocery store and killed 10, and another opened fire at a Texas elementary school and killed 21.

A decision from the Supreme Court is expected in the coming weeks.

UVALDE, Texas — Some people are donating money, others are jumping in their vehicles, feeling the need to comfort the community of Uvalde after the shooting.

Crosses now stand in the heart of Uvalde. Each cross represents people that will be part of this community forever.

Bonnie Fear’s organization, Lutheran Church Charities, brought the crosses to Uvalde’s town square.

Each cross carries a name of a victim with a marker so people can leave a message.

"It could be for them to help express their grief, in the end, it ends up with the family our hope is our family can then get that heart and read the heartfelt messages for their loved one,” Fear says.

“I will always love you, my beautiful granddaughter,” a message reads on the sign of Laya Salazar, from her grandmother.

It is impossible to know what can heal a wound so permanent and deep.

“If they need to, they need any prayers or they need our support silently we just listen and be with them," Fear says.

Albert Villegas is one who felt he had to come to help those impacted by the shooting know they are not alone.

“Faith, you got to have faith when things are going good, and things are going bad," says Villegas.

Villegas and his wife drove from five hours away, through the night, to be in Uvalde to be with those who are suffering. They set up a prayer station.

"People are going to come by and need prayer, say a little prayer, Maybe they need a hug. Comfort them, you know?" Villegas says.

Fear's charity also brought Golden retrievers from Texas and Oklahoma as comfort dogs.

What it will take to heal this town is a question without a clear answer but those who have come are hoping they be part of the journey to find it.

UVALDE, Texas — The mother of the gunman who killed 21 people at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas says she wants people to forgive him.

“I have no words. I have no words to say. I don't know what he was thinking. He had his reasons for doing what he did and please don't judge him. I only want the innocent children who died to forgive me,” Adriana Martínez told reporters from Mexico.

Martínez said she believes her son had his “reasons” for the shooting.

“What reasons could he have had?” a Televisa reporter asked.

“To get closer to those children, instead of paying attention to the other bad things. I have no words, I don't know,” Martínez said.

Investigators say the gunman shot his grandmother at home before going to Robb Elementary School.

She survived and is still in the hospital.

UVALDE, Texas —

The school district police chief who served as on-site commander during last week's deadly shooting in Uvalde said Wednesday that he's talking daily with investigators, contradicting claims from state law enforcement that he's stopped cooperating.

In a brief interview, Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo told CNN that he's speaking regularly with Texas Department of Public Safety investigators.

"I’ve been on the phone with them every day,” Arredondo said.

Nineteen children and two teachers died in the attack at Robb Elementary School, the deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade. State officials have said 19 police officers waited outside the classroom where Salvador Ramos, 18, had opened fire, despite repeated pleas from children calling 911 for help.

Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said Tuesday that Arredondo had not responded to DPS requests for two days, while other officers in the Uvalde city and schools police departments continue to sit for interviews and provide statements.

Arredondo has not responded to multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press.

The confusing and sometimes contradictory responses in the week since the deadly shooting continued Tuesday with the revelation that the exterior door used by the gunman was not left propped open by a teacher, as police previously said.

They have now determined that the teacher, who has not been identified, propped the door open with a rock, but then removed the rock and closed the door when she realized there was a shooter on campus, Considine said. But, Considine said, the door that was designed to lock when shut did not lock.

“We did verify she closed the door. The door did not lock. We know that much and now investigators are looking into why it did not lock,” Considine said.

Investigators confirmed the detail through additional video footage reviewed since Friday's news conference when authorities first said that the door had been left propped open. Authorities did not state at that time what had been used to prop open the door.

Video: Funerals begin for Uvalde victims

Considine said the teacher initially propped the door open but ran back inside to get her phone and call 911 when Ramos crashed his truck on campus.

"She came back out while on her phone, she heard someone yell, 'He has a gun!', she saw him jump the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran back inside," removing the rock when she did, Considine said.

Steve McCraw, the head of DPS, hadn’t said why the teacher initially propped open the door when it was first detailed Friday. The first mention of a door left propped open, which officials now say didn't happen, led to questions about the teacher's actions and whether she had made a horrific mistake.

Since the shooting, law enforcement and state officials have struggled to present an accurate timeline and details of the event and how police responded, sometimes providing conflicting information or withdrawing some statements hours later. State police have said some accounts were preliminary and may change as more witnesses are interviewed.

San Antonio attorney Don Flanary told the San Antonio Express-News that the Robb Elementary School employee, whom he’s not naming, first propped open the door to carry food from a car to a classroom, and that she immediately moved to close it when she realized the danger.

"She kicked the rock away when she went back in. She remembers pulling the door closed while telling 911 that he was shooting," Flanary told the newspaper.

"She thought the door would lock because that door is always supposed to be locked,” Flanary said.

Video: Flowers, tears as Bidens stop at Uvalde memorial

Flanary did not immediately return telephone messages left at his office from The Associated Press.

Later Tuesday, the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas, which represents police officers, urged its member officers to cooperate with "all government investigations" into the shooting and police response and endorsed a federal probe already announced by the Justice Department.

The organization was also sharply critical of the constantly changing narrative of events that has emerged so far.

"There has been a great deal of false and misleading information in the aftermath of this tragedy. Some of the information came from the very highest levels of government and law enforcement," CLEAT said. "Sources that Texans once saw as iron-clad and completely reliable have now been proven false."

WAXAHACHIE, Tx. — There is a steady race against the clock for Steve Patman and his workers as they work to get a field of hay harvested before sweltering Texas temperatures become too much to work in.

Patman's great-grandfather first started farming the fields in Waxahachie, Texas, after World War I. But in all his 65 years, this lifelong Texan cannot recall ever seeing things so dry.

"See how the bottom leaves are all dried up, you're losing hay," Patman said kneeling down in the middle of a recently harvested hay field.

It's been more than a month since any kind of considerable rain has fallen on this part of Texas. Irrigating the fields is far too expensive for most farmers. So starved for moisture, crops are dying, forcing Patman to harvest both his hay and corn weeks early.

"It makes me debate whether I need to keep going or stop," Patman said.

At the end of the day, farmers like Patman are producing far less than they had hoped. Just to keep up with rising costs, he recently had to take out a $500,000 loan from the bank.

"I've been farming on the same money since I started. This year kicked us in the butt. You're never getting ahead. It's getting too hard I'm getting too old now," Patman added.

Farmers across the country are in extreme or exceptional droughts right now. They are squeezed between poor growing conditions and inflation costs driving up everything from fertilizer to tractor parts.

"It's terrible and it's not just me I've got farmer friends all over the United States and they're all in the same boat we're in," he said.

Ginger Mulkey managed Boyce Feed and Grain in the center of Waxahachie. She knows how hard her neighbors are working to keep Americans fed. But with each new shipment of feed and grain that comes in, she's forced to raise prices.

"At the end of the day, all I do is adjust pricing. If I'm not staying on top of pricing you're giving it away," she remarked.

DALLAS — As more American cities are dealing with higher intensity rainfall events due to the impacts of climate change, many municipalities are looking toward green infrastructure projects to help mitigate the effects of flooding.

Bardia Heidar and his colleague Sayd Randle are researchers at Texas A&M's Agrilife center. They have spent the last few years studying the impacts of how Green Stormwater Infrastructure projects are lessening major flooding events in American cities.

Instead of installing traditional drainage pipes, many cities and towns opt to build stormwater inlets. They're essentially sophisticated rain gardens, where native soil is replaced with a high infiltration engineered soil mix.

It helps lessen the impacts of flash flooding and heavy rainfall events.

"You're basically tackling the problem with different solutions," Heidari said.

This team is seeing unintended benefits from these projects. Aside from helping to lessen the impacts of flash flooding, green infrastructure is also filtering out pollutants that run off from roads and sidewalks when it rains.

"You have these benefits that are able to double up in what you do with a project," Randle noted.

But while many cities and towns have the money to build these projects, they don't necessarily have the money to maintain them.

"A lot of time, the most marginalized communities for this type of flooding are low-income communities of color. Sometimes what looks like great projects to underserved communities end up being a burden. They entail a lot of work for the people who live there," she added.

All of this comes at a critical juncture in American infrastructure. Many public works departments are seeing an influx of money from the bipartisan infrastructure bill while simultaneously grappling with intensified rainfall events.

An estimated 90% of US cities have seen more intense rainfall events since 1970.

Authorities in North Carolina say several members of a Texas family were arrested for allegedly robbing a Waffle House they had just eaten at.

According to the Hillsborough Police Department, Tamiko Lashun Jones and Tony Eugene Lemon, both of Marshall, Texas, and Diamond Walton, of Longview, Texas, were arrested in Western North Carolina on Wednesday.

Police said Jones, Lemon, and Walton were part of a family of six who entered the Waffle House and sat down to eat.

After the meal, police said Lemon allegedly took out a handgun and demanded money from the employees before he fled to a nearby gas station, where he had parked.

Officials said the suspects then left in two separate vehicles.

According to the department, they secured warrants Tuesday for the arrest of Jones, Lemon, and Walton.

They have each been charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and defrauding an innkeeper, police said.

Officials said the suspects have similar outstanding charges from an incident in Minden, Louisiana, that occurred a few days prior to Monday's robbery.

Police said the suspects could face additional charges.

Related video above: Texas leader says Uvalde police response a "failure"A preliminary report by the Texas House investigative committee probing the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers outlines multiple failures by several entities, including the overall law enforcement response, the Uvalde school system, the shooter's family and social media platforms.CNN has obtained and is reviewing the report, which was made available to the victims' families Sunday morning. The families are expected to meet with the committee Sunday afternoon to discuss the report and its findings, which come more than a month after the committee began investigating the attack and law enforcement's response.The investigative committee's report and the video are expected to be released to the public concurrent with Sunday's meeting with family members. A news conference is scheduled for Sunday afternoon for members of the press to ask the committee questions. A source previously told CNN the report was expected to focus on the facts of the attack, include a chronological sequence of events, a timeline, a law enforcement manifest, and details on the shooter. It was also expected to clarify conflicting accounts of what happened, include verbatim quotes from sworn testimony, and show that the law enforcement failure that day was much greater than one person or one agency, one source has said.Members of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police chief and officers, the district superintendent, the school's principal, a teacher and custodial staff are among those who testified behind closed doors to the committee -- with roughly 40 people testifying, according to one source.Republican state Rep. Dustin Burrows, the committee chairman, said last month the group would do "everything in its power" to provide facts and answers about what happened "leading up to, during, and in the aftermath of this tragedy."Printed copies of the report were hand-delivered to Uvalde and Texas officials Saturday night out of fear the document might leak to the media before family members of the victims were able to read it, according to some of the officials who received the report.The surveillance footage was leaked and published by the Austin American-Statesman newspaper on Tuesday, sparking outrage from both local officials and families who said they were blindsided and disrespected by the unexpected release. The report comes nearly eight weeks after an 18-year-old gunman walked into Robb Elementary and began firing inside a classroom, killing 19 children and two teachers. Key questions about the police response to the shooting remain unanswered since. Principal among them: why authorities waited more than an hour in the school hallway before confronting and killing the gunman, a move that law enforcement experts say may have potentially cost lives.DPS Director Col. Steven McCraw has condemned the law enforcement response to the attack, calling it an "abject failure" in a hearing before a Texas Senate committee last month and placing the blame on the on-scene commander, who state authorities have identified as district police chief Pedro "Pete" Arredondo."The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering rooms 111 and 112 was the on-scene commander, who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children," McCraw said at the time.But Arredondo, who was placed on administrative leave by the school district, told the Texas Tribune last month he did not consider himself the incident commander and assumed that another official had taken control of the larger response. "He took on the role of a front-line responder," the paper wrote of the chief.Arredondo testified behind closed doors in Austin to the House investigative committee in June.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Friday approved wide-ranging legislation aimed at helping communities in the West cope with increasingly severe wildfires and drought — fueled by climate change — that have caused billions of dollars of damage to homes and businesses in recent years.

The measure combines 49 separate bills and would increase firefighter pay and benefits; boost resiliency and mitigation projects for communities affected by climate change; protect watersheds; and make it easier for wildfire victims to get federal assistance.

"Across America the impacts of climate change continue to worsen, and in this new normal, historic droughts and record-setting wildfires have become all too common,'' said Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., the bill's chief co-sponsor. Colorado has suffered increasingly devastating wildfires in recent years, including the Marshall fire last year that caused more than $513 million in damage and destroyed nearly 1,100 homes and structures in Boulder County.

"What once were wildfire seasons are now wildfire years. For families across the country who have lost their homes due to these devastating wildfires and for the neighborhoods impacted by drought, we know that we need to apply a whole-of-government approach to support community recovery and bolster environmental resiliency," Neguse said. "This is a bill that we believe meets the moment for the West."

The bill was approved, 218-199, as firefighters in California battled a blaze that forced evacuation of thousands of people near Yosemite National Park and crews in North Texas sought to contain another fire.

One Republican, Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, voted in favor of the bill, while Oregon Rep. Kurt Schrader was the only Democrat to oppose it.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has sponsored a similar measure.

Both the House and Senate bills would permanently boost pay and benefits for federal wildland firefighters. President Joe Biden signed a measure last month giving them a hefty raise for the next two years, a move that affects more than 16,000 firefighters and comes as much of the West braces for another difficult wildfire season.

Pay raises for the federal firefighters had been included in last year's $1 trillion infrastructure bill, but the money was held up as federal agencies studied recruitment and retention data to decide where to deliver them. The raise approved by Biden was retroactive to Oct. 1, 2021, and expires Sept. 30, 2023.

The House bill would make the pay raises permanent and sets minimum pay for federal wildland firefighters at $20 per hour, or nearly $42,000 a year. It also raises eligibility for hazardous-duty pay and boosts mental health and other services for firefighters. The bill is named after smokejumper Tim Hart, who died fighting a wildfire in New Mexico last year.

"The West is hot — hotter than ever — it is dry and when it is windy, the West is on fire,'' said Rep. Kim Schrier, D-Wash. "And we are seeing this every year because of climate change. That's why this bill is so important.''

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the bill "a major victory for Californians — and for the country.'' The Oak Fire, the largest wildfire so far this year, "is ravaging our state,'' she said. "At the same time, countless of our communities regularly suffer lack of rainfall that can kill crops and further fuel fires."

The House bill would deliver "urgently needed resources" to combat fires and droughts, "which will only increase in frequency and intensity due to the climate crisis,'' Pelosi said. The bill includes $500 million to preserve water levels in key reservoirs in the drought-stricken Colorado River and invest in water recycling and desalination.

Republicans denounced the measure as "political messaging," noting that firefighters' hourly pay has already been increased above $20 in most cases. The House bill does not appropriate additional money for the Forest Service or other agencies, and without such an increase, the Forest Service says it would have to lay off about 470 wildland firefighters.

Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, the top Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee, called it "egregious" that Democrats would seek to enact provisions that could lead to firefighter layoffs in the midst of a devastating wildfire season.

"Democrats are finally waking up to the wildfire and drought crises, exacerbated by years of forest mismanagement and a lack of long-term water storage. Unfortunately, Democrats' proposals are anything but solutions,'' Westerman said. He accused Democrats of failing to follow science showing the need to manage forests before fires begin, and said Democrats "fail to construct the kind of long-term infrastructure needed to make communities resilient to drought'' while prioritizing "liberal talking points" about climate change.

Neguse called that accusation outrageous and noted that many of the bills included in the wildfire/drought legislation are Republican proposals.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the bill was important to the whole country — not just the West, where wildfires and drought are a daily reality.

"We are one nation indivisible and if one part of us is burning, we are all burning," Hoyer said.

Besides boosting firefighter pay, the bill enhances forest management projects intended to reduce hazardous fuels such as small trees and underbrush that can make wildfires far more dangerous. It also establishes grant programs to help communities affected by air pollution from wildfires and improve watersheds damaged by wildfire.

Republicans called the thinning projects — which also include prescribed burns and removal of vegetation — meaningless without waivers of lengthy environmental reviews that can delay forest treatment by years.

The White House said in a statement that it supports efforts to address climate change, wildfires and drought, but wants to "work with the Congress to ensure the many provisions in the (bill) avoid duplication with existing authorities and administration efforts."

UVALDE, Texas (AP) — Uvalde’s embattled district police chief is set to face becoming the first officer to lose his job over the slow and bungled law enforcement response to one of the deadliest classroom shootings in U.S. history.

The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District board will decide Wednesday in a rescheduled meeting from July on Pete Arredondo’s future, three months to the day after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers while hundreds of police officers waited in the hallway of Robb Elementary and outside the campus.

CNN reported the meeting is slated to start at 5:30 p.m. CT, first allowing comments from the public to be heard before going into a closed session to decide Arredondo's possible termination.

Arredondo, who has been on administrative leave since June, has faced heavy criticism for his handling of the May 24 tragedy.

A nearly 80-page report released in July criticized Arredondo for not taking charge of the scene and wasting "precious time" by looking for a key to a likely unlocked door.

The Department of Justice has been reviewing the law enforcement agency's response to the massacre. According to the report, it took nearly an hour after the shooting began for the gunman to be confronted.

Meanwhile, questions remain as Uvalde students are set to begin a new school year on Sept. 6.

School officials say the Robb Elementary campus will no longer be used, stating that classes for the elementary students will take place in temporary classrooms at various campuses in the town.

Marcella Dake spent a combined seven months in jail before the Bail Project paid to have her released and the possession and assault charges she was facing ultimately dropped.    

"It made me feel not so good about myself. You know, you're not doing anything. It just felt like I was a bad person because I was in jail," said Dake. "Are you innocent until proven guilty? Because they treat you like a prisoner, you know, and they shouldn't."

Dake’s story is a common one — spending weeks, months or years in jail waiting on a court date because you can’t afford to bail yourself out.  

But over the last several years, bail reform has picked up steam across the country.  

Some courts in New York, Washington D.C. and Illinois have all experimented with reforms — sometimes controversial — that have allowed more defendants to go free while awaiting trial. The reforms have been fiercely debated with opponents claiming they increase crime.   

"Bail reform has to be changed, it’s ridiculous," said Patrick Lynch, the president of the Police Benevolent Association. 

And advocates say it finally takes an unjust burden off the poor and helps prevent pushing people into a tailspin of lost jobs and broken families.

"All Illinoisans will live in a safer more just state with this law on the books," said Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.

Here in Houston, a federal lawsuit forced Harris County, the largest county in Texas, to take on misdemeanor bail reform in 2017. 

And while the reform was and still is controversial, a new study claims the reforms not only reduced pre-trial jail time for defendants but also increased public safety.   

Paul Heaton from the University of Pennsylvania was the lead author on the study. Heaton focused on those newly released individuals. 

"In no cases, is there any evidence that crime goes up," said Heaton. 

SEE MORE: Amended Autopsy: Black Man Died Due To Sedative, Restraint

A federal judge required county judges to release any individuals charged with misdemeanors who would ordinarily qualify for bail.  

"So what would you expect to see in the data, if it were true that releasing people leads to more crime. We should see higher future contact, right? More charges, you know, more felonies being filed against those folks. And, you know, when you look at the data, it's pretty clear that's just that's not true. That doesn't happen at all," he said. 

In the first six months following this change, there were 1,500 more people released under the reforms. Following them for three years, Heaton found a 6% decrease in prosecutions that would be expected based on historical trends. Not only that, but things like guilty pleas and time served also dropped.  

Doug Griffith is the president of the Houston Police Union and he’s been an outspoken opponent of bail reform.  

"We completely agree with the fact that you shouldn't be in jail just because you're poor, on misdemeanor charges. Now felony charges are a different animal," said Griffith. 

Griffith points to the substantial rise in homicides in Houston and across the country over the past two years.  

Houston’s homicide rate jumped by 42% and 17% in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Nationwide, the FBI reported a 30% rise in homicides in 2020.  

"As the bond reform for the misdemeanors went about it kind of transitioned and got sucked into the felony bond system, which was not the intent. It's been a disastrous program that's been shoved into Harris County that has cost lives," he said.  

Griffith claims judges in Harris County have been too lenient on repeat offenders, particularly those charged with violent felonies.    

SEE MORE: Curbing People With Mental Illness Away From Jail

"Misdemeanor bail has worked. Now, if you want to ask, has some judge made a mistake? Have they had a chance to push the reset button? Would they do something different? I'm sure that is the case," said Harris County commissioner Rodney Ellis.

Ellis was one of the first public officials in the county to throw his support behind bail reform.  

And while the reform he supported specifically targeted misdemeanor offenders, he says some of the same principles apply for felony cases.  

"If you believe in equal protection under the law, if you and I have the same profile, whether we are accused of a misdemeanor, or felony, the same standards apply to both of us," said Ellis. 

He said the rise in homicides in Houston has nothing to do with bail.  

"I think the big issue is a proliferation of easy access to guns. We spend more time banning books in schools than banning guns, but it's easier to go for the sound bite and blame everything on bail," said Ellis. 

For Marcella Dake, who lost her job and seven months of her freedom because she couldn’t afford bail, she’s still putting the pieces back together. 

"It took my time away. You know, for me pursuing to do better for myself. It took put a stop on my life, you know that hold on all my life," said Dake. 

Newsy is the nation’s only free 24/7 national news network. You can find Newsy using your TV’s digital antenna or stream for free. See all the ways you can watch Newsy here. 

The San Antonio beer community represented at the Great American Beer Festival and one brewery brought home gold. The annual competition was held Oct. 6-8 in Denver, Colorado. Texas brought home 22 medals overall, three of which came from the Alamo City.

Roadmap Brewing took gold international-style pilsner with Alright, Alright, Alright. Mad Pecker Brewing claimed silver with Bitter Soul in the extra special bitter category, and Freetail Brewing brought home bronze for the Bowie Bock in the international dark lager category.

Johnson City claimed the most medals in the Hill Country. Pecan Street claimed two medals, gold for the Rye Lager and bronze German altbier with Road Devil Amber. Old 290 Brewery in Johnson City snagged bronze in the wood- and barrel-aged beer category with the Hell Raiser Bourbon Barrel Brown.

More golds for the Hill Country craft beer community were won by Alstadt in Fredericksberg with the Alstadt Lager in the Munich-style lager category and the top golden or blonde ale with Fireman's #4 by Blanco's Real Ale Brewing.

Austin's beer community snagged six medals overall, two golds from Lazarus Brewing with the Black Pearl in the herb and spice beer category, and in the German-style pilsner category with Industry by the Austin Beer Garden Brewing. Two silvers for Meanwhile Brewing in the American-style strong pale alec category with Secret Beach and Austin Beer Garden Brewing in honey beer with The Beeginning (not a typo!). Jester King and Pinthouse Pizza brought home bronze with Atrial Rubicite in Belgian fruit beer and Fresh Hop Training Bines in fresh hop beer respectively.

North Texas showed up with a spread of medals. The gold American amber lager was won with Sonidero by Windmills, which is located in the Colony. Carrollton's 3 Nations Brewing won silver in chocolate beer with Devour Imperial Milk Stout: Mexican Chocolate. First of His Name was crowned bronze robust porter, brewed in Weatherford by Edgewise Eight Brewing.

Dallas won two medals, silver in juicy or hazy India Pale Ale with IPO IPA from White Rock Alehouse & Brewery and bronze non-alcholic beer with Nada IPA by Community Beer. Fort Worth claimed bronze American fruit beer with Raspberry Fields from Maple Branch Craft Brewery.

Houston grabbed silver in light lager with Heights Light Lager by New Magnolia Brewing.

Project CommUNITY is an ongoing initiative across Hearst Television to put a spotlight on diverse voices in our communities. The initiative is built around regular coverage of people who are working to make a difference and stories detailing the history of the battle for civil rights, inclusion and social change across America.

On May 24, 2022, 19 children and two teachers were shot and killed by a gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

In just one day, an entire community was left devastated.

In the days following the mass shooting, memorials were set up at the school and the town square.

People from near and far traveled to the sites to mourn. Some wrote cards, some lit candles, and others — brought music.

Anthony Medrano, a professional mariachi musician with Mariachi Campanas de America, organized a bus full of musicians from San Antonio, Texas, to play songs for the grieving community.

"Many of us are educators," Medrano, who's been playing mariachi music for close to 40 years, said. "We teach the children that look like the ones that were killed, and speak like the ones that were killed, and whose parents talk like the ones that were killed."

Performing in Uvalde

Medrano said his friend, artist Cruz Ortiz, went to Uvalde shortly after the shooting to process the tragedy. On his way back, Ortiz called Medrano asking if they could play mariachi music – anything to help comfort the heartbroken community.

With the help of a friend, Medrano secured a charter bus fit for 50 people. The bus was filled within hours.

Medrano instantly felt the weight of the devastation once he arrived at the town square's memorial site.

He saw 21 crosses, each etched with the names of the victims. The crosses were piled high with flowers, cards and toys.

"I have a five-year-old goddaughter that I spend a lot of time with," Medrano said. "And the toys that I saw at these memorials of these murdered children were the same toys that she has in her toy box."

Medrano said he broke down in front of a cross.

"I cried, I prayed, and I apologized," Medrano said. "I apologized to that soul for not being the answer to this problem. The problem of someone getting an assault weapon and going into the school and murdering children."

Medrano and the group of mariachi musicians played a few songs to the community, such as "Amore Eterno," which talks about love and loss, and "Las Golondrinas," a traditional song of farewell.

"These songs aren't your everything's gonna be okay songs," Medrano said. "The lyrics to the songs express the true tragedy. I mean, they don't put a bandaid on it, they kind of rip the scab off so you can get that emotion, so you can expose it."

Seven-year-old Mariachi performer Matteo Lopez also sang a song called "México Lindo y Querido," which Medrano said was appropriate because the community in Uvalde predominantly has roots in Mexico.

"This was a time to play the music that our culture and our community can relate to," Medrano said.

In mariachi culture, musicians yell out "gritos," which is a scream or yell during a song. It can be used in celebration but also can express a guttural cry out loud during songs of grief and loss.

"That's the way we process, we have to cry out loud," Medrano said.

At the end of the performance, Medrano said the community thanked the group of musicians and understood why they performed.

"There was very much a healing session right there in front of the memorials," Medrano said.

'The Song of the People': The history of mariachi music

Mariachi music has deep roots in Mexican history. According to the Smithsonian Institute, the music's oldest rhythms date back to Mexico's colonial times (around 1519-1810) when people from Spain and African slaves and their descendants mixed with hundreds of American Indian cultures to create a new Mexican culture that varied depending on the vast region. The music was referred to as "mariachi" around the 1850s. The bands consist of trumpets, violins, a vihuela (five-string guitar), a guitarrón (six-string guitar) and sometimes a harp. Mariachi musicians wear beautiful suits known as los trajes de charros.

In its earliest days, mariachi bands started simple with two violins, a harp and a guitar instrument known as the vihuela. In the beginning, mariachi music was localized and known as "the song of the people," Medrano said. Songs were handed down from generation to generation. The first songs of mariachi music, known as "Sones," imitated life and nature.

For example, a song called "El Relámpago," meaning lightning, has quick and sharp notes that imitate the sound of thunder in a storm. Some of the first songs also imitated animals, such as birds and donkeys. The songs would always be lively and rhythmic, lending itself to dancing.

Mariachi music evolved through the years into more ballads and the music changed depending on the region in Mexico, such as the huapangos style of music. Medrano said musician Rubén Fuentes started refining mariachi music with the band Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán during the era. The music became more orchestral, Medrano said.

"There was a beautiful mix of the music," Medrano said. "The songwriting, the arranging and just the persona of Mexico, like Jorge Negrete, you know, very classic star, Lucha Villa, Lucha Reyes, Lola Beltrán, all this was a beautiful mixture that came together to create what we do today."

It's tradition for mariachi's to perform for every occasion in life – including funerals, as a way to celebrate life and heal those who are grieving.

"You see mariachis perform at festivals and fiestas, and it's all confetti and piñatas and having a good time," Medrano said. "But the other side of that is that we also are there for families and for loved ones, individuals who don't know how to process a tragedy, and we're asked to come and give comfort through music."

Medrano said performing at funerals is a humbling role.

"But we understand as a mariachi culture, that's part of what we do. We make you smile, and we try to hug your heart when you need it."

Helping Heal: What is music therapy?

Just as the mariachi musicians helped provide healing in Uvalde, music has been used as a form of therapy for a long time.

Robert Krout, professor emeritus of music therapy at Southern Methodist University, has been involved with music therapy and grief work for decades.

In a mass casualty event, those impacted are dealing with shock, grief, anger and other raw emotions all at the same time. This can make it overwhelming for people to talk out loud about what happened – which is where music can help express how they're feeling when words cannot.

Krout said music is processed by the entire brain – from cortical levels of being familiar with a song and linking it to a specific past event, to influencing our heartbeat by matching the beat to the song.

In music therapy, there is a neurological process called entrainment, where the brain and other rhythms in the body (such as heartbeat and pulse) match an external stimulus. For example, people exercise while listening to upbeat music, because they will naturally run to the beat of the song.

In music therapy, there is a client (the person being helped), the therapist (a professionally trained clinician), the music, and the music experience.

The music used in therapy can be active: playing a composed piece, improvising while playing, or moving to the music. The music can also be passive: listening and responding to the music.

Music therapists look at the client's needs, why they were referred to the therapist, their musical background and what aspect of music might benefit the client. Ultimately, music is used to help the client realize their own goals.

Krout said his clients, who are experiencing grief, frequently have relationships with certain songs – whether it be special to them or special to their lost loved one.

Playing familiar songs can be a good start to therapy, as the lyrics can be discussed and reflected upon.

Krout also said songwriting is therapeutic – whether having the client write a song to commemorate the loved one who died or having a gravely ill client write a song to express their wishes to their loved one as a keepsake for when they die.

'We don't want this to be repeated'

After the trip to Uvalde, Medrano and his friends wanted to commemorate the victims.

"We didn't want anybody to forget what happened," Medrano said.

So, they made a corrido, which is a written report in song lyrics of what happened.

They named it "El Corrido de Los Angeles de Uvalde." Medrano said the lyrics do not sugarcoat the tragic details of the shooting.

"It talks about the 90 minutes that they were waiting for help, that they were calling 9-1-1," Medrano said. "Nobody rushed in to save them, to save some at least. It talked about the assault weapon. We talked about the hurt, talked about the families fighting to try to get inside to save their own children by they were held back."

Listen to the full version of El Corrido de Los Angeles de Uvalde in the player below.

This content is imported from YouTube.
You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Medrano said he hopes the song will bring awareness and, hopefully, policy change to prevent more tragic mass shootings.

"We don't want anybody to forget this part of the history because we don't want this to be repeated," Medrano said. "And if we can remember it and recall it and report it, even through music, that maybe we can make a change."

---

This video is the third of a four-part series by Clarified featured during Hispanic Heritage Month to educate viewers on the contributions, experiences and heroes of the Hispanic community.

A Texas woman is recovering after a frightening encounter with bison in Caprock Canyons State Park, located in Briscoe County, Texas.

While hiking here, Rebecca Clark, noticed a group of bison. In a video posted to TikTok she is heard saying, “I don’t want to deal with them,” as she carefully tried to pass by without disturbing the animals.

“I just want to go by, come on, keep going…I didn’t want to go through the bushes again,” she says in the video.

The suddenly she is heard in the video screaming as at least one of the bison is heard apparently charging towards her.

Clark, while now recovering, required a helicopter evacuation as well as a stay in a hospital after she said she was gored by one of the wild animals.

@rebeccaclark Solo hiking at Caprock Canyons State Park & Trailway in Texas. I was charged and gored by a bison because I was to CLOSE to be passing them on a trailway They are beautiful creatures protected by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) and are a part of the Texas State Bison Restoration Project where the park has restored the historic Charles Goodnight Bison herd (The Official Texas State Bison Herd) to a portion of its former range in the park. I am posting to support safety while enjoying Texas State Parks #TPWD #bisonetiquette101 #hikingsafety #llbean #chaos #rei ♬ dumb dumb - sped up - mazie

Clark said in a follow up video posted to TikTok that she was able to use her phone to call for help, but laid in the national park for nearly an hour waiting to contact someone before being taken to a hospital in Wichita Falls, Texas.

@rebeccaclark I am okay! Thank you for all your concerns and to tell you the truth your humor as well. I'm on the road to recovery after a run-in with a bison at Caprock Canyon State Park. #caprockcanyonsstatepark #TPWD #hikingsafety ♬ Asking Alll Them Questions Tik - AmongMemes

She said the bison gored her and threw her into a mesquite bush.

She said she escaped the ordeal without any permanent injuries.

Seven months after Texas saw one of the nation's deadliest prison escapes, investigations into what went wrong have come back to one factor: The state's lockups are dangerously short-staffed.

On May 12, convicted murderer Gonzalo Lopez was on a prison transport bus in Central Texas when he managed to escape his handcuffs, cut into the driver's compartment and stab the driver with a makeshift weapon. He stole the officer's gun, wrestled him outside and hijacked the bus, driving about a mile before crashing and fleeing on foot.

Lopez evaded capture for weeks, until law enforcement responding to a welfare check at an area cabin on June 2 found Mark Collins and his four grandsons, ages 11 to 18, dead and the family's truck missing. That night, deputies south of San Antonio spotted the truck and stopped Lopez with spike strips, ultimately killing him in a shootout.

The tragedy drew shock and fury from community members and state officials. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called for a Texas Rangers investigation, and the Collinses' family plans to sue the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for its role in their loved ones' deaths, an agency spokesperson confirmed Friday.

This week, reports from TDCJ and an independent consulting group found that the escape, extended evasion and massacre of a family in Centerville were preceded by systemic failures among prison officers and their supervisors.

TDCJ found that a dozen officers, two sergeants, a captain, a lieutenant and a major at the Hughes Unit all failed to ensure Lopez was unarmed and properly restrained by haphazardly searching prisoners and their property and skipping safety checks (along with falsifying documents saying such checks and searches had been performed).

CGL, the consulting group, said staff at the prison "had become complacent, and circumvented security procedures in favor of hastily completing responsibilities in a cursory manner." The group said the failures seemed routine. Although they did not investigate other facilities, the consultants said it was possible such failures were occurring throughout the state's 100 prisons.

After the escape, prison spokesperson Amanda Hernandez said Friday, three employees resigned, and 15 others were disciplined. Some were fired, she said; others received probation or suspension.

But the seemingly routine bypassing of crucial security measures at the Hughes Unit was not a failure of only the employees, according to CGL. Short-staffing has long plagued the agency and been exacerbated in recent years.

Over two years, CGL stated, Texas prison officer vacancies grew from about 4,300 to more than 7,600 in April, the month before Lopez's escape, with Texas' prisons only about 68% staffed. The Hughes Unit in Gatesville, where Lopez lived, was 57% staffed.

"These staff shortages required the remaining staff to carry a heavier workload and increased the amount of overtime they were assigned," CGL wrote. "This contributed to establishing a weakened security environment that better facilitated inmate Lopez's escape."

TDCJ has long struggled against dangerous, chronic understaffing, but the number of officers reached critical lows during the pandemic. Since last summer, about 300 prison officers have also been working at two units now being used as state-run jails for Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star, which largely hold migrants accused only of trespassing on private property. Short-staffing has been blamed for increased assaults on officers and prisoners, as well as malnourishment and even harsher living and working conditions.

TDCJ has recognized its staffing crisis, pushing to increase recruitment and retention by offering sign-on bonuses and, this April, bumping salaries by 15%, similar to actions taken to address the staffing crisis within the state's juvenile prisons. The number of officers has grown slightly since the raise, according to TDCJ records, with prisons staffed at 71% in October, compared with April's 68%.

But understaffing is still dire, especially at some large prisons. In October, 20 prisons were less than 50% staffed, according to prison data. And the Hughes Unit has fewer officers than in April, dropping from 57% staffed before the escape to 50%, with 275 open officer positions in a prison for nearly 3,000 men.

But in addressing understaffing's burden on the department, Hernandez said Friday that "while short-staffing was a significant contributor, it was not the sole cause."

Lopez, 46, was serving two life sentences for the death of José Guadalupe Ramirez, whom Lopez said he killed on an order from a Mexican drug cartel, and an attempted murder during a car chase. He'd been in prison since 2006 and had been confirmed as an ex-member of the Mexican Mafia, according to the prison review.

At the time of the escape, Lopez was on a bus with 15 other prisoners and two veteran prison officers, traveling from the Hughes Unit to the Estelle Unit in Huntsville for a medical appointment. He was kept in a section of the bus for high-security inmates, separated by metal caging from the armed driver, while the second officer with a shotgun sat at the rear of the bus behind the less-restricted prisoners.

A third seat up front meant for a third officer was empty because of short-staffing.

Not properly searched before the ride, Lopez climbed aboard with two makeshift metal weapons and what resembled a handcuff key in his mouth, other prisoners told investigators. Lopez quickly freed himself from his improperly placed restraints and spent about an hour and a half cutting his way through the metal caging to the driver's compartment.

He slid into the driving compartment, grabbed the officer's gun and stabbed him, the review said. The officer managed to stop the bus, and in a scuffle, stumbled outside the bus with Lopez fighting over the gun, he told investigators. The second officer, saying he thought the bus had crashed, jumped out the back and realized there was an escape attempt.

With the officer's gun, Lopez jumped back into the bus and drove off. With the second officer's shotgun, the driver shot out a tire, causing Lopez to crash about a mile down the road.

Shortly after, the police chief for the nearby town of Jewett approached the now-abandoned officers and, hearing about the escape, took off toward the scene. According to an investigation by The Marshall Project and the Houston Chronicle, the chief did not give chase or shoot after Lopez when he arrived to find the prisoner fleeing from the bus across a field into the brush.

Quickly after the escape, law enforcement swarmed the area on foot, with dogs and on horseback to search for the escaped murderer. But for weeks, they failed. TDCJ's review noted its staff misused their search dogs, bringing out multiple units' dogs and confusing the scents they were tracking.

Law enforcement was at a loss until authorities got a call on May 31 about a burglary nearby and took DNA swabs to check against Lopez. Nobody told locals of the development, however, according to the investigation by the news organizations. Two days later, minutes after learning the DNA matched Lopez, the sheriff's office got a call from someone worried about the Collinses.

At their rural cabin in Leon County, officers found the bodies of Collins, 66, and his four grandsons: Waylon, 18; Carson, 16; and Bryson and Hudson, both 11. They died of gunshot and stab wounds.

In a statement paired with the release of its investigative findings, TDCJ said it has since reduced transportation of prisoners, relying more on telemedicine for medical appointments. The agency also increased the required number of officers in transport buses from two to three and will arm them with pepper spray as well as guns.

Supervisors will also be required to verify that proper searches have been completed before transportation, though similar verifications were said to be falsified prior to Lopez's escape.

The department also upgraded its restraints in hopes of preventing future escapes, since Lopez was easily able to free himself. TDCJ is also having staff undergo new training focused on search procedures, weapons and prisoner transportation.

CGL warned TDCJ, however, of implementing corrective actions aimed at stopping Lopez's escape that could further exhaust their limited staff.

"Developing corrective actions to the escape that load more work on already overtaxed staff can result in further failures," the company wrote. "Given the low staff levels correctional officers are often require to perform the policy requirements of multiple positions."

"TDCJ must ask 'Are these policy requirements impossible to achieve given the current staffing crisis,'" the group added. "In certain circumstances we found this to be the case, and it likely contributes to staff taking security shortcuts."

In response, Hernandez said the agency was reviewing its policies and procedures and auditing job responsibilities to reallocate non-security work to other staff.

This article was first published on The Texas Tribune.

Hide Transcript
Show Transcript

DAY FORECAST. LET’S SEND IT BACK OVER TO THE NEWS DESK. FINALLY, SO INTERESTING THAT AFTER THE FIREWORKS THIS MORNING, WE ARE GOING HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY OF WEATHER TODAY. AND FOR THE NEXT 30 WILD. ALL RIGHT. RESET HERE. 733 JASON HACKETT SHELBY CASHMAN HERE. WE’RE PREEMPTING GOOD MORNING AMERICA. YOU CAN FIND THAT ON OUR DIGITAL CHANNEL 5.2 AS WELL AS COX 2 TO 2. WE WANT TO BRING YOU COVERAGE OF THE AFTERMATH OF THIS TORNADO. WE DID A CONFIRMED TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN WAYNE OKLAHOMA. SOME OF THE BIGGEST STORM DAMAGE WE’VE SEEN THIS MORNING. YOU CAN SEE BEHIND IS THAT BEHIND US? SORRY, IT’S BEEN A LONG MORNING. THAT IS YOUR SCREEN SCREEN RIGHT NOW, NOT BEHIND US. WHAT YOU’RE SEEING HERE IS SKY 5 OF LIVE SURVEYING SOME OF THAT DAMAGE IN OKLAHOMA. IT’S BEEN A BUSY MORNING. YEAH, HOME TOOK PRETTY HEAVY DAMAGE THERE. MICHAEL ARMSTRONG HAS BEEN AROUND STATE BASICALLY ALL MORNING. HE WAS COVERING STORMS OUT THERE AND WAYNE. HE’S BEEN OUT THERE FOR HOURS AND HOURS NOW KEEPING US UPDATED. AND THAT RIGHT THERE IS PROBABLY THE BIGGEST ISSUE OF DAMAGE WE SEE OUT THERE. SO ONE OF THE ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE’RE SEEING RIGHT HERE IS THE LINE OF THE TORNADO TRACKS THAT YOU CAN SEE THROUGH THESE FIELDS. I THINK WE SKY 5 PILOT CHASE RUTLEDGE AVAILABLE TO TELL US KIND OF WHAT ARE YOU SEEING? HEY, CHASE. HEY, GUYS. YEAH, THIS IS AN AREA THAT IS ABOUT TO 2 TO 3 MILES AWAY FROM WHERE TOWN OF WAYNE IS TO THE NORTHEAST. YOU CAN SEE SOME MORE DAMAGE IN THIS AREA. AND THIS IS ALONG SAME PATH THAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT WITH JONATHAN WHERE WE SAW THOSE HAY BALES, DOWNED POWER LINES. AND THEN RIGHT OVER TO WHERE THIS THIS LOCATION IS, LOOKS LIKE A COMMERCIAL BUSINESS, BUT YOU CAN SEE FENCES DOWN A. LOT OF STRUCTURES HAVE BEEN DAMAGED. SOME OF THE SMALLER STRUCTURES DIDN’T FARE VERY WELL. A LOT OF THE ROOFS WERE BLOWN OFF. YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE TO THE LEFT OF OUR SHOT AND A CHAIN LINK FENCE THAT WAS COMPLETELY RIPPED UP. BUT THE STRONG CAUSING A LOT OF DAMAGE IN THIS AREA. AND AS WE CONTINUE TO FLY AROUND THE TOWN OF WAYNE, WE’RE SEEING MORE AND MORE OF THE EFFECT THAT THIS STORM IS OR IT HAD AS IT MOVE

Videos show damage caused by tornado in Oklahoma

Updated: 11:24 AM EST Dec 13, 2022

A massive storm blowing across the country spawned tornadoes in parts of Oklahoma and Texas.Video above: Tornado damage in Wayne, OklahomaDamage was reported in the Oklahoma town of Wayne after the weather service warned of a “confirmed tornado” shortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday. Video footage showed substantial damage to a home in Wayne, which is about 45 miles south of Oklahoma City. There were no immediate reports of injuries.In Texas, at least two tornadoes were spotted along the front edge of the storm as it headed toward the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area Tuesday morning, though the extent of any damage was not immediately known.Video below: Helicopter view of tornado damage in Wayne, OklahomaVideo below: Emergency manager discusses Oklahoma tornado

WAYNE, Okla. —

A massive storm blowing across the country spawned tornadoes in parts of Oklahoma and Texas.

Video above: Tornado damage in Wayne, Oklahoma

Damage was reported in the Oklahoma town of Wayne after the weather service warned of a “confirmed tornado” shortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday. Video footage showed substantial damage to a home in Wayne, which is about 45 miles south of Oklahoma City. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

In Texas, at least two tornadoes were spotted along the front edge of the storm as it headed toward the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area Tuesday morning, though the extent of any damage was not immediately known.

Video below: Helicopter view of tornado damage in Wayne, Oklahoma

Video below: Emergency manager discusses Oklahoma tornado