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The Student Shot Outside Bowie High School in Arlington Has Been Identified
A 17 year old suspect is in custody following a shooting outside Bowie High School Wednesday afternoon that resulted in the death of 18 year old Etavion Barnes, who was a student at the school.
Arlington ISD superintendent Dr. Matt Smith issued the following statement:
Arlington ISD has canceled classes at Bowie High School for Thursday, April 25, 2024. When students return to class, they will have the full support of our counseling team for as long as needed.
Barnes was was found unresponsive on the ground by police, and was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. A motive for the shooting has not been established.
Arlington Police Chief Al Jones said his department works hard to prevent gun violence but more help is needed to keep guns away from kids.
Original Story:
ARLINGTON (WBAP/KLIF) – Bowie High School in Arlington is on lock down Wednesday afternoon after a shooting outside the building but on campus.
Arlington ISD says students are safe inside the building but will not be reunited with family until it is safe to do so.
Our media partner WFAA-TV is reporting that a student was shot outside the school near the portable classroom units and is in grave condition. No suspect is in custody.
Once students are allowed to reunite with parents, parents must have proper identification.
Reunification will be at the Arlington ISD Athletic Center on Division St.
(Copyright 2024, WBAP/KLIF. All Rights Reserved.)
Governor Abbott Says School Choice is a Win-Win for Parents
(WBAP/KLIF) — One of the hottest issues that continues to swirl around the state centers on Texas school children. That has those on both sides of the aisle questioning whether the governor’s School Choice initiative can really work.
Meanwhile, Governor Greg Abbott continues to champion his effort to implement school choice into the Lone Star State’s education system. The governor says that school choice is about improving education for all children, including those in public schools. Opponents of the program say that the already under-funded public education system will suffer even more, if a school voucher bill is passed.
Abbott says that Republicans who voted against school vouchers are feeling the repercussions at the polls and are suffering in being re-elected. He is confident that the Texas Legislature will pass the school voucher program to allow parents to choose where their child attends school. The governor also indicates that he’s committed to adequately funding public schools.
Abbott says 31 other states have already passed school choice without their public schools suffering financially. The governor made his comments, Wednesday, on DFW’s Morning News with Clayton Neville & Laura Sadler on KLIF AM 570.
Listen to WBAP/KLIF report:
(Copyright 2024 WBAP/KLIF Newsroom News. All rights reserved.)
USPS Gets Tough on Mail Crime
(WBAP/KLIF) — In the wake of a rise in violence against postal carriers, the U.S. Postal Service has instituted the Safe Delivery program to promote employee safety.
According to Postal Inspector Sean Smith, 15,000 high security collection boxes have been installed in the DFW area and across the country. He says the program is beginning to turn the tide of harassment, assault, and robbery against postal workers. The Safe Delivery program instills safety and security into the mail delivery system and for its employees. Smith says the program is paying dividends.
Robberies, harassment, and assaults have all dropped since the U.S. Postal Service has instituted a new enforcement program to target reducing violence against mail carriers. Since the program’s inception, robbery arrests have increase by more than 70%, resulting in a 21% drop overall, while over a thousand arrests have been made for mail theft, which has also fallen by 35%.
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(Copyright 2024 WBAP/KLIF
Dallas Approves Agreement Potentially Moving Dallas Wings to Downtown
DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF) – The City of Dallas has approved a 15-year agreement for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings to soon play at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Downtown Dallas.
The agreement includes upgrades to the auditorium as part of the larger redevelopment and expansion of the convention center.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson says the city is the place to be right now not only for residents and businesses but also for professional sports teams.
More information is expected once the agreement is finalized with WNBA League approval.
The Wings have been playing at College Park Center at the UTA campus in Arlington.
(Copyright 2024, WBAP/KLIF. All Rights Reserved.)
President Joe Biden Signs $95 Billion Foreign Aid Package into Law
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed into law into law Wednesday a $95 billion war aid measure that includes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that also includes a provision that would force social media site TikTok to be sold or be banned in U.S.
The announcement marks an end to long, painful battle with Republicans in Congress over urgently needed assistance for Ukraine.
“We rose to the moment. we came together. and we got it done,” Biden said at White House event to announce the signing. “Now we need to move fast, and we are,”
But significant damage has been done to the Biden administration’s effort to help Ukraine repel Russia’s brutal invasion during the funding impasse that dates back to August, when the Democratic president made his first emergency spending request for Ukraine aid. Even with a burst of new weapons and ammunition, it is unlikely Ukraine will immediately recover after months of setbacks.
Biden said the transfer of an initial aid package of military assistance will begin in a matter of hours — the first tranche from about $61 billion allocated for Ukraine, according to U.S. officials. It is expected to include air defense capabilities, artillery rounds, armored vehicles and other weapons to shore up Ukrainian forces who have seen morale sink as Russian President Vladimir Putin has racked up win after win.
But longer term, it remains uncertain if Ukraine — after months of losses in Eastern Ukraine and sustaining massive damage to its infrastructure — can make enough progress to sustain American political support before burning through the latest influx of money.
“It’s not going in the Ukrainians’ favor in the Donbas, certainly not elsewhere in the country,” said White House national security spokesman John Kirby, referring to the eastern industrial heartland where Ukraine has suffered setbacks. “Mr. Putin thinks he can play for time. So we’ve got to try to make up some of that time.”
Russia now appears focused on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city. Russian forces have exploited air defense shortages in the city,pummeling the region’s energy infrastructure, and looking to shape conditions for a potential summer offensive to seize the city.
House Speaker Mike Johnson delayed a vote on the supplemental aid package for months as members of his party’s far right wing, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, threatened to move to oust him if he allowed a vote to send more assistance to Ukraine. Those threats persist.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested his fellow Republicans’ holding up the funding could have a lasting impact on Ukraine’s hopes of winning the war.
“Make no mistake: Delay in providing Ukraine the weapons to defend itself has strained the prospects of defeating Russian aggression,” McConnell said Tuesday. “Dithering and hesitation have compounded the challenges we face.”
Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive 2024 presidential GOP nominee, has complained that European allies have not done enough for Ukraine. While he stopped short of endorsing the supplemental funding package, his tone has shifted in recent days, acknowledging that Ukraine’s survival is important to the United States.
Indeed, many European leaders have long been nervous that a second Trump presidency would mean decreased U.S. support for Ukraine and for the NATO military alliance. The European anxiety was heightened in February when Trump in a campaign speech warned NATO allies that he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that don’t meet defense spending goals if he returns to the White House.
It was a key moment in the debate over Ukraine spending. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg quickly called out Trump for putting “American and European soldiers at increased risk.” Biden days later called Trump’s comments “dangerous” and “un-American” and accused Trump of playing into Putin’s hands.
But in reality, the White House maneuvering to win additional funding for Ukraine started months earlier.
Biden, the day after returning from a whirlwind trip to Tel Aviv following Hamas militants’ stunning Oct. 7 attack on Israel, used a rare prime time address to make his pitch for the supplemental funding.
At the time, the House was in chaos because the Republican majority had been unable to select a speaker to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who had been ousted more than two weeks earlier. McCarthy’s reckoning with the GOP’s far right came after he agreed earlier in the year to allow federal spending levels that many in his right flank disagreed with and wanted undone.
Far-right Republicans have also adamantly opposed sending more money for Ukraine, with the war appearing to have no end in sight. Biden in August requested more than $20 billion to keep aid flowing into Ukraine, but the money was stripped out of a must-pass spending bill even as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Washington to make a personal plea for continued U.S. backing.
By late October, Republicans finally settled on Johnson, a low-profile Louisiana Republican whose thinking on Ukraine was opaque, to serve as the next speaker. Biden during his congratulatory call with Johnson urged him to quickly pass Ukraine aid and began a months-long, largely behind-the-scenes effort to bring the matter to a vote.
In private conversations with Johnson, Biden and White House officials leaned into the stakes for Europe if Ukraine were to fall to Russia. Five days after Johnson was formally elected speaker, national security adviser Jake Sullivan outlined to him the administration’s strategy on Ukraine and assured him that accountability measures were in place in Ukraine to track where the aid was going — an effort to address a common complaint from conservatives.
On explicit orders from Biden himself, White House officials also avoided directly attacking Johnson over the stalled aid — a directive the president repeatedly instilled in his senior staff.
For his part, Johnson came off to White House officials as direct and an honest actor throughout the negotiations, according to a senior administration official. Biden had success finding common ground with Republicans earlier in his term to win the passage of a $1 trillion infrastructure deal, legislation to boost the U.S. semiconductor industry, and an expansion of federal health care services for veterans exposed to toxic smoke from burn pits. And he knew there was plenty of Republican support for further Ukraine funding.
At frustrating moments during the negotiations, Biden urged his aides to “just keep talking, keep working,” according to the official, who requested anonymity to discuss internal discussions.
So they did. In a daily meeting convened by White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, the president’s top aides — seated around a big oval table in Zients’ office — would brainstorm possible ways to better make the case about Ukraine’s dire situation in the absence of aid.
Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, and legislative affairs director Shuwanza Goff were in regular contact with Johnson. Goff and Johnson’s senior staff also spoke frequently as a deal came into focus.
The White House also sought to accommodate Johnson and his various asks. For instance, administration officials at the speaker’s request briefed Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Ralph Norman, R-S.C. — two conservatives who were persistent antagonists of Johnson.
All the while, senior Biden officials frequently updated McConnell as well as key Republican committee leaders, including Reps. Michael McCaul and Mike Turner.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Biden’s instincts to resist pressuring Johnson proved correct.
“Joe Biden has a very good sense of when to heavily intervene and when to try to shape things,” Schumer said.
In public, the administration deployed a strategy of downgrading intelligence that demonstrated Russia’s efforts to tighten its ties with U.S. adversaries China, North Korea and Iran to fortify Moscow’s defense industrial complex and get around U.S. and European sanctions.
For example, U.S. officials this month laid out intelligence findings that showed China has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow in turn is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry. Earlier, the White House publicized intelligence that Russia has acquired ballistic missiles from North Korea and has acquired attack drones from Iran.
The $61 billion can help triage Ukrainian forces, but Kyiv will need much more for a fight that could last years, military experts say.
Realistic goals for the months ahead for Ukraine — and its allies — include avoiding the loss of major cities, slowing Russia’s momentum and getting additional weaponry to Kyiv that could help them go on the offensive in 2025, said Bradley Bowman, a defense strategy and policy analyst at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington.
“In our microwave culture, we tend to want immediate results,” Bowman said. “And sometimes things are just hard and you can’t get immediate results. I think Ukrainian success is not guaranteed, but Russian success is if we stop supporting Ukraine.”
Copyright 2023. Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Austin Man Charged with Arson, Deadly Conduct in Connection to Two House Fires in Frisco
FRISCO (WBAP/KLIF News ) – An Austin man has been arrested in connection to two fires in Frisco, including a massive blaze that damaged eight homes in the Chapel Creek Estates near Memorial Drive Monday afternoon.
Investigators said 29-year-old Jonathan Webb was seen on surveillance video near the scene of the three-alarm fire that destroyed one home under construction before spreading to seven others.
The house next door sustained significant damage. The other homes sustained either fire, water damage or broken windows due to the 3-alarm blaze.
Authorities first arrested Webb Monday night on a public intoxication charge and outstanding warrants out of Dallas as he attempted to run from the scene of another fire a few miles away.
Just after 10 p.m. Monday, Frisco Fire and the Frisco Police Department responded to the second fire call in the 4600 block of Haverford Dr. The blaze was burning in a trash container in the alley and was quickly extinguished. No one was injured in this fire and no homes or cars were damaged.
Frisco police officers at the scene saw a man walking from between two houses near the fire. He matched the description of a person of interest related to the earlier fire in the area of Chapel Creek Parkway and Memorial Drive.
Webb is charged with deadly conduct and arson. The FMO investigation into the Chapel Creek house fires in ongoing.
Copyright 2023. WBAP/KLIF News. All Rights Reserved.
Plano Woman Charged with Murder for Allegedly Shooting Ex-Husband
PLANO (WBAP/KLIF News ) – New details have emerged about the recent murder of a Plano man who police said was killed by his ex-wife.
38-year-old Merridith Nunley is accused of fatally shooting 55-year-old David Nunley at his home on Monticello Circle Friday night.
Police said Merridith called family friends and told them she’d shot him as he called 911 for help.
David died at the scene and authorities arrested Merridith about a mile from the house.
She’s charged with murder and is in the Collin County Jail on a $500,000 bond.
Court records obtained by our media partner WFAA TV show David filed a protective order against Merridith two years ago and was granted custody of their three children after their divorce in 2022.
Family members set up a GoFundMe to help pay for the children’s future.
Copyright 2023. WBAP/KLIF News. All Rights Reserved.
Israel’s Military Intelligence Chief Resigns Over Failure to Prevent Hamas Attack on Oct. 7
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The head of Israel’s military intelligence directorate has resigned over Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, the head of Israel’s military intelligence, becomes the first senior Israeli figure to step down over the failures surrounding Hamas’ attack, which triggered the war in Gaza. It could set the stage for more resignations. Haliva said in October that he shouldered the blame for not preventing the attack, which broke through Israel’s vaunted defenses. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not taken responsibility for the failures around the attack, saying he and other top officials will answer for their actions after the end of the war against Hamas.
(Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Pro-Palestinian Protests Sweep US College Campuses Following Mass Arrests at Columbia
NEW YORK (AP) — Columbia University canceled in-person classes and police arrested dozens of students at New York University and Yale as tensions over Israel’s war with Hamas continue to grow on U.S. college campuses. The moves at the Ivy League schools came hours before Monday evening’s start of the Jewish holiday of Passover.
A New Haven, Connecticut, police spokesperson said about 45 protesters were arrested at Yale on Monday morning and charged with misdemeanor trespassing. All were being released on promises to appear in court later. Following arrests last week at Columbia, pro-Palestinian demonstrators set up encampments on other campuses around the country, including at the University of Michigan, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of North Carolina.
(Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
UPDATE – Aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan Approved by Senate After Months of Delay
The Senate has passed $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden.
The passage comes after months of delays and debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
The bill passed the Senate Tuesday evening after the House had approved the package Saturday.
Biden is expected to quickly sign the legislation and start the process of sending the money to Ukraine.
The legislation would also send $26 billion in wartime assistance to Israel and humanitarian relief to citizens of Gaza, and $8 billion to counter Chinese threats in Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is returning to Washington to vote on $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine and Israel. They are taking the final steps in Congress to send the legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk after months of delays and contentious internal debate over how involved the United States should be abroad.
The $61 billion for Ukraine comes as the war-torn country desperately needs new firepower and as Russian President Vladimir Putin has stepped up his attacks. Soldiers have struggled to hold the front lines as Russia has seized the momentum on the battlefield and forced Ukraine to cede significant territory.
(Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)