HARRIS COUNTY

As major cities across the country fiercely debate the merits and risks of bail reform, how is it impacting the largest city in Texas?

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's reelection campaign said that two volunteers were assaulted while they were knocking on doors in a Houston suburb on Saturday.

SWAT team members gathered outside of a residence in Harris County Friday, where a suspect barricaded himself after being suspected of fatally shooting at least one person.

Loved ones of murder victims and advocates will gather in Houston Sunday to remember and honor those who have been impacted by violent crime in Harris County, Texas.

ATASCOCITA, Texas — A massive alligator found in a Texas neighborhood required creativity and teamwork to remove it. Tow truck used to remove 10-foot alligator from Texas driveway The alligator was initially found under a truck in a driveway. (Harris County Constable Mark Herman )>> Read more trending newsThe alligator, which measured in at 10 feet long, was first spotted by a man on surveillance camera sitting under his truck in the driveway, KPRC reported. Harris County Constable Mark Herman shared photos of the alligator on Twitter, and said that when officers arrived, the animal had moved into the middle of the road. pic.twitter.com/G8sPY1OBgy — Mark Herman, Harris County Constable Precinct 4 (@Pct4Constable) September 19, 2022Once officers arrived, they worked with a trapper, who arrived wearing American flag shorts and driving a pick-up truck, KPRC reported.

Deputies with the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office helped capture a 10-foot alligator found wandering around a neighborhood in Atascocita, Texas, over the weekend.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Two teenage boys have been arrested for allegedly abducting a woman from her own driveway and sexually assaulting her in Texas, officials say. HCSO said that deputies responded to a call in the area and found a naked woman who was hiding in the bushes. The woman told the deputies that she was abducted by two men from her own driveway. According to KTRK, the woman was forced back into the car and left her on a deserted street. HCSO said that Rodriguez is being held on a $300,000 bond and is expected in court on September 16.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A mysterious casket was found buried on a woman’s property in Crosby, Texas. >> Read more trending newsAccording to KHOU, Harris County Sheriff’s Office and Texas EquuSearch are working together to investigate how a casket ended up buried on Miriam Soza’s property. HCSO Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted that on Tuesday investigators with HCSO and Texas EquuSearch found a full-sized burial vault/casket buried there. HCSO told KPRC that they are looking to find out who is responsible for burying something or something on the property. Yesterday, HCSO Investigators with assistance from TX Equusearch, located what is believed to be a full-size burial vault/casket buried underground at 564 Barrett Rd.

CHANNELVIEW, Texas — A 17-year-old boy armed with a shotgun killed two people during an attempted home invasion in suburban Houston on Friday night, authorities said. >> Read more trending newsAccording to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, the shooting occurred in the Channelview area east of Houston at about 10:40 p.m. CDT, KHOU-TV reported. Upon arrival, deputies said they located two men with apparent gunshot wounds on the lawn near a residence, KTRK-TV reported. Last night in Channelview at the 16000 blk of First Street, three adult males attempted to force entry into a home. One of the 17-yr-old male occupants 1/3 pic.twitter.com/6O8fRyoHFc — Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) September 10, 2022investigation is on-going and anyone with information is urged to contact the HCSO Homicide Unit at 713-274-9100.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A person diagnosed with monkeypox died Sunday in Harris County, health officials said, marking the first death of a person diagnosed with the disease in the U.S.>> Read more trending newsAs of Tuesday, authorities said the cause of the person’s death remained unknown. Officials with Harris County Public Health said they were working with other agencies to determine what role monkeypox played in the death. State health officials said the person was “severely compromised.” They were also dealing with “various severe illnesses” before their death, according to Harris County Public Health. “Monkeypox is a serious disease, particularly for those with weakened immune systems,” Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner John Hellerstedt said in a news release. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed more than 18,000 monkeypox cases nationwide, including about 1,600 in Texas.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A Texas man admitted to fatally shooting his 24-year-old son early Monday morning after he said the younger man assaulted his mother and charged at him after a night of drinking, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies who responded to the Rhodes Road residence at about 2 a.m. confirmed that they found the younger man with a gunshot wound. According to the sheriff’s office, the father awakened to find his wife being assaulted by their son, and the father reportedly saw the son hit the mother in the head with a liquor bottle. The son then allegedly advanced toward the father, and the father fired a fatal shot, the TV station reported. According to KRIV, the case will be referred to a Harris County grand jury.

HOUSTON — A 22-month boy died Friday when a concrete mixing truck tumbled off a Houston overpass and landed on his family’s vehicle, authorities said. Lt. Simon Cheng of the HCSO’s Vehicular Crimes Division said the cement truck was traveling south on Beltway 8 East and Woodforest Boulevard when it began to rain, KTRK-TV reported. The truck, driven by a 36-year-old woman, lost control on the slick road and crashed through a barrier wall, according to the television station. were able to get out of the vehicle, but the 4th, a child (possibly 10 yrs) did not. The adults in the vehicle were able to rescue the 22-month-old girl, but her brother was pronounced dead at the scene.

Former NFL player indicted: Kevin Ware was indicted for murder and tampering with evidence. (Montgomery County Sheriff's Office)HOUSTON — Former NFL tight end Kevin Ware Jr. was indicted Thursday in connection with the death of his girlfriend, whose remains were found in a ditch in December, prosecutors said. Her remains were discovered in a ditch in northern Harris County on Dec. 10, according to the Houston Chronicle. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office in April confirmed that the remains were Pomaski’s, the newspaper reported. Ware remains in custody in the Montgomery County Jail, according to online booking records.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — An investigation is underway into a young boy’s death after he was found in a washing machine hours after he was reported missing. >> Read more trending newsThe Harris County Constable announced that 7-year-old Troy Khoeler was missing in a social media post Thursday morning. The Twitter post, which has a timestamp of 7:27 a.m., said Khoeler had been missing for approximately 2-3 hours. Missing 7-year-old boy found dead in washing machine Photo of Troy Khoeler. (Family via Harris County Constable Precinct 4)Troy was found in a top-load washing machine inside the garage of the home where he lived, KHOU reported.

“A criminal investigation is underway,” authorities said.

The sheriff said a woman “wildly fired” the gun during the road rage incident.

Police Authorities in Harris County, Texas, are investigating a hit-and-run crash that claimed the life of a 16-year-old boy on Tuesday, July 19, 2022. (JasonDoiy/Getty Images/iStockphoto, File)HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Authorities are asking for help finding the driver of a pickup truck that struck and killed a 16-year-old boy who was running from a dog on Tuesday night. >> Read more trending newsHarris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the boy, identified as Omar Ghawtah, was being chased by a dog in the 14100 block of Alief Clodine when he ran into the roadway around 10:50 p.m. He was hit by a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, according to the sheriff. “Ghawtah was deceased at the scene,” Gonzalez said.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Four people, including three teens, were fatally shot at a Houston-area apartment complex on Saturday, authorities said. >> Read more trending newsHarris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said there were two 16-year-olds killed, along with a 19-year-old and a 25-year-old, KTRK-TV reported. The shooting occurred at about 11:20 p.m. CDT in northern Harris County, KHOU-TV reported. Three of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene, KTRK reported. A weapon was recovered at the scene, according to the television station.

Crash Police said an 11-year-old boy crashed a truck into his own home, backed into a sheriff’s deputy’s unoccupied patrol car and then drove through another residence in northwest Harris County on Saturday, July 16, 2022. (JIMMY ANDERSON/Getty Images/iStockphoto)SPRING, Texas — An 11-year-old boy had from Spring, Texas, had quite the Saturday morning. HCSO says an autistic/deaf 11-year-old got a hold of car keys in his home, took off and crashed into this home on Landry Ln. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the child got behind the wheel, pulled forward, struck his home, backed out of the driveway, hit the unoccupied deputy’s vehicle, drove forward and “drove straight through” another residence, the TV station reported. A driver pulled forward, struck his residence, backed out of the driveway and struck a HCSO vehicle (unoccupied), drove forward and crashed through a residence.

How to prevent hot car deaths (NCD)HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Deputies in Texas said a young boy died after he was left in a hot car for two to three hours Monday. Upon arrival units determined a child (possibly 5 yrs) was left inside a vehicle for several hours. #HouNews pic.twitter.com/MNbhPHIHSU — Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) June 20, 2022Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told KHOU that the child’s family had been preparing for his 8-year-old sister’s birthday party. The mother realized two or three hours after getting out of the car that her son was missing when she called for him, KTRK reported. “Most people don’t realize that the majority of the increase in temperature inside of a car happens within the first 10 minutes,” Amber Rollins, with the nonprofit group Kids and Car Safety, told KHOU.

A cautionary tale from Texas: Even the smallest changes in new election laws this year can block thousands of legitimate votes.

A cautionary tale from Texas: Even the smallest changes in election laws this year can block thousands of legitimate votes.

The call discussing a "citizen’s arrest" occurred days before an investigator working for donor Steven F. Hotze’s nonprofit in Houston allegedly rammed a van and held an air-conditioning repairman at gunpoint in a futile search for bogus ballots, a new court filing details.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A Texas couple returned home from a trip Monday afternoon and got a greeting from an 8-foot alligator they are sure not to forget. >> Read more trending newsHarris County Constable Deputies were contacted by the couple who told them about the alligator at their home near the 19700 block of Bolton Bridge Lane, according to their Facebook post. They worked with Texas Parks and Wildlife to find and relocate the alligator back to his ”natural habitat”. KHOU spoke with one of the homeowners, Jody White, who says the alligator slapped his girlfriend, Tami Tanner, with his tail. “When she first hollered, I thought somebody was behind the brick wall there,” White said.

As communities continue to grow, so does the amount of garbage. But cities and companies are struggling to keep workers willing to do these "dirty" jobs.

Amtrak Stock photo of an eastbound Amtrak Southwest Chief passenger train at Lamy, New Mexico. Two people died Saturday, April 16, 2022, after colliding with an Amtrak train in northeast Harris County, Texas. (David Cannings-Bushell/Getty Images/iStockphoto)HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Two people died Saturday night after a crash involving a train in northeast Harris County, Texas, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed. An oncoming Amtrak train collided with the vehicle, KPRC-TV reported. Update #2 Train Crash Scene: RR signal was activated; arms, lights, and sound.

The computer system used for law enforcement in the Houston area crashed on March 24, preventing defendants from getting an initial court hearing within the legal timeframe.

Watson, who has denied all illegal conduct, still faces civil lawsuits.

Many were rejected because of problems related to complying with Texas' new voting law.

No indictment: A Houston grand jury declined to indict Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson on nine criminal complaints. >> Read more trending newsThe grand jury began hearing testimony on Friday to decide whether criminal charges would be filed against Watson, 26, KHOU-TV reported. The 12-member grand jury heard evidence for more than six hours from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, The New York Times reported. “We will conclude the criminal proceedings in Harris County.”The grand jury process does not require a unanimous vote, according to ESPN. Each deposition lasted about 90 minutes, and Buzbee told reporters that Watson cited the Fifth for at least 150 questions.

After elections officials in Harris County, Tex., admitted they failed to count 10,000 mail-in ballots in the March 1 primary, Democrats and Republicans have gone to war over who is to blame for a litany of elections shortfalls in the nation's third-most populous county.

A fundraising email from Donald Trump’s Save America PAC seeks donations for a new plane.

Austria suspends its mandatory Covid-19 vaccination law just a month after the legislation took effect in an EU first. Minister Karoline Edtstadler explains the government's decision, saying that just like the virus itself, it will remain "flexible and adaptable".

Election 2022 Texas Voters arrive at the West Gray Metropolitan Multi-Service Center on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, in Houston. Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria announced during a meeting of county commissioners she would resign on July 1. Longoria said she took responsibility for the problems during last Tuesday's election in Harris County, where Houston is located. ’Late Saturday, election officials in Harris County said that an “oversight” led to 10,000 ballots not being counted. The March 1 primary was the first statewide election that took place in Texas under new, tighter voting laws.

The election administrator in Texas’ most populous county submitted her resignation Tuesday following problems with last week’s primary, including about 10,000 mail ballots that weren’t counted the day of the election, issues with voting machines and a lack of poll workers. Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria announced during a meeting of county commissioners she would resign on July 1. Longoria said she took responsibility for the problems during last Tuesday’s election in Harris County, where Houston is located.

Election 2022 Primary Texas People make a line to vote in the primary elections at the West Gray Metropolitan Multi-Service Center on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, in Houston. Election officials in Harris County, home to Houston, said late Saturday that an “oversight” led to 10,000 ballots not being counted. The AP will tabulate the additional votes from Harris County and update its vote count. The March 1 primary was the first statewide election that took place in Texas under new, tighter voting laws. Thousands of mail ballots were rejected statewide for not having the new, required identification.

About 10,000 mail ballots were tabulated but not counted in Texas' most populous county on the day of last week's election, officials said, adding to the delay in determining some winners in the nation's first primary of the 2022 midterms. Election officials in Harris County, home to Houston, said late Saturday that an “oversight” led to 10,000 ballots not being counted. “While the votes were scanned into our tabulation computer, they were not transferred and counted as a part of the unofficial final results as they should have been,” the Harris County Elections Office said in a statement.

Moscow is increasingly using harsh tactics to control information about the war in Ukraine, such as banning Facebook and passing a law that could jail journalists and others for promoting what it calls "fake news" about its military. Chris Krebs, former director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, joined CBS News' Anne-Marie Green and Vladimir Duthiers to discuss the latest developments.

AUSTIN, Texas — (AP) — Texas Republicans promised new voting rules would make it “easier to vote and harder to cheat.” But as the dust settled Wednesday on the nation’s first primary, voters in both parties had their ballots caught by the changes. But there is little question the changes in Texas caused hurdles for even Republican voters, who accounted for roughly 40 percent of all mail-in ballots. The rate of rejected ballots around Houston was nearly 30% — some 11,000 ballots — as polls opened Tuesday. “We looked at it as the fact that the law is definitely working,” said Rick Barnes, the GOP chairman of Tarrant County, the largest red county in Texas. Greg Abbott, who GOP voters overwhelmingly nominated again.

Texas’ primary that put the 2022 midterm election season in full swing saw no significant issues at polling locations.

Texas Republicans promised new voting rules would make it “easier to vote and harder to cheat.” Republicans broadly expressed satisfaction with the debut of the tougher rules and looked ahead to November, when another provision under Texas' sweeping new law will give expanded powers to partisan poll watchers.

Democrats and voting rights advocates predicted for months that Senate Bill 1, as the new law is known, would make it harder for some Texans to vote and for election officials to do their jobs. Tuesday’s primary made clear that, in some respects, those predictions have come true.

Tuesday is the first statewide election in Texas since it enacted a sweeping new voting law. Some elections officials say the law has left voters unsure how and if they will be able to participate.

A substantial percentage of these ballots are being flagged because of their failure to comply with the state's new election law.

KATY, Texas — (AP) — Two Texas sheriff deputies were shot and wounded Tuesday after exchanging gunfire with a suspect who was struck and killed, authorities said. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the incident happened Tuesday night in northwest Harris County. According to Gonzalez, the deputies responded to the scene after receiving reports of shots being fired. When deputies arrived, Gonzalez said, the suspect shot at the deputies and the deputies returned fire. The deputies were hit and the suspect was declared dead at the scene.

In Harris County — home to Houston — election officials so far have sent back to voters nearly 38% of mail-in ballots, citing issues with new state ID requirements.

Voting-Texas FILE -Pam Gaskin talks about her mail-in primary election ballot at her home Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, in Missouri City, Texas. Election officials in Republican-leaning counties have also expressed frustration — and confusion — over changes they say they have scrambled to implement since Republican Gov. For hundreds of Texas voters whose mail ballots and ballot applications have been rejected in recent weeks, that is not the case. How smoothly Texas' primary goes in the coming weeks will be as closely watched as the actual races, few of which are high-profile. Scott said the number of rejected mail ballot applications had fallen to below 5 percent by this month.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Four Texas middle school students are in police custody after chasing down and beating a high school baseball coach on Thursday, an incident captured on cell phone video and circulated widely across social media. >> Read more trending newsThe attackers have been identified only as Aragon Middle School students, while the victim is Michael Shott, an assistant baseball coach and physics teacher at Langham Creek High School, KTRK reported. Officials with Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District confirmed to KTRK that the assault took place at Langham Creek High School during baseball practice. Shott was jumped because he told the middle school students they could not ride dirt bikes or all-terrain vehicles on the high school’s grounds. The arrests then prompted threats of gun violence against the high school Friday and tightened security, KABB reported.

Thousands of early ballots have been rejected because voters did not meet a new requirement to provide an identification number inside the return envelope.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A Texas apprentice plumber was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Monday after pleading guilty to molesting a 4-year-old girl in a home where he was working, prosecutors announced Thursday. >> Read more trending newsBrandon Joseph Bonds, 26, of Spring Branch, pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault, the Houston Chronicle reported. He convinced the child to let him inside while working as a plumber. The victim’s father locked the home’s front door, leaving Bonds outside, but the apprentice plumber was able to persuade the girl to unlock it, prosecutors said in the news release. Prosecutors stated that Bonds molested the child, who reported the incident to her parents, the Chronicle reported.

“It’s just so ugly to see,” the director of the advocacy group said.

HOUSTON — A Texas deputy was fatally shot early Sunday during a traffic stop in southwest Houston, authorities said. Charles Galloway, 47, was shot and the gunman fled the scene, Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap said during a news conference. He was promoted to corporal in 2020 and was also a field training officer who mentored new deputies, Heap told reporters. “Corporal Galloway was very much loved by the men and women he served with,” Heap told reporters. “There’s a lot of broken up officers who he meant a lot to in their lives.”A Precinct 5 deputy has been shot and killed during an apparent traffic stop this morning in Southwest Houston.

KPRC-TV is reporting a mother has been charged after her 13-year-old son was found in the trunk of her car at a Cy-Fair ISD drive-thru COVID testing site, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office confirmed.

An explosion at an ExxonMobil plant in Texas injured four people early Thursday, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

A $9 billion highway widening project being proposed in the Houston area could become an important test of the Biden administration’s commitment to addressing what it says is a history of racial inequity with infrastructure projects.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami says Nicholas has strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane ahead of its expected landfall in Texas.

Houston residents and officials are seething over a Texas agency's decision to not award the city a single cent of the initial $1 billion in federal flood mitigation funding the state was promised following Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

Republican lawmakers around the country are pressing ahead with efforts to tighten voting laws, despite growing warnings from business leaders that the measures could harm democracy and the economic climate.

Republican lawmakers around the country are pressing ahead with efforts to tighten voting laws, despite growing warnings from business leaders that the measures could harm democracy and the economic climate.

Texas authorities say two people have been killed in the fiery crash of a Tesla that had no one in the driver's seat.

The nation’s next big voting battle is underway in Texas.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office denied it had restricted inmates' access to food and water in the days following the storm. The jail in Harris County has long been the subject of legal action due to overcrowding. Civil Rights Corps won a settlement in a lawsuit to ensure that most misdemeanor defendants in the Harris County Jail don’t languish behind bars because they can’t afford bail. In late January, a federal judge expressed frustration over what she called a lack of progress in efforts to relieve overcrowding at the Harris County Jail during the pandemic. In a court filing, nine inmates described the facility as a “metal can of contagion.”“A lot of people are just stuck, nothing is moving,” said Gundu, of the Texas Jail Project.

Victoria Houptman-Bryan joins demonstrators as they stand across the street from the federal courthouse in Houston, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020, before a hearing in federal court involving drive-thru ballots cast in Harris County. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)HOUSTON – A panel of federal appeals court judges has rejected an eleventh hour Republican effort to bar Election Day drive-thru voting in Houston. The court hadn't been asked to invalidate votes already cast at drive-thru sites in the Houston area. “Hopefully it's all over now.”Attorney Jared Woodfill, a former Harris County GOP Chairman representing those opposed to drive-thru voting centers, noted that county Clerk Chris Hollins has shut down all but one of the county's 10 drive-thru locations for Election Day. "We have stopped the illegal voting on Election Day because Mr. Hollins has shut down drive-thru voting in all locations but one,” Woodfill said.

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)HOUSTON – A federal judge on Monday rejected another last-ditch Republican effort to invalidate nearly 127,000 votes in Houston because the ballots were cast at drive-thru polling centers established during the pandemic. The lawsuit was brought by conservative Texas activists who have railed against expanded voting access in Harris County, where a record 1.4 million early votes have already been cast. Another 20,000 or more voters were expected to use drive-thru polling locations Tuesday, said Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins, the county's top elections official. Harris County offered 10 drive-thru locations as an option for its nearly 5 million residents amid worries of spreading the coronavirus. More than 40% of Harris County residents are Latino, and about one in five residents are Black.

With an election official looking on an elderly voter uses the drive-thru option to vote outside Richardson City Hall during early voting Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, in Richardson, Texas. Texas is one of just five states that did not dramatically expand mail-in voting this year because of COVID-19. Long lines were common at polling sites across Texas, as were masks, although voters are not required to wear them inside polling places. Travis County, which includes the state capital of Austin, will also offer extended hours at select locations during early voting. Upping the ante is the chance to flip the Republican-controlled Texas State House of Representatives.

HOUSTON Top officials in Houston are calling for the city to lock back down as area hospitals strain to accommodate the onslaught of patients sick with the new coronavirus. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, both Democrats, said this weekend that a stay-at-home order is needed for America's fourth largest city to cope with the surge of COVID-19 cases. State health officials reported 8,196 new cases Sunday, another 80 deaths and a total of 10,410 people hospitalized due to the virus. On Friday, Abbott extended a statewide disaster order that warned Texans another shutdown might be needed if the virus spread isnt contained. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.