Latest news with #CBSTexas
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Scott Padgett to Move From CBS Texas to CBS New York
CBS Texas chief meteorologist Scott Padgett is joining CBS New York's First Alert Weather team, starting June 30. His last day at CBS Texas is May 30. Padgett has been with the station for 12 years, and has been its chief meteorologist for nearly a decade. "We are thrilled to see Scott transition to CBS New York. We thank him for his outstanding contributions and wish him the very best," said Meagan Harris, news director of CBS Texas. "I am excited to join CBS New York's First Alert Weather team and fulfill my lifelong dream of forecasting in New York," said Padgett. "While it is bittersweet to leave CBS Texas, I am grateful for the incredible support from my colleagues and viewers over the past 12 years." "Scott's expertise and engaging personality will be a great addition to the First Alert Weather team in New York. We look forward to him joining the team," added Sarah Burke, news director of CBS New York Padgett is a member of the National Weather Association and the American Meteorological Society and received the Seal of Approval from the American Meteorological Society in 2006.
CBS News
27-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
North Texas tornado survivors struggle to rebuild a year after deadly storm
Memorial Day weekend marks one year since a deadly EF-3 tornado tore through multiple North Texas counties, killing seven people. CBS News Texas spoke to a Valley View couple who survived taking a direct hit from the storm. They said the biggest battle is getting the money needed to rebuild. "We're still just doing cleanup stages," said tornado survivor Todd Smith. Todd Smith and his wife, Lisa Smith, walked with CBS Texas crews through their family farm, where there were still piles of containers, toppled trailers and torn roofs, showing the year-long aftermath of the powerful tornado that tore across their land. Lisa Smith, left, and Todd Smith, right, are still dealing with damage from the deadly EF-3 tornado that ripped through Cooke County in 2024. CBS News Texas Last year, the couple told CBS Texas they were thankful to get out of their home alive. "I just believe that God protected us and the bathroom because there is no reason why that door stayed closed," Todd Smith said. According to the National Weather Service, the tornado was estimated as an EF-3 with 140 mile per hour winds. It tracked nearly 48 miles across Cooke, Denton and Montague Counties – killing seven people in Cooke County. The Smiths lost most of their animals and had to stop operations at their farm. They said the emotions are still fresh a year later. "Honestly, we didn't know what to think because all you could see was disaster." Todd Smith said. "It was overwhelming," Lisa Smith said. "I miss it so much. I miss the farm. I miss my customers. I'm not going to get that back and I have to deal with that." However, their trauma didn't end with the storm. The Smiths said that this past year has been a battle with insurance companies to get the money to rebuild, leaving them in limbo for at least six months. Piles of debris remain in Valley View one year after a deadly EF-3 tornado ripped through parts of Cooke, Denton and Montague counties, killing seven people. CBS News Texas "It was well over $1 million and damage is what our estimation was," Todd Smith said. "We got the final check two days before Christmas. So from May to Christmas, we couldn't even do anything." Lisa Smith added. Todd Smith said the other hidden obstacle is inflation, admitting they will only get about a 40% return on their loss due to rising housing costs. "If you look at 2020 till now and the last five years, the cost of housing is doubled. Literally doubled. Then to be really upside down on your policy to where you can't build back to what you have, that's just like the nightmare icing on the cake," he said. Earlier this month, a deadly EF-3 tornado tore through the middle of Saint Louis, Missouri, damaging nearly 5,000 buildings. An EF-4 also killed more than a dozen people across the state of Kentucky. "To any other storm victims out there, don't let pride get in the way of people come in and help you," Lisa Smith said. The Smiths said they have found a silver lining after a year-long struggle. Todd Smith was able to use his tractor on their land for the first time recently, showing their farm can one day be turned into a grain and hay producer, giving them hope. "For me, it was just a statement that [this is] not going to keep me down. We're going to turn the farm back around. We're going to get back into production," Todd Smith said with confidence. The Valley View tornado was deemed the deadliest storm in North Texas in nearly a decade.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Gimme $1 Million: Tesla Owner Sues Man Who Keyed His Car
Read the full story on The Auto Wire A man in suing the vandal who keyed his Tesla for $1 million dollars. That might sound ridiculous considering fixing the paint on the American car won't cost nearly that much. In fact, he could buy a small fleet of Teslas with that keying incident was recorded by the Tesla Model X's onboard cameras as the EV was parked at the DFW airport garage in North Texas. That's how the owner even knew who did the damage. Admittedly, we've wanted to know that sort of thing when people have damaged our parked rides in the past. But the dollar amount of the lawsuit seems a little over the top. The victim's attorney sat down with CBS Texas and explained it's not about the money, it's about sending a message to people who think they can just vandalize Teslas without consequence. We can understand where the guy's coming from. After all, there are so many Tesla vandalism stories right now, we've never seen anything like it. If it became clear the vandals could be sued into oblivion, that might stop the runaway trend in its tracks. The victim has obscured his identity apparently because he's received threats after his story went viral recently. Again, we've never seen anything like this before. We're not Tesla fans at all, but attacking the cars when you see them parked, then threatening owners for sharing videos of the attacks is just unhinged. We also have to agree with the victim's attorney who said allowing people to just wantonly vandalize vehicles based on their perception of the owner's political leanings pushes us toward the brink of anarchy. A civil society doesn't involve that sort of behavior. When we first saw how much the Tesla owner was suing the vandal for, we thought it was just a money grab. But we can see why he wants to send a clear message that this kind of intimidation shouldn't be tolerated to any degree. What do you think? Has the Tesla owner and his attorney gone too far? Or is this a necessary move to stop the vandalism trend? Image via CBS Texas/YouTube Join our Newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube page, and follow us on Facebook.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Fake Customer Takes Dealers On Vomit-Inducing High-Speed Joyrides For Instagram Clout
As a group, young people may not have much in terms of spending power, but they'll happily watch video after video on social media. Unfortunately for those of us old enough to know exactly where the ibuprofen is at all times, that means there can be big money in making content that appeals to reckless idiots. Even so, there's a gulf between that and posting videos in which you intentionally terrify salespeople during test drives of performance cars. While they've only been a problem in Texas so far, they've already made at least one salesperson vomit after a 130 mph "test drive," Automotive News reports. Instagram influencer Ahmer Saeed has posted dozens of videos showing different performance cars being driven in an incredibly reckless, beyond dangerous manner, all with a terrified salesperson as the butt of the "joke." Can you believe these people can't handle a little risk of possibly dying in a crash because some stranger is driving like an idiot? So funny. Truly the height of humor. Read more: Alleged Horse-And-Buggy Thief In Way More Trouble Than If She Had Just Stolen A Car Unfortunately for the salespeople who have gotten roped into participating in these videos under false pretenses, there's a lot of pressure not to lose the sale, even if some jerk puts their safety at risk. So, while you might assume the dealerships would automatically report these joyrides to the authorities, when CBS News Texas contacted some dozen dealerships shown in the posted videos, they only found two that had called the cops. "There are other people's lives at risk. You can see him doing this out on the streets ... so it's just an unsafe situation when someone is driving recklessly like that," Matt Ducote, the general manager at Moritz Kia, told CBS News. Ducote told the TV station one of his salespeople had also been duped into going along on a joyride, saying, "He gets on the test drive with the salesman and immediately starts spinning the tires, and it looks like he was going 100, 120 miles an hour and the salesman was pretty scared." Still, Ducote understands why not everyone would report being trapped in a speeding car against their will. "If you think you're about to sell a car, you may not say what you would normally say to someone that's driving that way," he said. If you're currently imagining relatively brief joyrides that involve some speeding but ultimately aren't that big of a deal, that's absolutely not the case here. One salesperson, Edgar Lopez, told CBS Texas that not only did he get taken on a two-and-a-half-hour "test drive," but all of his requests to pull over were ignored. "I started to get very concerned because any time I would tell him to get off the road or anything like that, he would just ignore me," Lopez said of a drive that apparently topped out north of 160 mph. He also told CBS Texas that, while he was smiling in the video, he was understandably terrified at the time. "It was just a whole bunch of emotions of fear and wanting to get back to my house and wife and kids safely," Lopez said. That kind of reckless disregard for others' safety isn't just technically illegal, either. While he could be pulled over for speeding and possibly charged with reckless driving, under Texas law, refusing a salesperson's request to pull over or slow down could also be considered unlawful restraint. If charged, it would likely be a third-degree felony since speeding and reckless driving could easily be considered "recklessly expos[ing] the victim to a substantial risk of serious bodily injury." There may, of course, be those in the comments claiming this is all in good fun, and pointing out that neither the cars nor any of the salespeople have been hurt. Look: If you want to drive over 100 mph, go to a track like a normal adult. If that's not exciting enough for you, I'm sorry, but I just don't care. If you're going to drive on a public road and put others' lives at risk, you are a bad person, period. Tricking an unsuspecting salesperson into coming along for the ride and posting the video you recorded while seemingly driving one-handed only makes you even worse. The U.S. is the only developed country in the world where the roads continue to get more dangerous. Every other developed country has been getting safer. While that's partly due to our collective love of big, heavy vehicles with front ends conveniently shaped to kill people, entitled fools driving like public roads are their own private racetracks only make things worse. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Influencer Flogs Exotic Cars With Salesmen As Passengers, Sharing The Videos
Read the full story on The Auto Wire A social media influencer in North Texas has allegedly been taking exotic cars and other high-performance models on test drives from dealerships, flogging them like crazy while helpless salesmen go along for the wild ride. This includes allegedly speeding, performing burnouts in public roads, and other risky behavior. Now he's become the focus of media in the area as well as the Texas Automobile Dealers man in question, Ahmer Saeed, does in fact have these videos all over his social media accounts, although none show who's driving the vehicles. Whoever is driving seems to find it funny to make car salesman angry, anxious, or otherwise freak out while treating the pricey vehicles like personal playthings. CBS Texas has recently featured two reports on Saeed. As one dealership manager points out, Saeed allegedly takes advantage of salesmen's desire to bag a sale, meaning they might not be as likely to speak out right away as the guy drives recklessly. For some, the video content is hilarious, possibly allowing them to vicariously get back at car salesmen they believe took advantage of them at one point. But for others it's tacky and goes too far. We're sure readers' opinions will vary. What we wonder more about is the legality of what Saeed has been accused of doing. After all, whoever is driving in those videos is breaking multiple laws on public roads and has made at least some salesmen fear for their safety, although we couldn't say if that crosses the line into criminal behavior. There have even been accusations Saeed has held salesmen 'hostage' in the cars. Saeed did post a video on his Instagram account about CBS Texas' questioning the legality of what he's done. The tone is a little condescending and taunting, even though he admits he's not an attorney. However, he doesn't admit he's the one driving the cars and states all the incidents happened a while ago. He also claims the vehicles incurred zero damage, which apparently makes everything okay. We're unaware of any charges being filed against him, so maybe he's right? In Summer 2024 the Texas Automobile Dealers Association sent an alert to members, warning them about Saeed. They claim the man pretends to be serious about vehicles he has zero intention of buying, simply to get a test drive so he can record himself flogging the cars. What do you think? Is taking performance cars on wild test drives, scaring salesmen, then posting videos of that online a good idea? Or is it all just harmless fun? Image via ahmersaeed/Instagram Join our Newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube page, and follow us on Facebook.
