Latest news with #SanAntonioExpress-News
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Sara DiNatale joins S.F. Chronicle to report on Trump's impact on the Bay Area
Sara DiNatale has joined the San Francisco Chronicle as a reporter on the politics team. In her new role, DiNatale will chronicle the ways in which the Trump administration is shaping life in the Bay Area, including impacts its policies and decisions are having on local governments, businesses, nonprofits, individuals and communities. She will report to Politics Editor Sara Libby. 'Sara has done incredible work examining the ways in which government systems are impacting people's day-to-day lives,' said Libby. 'As the Trump administration continues to target California's leaders and seeks to override policies it disagrees with, it's more important than ever to dig into the ways these tensions are playing out on the ground.' DiNatale has spent the last decade reporting on a mix of business and breaking news topics across the southern United States. She has worked for the Tampa Bay Times, Mississippi Today and, most recently, the San Antonio Express-News, which is also owned by Hearst, the Chronicle's parent company. DiNatale was the recipient of a 2024 George Polk Award for her investigation on the Texas residential solar industry as an energy reporter at the San Antonio Express-News. The four-part series led Texas to adopt new state laws and licensing requirements to regulate bad actors and door-to-door scammers. In addition to energy, she has reported extensively on labor, health care and retail. She got her start as a night cops reporter in Tampa after graduating from the University at Buffalo with an English degree in 2015. DiNatale's storytelling has spanned power tool theft-driven drug rings, Delta farmworkers fighting racist hiring practices and the complexities of Texas' troubled electric grid. Her reporting has been recognized by a series of state-level and national awards, including top honors from the Headliner Foundation, Best of the West and Bill Minor Prize for Investigative Reporting. She's a native of Western New York. 'I'm so excited to begin this next chapter of my career in the Bay Area,' DiNatale said. 'I look forward to being on the ground, meeting Californians and reporting how they see their lives changing under the Trump administration.' The San Francisco Chronicle ( is the largest newspaper in Northern California and the second largest on the West Coast. Acquired by Hearst in 2000, The San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 by Charles and Michael de Young and has been awarded six Pulitzer Prizes for journalistic excellence. Follow us on Twitter at @SFChronicle
Indian Express
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
News of the World author Paulette Jiles, 82, passes away
Paulette Jiles, the Texan author whose historical novels brought the American frontier to life, has died at the age of 82, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Born in Salem, Missouri, and raised in small towns throughout the state, Jiles forged a literary career rooted in a deep understanding of American history and the complexities of the post–Civil War era. Jiles published her first book, the short story collection Waterloo Express, in 1973. Over the following decades, she wrote several acclaimed novels, including Enemy Women (2002), Stormy Weather (2007), The Color of Lightning (2009), and Lighthouse Island (2013). She achieved widespread recognition with her 2016 novel News of the World, a finalist for the National Book Award. The story follows Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a veteran who travels across Texas reading newspapers aloud for audiences. He is tasked with returning Johanna, a young orphan raised by the Kiowa, to her relatives in San Antonio. In 2020, News of the World was adapted into a feature film directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Tom Hanks as Captain Kidd and German newcomer Helena Zengel as Johanna. The film garnered critical acclaim and four Academy Award nominations, including Best Cinematography and Best Original Score. Jiles continued writing well into her later years. Her most recent novel, Chenneville, was published in 2023. The novel continued her exploration of the turbulent Reconstruction era. The novel follows Union soldier John Chenneville, who, after recovering from a traumatic head wound, returns home to discover his sister and her family have been murdered. Driven by grief and a thirst for justice, Chenneville embarks on a relentless pursuit of the killer, a man known as AJ Dodd, a former Union soldier and corrupt lawman. The novel traces Chenneville's harrowing journey through the fractured landscape of postwar America, his moral struggle and the tension between vengeance and redemption. Jiles leaves behind a body of work that chronicles the human experience through war, loss, resilience, and hope. Her storytelling captured the grit and grace of American life in the 19th century and solidified her place as one of the most respected voices in historical fiction.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
The Guadalupe River in Texas surged 26 feet in just 45 minutes. It caught everyone off guard
With at least 105 dead and two dozen still missing, Friday's catastrophic flash flooding in Central Texas ranks among the worst natural disasters in the state's history. The brunt of the disaster centered in Kerr County, where the torrential rainfall caused the Guadalupe River to burst its banks, taking 84 victims, including 28 children. Among those killed were 27 young girls and staff members at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp situated on the riverbank. Eleven were still missing on Tuesday morning. What began as a routine flood watch quickly devolved into a deadly disaster. The National Weather Service predicted between one and three inches of rain, with some isolated spots possibly getting five to seven inches. Instead, parts of Kerr County were slammed with 10 to 15 inches, and in some places, over 20 inches, within a few hours. The storm is believed to be fueled by warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and leftovers from Tropical Storm Barry, according to San Antonio Express-News meteorologist Anthony Franze. These combined to create a slow-moving weather system that slowed over the area and dumped heavy rain over hills and valleys. The geography of Hill Country made things worse. The steep hills and rocky land don't absorb water well, so rain quickly flows into creeks and rivers. This caused the Guadalupe River to rise rapidly to its second-highest level ever recorded, even higher than a historic 1987 flood, Franze said. The area is often called 'Flash Flood Alley' because it's prone to these kinds of fast, dangerous floods, Hatim Sharif, a hydrologist and civil engineer at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said in an article for The Conversation. Experts say predicting exactly where and how much rain will fall is difficult, and this storm caught many off guard. Dr. Jess Neumann of the University of Reading said this was a 'tragic reminder of the dangers of sudden extreme rainfall and flash flooding.' 'This terrible event, in which children are missing and many have died, raises critical questions about effective early warning systems, flood planning and preparedness in the region,' Neumann said in a news release. 'It cannot be right that a flood of this magnitude, in an area known to be at high risk of flash floods, caused such devastation and has taken so many people by surprise.' The flood struck in the middle of the night when most people were asleep. There weren't strong warning systems in place to alert residents or campers in time to escape. 'We didn't know this flood was coming,' Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said Friday. 'No one knew this kind of flood was coming.' Chuck Schumer, the Senate's top Democrat, demanded that the government's watchdog investigate whether the Trump administration's cuts to the National Weather Service's workforce increased the death toll. The strength of the flood was depicted by a 22-year-old woman who was swept 20 miles downstream and survived by clinging to a tree until help arrived. More than 850 people had been rescued by Tuesday morning, with Texas Governor Greg Abbott stating that over 1,750 personnel from 20 state agencies had been deployed so far to respond to flood threats. As the hopes of finding survivors faded, hundreds of emergency responders continued to search through the debris. 'Texas is working tirelessly to assist local officials with recovery and rescue operations,' Abbott wrote on X Monday. 'Texas will not stop until every missing person is found.'
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
How the Texas Hill Country flood went from small water flow to deadly tide in a matter of hours
A powerful flash flood hit Central Texas' Hill Country late Friday into early Saturday, leaving at least 27 people dead, including children, while many more are still missing. Most of the missing were attending Camp Mystic, a popular summer camp along the Guadalupe River. What began as a routine flood watch quickly turned into a deadly disaster. The National Weather Service predicted between 1 and 3 inches of rain, with some isolated spots possibly getting 5 to 7 inches. Instead, parts of Kerr County were slammed with 10 to 15 inches, and in some places, over 20 inches, within a few hours. San Antonio Express-News newsroom meteorologist Anthony Franze said the storm was fueled by warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and leftovers from Tropical Storm Barry. These combined to create a slow-moving weather system that stayed over the area and dumped heavy rain over hills and valleys. The geography of Hill Country made things worse. The steep hills and rocky land don't absorb water well, so rain quickly flows into creeks and rivers. This caused the Guadalupe River to rise more than 20 feet in a matter of hours. It's the second-highest level ever recorded, even higher than a historic 1987 flood, Franze said. The area is often called 'Flash Flood Alley' because it's prone to these kinds of fast, dangerous floods, Hatim Sharif, a hydrologist and civil engineer at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said in an article for The Conversation. Experts say predicting exactly where and how much rain will fall is difficult, and this storm caught many off guard. Dr. Jess Neumann of the University of Reading said this was a 'tragic reminder of the dangers of sudden extreme rainfall and flash flooding.' "This terrible event, in which children are missing and many have died, raises critical questions about effective early warning systems, flood planning and preparedness in the region,' Neumann said in a news release. "It cannot be right that a flood of this magnitude, in an area known to be at high risk of flash floods, caused such devastation and has taken so many people by surprise." The flood struck in the middle of the night, when most people were asleep. There weren't strong warning systems in place to alert residents or campers in time to escape. "We didn't know this flood was coming," Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said Friday. "No one knew this kind of flood was coming." The strength of the flood was depicted by a 22-year-old woman who was swept 20 miles downstream and survived by clinging to a tree until help arrived. More than 850 people have been evacuated so far, and over 200 rescues have been carried out by helicopter, boat, and high-water rescue teams. Texas officials have declared disaster zones in several counties and are sending in state and federal help. Governor Greg Abbott and other leaders are urging people to follow evacuation orders and stay away from flooded areas. 'We remain in a search-and-rescue posture right now,' Abbott said during a Friday night press conference. 'We will stop at nothing to ensure... that everybody involved in this is going to be fully accounted for."
New York Post
03-07-2025
- New York Post
Founder of Las Palapas restaurant chain Edward ‘Ron' Acosta allegedly killed in his mansion by nephew suffering from hallucinations: ‘He just completely snapped'
The founder of the popular Mexican restaurant chain Las Palapas was allegedly killed by his nephew, who was suffering from paranoid hallucinations and traveled from California to Texas to commit the gruesome murder. Edward 'Ron' Acosta, 78, was found stabbed to death inside his mansion in a gated community in San Antonio on Tuesday after he was allegedly killed by his nephew, David Ruiz, the San Antonio Express-News reported. Ruiz, 39, had left his home in southern California on Sunday, telling his family that he was heading to San Antonio to visit his cousin and the Tex-Mex restaurant chain's founder's son, Aaron Acosta, and to see his brother in Austin. Advertisement 4 Founder of the popular Mexican restaurant chain Las Palapas, Edward Ronald Acosta, was killed in his Texas home on Tuesday. Las Palapas Restaurants / Facebook However, he was armed with a pistol and amid a severe mental breakdown when he left for the Lone Star State, his father, James Ruiz, told the outlet. 'I thought I was going to lose him to suicide,' his father said. 'I never thought he'd hurt someone else — especially not Ronnie. He just completely snapped.' Advertisement Before heading to Texas, James said his son had been showing signs of every 'mental disorder that you could imagine,' hadn't slept for four days, was suffering from hallucinations, and was extremely paranoid — making bizarre claims that his father was dead and others were out to kill him. When the accused killer left for San Antonio, James said he called Aaron Acosta to warn him that he thinks his son was 'capable of something pretty serious,' due to his mental state and being armed. 'I was fearful that, based on my son's behavior, he was going to take his own life. And how he ended up going to my brother-in-law, whom he had no contact with, and took it out on him is beyond me,' he said. 4 The restaurant founder was allegedly killed by his nephew, David Ruiz. Advertisement Ruiz called Aaron Acosta on Monday while en route to his home, but he planned to stop for the night before reaching San Antonio. The following morning, the Las Palapas founder called his nephew and invited him to stay at his home instead of heading to his son's house. Ruiz agreed, but when he arrived, Acosta wrote in a family group chat that Ruiz was at his home and called for a family gathering to discuss what to do with his nephew. However, at around 11 a.m., the San Antonio Police Department was called to Acosta's home, where they found the businessman unresponsive and bleeding from multiple stab wounds. Advertisement 4 Before heading to Texas, Ruiz had been showing signs of every 'mental disorder that you could imagine,' hadn't slept for four days, was suffering from hallucinations, and was highly paranoid. Kens5 He was declared dead at the scene, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the outlet. Police said a housekeeper witnessed Ruiz stabbing Acosta, pleading with him to stop before calling 911. Ruiz fled the scene and was still on the run when his father heard about the murder and texted him to turn himself over to the police. The alleged killer was arrested hours later after being pulled over by police in Kimble County, about 100 miles northwest of San Antonio. 4 Acosta founded the Tex-Mex chain Las Palapas in 1981. Las Palapas Restaurants / Facebook He is awaiting extradition to Bexar County to face a first-degree murder charge. Acosta founded the Tex-Mex chain Las Palapas in 1981, expanding it to multiple locations throughout South and Central Texas before selling his majority stake in the company in 2020. Advertisement He is remembered as a beloved member of the San Antonio community, with a huge charitable heart and a strong sense of faith, his friend, Gilbert Hernandez, told News4SA. Las Palapas Restaurant issued a statement saying it was 'heartbroken' over Acosta's murder. 'Ron was a man of deep faith, a generous spirit, and a true community leader. His warmth, vision, and work ethic left an undeniable mark on San Antonio,' the company said. 'Ron's impact reached far beyond the restaurants he helped build. He brought people together, created jobs and opportunities, and shared his love of culture and community in everything he did. He will be missed more than words can express.'
