Month: June 2024

Per NBC News, Tropical Storm Alberto, the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, formed over the western Gulf of Mexico. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed on Wednesday that Alberto was moving west at 8 nautical miles an hour, with winds gusting up to 51 mph.

Alberto — the first named storm of the season — is forecast to make landfall in Mexico overnight and is expected to bring heavy rain, coastal flooding and gusty winds to Texas and northeastern Mexico coasts through Thursday. Rain totals could reach 10 inches in Texas and up to 20 inches in the mountains of Mexico, according to the National Weather Service.

A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Texas coast, from San Luis Pass to Corpus Christi to the mouth of the Rio Grande, with the heaviest rain expected in south Corpus Christi, with forecasters predicting between 6 and 10 inches. There is risk for flash flooding in Corpus Christi and Brownsville and coastal flooding threats for the Louisiana coast, including New Orleans. Storm surge is also anticipated in Galveston and Surfside Beach, where there is already major flooding. Storm surge has already topped 4 feet at San Luis Pass, in Texas, just south of Galveston Island.

The National Hurricane Centre and Central Pacific Hurricane Centre are also tracking a storm currently located several hundred miles east of the Bahamas, sharing in an update: “Environmental conditions are marginally conducive for some gradual development of this system during the next few days while it moves westward or west-northwestward. The system is forecast to approach the coast of the southeastern United States by the latter part of this week.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the state Division of Emergency Management to put the Texas State Emergency Operations Center to a readiness of level 2, meaning it began 24-hour operations: “As we prepare for severe tropical weather, Texas is activating all personnel and resources needed to support Texans and communities that will be potentially impacted by excessive rain and flooding.”

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Under a bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Wednesday, Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom.

The legislation mandates that a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” be required in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities. Although the bill did not receive final approval from Landry, the time for gubernatorial action — to sign or veto the bill — has lapsed.

The GOP-drafted legislation mandates that a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” be required in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities. In the law’s language, the Ten Commandments are described as “foundational documents of our state and national government.” The displays must be in place in classrooms by the start of 2025, and will be paired with a four-paragraph “context statement” describing how the Ten Commandments “were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries”. The law also “authorizes” (does not require) the display of the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence and the Northwest Ordinance in K-12 public schools. State funds will not be used to implement the mandate, based on language in the legislation.

Opponents questioned the law’s constitutionality; in a statement on Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union said it was joining Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom from Religion Foundation to file a lawsuit challenging the new Louisiana legislation: “the law violates the separation of church and state and is blatantly unconstitutional. The First Amendment promises that we all get to decide for ourselves what religious beliefs, if any, to hold and practice, without pressure from the government. Politicians have no business imposing their preferred religious doctrine on students and families in public schools. “

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