Houston's Juneteenth events are shaping up to be exceptionally celebratory this year. CELEBRATION OF LIFE: The Sugar Land 95 will be honored with a special celebration on Juneteenth Four "Top Chef: Portland" contestants are joining forces in Houston to put on a special five-course dinner. The event, appropriately named "Jubilee," pays homage to the historic "Jubilee Year" in 1913, which honored the 50th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. According to a statement from the organizers, Juneteenth has special importance this year. "Following the recent commemoration of the Tulsa Race Massacre’s 100th anniversary, Juneteenth — an annual holiday celebrating the day enslaved Africans in Texas learned they were free, two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation — is more relevant than ever before." The meal will be hosted by Houston's own Dawn Burrell, executive chef of the forthcoming restaurant Late August, and will feature chefs Nelson German, Kiki … [Read more...]

(CNN) A lightning strike sent a chunk of highway through the windshield of a truck in Florida on Monday and authorities say the truck's occupants are lucky that their injuries weren't more severe. When fire rescue crews in Walton County, 40 miles north of Destin, responded to the scene of a traffic accident near mile marker 81 eastbound on Interstate 10 they found a Ford truck with both its windshield and rear window shattered. Radar picked up on a lightning strike in the area, according to CNN meteorologist Haley Brink. Two occupants of the vehicle where hurt and were transported to a local hospital. Fortunately, their injuries weren't major or life-threatening, Lindsey Darby, public information officer for Walton County Fire Rescue, told CNN. The back windshield was also blown out by a piece of pavement. "The energy from a lightning strike has to go somewhere," Brink said. "And when lightning strikes an object, such as pavement, … [Read more...]

A Texas man has been charged with murder after allegedly dragging his mother’s former romantic partner and then setting him on fire. Robert Eugene Hoffpauir, 37, arrived at his mother’s home Sunday evening where a “domestic disturbance” occurred between her and her former partner, Roman Rodriguez, according to the Liberty County Sheriff's Office. Hoffpauir allegedly beat Rodriguez “into submission” during a fight before tying a tow strap around the former partner’s waist. He then attached the strap to Rodriguez’s pick-up truck, according to the sheriff’s office. “According to evidence found it appears that Hoffpauir then dragged Rodriguez from the home for a lengthy distance down the road where the truck and Rodriguez was abandoned and then the truck was set on fire by Hoffpauir,” the sheriff’s office said. It’s unclear whether Rodriguez died before he was allegedly dragged by the truck or not. An autopsy is pending. Texas Rangers are assisting in the investigation … [Read more...]

A driver accused by police of killing two pedestrians in downtown San Francisco on New Year’s Eve while intoxicated and in a stolen car is a parolee who remained free despite being arrested several times in the city in recent months, according to city officials and public records. Troy Ramon McAlister, a 45-year-old city resident who was released on April 10 from a state prison sentence for robbery, was not charged with new crimes by the District Attorney’s Office after any of last year’s arrests, the most recent of which occurred on Dec. 20. District Attorney Chesa Boudin said his office opted instead to refer each case to state parole agents, who can seek to imprison those who violate the terms of their release. “We referred these cases to parole because we believed there was a greater likelihood of him being held accountable and having the kind of intervention that would protect the public and break this cycle of recidivism,” Boudin said. He later acknowledged that … [Read more...]

The parolee accused of fatally striking two pedestrians in downtown San Francisco on New Year’s Eve, speeding through a red light in a stolen Honda while intoxicated, allegedly swiped the car from a woman he had met on an app, leaving his date stranded outside a fast food restaurant in Daly City. According to documents obtained by The Chronicle, the woman reported the Dec. 29 theft at Nation’s Giant Hamburgers to Daly City police that afternoon — two days before the tragic collision at Second and Mission streets in the South of Market neighborhood. The woman told officers that she had been on a second date with Troy Ramon McAlister, 45, when he snatched her keys away from her at about noon as the two waited for an order of food. He peeled away in her gray 2017 Honda HR-V, she said, while giving her the middle finger. The woman gave officers McAlister’s name and address and said he had shown her a 9mm pistol with an extended ammunition magazine. Daly City police soon identified … [Read more...]

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A deadly crash involving a dump truck snarled traffic for hours on the Turnpike Extension on Wednesday morning. The accident happened in the southbound lanes near mile marker 39 around 6 a.m. READ MORE: Miami-Dade County Commissioners Vote Unanimously To Designate Miami Street As Dwayne Wade Boulevard The Florida Highway Patrol said the driver of the truck carrying gravel lost control and slammed into a concrete barrier wall. The impact caused the truck to overturn, the driver was ejected. He landed in the highway’s shoulder area and died on the scene. READ MORE: Two People Bitten By Shark Off North Florida Beach The FHP said the highway was wet due to early morning rainfall and that may have been a contributing factor. As a result of the crash, all southbound lanes were closed just south of the I-75 exit. Thousands of drivers were diverted to the southbound Palmetto Expressway which added to the usual rush-hour nightmare there. MORE NEWS: Florida … [Read more...]

NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – An early morning accident on June 16 took the life of one person whose vehicle became disabled in the mid-cities area. Officials with the Euless Police Department say officers were called out to an auto/pedestrian crash just after midnight. READ MORE: Detectives Need Help Identifying Tattooed Grifter With Blue, Purple Highlights Involved In Trucker Robbery According to investigators, a man in his mid 30’s was traveling east in the 100 block of East Airport Freeway when his vehicle become disabled on the shoulder, just east of Main Street. READ MORE: Border Patrol Agents Save 33 Undocumented Migrants Locked Inside U-Haul In Sweltering Heat Police say at some point the man crossed the onramp from Main Street to Airport Freeway and was struck by another vehicle. The driver of the other vehicle stopped and was cooperative with authorities. MORE NEWS: Ford Maverick: Hybrid Truck 'Challenges Status Quo, Stereotypes' Of Pickups, Expert Says … [Read more...]

Washington, DC (CNN) Waymo, the self-driving company of Google's parent company Alphabet, has raised $2.5 billion as its investors appear undeterred by a CEO change and progress that has lagged expectations . The investment comes about a year after Waymo raised $2.25 billion in its first external fundraising round. Waymo said Wednesday that the new funding came from Alphabet, venture capital firms, sovereign wealth funds and auto industry companies. Alphabet led the round, and the valuation was not disclosed. Waymo's co-CEOs Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov, said in a blog post that the funding would be used to expand the company's team and improve its technology. Waymo has worked to commercialize self-driving cars as long as anyone. It's achieved plenty of breakthroughs, such as giving a ride to a passenger in 2015 , before competitors. It was also first to launch a self-driving ridehail service, which is active today in Chandler, Arizona. … [Read more...]

Big Bend Sector Border Patrol agents rescued 33 migrants locked inside a U-Haul box truck during the evening of June 10. Twelve of those migrants required medical assistance at a hospital for heat-related illness. Van Horn Border Patrol Station agents received information about a human smuggling scheme involving a Dodge Journey and a U-Haul box truck, according to information received from Big Bend Sector Border Patrol officials. Agents learned the vehicles were stopped at a local McDonald’s restaurant. Agents approached the two vehicles and conducted a search of the vehicles. When they opened the U-Haul cargo area, the agents found 33 people locked inside. Despite it being 10 p.m., outside temperatures were still near 100 degrees, officials stated. Due to the heat and lack of fresh air inside the locked cargo compartment, agents said the 33 migrants were “close to perishing.” Trained Border Patrol emergency medical technician agents assigned to the Special Operations Group … [Read more...]

(CNN) A man driving on a Florida highway was left uninjured after lightning struck his vehicle Monday morning, according to officials. The lightning strike damaged the compact SUV the 48-year-old was driving and left a 7-foot-long, 4-inch-wide gouge in the pavement, according to Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) . The man, who police didn't name, was driving on Interstate 75 in Broward County when the strike occurred, during a heavy rainstorm, FHP said. CNN affiliate WPLG identified the driver as Ernesto Delhonte and spoke to him at the scene of the accident. "I saw a light and ... I don't know what happened," said Delhonte. "But I survived. I am alive. It's a miracle for me." The damaged antenna of the Nissan Rouge. The electrical system and roof antenna of the man's Nissan Rogue was damaged due to the strike, according to FHP, which left the vehicle disabled. The car came to a stop half-mile north of where the lightning strike … [Read more...]