Multiple people dead in Texas as flash flooding threatens communities

(AP) — Multiple deaths have been reported in Texas after heavy rain caused flash flooding. Search teams used boats to conduct rescues Friday as fast-moving water threatened riverfront communities near wildlife habitats and campgrounds. As much as 10 inches of heavy rain fell over just a few hours overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River. The Kerr County sheriff’s office confirmed fatalities but did not provide additional details. A flood watch issued Thursday afternoon estimated isolated amounts up to seven inches. That shifted to a flood warning for at least 30,000 people overnight. Meanwhile, in New Jersey, strong thunderstorms are being blamed for at least three deaths.

EPA says Trump’s big bill should help in its fight to take back billions in green bank funds

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency says the sprawling tax and policy bill should give it a victory in its fight to freeze billions in funding for a green bank for climate friendly projects. The bill repeals the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, also known as the “green bank,” created under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Federal officials argue in court that this allows the EPA to freeze funding and cancel contracts with nonprofits previously awarded billions to operate the bank. Climate United Fund, one of the nonprofits, disagrees. It clams most funds were already disbursed and unaffected by the repeal. A federal appeals court is now considering the EPA’s appeal of a ruling that partially unfroze the funds.

A volunteer finds the Holy Grail of abolitionist-era Baptist documents in Massachusetts

GROTON, Mass. (AP) — A volunteer searching the archives of the American Baptist in Massachusetts has found a nearly 180-year-old document shedding light on the church’s support for ending slavery. The 5-foot-long scroll is a handwritten declaration signed by 116 New England ministers saying they “disapprove and abhor the system of American slavery.” The document was signed two years after the issue of slavery prompted Baptists in the south to break away and form the Southern Baptist Convention. Church officials consider the scroll one of the most important abolitionist-era Baptist documents. It was discovered in a storage room in Groton, Massachusetts.

Officials find the body of a woman who got off a cruise ship in Alaska to hike and didn’t return

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Authorities have found the body of a woman visiting Alaska’s capital city who did not return to her cruise ship from a hike she said she was taking. The Alaska Department of Public Safety said the body of 62-year-old Marites Buenafe of Kentucky was found by an Alaska Army National Guard helicopter crew late Thursday below the ridge line of Gold Ridge. Troopers and Juneau Mountain Rescue were able to recover the body with help from Temsco Helicopters and the National Guard. Her next of kin have been notified, and her body will be sent to the state medical examiner’s office for autopsy.