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Two Texas High School Football Players Allege Referee Made Racial Slur Before He Was Hit

YouTube
A screenshot from a video posted on YouTube shows the referee just before he was hit.

Five stories that have North Texas talking: more on the football players accused of hitting a referee; Fort Worth schools have a new leader; a teen selfie goes viral; and more.

Officials with a San Antonio school district say two football players accused of ramming into a referee during a high school game allege the referee directed racial slurs at them. Northside Independent School District Superintendent Brian T. Woods says an assistant football coach accused of suggesting the students retaliate against the referee has been placed on leave. Woods says the two suspended John Jay High School students will have a disciplinary hearing. Woods also says the district will file a complaint about the racial slur allegation with the Texas Association of Sports Officials. Michael Fitch, the association's executive director, didn't immediately return a call Tuesday seeking comment. The incident, captured on video, happened during a game Friday between John Jay and Marble Falls High School, north of San Antonio. [Associated Press]

Here’s video of the incident:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNCrs63JeuM

  • Fort Worth ISD has a new superintendent. The school board voted 9-0 Tuesday to hire Kent Paredes Scribner. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports he’ll earn a base salary of $330,000 a year and get a $1,000 monthly car allowance. “We’re glad that it’s official, and you’ve committed to coming to Fort Worth,” board president Cinto Ramos told Scribner, the newspaper reported. “We as a board have worked overtime to ensure that we make a good selection and a right choice. We’ve all got faith in you.’’

  • A Dallas couple has been reunited with its child. WFAA-TV reports: “Rich Cushworth and his wife Mercy Casanalles of Dallas were reunited with their biological child Monday after they were given the wrong baby by a private hospital in El Salvador. … The family’s El Salvadoran attorney and friends in Dallas also say the reunion comes with a bittersweet feeling, because they had to give up a child they had grown to love. The couple is expected to remain in El Salvador for a few more weeks as they iron out the details to bring their child back to Texas. Controversy continues to swirl around the doctor and the hospital in the Central American country. The hospital calls it human error and not something more nefarious, according to El Salvadoran media accounts. Authorities there, however, are investigating how it happened.” [WFAA-TV]

  • A mother dropped off her two small children at a Houston fire station, saying she could no longer take care of them. KTRK-TV reports: “The two boys, ages 14 months and 3 years, were unharmed. According to the Houston Fire Department, their mother had gotten into a fight near HFD Station 73 on Wilcrest with the father of one of the boys. He told her he didn't want the children anymore. The mother, with a stroller and baby bag in tow, then went to the fire station and told firefighters she was overwhelmed and couldn't take care of the boys either.” The mother didn’t show up for a Tuesday custody hearing, KTRK reports.[KTRK-TV]

  • A Houston teen’s picture with a deputy has gone viral. KHOU-TV reports that Precinct 3 Deputy Tommi Kelley was getting gas when McKinley Zoellner, 16, approached her, asking if he could watch her pump gas to make sure she was safe. "I was right there, kind of front in her, just watched and made sure no one was coming, making sure nothing was going to happen to her," Zoellner told KHOU. They snapped a selfie together, which has been shared more than 200,000 times. Kelley told KHOU: "To be nervous having to pump gas is sickening to me. So when you have someone that is so young and mature and thoughtful, and came up to help, I was very impressed with him.” Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth was recently shot and killed as he pumped gas in his patrol car. [KHOU-TV]
Eric Aasen is KERA’s managing editor. He helps lead the station's news department, including radio and digital reporters, producers and newscasters. He also oversees keranews.org, the station’s news website, and manages the station's digital news projects. He reports and writes stories for the website and contributes pieces to KERA radio. He's discussed breaking news live on various public radio programs, including The Takeaway, Here & Now and Texas Standard, as well as radio and TV programs in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.