Ted Cruz says he’ll push federal school choice legislation

As state lawmakers were approving a private school voucherlike plan for Texas, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz vowed to push his version of school choice at the federal level.

Cruz told The Dallas Morning News late Wednesday night he hoped to get a “federal school choice” plan approved later this year as part of a budget reconciliation package.

“I believe it is the civil rights issue of the 21st century,” Cruz said Wednesday after receiving an award from the Goodman Institute, a conservative think tank.

Hours later, the Texas House gave initial approval to a school voucher plan, and is in line to become one of about 30 states that have some kind of school choice plan. Cruz said Texas’ effort is historic and that he wanted to continue the momentum — on the federal and state level.

—The Dallas Morning News

Why did four whales wash up in San Francisco Bay in a week and a half?

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The juvenile minke whale had been spotted swimming around San Francisco Bay for nearly a week by the time she beached herself off the coast of Emeryville April 8. Scientists had thought she seemed healthy, but after an examination, they determined she was acting abnormally and had to be euthanized due to illness.

It was the fourth whale death in the San Francisco Bay in a week and a half. The other three were gray whales, the first of which — a 36-foot-long female — washed up at Black Sands Beach in the Marin Headlands March 30. Its cause of death remains unknown.

On April 2, a deceased adult male gray whale was found floating east of Angel Island; its cause of death is also not known, according to the Marine Mammal Center. Then, a subadult male gray whale washed ashore at Fort Point Rock Beach near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco April 4, and scientists determined that it likely died due to a vessel strike, according to the mammal center.

Taken together, the deaths have raised the specter of past “unusual mortality events” that caused whales to die in higher-than-normal numbers.

—The Mercury News

'G' and his 'lovely girl': Gene Hackman penned poignant notes to wife amid Alzheimer's battle

Authorities recently released a new cache of records in the death investigation of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa — including a series of heartfelt notes the couple left for each other, revealing the close-knit nature of their relationship even as Hackman's health declined amid a battle with Alzheimer's.

The letters are at times humorous, sad, moving and mundane, offering a glimpse into the private and loving life the couple led before they were both found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, compound in February.

The Oscar-winning actor affectionately signed most of the letters "Love G" and referred to Arakawa, his wife of 33 years, as "Lovely girl." In some of the letters, he appeared to poke fun at his deteriorating memory.

"I'm going down to that building out past the hot water place where you sit and do whatever it is that people are supposed to do in such a building — maybe I'll remember once I get down there," he wrote, signing the letter "love whats his name."

—Los Angeles Times

Thousands join Stations of the Cross procession in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM — Thousands of pilgrims joined the annual Stations of the Cross procession in the old town of Jerusalem as Christians around the world were marking Good Friday.

In the years leading up to the current Gaza war, tens of thousands used to attend the pilgrimage that marks significant moments in Jesus Christ's final day up to being placed in the tomb.

But following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the number of pilgrims from abroad has declined dramatically. Meanwhile, Israel has significantly curbed crossings from the occupied West Bank.

According to a dpa reporter at the scene, turnout at this year's procession was higher than in 2024, including more people from abroad as well as many Arab Christians from Jerusalem.

—dpa