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DALLAS — In 2025, most Texans will no longer be required to have their vehicles inspected . But you’ll still have to pay the fee. Drivers in 17 counties, however, will still face annual tests because of emissions requirements. Those counties are Brazoria, Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, El Paso, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Johnson, Kaufman, Montgomery, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, Travis and Williamson. Those who support the change argued the inspections were a costly waste of time that modern vehicles make obsolete. Those who want to keep inspections argue they help keep drivers safe by flagging vehicles with problems. It turns out that a few years ago, the state actually sponsored a study that concluded vehicle inspections were not only highly effective but should likely be expanded. That study’s author recently joined Y’all-itics and told the Jasons he’s surprised lawmakers dumped the program. Dr. Michael Murphy says when inspections temporarily went away a few years ago, bad things happened. “I will just say this, during the pandemic, when vehicle safety inspection stations were closed for a period of time, the number of defect vehicle fatalities, type A and Type B injuries, increased,” Dr. Murphy said. Dr. Murphy says he hopes law enforcement will continue to document crashes that involved vehicles with defects to see if those numbers rise once again. And he stresses that just because the state won’t require an inspection, drivers can still get their vehicles checked out on their own. Dr. Murphy says when they were talking to people for the study, there was one group in particular that didn’t think inspections were necessary. “The people in our survey that said they didn't think the inspection program was needed were primarily males. And in the comment section, they said, I, blankety-blank, know how to take care of my car. I own eight vehicles, motorcycles, pickup trucks, cars, I know how to take care of them,” he said. “And I understand that. I'd like to be that mechanically sharp. But what they weren't considering is not everyone is like that. Not everyone has the physical ability to do a vehicle inspection.”Defending national champion South Carolina is No. 1 in the Top 25 preseason women's basketball poll, released Tuesday by The Associated Press. Coach Dawn Staley's Gamecocks return four starters from last season's undefeated team and received 27 of the 30 first-place votes. South Carolina now has captured the top spot in the preseason poll in four of the past five seasons. "We knew we'd have a target on our backs this season as the reigning champions and this preseason ranking just confirms that," Staley said, per the school's athletic department website. "We appreciate the recognition, but I know our coaching staff and our team are more focused on what we see in the gym every day. And that's every player working extremely hard to get better individually and as a team." South Carolina tips off the regular season against Michigan on Nov. 4 in Las Vegas. No. 2 UConn collected two first-place ballots and is ranked in the preseason top 10 for the 30th consecutive year. No. 3 Southern California received the other top vote, with Texas and UCLA also in the top five. Notre Dame, LSU, Iowa State, North Carolina State and Oklahoma round out the top 10. Iowa, which fell to the Gamecocks in the national title game last season, is not ranked following the departure of superstar Caitlin Clark to the WNBA. The Hawkeyes are first among the group of "others receiving votes." Stanford, meanwhile, is unranked in the preseason for the first time since 1999 following the retirement of Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer. The Southeastern Conference leads with seven teams in the Top 25. The Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference each have six and the Big 12 has four. The rest of the women's AP Top 25 preseason poll: 11. Duke 12. Baylor 13. Kansas State 14. Ohio State 15. North Carolina 16. West Virginia 17. Louisville 18. Maryland 19. Florida State 20. Ole Miss 21. Creighton 22. Kentucky 23. Nebraska 24. Alabama 25. Indiana --Field Level Media
Pittsburgh; Saturday, 7 p.m. EST BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Penguins -111, Utah Hockey Club -109; over/under is 6.5 BOTTOM LINE: The Utah Hockey Club look to stop their three-game slide with a win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pittsburgh has a 4-5-2 record in home games and a 7-11-4 record overall. The Penguins have a -28 scoring differential, with 57 total goals scored and 85 given up. Utah has a 3-5-2 record on the road and a 7-9-3 record overall. The Utah Hockey Club have a -14 scoring differential, with 49 total goals scored and 63 allowed. The teams meet Saturday for the first time this season. TOP PERFORMERS: Sidney Crosby has scored seven goals with 13 assists for the Penguins. Vasiliy Ponomarev has over the last 10 games. Nick Schmaltz has 13 assists for the Utah Hockey Club. Jaxson Stauber has scored goals over the past 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Penguins: 3-4-3, averaging 2.2 goals, 3.6 assists, 3.4 penalties and 7.4 penalty minutes while giving up 3.5 goals per game. Utah Hockey Club: 3-5-2, averaging 2.4 goals, 4.2 assists, 4.7 penalties and 14.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game. INJURIES: Penguins: None listed. Utah Hockey Club: None listed. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
Ms Sheila Dunne (50), who was described by her daughter as a “an amazing woman – worth her weight in gold”, died following a single-vehicle crash in Sarsfield Court in Glanmire, Cork, last February. Poignantly, her husband Ted had died of Covid in February 2021. The death of Ms Dunne left their two children without any living parent. The special needs assistant was just 1.5km from her home in Glanmire when the crash occurred. Jennifer Thomas of Oakfield View, Glanmire, Co Cork, appeared before Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday having pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Ms Dunne on February 11th last. Defence counsel Tom Creed, SC, told Judge Helen Boyle that “unfounded social media rumours” and inaccurate newspaper reports had circulated in the wake of the crash. He said that “malicious rumours” had spread in Cork that the body of Ms Dunne had been moved in the vehicle. Investigating garda Det Gda Mark Durcan confirmed there was no truth to any suggestions that Ms Thomas or any other person had moved the body of Ms Dunne following the crash. Det Gda Durcan said that the crash occurred at 7.30pm on February 11th last at Sarsfield Court in Glanmire in Cork. Ms Thomas had been socialising with Ms Dunne, her friend of more than 20 years, from lunchtime that day when they went for a meal at a restaurant in Douglas in the city. They went to a bar in Blackrock in Cork and then on to a bar in Glanmire before getting into Ms Thomas’s jeep. Det Gda Durcan said that in the minutes before the crash occurred Ms Thomas fell asleep behind the wheel twice while stopped at traffic lights. She did two U-turns in a matter of minutes and drove on the wrong side of the road at Hazelwood Road in Glanmire. She knocked down traffic cones as she drove towards Sallybrook and narrowly missed two pedestrians on the footpath. Det Gda Durcan said Ms Thomas took a left-hand bend at Sarsfield Court in Glanmire and failed to straighten up entering a grass verge. The Bluetooth system in the car automatically called the emergency services. Speed was not a factor in the case. Det Gda Durcan said Ms Thomas was wearing her seat belt when the crash occurred. However, Ms Dunne was not. He indicated that the impact of the crash led Ms Dunne, who was in the front-passenger seat, to fall on top of Ms Thomas. Det Gda Durcan said that roof had to be cut off the vehicle in order to extricate the women. He said when gardaí arrived at the scene Ms Thomas was asked who was driving. She said she was and then she “got erratic” and was unable to give a definitive answer. She then said that Ms Dunne was driving as she had “more control”. When she was shown CCTV at a later date by gardaí, Ms Thomas accepted that she was driving. She also said she had no recollection of the crash due to concussion. However, there was no medical evidence of concussion. Ms Dunne died in hospital two days after the crash. Lilley Dunne, a 23-year-old daughter of Sheila Dunne, said in her victim impact statement that she came to court with a “shattered heart” weighed down heavily by the loss of her “rock of a mother”. She said that she was speaking on behalf of herself and her younger brother. Lilley Dunne said that she and her brother head already suffered the “unbearable” loss of their father, Ted, from Covid. “Now to experience the agonising loss of Mom, feels like a cruel twist of fate that I cannot comprehend,” she said. “This experience is what I can only describe as hell. My beautiful mom was taken from us far too soon at the young age of 50. In a car crash caused by a reckless decision made by a selfish individual. This choice has altered our lives forever. “We spent two days at my mom’s bedside hoping for a miracle. Out of respect, I made the decision to allow Jennifer to come in to say goodbye to my mom. Knowing what I know now, my decision would have been different.” Ms Dunne said Ms Thomas’s “malicious lies” had trickled out to “vultures” in the media. “Compounding our grief, newspapers and social media outlets covered the story and reported that my mom was the driver of the car. Jennifer’s complete fabrication painted a picture of my mom, Sheila, that was far from the truth, sensationalising the tragedy and worsening our family suffering.” Sheila’s mother, Esther O’Brien, said she was “heartbroken” to have lost her daughter to a drunk driver. “This loss has not only shattered my life but has also left two precious grandchildren without their mother,” she said. The court heard that Ms Thomas had 10 previous convictions for road-traffic offences, larceny and misuse of drugs. Defence barrister Tom Creed, SC said witnesses who arrived at the scene of the crash described his client as being distraught at the possibility that Ms Dunne could have died. Mr Creed said that his client has suffered from long-term mental health difficulties and often wishes that she died during the crash. He added that Ms Thomas was hugely remorseful for her actions. Mr Creed said that his client accepted that getting behind the wheel drunk was an “outrageous” thing to do. Judge Boyle reserved her decision in the case. Ms Thomas was remanded in custody pending her sentencing on Thursday. She was warned that she was facing a custodial sentence.
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