News always travels fast, but it is not always accurate, which led to a Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District (Cy-Fair ISD) bus driver being incorrectly accused of driving erratically while transporting students via a local news station. The district’s superintendent released a social media statement setting the record straight.

On Monday, KHOU-11 published a news article reporting that the unidentified Cy-Fair ISD bus driver was pulled over by police and administered a field sobriety test after a receiving report from a bystander claiming they “saw the bus driving erratically.”

Cy-Fair Superintendent Doug Killian released a statement Thursday defending the school bus driver and clarifying the events.

“On Monday morning, one of our new drivers hit a curb on a tight turn to avoid a vehicle in the opposite lane,” Killian stated. “A community member reported this to Harris County Precinct 5 Constables. Our team reviewed the video of the route multiple times and can definitively say the driver was not driving erratically, as it was reported.”

Killian confirmed the driver was given a field sobriety test twice by law enforcement, as was shown by KHOU-11, and both tests came back negative. The school bus driver was then taken to a clinic for drug and alcohol testing, per district protocol. Killian confirmed those tests also came back negative.

The school bus driver was reportedly back on route Friday.

In the statement, Killian expressed his disappointment in the “click-bait report” that was released by the news station and said that the district is requesting an on-air retraction and apology to the driver.

“The media story created unnecessary embarrassment for this driver and was released prior to the completion of our full investigation. It painted a negative light on the true professionalism of our CFISD bus drivers and transportation staff,” he said.

He continued that while he does not hold out hope that the retraction and apology will happen, he felt it was his duty as superintendent to publicly release the facts of the incident and that he “cannot in good conscience sit by and watch a staff member be attacked or presented in a poor light when their actions were not poor or negatively impactful to kids.”

He explained that after the school bus driver was pulled over, the students onboard behaved well despite the delay, which he attributed to the “quality of our drivers and the high expectations they set for our riders since the first day of school.”

Killian thanked the driver involved for their service and said he encourages the media to report on positive news stories throughout the school year.

On social media, Kilian’s statement was commended by the community for defending the reputation of the driver. One Facebook commenter noted that following the release of the story, “There were so many hurtful and ugly negative comments,” illustrating how a story shared on social media can quickly garner a strong public reaction, even if the facts have not been verified yet.

“This was truly a fantastic example of leadership, accountability, and standing and speaking directly to the people and FOR the people you serve,” said another Facebook comment.

Meanwhile, KHOU published an updated article Thursday noting Killian’s response and the school bus driver passing all drug and alcohol tests, adding, “That criticism came despite the fact that we reached out to Cy-Fair ISD multiple times throughout the day ahead of our story Tuesday night and shared the district’s statement that noted the driver passed two field sobriety tests and an alcohol test, but had been placed on paid leave pending drug test results.”

The news station also reported it asked Cy-Fair for access to the video exonerating the school bus driver, but the request was denied.

Related: NTSB’s Alcohol Impairment Detection Recommendation More Nuanced for School Bus Drivers
Related: Update: Feds Withdraw Oral Fluid Collection for CDL Drug Tests Rule
Related: FMCSA Resources for Implementing Upcoming Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse

The post Superintendent Defends School Bus Driver Accused of Erratic Driving, Potential Impairment appeared first on School Transportation News.

The driver of a school van in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, admitted drinking after fleeing a crash while transporting students, reported CBS News.

The driver, identified as 66-year-old Jeffrey Irwin, is facing a total of 27 charges, including multiple counts of DUI, reckless driving, and endangering the welfare of children.

Pittsburgh Public Safety said via the article that Irwin crashed into another vehicle on the 16th Street Bridge before fleeing the scene. He was transporting approximately six 10-year-olds at the time of the incident.

The students on board the van reportedly began contacting their parents to alert them of the situation. Law enforcement tracked down the van through GPS on children’s phones. Authorities located the vehicle and stopped the driver at an intersection. Students were safely returned to their families and there were no reported injuries.

One of the students on board the bus told local news reporters that Irwin almost flipped the bus over and then started moving into other lanes, almost hitting a car.

The criminal complaint states via the article that Irwin admitted to having three to four drinks prior to transporting the students. According to police, he also told an officer that he “self-medicates” with alcohol. Irwin had at least one prior DUI and left the scene of a crash in 2001.

Baldwin-Whitehall School District said via the article that the van was operated by contractor First Student and the driver is not a district employee. The case is under investigation.

Related: West Virginia School Bus Driver Faces Sentence After DUI Crash
Related: Pennsylvania School Van Driver Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison for DUI
Related: West Virginia School Bus Driver Indicted For DUI
Related: Massachusetts School Van Driver Faces DUI, Child Endangerment Charges

The post Pennsylvania Man Admits to Drinking After Fleeing Crash While Driving School Van with Students appeared first on School Transportation News.

Guns for sale at Caso’s Gun-A-Rama in Jersey City, New Jersey, which has been open since 1967. (Photo by Aristide Economopoulos/New Jersey Monitor)

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s decision to restore 10 convicts’ ability to legally purchase firearms and explosives violated the law, according to a letter six high-ranking congressional Democrats released Friday.

The Justice Department publication of an interim final rule moving the authority to restore some convicts’ gun rights from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to the attorney general also violated the separation of powers and a decades-old provision in the department’s annual funding bill, according to the 12-page letter.

The Democrats wrote that while Congress did delegate the authority to “oversee restoration of federal firearm privileges applications” to the ATF several decades ago, lawmakers have included language in nearly every government funding bill since 1993 barring the ATF from spending any money to process those applications.

The prohibition followed then-President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, trying to move the authority from the ATF to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“Given the pervasiveness of gun violence in our nation, this Administration should not be circumventing Congress’ authority to prioritize restoring firearm privileges to individuals convicted of serious or violent crimes,” the Democrats wrote.

The letter was signed by House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.; Senate Appropriations ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash.; House Judiciary ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md.; Senate Judiciary ranking member Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; House Appropriations Commerce-Justice-Science subcommittee ranking member Grace Meng, D-N.Y.; and Senate Appropriations Commerce-Justice-Science subcommittee ranking member Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment from States Newsroom.

Mel Gibson case

The DOJ under President Donald Trump has so far restored 10 individuals’ ability to legally purchase firearms, including the actor Mel Gibson, who “pleaded no contest to a charge of domestic violence” in 2011, according to Reuters.

Federal law bars several types of people from legally buying firearms, including anyone sentenced to more than one year in prison, which typically coincides with felonies, and those who commit domestic violence.

The six Democrats wrote that the “intersection between firearms and domestic violence remains a key concern, demonstrating the need to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.

“Research has shown that the presence of firearms significantly increases the risk of death or serious injury for victims of domestic or dating violence. The Supreme Court has recognized that the danger of a domestic abuser with a gun serves as a limitation on the Second Amendment.” 

The Democrats wrote that for decades Congress has prevented the ATF from restoring prohibited people’s ability to legally purchase firearms. The annual DOJ appropriations bill also bars moving the ability to approve those applications away from ATF to any other federal agency. 

“The concerns that originally led to these provisions — recidivist crime, limited investigative resources, and difficulty in assessing applicants — remain unchanged,” they wrote. “Congress made an explicit policy choice to prioritize investigating crime, rather than to waste funds on evaluating whether to restore firearm rights to previously convicted felons.”

Study cited

The letter says a study from the Violence Policy Center that looked at restorations during the late 1980s is one of many reasons Congress prohibited the ATF from restoring some felons’ ability to legally purchase firearms.

The study, which reviewed 100 ATF case files obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, showed the federal government had restored the ability of “terrorists, murderers, rapists, drug dealers, gun traffickers, and child molesters” to legally purchase firearms and explosives.

“The FOIA-obtained records also showed that of those granted relief between 1985 and 1989, 47 individuals were later re-arrested for serious offenses such as attempted murder, first-degree sexual assault, kidnapping, child molestation, illegal possession of a machine gun, trafficking in cocaine, LSD, and PCP, and illegal firearms possession or carrying,” they wrote.

The letter ends with Democrats calling on the DOJ to withdraw the interim final rule and “vacate the wrongfully granted restoration of federal firearms privileges to the 10 individuals.”

A West Virginia school bus driver convicted of DUI after the vehicle he was driving rolled over, crashed and injured more than a dozen students last year, faces a severe sentence, reported WCHS News.

According to the news report, 54-year-old Jeffrey Brannon, was sentenced on Thursday after entering a guilty plea to three counts of DUI causing bodily injury and 16 counts of child neglect, creating a risk of serious bodily injury or death.

Judge Anita Harold Ashley reportedly sentenced Brannon to 22 to 110 years in prison, with each of the sentences for each victim to be served consecutively.

The March 2024 rollover crash occurred along South Calhoun Highway, hospitalizing 19 students who were participating in after-school programming. State Police said via the article that Brannon’s blood alcohol level was recorded at .127 percent over three times the legal limit of .04 percent for commercial driver’s license holders.

One of the injured students, Kevin Wilson who was 14-years-old at the time of the crash, had his leg amputated due to severe injuries. Several students who were on board the bus at the time of the incident and family members of those injured, spoke at the sentencing hearing.

Related: West Virginia School Bus Driver Indicted For DUI
Related: Pennsylvania School Van Driver Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison for DUI
Related: Missouri School Bus Driver Arrested for DUI
Related: Minnesota School Bus Driver Arrested for Alleged DUI

The post West Virginia School Bus Driver Faces Sentence After DUI Crash appeared first on School Transportation News.