GREEN MAG

The parents of an 8-year-old Texas girl who vanished last summer when flash flooding inundated the Hill Country are suing the operators of Camp Mystic, the Christian summer camp where she had been staying when she was washed away.

Will Steward and CiCi Steward say the Eastland family, which has run the all-girls camp for decades, failed to protect Cecilia "Cile" Steward, who is "presumed to be deceased."

"On June 29, 2025, Will and CiCi Steward dropped their eight-year-old daughter Cile off for her first time at sleepaway camp, an entire month at Camp Mystic, where Cile's mother, aunt, grandmother, and countless cousins had attended as campers and counselors," the lawsuit says. "Cile's parents did not know that when they kissed Cile goodbye, it would be the last time they would ever hold her."

The Austin couple are seeking in excess of $1 million in actual and punitive damages, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in Travis County.

Twenty-seven children and camp counselors were among the 130 people who died after slow-moving thunderstorms in Kerr County caused the Guadalupe River to flood on July 4 and turned a national holiday into a Texas tragedy.

The victims included Richard "Dick" Eastland, the owner of Camp Mystic.

"We believe Dick was trying to save a few of the campers," Lauren Garcia, a former Camp Mystic attendee, told reporters at the time. "I believe he passed while trying to save them from the flooding."

But the Stewards contend in the lawsuit that Eastland, and his son, Edward Eastland, waited for more than an hour before they tried to evacuate the girls from the cabins.

In addition, despite being in a flood plain and having a well-documented history of flooding, the Eastland family had a bare-bones emergency evacuation plan, and they repeatedly ignored the National Weather Service flooding alerts, the lawsuit says.

When the rains came, the Eastlands started moving some of their assets to higher ground, according to the lawsuit.

"They moved the horses. They moved the canoes. They did not move the children," the lawsuit says.

Even as water started seeping into the cabins scattered along the riverbank, Edward Eastland insisted the campers stay put and climb to the top bunks, the lawsuit says.

Edward Eastland wrongly predicted that the floodwaters would soon "recede," the lawsuit says. An at one point he desperately tried to pray the rain away.

"Lord Jesus, please stop the rain," he was heard saying, according to the lawsuit.

"But the water keeps coming," the lawsuit says. "The girls' trunks are floating as the girls huddle on two top bunks by the windows, terrified and desperate."

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The lawsuit names as defendants the camp and affiliated companies, Edward Eastland and three other members of the Eastland family, and William Neely Bonner III, who is president of Natural Fountain Properties Inc., which owns the land Camp Mystic occupied.

The Eastlands' lawyer, Mikal Watts, said they are "devastated by the deaths of our campers and counselors, and we continue to pray for God to comfort and support their families in their unfathomable grief."

But, Watts said, they "intend to demonstrate and prove that this sudden surge of floodwaters far exceeded any previous flood in the area by several magnitudes, that it was unexpected and unforeseeable, and that no adequate early warning flood systems existed in the area."

"We disagree with the misinformation in the legal filings regarding the actions of Camp Mystic and Dick Eastland, who lost his life as well," Watts said. "We will thoroughly respond to these accusations in due course."

The Stewards' lawsuit was filed after the families of 13 other campers and two counselors who died sued Camp Mystic and its owners in November, alleging "gross negligence and reckless disregard for safety."

In December, Camp Mystic announced plans to reopen this summer at its newer Cypress Lake location, which is, according to its website, "completely independent from the older Guadalupe River camp."

"The Eastlands are tone deaf to the realities of what transpired at their camp," the Stewards' lawsuit says.

The Stewards said in the lawsuit that Cile and two other campers managed to flee their cabin on an inflatable mattress. But Cile fell off the mattress and tried to swim "to the tree where the majority of the survivors were found."

"She was so close to survival," they said in the lawsuit. "She almost makes it."

But "the current is too strong."

"Cile is swept away," the lawsuit says.

The grieving parents were unsparing in their criticism of the Eastland family.

"The Eastlands now blame God for what happened," the lawsuit says. "They claim this tragedy occurred because of an unprecedented flood. The truth is that this flood was precedented."

The Eastlands, the Stewards said in the lawsuit, ignored "the warnings provided by Camp Mystic's history of flooding by claiming that the July 4th flood was a 1,000-year flood and the last time a flood like this one happened, Noah had to build an ark."

"That's not true either," the lawsuit says. "But even if it were, both Noah and the Eastlands were warned a flood was coming. The only difference is, Noah prepared. The Eastlands did not."

By Simon Lewis and Dave Sherwood

WASHINGTON/HAVANA, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. will provide an extra $6 million in humanitarian aid to Cuba, the top ​State Department aid official said on Thursday, even as Washington has ‌stepped up efforts to block oil supplies to the Caribbean island nation, causing crippling shortages.

Aid official ‌Jeremy Lewin said at a news conference the new U.S. commitment would bring to $9 million the amount of assistance provided to the people of Cuba since Hurricane Melissa struck in October.

The aid is being delivered by the Catholic Church and Lewin said Cuba's communist ⁠party authorities had so ‌far not interfered with its distribution.

Cuba's deputy foreign minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio called the move two-faced.

"Quite hypocritical to apply draconian ‍coercive measures denying basic economic conditions to millions and then to announce soup & cans for a few," de Cossio said on social media.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said Cuba will ​no longer receive oil from Venezuela after the U.S. operation to capture ‌its leader Nicolas Maduro last month, and has threatened to impose tariffs on other suppliers like Mexico if they continue to ship fuel to the island.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said earlier on Thursday his government would roll out temporary measures in the next week to deal with fuel shortages amid blackouts in several provinces.

Despite the ⁠U.S. moves on oil imports, Lewin argued that ​the humanitarian crisis in Cuba, which goes beyond ​the damage from Hurricane Melissa, was the fault of Cuba's government.

"It's because the government can't, you know, put food on the shelves ... They ‍let these government-run ⁠stores go completely empty. They're not stocked," Lewin said. "And so what you've had is a humanitarian catastrophe."

Cuba has long blamed the U.S. Cold War-era ⁠embargo, a complicated web of financial and trade restrictions, for its economic woes.

The Trump administration has ‌vastly ramped up those measures in recent months.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis ‌and Dave Sherwood; Editing by Sonali Paul)

(The Center Square) – A majority of Americans say cutting government spending is the best way to lower debt and costs, a new poll from the National Taxpayers Union found.

The nationwidesurveyof 800 registered voters was conducted from Jan. 12-14. The survey included 38% of those who self-identified as Republicans, 35% as Democrats, and 25% independents or unaffiliated voters.

According to the survey, 89% of those polled think the U.S. is facing an affordability crisis, while 88% say the $37 trillion national debt will eventually impact them and their families personally.

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Pete Sepp, president of National Taxpayers Union, said in a statement accompanying the poll data that government over spending has consequences.

"Americans understand that the federal government's overspending has consequences, and families are paying the price," Sepp said. "Voters want leaders to rein in spending before the national debt and inflation do even more damage to household budgets."

The survey asked voters which options they prefer to reduce costs. A majority, 54%, chose cutting government spending; 32% said grow the economy; and 13% said raise taxes.

A three-person independent arbitration panel has awarded Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal a $32 million contract for the 2026 MLB season,ESPN's Jeff Passanreported Thursday. It is a one-year deal for Skubal, 29, and he will be eligible for unrestricted free agency next offseason.

A Wednesday hearing saw both the Tigers and Skubal present their cases for what theback-to-back AL Cy Young Award winnershould earn for the 2026 season. Prior to the hearing, Skubal's agent, Scott Boras, asked for an arbitration-record salary of $32 million — $1 million more than the $31 million Juan Soto got in 2024 with the New York Yankees. The Tigers proposed $19 million, and the$13 million difference in filings was the largest in MLB arbitration history.

The panel was tasked with selecting one of the two numbers from Skubal and the Tigers, not determining an amount between the totals.

The previous arbitration record for a pitcher was $19.75 million, which was awarded to former Tigers lefty David Price in 2015. Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s $19.9 million salary in 2024 was the highest total in an arbitration case decided by a panel. Jeanne Charles and Walt De Treaux, who were on the panel for Guerrero's decision, were also part of the Skubal hearing.

Skubal's was the third arbitration case decision this offseason, with the previous two also going the player's way. Baltimore Orioles pitcher Kyle Bradish was awarded $3.55 million over the team's ask of $2.875 millio, and Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz received $4.5 million rather than the $3 million the team proposed.

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[Get more Tigers news: Detroit team feed]

Seven more players have arbitration hearings scheduled, including Milwaukee Brewers catcher Willson Contreras, Kansas City Royals pitcher Kris Bubic and Cincinnati Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson.

The 29-year-old Skubal has been one of the best pitchers in baseball the past two seasons, compiling a 31-10 record with 469 strikeouts, a 0.91 WHIP and a .201 opponent batting average in 381 1/3 innings pitched. He's a two-time All-Star and All-MLB first-team player, he won the pitching Triple Crown in 2024, and he's one of six players who have won multiple Cy Youngs in the past 15 years.

Last season, Skubal led the Tigers pitching staff backed by Jack Flaherty and Case Mize. Detroit finished second in the AL Central with an 87-75 record and reached the ALDS, in which they lost to the Seattle Mariners in five games.

Skubal, who willbe one of Team USA's top armsat next month's World Baseball Classic, won one of his three postseason starts, pitching 20 2/3 innings and allowing four earned runs while striking out 36 with opponents batting .143 against him.

The Los Angeles Clippers continued their activity leading up to the trade deadline, sending center Ivica Zubac and forward Kobe Brown to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday, ESPN reported.

The Clippers are set to receive Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, two first-round draft picks and one second-round pick in the deal. Los Angeles' own first-round pick in the upcoming draft is owned by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

If Indiana's first-round pick this year's draft is outside of the 1-4 and 10-30 picks range, it converted to the Pacers' 2031 unprotected first-round pick, according to the report.

The 7-foot Zubac, who is in his 10th NBA season, has averaged 14.4 points with 11.0 rebounds in 43 games (42 starts) for Los Angeles this season. Brown, 26, has averaged 2.9 points in 34 games off the bench.

Mathurin, 23, is scoring 17.8 points with 5.4 rebounds in 28 games (24 starts) for the Pacers this season and 16.1 points with 4.6 rebounds in 237 games (109 starts) over four seasons with the team after he was the No. 6 overall pick in the 2022 draft.

Jackson, 24, is scoring 6.4 points with 5.6 rebounds in 38 games (14 starts) for Indiana.

The Clippers opened the season with a 6-21 record but turned it around while Zubac was out with an ankle injury. He has since returned following a five-game absence, with the Clippers now on a 17-6 run, although they have lost three of four.

It is the second trade of a Clippers starter in two days after the team officially sent guard James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday for guard Darius Garland.

Zubac, who did not play in Wednesday's game against the Cavaliers following the birth of his child, has averaged 10.5 points and 8.3 rebounds in 627 games (493 starts) with the Los Angeles Lakers (2016-19) and Clippers.

--Field Level Media