AP-TX–Texas News Digest 5 pm, TX

Good afternoon! Here’s a look at AP’s general news coverage in Texas at this hour. Questions about coverage plans are welcome and should be directed to the Dallas AP at 972-991-2100, or, in Texas, 800-442-7189. Email: aptexas@ap.org. Terry Wallace is at the desk.

Reminder: This information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change. Expected stories may not develop, or late-breaking and more newsworthy events may take precedence. Advisories and digests will keep you up to date. All times are Central.

For up-to-the minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan at newsroom.ap.org.

— UPDATES Migrant Caravan.

— ADDS Harvey-Recovery-Canals.

— ADDS 650 Guns Stolen-Plea.

…………………

TOP STORIES:

ELECTION 2018-SENATE-TEXAS

EL PASO, Texas — Beto O’Rourke has already used his once-longshot Texas Senate run to become a national Democratic phenomenon, shatter fundraising records and set off whispers that he could be a credible 2020 White House contender. But will it be enough to upset — or even stay close to — incumbent Republican Ted Cruz in a state as deeply conservative as Texas? The two candidates square off Tuesday in their hard-fought race that could help determine control of the Senate. By Will Weissert. SENT: 620 words, photos, video. Will be updated.

ELECTION 2018-GOVERNOR-TEXAS

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ surprisingly close Senate race and record-smashing turnout in early voting isn’t giving Republican Gov. Greg Abbott jitters as he breezes into Tuesday’s midterm on the brink of a second term. A far bigger test looms after the election. Democrat Lupe Valdez, the former sheriff of Dallas County, was a longshot from the start against Abbott and never put together a serious statewide campaign. Her base of Texas liberals have largely overlooked her run and instead poured their energy — and tens of millions of dollars — behind Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s high-profile Senate run and congressional challengers. By Paul J. Weber. SENT: 420 words, with photos. Will be updated.

ELECTION 2018-TEXAS-NEWS GUIDE

AUSTIN, Texas — While all eyes in Texas are on the unexpectedly close U.S. Senate race, further down the ballot Tuesday are races that could determine control of Congress and end a Democratic drought for statewide offices. Here’s what you need to know. By Paul J. Weber and Jim Vertuno. SENT: 510 words, photos. Will be updated.

Also:

— ELECTION 2018-TEXAS-THE LATEST

MIGRANT CARAVAN

MEXICO CITY — Humanitarian aid converged around a stadium in Mexico City where thousands of Central American migrants winding their way toward the United States were resting Tuesday after an arduous trek that has taken them through three countries in three weeks. Mexico City Mayor Jose Ramon Amieva said 4,500 migrants have arrived at the Jesus Martinez stadium since Sunday, and city officials are bracing to attend as many as 5,500 at the site by Wednesday. Hundreds of city employees and even more volunteers were on hand to sort donations and direct migrants toward food, water, diapers and other basics. Migrants searched through piles of donated clothes, grabbed boxes of milk for children and lined up to make quick calls home at a stand set up by the Red Cross as U.S. voters went to the polls for midterm elections in which President Donald Trump has made the migrant caravan a central issue. Mexico City is more than 600 miles from the nearest U.S. border crossing at McAllen, Texas. By Maria Verza and Amy Guthrie. SENT: 1000 words, photos.

With:

— MIGRANT CARAVAN-THE LATEST

AROUND THE STATE & NATION:

AMAZON HQ

NEW YORK — After a yearlong search for a second home, Amazon is now reportedly looking to build offices in two cities instead of one, a surprise move that could still have a major impact on the communities it ultimately selects. One of the areas the online retail giant is considering is New York’s Long Island City, according to a source familiar with the talks. In addition to Long Island City, The New York Times reports Amazon is also finalizing a deal to locate to the Crystal City section of Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. The Wall Street Journal said Dallas is also still a possibility. Both newspapers cited unnamed people familiar with the decision-making process. By Joseph Pisani, David Klepper and Alan Suderman. SENT: 900 words, photos. Moved on general, financial and technology news services.

With:

— AMAZON HQ-THE LATEST

NASA-RESEARCH FLIGHTS

GALVESTON, Texas — NASA is monitoring how residents near the Texas Gulf Coast react to quiet sonic booms from an experimental aircraft that could reduce commercial flight times by half. The Houston Chronicle reports that the space agency on Monday launched a two-week research project on quiet supersonic research flights near Galveston. NASA is flying jets in a unique maneuver over the Gulf of Mexico to assess the community’s response to the noise. SENT: 360 words, photos.

EXCHANGE-COWBOY COUNTRY MUSEUM

STAMFORD, Texas — How do they measure success? The Abilene Reporter-News reports by the number of kids wanting to hang out in the museum. “We had a time where we had to turn them away because they were just coming in here to hang out,” said Luci Wedeking, director of the Cowboy Country Museum, laughing. The museum is located on the east side of the square in Stamford, about 200 miles west of Dallas. Wedeking and Jewellee Keunstler, who took over as museum curator from the retired Sandra Rhea, have been on something of a treasure hunt inside their own building. By Ronald W. Erdrich. SENT: 970 words, pursuing photos.

IN BRIEF:

— PRISON GUARD KILLED-TRIAL — An inmate at a West Texas lockup serving 25 years for sexually assaulting a child has been sentenced to death for killing a female corrections officer. SENT: 120 words, photos.

— HOUSTON KILLINGS-MAN ARRESTED — Authorities say a man accused of killing two people in the Houston area has been arrested in Georgia. SENT: 110 words.

— SHOOTING-TWO KILLED — Authorities say a Texas woman charged in a double homicide in upstate New York worked with her husband to plan the slayings last month. SENT: 130 words.

— DEADLY FIGHT-TEXAS — The punishment phase is beginning for a man convicted in the strangulation death of a man whom he and his wife, a sheriff’s deputy, confronted outside a Houston-area restaurant. SENT: 130 words.

— 650 GUNS STOLEN-PLEA — A 27-year-old North Texas man pleaded guilty to participating in the theft of 650 guns from a UPS trailer in Missouri. SENT: 90 words.

— HARVEY-RECOVERY-CANALS — Some remote canals in South Texas still clogged with Hurricane Harvey debris more than a year after the storm are being cleared amid public safety concerns. SENT: 130 words.

— OBIT-WHITWORTH — The first Miss America to come from Arkansas, 76-year-old Donna Axum Whitworth, has died at a hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. SENT: 90 words, photos.

— ALAMODOME JANITOR-OVERCHARGES — The operator of a janitorial service that cleaned the Alamodome in San Antonio must serve more than two years in federal prison for what prosecutors call an overbilling scam. SENT: 110 words. Moved on general and sports news services.