News Roundup: Tornadoes Strike Central And East Over The Weekend, Causing Casualties.

The Standard’s news roundup gives you a quick hit of interesting, sometimes irreverent, and breaking news stories from all over the state.

Recovery efforts are underway in Texas after severe weather wreaked havoc across the southern United States over the weekend.

Two children, ages 8 and 3, were killed in East Texas when a tree fell on the car they were in. The Angelina County Sheriff’s Office says they were both pronounced dead at the scene.

More than 100 miles west, KBTX- TV reports a tornado injured approximately 12 people, and destroyed dozens of homes, in Franklin.

Area Emergency Management Coordinator Bill Huggins says onlookers need to stay out of the way of recovery efforts.

“People have no business in the area, going into the area; they need to stop,” Huggins says.

The National Weather Service says three tornadoes touched down in Houston County on Saturday as well.

We have preliminary tracks from three tornadoes in Houston County yesterday that were confirmed by a survey team today. An EF-3 near Weches, and EF-2 near Lovelady, and an EF-1 near Ratcliff. Look for more info as it is reviewed in the coming days. pic.twitter.com/YuHHOrKkCE

— NWS Houston (@NWSHouston) April 15, 2019

The local sheriff’s department says at least one person was killed, and asked on Facebook for people to “pray for the families that are grieving the loss of their loved one.” A tornado in nearby Cherokee County also left one person dead.

World-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma brought his Bach Project to the U.S.-Mexico border this past weekend. The effort is bringing the German composer’s music to 36 locations around the world to explore connections between cultures.

Texas Public Radio reports the virtuoso wanted to use the music of Bach to help heal political divisions. He played near one international bridge that connects Laredo, Texas, to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.

Ma addressed a crowd Saturday.

“I’ve lived my life at the borders, between cultures, between disciplines, between musics, between generations,” Ma said.

(Ma’s quote come from audio captured by Texas Public Radio.)

Ma was originally scheduled to play on the bridge itself, but officials moved the performance to a park due to concerns over traffic delays.

Harris County ranks No. 2 nationwide in the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests within the community. Houston Public Media’s Elizabeth Trovall has more on how local immigration enforcement compares to the rest of the country.

Over a 20-month period, immigration authorities picked up and arrested 2,200 people throughout Harris County. Only one other county, in Georgia, had more community arrests, which target people who haven’t already been picked up by local police. Syracuse University tracked the data between October 2016 and May 2018. Across the state, federal authorities arrested some 7,500 immigrants in that time. Looking at the entire U.S., Texas was second only to California in terms of statewide community arrests.

Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro raised $1.1 million in the first quarter of the year, according to his campaign. That puts the former San Antonio Mayor well behind the other 2020 contenders, including fellow Texan Beto O’Rourke. The former El Paso Congressman raised $9.4 million in the same period.