Law & order

Jesus rules: Judge allows religious football signs to continue at Texas highschool

A judge ruled in favor of the Kountze High School cheerleaders on Thursday,allowing the religious signs to continue to be displayed.
David Ryan/Associated Press
Kountze High School cheerleaders display a sign before the Lions take the fieldin Hardin County.
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When the Kountze Lions take the field against the Newton Eagles on Friday, they'll follow the same routine they have all football season. High school players will run through a hand-painted sign displaying a Bible verse. It may look like business as usual, but this new tradition in East Texas has sent out shockwaves across the country.

A Hardin County court ruling on Thursday ended a month of legal maneuvering to halt the religious signs. The Associated Press reports that Judge Steven Thomas said the signs bearing Bible verses appear to be protected under freedom of speech. The signs will be allowed to continue pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the cheerleaders and their parents against Kountze ISD.

Gov. Rick Perry threw his support behind the Kountze cheerleaders, saying "We owe it to people of all religions to protect expressions of faith."

A Sept. 17 complaint about the signs from the Freedom From Religion Foundation in Madison, Wisc., set off a chain of events that led to the issue making its way to through the Hardin County court system.

When Kountze ISD superintendent Kevin Weldon ordered the cheerleaders to stop making the signs, parents brought a suit against the school district. The Liberty Institute in Plano has defended the cheerleaders' choice as a matter of religious freedom. The signs were allowed to continue up until this point through a temporary court order.

The Lions' new tradition has occurred side-by-side with an unprecedented 5-1 record. Kountze has not made it to the playoffs in 39 years.

On Wednesday, Gov. Rick Perry threw his support behind the Kountze cheerleaders, saying "We owe it to people of all religions to protect expressions of faith."

Attorney General Greg Abbott has also gotten involved in the case. He calls the signs "perfectly constitutional" and vows "to defend the cheerleaders' right to exercise their personal religious beliefs."

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Unhappy holidays

Porch pirates swipe nearly $2B in packages from Texas homes this year

Porch Pirate Person in Glasses Steals Packages

Getty Images

The Grinch isn't the only one stealing Christmas these days.

’Tis the season for porch pirates. If past trends are an indicator, the Grinch will swipe close to $2 billion worth of packages delivered to Texas households this year, with many of those thefts happening ahead of the holiday season.

An analysis of FBI and survey data by ecommerce marketing company Omnisend shows porch pirates stole more than $1.8 billion worth of packages from Texans’ porches last year. Porch pirates hit nearly one-third of the state’s households in 2024, according to the analysis.

Omnisend’s analysis reveals these statistics about porch piracy in Texas:

30.1 million residential package thefts in 2024.
An average household loss of $169 per year.
An annual average of 2.9 package thefts per household.

“Most stolen items are cheap on their own, but add them up, and retailers and consumers are facing an enormous bill,” says Omnisend.

Another data analysis, this one from The Action Network sports betting platform, unwraps different figures regarding porch piracy in Texas.

The platform’s 2025 Porch Pirate Index ranks Texas as the state with the highest volume of residential thefts, based on 2023-24 FBI data.

Researchers at The Action Network uncovered 26,293 reports of personal property thefts at Texas residences during that period. The network’s survey data indicates 5 percent of Texas residents had a package stolen in the three months before the pre-holiday survey.

The Porch Pirate Index calculates a 25.8 percent risk of a Texas household being victimized by porch pirates, putting it in the No. 5 spot among states with the highest risk of porch piracy.

The Action Network included online-search volume for terms like “package stolen” and “porch pirates.” Sustained spikes in these searches suggest that “people are actively looking for guidance after something has happened. Search trends serve as an early warning system, revealing emerging-risk areas well before annual crime statistics are released,” the network says.

Tips to avoid being a victim
So, how do you prevent porch pirates from snatching packages that end up on your porch? Omnisend, The Action Network and Amazon offer these eight tips:

Closely monitor deliveries and quickly retrieve packages.
Schedule deliveries for times when you’ll be home.
Use delivery lockers or in-store pickup when possible.
Ask delivery services to hide packages in out-of-sight spots outside your home.
Install a visible doorbell camera or security camera.
Coordinate deliveries with neighbors or building managers if you’ll be away from your home when packages are supposed to arrive.
Request that delivery services hold your packages if you can’t be home when they’re scheduled to come.
Illuminate the path to your doorstep and keep porch lights on.

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