By MARIA SHERMAN, Associated Press

Thirty years ago, music legend Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was killed by her fan club’s president, Yolanda Saldívar. For the last three decades, Saldívar has served her life sentence in Texas.

Now 64, Saldívar has a petition for parole under review, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice online records. On Sunday, she is up for parole for the very first time.

According to a spokeswoman for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, her case will be voted on or around then, but there’s no exact date for the decision to be released.

Here’s everything you need to know about Selena, Saldívar and the parole process in Texas:

Who was Selena Quintanilla-Pérez?

Born in 1971, Quintanilla-Pérez demonstrated an incredible vocal gift in childhood, fronting Selena y Los Dinos with her siblings A.B. and Suzette Quintanilla.

Her superstardom arrived in the early 1990s, with her unique blend of Tejano, pop, cumbia and other musical styles manifesting in huge hits like “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” “Como la Flor,” “Amor Prohibido,” “No Me Queda Mas” and “Tu Solo Tu.”

FILE – A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for the late singer Selena Quintanilla is pictured following a ceremony on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

Known the world over as The Queen of Tejano, or even more simply just as Selena, she broke barriers for women in Latin music. She opened the floodgates for a new generation of contemporary artists of Latin descent who would go on to enjoy huge popularity with mainstream American audiences. She often sang in Spanish and spoke in English, reflecting a cross-cultural identity that resonated with listeners.

She won her first Grammy in 1994 for best Mexican/Mexican-American album for “Live,” becoming the first female Tejano artist to win the category. She was just 23 when she was killed the following year. But her legacy endures for Mexican Americans, Mexicans, Texans, Latinos and beyond.

Her posthumous English-language crossover album released a few months after her death, “Dreaming of You,” topped the Billboard 200, featuring hits like “I Could Fall in Love” and “Dreaming of You.” In 1997, a biographical film about her life, “Selena,” would quickly become a classic, further launching the career of lead Jennifer Lopez.

In 2017, she received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. At the time, according to a Hollywood Chamber of Commerce spokesperson, the crowd was the largest-ever for a Walk of Fame ceremony, breaking a 1998 record set by onlookers at the unveiling of the star for Mexican singer Vicente Fernández.

In 2021, she received a posthumous lifetime achievement award from the Grammys. There was no tribute.

Who is Yolanda Saldívar?

Yolanda Saldívar, a former nurse, was the founder and president of Selena’s fan club. She was also a manager of Selena’s clothing boutiques, Selena Etc., but was fired in early 1995 after money was discovered missing.

In this undated photo provided by Texas Department of Criminal Justice is prison inmate Yolanda Saldívar, who is serving a life sentence at the Patrick L. O’Daniel Unit prison in Gatesville, Texas, after being convicted of killing Tejano music star Selena Quintanilla-Perez. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)

How did Selena die?

On March 31, 1995, Selena went to Saldívar’s room at the Days Inn motel in Corpus Christi, Texas, to pick up business records she needed for a tax filing, according to court testimony. A confrontation followed.

Selena was shot in the back with a .38-caliber revolver in the motel room, ran outside and collapsed in the lobby. She was rushed to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead about an hour later.

FILE – A portrait of the late singer Selena Quintanilla is seen in the crowd following a posthumous star ceremony for Quintanilla on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

Motel employees testified Selena named “Yolanda” in “room 158” as her attacker.

“I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t mean to kill anybody,” a sobbing Saldívar said during a 9-hour standoff with police, during which she held a gun to her head. She told police she had bought the .38-caliber revolver to kill herself.

What happened at Yolanda Saldívar’s trial?

The trial was moved to Houston because of heavy publicity.

Prosecutors contended that Saldívar shot the 23-year-old after the singer’s family suspected her of embezzling $30,000. The defense argued the gun went off accidentally.

On October 23, 1995, the jury convicted Saldívar of first-degree murder. She was sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 30 years — beginning in 2025.

FILE – Suzette Quintanilla, center, sister of the late singer Selena Quintanilla, holds a replica of Selena’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as she poses with, from left, Selena’s husband Chris Perez, her brother A.B. Quintanilla III, and her parents Marcella Ofelia Samora and Abraham Quintanilla Jr. during a posthumous ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles on Nov. 3, 2017. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

Saldívar did not face the death penalty because the crime contained none of the aggravating circumstances required under Texas law, such as a multiple murder or a murder committed during a robbery.

In 1999, the Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin turned down Saldívar’s first plea for a new trial. In 2000, her lawyer Bill Berchelmann asked the state to revisit the trial. He argued that prosecutors wrongly dismissed potential jurors because of race, did not disclose the criminal record of a witness and made improper comments in court. He said police also violated Saldívar’s rights by interrogating her after she asked for an attorney.

In 2009, Saldívar lost an appeal because it was filed in the wrong county. She had asked the court to order an appeal filed nine years earlier in Nueces County to move forward, but the state’s highest criminal appeals court said it should have been filed in Harris County, where she was tried and convicted.

She’s incarcerated at the Patrick L. O’Daniel prison unit in Gatesville, Texas, about 90 minutes north of Austin.

How does parole work in Texas?

In Texas, the parole division of the state’s Department of Criminal Justice identifies inmates six months before the date of their initial parole eligibility and pulls their case file for review. Notice of an inmate’s eligibility for parole is sent to officials involved in the trial, any victims and victims’ family members.

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An institutional parole officer with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles interviews an inmate and prepares a summary for the board. The victim or the victim’s family members can provide a written statement and can appear in person before board members.

The inmate’s file is then sent to the parole board and voted on by a three-person panel. The panel will vote on a case just prior to the inmate’s parole eligibility date and a majority of two votes is needed for a final decision.

In Texas, the board does not conduct public parole hearings. Parole release decisions are made independently by each panel member.

Representatives for members of Quintanilla-Pérez’s family did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment this week.

What happens if Saldívar’s parole is denied? What if it is approved?

A denial by the panel will include the date of the next time an inmate will be eligible for parole.

Saldívar was convicted of first-degree murder, one of the crimes where state law dictates that the next review after a denial can be done anywhere from one to five years from the date of the denial.

An approval by the panel could include special conditions the inmate will have to follow while on parole. Processing time for a release differs from case to case. Once a release certificate with an approved residence plan is issued, it will be audited by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Classification and Records Department and a release date is calculated. Typically, these processes can take two to six weeks to complete.

The governor cannot veto a parole decision by the pardons board. The governor, upon recommendation by a majority of the pardons board, can grant clemency. That includes pardons, commutations and reprieves.

Associated Press reporter Juan A. Lozano contributed to this report from Houston.

By MARK SHERMAN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to allow it to cut hundreds of millions of dollars for teacher training.

A federal judge in Boston temporarily blocked the cuts, finding they were already affecting training programs aimed at addressing a nationwide teacher shortage. An appeals court turned away a plea from the administration to allow them to resume.

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The government asked the high court to step in, arguing that the order is one of several issued by federal judges around the country wrongly forcing it to keep paying out millions in grant money.

The Supreme Court called for a response to the appeal by Friday.

It comes after U.S. District Judge Myong Joun issued a temporary restraining order sought by eight Democratic-led states that argued the cuts were likely driven by efforts from President Donald Trump’s administration to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The Republican president signed an executive order calling for the dismantling of the Education Department, and his administration has started overhauling much of its work, including cutting dozens of contracts it dismissed as “woke” and wasteful.

“So long as there is no prompt appellate review of these orders, there is no end in sight for district-court fiscal micromanagement,” acting Solicitor General Sarah M. Harris wrote.

The Justice Department has filed four other emergency appeals of court rulings that blocked administration actions amid a wave of lawsuits that have slowed, at least for now, aspects of Trump’s agenda.

The Supreme Court has yet to rule on an appeal asking to narrow court orders that have imposed a nationwide hold on Trump’s desire to restrict birthright citizenship. An appeal to halt an order requiring the rehiring of thousands of federal workers is also pending.

The justices previously rejected a bid to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid and did not immediately allow Trump’s firing to proceed of the head of a federal watchdog agency. A later ruling from a lower court, though, did force Office of Special Counsel head Hampton Dellinger from his job.

The two education programs at issue — the Teacher Quality Partnership and Supporting Effective Educator Development — provide more than $600 million in grants for teacher preparation programs, often in subject areas such as math, science and special education, the states have argued. They said data has shown the programs had led to increased teacher retention rates and ensured that educators remain in the profession beyond five years.

The administration halted the programs without notice in February. The administration argues the states could at least temporarily draw on their own funds to continue funding the programs.

Joun, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, found that the cancellations probably violated a federal law that requires a clear explanation for such cost-cutting moves.

The appellate panel that rejected the administration’s request for a stay also was made up of judges nominated by Democratic presidents.

California is leading the lawsuit and is joined by Massachusetts, New Jersey, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New York and Wisconsin.

The order the administration wants from the high court would allow the cuts to go forward while the legal fight over them plays out.

For eight months, the pro bono attorneys at Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services were told they could not get out of their sizable lease at the Alliance Bank Center in downtown St. Paul without paying a hefty fee to effectively buy themselves free from their contract.

That struck them as unfair, given that escalators in the building no longer work, security has been so lax they’ve hired their own, all the ground-level doors have been locked shut and most other office and food court tenants have already left.

“They didn’t want us to go because we were the only ones paying any substantial rent,” said Candace Miller Lopez, development director with SMRLS, recalling how attorneys for Madison Equities required that the nonprofit otherwise stick to its longstanding lease for two floors of office space.

Then came the March 10 notice from Madison Equities indicating that electricity and all other services in the building would be shut off “in the very near future” because management had not paid its utility bills. “You should immediately vacate the premises as there soon will be no heating/cooling/electricity/security/etc. at this building,” reads the written notice, which indicated “no firm date” for utility disconnection had been confirmed.

The St. Paul Fire Department quickly determined that the “very near future” meant utilities would be shut off within two days of that announcement.

Pedestrians pass mostly empty storefronts along the skyway through the Alliance Bank Center in downtown St. Paul on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Lights on until April 1

The next morning, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s office negotiated with Xcel Energy and District Energy to keep the lights on until April 1.

That’s now left SMRLS with less than two weeks to relocate 48 to 50 offices and 60 attorneys from the building, which has served as its administrative headquarters and major service center for the south metro for the past 20 years.

“We’ll all have to go remote,” said Lopez, noting garbage removal and other day-to-day security and maintenance has already stopped. “You can’t move 60 lawyers in a matter of two weeks. We will find another office, but we have to find one that, as a nonprofit, we can afford, and one where there’s no interruption of services to our clients. It has to be safe and accessible. We closed 11,000 cases last year. It’s no small number.”

SMRLS, which maintains 125 employees in eight offices across southern Minnesota, serves 33 counties, including the south metro counties of Dakota, Ramsey, Washington, Scott and Carver.

Emergency assistance

On Wednesday, the St. Paul City Council was poised to meet as the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority and consider approving up to $70,000 in emergency assistance from the city’s Business Assistance Fund, to be made available as $5,000 grants for any Alliance Bank Center tenants that were still on site as of March 1.

The death of Madison Equities company principal Jim Crockarell last year has left buildings owned by downtown’s largest property holder in precarious straits, with several slipping into foreclosure, and downtown businesses — like the city’s tax coffers — need a boost in the era of remote work.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter made note of what he described as Madison Equities “implosion” on Tuesday during an otherwise unrelated presentation to a committee of Senate lawmakers considering his request for nearly $400 million to renovate the downtown Xcel Energy Center, as well as the adjoining Roy Wilkins Auditorium and RiverCentre convention halls.

“When we say the word vitality, the quickest definition of the word vitality is people, so having people downtown will go a long way for us,” said Carter, who has called city employees who went remote to return to work in person at least three days per week as of April 1.

Some tenants already left

Some tenants in the Alliance Bank Center left in recent months with what they could carry, leaving behind offices and cubicles. Retail tenants like Jackey’s Watch Bar, a tobacco shop, a barber, a longstanding pizza lunch counter and a CBD store are scrambling to make their own alternate arrangements, with varying degrees of success.

Some will land at the three-building Town Square complex on Minnesota Street or two Securian buildings on Robert Street. After Madison Equities abandoned the building, a leasing agent for Town Square’s UBS Plaza, which sits on Cedar Street, left her calling card and a brochure showcasing available spaces on the counter of the security desk, which is now unmanned.

Lopez said the 60 attorneys in her office will work remotely until SMRLS can find a new office location, which in the meantime will be a loss to downtown eateries, parking ramps and meters, and other downtown amenities that benefit from everyday foot traffic. Still, she said, they’ll eventually land on their feet.

“Our firm has been around for 115 years,” Lopez said. “We’ve existed through a couple of World Wars. Many changes of administration. The Great Depression. You don’t get to be around this long without learning how to navigate turbulence.”

Madison Equities properties

A look at the status of several Madison Equities properties:

• U.S. Bank Center, 101 E. Fifth St.: Mortgage holder First Interstate Bank filed to foreclosure upon the property in December after being unable to collect on $24 million in outstanding debt, and Ramsey County District Court Judge Stacy Deery Stennes appointed a limited receiver for the office building on Feb. 28. The building was described as 57% occupied early last year when it was put up for sale alongside other Madison Equities properties downtown.

• Park Square Court, 400 Sibley St.: Lender Merchants Bank filed to foreclosure upon the property in October after calling back two loans, totaling $5.7 million and $2.7 million in unpaid principal, interest and fees. Ramsey County District Court Judge Edward Sheu entered a foreclosure judgment on Feb. 10. The building is vacant and Lowertown neighbors have complained of trespassers and vandalism.

• First National Bank, 332 Minnesota St.: The building was listed as 45% occupied in a sales memorandum last year.

• Alliance Center, 55 E. Fifth Street: Madison Equities has effectively walked away from the office building, which contains a once-popular food court, and informed tenants on March 10 they would need to vacate immediately as security and maintenance was no longer in effect and utilities would soon be shut off. It was listed as 43% occupied early last year, but is expected to be vacant by April 1.

• 375 Jackson Square, 375 Jackson St.: The building — which is home to the St. Paul Department of Safety and Inspections — was listed as 53% occupied in a sales memorandum last year.

• Empire Building/Endicott Arcade, 360 N. Robert St./134 E. 5th St.: Judge Leonardo Castro appointed a receiver for the vacant buildings in November, and Merchants Bank acquired the properties for $1.37 million in a foreclosure auction last December, according to the Ramsey County Recorder’s office.

• Lowry Apartments, 345 Wabasha St. N.: The troubled apartment building was sold in a sheriff’s sale last September to lender Colliers International for $7 million. The city condemned the building in early December and cleared it of tenants.

• Degree Apartments, 325 Cedar St.: Minnwest Bank acquired the apartment building last December for $9.58 million in a deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure sale.

• Other properties put up for sale by Madison Equities last year include the Stadium Ramp at 245 E. Sixth St., the Capital City Ramp at 50 E. Fourth St., the Handsome Hog at 173 N. Western Ave. and a surface parking lot at 401 Selby Ave.

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Less than two weeks ago, the St. Louis Blues came to St. Paul for their final head-to-head meeting with the Minnesota Wild this season. The Wild, at the time, had a comfortable position in the playoff picture, while the Blues — who went through a coaching change in November following a slow start to the season — were on the outside looking in.

Minnesota had won the first three meetings with St. Louis in 2024-25, and a win on March 15 at Xcel Energy Center would effectively have put the Blues in the Wild’s proverbial rearview mirror for the rest of the regular season.

Instead, St. Louis posted a decisive 5-1 victory, and now those objects in the mirror may be closer than they once appeared.

Since returning from the two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, Minnesota and St. Louis have each played 17 games. The Wild are 8-8-1 in those contests after losing their last two in a row. The Blues are 13-2-2 in that same stretch, and now are not only solidly in the playoff race, but are pushing to overtake Minnesota for the top Wild Card spot.

With both teams off on Wednesday, St. Louis is just two points behind Minnesota, and for the first time, at least one Wild player is sounding the alarm about the team’s March malaise and what it could mean to their prospects of playing beyond the April 15 regular-season finale.

“Everything can happen in the playoffs, but first we’ve gotta worry about getting (in),” Wild veteran forward Mats Zuccarello said after Tuesday’s 5-1 loss to Vegas.

While others are adopting an optimistic tone about looking forward and embracing the challenge in front of them, Zuccarello spoke of a team not doing enough with what it’s got right now.

“You play a solid game defensively but I think, as of late, not scoring enough, maybe,” he said after Monday night’s loss to the Golden Knights. “I said it before, we’ve gotta make plays. We’ve gotta support each other. We’ve gotta have guys come with speed.

“I don’t know. It’s hard. Today, you can mix and match, back-to-back, but we play against a team that it’s really hard to play against when they play like that, and we don’t play like us.”

The Tuesday loss means Vegas swept the season series with Minnesota, winning twice in St. Paul and once in Nevada. Earlier in the season, Western Conference-leading Winnipeg — which clinched a playoff spot with a home win on Tuesday — swept its season series with the Wild, as well. As the standings look right now, the two Wild Card entrants will have to face either the Golden Knights or the Jets in Round 1.

While goaltending is far and away the most important element in playoff success, the teams that go deep in the postseason generally have three vital pieces: a gritty player who will drop the gloves if needed to defend the skill, a sizable center who will go to the front of the opponent’s net to cause trouble, and a high-skilled star who is a threat to score on every shift.

On Tuesday, the Wild had all three of those players at Xcel Energy Center in the form of Marcus Foligno, Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov. Notably, all three were wearing suits and ties, watching the game from the press box as the team’s season-long injury saga continued.

Before the Vegas game, when a reporter suggested that the Wild are “reeling” from the number of injuries, Wild coach John Hynes said the word “amassing” is more fitting, and once again offered an optimistic tone about eventually getting healthier at the most vital time of the year.

Kaprizov has played only three games since Christmas yet remains tied for the team lead with 23 goals. Eriksson Ek has played in 42 games, with nine goals and 15 assists, but not since returning from his stint with Team Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. Before Monday’s loss, Hynes said he “would anticipate both players will be skating in the very, very near future.”

The Wild have exactly 10 regular-season games remaining, starting Thursday against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference.

“When those guys are ready to come in and help the team, then we’ll expect them to come back at a high level and be ready to compete,” Hynes said.

Exactly when those three key players will return, and what the Western Conference standings will look like if and when they do, is now a growing concern as those objects in the mirror continue to get larger.

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