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Prosecutors said Wednesday afternoon they are dropping the domestic violence case against former Univ. of Texas men's basketball head coach Chris Beard.

Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza made the announcement in a statement ... saying that after reviewing all of the facts of the case and speaking with the alleged victim, "our office has determined that the felony offense cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt."

A motion to dismiss the case was formally filed earlier Wednesday, Garza said.

Beard was initially hit with a charge of assault by strangulation/suffocation -- family violence ... over his alleged role in a heated confrontation with his fiancée, Randi Trew.

According to court docs, Trew said Beard hit, strangled, and bit her during a Dec. 12 argument in Austin, Texas. Police said they saw visible teeth marks and redness on her arm and an abrasion on her face and leg. They also said she had a cut on one of her thumbs.

Trew ultimately walked back the allegations in a public statement .... saying, "Chris has stated that he was acting in self-defense, and I do not refute that."

She also added, "I do not believe Chris was trying to intentionally harm me in any way. It was never my intent to have him arrested or prosecuted."

Despite the retraction, UT fired Beard on Jan. 5.

Beard, who was 29-13 with the Longhorns after coming over from Texas Tech in 2021, was "crushed" by the decision, according to his attorney.

A preschool in Miami is under fire for intentionally putting blackface on some students ... a move staffers proudly touted as a way to celebrate Black History Month.

Parents found out on Feb. 3 what was happening at Studio Kids Little River -- which has a preschool and daycare facilities. One parent, Courtney Politis, who had 2 kids at Studio, tells TMZ she was made aware of the incident by another concerned mom.

She says pictures of at least 2 toddlers in blackface were posted by a teacher on the school's internal app. As you can imagine, those pics started circulating, showing 2-year-olds dressed in police and construction worker costumes, with dark makeup plastered on their faces.

Politis says she brought this up to the preschool's director, Patricia Vitale, to express her outrage ... but claims Vitale downplayed the racist nature of it, asking why it was a big deal.

However, afterward, Vitale sent a letter to all the parents of the preschool ... writing in part, "We have not intended to offend anyone, and we’re very sorry about any inconvenience."

A few days later, Vitale sent another message that was a little more serious. The letter read, "We wanted to let all the parents know that we met on Friday afternoon with all the teachers and staff. We went over several ethical and multicultural education points. I will teach the team a class covering all the necessary topics regarding US history and multicultural education." She added, "[Y]ou may rest assured this will never happen again."

Politis tells us that, as far as she knows, the teacher who did this didn't face any real repercussions beyond a possible talking-to. Although, she's not calling for the teacher to be fired ... she does want there to be some discipline to show this just wasn't right.

Now, as for whether this is part of a larger political issue in FL -- involving Gov. Ron DeSantis' opposition to "wokeness" -- Politis says she doesn't necessarily see a direct tie there ... instead, she points to the fact the people who run the school are Argentinian.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin says the latest mass shooting in Michigan has her full of rage -- and she's hoping this one is the tipping point for Congress to pass common sense gun laws.

We talked to the Congresswoman -- who represents Michigan's 7th district, encompassing Michigan State University, where 3 students were gunned down Monday -- and she said, sadly, it was like déjà vu. She cited the 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School, also in her district.

Rep. Slotkin told us Tuesday on "TMZ Live" ... although her community has experienced this in the recent past, the same gut-wrenching feelings were sparked anew as she and her team got reports of the gunman.

Obviously, she's working with her constituents as they process this tragedy -- but in terms of where to go from here ... Rep. Slotkin says she's still in favor of pushing through bills that'd hopefully help deter such shootings.

She says the fact this shooter -- Anthony McRae -- was a convicted felon who clearly had issues is a red flag that should've popped up in background checks, and he never should've had a gun. The congresswoman also says most Americans are on board with this idea -- realizing that enforcing these kinds of policies doesn't infringe on the 2nd amendment.

The congresswoman also fielded a truly hard question -- what to do about people who are out for vengeance and hell-bent on using a gun? In other words, if bad people are insistent on doing bad things -- legally or illegally -- can we really fight this phenomenon???

It's a tough situation, but Rep. Slotkin still believes this type of festering anger in people -- which leads them to such heinous acts -- can be weeded out from the ground up.

The Michigan State Spartans community is showing an outpour of support for the university as it deals with the aftermath of Monday's mass shooting ... with alums like Magic Johnson, Le'Veon Bell and more sharing their condolences.

"Cookie & I are devastated to hear about the news of a shooting on Michigan State’s campus," Magic tweeted shortly after news broke of the tragedy. "We are praying for the victims, their families, students, faculty, employees & administration."

"This is such a tragic situation & our hearts go out to the MSU community, all of Lansing and East Lansing! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾"

Mat Ishbia, a 2000 national champion with the Michigan State basketball team and owner of the Phoenix Suns and Mercury, released a touching tribute ... saying, "Deeply saddened by the horrific tragedy that took place at Michigan State University last night. Sending my love, thoughts, and prayers to all MSU students, the university, and the entire Spartan family."

Bell -- who played at MSU from 2010-2012 -- said, "this is sad. condolences to the victims."

Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. -- who played for Sparty from 2017-18 -- also called on his followers to send their prayers.

Pro football player BJ Cunningham was shocked by the report ... saying, "This world is wild," while also sending a positive message to the families and students at his former campus.

Ex-Duke star and current San Antonio Spurs player Tre Jones sent out a statement, saying he's keeping the victims in his thoughts ... while adding shootings of this nature will keep happening until the government does something about it.

Police identified Anthony McRae as the suspect, who opened fire after entering two different buildings on campus ... killing three people and critically injuring five others before taking his own life.

Cops are investigating the tragedy ... but a motive behind the incident has not been reported.

A gunman went on a shooting rampage at Michigan State University on Monday night, killing 3 students and critically injuring 5 others before taking his own life.

The suspect, identified by police as Anthony McRae, entered two buildings on campus, turning both into shooting galleries as students ran for cover and heavily armed police officers stormed the area looking for the assailant.

Hours later, law enforcement caught up with McRae, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, cops said. During the manhunt, police released surveillance images of McRae walking inside a building while gripping an unknown object in one hand. Police later recovered a weapon.

MSU Interim Deputy Chief Chris Rozman discussed the attack at a news conference ... "I can’t even begin to imagine what that motive would be. That will obviously be part of our investigation."

Rozman added, "we are unsure of any affiliation that the suspect had to the University."

The deadly assault marked the 67th mass shooting in the country so far this year. A mass shooting is defined as 4 or more people killed or wounded in a single violent incident, not including the gunman.

Rozman said police first started receiving 911 calls of a shooting at Berkey Hall around 8:18 PM ET. When cops arrived at the building, they found two students dead.

Soon after, Rozman said, officers responded to another shooting at the nearby student union building, where they discovered the third student deceased.

Rozman confirmed that 5 other victims were listed in critical condition at a local hospital.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer described the MSU community as "reeling" from the shooting. She also said, "We mourn the loss of beautiful souls today, and pray for those who are continuing to fight for their lives."

The FAA temporarily closed down airspace over parts of Lake Michigan — just the latest aviation closure amid reports of UFOs being shot down.

The order was given Sunday, with the FAA shutting down access to the skies … saying it is now being used for national defense purposes. The specific area that was locked down roughly encompassed the water between Green Bay and Traverse City, give or take.

The government isn’t saying why they closed that airspace -- other than to vaguely cite NORAD operations -- but in any case … they’ve now lifted restrictions — essentially saying everything can go back to normal again, without a proper explanation.

It’s alarming … just yesterday, parts of Montana’s airspace was also briefly closed for national defense purposes — only for it to be reopened again mere hours later — but we’re all still in the dark about what exactly has the feds so spooked.

Granted, this all follows TWO unidentified flying objects being shot down in the last few days … one over Alaska and another over Canada. And, of course, this all comes on the heels on the Chinese spy balloon drama about a week ago.

People are demanding answers and transparency, while also asking … is this the new normal in the U.S. now? And more importantly … WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!?

No word from the mother ship at this point … but don’t take that big exhale just yet. Something tells us more weird stuff is afoot.

Bob Iger is on a mission to make Disney profitable again -- so, for the Mouse House's centennial ... he made the entire company fall into formation to telegraph his vision.

As you might've heard by now, this year marks a big milestone for the mega-corporation... they're 100 years old, and BI -- who's the newly reinstated CEO once again -- whipped up a nifty little Super Bowl spot that's set to air during the game, which he also released early.

In an accompanying caption to the minute-and-a-half clip, Bob writes ... "Today I want to share this video, which celebrates the @WaltDisneyCo's 100-year milestone. We are enormously grateful to our storytellers, our cast members and our fans. Thank you and enjoy. #Disney100."

As for what's in the spot itself ... a highlight compilation reel full of snippets and stills from their massive vault of content over the years, which is mixed with footage of fans (especially little kids) dressed up as their favorite Disney characters and enjoying the parks.

It's a cool tribute to what Disney's offered/accomplished -- but what's even more striking (at least for the Twitter users of the world) is seeing just how big the Disney umbrella actually is ... as just about every single Disney-owned subsidiary tweeted this same video out.

They all also feature the exact same caption ... "You made this dream come true." All official Disney accounts -- touching everything from Marvel to Star Wars and Disney Animation to Pixar, as well as the different parks around the world -- have posted this, all in unison.

If you scroll through the #Disney100 trend, you'll see just how many properties Disney owns ... it's upwards of at least a couple dozen, which puts Disney's reach into perspective. It also makes ya realize how big a load Iger's got on his plate when it comes to righting the ship.

ICYMI ... Iger was tapped once more late last year after Bob Chapek was pushed out -- this after the Board of Directors apparently felt he wasn't serving the company's best interests.

Since then, Iger has made some big business decisions to get the stock price back up ... including laying off thousands of employees and shifting the structure of the company to focus on creative storytelling from the ground up, while looking for more savings.

Iger has also hinted at the possibility of Hulu potentially getting the boot in a would-be sale -- so it sounds like he's considering any and everything to shore up cash ... this after a few years of Disney struggling to reap significant profits.

And don't get us started on all the culture war stuff Disney's been mired in of late -- that's another headache they've been dealing with ... and will probably continue to battle. Not to mention a proxy war he's in with overzealous board members -- a whole other problem.

At any rate, it's pretty clear where Iger's focus is with this SB spot here ... he wants to get back in touch with the creators, fans and workers, who kinda make this thing go 'round.

An unidentified flying object -- literally, a UFO -- was shot down by the United States just outside of Alaska ... but it isn't another balloon, and TikTok is having a tinfoil hat field day.

Here's the deal ... the White House announced Friday that President Biden had ordered the downing of yet another object in the sky that was inexplicably in our airspace, which the Pentagon said posed a reasonable threat to civilian aircraft due to its altitude (40,000 feet).

It had been spotted and surveilled by U.S. intelligence/Alaska-area military Thursday, and the next day ... JB said to take it down, which an F-22 fighter jet then did without issue.

As for what exactly it is -- and more importantly, how the government is talking about it -- is shrouded in mystery ... as White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby described it to the media as the size of a "small car," but didn't offer any more details.

Fortunately, other outlets were able to get a better read on this from anonymous national security sources -- with one unnamed high-ranking official describing it to ABC News as "cylindrical and silverish gray," while also saying it looked to be unmanned and FLOATING ... and not appearing to be steered or propelled with any recognizable aviation systems.

In other words, it sounds like a good old-fashioned flying saucer -- or, at the very least, like something that's been described by Navy officials, of late, as something out of this world.

There's a retrieval mission underway to gather the remains of whatever this thing was, but so far ... there isn't much else out about where it came from, what its capabilities are, or its intent. Uncle Sam has firmly said, however, that it is not another Chinese balloon.

Of course, due to the sci-fi nature of this news ... the internet is off and running with conspiracy theories -- not to mention purported footage and/or images of what some claim to be the actual object ... plus, what some claim have been other recent sightings there.

Par for the course for TikTok, but we must admit ... this is a pretty wild story, especially since the feds are being careful in how to describe the mystery machine. They keep calling it a "high-altitude object" ... but also admit it was, indeed, flying. So, it's a freaking UFO.

BTW, if this feels like déjà vu -- namely, the government admitting to something unknown, while being wish-washy on what exactly it was -- that's because this happened before. Roswell!

The infamous incident from 1947 is top of mind for many right now ... especially since a balloon was just in the mix a week ago, which China said was for weather research. That's what the U.S. ultimately said crashed out there in New Mexico, despite putting out a much more ominous public bulletin about the debris at first ... which definitely didn't sound like a weather balloon. Roswell is by far the most talked-about alien theory to date, at least here.

Time will tell if the feds give more info on what they shot down. With UFO reports at an all-time high -- and with Congress taking it seriously -- this could amount to something. 👀

Investigators are probing a third commercial plane mishap within a month ... the latest was Friday night at LAX ... and multiple people were hurt.

An American Airlines commercial plane collided with a passenger bus on the LAX tarmac, leaving five people injured.

The empty jet was being towed from a gate to a parking area when it crashed into the shuttle bus, smashing into the front end and damaging the windows.

Four people were taken to a local hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The 5th person was treated at the scene and released.

Authorities are now investigating the cause of the collision, which comes on the heels of last month's close call at JFK Airport in NYC ... and a similar incident last Tuesday at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas.

In the JFK incident, an American Airlines plane crossed a runway without getting clearance from air traffic control, which prevented a Delta Air Lines flight from taking off, officials said.

Luckily, the two planes didn't make contact, but they came within 1400 feet of one another. And thankfully, no one was injured.

In the Austin incident, a Southwest passenger jet came within 100 feet of colliding with a FedEx cargo plane, but a quick-thinking pilot averted the disaster.

A reporter covering Governor Mike DeWine's news conference was taken down to the ground by law enforcement and arrested Wednesday for allegedly disrupting a news conference.

Governor DeWine was at an East Palestine, Ohio gym, discussing a train derailment in the city when reporter Evan Lambert was doing a live shot for NewsNation. It appears police told Lambert he was interrupting the Governor, but Lambert was in the middle of his report and continued on.

Just after Lambert finished, local police took Lambert down to the ground and cuffed him, as onlookers questioned cops as to why.

Lambert was cuffed and taken to jail. A NewsNation exec tells TMZ they were told Lambert would have to spend the night in jail, adding the Governor called the network and said he wanted Lambert released.

Lambert was arrested for disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi says she isn't hearing so much as a peep from across the aisle when it comes to apologies for Republican conspiracy theories about the attack on her husband, Paul Pelosi.

We got the former Speaker of the House Wednesday morning in D.C. on the heels of President Biden's State of the Union address -- where both Pelosis were front and center -- and asked if anyone in the GOP has shown contrition for fueling misinformation about her husband ... especially after the brutal body cam was released.

As it turns out ... nobody has, according to NP -- who also gave us an update on Paul's recovery in general. Sounds like things are looking up, and he's almost on the other side of this. He certainly looked good at the SOTU ... cozying up to Bono in the balcony seats.

When it comes to this apology, though -- it's telling that no Republican has circled back to correct the record, including Sen. Ted Cruz, who was one of those spreading fake news.

Back in October -- shortly after the attack -- he was one of several right-wing politicians suggesting things weren't as they seemed on paper ... even hinting Paul might have known the attacker, David DePape.

Of course, that has since been debunked -- it was nothing more than a break-in/assault which prosecutors say was politically motivated. And Paul was most definitely brutalized, as seen in the since-released video showing the moment officers came to the door.

But, Pelosi says none of that's moved her congressional comrades to offer the slightest mea culpa.

Tyre Nichols' mom is hopeful Congress will make good on what came across as a promise during President Biden's State of the Union address ... but she's reiterating it's time for them to finally act on real police reforms.

We caught up with RowVaughn Wells on Capitol Hill Tuesday night, shortly after the President delivered his State of the Union address ... in which he referenced the fatal beating her son endured at the hands of Memphis cops last month.

RowVaughn tells us she's very appreciative of the President's strong message Tuesday night ... saying now it's all about putting forth action.

Given the reaction in Congress after the Prez speech, she says it looks like something might really change this time around. However, she says "we'll just wait to see" -- a point Ben Crump, who is representing the Nichols family also reinforced.

As you know Tyre was beaten by multiple Memphis PD officers so badly during a Jan. 7 traffic stop ... he died 3 days later in a hospital bed.

Since his death, police have released gruesome video of the brutal beating ... which stirred outrage and multiple peaceful protests across the country.

Five Black officers were immediately fired, and later charged with second-degree murder.

Other firefighters and officers who responded to the scene without rendering timely assistance to Tyre have also been fired, but no one else has been criminally charged.

Tyre's family has vowed to join the renewed push for legislators to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing act ... which was defeated in a 2021 Senate vote.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was involved in a traffic accident that sent a bicyclist to the ER -- but it's not something he could've avoided or is to blame over ... TMZ has learned.

Sources familiar with the situation tell us the movie star was driving in West L.A. Sunday morning, when at some point ... a woman riding a bike on the road suddenly swerved into his lane and made contact with his vehicle -- something confirmed by 3 eyewitnesses.

We're told first responders arrived on the scene and that the woman was transported to a hospital. Arnold, our sources say, was also on the scene speaking with cops.

As for how the police view this, thus far ... law enforcement sources tell us it appears Schwarzenegger is not at fault for this collision. An investigation is ongoing, but we're told a determination has been made that it's something he simply couldn't have avoided.

Our sources tell us the woman suffered minor injuries, and is expected to be okay.

George Santos is caught allegedly spinning the truth once again ... this time claiming he worked on the Spider-Man musical, another apparent lie.

That's right ... a new report from Bloomberg claims while Santos was running for Congress in 2021, he told a group of potential donors he worked as one of the producers on the musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark."

As has almost become automatic, Bloomberg reports Santos' claim was shut down by the show's lead producer, Michael Cohl. Cohl says Santos was not a producer on the musical, and his name never appeared in the playbills for the show.

"Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark" ran from 2011 to 2014 with a massive $75 million budget. However, the show became notorious for it's delay in opening and injuries to actors performing stunts.

Of course, it's just the latest in a series of Santos' alleged lies ... including when he said his mom died in 9/11, his education and even accusations he stole money from a charity aimed to help a former military dog with a tumor.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman says Democrats and Republicans are scared to break party lines, particularly when it comes to police reform, and it's maddening because people are literally dying as a result.

The Congressman from New York joined us Friday on "TMZ Live" and we asked him if any legislation will come out of Tyre Nichols' death, which is sparking renewed calls to pass reforms written in the wake of George Floyd's death.

Rep. Bowman, a member of the Congressional Black Congress, says provisions in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would do a lot of good for Americans who have their rights violated by police ... but he says the gridlock in Washington is making it impossible.

It's pretty damning ... Rep. Bowman says there's so much tribalism going on within the Capitol, nothing can get done ... and he's blaming corporations and mega donors for the standstill.

Rep. Bowman says Democrats and Republicans agree on different aspects of police reform behind closed doors ... but he says lawmakers are too scared to piss off Congressional leaders and the folks who put them in power, and almost no one has the guts to go against the grain.

An educator before being elected to Congress in 2020, Rep. Bowman says the tribalism in D.C. is especially frustrating for him to watch because he's not a career politician ... and as he puts it, the logjam is happening as "people are freaking dying."

A Polish tourist in Mexico got a crash course in Mayan history after climbing a sacred pyramid ... locals were waiting for him when he got down, and one beat him with a stick.

The wild scene, which was captured on video, played out over the weekend at the famous Chichén Itzá archaeological site in Mexico's Yucatan.

In the viral footage, you see the tourist coming down the Kukulkan pyramid's steps ... and when he gets to the bottom, he's confronted by an angry mob ... including a shirtless man with a huge stick who bonks the tourist on the head as others show their displeasure.

The issue for locals ... the Mayan temple is considered one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and it's illegal to climb the pyramid.

The tourist is reportedly from Poland, and was arrested Saturday and released after 12 hours in custody.

Adding insult to injury, the tourist was also slapped with a fine of $5,000 pesos ... but the stick to the head's gotta hurt worse.