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TYLER – A UT Tyler employee was placed on leave after allegedly claiming the university is still doing DEI work, despite new state laws banning the office. DEI, or Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Offices, were banned from public higher education institutions in a law that took effect on Jan. 1. The law states that higher education workers can no longer sign any statements dedicated to upholding DEI or attend trainings that reference “race, color, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation.” Our news partner KETK reports that they have launched an investigation into the employee.

According to an article posted by the Texas Scorecard, and part of an investigation and video by Accuracy in Media, UT Tyler Director of Student Belonging, identified as Tarecka Payne, told an undercover investigator that the university had to change the name of its DEI department three times. The article states she said the university can still do DEI work, but they just have to be “creative.” Continue reading Employee accuses UT Tyler of skirting DEI laws

LIVINGSTON — According to our news partner KETK, newly released documents obtained by Houston-area NBC affiliate KPRC sheds light on the death of an 11-year-old Livingston girl that went missing on Feb. 15. According to records from the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office, the examiner ruled that Cunningham’s cause of death was due to “homicidal violence with blunt head trauma.”

According to Polk County records, Don Steven McDougal, 42, was with the victim, Audrii Cunningham, on the morning of Feb. 15. Records show that McDougal and the child left Cunningham’s home in the suspect’s 2003 Chevrolet Suburban with the intent of dropping off the child at a school bus stop outside of the subdivision. Authorities said Cunningham never made it to Creekside Elementary school that day. McDougal was reportedly a friend of the Cunningham family, resided on their property in a camper and had access to the victim’s home. An Amber Alert was issued later that night and law enforcement began a search for the missing girl. Continue reading Cause of death of 11-year-old Livingston girl released

TYLER – The Smith County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday the names of two people employed by the county are being used in recent phone scams. According to our news partner KETK, the caller will say he is either Sgt. Tim Jones or Sgt. Justin Hall and will claim to be with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office civil processing division, needing to discuss an urgent matter. Authorities say the discussion always ends with the victim owning money.

Officials say in a release that, “The Smith County Sheriff’s Office employs both a Sgt. Tim Jones and Sgt. Justin Hall, but their names are just being used for the purpose of scamming individuals,” officials said. “If you receive a call from anyone advising that they are a law enforcement official and you owe money, please just hang up.”

If you want to verify a scam, your asked to call the sheriff’s office non-emergency number at 903-566-6600.

TYLER — Friday is the deadline to get your applications for mail-in ballots to the Smith County Elections Office. Applications for ballots by mail must be received, not just postmarked, by the Elections Office by 5 p.m. Friday, February 23. The applications can be found here. The ballots can be delivered in person to the Elections Office, located at 302 E. Feguson St., by the person applying for a mail-in ballot or by a mail delivery worker and no other person. An application can be faxed to 903-590-4778 or emailed to scelections@smith-county.com by February 23, but the original must be mailed or delivered to the office within four days, before the ballot can be mailed to the voter. Continue reading Applications for mail-in ballots due Friday

TYLER – It has 30 days since Harley Morris of Tyler disappeared. The Tyler Police Department said there is no new information on the missing 29-year-old. According to our news partner KETK, Morris was last seen Jan. 21 leaving the 50 Grand Club in Tyler about 3 a.m.

Andy Erbaugh, Public Information Officer for Tyler PD, said “Unless we know where to look, or put the drones or send the dogs, then we don’t have a location and nowhere to send them. Game wardens have been assisting us with their drones looking at wooded areas and just last weekend the game wardens were out with their drones looking and certain areas.”
Continue reading Search for missing Tyler man continues

AUSTIN – Thursday Gov. Greg Abbott announced the reappointment of Gary Halbrooks as the presiding officer of the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority. According to a release from the governors office, Halbrooks, whose a Tyler native, is president and CEO of Venue Properties Inc. He has served as a Smith County appointee on the NET RMA since 2012 and has been the presiding officer since 2021. The NET RMA serves to finance, acquire, design, construct, operate, maintain and expand transportation projects in 14 counties in North Texas.

DALLAS (AP) – A number of Americans are dealing with cellular outages on AT&T, Cricket Wireless, Verizon, T-Mobile and other service providers, according to data from Downdetector. AT&T had more than 64,000 outages this morning, in locations including Houston, Atlanta and Chicago. The outages began at approximately 3:30 a.m. ET. The carrier has more than 240 million subscribers, the country’s largest. Cricket Wireless had more than 13,000, the outage tracking website said Thursday. Verizon had more than 4,000 outages and T-Mobile had more than 1,900 outages. Boost Mobile had about 700 outages. So far, no reason has been given for the outages. Representatives for AT&T, Verizon and Cricket weren’t immediately available to comment.

LIVINGSTON (AP) — A family friend accused of killing 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham was supposed to take the Texas girl to her school bus stop when they left her home in his vehicle nearly a week before authorities found her body in a river, according to court documents released Wednesday. A large rock was tied to her body when search teams found it Tuesday in the Trinity River in a rural area north of Houston about 10 miles from her home, according to the capital murder criminal complaint filed Tuesday against Don Steven McDougal.

Audrii’s family reported her missing on Feb. 15 when she failed to return to her Livingston home after school. Investigators discovered that she never got on the bus to go to school that morning.
McDougal, 42, lived in a camper on the family’s property near the shore of Lake Livingston and had previously taken Audrii to the bus stop or to school when she missed the bus, according to Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons.
Continue reading Murder charges in the death of Audrii Cunningham

CARTHAGE – Carthage Independent School District announced Tuesday they are welcoming a new director of safety and security. According to our news partner KETK, Darrin Peeples joins the district after being a Texas Game Warden for almost 14 years. Peeples has a bachelor’s in agriculture leadership and development from Texas A&M University.

Carthage ISD Superintendent Jarrod Bitter said, “We are thrilled to welcome Darrin Peeples to our team as the Director of Safety and Security. His extensive background in law enforcement and specialization in school safety makes him an incredibly valuable asset to our district. I look forward to working with Mr. Peeples to ensure the safety and security of our students, staff, and community.”

Peeples also obtained certificates from Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, EMS training and as an ALICE active threat trainer.

MARSHALL — Marshall drivers were asked to avoid the intersection of Highways 59 and 80 due to an unusual road hazard Tuesday morning. According to our news partner KETK, Marshall police said a “chicken gut truck” left a “trail of blood and gore” on the roadway. Police asked drivers to steer clear of the bloody lane as a hazmat crew cleaned the scene. “Drive safe, watch out for feathers, and maybe… keep your windows rolled up for this stretch,” police said. “Thanks for your coop-eration!”

CROCKETT — The Crockett Police Department said a woman was arrested on Monday for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend and attempting to stab a police officer. According to our news partner KETK, the police department and a deputy with the Houston County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the 300 block of Rose Street in reference to an assault at around 2:08 a.m. The caller reportedly told dispatch his girlfriend, Jhaeneisha Deshay Anderson, 40 of Crockett, had assaulted and injured him. When authorities arrived at the scene, they reportedly saw the man had multiple injuries to several areas of his body and officers learned that Anderson was heavily intoxicated and aggressive. Police said Anderson was barricaded inside the residence with three of her children.

Officers obtained keys to the residence and unlocked the door after Anderson reportedly refused to leave the residence. Continue reading Woman arrested after attempting to stab officer

PALESTINE – The City of Palestine Police Department said that two individuals were arrested following a traffic stop that led to the discovery of alleged drug paraphernalia. According to our news partner KETK on Sunday night around 10 p.m., Palestine PD reports that they made a traffic stop near for traffic violations on a vehicle that they had observed leaving a “known drug trafficking area.” Authorities had reasonable suspicion and detained and investigated the two individuals in the vehicle. They said the driver was identified as Sheila Brantley, 63 of Palestine, and the passenger provided an identity that officers determined to be false.

Officials said that after being asked to exit the vehicle, the passenger allegedly became uncooperative and resisted arrest, after being restrained and secured in a patrol vehicle she was identified as Janna Linderman, 49 of Palestine. Palestine PD said that as Brantley exited the vehicle, they noticed a metal pipe allegedly connected to drug use falling from her clothing, the pipe was later tested and tested positive for cocaine. Continue reading Two arrests in known drug trafficking area