TEXARKANA — Our news partners at KETK report that a 1-year-old has reportedly died at a Texarkana apartment after being hit by a vehicle while playing outside in the parking lot. According to a release, police responded to the scene in the 3900 block of West 39th Street, where a 1-year-old boy was struck and killed by a vehicle. The police department said they are conducting an investigation but “it appears that the driver never saw the child.”
David Rancken’s App of the Day 03/22/24 – Downdetector!
Local musician dies in Fort Worth area crash
TYLER — A Tyler musician has reportedly died in a Bedford crash early Monday morning. According to our news partner KETK and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, at least one person died in the crash on Texas 183. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the deceased as Heber Hernandez, 24, who died at a Fort Worth hospital. Hernandez was the main vocalist for the band Petroleros Del Bravo, a popular Grupo Norteño band with sax in the Tyler area. “Thank you all for the love, support and prayers we have received in these difficult times. It hurts to know we lost a son, brother and friend. Our Heber Issac Hernandez, the heart of what we present here. Los Petroleros and our brother’s dream will live on just like he always wanted it. With all faith and love to Heber,” the Petroleros Del Bravo said in a statement. A funeral service will be held on Friday in Tyler.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Republican Primary headed to recount
SMITH COUNTY — The Republican Primary for the Smith County Precinct 1 Commissioner is officially heading for a recount after the race came down to only 101 votes. According to our news partner KETK, Pam Frederick, the incumbent, has petitioned for the manual recount since the 101 vote difference is less than the 10% of the total vote legally required for a recount. According to a notice from the Smith County Republican Party, only the votes for Commissioner Precinct 1 will be recounted. Smith County election results show that challenger Christina Drewry is currently ahead with 4,636, beating Fredrick’s 4,535 votes by 101 votes. The only people allowed to be there for the recount will be the recount chair, recount members, candidates, up to two watchers per recount team, the custodian of the voted ballots, the recount supervisor and state or federal inspectors. Continue reading Precinct 1 Commissioner Republican Primary headed to recount
WWII Ghost Army members given Congressional Gold Medal
Wood County Jail inmate found dead
QUITMAN – The Wood County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday afternoon that an inmate had died. According to our news partner KETK, the WCSO said the inmate had been admitted to the jail on Wednesday. On Thursday, jail staff found the inmate unconscious and began resuscitation efforts until emergency services arrived. The inmate was taken to a hospital where they were pronounced dead. The sheriff’s said the inmates identity is being withheld and the cause of death is not known. The Texas Rangers have been contacted and as standard practice will conduct an investigation into the cause of death.
UT Tyler and Kilgore College to continue partnership
TYLER – UT Tyler and Kilgore College announced Thursday as they plan to continue their partnership that will allow student co-enrollment. According to our news partner KETK, the partnership would let students take a majority of their classes at KC, but would be eligible to complete three credit hours per semester from an approved list of UTT courses.
“Concurrent enrollment will facilitate a smoother transition for students who plan to transfer from Kilgore College to UT Tyler,” Dr. Tracy Skopek, KC’s vice president of instruction, said. “It will also simplify the transfer process, ensuring students have the necessary prerequisites and credits to seamlessly continue their education at UT Tyler.”
Continue reading UT Tyler and Kilgore College to continue partnership
AAA Texas: Tyler has lowest gas prices in Texas
TYLER – AAA announced on Thursday that Tyler has the cheapest gas on average in Texas. According to our news partner KETK, with prices rising because of spring and summer travel, AAA’s survey showed that the average cost for a gallon of gas in Tyler was $3 per gallon. The average for Texas is $3.18, while the average price for a gallon of gas nationally is $3.53.
David Rancken’s App of the Day 03/21/24 – Ella Feels Better!
Several school districts closed for total solar eclipse
EAST TEXAS — A number of East Texas school districts announced they will cancel classes for the total solar eclipse on April 8, according to our news partner KETK. In early March, Bullard Independent School District shared calendar adjustments and said April 8 was changed to a school holiday. Bullard ISD said the date was originally an employee workday but adjusted it so staff can experience the eclipse with their friends and family.
Canton Independent School District said time was built into their calendar year and it was decided that the eclipse day will be a day off. “We hope our families are able to take advantage of this opportunity and experience this event with their children,” the school district said. Canton ISD said they will provide eclipse glasses for each of their students prior to the event. Continue reading Several school districts closed for total solar eclipse
Two men charged with weekend kidnapping of Tyler man
SMITH COUNTY — Two men have been charged in connection to a weekend kidnapping. Our news partner KETK reports, according to an arrest affidavit, on March 17 at around 4:06 p.m., the Smith County Sheriff’s Office 911 emergency dispatch received a call from a woman claiming two men in a red Honda passenger car had put a gun to her husband’s head and forced him to get in their car before driving away with him. The woman told police two of her husband’s sons followed the Honda car and pulled over at a donut shop on Highway 271. Officials said both sons were told to leave and were shown guns as a threat. During this time, the sons were reportedly told the kidnappers wanted $10,000 ransom to get their father back. The suspects also allegedly called the victim’s wife demanding money for his return. Continue reading Two men charged with weekend kidnapping of Tyler man
Sheriff Larry Smith: Kidnapping ‘directly related’ to cartel
SMITH COUNTY — According to our news partner KETK, Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said a recent kidnapping in Smith County was related to a cartel. Smith said, “The kidnapping we had this last week is directly related to the cartel, no doubt about it, 100% directly related to the cartel. They try to extort money out of a citizen here in Tyler, Smith County who probably was involved with the cartel. He just better thank his Lord that we have the detectives we’ve got here, that we’re able to catch him and work with other agencies to free him when he got to Fort Worth,”
Continue reading Sheriff Larry Smith: Kidnapping ‘directly related’ to cartel
Two East Texans dead after overnight crash
BOWIE COUNTY – Our news partners at KETK report that a Texarkana woman and Tyler man are dead after a crash Tuesday night on U.S. Highway 59, four miles south of Texarkana. According to a preliminary DPS report, a 2024 Kia Telluride SUV was traveling southbound on the highway around 9:53 p.m. when it crossed into the northbound lane and struck a 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe SUV. The driver of the Kia was identified as Natasha Brewer, 48 of Texarkana, and the driver of the Chevrolet was identified as Jason Foster, 46 of Tyler. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Officials said the investigation is ongoing.
No ruling from appeals court, SB-4 still on hold
McALLEN (AP) — Texas faced skeptical questioning at an appeals court hearing Wednesday as the state pushed to enforce a strict new immigration law that would allow it to arrest and deport people who enter the U.S. illegally.
The one-hour hearing before a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ended without a ruling, leaving Texas’ new law on hold for now. A flurry of court activity, including a decision Tuesday from the U.S. Supreme Court that allowed the law to take effect for several hours, has caused uncertainty at the border.
Chief Judge Priscilla Richman raised a series of questions about how the state law would be carried out, including how Texas would respond if federal authorities don’t cooperate with a state judge’s order to deport someone. No arrests were reported during the hours the law was in effect Tuesday.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has said it would not have authority to deport under the state law.
“This is uncharted because we don’t have any cases on it,” said Texas Solicitor General Aaron Nielson.
The Justice Department has argued that Texas’ law is a clear violation of federal authority and will create chaos at the border. Lawyers for the department faced a grilling from Judge Andrew Oldham, who was appointed by Republican President Donald Trump. The third judge on the panel, Judge Irma Ramirez, did not ask questions during the hearing but has previously voted to keep the law on hold.
Richman challenged Texas’ assertion that it is exercising a “core police power,” getting Nielsen to acknowledge that deporting people has been a federal responsibility. But Nielsen denied that Texas is “trying to take over the field” on border enforcement and said the state wants to cooperate with the federal government on what is widely acknowledged to be a crisis.
Nielsen also said he did not know how the law would affect someone who entered the country illegally but came to Texas from another state.
Regardless of how this three-judge panel rules, the legal fight will hardly be over. The 5th Circuit has been considering the state’s appeal of a scathing injunction from a lower-court judge that put the law on hold.
The 5th Circuit issued a decision earlier this month that would have allowed the law to take effect, and the Supreme Court essentially declined to intervene Tuesday. But hours after the law took effect, the 5th Circuit reinstated the lower court injunction, pausing the law again.
The Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of the law. It instead kicked back to the lower appeals court a challenge led by the Justice Department.
Under the Texas law, once defendants are in custody on illegal entry charges, they can agree to a judge’s order to leave the U.S. or face prosecution. However, Mexico has said it would refuse to take anyone back who is ordered to cross the border.
The impact extends far beyond the Texas border. Republican legislators wrote the law so that it applies in all of the state’s 254 counties, although Steve McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, has said he expects it will mostly be enforced near the border.
Other GOP-led states are already looking to follow Texas’ path. In Iowa, the state House gave final approval Tuesday to a bill that would also give its state law enforcement the power to arrest people who are in the U.S. illegally and have previously been denied entry into the country.
It now goes to Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds. If signed, it would take effect in July.
“The federal government has abdicated its responsibilities and states can and must act,” Republican Iowa state Rep. Steven Holt said.
In Texas, El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, the top county executive, said immigration enforcement should remain a federal, not state, responsibility, echoing the Biden administration’s view. He said heightened law enforcement presence in the city of El Paso during a previous migrant surge brought high-speed chases and traffic stops based on assumptions that passengers were in the country illegally.
“We had accidents, we had injuries, we got a little glimpse of what would happen if the state begins to control what happens in respect to immigration,” Samaniego said.
Arrests for illegal crossings fell by half in January from a record-high of 250,000 in December, with sharp declines in Texas. Arrests in the Border Patrol’s Del Rio sector, the focus of Abbott’s enforcement, fell 76% from December. Rio Grande Valley, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings for much of the past decade, recorded its fewest arrests since June 2020.
Tucson, Arizona, has been the busiest corridor in recent months, followed by San Diego in January, but reasons for sudden shifts are often complicated and are dictated by smuggling organizations.
When Biden visited the Rio Grande Valley for his second trip to the border as president last month, administration officials credited Mexico for heightened enforcement on that part of the border for the drop in arrests. They said conditions were more challenging for Mexican law enforcement in Sonora, the state that lies south of Arizona.