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SMITH COUNTY — A man is being sought in Smith County for two felony warrants for child sexual assault and continuous sexual assault of a child. Authorities claim that his wife failed to report the alleged abuse, which occurred over several years. According to our news partner KETK, the Smith County Sheriff’s Office has announced that Filiberto Rodriguez Mora, 46, is currently evading capture and is wanted for:

• Sexual assault of a child with a bond of $500,000
• Continuous sexual abuse of a child with a bond of $750,000
• Assault causing bodily injury

Mora is 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighs 250 pounds and has brown eyes and black hair. He may be driving a 2006 tan Toyota Sequoia. Deputies also said that Mora is an undocumented immigrant who was previously deported. Continue reading Man wanted for child sexual assault

TYLER – On Saturday, Richard DeFreece of Tyler stopped by the King’s Academy Upper Campus gymnasium to attempt to make 250 paper airplanes, in just 60 minutes. Our news partners at KETK report that DeFreece was able to complete the feat on camera, with multiple timekeepers and in front of several witnesses, who helped count the planes and made sure they could all fly. He’ll have to wait for Guinness World Records to review the evidence of his attempt before verifying his new Guinness World Record. DeFreece said the previous record was for 200 paper planes made in an hour. For 250 planes in a hour, around 4.16 paper planes a minute had to be made.

TYLER – UT Tyler researchers recently conducted a study to see if health patterns in East Texas aligned with pre-COVID-19 data and they found that East Texans have a shorter expected lifespan than most Texans, according to our news partners at KETK. Research analyst Manuel Reyes and his team at the Hibbs Institute for Business and Economic Research took a look at 23 East Texas counties and found the average life span in this region is 75, which is four years less than the state average. Continue reading East Texas life expectancy is shorter

TYLER — Tyler Water Utilities is performing smoke testing, as part of the Consent Decree, to help locate breaks and defects to improve the City’s wastewater system from Monday, Feb. 9 through Friday, Feb. 13. The testing will be conducted by Pipeline Analysis from Cambridge Road, Toll 49, Paluxy Drive and Hollytree Drive.

According to a news city release, during the process, air and smoke will be blown into the sanitary sewer system in the street to monitor where smoke escapes the system. White smoke will exit through vent pipes on the roofs of residences and through any sewer line breaks in the ground. The smoke is non-toxic, leaves no residue and does not create any fire hazards. Continue reading TWU to conduct smoke testing Feb. 9-13

UPDATE: The Wood County Sheriff’s Office said that a missing woman was found dead in a wooded area on Saturday morning. Dispatch received a call on Friday night about an abandoned car they saw stuck on a Wood County Electric Cooperative power line right of way path near County Road 4539 according to the sheriff’s office and our news partner KETK.

The car was determined to belong to 76-year-old Laurie Harberson who was last seen on Jan. 23 near Winnsboro. Deputies searched the area around the car on Friday night but nothing was found until a more intensive search with UTV’s and a K9 was done on Saturday morning. Harberson was found dead during the Saturday morning search, about a half mile away from the right of way path in a densely wooded area. The sheriff’s office believes she died of exposure to the recent winter weather that came through East Texas.
Continue reading Missing woman died of exposure

SMITH COUNTY — The State of Texas’ new school voucher program has broken a national record for first day applicants. According to the Texas Comptroller’s office, at least 46,000 families have applied since the portal opened on Wednesday. According to our news partner KETK, the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program was approved during the 89th Texas Legislative session. The school choice program gives selected students $10,000 per year towards private school enrollment and children with learning disabilities can get $30,000.

Dr. Jay Ferguson, Head of School at Grace Community, has been advocating for this policy since the beginning and hopes it expands their special education services.

“I think it’s great that so many families around Texas are wanting to participate in the program. For years Grace has been trying to make private Christian education as accessible to as many people as possible. We also have had the opportunity over the past several years to serve kids with learning differences and special needs and hopefully this will expand our ability to serve that group of kids,” Dr. Ferguson said. Continue reading Educators react to record school voucher applications

SMITH COUNTY – A civil lawsuit filed against Smith County in 2023 was settled on Thursday after more than 100 former Smith County Jail inmates alleged they were held in custody for unreasonably long periods. According to court documents and our news partner KETK, the plaintiffs in the case are former Smith County inmates Ladarion Hughes, Angela Alonzo and Demarcus Lively, who alleged that their constitutional rights were violated by the county’s policy and practice of holding individuals in jail for days or weeks beyond their release dates.

All three plaintiffs in the case stated that they were held in the Smith County Jail past their expected release dates, including Hughes, who was subjected to 27 days of unlawful incarceration from late 2021 to early 2022. Additionally, Alonzo stated that he was held in custody for 33 days beyond his 2022 release date. Continue reading Jail settles $1 million lawsuit

GLADEWATER – A Gregg County man was sentenced to 18 years in prison for possession of child pornography on Thursday. Elijah Paul Leggett, 24 of Gilmer, was first arrested for possession of less than 50 depictions or videos of child pornography on March 18, 2025, after a CyberTip came into the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 29, 2024, according to our news partner KETK.

The CyberTip showed that a user on the social media app Kik had uploaded 34 videos of child pornography. The tip showed that the videos were all uploaded from the same IP address and a sheriff’s office investigator was able to identify Leggett as a suspect. The investigator got a search warrant for Leggett’s residence in Gladewater and his residence was then searched on Oct. 2, 2024. Leggett’s affidavit shows that during the search, the investigator interviewed him after he had waived his right to an attorney. Continue reading 18 years for possessing child porn

LUFKIN – Public clarifications about a planned AI data center under development near the city have been issued. A data center project representing a $1.05 billion capital investment is currently being negotiated for the Southland Paper Mill site, According to a City of Lufkin press release and out news partner KETK.

The site lies outside Lufkin’s city limits but is projected to create up to 500 construction jobs over a four-year period, according to the city. If the data center project is constructed, it could create up to 30 full-time jobs. The Lufkin Economic Development Corporation told KETK News that the Denver-based company Amp Z is behind the data center plans.

Amp Z describes their company as an “AI-era digital-infrastructure platform” that combines “utility power with onsite self-generation to deliver gigawatt-scale AI data center campuses.” Continue reading $1B AI data center project planned

SMITH COUNTY – The State of Texas’ new school voucher program has broken a national record for first day applicants. At least 46,000 families have applied since the portal opened on Wednesday, according to the Texas Comptroller’s office and our news partner KETK.

The Texas Education Freedom Accounts program was approved during the 89th Texas Legislative session. The school choice program gives selected students $10,000 per year towards private school enrollment and children with learning disabilities can get $30,000. While many are excited for the new faces that could be joining their campus, some worry about a potential decline in enrollment at public schools. There are also concerns voucher money could be going to families who don’t need it.

According to the Texas Comptroller’s office, about a third of applicants come from households making less than $66,000 a year and eight out of every ten overall said they intend to go to a private school next year. Continue reading School voucher application record

SMITH COUNTY – A grass fire burned an out building, a chicken coop and several vehicles at a residence near Lindale in Smith County on Friday. According to officials and our news partner KETK, firefighters were first sent to County Road 448 early Friday afternoon for a reported grass fire threatening buildings. The Van Fire Department, the Lindale Fire Department, the Mineola Fire Department and the Grand Saline Fire Department all responded to the scene with Smith County Emergency Services District 2.

Firefighters at the scene stopped the fire’s progression and started mopping up any spot fires before any residences were damaged. One family lost an out building, several nearby vehicles and a chicken coop. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by the Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office.

Officials said Smith County isn’t currently under a burn ban but residents should take caution and avoid burning because of wind gusts and low relative humidity. The Texas A&M Forest Service said they’ve responded to eight fires from across East Texas on Friday.