ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas (KETK) – A man was arrested Thursday night for allegedly beating his wife with a crowbar at their residence in the 200 block of Roy Street outside Diboll, according to our news partner KETK.
Benjamin Munoz Ruiz, 56, answered Angelina County Sheriff’s Office deputies knocking on his door with a bloody crowbar in hand and blood covering his shirt, according to Angelina County Sheriff Tom Selman. Deputies say they found his wife, 55-year-old Rita Ruiz Tovar, “laying in her bedroom with a large pool of blood around her head.” Tovar was unconscious and breathing but sustained life threatening injuries, including a partially severed finger, the sheriff’s office said.
TYLER, Texas (KETK) — According to our news partner KETK, a man was arrested on Wednesday after allegedly tricking an elderly Tyler woman into believing she needed more than $60,000 worth of roof repairs. According to an arrest affidavit from the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, on March 21 deputies received a report of an elderly woman who had been lied to and tricked by suspects, Levy Lee and his accomplice, about a roof repair that was not needed at her home in Tyler.
The report said that the victim ended up giving Lee six checks and $14,000 in cash totaling $64,000 for the work they told her needed to be done. The victim had a contractor come out to her house and inspect the “damages” that Lee and his accomplice said the roof had.
The contractor told her Lee had lied to her, all Lee and the accomplice did was paint roofing tiles around an alleged “rotted chimney flute.”
The victim met Lee and his accomplice when they came up to her house and told her that her roof was “unstable” and that when they get on the roof and jumped, they would “sink a little,” showing her where a soft spot was. The victim said that this “scared her.” Continue reading Elderly woman scammed into paying $64,000 for fake roof repairs
McALLEN — A federal judge in South Texas on Friday extended a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Trump Administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans detained in the Southern District of Texas.
The decision from U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez came at the request of attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union representing three Venezuelans who were facing deportation and secured a temporary restraining order halting their removal on Wednesday.
During a hearing on Friday, the judge extended the restraining order until April 25 and expanded it to include other detained Venezuelans in the Southern District of Texas — whether detained in federal or state facilities — and other Venezuelans in the district who could be subject to deportation under the Alien Enemies Act.
The Southern District includes the Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, Corpus Christi, Houston and Galveston.
An attorney representing the Trump Administration said they were not aware if there were other Venezuelans in the area who could be subject to deportation. The judge ordered the administration to provide a number by the next hearing, scheduled for April 24.
The three Venezuelans in the case were set to be the first to be deported after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to resume deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. But the justices ruled that immigrants targeted under the act are entitled to the opportunity to challenge their deportation in court and must receive proper notice to do so.
The administration’s attorney said the administration was still reviewing the court’s order and was not prepared to state how much notice they would provide migrants of their pending removal.
The men, who were detained in Pennsylvania, California, and New York, were transferred to the El Valle Detention Center in Raymondville.
Rodriguez temporarily halted their removals after attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Texas stepped in, filing an emergency lawsuit on Wednesday to stop the removals and asking the judge to rule on whether it was lawful for the Trump Administration to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to deport people.
The judge also granted the ACLU’s request to stop the government from removing other Venezuelans detained at El Valle who could be subject to removal under the act, which dates back to 1798 and gives the president the authority to imprison and deport noncitizens of the U.S. during times of war. It was last used during World War II.
While the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela, the Trump Administration issued a proclamation last month invoking the Alien Enemies Act, claiming the U.S. faced threat of invasion by members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that the administration designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
The government claims the three detained Venezuelans are members of the gang but their attorneys deny that.
Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.
Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.
HARRISON COUNTY – According to a report from our news partner, KETK, a man has been sentenced to life in prison after he was found guilty of murder and arson in connection to the 2022 killing of a Cass County man.
Back in September of that year, Blake Reddock, a 31-year-old from Avinger, was found dead on Hershel McCoy Road on Sept. 10, 2022, according to the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office. A burned vehicle connected to the case was found that same day.
Later, on Sept. 12, 2022, Canton James Echols, 36 of Diana, was arrested and charged with murder and arson, Harrison County Jail records show.
Reddock was reportedly stabbed several times and was first identified through his tattoos because law enforcement said they found no identification with his body.
Echols was given two life sentences in state prison plus 25 years on Thursday for murder and arson. Echols’ sentences both started on Thursday.
AUSTIN – Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will run for a fourth term of his influential role as lieutenant governor, he announced Friday, touting his first endorsement from President Donald Trump.
Patrick said a more formal kickoff would follow the Legislative session, but that he wanted to make his intentions “known and official.”
“The campaign will begin soon enough, but with seven weeks still to go in the Legislative Session, my focus remains on the work to be done at the Capitol for the people of Texas,” he said in a statement.
The lieutenant governor, who presides over the state Senate, has used his bully pulpit to advance a conservative agenda that has included stricter border enforcement, increasing the role of religion in schools and property tax cuts.
The 75-year-old former radio host served two terms as a state senator from Harris County before he unseated three-term incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in 2014.
Patrick has been a close ally to Trump, who praised Patrick for his contributions as the Texas Chair of his presidential campaigns since 2016.
“In his next Term, Dan will fight tirelessly alongside of us to Secure the Border, Stop Migrant Crime, Grow the Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Champion School Choice, Support our Great Military/Vets, Restore American Energy DOMINANCE, and Strongly Protect our always under siege Second Amendment,” Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform.
Among those who identify as conservative, 33% of 1,200 registered voters polled by the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Polling Project in February approved strongly of Patrick’s performance, while another 34% somewhat approved. Among voters of all ideologies — conservative, moderate and liberal, 37% approved of Patrick’s job performance.
Patrick is unlikely to face credible opposition, said Joshua Blank, research director of the Texas Polling Project.
Tyler Norris, a Republican political consultant, agreed that given Patrick’s political prowess, no significant opposition was expected.
“The degree to which he can accomplish his agenda changed the shape of the senate and Texas politics,” he said. “By the end of next term he will definitely be the most powerful lieutenant governor in Texas history, if he’s not already. From 2015 to today, he’s built a Senate that works extremely efficiently.”
Patrick is already one of the longest serving lieutenant governors in state history — ranking alongside Ben Ramsey as the third-longest. At the end of another four-year term, he’ll be the second longest-serving lieutenant governor.
Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.
TEXARKANA – The Texarkana Police Department confirmed that more victims have come forward after a man was arrested for solicitation of a minor in a sting operation, according to our news partner, KETK.
Texarkana police officers conducted a sting operation last month that led to four men being arrested for crimes related to soliciting sex with a minor or prostitute. On March 14, Gregory Frame, 45 of Wake Village, was arrested for solicitation of a minor after trying to meet up with an underage girl, who turned out to be an under cover officer.
“To my understanding, I do know that he (Frame) responded to the under cover officer’s messages with the understanding of meeting with an underage girl for sexual conduct,” Texarkana PD’s Public Information Officer Shawn Vaughn said. Continue reading Man arrested for soliciting minors, more victims come forward
WHITEHOUSE – Our news partner, KETK, reports that this week, Tyler City Council decided to update ordinances that are now in effect for both Lake Tyler and Lake Tyler East.
Lake Tyler Marina Resort owner and resident, Brent Allen, said people who live by the shore line have been waiting for the update because the rules could mean big changes for them.
“It’s been a topic of conversation since the day I got here,” Allen said “So it’s been back and forth for a long time.”
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Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) -- The U.S. has recorded the highest number of measles cases since 2019, according to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data published Friday.
There are now 712 confirmed measles cases across 24 states, an increase of 105 cases from the prior week, the CDC said.
There were 1,274 reported cases in all of 2019.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
DALLAS – The Dallas Morning News reports that Dallas-area international students are struggling to navigate why they were told to leave the country immediately after visas were suddenly revoked by federal officials, lawyers working with some of them said. In some instances, the students had faced criminal charges but those charges were dismissed, the lawyers said. The lawyers — criminal defense attorney Bruce Anton and immigration attorney Stefka Stoyanova — said they are working with several students who had their visas revoked. They declined to share the students’ names because of privacy concerns. At least 110 international students at Texas universities had visas terminated by U.S. government officials as of Thursday afternoon, according to university administrators.
Locally, students from University of North Texas (27), the University of Texas at Arlington (27), the University of Texas at Dallas (19) and Texas Woman’s University (6) had visas revoked, university administrators confirmed. Officials from Southern Methodist University said some students were affected but didn’t release numbers. Texas school officials did not release details of the students’ names, backgrounds or reasons why the federal database that tracks their statuses terminated the records, signaling that the students’ statuses changed. Federal privacy laws limit what information schools can share. “They’re panicked,” said Anton, who said he has five former clients he is assisting. “They’re in absolute panic.” They are among hundreds across the country who had their statuses suddenly changed in recent weeks, according to local and national media reports. The revocations come as President Donald Trump’s administration vows to crack down on immigration and on student protests over the war in Gaza, such as the ones in Texas last year.
WASHINGTON – The San Antonio Express-News reports that U.S. Rep. Chip Roy backed down on Thursday from his promise to vote against a Senate budget resolution, saying he had gotten assurances from President Donald Trump and other Republican leaders that the final budget would include trillions of dollars in spending cuts. The turnaround came a day after Roy, R-Austin, criticized the Senate budget bill as failing to reduce spending to match proposed tax cuts, likely resulting in a $3 trillion increase in the federal deficit.
In a post of X Thursday, Roy said Trump had assured him on $1 trillion in cuts to mandatory spending programs included in former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and to Medicaid. He also said House Speaker Mike Johnson guaranteed him that the tax cuts central to Trump’s budget plan would be tied to a reduction in spending and that Senate Majority Leader John Thune had committed to a minimum of $1.5 trillion in spending cuts. “I would have preferred we amended the Senate bill to reflect these commitments. But, in the interest of comity, I will take them at their word,” Roy wrote. “But, to be clear, failure to achieve these baselines including deficit neutrality will make it impossible for me to support a final reconciliation product.” After delaying a vote Wednesday, House Republicans passed the Senate budget resolution 216-214, with just two Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Victoria Spartz, R-Ind. — voting against it. Now the Senate and House Republicans must do the hard work of deciding what’s in and what’s out of the federal budget, which they can pass without any Democrats’ support through the reconciliation process.
Marcus Wells, a barista at Float Coffee in Hollywood, Calif., speaks, April 8, 2025, about the impact the global tariff war will have on his business. KABC
(NEW YORK) -- Americans' love affair with coffee and chocolate could soon get a lot more expensive.
Baristas and confectioners say the beans they need to make their products are mostly grown in countries targeted by the Trump administration's tariffs.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the United States is the world's second-largest importer of coffee. In a reflection of how much Americans love chocolate, U.S. businesses import about $5 billion worth of cocoa beans a year, according to the USDA.
Some owners of small businesses dealing in coffee and confections say they fear the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump will leave them with no choice but to pass the added costs on to their customers.
"So while the tariffs are being imposed to try to up the production of goods in the United States, that’s a good we just simply cannot make in the United States," Marcus Wells, a barista at Float Coffee in Hollywood, California, told ABC Los Angeles Station KABC of the coffee beans he imports from Central and South American countries that are currently are under a 10% baseline tariff imposed by the Trump administration.
Trump announced on Wednesday that he was pausing reciprocal tariffs on most countries for 90 days, except China.
Wells said the baseline tariff of 10% will likely translate to a 10% increase in a cup of coffee at his shop.
"We’re always looking for ways to maintain customers and it's hard to do that when you're constantly having to raise prices in order to keep your business open," Wells said.
Cason Crane, CEO of Explorer Cold Brew, a company that sells bottled and canned coffee at stores across the nation, told ABC News that he hopes the 90-day pause will allow enough time for countries to negotiate deals with the White House to stave off the higher reciprocal tariffs.
"Coffee has actually been exempt from tariffs in the United States since the 1800s. So, my hope is that, with this 90-day pause, while it's not ideal to still have 10% tariffs, that the administration can negotiate some more targeted deals that recognize things like the United States cannot grow coffee outside of Hawaii or Puerto Rico, which account for half a percent of worldwide coffee production," Crane said.
Before Trump put a pause on reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday, Bill Ackman, the billionaire CEO of the hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management and a supporter of Trump, posted a lengthy message on social media, saying, "If the president doesn't pause the effects of the tariffs soon, many small businesses will go bankrupt."
In his post, Ackman shared an email he received from Crane, whose company he has invested in. In the email, Crane said the price of glass bottles he sources from China for his coffee will go up 50%, while chai sourced from India will increase by 26% and coffee imported from Ethiopia, Peru and Canada will climb by 10%.
"Will my clients tolerate a near doubling of their contract costs overnight, or will they expect me to absorb the increases my vendors are already threatening?" Crane wrote in the email. "If clients resist price hikes and my employees demand higher wages to offset their rising cost of living, we end up in a lose-lose scenario -- no spending and no jobs."
On Thursday, Crane told ABC News that he likely won't be able to raise prices.
"Small businesses have way fewer options than big businesses. We don't really have the capability to raise our prices," Crane said. "Think about going to a farmers market; you're already paying a little bit more. So, we're already priced at the top range and we don't really have the power to negotiate with our suppliers like the big businesses do. So the best I can do is keep holding on and hope for a better policy, and urge people to look out for those small businesses."
New Hampshire chocolatier Richard Tango-Lowy, owner of Dancing Lion Chocolate in Manchester, said he imports some of his cocoa beans from Vietnam, which Trump says faces a 46% reciprocal tariff if it doesn't bargain with the White House. Tango-Lowy said he also gets beans from Bolivia, which is subject to the baseline 10% tariff.
"We have about 600 kilos of beans on the way from Bolivia. We have no idea what they will cost right now," Tango-Lowy told ABC affiliate station WMUR in Manchester.
Tango-Lowy said much of his packaging comes from Hong Kong, which is subject to China's tariffs.
"We work domestically where we can, but a lot of what we do is not available domestically," Tango-Lowy said. "It just doesn't exist."
Tango-Lowy is bracing to have to absorb the tariffs, saying, "We're going to need the beans at some point."
As food and beverage companies contemplate if they will or can't cover the tariffs without raising prices on customers, Andrew Sinclair, owner of Mad Lab Coffee in Los Angeles, said his prices will stay the same.
"If you had to pay $9 for a cup of coffee I probably wouldn't see you every day, and I like seeing people every day," Sinclair told KABC. "So we're going to keep our prices the same."
Sinclair said he trusts his longstanding partnerships with growers in Colombia and Ethiopia will help him weather the economic turmoil.
"If you can afford a good cup of coffee, go to your local coffee shop and grab a good cup of coffee," Sinclair said. "And if you can't afford it, please don't buy a cup of coffee and end up not being able to pay your rent. That's just not responsible."
HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports the Texas job market was humming along. Even as first-quarter job cuts surpassed the tally from a year-earlier by more than 40%, the unemployment rate in Texas held steady over the past year at around 4.1%. Still, signs were emerging that policies imposed by the Trump administration were starting to take their toll. An analysis by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas released last week found American companies slashed more than 275,000 jobs in March, a staggering 60% increase over February’s cuts and more than 200% greater than the 90,309 jobs lost during the same period a year earlier. Challenger data for Texas shows first-quarter job cuts in 2025 were more than 41% greater than the year-earlier period. Yet job growth outpaced losses to start the year.
“The job market has remained robust year to date for Texas,” Pia Orrenius, a vice president and labor economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said. “Our growth number is like 1.9%, which is right under trend growth, so we’ve actually seen a little bit of improvement in the first two months of the year relative to last year. But this is backward-looking data.” Of the nearly 17,500 jobs lost in the state during the first quarter, Challenger found, the services sector took the biggest hit, losing 8,242 jobs, up from 1,053 a year earlier. “In March, Orrenius said, “the Texas service sector outlook survey slowed revenue growth to zero. So there was no growth in March according to our survey.” The impact on the jobs market of the sweeping tariffs announced last week by President Donald Trump has yet to be felt, and their effect will depend in large part on how long they stay in place. Meantime, the impact of cuts across the federal government are rippling across the Texas economy. “Job cut announcements were dominated last month by Department of Government Efficiency plans to eliminate positions in the federal government. It would have otherwise been a fairly quiet month for layoffs,” Andrew Challenger, the firm’s senior vice president, said in the statement accompanying the report.
NACOGDOCHES COUNTY – Our news partner, KETK, reports that one person was taken to the hospital Friday morning after their truck reportedly left the roadway and rolled three times near Cushing.
According to Lilbert-Looneyville Volunteer Fire Department, around 6:26 a.m. firefighters and EMS responded to the 8000 block of North FM-225 for a motor vehicle crash. Officials said that the driver had swerved to avoid a deer and the vehicle left the roadway and rolled three times. The sole occupant of the truck was taken to the Nacogdoches hospital to be treated for head, neck and back injuries.
LONGVIEW — A man formerly imprisoned over the January sixth us capitol riot is running for Congress in East Texas. Three months ago, Ryan Taylor Nichols, of Longview, was pardoned by President Trump for his part in the January 6th US Capitol riot. Nichols, who was serving a five year prison sentence, is now running for congress. He is challenging two term Republican Nathaniel Moran.
SMU Political Scientist Cal Jillson says Moran is much more polished and has run successful campaigns. Jillson says Nichol’s January 6th history may appeal to some voters. Nichols sprayed pepper spray at police and entered the US Capitol through a broken window. He then egged on the crowd to get inside. Later, he put a message on social media says he stands for violence.
ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas (KETK) – A man was arrested Thursday night for allegedly beating his wife with a crowbar at their residence in the 200 block of Roy Street outside Diboll, according to our news partner KETK.
