EAST TEXAS – The East Texas Council of Governments (ETCOG) announces $3.4 million in grants from the Governor’s Public Safety Office awarded to East Texas jurisdictions and nonprofits. The Governor’s Public Safety Office administers federal and state grant funding to promote strategies that improve public safety, support victims of crime, prevent terrorism and prepare communities for the threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk to Texans.
ETCOG’s Public Safety Division assists jurisdictions in applying for these funds annually. Applications to be submitted for funding are ranked and scored by the ETCOG Criminal Justice Advisory Committee and Homeland Security Advisory Committee, which includes local subject matter experts from across the region.
The Governor’s Office has approved a total of $3,435,484.11 for funding the Victims of Crime Act, Justice Assistance, Violence Against Women Act, Juvenile Justice / Truancy Prevention, and Homeland Security grants in East Texas. Continue reading $3.4M in Public Safety Grants for East Texas Region
(NEW YORK) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed the first case of severe bird flu in the United States.
The federal health agency said Wednesday that the patient has been hospitalized in Louisiana. State health officials said the patient is over the age of 65 with underlying medical conditions.
The patient is experiencing severe respiratory illness related to bird flu infection and is currently in critical condition, a spokesperson from the Louisiana Department of Health told ABC News.
Genomic data showed the Louisiana patient was infected with a version of the virus recently found to be spreading in wild birds and poultry in the U.S., as well as found in some human cases in Canada and Washington state, according to the CDC.
This is different than the version of the virus found to be spreading in dairy cows and some poultry populations in the U.S.
The Louisiana patient was exposed to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks, although an investigation into the source of the illness is ongoing, the CDC said. This is the first case of human bird flu in the U.S. linked to exposure to backyard flock.
There have been 61 reported human cases of bird flu reported in the U.S. since April, according to CDC data.
Almost all confirmed cases have had direct contact with infected cattle or infected livestock. Prior to the case confirmed in the Louisiana patient, cases had been mild and patients had all recovered after receiving antiviral medication, according to the CDC and state health officials. One previous case in Missouri was hospitalized, but health officials pointed to other health conditions aside from bird flu infection involved in the patient's admission to the hospital.
Signs and symptoms of infection in humans often include sore throat, cough, fever, runny or stuffy nose, headache, muscle or body aches, fatigue and shortness of breath, the CDC says. Less common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and seizures.
Infections can range from no symptoms or mild illness, such as flu-like symptoms, to more severe illness, such as pneumonia that could require hospitalizations, the CDC says.
"The best way to prevent bird flu is to avoid exposure whenever possible. Infected birds shed avian influenza A viruses in their saliva, mucous and feces," the CDC wrote Wednesday in a press release. "Other infected animals may shed avian influenza A viruses in respiratory secretions and other bodily fluids (e.g., in unpasteurized cow milk or 'raw milk')."
The CDC said no person-to-person transmission has been detected and the risk to the general public is low. However, those who work with birds, poultry or cows -- or have recreational exposure to them -- are at higher risk and should take precautions recommended by the health agency.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a new federal order last week that raw milk samples nationwide will be collected and shared with the department in order to test for bird flu.
The decision came after the bird flu virus was found in samples of raw milk from a California farm, which issued a recall of all of its raw milk products earlier this week. The farm was also placed under quarantine by state health officials.
On Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency "to streamline and expedite the state’s response" to bird flu. There have been 33 cases of human bird flu confirmed in California this year, according to the CDC.
TYLER — Tyler Transit is transforming its existing fixed route service into a MicroTransit service starting Monday, Jan. 13. New payment methods are being rolled out as well. Riders will be able to book a ride by calling (903) 533-8057 from the bus stop or through the Tyler Transit app. Public comment period will remain open until Monday, Jan. 6 at 1 p.m. Click here to submit questions and comments.
All Tyler Transit bus stops will be used as pick-up locations for riders. The ride will take them directly to the doorstep of a destination within sight of the closest bus stop on any existing route. The MicroTransit service will be split into three zones, with two drivers per zone. If a passenger’s destination is in a different zone from where they are picked up, they will be taken to Stop 400 near the Bergfeld Center and Fire Station 7, where a driver will be waiting or arriving shortly to complete the trip. Continue reading Tyler Transit launching MicroTransit service for all routes
SULPHUR SPRINGS (AP)- “People are uneasy and they want a safe place to put their family. And they have this attitude that it’s better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it,” said Atlas Survival Shelters CEO Ron Hubbard, amid showers of sparks and the loud buzz of welding at his bunker factory, which he says is the world’s largest, in Sulphur Springs, Texas.
Hubbard said COVID lockdowns, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war have driven sales.
On Nov. 21, in the hours after Russia’s first-ever use of an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile to attack Ukraine, Hubbard said his phone rang nonstop.
Four callers ended up buying bunkers in one day, he said, and more ended up ordering doors and other parts for shelters they were already building.
Hubbard said his bunkers are built for all disasters.
“They’re good for anything from a tornado to a hurricane to nuclear fallout, to a pandemic to even a volcano erupting,” he said, sweeping his arms toward a massive warehouse where more than 50 different bunkers were under construction.
A loaded shotgun at arm’s length and metal mesh window shields to block Molotov cocktails nearby, Hubbard said he started his company after building his own bunker about 10 years ago. He says callers ask about prices — $20,000 to multimillions, averaging $500,000 — and installations — they can go just about anywhere. He said most days he sells at least one bunker.
Under Hubbard’s doomsday scenario, global tensions could lead to World War III, a situation he is prepared to live through.
“The good news about nuclear warfare,” he said, “if there ever was any, that it’s very survivable if you’re not killed in the initial blast.”
He’s not wrong, say U.S. government disaster preparedness experts.
Story initially publised by AP. Full story can be read by clicking here .
MARSHALL — The Marshall Fire Department said the investigation into the fire that damaged the historic First Methodist Church earlier this month has been completed. According to our news partner KETK, investigators determined that the fire originated in the lower level of the church where administrative officers were located. The fire was identified “as electrical in nature and was found to be unintentional.”
The fire was first reported at 1:15 a.m. on Dec. 9 and quickly spread requiring multiple agencies to respond. After 15 hours of intensive firefighting operations, the fire was brought under control at 4 p.m., however officials remained at the scene for several days to ensure the fire was completely extinguished. Continue reading Electrical issues caused fire at historic Marshall church
(NEW YORK) -- The price of bitcoin topped $107,000 for the first time this week, climbing to a fresh high days after President-elect Donald Trump reaffirmed support for a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve akin to its strategic oil reserve.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency has seen its price climb more than 50% since the election of Trump, who voiced support for bitcoin on the campaign trail.
Proponents of a potential government stockpile of bitcoin say it could diversify the nation’s financial holdings and prevent other countries from dominating the ascendant digital currency market. Critics warn, however, that the highly volatile asset lacks the type of financial or national security import that would warrant a strategic reserve.
Here’s what to know about a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve, according to experts:
How would a bitcoin strategic reserve work?
A U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve would amount to a substantial government holding of bitcoin similar to the country’s stockpile of oil or gold.
A strategic reserve typically acts as a safeguard against an emergency shortage or another sudden event that would require the government to draw upon its stockpile of a given asset.
For instance, the strategic petroleum reserve, or SPR, was established after the Arab Oil Embargo triggered an energy crisis in the early 1970s with devastating consequences for the U.S. economy. The SPR, in turn, provides an emergency source of oil that protects the U.S. against a sudden supply crunch.
A bitcoin strategic reserve would help ensure the U.S. plays a significant role in the cryptocurrency market, which supporters view as a fast-growing part of the global financial system, Nik Bhatia, a professor of finance and business economics at the University of Southern California who studies cryptocurrency, told ABC News.
“Bitcoin has now become the largest decentralized asset in human history,” Bhatia said.
“Having some ownership in the network would be natural for the U.S. given its leadership in technology,” Bhatia added, citing the nation’s role in the invention of the internet.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of a bitcoin strategic reserve?
Speaking at a pro-bitcoin conference in July, Trump said a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve would ensure the country exerts influence over bitcoin and prevents China from controlling the digital currency market.
Supporters of a bitcoin strategic reserve also say the asset would help diversify the nation’s financial holdings, protecting it from the potential decline in value of other assets, such as the U.S. dollar or gold.
Some proponents have said bitcoin holdings could help the U.S. pay down its national debt, since the price of bitcoin has recently climbed.
“While U.S. adversaries acquire traditional gold from a position of relative financial weakness, the U.S. can countermove by stockpiling digital gold in a way that amplifies its incumbent financial strength,” the Bitcoin Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank that supports a bitcoin strategic reserve, said earlier this year.
Some critics say bitcoin, launched 15 years ago, remains a relatively new asset lacking the kind of social utility or financial import that would necessitate a strategic reserve.
“You’re going to be hard pressed to say someone needs bitcoin the day-to-day way that they need petroleum,” Ananya Kumar, deputy director for future of money at the GeoEconomics Center, a part of the nonpartisan Atlantic Council, told ABC News.
Since the price of bitcoin is highly volatile, a large purchase of the asset could end up threatening the nation’s financial stability rather than safeguarding it, some critics say.
When asked about forecasts of future bitcoin gains that could ease the nation’s debt, Kumar says the long-term outlook for bitcoin remains uncertain. “The coin’s price has obviously been rising over time, but I’m not sure if that rise will continue,” Kumar said.
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The U.S. still separates some migrant children from parents while holding them after they cross the border despite broad improvements at detention centers in Texas, according to a court-ordered monitor’s final report.
The report, issued Friday under a monitoring agreement that began in 2022, offers a final glimpse into conditions inside the facilities ahead of Trump’s return to office. The report noted improvements to hygiene, food and medical care but found that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents routinely separated children from adult relatives during their time in custody.
Unlike separations that happened under Trump’s zero tolerance border policy during his first term, those noted in the report were temporary and did not involve sending adults to Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention while they were criminally prosecuted and children to shelters for minors.
At a facility in Donna, Texas, in September, agents “continued to routinely hold children separately from parents or trusted adults,” the report said. By November, the monitor called regular visits among family at the same facility “encouraging.” Workers at the facility said they could arrange visits because it was no longer overcrowded.
CBP said they issued new guidance on family unity and increased training on detention policies, guidelines and regulations.
“Over the past two years, CBP has undertaken extensive measures to significantly expand and enhance its support efforts in both scope and scale for persons in custody, especially vulnerable populations such as children,” the agency said in a statement.
Advocates sued the Trump administration in 2019, citing reports of children in federal custody who described overcrowding at CBP facilities in Texas, as well as unsafe and unsanitary conditions. That year, nearly 70,000 migrant children entered federal custody, enough to exceed the of capacity a typical NFL stadium.
A 2022 court agreement created a temporary monitoring system that required CBP to provide adequate medical care and supervision. It also required keeping families together or allowing contact for those held separately in custody.
Last week’s report noted medical care improved in 2024 but also found hesitancy in sending sick children to a medical facility. In 2023, when CBP was struggling with overcrowding, an 8-year-old girl with heart problems died while in custody in the Rio Grande Valley.
The monitoring agreement ends Jan. 29, 2025, more than a week into Trump’s second administration. Leecia Welch, the deputy litigation director at Children’s Rights who represents children in CBP custody under the Flores settlement, expressed concern about what will happen to children without the agreement’s oversight.
“The report highlights the crucial role the independent monitors are playing to keep children safe and shows that CBP is very far from meeting its obligations — let alone ready for self-monitoring,” Welch said in a written statement.
Broader court oversight of facilities began in 1997 under what is called the Flores settlement, after Jenny Flores, a girl from El Salvador who sued the U.S. government in the 1980s. It was partially lifted in June when the Justice Department argued that new safeguards would in some ways exceed the Flores settlement’s standards.
HOUSTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers announced Tuesday they had issued a new subpoena that would require the state’s prison system to allow death row inmate Robert Roberson to testify in person this week about the state’s junk science law. An earlier subpoena ended up delaying Roberson’s Oct. 17 execution, which had been set to be the first in the U.S. tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.
WAXAHACHIE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man being held in jail fatally assaulted a detention officer who was returning him to his cell following the one hour he was allowed out of his lockup each day, a sheriff said Tuesday.
Isaiah Patrick Bias, a 28-year-old who worked at the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office for over six years, was assaulted Monday afternoon at the county jail in Waxahachie, south of Dallas. Sheriff Brad Norman said during a Tuesday news conference that Arron Semeion Thompson, 45, from nearby Ennis, has been charged with capital murder in Bias’ death.
“Most of the time, law enforcement officers and detention officers deal with good folks having a bad day. Occasionally, we deal with bad folks,” Norman said. “I can honestly say that my staff, over the last day, has dealt with pure evil.”
Norman said Bias was a family-oriented person and beloved by colleagues.
“He was one of the kind of guys who if you needed help, he’d come help you,” Norman said.
Officials said Thompson has been in jail since last month on charges of assaulting a public servant, public intoxication and evading arrest.
Thompson’s bond in Bias’ death was set at $2 million. Jail records did not list an attorney for him.
TYLER — Two people have died following a Tuesday afternoon multi-vehicle wreck involving an 18-wheeler on Loop 323, the Tyler Police Department said. Tyler PD’s Public Information Officer Andy Erbaugh said at around 1 p.m., the police department was dispatched to a multi-vehicle wreck at West Elm Street and SSW Loop 323. According to our news partner KETK, a A preliminary investigation shows that a GMC SUV was on Elm Street on the west side of the Loop and was attempting to turn north on the Loop but pulled in front of a southbound 18-wheeler that struck the GMC.
The crash pushed both vehicles into the northbound lanes and caused three vehicles that were in the northbound turn lane to be hit. Officer Erbaugh said both occupants of the GMC died at the scene and have since been identified as William Connerly, 82, and Shirley Connerly, 79, both of Kerens. Their next of kin have been notified. Continue reading Identities released following fatal wreck in Tyler
DALLAS – WFAA reports that homeowners insurance premiums are currently increasing at a faster rate in Texas than in any other state. Many people are urging lawmakers to address the rising costs during next year’s legislative session. State Representative Briscoe Cain, a Republican from Deer Park in Harris County, stated that he has received feedback from constituents who have shared their concerns. “I can certainly tell you and the people of Texas that we’ve heard your voices. We’ve heard your concerns,” said Rep. Cain. Rep. Cain acknowledges that he doesn’t have a solution, but believes this issue requires lawmakers’ attention. “I fully empathize with it. It is troubling. We’re seeing it nationally, but what are the answers? I’m not sure. And that’s something that the legislature is gonna have to study. So, the next legislature must act and I’m glad we’re gonna be starting to do that in January,” Cain said.
Rep. Cain stated that the complaints he receives about high insurance premiums are similar to those regarding property tax rates. Constituents express concern that these high premiums could lead to them losing their homes. “I’m not sure how we lower them. Things have gotten more expensive as well. The cost of replacing things has gotten more expensive. And so, we need to look at whether we can allow people to offer plans that only, maybe, replace certain things. There are some great plans out there for home homeowners’ insurance … we have to look into it and see how we can allow people to get different level plans or how we can allow more people to even come into the marketplace,” Cain said. In Texas, insurance companies are only required to notify the Texas Department of Insurance before increasing their rates. Afterward, they send the bill for the rate increase to the insured.
WASHINGTON (AP) — At a time of heightened political division, Americans’ confidence in their country’s judicial system and courts dropped to a record low of 35% this year, according to a new Gallup poll.
The United States saw a sharp drop of 24 percentage points over the last four years, setting the country apart from other wealthy nations where most people on average still express trust in their systems.
The results come after a tumultuous period that included the overturning of the nationwide right to abortion, the indictment of former President Donald Trump and the subsequent withdrawal of federal charges, and his attacks on the integrity of the judicial system.
The drop wasn’t limited to one end of the political spectrum. Confidence dropped among people who disapproved of the country’s leadership during Joe Biden’s presidency and among those who approved, according to Gallup. The respondents weren’t asked about their party affiliations.
It’s become normal for people who disapprove of the country’s leadership to also lose at least some confidence in the court system. Still, the 17-point drop recorded among that group under Biden was precipitous, and the cases filed against Trump were likely factors, Gallup said.
Among those who did approve of the country’s leadership, there was an 18-point decline between 2023 and 2024, possibly reflecting dissatisfaction with court rulings favoring Trump, Gallup found. Confidence in the judicial system had been above 60% among that group during the first three years of Biden’s presidency but nosedived this year.
Trump had faced four criminal indictments this year, but only a hush-money case in New York ended with a trial and conviction before he won the presidential race.
Since then, special counsel Jack Smith has ended his two federal cases, which pertained to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in all.
Other Gallup findings have shown that Democrats’ confidence in the Supreme Court dropped by 25 points between 2021 and 2022, the year the justices overturned constitutional protections for abortion. Their trust climbed a bit, to 34%, in 2023, but dropped again to 24% in 2024. The change comes after a Supreme Court opinion that Trump and other former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
Trust in the court among Republicans, by contrast, reached 71% in 2024.
The judicial system more broadly also lost public confidence more quickly than many other U.S. institutions over the last four years. Confidence in the federal government, for example, also declined to 26%. That was a 20-point drop — not as steep as the decline in confidence in the courts.
The trust drop is also steep compared with other countries around the world. Only a handful of other countries have seen larger drops during a four-year period. They include a 46-point drop in Myanmar during the period that overlapped the return of military rule in 2021, a 35-point drop in Venezuela amid deep economic and political turmoil from 2012 to 2016 and a 28-point drop in Syria in the runup and early years of its civil war.
The survey was based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,000 U.S. adults between June 28 and August 1.
The East Texas Council of Governments (ETCOG) announces $3.4 million in grants from the Governor’s Public Safety Office awarded to East Texas jurisdictions and nonprofits. The Governor’s Public Safety Office administers federal and state grant funding to promote strategies that improve public safety, support victims of crime, prevent terrorism and prepare communities for the threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk to Texans.
