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LUFKIN (KETK) — East Texas government leaders and state lawmakers say the community wishes to pause data center development to learn more about the facilities’ potential impacts on quality of life.

As data centers continue to set up shop across Texas, people are trying to understand what impact they could have on the rural communities East Texans call home. Many people have brought their concerns to Deep East Texas Council of Governments (DETCOG) Executive Director Lonnie Hunt, who says some residents feel data centers are moving in too fast.

“Most of our folks are just right now saying let’s call time out, let’s put the brakes on,” Hunt said. “Let’s pause, let’s make sure that we know all the facts.”

A rapid expansion that State Representative Joanne Shofner (R)- Nacogdoches says could be necessary if the U.S. wants to stay ahead of China in the global race for artificial intelligence.

“We don’t want them to be in charge of all of this; it would be just dangerous for a communist country to be in charge of most of the data that is going on around the world,” Shofner said.

That race is also leaving many East Texans with questions about the long-term impacts data centers could have on water, agriculture and their quality of life. Leaving them to turn to county leaders who have little authority to regulate the facilities.

“The only way a county could really have any influence over a data center would be to enter into some sort of agreement with them,” Hunt said.

Shofner says the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) does have some regulatory authority over data centers, but only after problems arise.

“Right now we don’t know what an issue is,” Shofner said.

Hunt says East Texans want to embrace new technology without sacrificing the rural way of life that defines the region.

“But we also want to protect our rural countryside and this lifestyle that we love out here in the Pineywoods of East Texas,” Hunt said.

He recommends anyone with concerns contact their state representative and make their voices heard before the legislature meets in Austin next year.

ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas (KETK)– A procession was held in Angelina County on Thursday afternoon in honor of Deputy Chad Murray, who died earlier this week.

After spending several years working with the Brookshire’s coroperation Murary decided to begin a career in law enforcement at the age of 50 and graduated from the Angelina College Law Enforcement Academy in June 2022.

Following his graduation, he began with the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office and spent the past four years serving as a patrol officer.

“He had a strong desire to help people and make a difference in our community and always conducted his business in a professional manner,” the sheriff’s office said. “He was kind, patient and had a great personality.”

Murray died at a local hospital at the age of 54 on Wednesday, and a funeral has been scheduled for 2 p.m. on June 29 at Harmony Hill Baptist Church in Lufkin.

“Our deepest sympathies go out to Chad’s wife, Emily, and son, Caleb, and the rest of his wonderful family and friends,” the sheriff’s office said. “Pray that God’s comfort will be upon them during this time of sudden and unexpected loss.”

LUFKIN, Texas (KETK) — The Lufkin Police Department is searching for individuals they believe were involved in a Saturday afternoon shooting that injured a man.

The police department said the victim was driving towards Brandon Park with another man to meet with other individuals they had argued with earlier that day at a Nacogdoches County game room. As they were driving towards the park, gunshots were fired.

A bullet grazed the victim’s head, and he was taken to a local hospital, while the other man was not injured.

Officers reportedly located 27 shell casings in the middle of the 1000 block of Hosea Dolphus Street. Officials also found the victim’s vehicle, which had several reported gunshot strikes.

The investigation remains ongoing, and detectives are working to locate those involved.

CARTHAGE — Panola County is currently suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to block the release of information on defendants in a recently dismissed lawsuit that accused several local officials of racketeering and misconduct, according to our news partner, KETK, and legal records. The dispute between Panola County and the Texas Attorney General’s Office started after county resident Lisa Broomfield submitted a Public Information Act request seeking a broad set of county records related to her lawsuit.

Broomfield had sued several current and former Panola County officials whom she accused of racketeering, misconduct and running a “duck fund” that allegedly took payments for favorable outcomes in cases. On March 24, 123rd District Court Presiding Judge Edwin A. Klein dismissed and disposed of Broomfield’s claims against the officials. Before that dismissal, Broomfield had requested many official documents pertaining to the officials involved in her lawsuit on Nov. 22, 2025.

Broomfield filed a Nov. 22, 2025, request seeking a wide range of official records related to her lawsuit. She asked for documents showing whether the Panola County Commissioners Court approved or paid for legal representation for several county officials, including any contracts, retainer agreements, invoices or meeting records where such matters were discussed.

She also requested emails, text messages and other communications from Jan. 1, 2021, to the present that referenced herself, individuals involved in her family court proceedings, various county officials and members of the commissioners court. The county then informed Bloomfield that they did not have the records requested in the Panola County District Clerk’s office and that the Panola County Judge’s office did not have recordings of the Panola County Commissioners Court.

Then on Dec. 10, 2025, the county filed a request with the Texas Attorney General’s Office that asked them to rule that certain documents Broomfield requested were exempt from release. On March 16, Panola County received a response from the Texas Attorney General’s Office, which determined the records Broomfield requested were not confidential and must be released. In response to that letter, Panola County filed a lawsuit against the Texas Attorney General’s Office on April 15, asking the 200th District Court in Travis County to find that the documents Broomfield requested are exempt from release.

“The information that the Attorney General ruled is not confidential and must be released to the Requestor consists of the communications between the undersigned, as counsel for Panola County, and Panola County officials, which are protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege and attorney billing invoices related to services rendered in litigation, which are not subject to disclosure,” Panola County’s lawsuit petition said.

Paxton’s office filed a response to Panola County’s petition on June 2, asking the presiding judge to enter a final judgment finding that the records can be released. 200th District Court records have no upcoming hearings listed for this case.

KAUFMAN COUNTY – The truck driver who was charged with five fatalities in a 2025 crash on Interstate 20 in Kaufman County entered a guilty plea and was given a 20-year prison sentence. In court, Alexis Osmani Gonzalez-Companioni entered a plea, ending a case that garnered statewide attention after investigators claimed he fell asleep while operating an 18-wheeler and crashed into stopped traffic close to Terrell.

Following the collision on June 28, 2025, a number of cars and commercial trucks were involved in a chain reaction pileup. Gonzalez-Companioni, a Florida resident, admitted to investigators that he had dozed off prior to the collision. A truck carrying three generations of the Fort Worth McKellar family was struck first. Grandfather Billy McKellar, parents Zabar and Shawn, and their 15-year-old son Kason were all instantly killed in the collision. Continue reading Truck driver sentenced in fatal pileup

HOUSTON COUNTY – In federal court, a former Houston County deputy has elected to enter a guilty plea to charges of child pornography and sexual abuse of a child. Former Houston County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Skyler Laza has agreed to enter into a written plea agreement to the federal charge of sexual exploitation of a child, also known as production of child pornography, according to court documents filed on Tuesday. According to related documents, Skyler Laza forced the child to engage in sexual activity, recorded it, and sent the footage. Continue reading Former deputy pleads guilty to child sex crimes, child pornography

PANOLA COUNTY – Authorities confirmed that an 18-wheeler crashed in Panola County on Thursday morning, killing two people. Around 4:20 a.m., the collision occurred in Panola County at the intersection of Highway 79 and FM 31. The driver and passenger in the 18-wheeler were confirmed dead by the Texas Department of Public Safety. They are both from Missouri. According to the Panola County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Department of Transportation is present and attempting to reopen the road. An investigation is ongoing.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) – A giraffe named Gracie is missing in Texas, and the search for her has become a tall order.

Gracie, who is about 3 years old, has been missing for nearly two weeks after escaping her enclosure at Cedar Hollow Ranch in the Texas Hill Country, said Vic Jones, who owns the remote property about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of San Antonio. He said Wednesday that Gracie had wandered into a part of the privately owned preserve that other giraffes previously avoided.

Jones said he has sent up helicopters to look for Gracie, a few sightings have trickled in, and a $5,000 reward is on the table.

But the giraffe, which stands roughly the height of a tree, hasn’t turned up.

“She wound up going up and feeding in an area on the hillside and the rocky ledges that none of the other giraffes had ever gone on before,” Jones said. “And when she came down off of there, she came down on the wrong side of the gate.”

The ranch is in rural Real County, where its roughly 2,700 residents were put on alert to be on the lookout for a missing giraffe. Jones said the search area is extremely remote, and the likelihood of Gracie encountering any humans is low.

“People are not in danger of her because she’s not around people,” Jones said. ‘She’s out in very, very rough, heavily wooded lands.”

The Texas Hill Country has one of the largest concentrations of exotic captive animals in the country. Real County Sheriff Nathan Johnson said the mild climate and rugged terrain seems to serve as a good stand-in for most of the animals’ native African environments.

He rattled off a list of animals that have gone missing over the years, especially after floods, but said this was his first giraffe.

“I’ve had wildebeests, I’ve had water buffalo, I’ve had monkeys, I’ve had zebras, all go missing,” Johnson said. “Sometimes we recover them, and sometimes we don’t.”

While the middle of Texas is not a giraffe’s native environment, Jones said Gracie should be able to find plenty of leaves and other vegetation to eat. He said other animals were not likely to bother her.

Jones said he initially had helicopters searching an area of about 7,500 acres (3,000 hectares) with no luck. A few days later, there was a report that Gracie was spotted to the south.

But by the time they could search the area, Jones said, she was already gone.

“We’re always two three days late for where the information is coming from, so that makes it tough,” Jones said.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas would make Bible stories required reading for more than 5 million public school students under a proposal that has reignited debate over widening efforts in the U.S. to put more religion in classrooms.

A final vote by the Republican-controlled Texas State Board of Education on whether to approve the plan is set for Friday. Last year Texas became the largest state to require every classroom to display the Ten Commandments.

The proposed list has drawn fierce opposition. Critics argue that it violates the constitutional separation of church, lacks diversity and favors Christianity over other religions. Supporters say Judeo-Christian traditions were fundamental to the nation’s founding and that should be reflected in the public school curriculum.

Here’s what to know about the proposal and the broader fight over religion in public schools:
Republicans and Trump have pushed more religion into classrooms

President Donald Trump has pledged to protect and expand religious expression in public schools nationwide, and Texas — a red state that is home to about one in 10 of all U.S. public school students — often sets the agenda.

In 2023, Texas became the first state to allow the hiring of chaplains to counsel students, and the following year, the board narrowly approved an optional Bible-infused curriculum for elementary schools. Last year, Republican lawmakers required public schools to display the Ten Commandments, a measure recently upheld by a federal appeals court.

Texas has about 5.5 million public school students from kindergarten through high school. If approved by the board, the required reading list would take effect in 2030.

“We need to focus on what our nation was founded on and not apologize for that,” Susan Perez, founder of Citizens for Education Reform, told the education board during testimony this week. “It is the truth and we should not be afraid.”

List requires Bible readings from elementary to high school

Picture-book stories for elementary students including “Noah’s Ark,” “David and Goliath” and “Daniel and the Lion’s Den” are on the required reading list. By fourth grade, students would encounter passages about Jesus in the New Testament.

By middle school, students would be expected to read several passages about Jesus, including passages from his most famous sermon, and another where he instructs people to cast aside earthly anxiety and seek the kingdom of God. Another would connect a reading from the Book of Lamentations and its themes of the destruction of Jerusalem with readings about the Holocaust.

In high school, students would read the parable of the prodigal son, portions of the Book of Job, and the story of Adam and Eve.

Some education observers said Texas may be the first state to enact a required reading list, with the added layer of mandated religious text.

Antero Garcia, president of the National Council of Teachers of English and a Stanford University professor, said he doesn’t know of any other state that has such a list. Educators at the district and school level usually choose what texts their students will read, Garcia said.

Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program, said she believes such a mandated reading list would be “unique” to Texas.

“I think there’s lots of state lists that exist that are like advised readings, suggested readings,” she said.
Critics say the proposal favors Christianity over other religions

The required readings rely heavily on the King James Bible, one of the most popular translations, and more recent evangelical translations that critics argue lean too heavily on Christian interpretations of the texts.

Other critics question whether religious stories should be taught at all in schools attended by thousands of children of Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and other faiths, and others who identify as atheist or agnostic.

“I do think that it’s disturbing that there are no texts from other religious traditions that are included,” said Frank Strong, an English and journalism teacher and co-founder of the student advocacy group Texas Freedom to Read.

___

Stengle reported from Dallas.

ANGELINA COUNTY (KETK) — A Lufkin man was pronounced dead on Monday afternoon after his vehicle reportedly drove off U.S. Highway 59 and into the Neches River, officials said.

According to a preliminary report from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the crash occurred at around 1:43 p.m. near the Polk and Angelina County line. A 2022 Ford Bronco was traveling north on the highway before reportedly traveling off the road, down an embankment and into the Neches River.
Mount Pleasant ISD mourns 2 students killed in car crash

DPS identified the driver as 71-year-old Theodore Fajen III of Lufkin, who was pronounced dead on the scene by a justice of the peace.

The investigation remains ongoing and no information is available at this time, DPS said.

McALLEN (THE TEXAS TRIBUNE) — As the New World screwworm continues to infiltrate livestock and other animals in Texas, many have been asking how the parasitic fly landed here to begin with.

Last week, the Texas Animal Health Commission identified a potential cause: small wildlife and rodents like armadillos, opossums and rabbits.
MAP: Where have New World screwworm cases been reported in Texas?

Until now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has pointed to multiple factors, including border policies under President Joe Biden to the illicit movement of cattle at the hands of drug cartels.

The new finding is based on conversations with entomologists, Lewis R. “Bud” Dinges, executive director of the Texas Animal Health Commission, told the Texas House Committee on Agriculture and Livestock.

However, the source of the first case of New World Screwworm remains under investigation, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Other health experts say it’s still undetermined what allowed the invasive pest to finally breach the Texas-Mexico border.

Tracing the source

During last week’s committee hearing, Dinges said epidemiological investigators have found no evidence so far linking Texas cases to the illicit movement of cattle from Mexico.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said it is still investigating to determine how screwworm spread.

“That’s very much an unknown, still, at this time. But wildlife is susceptible to New World Screwworm in the same manner that livestock and other warm-blooded animals are,” said a spokesperson for Texas Parks and Wildlife.

However, the spokesperson added that small mammals don’t travel long distances such as the distance between the last known detection in Mexico at the time to the location of the first case in Texas, which was detected in LaPryor on June 3.

Moving north

The USDA has repeatedly mentioned that models predicted that screwworm would inevitably arrive in the U.S. after the parasitic fly began moving north from South America in 2023.

The pest began trickling up through Panama after it broke through the Darien Gap, which had served as a barrier for screwworm for decades.

It then slowly moved through Costa Rica until it reached Nicaragua where it traveled quickly, said Jeremy Radachowsky, Mesoamerica and the Caribbean regional director for the Wildlife Conservation Society.

“Not only was it moving very quickly, but it was moving exactly along these paths of cattle trafficking and cattle contraband that we’ve been able to identify earlier,” Radachowsky said.

Screwworm detections followed those cattle-trafficking paths into Honduras and Guatemala. A few weeks later, Mexican officials detected their first case in November 2024.

Screwworm was predicted to have arrived in the U.S. last summer, USDA officials said, but efforts to stop it delayed it for a year.

“We’ve been actively and vocally warning that in order to stop screwworm, you have to stop this illegal and unregulated movement of cattle from south to north,” Radachowsky said. “That is definitely the driver.”

But how it crossed from Mexico into the U.S. remains unclear, he said.

The USDA closed all southern ports of entry to livestock imports from Mexico in May 2025 and have kept them closed since then, preventing cattle from legally crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.

The Wildlife Conservation Society does not have clear information on how screwworm crossed into Texas, Radachowsky said, but noted that it can infest and travel with other warm-blooded animals like pets and wildlife.

Governor Abbott launches New World Screwworm tracker website

“At the Texas-Mexico border, you’ve got feral pigs, white tailed deer, other wildlife, basically moving back and forth as well,” he said.
The unknown

There are 13 active cases of New World Screwworm in Texas as of Tuesday. An average of 15 suspected cases are reported to the Texas Animal Health Commission every day, Dinges said during the committee hearing last week.

State Rep. Ryan Guillen, a Republican from Rio Grande City who chairs the committee, asked whether it would be logical to assume there are more cases between the Texas-Mexico border and the location of the confirmed infestations that just haven’t been reported.

Dinges replied that testing for screwworm has been ongoing for over a year and cases had not been detected until now.“We’ve been submitting anywhere from two to six larvae samples a week since last May and we have not detected any New World Screwworm larvae until June 3,” Dinges said.

Despite those assurances, farmers and ranchers throughout Texas are operating under the assumption that screwworm is present in their area.

“There’s just so much country that’s unsurveilled,” said John Sewell, a rancher from Kinney and Uvalde County said during the hearing. “I’m in between two — one south of me and one north of me. Do I think I don’t have it? I would be a fool to think I didn’t have it.”

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.