AUSTIN â House Bill 2109, which aims to stop the Marvin Nichols Reservoir, has passed through committee but still needs to be heard on the Texas State House floor to be voted on.
According to our news partner KETK, East Texas supporters of the bill are encouraging everyone to call members of the Texas State House Calendar Committee to put HB 2109 on the schedule to be heard. Organizers said it is a bipartisan issue that affects everyone.
HB 2109 passed out of the Natural Resources Committee on April 23 but the Calendar Committee has decide when to allow it to be heard by May 15. The 57-year-old plan could flood up to 200,000 acres of land, leaving homes and schools to be moved. The possibility of the project coming to fruition has paralyzed hardworking East Texans like Casey Conway.
UPDATE: The Smith County Sheriffâs Office said that Hyemin âKatherineâ Wee was found dead in a wooded area near the Garden Valley Golf Resort at around 3:45 p.m. on Monday.
Wee was the subject of a search on Monday morning after she was last seen on Sunday. According to the sheriffâs office, investigators are the scene where she was found and they donât suspect foul play as of Monday evening.
Smith County Pct. 5 Justice of the Peace Judge Danny Brown performed an inquest at the scene and has ordered an autopsy. Sheriff Larry Smith thanked the International ALERT Academy and law enforcement personnel for helping to find Wee.
MABANK â According to our news partner KETK, the Henderson County Sheriffâs Office arrested a man for injury to an elderly individual, assaulting a peace officer and resisting arrest in Mabank on Tuesday, April 29. According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by KETK, a sheriffâs office deputy responded to a reported assault at a home on Zuni Street in Mabank at around 3:25 a.m. on Tuesday.
When the deputy arrived at the scene, he met with Forrest Outcalt, 40 of Mabank, on the porch of the home. The affidavit described that Outcalt told the deputy he had been in an argument with his roommate about him not paying bills on time. Outcalt stated he then went outside to leave the argument when his roommate followed him out and attacked him.
UPDATE: Kaufman County has issued a $10,000 reward for information leading to McEuenâs capture, according to our news partner KETK.
The sheriffâs office said they believe Trevor McEuen has left the Van Zandt County area. McEuen had been living with his family in Van Zandt County before he removed his ankle monitor and went on the run. The sheriffâs office said they the public should not be in fear of their safety.
VAN ZANDT COUNTY, Texas (KETK) â The Van Zandt County Sheriffâs office is searching for a man who was due in court on Monday for a murder charge in Kaufman County.
According to the Van Zandt County Sheriffâs Office, deputies and other local agencies are near U.S. Highway 80 east of Grand Saline searching for Trevor McEuen. Around 5:33 a.m. on Monday, McEuen removed his ankle monitor and left his home hours before he was due in court on a murder charge in Kaufman County, the Kaufman County Sheriffâs Office said. Continue reading Authorities issue $10,000 reward for fugitive murder suspect
TEXARKANA â A Dallas man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for drug trafficking violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr. Emmanuel Robles, 39, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Robert W. Schroeder III on May 5, 2025.
According to information presented in court, between 2019 and 2021, Robles conspired with others to bring methamphetamine to East Texas for distribution. During this time, Robles distributed more than 1.5 kilograms of actual methamphetamine. Robles admitted to providing controlled substances to another co-conspirator in July 2019; August 2019; September 2019; October 2019; December 2019; January 2020; February 2020; March 2020; and April 2020. Continue reading Man sentenced to 10 years for meth trafficking
WASHINGTON – The San Antonio Express-News reports U.S. Rep. Chip Roy is ramping up pressure on House Republicans to make the larger cuts to Medicaid that many within his party oppose. In a letter to members on Thursday, Roy and 19 other House Republicans, including U.S. Reps. Keith Self and Michael Cloud of Texas, called for pulling back on the expansion of Medicaid benefits to low-income working adults that Congress passed during the Obama administration and that have been adopted in nearly every state. “If the House budget reconciliation package does not include structural Medicaid reform⊠we will be setting up massive tax increases and benefit cuts in the future,” they wrote. Medicaid expansion covers adults who make up to 138% of the federal poverty rate, or about $21,600 in 2025. States that opt into the program contribute a small percentage of the costs, with the federal government picking up the rest.
Roy’s push to return Medicaid to a program solely for low-income children, pregnant women, seniors and people with disabilities comes as Republicans are searching for ways to slash $1.5 trillion from the federal budget. House GOP members are divided over Medicaid expansion and other benefits for low-income families. U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, the San Antonio Republican whose district includes much of the border, who leads the GOP’s Congressional Hispanic Conference, has warned members that they face political fallout in cutting programs that are “helping hard working Americans.” Gonzales did not respond to a request for comment Friday. The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid, has already delayed a hearing on the $780 billion in spending cuts they have been directed to come up with by House Leadership. Ending the federal match for Medicaid expansion would save the government $626 billion over the next decade, according to analysis by the health research non-profit KFF. And unless states decided to make up the loss, an estimated 20 millions Americans would lose their healthcare coverage. Texas is one of ten states that chose not to expand Medicaid to low-income Americans. But for Republicans representing states that did expand coverage, cutting federal funding has so far proven a difficult sell.
TYLER – The City of Tyler will show appreciation for outstanding public servants during Public Service Recognition Week from May 5 through May 9. All City of Tyler non-emergency offices and facilities will be closed Friday, May 9, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for an interdepartmental event. However, essential and emergency functions will continue. Celebrated since 1985, Public Service Recognition Week is a nationwide public recognition campaign honoring the men and women who serve as federal, state, county and local government employees.Â
(NEW YORK) -- An AI-generated image of President Donald Trump dressed as the pope is drawing criticism from some Catholics after it was posted on social media just days before the papal conclave to select the next pontiff begins in Rome.
The image, which was shared on Trump's social media and the official White House account on Friday evening, shows an AI-generated image of the president wearing papal clothes and sitting on a throne.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, was asked by reporters about the image after he had finished a service at a church in Rome on Sunday. In his response, Dolan used the Italian words, "brutta figura," meaning the post was embarrassing.
"I hope he didn't have anything to do with it," Dolan said. "It wasn't good. As Italians say, it was brutta figura."
The New York State Catholic Conference also voiced outrage at the image, saying, "There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President."
"We just buried our beloved Pope Francis and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St. Peter. Do not mock us," the conference said on X on Saturday.
Trump said on Monday that it was a joke, and claimed no Catholics were offended.
"They can't take a joke? You don't mean the Catholics, you mean the fake news media? No, the Catholics loved it," Trump said. "I had nothing to do with it. Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the pope and they put it out on the internet. That's not me that did it. I have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was AI, but I know nothing about it. I just saw it last evening. Actually, my wife thought it was cute. She said, 'Isn't that nice?'"
He added, "Actually, I would not be able to be married, though. That would be a lot. ... To the best of my knowledge, popes aren't big on getting married, are they? Not that we know of."
Father James Martin, a papal contributor for ABC, said on "This Week" Sunday, "People were surprised by it and thought it was incredibly poor taste, but over here in Rome more people are concerned about the next pope than the current president."
Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, denied the post was offensive. When conservative commentator Bill Kristol wrote on X, "Hey, @JDVance, you fine with this disrespect and mocking of the Holy Father?" the vice president replied, "As a general rule, I'm fine with people telling jokes and not fine with people starting stupid wars that kill thousands of my countrymen."
When asked to respond to the criticism, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump "flew to Italy to pay his respects for Pope Francis and attend his funeral, and he has been a staunch champion for Catholics and religious liberty," according to The Associated Press.
The process to elect the next pope will begin on Wednesday, according to the Vatican.
ABC News' Camilla Alcini contributed to this report.
AUSTIN – The Houston Chronicle reports that in response to the stateâs growing home insurance crisis, Texas lawmakers are considering proposals that would require insurers to get approval for rate hikes over a certain threshold. âTexans spoke very clearly of their concerns about rising property and casualty rates,â said state Sen. Charles Schwertner, a Georgetown Republican who authored a Senate bill that would require the state to approve rate hikes that exceed 10%. He said the threshold offered some leniency for insurers, which donât currently need pre-approval for any increases, without providing them âcomplete carte blanche.â Consumer advocates have warned that insurers could game the system Schwertner is envisioning. Many providers already file multiple rate changes per year, which they could continue to do under the proposed legislation â even if cumulatively those rates exceed 10%.
And prior to 2023 â when rates spiked by 21% statewide, as insurers responded to skyrocketing losses driven by extreme weather â few rate increases exceeded 10%, according to a Hearst analysis of major insurerâs rate filings. Douglas Heller, the director of insurance at the Consumer Federation of America, a national nonprofit, called Schwertnerâs proposal a âPyrrhic victory,â saying 10% was too high. âItâs a fix that doesnât fix,â he said. Schwertnerâs proposal is one of several to have gained traction this session after lawmakers vowed to respond to rising premiums and worsening storms. Communities along the Gulf Coast have been especially hard hit, but the costs are being borne far inland too. Last week, the full House supported a proposal by state Rep. Tom Oliverson, a Republican, to create a statewide grant program to help homeowners fortify their homes against natural disasters.
TEXAS – The nationâs average price of gasoline has risen for the first time in nearly a month, climbing 2.0 cents compared to a week ago and stands at $3.12 per gallon, according to GasBuddyÂź data compiled from more than 12 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country. The national average is down 12.0 cents from a month ago and is 49.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has increased 0.2 cents in the last week and stands at $3.501 per gallon.
âLast week was another mixed bag at the pump for many Americans, but there may be some promising short-term news from OPEC+, which has agreed to increase oil production starting in June,â said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. âHere in the U.S., slightly more than half of the states saw gas prices rise, while many others saw modest declines. We continued to see price cycling in states prone to such movements, including much of the Great Lakes region, as well as in Maryland, Florida, and parts of Texas. However, the most notable development is OPEC+âs decision to raise production next month, as oil prices hover near their lowest levels since the pandemic. While gasoline inventories have been tightening due to ongoing refinery maintenance â which has limited how much gas prices have fallen in response to lower oil â refinery output is expected to rise soon. As maintenance wraps up, we could see an increase in gasoline supply and a national average that may soon dip below $3 per gallon.â
(WASHINGTON) -- The new director of the federal Bureau of Prisons said the agency will "vigorously" pursue "all avenues to support and implement" the president's agenda after President Donald Trump said he was wanted to reopen Alcatraz as a "substantially enlarged and rebuilt" prison.
Over the weekend, Trump posted on Truth Social that he was directing the Bureau of Prisons, along with the Department of Justice, FBI and DHS to reopen the facility.
"The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will vigorously pursue all avenues to support and implement the President's agenda," said BOP Director William K. Marshall III, who was sworn in last month. "I have ordered an immediate assessment to determine our needs and the next steps. USP Alcatraz has a rich history. We look forward to restoring this powerful symbol of law, order, and justice. We will be actively working with our law enforcement and other federal partners to reinstate this very important mission.
"Just an idea I had,â Trump told reporters Sunday night when asked what prompted his proposal. âAnd I guess because so many of these radicalized judges, they want to have trials for every single, think of it, every single person that's in our country illegally, they came in illegally. That would mean millions of trials, and it's just so ridiculous what's happening."
Alcatraz, which sits in the middle of San Francisco Bay, has not been an operational prison since 1963, according to the National Park Service, which has maintained it as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area since 1972. More than 1 million people visit the island each year, according to the BOP.
The facility, which was built as a fort to protect San Francisco Bay then converted to an Army prison before holding federal inmates, has housed notorious prisoners such as mobster Al Capone. Known as "The Rock," the prison held on average 260 to 275 people, according to the Bureau of Prisons, and many inmates considered the living conditions at the prison to be better than most at the time, the agency says.
It was estimated that it would take $3 million to $5 million for restoration and maintenance work to keep the prison open in addition to daily operating costs, which were far higher than other federal prisons. Alcatraz's daily per capita cost in 1959 was $10.10 compared to $3.00 for the federal prison in Atlanta.
A recent inspector general report estimated that the Bureau of Prisons facilities across the country needed $2 billion worth of repairs. The BOP has had to close facilities because of the dire conditions inside some prisons.
Elizabeth Neumann, a former DHS deputy chief of staff, told ABC News Live that the BOP "already has some pretty significant problems with its existing prisons."
"They've closed a number in recent years just because they can't maintain them. So to try to also turn around something that hasn't been operational for 60 years, and make it habitable for people to be imprisoned would be a lot of money," she said.
And it's not just the cost of getting the facility ready to house inmates, she said.
"San Francisco is a very high cost of living area. Federal employees get paid more if they work in those high cost areas. So it's not really a cost effective solution," Neumann said. "If you're looking to build producer capacity, you would it's more effective to just build something new in a part of the country where the cost of living is lower."
Neumann said she wasn't surprised by Trump's suggestion. She said during his first administration, she was often tasked with researching some of his proposals.
"He has a lot of ideas. People will go off and study them, then they'll come back with the facts and, and usually it gets dropped at that stage," she said.
House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who represents the area in Congress, shot down Trump's proposal.
"Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary more than sixty years ago. It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction. The Presidentâs proposal is not a serious one," she posted on X.
(VATICAN CITY) -- Pope Francis marked multiple firsts for the papacy, becoming the first Latin American pope and the first from the Southern Hemisphere when elected in 2013.
He was also the first head of the Roman Catholic Church born outside of Europe in over a millennium.
In the wake of Francis' death on April 21 at the age of 88, the selection process to elect the 267th pontiff begins Wednesday.
Ahead of the secretive gathering of eligible cardinals for the vote, questions swirl over whether the next pope will similarly come from outside Europe, such as Asia or Africa, and potentially be another history-making leader.
Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Sweden told ABC News' Ines de La Cuetara in Rome on Sunday, ahead of the conclave, that he "wouldn't be surprised if" the next pope was from Africa or Asia.
"Many people would say that now the church is a global church and the center of the church has gone away from Europe and the Western world to Africa and Asia," Arborelius said. "So I wouldn't be surprised if it would be an African or Asian cardinal because somehow that's where the church is more alive, more dynamic."
Arborelius added that it "depends on the personality" and that at this point, most of the Cardinals are "not very sure" who will get their vote.
Bruce Morrill, the Edward A. Malloy chair in Roman Catholic studies and distinguished professor of theology at Vanderbilt University, told ABC News the election of a pope from Asia or Africa "is certainly a real probability now."
"That is not unthinkable at all," Morrill said. "That's very different from when, let's say, someone like John Paul II was elected. It was a big deal back in 1978 because he wasn't Italian."
"To move a couple papacies later to a man from Argentina -- clearly, it's reflecting more than ever a global church," he added.
The election of someone from the Global South would be a "move in that direction of how to be a global church," Jaisy A. Joseph, an assistant professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University, told ABC News.
"That move from a Eurocentric church to a truly global church -- I think that's what Francis really inaugurated," she said.
Pope Francis' successor could be someone who continues his progressive legacy and mirrors his pastoral approach, or someone who counters it with a more conservative approach, experts say.
"Is he going to be someone who really strongly continues the primary emphases of the Francis papacy, or do they want to go with someone that they would see as bringing a balance or a certain pendulum swing, to use that language, in counter or contrast of priorities from the Francis papacy?" Morrill said.
Such a swing occurred when Pope Francis was elected, succeeding Pope Benedict XVI, Morrill noted.
For Morrill and Joseph, one man who is a natural successor to Pope Francis is a man known as the "Asian Francis" -- Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, 67, of the Philippines.
"Really being with people, listening to people, encountering people where they are and not being afraid of difference -- I think those are traits that Tagle really exemplifies," Joseph said. "That could possibly be a point of continuity if he were to be elected pope."
Morrill said Tagle is a "strongly viable candidate" and someone who would continue the priorities of Pope Francis, who appointed Tagle to an office in the Vatican that focuses on evangelization.
"If the electors are going to turn to someone and discern the way to go is to continue, strongly, the priorities of the late Pope Francis, Tagle fits the bill," Morrill said.
"He's likewise someone who smiles readily and has this warm pastoral way," he added. "That's what makes him the figure that we would think of as providing the most continuity."
If elected, Tagle would be the first Asian pope in modern times and the first from Southeast Asia.
Should the voting cardinals move in a more conservative direction, a potential pope could be found in Sub-Saharan Africa, Morrill said. Such a move would make for the first African pope in modern history and the first from Sub-Saharan Africa.
"There would be archbishops, cardinal archbishops in Sub-Saharan Africa that are much more focused on preservation or guarding of the strict traditional practices and teachings of the church," Morrill said.
One name that comes to mind for Morrill is Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, 65, of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Other conservative candidates from Africa that could gain recognition include Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson, 76, and Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, 79, according to Miles Pattenden, historian of the Catholic Church at Oxford University.
Cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to participate in the secret conclave inside the Sistine Chapel to choose the next pontiff.
A two-thirds majority is required to elect a pontiff.
Francis appointed roughly 80% of the cardinals who are eligible to vote for his successor, which could impact the selection of the next pope, Morrill said.
"He was advancing and choosing more and more people from Asia and Africa, and so that does all feed these distinct probabilities or possibilities," Morrill said. "But there really is no way to make any solid prediction."
The Pew Research Center found that under Francis, voting-age cardinals from the Asia-Pacific region increased 10%, and those from Sub-Saharan Africa went up 8%, while those from Europe decreased 51%.
South America, 16 from North America, four from Central America and four from Oceania, according to the Vatican.
For Phyllis Zagano, the senior research associate-in-residence in Hofstra University's Department of Religion, it's unclear at the moment how that shift in makeup will impact the election of the next pope.
"The College of Cardinals has expanded significantly under Pope Francis, who has included cardinals from the farthest reaches of the world," Zagano told ABC News. "Whether that will make any difference in the election of his successor remains to be seen."
Editor's note: This story was corrected to note that Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle would be the first pope from Southeast Asia, not Asia, if elected.
SMITH COUNTY – The Smith County Sheriffâs Office is searching for a missing woman last seen on Sunday, according to our news partner KETK.
The Smith County Sheriffâs Office said they received a missing persons call on Sunday at around 11:30 p.m. Deputies responded to an area near Garden Valley Golf Course, where they found the missing personâs vehicle.
Hyemin âKatherineâ Wee is described as an Asian woman, 5 feet 2 inches, 140 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Officials said she could be wearing a black or dark gray V-neck T-shirt. Wee has made recent suicidal statements.
âAt this time, multiple law enforcement agencies and fire departments are in the area searching for Hyemin Wee,â Smith County officials said. âThe search area includes Garden Valley Golf Course, the surrounding wooded areas and residential areas. This has been an ongoing effort since early this morning and will continue throughout the day.â
Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact the sheriffâs office at 903-566-6600 or call 911.
LONGVIEW – Our news partner, KETK, reports that East Texans were able to gain and provide some insight about the federal budget.
East Texas Congressional representative Nathaniel Moran hosted a budget workshop in Tyler and Longview this past week to hear from residents. The workshops were held to give Moran an opportunity to hear from East Texans about their opinions on the federal budget, and how they believe it should be managed.
The congressman emphasized what these kinds of events mean to him. âItâs one of my favorite things to do. Every time I learn something, so I can be their voice in Washington DC,â Moran said.
With Trumpâs proposed cut to nearly $6 billion from the education budget and return the power to the state, Rep. Moran spoke about how he agrees with the proposal.
âReturn the power to our local school districts and get the federal government out of our government,â Rep. Moran said.
The budget workshop took place on May 1 in Tyler and again on May 2 in Longview, giving residents of both cities a chance to voice their opinions on the federal budget and giving Moran a chance to answer any questions that may arise.
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AUSTIN â House Bill 2109, which aims to stop the Marvin Nichols Reservoir, has passed through committee but still needs to be heard on the Texas State House floor to be voted on.
