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NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KETK)– For more than a century, Stephen F. Austin State University has served as a cornerstone of higher education in East Texas. Now, the university is undergoing what leaders describe as a once-in-a-generation transformation fueled by the University of Texas System.

SFA officials say a 10-year campus master plan carrying an estimated $1 billion price tag is designed to modernize facilities, improve the student experience and position the university for another century of growth and success.

Construction equipment has now taken over portions of the campus known for its towering pine trees and blooming azaleas, signaling the start of a major expansion effort.

“This institution has a really strong history of being resilient and able to weather storms and get through tough times,” SFA President Dr. Neal Weaver said. “When you take that resilience and match it with the power and resources of the University of Texas System, you see what is happening here right now.”

Since joining the UT System in 2023, at least $58 million has already been invested into SFA. The university recently opened a new cafeteria — the first built on campus since the 1960s — while at least $160 million in additional projects are currently under construction or in development.

One of the most visible projects is underway at SFA’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, where construction crews are building a more than 100,000-square-foot facility aimed at expanding a nationally recognized academic program.

“We’re about to break ground on a brand-new entrepreneurship center, about a $45 million project that should open in 2027,” Weaver said. “Then this summer, we’re breaking ground on a brand-new $70 million residence facility that will add about 350 beds to campus.”

The growth comes as student enrollment continues to rise. SFA welcomed the largest first-time undergraduate class in school history for the Fall 2025 semester and recently recorded its largest spring enrollment increase in more than 15 years.

Weaver credits the university’s focus on affordability and workforce preparation for helping attract students.

“Being a part of the University of Texas System has allowed us to invest in the Purple Promise program,” Weaver said. “That allows students to come to school tuition- and fee-free if they come from a family that earns less than $100,000 a year.”

According to a 2025 economic report from SFA’s Center for Business and Economic Research, the university generates nearly $348 million in local economic activity and supports approximately 4,819 jobs.

“As we see more people coming to town because of SFA, we’re going to see more investment, more consumers, and more workforce candidates being generated through the university,” Kelly Augustine, President of the Nacogdoches Chamber of Commerce, said. “We’re very excited about that.”

The report also found that during the 2022 school year, SFA attracted more than 205,000 visitors to Nacogdoches — spending nearly $9 million at local hotels, restaurants and retail stores.

Students themselves spent nearly $102 million locally, directly supporting about 1,100 jobs. Nearly $40 million of that spending was recirculated throughout the Nacogdoches area economy, supporting hundreds more jobs.

Augustine believes the university’s impact goes beyond economics.

“We see students giving their free time to volunteer activities,” Augustine said. “We see faculty and staff applying their talents and knowledge with nonprofits and businesses across town.”

University officials expect enrollment to reach 15,000 students over the next decade, a number that could significantly reshape the future of Nacogdoches and the surrounding East Texas region.

“Just think about it — $1 billion being spent right here in Nacogdoches,” Weaver said. “That alone is a powerful economic driver for this region. We know there’s going to be a lot of money and jobs coming to Nacogdoches and East Texas.”

As cranes rise and construction continues across campus, university leaders say SFA is not simply expanding buildings — it is investing in the future of an entire community.

LIVINGSTON (KETK)– After being sentenced to death earlier this week, the man responsible for the murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand has been transported to a correctional facility in Livingston.

Former FedEx driver Tanner Horner received the death sentence on Tuesday after pleading guilty earlier this year to murdering Strand in 2022. Horner was given the sentence by a jury in a Fort Worth courtroom that heard nearly a month of testimony and evidence, including audio from Strand’s final moments before her death.

Horner was arrested in December 2022 and charged with capital murder after Strand’s body was found in Wise County. It was later revealed that Horner had kidnapped Strand from her home while he was delivering a package and subsequently strangled her to death nearly an hour afterward.

Horner will now remain at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston for the foreseeable future until a date is scheduled for his execution.

DALLAS (AP) – Joni Lamb, who with her late husband founded the Daystar Television Network and guided it to become one of the world’s largest Christian TV networks, died Thursday. She was 65.

Lamb, the network’s president, had been suffering from serious health issues before sustaining a back injury that caused her health to deteriorate, the network said in a statement. A cause of death was not released.

“Joni’s love for the Lord and for the people we serve shaped this ministry from the beginning,” the network’s board of directors said in the statement.

The network said its ministry will continue on and that Lamb made sure a leadership team was in place.

She and her husband, Marcus Lamb, who died in 2021, began broadcasting in the Dallas area with a single station in 1993. Five years later, Joni Lamb began hosting her signature daily women’s show.

Based in Bedford, Texas, the Daystar Television Network grew to broadcast in more than 200 countries and has aired shows from many well-known evangelists, including Joel Osteen and T.D. Jakes.

The network said it reaches 2.3 billion homes worldwide.

Its ministry was rooted in Pentecostalism, the Christian tradition known for its spirit-filled worship, and its belief in modern-day miracles and everyday battles with evil influences.

In addition to being the network’s president and working behind the scenes, Joni Lamb could be seen on the air hosting “Joni Table Talk” and discussing daily issues.

She stood beside her late husband in 2010 when he admitted on television to an affair with a woman years before. Marcus Lamb also alleged that three people tried to extort money from him to stay quiet.

Joni Lamb said at the time that when she learned of his infidelity she was devastated and prayed to the Holy Spirit, who told her, “He’s worth fighting for.”

The couple said they had healed their marriage and had hoped to keep the matter private.

“All you can do is tell the truth and take your pain and use it to try to help someone else,” Joni Lamb said.

Following her first husband’s death at age 64, she married Doug Weiss two years later. Together they hosted the show “Ministry Now.”

POLK COUNTY (KETK) – A large indoor marijuana farm operating off U.S. Highway 59 was recently shut down after being discovered by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. On Tuesday, residents reported a persistent odor of marijuana in the area and suspicious activity involving frequent traffic to and from a property in the early morning hours, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies were able to obtain a search warrant for the property, and during the search, they found a large quantity of marijuana, including over 1500 plants. The owner of the building Elier Jimenez, was placed under arrest following the search and charged with possession of marijuana between 50 and 2,000 pounds

COLLEGE STATION (AP) – Regents on Wednesday unanimously appointed Susan Ballabina as president of Texas A&M, putting her in charge of the state’s largest public university as it continues to deal with the fallout from its last president’s resignation.

Ballabina, who assumes the role on May 11, most recently served as executive vice chancellor for the Texas A&M University System, overseeing day-to-day operations across its 12 universities and eight state agencies. Prior to that, she was former Texas A&M President Mark A. Welsh III’s chief of staff.

Regents named Ballabina the sole finalist April 13. State law required them to wait 21 days before finalizing the hire. She initially served on the presidential search committee before recusing herself to apply for the job.

“I was a reluctant applicant. I wasn’t sure that this was something I wanted to do, but after going through the process and preparing for the various interviews, I got more and more excited,” Ballabina said during the regents’ meeting after their vote.

The decision follows months of upheaval at the flagship campus after Welsh resigned amid political backlash over a secretly recorded classroom discussion of gender identity that was posted online.

The search unfolded as regents took a more assertive role in responding to controversy and shaping what can be taught, part of a broader political remaking of Texas colleges under new state laws.

Ballabina holds a bachelor’s degree from Tarleton State University, a master’s degree from Stephen F. Austin State University and a doctorate in public affairs from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Ballabina has worked in the system for more than three decades, holding senior leadership roles at both the university and Texas A&M Agrilife. She helped cultivate partnerships such as the Aplin Center, a new campus hub for hospitality, retail and food-and-nutrition education, and coordinated statewide disaster recovery efforts after Hurricane Harvey, according to the system.

Chancellor Glenn Hegar said she stood out among a pool of strong national candidates.

Board Chair Robert L. Albritton said, “This unified decision sends a strong signal that Texas A&M is aligned, confident and moving forward with momentum.”

“Absolutely,” regent James R. “Randy” Brooks added. “We are looking forward to some peace in this organization, and we’re confident you can provide it.”

Texas A&M has cycled through leaders in recent years.

In 2023, M. Katherine Banks resigned as president after the failed hiring of Kathleen McElroy, an experienced Black journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin whom Texas A&M recruited to revive its program. McElroy walked away from an offer that university officials watered down after vocal groups outside the university criticized her past work for the New York Times and support for diversity.

Welsh followed as president, working to rebuild trust with faculty by reversing some of Banks’ unpopular changes and promising not to micromanage. But that approach later put him at odds with regents who wanted a leader who would respond more quickly to political controversy. His downfall came in September 2025 after he initially told a student he would not fire lecturer Melissa McCoul for discussing gender identity in a children’s literature course. He ultimately fired McCoul.

Two months later, Texas A&M regents approved systemwide restrictions on classroom discussion of race, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity unless the course and relevant materials are approved in advance by a university president. They also prohibited faculty from teaching material inconsistent with an approved syllabus.

Leonard Bright, president of the Texas A&M chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said Ballabina’s selection brought “some level of relief” because faculty feared regents might choose a politician. However, he said her lack of classroom and research experience raises questions.

“Is she going to stand up for faculty when there are political attacks?” he asked.

B. Don Russell, a Texas A&M professor and chair of the university’s distinguished professors group, offered a more supportive view, saying Ballabina was “among the most open for discussions with faculty” of the administrators he has worked with. He said her broad experience across the university system and in state politics will serve A&M well. He did not see her lack of traditional classroom background as a major limitation.

Since Welsh’s resignation, Tommy Williams — a former Texas lawmaker, Texas A&M alum and one-time top government relations official for the system — has served as interim president.

Texas has seen a broader political remaking of higher education since 2023.

Lawmakers banned diversity, equity and inclusion offices, programs and training; expanded regents’ authority over curriculum; and imposed rules limiting protesting on campus, including bans on encampments and overnight demonstrations. Supporters of these new laws say they keep universities focused on their core mission of providing degrees that lead to profitable careers. Opponents say they undercut universities’ mission to be spaces for open inquiry.

Ballabina takes over as Texas A&M, which enrolled 72,289 students in fall 2025, wraps up the spring semester. Final exams ended Tuesday, commencement began Wednesday and ceremonies in College Station continue through Saturday, according to the university’s academic calendar.

“This is an important moment for us,” Ballabina said, after choking up. “We’re going to celebrate 150 years. We’re going to roll out a new strategic plan. And how lucky am I to get the opportunity to lead us through that and help everyone get focused on what matters — and that’s our students; that is our life-changing research; and that is our staff who help us do everything.”

AUSTIN (AP) — The gunman who killed three people and wounded more than a dozen others in a mass shooting at a downtown Austin, Texas, bar in March was a “lone actor” and there is no evidence he was supported or directed by a foreign terrorist group, FBI investigators said Thursday.

The agency released a two-page update of its investigation into the attack on Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden in the early morning hours of March 1 that ended when gunman, Ndiaga Diagne, was killed by police.

The shooting happened after the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran. Diagne was wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and the words “Property of Allah.”

Despite lacking direct evidence of a motive for the shooting, investigators said Diagne was likely triggered into violent behavior by the war against Iran, “culminating in a violent, impulsive attack” at the bar, the report said.

Investigators determined Diagne admired Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had been killed. His affinity for Iran and its former leader were likely factors in the attack Diagne perpetrated on his own, investigators said.

“The investigation to date indicates Diagne was a lone actor,” the report said. He had never been the subject of an FBI investigation prior to the shooting.

Diagne, 53, was born in Senegal. He first entered the U.S in 2000 on a B-2 tourist visa and became a lawful permanent resident six years later after marrying a U.S. citizen, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

“There is no evidence at this time that he was associated with a Foreign Terrorist Organization or that he received any direction, funding, or operational support for his attack,’ the report said.

The bar is located in the city’s popular hub of bars and nightclubs. Police said the gunman drove past the bar before circling back and firing the first shots from his SUV at people on the sidewalk and inside. He then parked, got out with a rifle and began shooting at people walking along the street before officers rushed to the intersection and shot him.

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis has said officers arrived within 56 seconds of the first 911 call and killed the shooter after he fired at police.

Killed in the attack were 21-year-old Savitha Shan, 19-year-old Ryder Harrington and 30-year-old Jorge Pederson.

The FBI said the investigation into the attack remains open.