SMITH COUNTY – Early voting for the May 26 Primary Runoff Election runs Monday through Friday, May 18-22, 2026.
Statewide runoff races are on the ballot.
U.S. Senator, Attorney General, Railroad Commissioner and Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3, Judge are on the Republican ticket. The Democratic ballot will have runoff races for U.S. Representative, District 1, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General.
FORNEY (KETK) – The Forney Police Department has confirmed that three people were injured when their plane crashed during an emergency landing on Saturday morning.
According to Forney PD, Forney police officers and Forney Fire Department firefighters responded to the area of Sage Hill Parkway and Helms Trail at just after midnight on Saturday after a single-engine aircraft crashed in a field while attempting to make an emergency landing.
Three people were on the plane and two of them had to be taken to a local hospital for treatment, while the third person was treated for their injuries at the crash scene. Forney PD said they’re working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Texas Department of Public Safety to investigate the crash.
The FAA identified the crashed aircraft as a Bellanca Downer 14-19-3 single-engine plane. The Dallas Police Association Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 716 said the three passengers were all off-duty police officers traveling together in the plane while returning a personal trip.
The lodge said two of the officers received minor injuries while one officer has significant injuries that they are still being treated for.
ARP – The Arp Police Department has released body camera footage from an officer who shot a resident’s dog on Friday while he was responding to a fire. According to our news partner KETK, and Arp PD, the officer was getting off of another service call at around 7:40 p.m. on Friday when he saw black smoke rising from a property a few streets away. When he got to the scene, he saw a 20-foot tall fire emerging from behind a residence and so headed towards the fire to see if the residence was in danger.
Arp Police Chief Joe Keegan said in a statement on Saturday that the officer was walking towards the property’s fence when two dogs approached from the other side of the fence and crawled under it. The officer feared for his safety as the dogs reportedly attempted to attack him so he fired two shots from his department issued pistol, hitting one of the two dogs. Continue reading Officer kills a resident’s dog
LONGVIEW — On Thursday, the Longview City Council approved the construction of a new entrance to Teague Park, which residents say has been declining over the years. According to our news partner KETK, Teague Park has been a part of the Longview community for decades and is seeing a decline that cannot be ignored.
“Kind of been known as a nightly activity type of place,” Longview resident John Dove said.
To combat the issue, the city council has approved the next big step toward the park’s revitalization with the ‘Bring Back Teague Park’ project. The city is partnering with the Longview Economic Development Corporation, which is committing a million dollars to the project, including the addition of a new entrance.
“Well, it means quite a bit. Teague Park is one of those assets that needs to be brought to life.” Longview Economic Development Corporation President & CEO Wayne Mansfield said.
The goal is to once again put a spotlight on a public space where everyone can come together.
“The entrance into Teague Park would bring a lot more visibility to the park and make it more utilized by the community,” Mansfield said.
TYLER – A new lithium mining project planned in Northeast Texas has received the green light from the Trump Administration.
“What’s exciting about East Texas in particular is the lithium grade there,” CEO of Standard Lithium, Jesse Edmondson, said.
According to our news partner KETK, parts of the East Texas region will be home to Standard Lithium’s second commercial project to extract the precious mineral from saltwater thousands of feet underground.
” We see most of the growth of our company over the next decade will be in East Texas,” Edmondson said.
The Canada-based company went through a federal permitting review process in the U.S., which determined a very minimal environmental impact to our water, air, and landscape.
“You’re talking about on the order of a dozen to two dozen well pads, each one of which can have multiple wells drilled off of them. Then the surface disturbance is really limited to those well pads themselves and then the central processing facility,” Edmondson said.
The company’s flagship projects in the U.S. are located in what’s called the ” Smackover Formation.” It focuses on the areas in Franklin County and parts of Hopkins and Titus counties.
The average grade for our Franklin project is just over 600 milligrams per liter, but we’ve actually drilled a hole in that project area that was as high as is 800 milligrams per liter, so these are truly globally significant world class numbers and it’s really exciting for the company, we think for East Texas and for our country that we’re currently reliant on China for lithium and for lithium chemicals, so which are critical for modern battery technology,” Edmondson said.
Edmondson said the project is different from Lithium-ion battery storage facilities and focuses on extraction.
Most recently, a storage project was halted by a district judge in Van Zandt County.
“We don’t have the capacity to fight those kinds of fires, so if they don’t comply with the fire code, they should be redesigned,” Van Zandt Co. Precinct 2 Commissioner Cliff Williams said.
Williams hopes the new mining project will comply with state and national codes and not kick people out of their homes.
“That [mining project] is done in such a way that it respects the property ownership of those owners that live out there next door to where these operations are going to be taking place,” Williams said.
The extraction project is still in the early stages, and construction wouldn’t begin until at least 2030. Standard Lithium said this massive project will bring hundreds of jobs to the area.
AUSTIN (AP) — The small plane that crashed while carrying four pickleball players to a tournament near Austin last month had problems with freezing instruments before it broke apart midair, according to a preliminary federal investigation report released Friday.
The Cessna 421C took off from Amarillo on April 30 at 9:10 p.m. and crashed at about 11 p.m. in Wimberley, a city about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Austin. Pilot Justin Appling and passengers Hayden Dillard, Brooke Skypala, Stacy Hedrick and Seren Wilson died.
The National Transportation Safety Board report said that during the flight, the pilot reported problems with the plane’s anti-icing system that protects onboard instruments.
He later reported an instrument that measures airspeed had “iced up” and that he was using backup gauges. He was cleared to descend to 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) and told air controllers he wanted to get to a lower altitude to try to “warm back up.”
Over the last 15 minutes before the crash, the plane flew at altitudes where temperatures hovered just below freezing, according to the report.
The pilot’s last radio transmission with air controllers was made at 10:59 p.m. The plane then made a series of descending left and right turns before crashing to the ground.
Investigators found pieces of the plane over a 1.25-mile (2-kilometer) debris field, distribution consistent with an “inflight breakup,” the report said.
It was mostly cloudy in the area shortly before the crash, and there was a thunderstorm two hours later, the National Weather Service said.
A second plane traveling with the group landed safely in New Braunfels.
CHEROKEE COUNTY — Two people are dead following a two-vehicle crash on Highway 110 in Cherokee County on Friday afternoon. According to our news partner KETK, the cause of the crash and the identity of the victim have not been released. The accident is still under investigations.
NUEVO PROGRESO, MEXICO – The U.S. Marshals captured one of the top 10 most wanted Texas sex offenders in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. According to our news partner KETK, Kit Edward Lulow, 42, was convicted of rape, sexual abuse and sodomy of a 13-year-old girl in Oregon in 2008. Lulow was sentenced to 75 months in prison for those charges but was arrested multiple times between 2014 and 2019 for violating his parole.
In February, he was arrested in Marion County, Texas, for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of child pornography. He later bonded out of Marion County Jail and fled to Mexico, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
Lulow was also wanted in Cass County since February for failing to comply with sex offender registration requirements. Then in April, the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Texas issued two warrants for Lulow’s arrest on a charge of possession of child pornography. Continue reading Most wanted sex offender caught
ANDERSON COUNTY – The infamous black bear that has been making its way across East Texas for the past several months was spotted in Anderson County earlier this week.
The bear was spotted on Thursday evening on private property near Highway 294 and the Neches River. It was reported back in April that the bear had spent the winter in the Anderson County area and is believed to be the first documented black bear to do so in East Texas in over 50 years.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has stated that the bear is a young male growing rapidly and could be fully mature by the middle of this summer. The department thinks he may be heading into bear country in Louisiana, Arkansas, or Oklahoma based on his travels through East Texas. Continue reading Infamous black bear returns
EAST TEXAS (KETK) — Attorney General Ken Paxton has notified more than 130 Texas cities on Thursday that they are barred from raising property taxes above the no?new?revenue rate after his office determined they failed to meet state audit and transparency requirements under a new law.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, more than 1,000 Texas municipalities were asked to provide documents showing whether they complied with SB 1851, which requires every city to complete annual financial audits and meet state transparency standards. After reviewing those submissions, investigators identified more than 130 cities that allegedly failed to meet the required benchmarks for the upcoming fiscal year.
Thirteen East Texas cities appear on the AG’s list:
Letters sent by the state warn those municipalities that they may face enforcement actions and penalties under SB 1851 and cannot legally approve property tax increases beyond the no-new-revenue rate until compliance issues are resolved.
The Attorney General’s Office said the list of cities currently identified as non-compliant is preliminary and that additional municipalities could face similar restrictions as the investigation continues.
Paxton said the effort is intended to protect Texas taxpayers from unlawful tax increases and ensure local governments follow state law. State officials indicated that further enforcement actions may follow if additional cities are found to be out of compliance with the financial reporting requirements outlined in SB 1851.
“Cities cannot ignore state audit and transparency requirements without consequences,” Paxton said in a statement. “My office will continue enforcing the law to protect taxpayers across Texas.”
Statements from East Texas cities:
City of Tool
“We respect and understand the Attorney General’s determination regarding the City of Tool’s current audit status. To date, the City of Tool is completing its 2024 audit and have already corresponded with our third-party auditors in regards to our 2025 fiscal year audit, expected to be completed by the end of this fiscal year. We are committed to being fiscally responsible and strive to not only be in compliance with state law, but to continue to provide a level of transparency and commitment with taxpayers’ money.”
City of Huntington
We were notified by the Attorney General’s office yesterday afternoon that we were in violation of the provisions of SB 1851, which will effectively prevent the city from adopting a tax rate that exceeds the no-new-revenue rate for 2026.
As you are surely aware, the effective date on those provisions was September 1, 2025. The City’s 2026 fiscal year budget and 2025 tax rate had already been adopted by ordinance before that effective date, so the provisions did not apply for the setting of the 2025 tax rate.
Public hearings were published and held in accordance with the Public Meetings Act prior to those ordinances being adopted.
Our financial records have been in the hands of Mr. David Godwin and his capable staff since February 2026, but the audit was not completed by the required deadline of March 30, 2026. We are still awaiting the completed audit and expect that to be submitted for Council review in the near future. City officials are absolutely aware of the provisions that will restrict this year’s tax rate and plan to abide by the letter of the law.
As far as transparency is concerned, the City’s 2026 fiscal year budget and the audit for fiscal year 2024 are on the City’s website – http://www.cityofhuntington.org – under the Finance Department tab. As soon as the audit is completed and received by our office, it will be posted on the website posthaste.
City of Rusk
The City of Rusk has received notice from the Texas Office of the Attorney General regarding the City’s compliance with Local Government Code Chapter 103 and related requirements f fiscal year 2025.
The City understands that, based on the Office of the Attorney General’s determination, the City has been found not to have complied with the audit and financial statement requirements applicable under state law and is therefore subject to the enforcement provisions set out in Local Government Code 103.055(c).
The City has been diligently working to resolve the issue and recently completed its 2024 audit.
The City remains committed to transparency, fiscal responsibility and full compliance with Texas law.
Under the applicable statute, the City may not adopt an ad valorem tax rate that exceeds its no-new-revenue tax rate until compliance is achieved. The City intends to be in compliance as soon as possible.
The City will continue working diligently to address this matter.
KETK News has contacted additional East Texas cities for comment and is awaiting their responses.
TYLER – The Street and Stormwater Department is preparing to begin improvements on Old Bascom Road. The road will be closed Friday, May 22, and is anticipated to reopen Thursday, June 25.
Message boards will be placed at the intersections of Old Omen Road and Old Bascom Road, as well as Kent Drive and Old Bascom Road, to alert drivers to the upcoming closure.
The project includes replacing two collapsing tin culverts under the road with new prefabricated concrete box culverts. Crews will also make road repairs in the area. The entire road will be closed during construction. Continue reading Road improvements planned soon
DALLAS (KETK) – The 2026 NFL season is almost here but the Silver Star Nation doesn’t have to wait any longer to learn who the Dallas Cowboys will be facing on the field this year.
Here’s the 2026 Houston Texans regular season schedule
The NFL released team schedules on Thursday and KETK News has put Dallas’ regular season games together in the list below:
WEEK 1 · Sun 09/13 · 7:20 PM CDT at New York Giants
WEEK 2 · Sun 09/20 · 3:25 PM CDT vs Washington Commanders
WEEK 3 · Sun 09/27 · 3:25 PM CDT vs Baltimore Ravens in Brazil
WEEK 4 · Sun 10/04 · 12:00 PM CDT at Houston Texans
WEEK 5 · Thu 10/08 · 7:15 PM CDT vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers
WEEK 6 · Sun 10/18 · 7:20 PM CDT at Green Bay Packers
WEEK 7 · Mon 10/26 · 7:15 PM CDT at Philadelphia Eagles
WEEK 8 · Sun 11/01 · 12:00 PM CST vs Arizona Cardinals
WEEK 9 · Sun 11/08 · 12:00 PM CST at Indianapolis Colts
WEEK 10 · Sun 11/15 · 3:25 PM CST vs San Francisco 49ers
WEEK 11 · Sun 11/22 · 12:00 PM CST vs Tennessee Titans
WEEK 12 · Thu 11/26 · 3:30 PM CST vs Philadelphia Eagles
WEEK 13 · Mon 12/07 · 7:15 PM CST at Seattle Seahawks
WEEK 15 · Sun 12/20 · 3:25 PM CST at Los Angeles Rams
WEEK 16 · Sun 12/27 · 7:20 PM CST vs Jacksonville Jaguars
WEEK 17 · Sun 01/03 · 12:00 PM CST vs New York Giants
WEEK 18 · TBD at Washington Commanders
To learn more about the Cowboys’ preseason games or to buy tickets, visit the Dallas Cowboys online.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI is offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to capture and prosecution of a former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence specialist who defected to Iran in 2013 and was later charged with revealing classified information to the Tehran government.
Monica Elfriede Witt, 47, was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2019 on charges of espionage, including transmitting national defense information to the government of Iran. She remains at large.
Witt “allegedly betrayed her oath to the Constitution more than a decade ago by defecting to Iran and providing the Iranian regime National Defense Information and likely continues to support their nefarious activities,” Daniel Wierzbicki, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Counterintelligence and Cyber Division, said in a news release Wednesday.
“The FBI has not forgotten and believes that during this critical moment in Iran’s history, there is someone who knows something about her whereabouts.”
It wasn’t immediately known why the FBI was bringing attention to Witt’s case. The United States and Iran have been at war since Feb. 28.
Witt served in the Air Force between 1997 and 2008, where she was trained in the Farsi language and was deployed overseas on classified counterintelligence missions, including to the Middle East. She later found work as a Defense Department contractor.
The Texas native defected to Iran in 2013 after being invited to two all-expense-paid conferences in the country that the Justice Department says promoted anti-Western propaganda and condemned American moral standards.
Before that, Witt had been warned by the FBI about her activities, but told agents that she would not provide sensitive information about her work if she returned to Iran, prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, Witt placed at risk “sensitive and classified U.S. national defense information and programs,” the news release said.
“Witt allegedly intentionally provided information endangering U.S personnel and their families stationed abroad. She also allegedly conducted research on behalf of the Iranian regime to allow them to target her former colleagues in the U.S. government,” it said.
PORT ISABEL (AP) — Until recently, young children ran in and out of their public housing homes in this Gulf Coast town, playing on sun-dappled lawns as mothers looked over their shoulders for the school bus to drop off their older kids. Suddenly, couches, dressers and refrigerators started appearing curbside for movers or garbage collectors.
Within weeks, the neighborhood was a ghost town and the playground was empty.
What prompted the mass exodus was a bungled message from the housing authority in Port Isabel, a South Texas community of 5,000 people, many of whom are immigrants working at hotels and restaurants on the beaches of nearby South Padre Island. The Port Isabel Housing Authority indicated a Trump administration proposal was about to take effect that would end housing assistance to families with at least one member in the country illegally. The events that followed provided a glimpse of what could happen in communities across the U.S. if the proposed rule is actually finalized.
“The impact was not limited to undocumented immigrants, but really to immigrants who are here legally as well as people within their families who are citizens,” Marie Claire Tran-Leung, senior staff attorney at National Housing Law Project, said.
For decades, families with at least one legal or eligible resident have been allowed to live in public housing provided those who are here illegally or are otherwise ineligible due to their immigration status pay a full, unsubsidized share of rent. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development wants to reverse that.
Advocates estimate up to 80,000 people would be kicked out of their homes nationwide under the measure that is part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. They include U.S. citizens, many of them children born in this country but whose parents were not.
A message from the Port Isabel Housing Authority
On Feb. 3, the Port Isabel Housing Authority sent residents a letter saying that the Trump administration wanted every household member to prove legal status within 30 days or face eviction. Three weeks later, the agency sent a note of “clarification” that no such proof was required.
It was already too late.
Half of residents living in Port Isabel public housing left within a month of receiving the first letter. The occupancy rate plunged from 91% in January to 43% in May, far below the national average of 94%.
The proposed rule from HUD still has not taken effect.
The housing authority gave no explanation for the initial misunderstanding and officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press.
Rumors and panic
Fears about eviction and rumors that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement might get involved prompted panic among some residents.
“My kids and I spoke and wondered what we were going to do, but then we said it’s better to leave and avoid any retaliation,” a single mother from Mexico raising two teenagers who are U.S. citizens told The Associated Press. She, like other former residents, spoke on condition of anonymity due to fears of being deported.
She turned to legal service organizations that told her and others they could stay in public housing. But she and her children decided it was too risky and left their home of nearly a decade, finding an apartment within the same school district that costs about $500 more per month.
The move also added about 10 minutes to the commute to the island, where both the mother and her daughter work. The 18-year-old gets home from school at 4:30 p.m. and grabs a quick dinner before her mom drives her to a job that starts at 5 p.m. The daughter is a top student in her senior class and plans to go to college in the fall with help from scholarship offers, but she worries how her family will make ends meet. Her brother was laid off, and their mom underwent cancer treatment last year, depleting her energy and straining their finances.
Other families face even greater challenges.
A mother of three said she moved her family into a one-bedroom trailer home illegally parked between two other trailer homes. Her oldest son sleeps in the living room.
Another family of three sold beds and other furniture so they could squeeze into a small trailer home, only to find out the landlord wouldn’t let them use the mailing address, affecting her children’s school and health insurance.
“Since we got the letter, everything changed from one day to the next. It wasn’t the same anymore. Before the letter, the kids were happy, playing outside,” the mother of two said. A preview of a Trump administration proposal
The Trump administration proposed in February that any household with one ineligible resident would disqualify an entire family, estimating that 24,000 recipients were ineligible in 20,000 households.
“We have zero tolerance for pushing aside hardworking U.S. citizens while enabling others to exploit decades-old loopholes,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said at the time.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which advocates for low-income families, estimates that 79,600 people could be forced to leave their homes, with a disproportionate impact on children and Latinos.
The rule drew more than 16,000 public comments, many of them critical, including from city leaders across the U.S.
For example, the New York City Council told HUD that an estimated 12% of city of households have at least one member who lacks legal status. Some 240,000 children are in those homes.
“This proposed rule will unequivocally lead to increased displacement, homelessness, poverty, and decreased educational and health outcomes,” the council wrote.
HUD is expected to publish a final version of the rule after considering public comments.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell attends a press conference in Washington, D.C., the United States, April 29, 2026. (Photo by Li Rui/Xinhua via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) -- A global pandemic that put millions of Americans out of work within days. The highest inflation in four decades. An unprecedented federal criminal investigation.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell faced a succession of crises over his 8-year tenure atop the central bank, which ends on Friday. Powell’s decisions along the way held stakes as concrete as the budgets of everyday Americans and as heady as the political independence of a pillar institution.
President Donald Trump’s Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh is set to take the helm, inheriting a resilient economy by some measures, though one suffering from a renewed bout of inflation.
Powell said last month that he would take the unusual step of staying on at the central bank's 12-person board of governors after his term expires. The move grants Powell a role in interest-rate policy that could last until 2028, though he says he will step down once a Fed inspector general's investigation into a renovation of the central bank headquarters is closed.
The transition offers an opportunity to look back at Powell’s tenure, which spanned two presidents, three Treasury secretaries and 66 interest-rate decisions.
"You don't choose your challenges, but you do choose how you respond," Claudia Sahm, chief economist at New Century Advisors and a former Fed official, told ABC News. "In the end, Powell's legacy will be judged by those outcomes."
When Trump nominated Powell to become Fed chair, Trump described him as a "consensus builder" who "understands what it takes for our economy to grow."
Powell, a former investment banker and Treasury official under President George H.W. Bush, assumed the role in 2018. At the time, the economy was humming, the unemployment rate clocked in at a historically low level and inflation stood just a tick above the Fed’s target rate of 2%.
Powell hiked interest rates four times in his first year, putting strain on the stock market but leaving the Fed in position to stimulate the economy with rate cuts in the event of a slowdown. Policymakers wouldn’t have to wait long.
In the early months of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic put tens of millions of Americans into lockdown, halting business across industries like restaurants and hospitality, while putting a large swathe of the labor force out of work.
At an emergency meeting in March 2020, Powell slashed interest rates to near-zero levels in an effort to stimulate a battered economy.
“Families, businesses, schools, organizations, and governments at all levels are taking steps to protect people’s health. These measures, which are essential for containing the outbreak, will nonetheless understandably take a toll on economic activity in the near term,” Powell told reporters at the time.
The unemployment rate soared from 4.4% in March to 14.7% in April, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed.
To supercharge the recovery, Trump and President Joe Biden enacted economic stimulus meant to support people who'd lost their jobs or faced other hardship. Alongside low interest rates, that spending helped bring about a speedy economic recovery from the downturn.
The COVID-19 recession lasted only two months, making it the shortest in U.S. history, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The speedy recovery vindicated the Fed's decision to slash interest rates, though it hadn’t been a particularly difficult choice, Alan Blinder, a professor of economics at Princeton University and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, told ABC News.
“The dropping of rates to the floor was both necessary and appropriate, and in a real sense, obvious,” Blinder said.
A bout of acute inflation soon took hold, however, emerging as a result of a supply shortage imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine war. Powell initially downplayed the price increases, describing them as “transitory.” It proved a consequential mistake -- and Powell would later admit his error.
Annual inflation peaked at a 40-year high of 9.1% in June 2022. By then, Powell had begun to ratchet up interest rates and it would continue over the following year. The aggressive series of rate hikes put the central bank’s benchmark rate at its highest level since 2001. The move sent mortgage and credit card rates soaring.
By June 2023, annual inflation had plummeted to 3%, but Americans remained widely dissatisfied with price increases long afterward. Many economists forecast a recession and the type of job losses it typically entails. Fortunately, the downturn never came to pass.
"Inflation stayed high for too long but once it came down, it came down really fast. It came down without creating unnecessary pain in the labor market," Wendy Edelberg, director of the Hamilton Project and senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, told ABC News.
In September 2024, less than two months before the presidential election, the Fed cut interest rates by 0.5%. The decision drew criticism from allies of Trump, who considered the move a potential boost for the economy that would benefit incumbent Democrats. Trump went on to win the election.
Within weeks of his return to the White House, in early 2025, Trump voiced public criticism of Powell, urging him to cut interest rates. The attacks intensified criticism of Powell that had begun in Trump’s first term.
Over the ensuing months, Trump began to slam Powell for cost overruns in a renovation project at the Fed’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. Last July, Trump made the first official trip to the Fed by a sitting president in almost 20 years, donning a hard hat as he toured the renovation with Powell.
The Fed attributed spending overruns to unforeseen cost increases, saying that its building renovation would ultimately "reduce costs over time by allowing the Board to consolidate most of its operations," according to the central bank's website.
By January, the Department of Justice had opened a criminal investigation into Powell, ratcheting up an extraordinary clash between the White House and the Fed. It was the first criminal probe of a Fed chair in the 113-year history of the central bank.
The probe centered on Powell’s testimony to Congress last year about the cost overruns. Powell issued a rare video message rebuking the investigation as a politically motivated effort to influence the Fed's interest rate policy.
"No one -- certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve -- is above the law," Powell said. "But this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration's threats and ongoing pressure."
Trump previously denied any involvement in the criminal investigation. The DOJ moved to drop its criminal probe into Powell last month. Washington U.S. Attorney Jeaninne Pirro said the investigation into the office renovation would be taken up by the Fed’s inspector general.
“The attack on the Fed chair was appalling,” Rebel Cole, a professor of finance at Florida Atlantic University who formerly worked at the Federal Reserve, told ABC News. “Powell stood up to it.”
Warsh, a former Fed official, will serve a 4-year term as chair. He is set to lead the Fed in a challenging period for central bank policymakers.
Inflation rose for a second consecutive month as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran continued to send gasoline prices surging in April, government data on Tuesday showed. Annual inflation jumped to its highest level in three years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Despite the disruption, some measures of economic health have proven resilient.
The unemployment rate held steady at a historically low level of 4.3% in April, leaving it little changed from when Powell began his tenure in 2018.
"The economy is pretty good but far from perfect," Blinder said, faulting Powell in part for elevated inflation, while attributing much of the blame to the Iran war. At the same time, Blinder praised Powell for his commitment to the independence of the Fed.
"That's the legacy that Warsh is inheriting," Blinder said.
RUSK – More than 100 code enforcement violations issued by the city of Rusk recently have caused quite a stir in the community. The people on the receiving end of those violations brought their frustrations to the city council meeting Thursday night. According to our news partner KETK, people packed the room at Thursday’s Rusk City Council meeting, demanding answers about the dozens of code enforcement violations issued last week. Residents said the code violations ranged from roofing issues to weeds on the fences to even toys left in the yard.
Residents expressed their frustration with code enforcement and were disappointed that they weren’t reviewed further before being posted. The mayor of Rusk addressed people’s concerns and said everyone can throw out the recent letters they received.
While there was a collective sigh of relief, Rusk residents felt the city needed to fix the problem inside the house and bring change.
ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas (KETK)– A traffic stop in Angelina County earlier this month led to a man being arrested after officers discovered he was in possession of over 300 images of child pornography and illegal narcotics.
According to the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office, a traffic stop was initiated on May 5 after deputies observed 33-year-old Wayne Cassels making several traffic violations while driving on U.S. Highway 59 south of Lufkin.
During the stop, deputies found two bags that were believed to contain 59 grams of methamphetamine inside the vehicle. Leading deputies to suspect Cassels was involved in drug trafficking, deputies opened an investigation.
Deputies were able to obtain a warrant to search Cassels’ cell phone after it was suspected that he was in possession of child pornography following a forensic interview. During the search of the phone, over 300 photos of child sexual abuse material were stored on his device, according to officials.
Cassels is currently being held in the Angelina County Jail and his bond has been set at $600,000 after being charged with the following offenses:
Five counts of possession or promotion of child pornography
Manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance
Tampering with physical evidence
SMITH COUNTY — Friday is the final deadline for Texas property owners to protest their tax bill and the Smith County Appraisal District is seeing hundreds of people try to file a dispute last-minute. Experts like S.T.A.R. Tax Protest CTO Deric McCurry have said property owners who file a protest may be able to lower their assessed value and save money on taxes, potentially making their home more attractive to buyers. McCurry recommends requesting an appraisal review board hearing for a better chance at a settlement.
“If you’re looking for maximum saving before going in front of an appraisal review board, provide evidence of things like condition documentation on your home and comparable sales that have happened,” McCurry said.
Appraisal districts like the one in Smith County do offer review hearings, but with time running out Chief Appraiser Carol McNeil said property owners are better off filing online immediately then scheduling a follow-up appointment. Continue reading Deadline to protest taxes approaches
SMITH COUNTY – Early voting for the May 26 Primary Runoff Election runs Monday through Friday, May 18-22, 2026.
Statewide runoff races are on the ballot.
U.S. Senator, Attorney General, Railroad Commissioner and Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3, Judge are on the Republican ticket. The Democratic ballot will have runoff races for U.S. Representative, District 1, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General.
There are five early voting locations open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The polling places include:
*Heritage Building: 1900 Bellwood Road, Tyler
*The Hub: 304 E. Ferguson Street, Tyler
*Lindale Kinzie Community Center: 912 Mt. Sylvan St., Lindale
*Noonday Community Center: 16662 CR 196, Tyler
*Whitehouse City Center: 109 E. Main Street, Whitehouse
Election Day is 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 26, 2026.
For more information about voting locations, times and what is on the ballot, or to use the Smith County interactive map, visit here.
An aerial view of the New York Stock Exchange's trading floor. Since the installation of the Hybrid Market system in 2007, there has been less traders on the floor due to an increase of electronically done trades and transactions. (xPACIFICA/Gety)
(NEW YORK) -- The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday closed above 50,000, shrugging off a renewed bout of inflation and an apparent impasse in negotiations over the Iran war.
The rise in shares came as President Donald Trump visited Chinese President Xi Jinping in a high-stakes summit between the leaders of the world's two largest economies.
The Dow closed up 370 points, or 0.7%, registering at 50,063.46. The Dow first topped 50,000 in February. It stands about 55 points shy of an all-time record close.
The S&P 500 jumped 0.7%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 0.8%.
A group of corporate executives joined Trump on the trip, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Apple CEO Tim Cook.
After a dramatic welcoming ceremony, Trump sat down with Xi on the first day of a multi-day summit, during which Trump said he'd seek to deepen diplomatic and economic ties.
The trip came at a crucial time for Trump as the war with Iran drove up prices for Americans at home due in large part due to Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. China is Iran's principal oil consumer.
Inflation rose for a second consecutive month as the war continued to send gasoline prices surging in April, government data this week showed.
Annual inflation jumped to its highest level in three years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Sunny investor attitudes stem from robust corporate earnings, as well as milder economic fallout from the war than some forecasters feared, some analysts previously told ABC News.
Trump, they added, has displayed a willingness to back off of actions if they threaten a severe market reaction, reassuring investors wary of a prolonged conflict.
Despite the disruption, some measures of economic health have proven resilient.
Hiring slowed in April but remained solid, exceeding economists’ expectations, government data last week showed. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3% in April, a low level by historic standards.
Additionally, the economy grew at an annualized rate of 2% in the first quarter of 2026, marking an acceleration from 0.5% growth recorded in the previous quarter.
ABC News' Kevin Shalvey and Jon Haworth contributed to this report.
FILE – Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
On January 20, 2025 – just hours before President Joe Biden was to leave office – it was announced that he had issued a pre-emptive pardon to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
You remember Lord Fauci. He was the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I am the science,” he once said to an interviewer. In his role as head of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, he drove an entire nation into what amounted to house arrest.
To “stop the spread,” schools and churches were closed, the elderly died alone in nursing homes, uncomforted by family, small businesses were forced to close, and tens of millions of nominally free American citizens had to give up their livelihoods.
“Two weeks to flatten the curve” turned into two years of economic and social devastation. Small independent retailers and mom & pop restaurants were forced to shut down. They went out of business. But Target and Wal-Mart got to stay open. Their stock prices soared. Many of the former owners of the small businesses that were shut down now face their retirement years with little to get them by.
Young children who were kept from going to kindergarten and early elementary school are now teenagers and a huge percentage of them are behind academically and will likely never catch up.
Fauci had us maintaining six feet of social distancing while walking around with dirty masks on our faces in an affront to epidemiological science.
And it was his Lordship Anthony Fauci who convinced President Trump to fast track the development of mRNA vaccines in an effort that got dubbed “Operation Warp Speed.”
“Fine,” we all said.
But here’s what’s now coming to light that’s not fine.
For the drug makers to develop The Jab they demanded protection from product liability. Under the rules, to get that protection, the drugs would have to be deployed under an Emergency Use Authorization – EUA – from the Food & Drug Administration. But to get an EUA, there could be no other “approved, adequate and available” therapies.
The problem was that there was plenty of evidence that hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and ivermectin – two readily available and inexpensive drugs with long use histories – were quite effective at treating COVID when administered early in the course of the disease.
The government spent more than $30 billion on The Jab. Drug makers Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, in turn, paid hundreds of millions in royalties to Fauci’s agency to license government-owned technology in their development. There are persistent but admittedly unproven rumors that Fauci profited personally from some of those payments. We’ll never know.
What we do know is that Fauci aggressively and often ruthlessly set out to crush any use of HCQ and ivermectin, their low risk and demonstrated effectiveness be damned.
What we’ll also never know is how many people died needlessly because Fauci quashed an inexpensive and low risk therapy in an apparent attempt to further his empire.
But what we always will know is that the Biden administration thought that he needed a pardon.
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Gary Grief, the former executive director of the Texas Lottery Commission who was accused of conspiring to defraud Texas lottery players, was indicted by a grand jury in Travis County last month on a felony charge for abuse of official capacity related to an April 2023 lottery win. But the Travis County district attorney’s office dismissed the case for “prosecutorial discretion.”
Assistant District Attorney Rob Drummond signed the motion to dismiss the case just three days after the grand jury indictment. Nexstar reached out to the Travis County DA’s office for an explanation for the dismissal and are waiting to hear back.
Nexstar also asked the office if District Attorney José Garza had any say about the motion to dismiss or if ADA Drummond acted on his own.
Grief retired in 2024 just before a Houston Chronicle investigation revealed a group of investors were able to purchase nearly every single number combination to almost guarantee a $95 million jackpot in an April 2023 Lotto Texas drawing. Lotto Texas is a draw game where players select six numbers between 1 and 54.
The indictment accuses Grief of “intentionally and knowingly misuse government property, services, personnel, or a thing of value belonging to the government” in the April 22, 2023 Lotto Texas drawing.
Tyler — The Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce and its Veterans Committee invite you to a Memorial Day Ceremony on Saturday, May 23, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at The Boulders at Lake Tyler, on McElroy Road.
As we mark 250 Years of Freedom, we remember that liberty comes at a cost. This year’s theme, 250 Years of Freedom, 250 Years of Sacrifice, honors the 1.4 million Service Members who died defending our nation, as well as the families and loved ones they left behind. Continue reading Lake Tyler Memorial Day ceremony
TYLER – CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital continues to lead the way in advancing patient care through innovation, becoming the first hospital in the nation to employ the new V2 Swoop Portable MRI, utilizing the newest FDA cleared software inside an operating room during a pituitary tumor resection.
The groundbreaking procedure was performed by Dr. Todd Patrick, chief of neurosurgery, marking a significant milestone in surgical precision and patient-centered care.
By bringing advanced imaging directly into the operating room, the Swoop system allows surgeons to capture real-time images during procedures, improving decision-making, reducing the need for repeat imaging and enhancing overall surgical outcomes. Continue reading CHRISTUS Health has a medical first
ANGELINA COUNTY (KETK) — The City of Lufkin Animal Services was recently awarded a $150,000 grant to expand its spay-and-neuter services across Angelina County.
According to the City of Lufkin, the grant was provided by the Texas Health and Human Services’ Public Health Region and will allow the shelter to provide low-cost sterilization services. The service will help reduce overpopulation and decrease shelter intake.
Through the grant, residents will only pay $25 to have their pets spayed or neutered, with the remainder of the treatment covered by the shelter, the city said. Along with making sterilization services more affordable for pet owners, the grant will also help in reducing the stray and unwanted animal population in Angelina County.
“This funding is a tremendous opportunity to make a lasting impact on animal welfare in our community and across the region,” Lufkin Animal Services Manager Morgan Williams said. “By increasing access to spay and neuter services, we are taking proactive steps to reduce homelessness among pets, improve public safety, and support healthier communities.”
Residents can schedule the first round of sterilization services by contacting the Lufkin Animal Shelter at 936-633-0218. A $25 deposit fee will be required for each appointment.
LIVINGSTON (KETK) — Two students and a school bus driver were taken to the hospital after a Thursday morning crash in Livingston involving a school bus and a pole.
According to the Livingston Independent School District, the crash happened early Thursday on Highway 59 in front of the hospital when one of their buses struck a road post. EMS evaluated all students at the scene, and parents were notified.
Two students and the driver were transported to the hospital for further evaluation. The remaining students were taken to their campus on another bus.
“We appreciate the quick response of emergency personnel and school staff in ensuring the safety and care of our students,” the school district said.
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POLK COUNTY (KETK)— Two people were arrested in Polk County on Tuesday after over 15 pounds of marijuana and over 100 THC vape pens were found inside their home, along with several firearms.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, deputies conducted an investigation at the home of Mohammad Shoaib and Komal Jiwani in Onalaska on Tuesday after obtaining a probable cause warrant.
During the search, officials allegedly discovered 16 pounds of marijuana, 115 THC vape pens, and several multiple marijuana edible products, which were packaged to resemble candy and snack items that would appeal to children. Several firearms were also found inside the home, according to officials.
The sheriff’s office alleged that the edible products were located throughout the home and were easily accessible to young children living there.
Shoaib and Jiwani were arrested following the search of their home and charged with the following offenses:
*Possession of marijuana
*Manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance
*Three counts of child endangerment
“The Polk County Sheriff’s Office remains committed to aggressively targeting the illegal distribution of narcotics within our communities,” Sheriff Byron Lyons stated. “Investigations involving narcotics that are accessible to children are especially concerning and will continue to be a top enforcement priority.”
POLK COUNTY, Texas (KETK)– A Polk County resident was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Tuesday after failing to comply with his sex offender registration requirements.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, a detective who was assigned to monitor registered sex offenders discovered in November 2025 that a 55-year-old Rayford Ellis had failed to comply with sex offender registration requirements, prompting an investigation to be opened.
The detective later became aware that Ellis had not completed his required annual 2024 registration verification through the sheriff’s office. As the investigation continued, detectives issued a compliance check at his residence, but no contact was made.
An arrest warrant was eventually obtained for Ellis, and he was taken into custody in Cleveland, Texas and charged with failure to comply with his sex offender registration requirements.
Following a sentencing hearing on Tuesday, Ellis was sentenced to 25 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
“The goal of the sex offender registry is to protect the community and its members from sexual predators,” the Polk County District Attorney’s Office said. “For the registry to work and help protect those it’s intended to protect, offenders must comply with the law. When they fail to comply, our office will hold them accountable. Our office will continue working with law enforcement and the community to ensure their safety.”
SMITH COUNTY – Early voting for the May 26 Primary Runoff Election runs Monday through Friday, May 18-22, 2026. 
TYLER – CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital continues to lead the way in advancing patient care through innovation, becoming the first hospital in the nation to employ the new V2 Swoop Portable MRI, utilizing the newest FDA cleared software inside an operating room during a pituitary tumor resection.