Today is
Monday July 20, 2026
LONGVIEW — Newly released records have provided more details about an alleged assault outside Whisky J’s in Longview last month that left a woman seriously injured. According to arrest affidavits and our news partner KETK, officers responded to the bar on the morning of June 21 after reports of an assault in the parking lot.
The victim told officers she was walking through the parking lot after leaving the bar when she was suddenly attacked by multiple people. She said she did not know the suspects or have any prior issues with anyone inside the bar. She described one attacker as a Black woman wearing an orange wig.
Investigators interviewed several witnesses, including a security guard who told officers he heard a woman say, “The next white b***h that walks out, I’m going to hit her,” before seeing a group of women assault the victim. Two other witnesses also told officers they saw multiple women attack the victim, while another said he heard someone say, “Any white girl can get it,” and “Free Karmelo” before the assault began. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – America’s 250th anniversary is here and East Texans across the area were out celebrating on Saturday with fireworks, hotdogs, an airshow and more. According to our news partner KETK, Tyler’s annual July 4 Festival moved into its new home at The Park of East Texas on Saturday. The free event featured food trucks, local vendors, family-friendly activities and they topped it all off with a fireworks show.
Over at the Boulders at Lake Tyler, they celebrated the holiday with a Red, White & Wings airshow where East Texans could enjoy food trucks, and watch an airshow flyover. The event also served as a fundraiser for local veterans with funds being donated to CampV.
In Kilgore, residents gathered at Kilgore City Park for their July 4th celebration, which was complete with food vendors, family fun, an inflatable obstacle course and their very own fireworks show.
CASS COUNTY, Texas (KETK) – The Linden Volunteer Fire Department responded to a fire at an oil storage tank site on Friday.
The fire was reportedly started after a bolt of lighting hit an oil storage site off of County Road 1754 when storms were moving through Cass County at around 3:04 p.m. Because the oil site was already burning, the department said they couldn’t do much until the fire burned itself out, at which time they sprayed it with foam.
Linden firefighters were assisted at the scene by Cass County Emergency Services District 2, Cass County Emergency Services District 4 and the Avinger Volunteer Fire Department.
Officials with Linden VFD said the fire was extinguished at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said he considered the matter resolved after he and team director Ibrahim Hassan had a physical confrontation with a police officer at the team’s hotel in Dallas.
Video began circulating Thursday, a day before Egypt beat Australia in the round of the 32 at the World Cup, showing both men arguing with a Dallas police officer, apparently over a player preparing to take a picture with a young fan in the hotel lobby.
The officer approaches Hossam Hassan first, but his interaction with Ibrahim Hassan became a shoving match. Ibrahim Hassan appeared to be upset at the officer intervening.
Dallas police issued a statement saying officers were responding to a request from hotel security about an individual without event credentials attempting to gain access. The statement said the issue was resolved at the scene, and that police met with Egyptian representatives to address their concerns.
Hossam Hassan said through a translator the team had accepted an apology from police.
“We are really happy to be here at this tournament and we are satisfied with the security personnel that are accompanying us,” Hossam Hassan said. “I would like to point to the high-level organization we have with us and the level of security we have with us.”
Hassan is the first person to play and coach for Egypt at the World Cup. The victory over Australia came in Egypt’s debut in the knockout round of the tournament.
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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
PALESTINE — Eight people were hospitalized on Wednesday morning following a single-vehicle crash involving a prison bus carrying several inmates as they headed to the Palestine Unit. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) said one of their bus was in a single-vehicle crash between Donie and Groesbeck on Highway 164, east of Highway 139. The bus was transporting 26 inmates from local jails to the Gurney Unit in Palestine for intake.
TDCJ said all inmates were accounted for, and three staff members were on the bus.
Seven inmates and a staff member were taken to a local hospital and law enforcement believes there are no life-threatening injuries.
MORRIS COUNTY, Texas (KETK) — In an effort to encourage economic growth while protecting its natural resources, the Morris County Commissioners Court has adopted a resolution to work with state legislators and agencies to support further regulation of data centers in Texas.
On June 22, commissioners signed the resolution, outlining their request to the state to require data center projects to undergo rigorous review to address their environmental impacts and to adopt standards that promote efficient use of resources.
The court said it recognizes that data centers are “essential to the future economy” but aims to ensure that economic growth is pursued responsibly, with sustainability in mind.
“Economic development and resource stewardship are not competing priorities. These two goals go hand in hand,” Morris County Judge Doug Reeder said on a social media post, where he shared the full resolution. “Morris County can continue to welcome investment while also insisting that growth be responsible, sustainable, and respectful of the people and communities who call this county home. To that end, we are asking state lawmakers to enact legislation giving local governments more control over the planning and regulating of development directly affecting our local infrastructure and resources.”
In its resolution, the court supports state requirements for the transparency and disclosure of projected electricity and water use and the anticipated impacts on county roads, infrastructure and public safety.
Additionally, the court asks legislators and related agencies to adopt standards for data centers that require them to prioritize efficient resource use, such as using water and power-efficient technology and coordinating with regional planning groups.
At the end of the resolution, the county requests state lawmakers adopt the following legislation to ensure incoming data centers use resources responsibly:
Evaluate and implement policies to improve the transparency of projected electric demand and water consumption of large-scale computing facilities
Establish reasonable requirements for infrastructure planning, resource impact review and mitigation of significant public impacts
Promote coordination among state agencies, counties, municipalities, utility providers and developers
Ensure that local governments are provided opportunities to participate in planning processes affecting local infrastructure and resources
Preserve Texas’ ability to attract technological investment while protecting taxpayers, ratepayers, landowners and natural resources
The resolution will be sent to the governor, lieutenant governor, legislators representing Morris County, the Public Utility Commission of Texas, ERCOT and other state and regional entities.
SMITH COUNTY — Records reveal new details leading up to the arrest of three Smith County women for child endangerment, after a two-month-old was placed in a medically induced coma.
According to our news partner KETK, medical staff at a local Tyler hospital alerted Child Protective Services after Sidney Whitt, 21, came in with her two-month-old, stating “she hadn’t had a wet diaper in three days and she was fatigued,” a Smith County affidavit revealed. While at the hospital, the baby reportedly began having seizures, lasting about an hour, and had visible bruises on her face, cheek and jawline. Hospital staff believed that seizures may have been caused by having been violently shaken.
The infant was then transported to a hospital in Dallas for further medical care.
In a later interview, a report revealed that Whitt had left her children locked in a bedroom when leaving to meet with Jacqulyn Morales, her roommate, and her boyfriend at a hotel where they consumed alcohol and drugs. Whitt’s and Morales’ children were left under the care of Shelby Munoz, Morales’ 18-year-old sister. Read the rest of this entry »
KILGORE – There are now 27 confirmed New World Screwworm cases in the United States, 26 of them in Texas. A ripple effect of the worm’s spread is already being felt Rusk County, where ‘That Crazy Dog Lady’ has been forced to stop intake of dogs until 20 are transported to New York, which is one of the states now restricting dogs coming from Texas.
“Our major partner is in the state of New York which has banned entry from any Texas dogs,” owner of ‘That Crazy Dog Lady’ Vanessa Cogswell said. “So, we were supposed to have 20 puppies leaving on Monday to our partner in New York, and unfortunately, they will not be able to travel.”
Her non-profit provides rescue and foster services in rural communities without animal control services. Read the rest of this entry »
DALLAS (AP) — Drop thousands of Argentina fans into Texas for the World Cup and the debate is inevitable. It’s not about who has the best team or whether Lionel Messi is the best player at the tournament. It’s about who produces the best, most succulent steaks, and how to prepare the meat.
That’s right: There’s a beef about beef between two of the top cattle-raising areas of the world, where steak is deeply ingrained in diet and culture. Texas ranks No. 1 in the United States in beef production and the U.S. is second only to Brazil globally, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Argentina ranks sixth.
It’s a high-steaks question: Who does do it best?
The case for Argentine beef
“Argentine beef is simply unbeatable. The savory texture, the style of the cut — there is no competing with it,” said Carlos Eduardo Barahona, 64, an Argentine chef who’s lived in Texas since 1998.
From the cheapest cuts to the most expensive, Argentina is tops, asserts Barahona, who has worked in restaurants across Argentina, Uruguay, and Texas.
“You can make an (Argentine) asado with the cheapest cut in our country and you will enjoy it. Here, you can use the best meat, like tenderloin, and depending on its source, it can turn out tough, inedible or tender. But our beef has a completely different flavor profile,” Barahona said.
Argentine beef cattle is mostly grass-fed on open pastures, taking longer to reach the point it is ready for market. The result is leaner meat with intense earthy flavors.
The case for Texan beef
Predominantly grain-fed beef in Texas and the U.S. will have more marbling — the streaks of intramuscular fat that act as internal baster and make the meat juicy and tender — and a sweeter flavor.
“There’s no better beef than U.S. beef, particularly Texas beef,” said Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller.
But Argentine beef is very good too, Miller said. Thanks to Texas.
Miller said his agency opened a marketing office more than a decade ago to connect Texas’ cattle raisers with ranchers in South America, notably in Argentina.
“I don’t want to disparage our friends in Argentina, but we have helped them improve,” he said.
“Their genetics were lacking. We do have them up to pretty high quality. We sold them a lot of semen, embryos, and breeding stock,” Miller added.
Miller congratulated Argentine farmers on improving the quality of their cows.
“Their herds have American genetics in them, so they should be good,” Miller said.
The verdict is in the eye of the beefholder
Argentine fan Gonzalo Herrera browsed packaged meat at a Walmart in Arlington, Texas, after watching Messi score two goals in a win over Austria. He shrugged at the whose-beef-is-better debate.
“Honestly, I don’t see a massive difference,” Herrera said as he packed four T-bone steaks into his shopping cart.
“The key is knowing exactly which cuts to buy and finding the equivalent of what we eat in Argentina,” he said, shaking his head at the $45 price.
“Prices are higher here,” Herrera said.
The beef banter just as easily boils down to recipes and preferences in style and thickness of cuts. It’s a matter of taste, quite literally, when it comes to seasoning, searing, smoking, butter, pepper, sauces and so forth.
At Corrientes 348 Argentinian Steakhouse in Dallas, steaks are prepared with just salt and mesquite charcoal, said assistant manager Emmanuel Tobon.
“There’s a big difference. Texans use a lot of pepper, they use butter, they use a little barbecue (sauce),” Tobon said. “(Argentines) like to bring all the flavor of the steak by only using salt.”
Argentina still has at least one more match to play in Dallas, on Saturday. Fans of the Albiceleste have been packing the restaurant, seeking a quick taste of home during the World Cup.
“They have been enjoying the Texas culture,” Tobon said. “(But) it has been a great pleasure to have all of them, to make them feel like home.”
Argentines are fiercely proud of their steak culture, recipes that have been passed down for generations, and the “sacred” work of the grill master at large family meals, he said.
For Fernando Garcia Morillo, an Argentine from Buenos Aires who now lives near Miami, the meat from both countries is great. But he longs for the traditions of home whenever he orders steak in the U.S.
“I order just salt, no pepper, just plain,” Morillo said. “Sometimes they use a lot of sauce.”
He dismissed any notion of a beef between the U.S and Argentina.
“Maybe there’s a rivalry as usual against Brazil, our neighbor,” he said. “I love the U.S. meat.”
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Vertuno reported from Austin, Texas.
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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
TOOL – East Texans got together for a Save Cedar Creek Lake Town Hall on Sunday to organize against a planned data center that could tap into the lake’s precious water. Organizers with the volunteer-run Save Cedar Creek Lake coalition hosted Sunday’s town hall at the Oran White Civic Center in Tool in order to share their plan for how their going to stop a planned data center from being built near the Key Ranch Estates on Cedar Creek Lake.
According to our news partner KETK, Local attorney and Cedar Creek Lake property owner Ashley Cook is one of the coalition’s leaders and she’s called on state officials to enact a one-year moratorium on new data centers so that state lawmakers can get a better understanding of their environmental impact.
“It’s going to take a lot of people making a whole lot of noise for us to be able to get it across on a state level that this is really important,” Cook said. “We need people to understand that this is a serious issue.” Read the rest of this entry »
MARSHALL – Davion McDale Brown, 19, was arrested in Gregg County on Saturday for capital murder in connection to the shooting which happened at a Whataburger in Marshall at around 1:50 a.m. that morning. The shooting left two victims dead, James Morrow, 20 of Carthage, and Jassiah Hill, 18 of Longview. Both men were football players in their respective communities. Hill had a full ride from William Penn University, while Morrow was attending Navarro College and helped Carthage win a state championship in 2022. Their family has organized a GoFundMe to help cover their funeral costs.
The Marshall Police Department said officers responded to the Whataburger at around 1:50 a.m. when a 911 call was received reporting a shooting at the location. When officers arrived, they found multiple people suffering from gunshot wounds in the parking lot. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – The University of Texas at Tyler announced on Friday that they’ve offered a “voluntary separation incentive” or buyout to around a quarter of its total employees. The university told our news partner KETK News that the buyouts are being offered to “ensure the university remains affordable and prepared for the future while continuing to advance our teaching and research mission.”
Their “voluntary separation incentive program” has reportedly been designed to take into account their staff’s “meaningful contributions and dedicated service.” According to UT Tyler, the buyouts are not expected to impact its course catalog or student services in any way. The UT Tyler faculty directory listed around 1,200 staff as of Friday. Read the rest of this entry »
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas education board will vote Friday on a required reading list for more than 5 million public school students that includes Bible passages, widening conservative efforts to push Christian teachings in U.S. classrooms.
The proposal in Texas — which would mandate literary works such as Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations” alongside parables from the New Testament — has been closely followed by education observers who say it appears to be the first of its kind in the nation.
If approved by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by Republicans, the reading list would take effect in 2030.
Texas, which educates roughly 1 in 10 of the nation’s public school students, has been at the forefront of a charge by conservatives to incorporate more religion into classrooms. The state already allows public schools to hire chaplains to counsel students, mandates the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms and has approved an optional Bible-infused curriculum.
For months, critics have blasted both the push to require Bible readings and the state mandating what books are read by students, which are decisions typically left up to teachers. Teachers could still assign students other books to read on top of the required titles.
A focus on Christianity
Critics say the reading list lacks diversity, blurs the separation of church and state that is enshrined in the Constitution and leaves teachers and students with little room to decide what to read.
“Kids of all faith backgrounds and no faith are served by Texas schools and they should all feel welcome in Texas schools,” said Elva Mendoza, legislative communications associate for the progressive Texas Freedom Network. “But this is sending the message to children that one and only one religious text — a Christian one — is worthy of making this required reading list.”
Others have applauded the possibility of mandated Christian religious reading in public schools. Brooke Mazel, a retiree from Lubbock, encouraged the board to adopt biblical materials, saying her children and grandchildren grew up with “strong faith and family values.”
“America should celebrate our 250 years that started as a nation of unwavering Christian values,” Mazel said.
The board is also set to vote Friday on a social studies curriculum that links Bible stories with American history.
Texas may be a trailblazer
A state law passed in 2023 required a mandatory list of at least one literary work be taught in each grade level. The proposed new list contains around 200 texts, including Bible passages, essays and books, far in excess of that requirement.
Antero Garcia, president of the National Council of Teachers of English and a Stanford University professor, said he doesn’t know of any other state with a mandatory reading list that includes religious texts. Educators at the district and school level usually choose the texts their students will read, Garcia said.
Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program, agrees the move is “unique” to Texas.
Picture-book stories for elementary students including “David and Goliath” and “Daniel and the Lion’s Den” are on the required reading list. By fourth grade, students would encounter passages about Jesus in the New Testament.
By middle school, students would be expected to read several passages about Jesus, including passages from his most famous sermon, and another where he instructs people to cast aside earthly anxiety and seek the kingdom of God.
For high schoolers, the list requires the reading of specific Bible passages as supportive materials for literary works including works by Dickens and Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.”
Holding diversity in check
Such strict requirements amount to “almost de facto censorship,” Meehan said, comparing the list to book bans.
“It certainly leans ideologically more conservative,” she said. “It excludes a lot of diverse voices from the reading list.”
The list mandates that students reading Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” also read a eulogy for President Ronald Reagan written by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a staunch conservative.
Frank Strong, an English and journalism teacher and co-founder of the student advocacy group Texas Freedom to Read, said diversity is not only important for students needing to see themselves in what they read but also as a way to learn about different cultures.
Many of the books on the reading list are not controversial, but Mendoza asks why books like “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” need to be required for kindergartners.
“Can’t our kindergarten teachers be trusted to choose board books?” Mendoza asks.
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Stengle reported from Dallas.
TYLER — U.S. Rep. Nathaniel Moran introduced new legislation Thursday that would require AI developers to report dangerous capabilities, security breaches and safety incidents to the United States Secretary of Commerce. The new legislation would give the Department of Commerce jurisdiction to determine AI models that pose risks to national security and public safety. In addition, developers would be required to file reports no more than 7 days after discovering dangerous activity and in more serious cases, the department would be required to notify congress within 48 hours.
A press release from Moran says reportable incidents could include the following:
AI models that attempt to evade human oversight or resist shutdown, unauthorized access to or theft of model weights
Capabilities that could enable offensive cyberattacks against critical infrastructure
Evidence that a model can autonomously accelerate the development of more powerful AI systems
Other risks could include chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive threats. Read the rest of this entry »
LUFKIN (KETK) — East Texas government leaders and state lawmakers say the community wishes to pause data center development to learn more about the facilities’ potential impacts on quality of life.
As data centers continue to set up shop across Texas, people are trying to understand what impact they could have on the rural communities East Texans call home. Many people have brought their concerns to Deep East Texas Council of Governments (DETCOG) Executive Director Lonnie Hunt, who says some residents feel data centers are moving in too fast.
“Most of our folks are just right now saying let’s call time out, let’s put the brakes on,” Hunt said. “Let’s pause, let’s make sure that we know all the facts.”
A rapid expansion that State Representative Joanne Shofner (R)- Nacogdoches says could be necessary if the U.S. wants to stay ahead of China in the global race for artificial intelligence.
“We don’t want them to be in charge of all of this; it would be just dangerous for a communist country to be in charge of most of the data that is going on around the world,” Shofner said.
That race is also leaving many East Texans with questions about the long-term impacts data centers could have on water, agriculture and their quality of life. Leaving them to turn to county leaders who have little authority to regulate the facilities.
“The only way a county could really have any influence over a data center would be to enter into some sort of agreement with them,” Hunt said.
Shofner says the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) does have some regulatory authority over data centers, but only after problems arise.
“Right now we don’t know what an issue is,” Shofner said.
Hunt says East Texans want to embrace new technology without sacrificing the rural way of life that defines the region.
“But we also want to protect our rural countryside and this lifestyle that we love out here in the Pineywoods of East Texas,” Hunt said.
He recommends anyone with concerns contact their state representative and make their voices heard before the legislature meets in Austin next year.
ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas (KETK)– A procession was held in Angelina County on Thursday afternoon in honor of Deputy Chad Murray, who died earlier this week.
After spending several years working with the Brookshire’s coroperation Murary decided to begin a career in law enforcement at the age of 50 and graduated from the Angelina College Law Enforcement Academy in June 2022.
Following his graduation, he began with the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office and spent the past four years serving as a patrol officer.
“He had a strong desire to help people and make a difference in our community and always conducted his business in a professional manner,” the sheriff’s office said. “He was kind, patient and had a great personality.”
Murray died at a local hospital at the age of 54 on Wednesday, and a funeral has been scheduled for 2 p.m. on June 29 at Harmony Hill Baptist Church in Lufkin.
“Our deepest sympathies go out to Chad’s wife, Emily, and son, Caleb, and the rest of his wonderful family and friends,” the sheriff’s office said. “Pray that God’s comfort will be upon them during this time of sudden and unexpected loss.”
LUFKIN, Texas (KETK) — The Lufkin Police Department is searching for individuals they believe were involved in a Saturday afternoon shooting that injured a man.
The police department said the victim was driving towards Brandon Park with another man to meet with other individuals they had argued with earlier that day at a Nacogdoches County game room. As they were driving towards the park, gunshots were fired.
A bullet grazed the victim’s head, and he was taken to a local hospital, while the other man was not injured.
Officers reportedly located 27 shell casings in the middle of the 1000 block of Hosea Dolphus Street. Officials also found the victim’s vehicle, which had several reported gunshot strikes.
The investigation remains ongoing, and detectives are working to locate those involved.
LONGVIEW – The East Texas Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse received a $750,000 grant from the Opioid Abatement Fund Council (OAFC) on Thursday as a part of the ongoing fight against the opioid crisis. The OAFC funds were collected by the State of Texas from settlements that the state won against the companies that profited from the opioid epidemic, including various pharmaceutical companies, marketing firms, distributors and even grocery store companies.
According to our news partner KETK, Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock announced Thursday that $48.9 million in Long-term Community-based Opioid Recovery Effort (CORE) grants have been awarded to nonprofits and communities across the state.
“These grants put opioid settlement funds to work where they can make the greatest difference, with the local providers and community partners on the front lines,” Hancock said. “It is encouraging to see these dollars put to good use, helping Texans find hope and a path forward.” Read the rest of this entry »
Oil prices slipped closer to where they were before the war with Iran began.
Qualcomm’s share price surged nearly 7% in afterhours trading after the company announced it had raised its forecast for revenue this year to $40 billion from $22 billion. It also announced a new computer chip for data centers called Dragonfly C1000 CPU that Meta plans to use.
Micron Technology’s shares jumped 18.5% in afterhours trading after it upgraded its forecast and exceeded analysts’ estimates.
The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.8%, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher.
Germany’s DAX advanced 0.5% to 24,859.99. The CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.2% to 8,398.21 and Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.1% to 10,473.69.
In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index surged 4.6% to a record close of 72,366.34 as traders snapped up shares in technology companies. Chipmaker Tokyo Electron’s shares gained 7.8%, while chip testing equipment maker Advantest’s shares soared 15%.
South Korea’s benchmark, the Kospi, hit a new record, surging 5.4% to 8,930.30 after briefly topping 9,000. Samsung Electronics’ shares gained 5.3% and SK Hynix leaped 13%.
Elsewhere in Asia, gains were more modest.
Taiwan’s Taiex climbed 0.5% and the Sensex in India was up 0.7%.
The Shanghai Composite index picked up 0.2% to 4,120.28, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.4% to 23,090.27.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.7% to 8,748.70.
On Wednesday, stocks wavered to a mixed close on Wall Street as losses for several tech giants including Microsoft weighed on the market. The S&P 500 fell 0.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is less weighted with tech stocks, rose 10.4%.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 0.4%.
Microsoft lost 2.3% and Oracle slumped 4.6%.
Many large tech companies have been behind Wall Street’s record-setting run throughout the year, but analysts have warned their valuations may have become stretched.
Google’s parent company Alphabet slipped 0.2%. The company is replacing Verizon in the Dow on Monday. Its inclusion in the S&P 500 means more to investors, however, because 401(k) accounts are much more likely to include an S&P 500 index fund than anything tied to the Dow.
Alphabet will become the fifth Magnificent 7 tech company to join the Dow. The others are Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Nvidia.
Oil companies had some of the biggest losses as prices fell while the U.S. and Iran negotiate a possible end to their war. Exxon Mobil fell 2% and Chevron lost 2.6%. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 3.8% to $73.87 a barrel. It has been trading below $80 in recent days but is still above the roughly $70 per barrel it was trading at in late February before the war began.
U.S. crude prices fell 3.9% to $70.34 a barrel.
Early Thursday, Brent was down 0.8% at $73.32 a barrel, while U.S. benchmark crude lost 0.5% to $69.88 a barrel.
Some of the bigger winners on Wall Street included homebuilders following approval of legislation beneficial to the industry. KB Home surged 16.7% and D.R. Horton jumped 6.7%.
The Federal Reserve will get an update on inflation later Thursday, when its preferred measure for prices is released. Economists expect the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, or PCE, to show that prices rose 4.1% in May. That would be the highest level in three years.
Inflation has been rising as tariffs raise costs for many goods. It worsened as the war pushed energy and shipping prices higher and that impact is expected to linger even as oil and gasoline prices fall.
In other dealings early Thursday, the U.S. dollar rose to 161.81 Japanese yen from 161.79 yen. The euro rose to $1.1362 from $1.1359.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) – A giraffe named Gracie is missing in Texas, and the search for her has become a tall order.
Gracie, who is about 3 years old, has been missing for nearly two weeks after escaping her enclosure at Cedar Hollow Ranch in the Texas Hill Country, said Vic Jones, who owns the remote property about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of San Antonio. He said Wednesday that Gracie had wandered into a part of the privately owned preserve that other giraffes previously avoided.
Jones said he has sent up helicopters to look for Gracie, a few sightings have trickled in, and a $5,000 reward is on the table.
But the giraffe, which stands roughly the height of a tree, hasn’t turned up.
“She wound up going up and feeding in an area on the hillside and the rocky ledges that none of the other giraffes had ever gone on before,” Jones said. “And when she came down off of there, she came down on the wrong side of the gate.”
The ranch is in rural Real County, where its roughly 2,700 residents were put on alert to be on the lookout for a missing giraffe. Jones said the search area is extremely remote, and the likelihood of Gracie encountering any humans is low.
“People are not in danger of her because she’s not around people,” Jones said. ‘She’s out in very, very rough, heavily wooded lands.”
The Texas Hill Country has one of the largest concentrations of exotic captive animals in the country. Real County Sheriff Nathan Johnson said the mild climate and rugged terrain seems to serve as a good stand-in for most of the animals’ native African environments.
He rattled off a list of animals that have gone missing over the years, especially after floods, but said this was his first giraffe.
“I’ve had wildebeests, I’ve had water buffalo, I’ve had monkeys, I’ve had zebras, all go missing,” Johnson said. “Sometimes we recover them, and sometimes we don’t.”
While the middle of Texas is not a giraffe’s native environment, Jones said Gracie should be able to find plenty of leaves and other vegetation to eat. He said other animals were not likely to bother her.
Jones said he initially had helicopters searching an area of about 7,500 acres (3,000 hectares) with no luck. A few days later, there was a report that Gracie was spotted to the south.
But by the time they could search the area, Jones said, she was already gone.
“We’re always two three days late for where the information is coming from, so that makes it tough,” Jones said.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas would make Bible stories required reading for more than 5 million public school students under a proposal that has reignited debate over widening efforts in the U.S. to put more religion in classrooms.
A final vote by the Republican-controlled Texas State Board of Education on whether to approve the plan is set for Friday. Last year Texas became the largest state to require every classroom to display the Ten Commandments.
The proposed list has drawn fierce opposition. Critics argue that it violates the constitutional separation of church, lacks diversity and favors Christianity over other religions. Supporters say Judeo-Christian traditions were fundamental to the nation’s founding and that should be reflected in the public school curriculum.
Here’s what to know about the proposal and the broader fight over religion in public schools:
Republicans and Trump have pushed more religion into classrooms
President Donald Trump has pledged to protect and expand religious expression in public schools nationwide, and Texas — a red state that is home to about one in 10 of all U.S. public school students — often sets the agenda.
In 2023, Texas became the first state to allow the hiring of chaplains to counsel students, and the following year, the board narrowly approved an optional Bible-infused curriculum for elementary schools. Last year, Republican lawmakers required public schools to display the Ten Commandments, a measure recently upheld by a federal appeals court.
Texas has about 5.5 million public school students from kindergarten through high school. If approved by the board, the required reading list would take effect in 2030.
“We need to focus on what our nation was founded on and not apologize for that,” Susan Perez, founder of Citizens for Education Reform, told the education board during testimony this week. “It is the truth and we should not be afraid.”
List requires Bible readings from elementary to high school
Picture-book stories for elementary students including “Noah’s Ark,” “David and Goliath” and “Daniel and the Lion’s Den” are on the required reading list. By fourth grade, students would encounter passages about Jesus in the New Testament.
By middle school, students would be expected to read several passages about Jesus, including passages from his most famous sermon, and another where he instructs people to cast aside earthly anxiety and seek the kingdom of God. Another would connect a reading from the Book of Lamentations and its themes of the destruction of Jerusalem with readings about the Holocaust.
In high school, students would read the parable of the prodigal son, portions of the Book of Job, and the story of Adam and Eve.
Some education observers said Texas may be the first state to enact a required reading list, with the added layer of mandated religious text.
Antero Garcia, president of the National Council of Teachers of English and a Stanford University professor, said he doesn’t know of any other state that has such a list. Educators at the district and school level usually choose what texts their students will read, Garcia said.
Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program, said she believes such a mandated reading list would be “unique” to Texas.
“I think there’s lots of state lists that exist that are like advised readings, suggested readings,” she said.
Critics say the proposal favors Christianity over other religions
The required readings rely heavily on the King James Bible, one of the most popular translations, and more recent evangelical translations that critics argue lean too heavily on Christian interpretations of the texts.
Other critics question whether religious stories should be taught at all in schools attended by thousands of children of Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and other faiths, and others who identify as atheist or agnostic.
“I do think that it’s disturbing that there are no texts from other religious traditions that are included,” said Frank Strong, an English and journalism teacher and co-founder of the student advocacy group Texas Freedom to Read.
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Stengle reported from Dallas.
ANGELINA COUNTY (KETK) — A Lufkin man was pronounced dead on Monday afternoon after his vehicle reportedly drove off U.S. Highway 59 and into the Neches River, officials said.
According to a preliminary report from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the crash occurred at around 1:43 p.m. near the Polk and Angelina County line. A 2022 Ford Bronco was traveling north on the highway before reportedly traveling off the road, down an embankment and into the Neches River.
Mount Pleasant ISD mourns 2 students killed in car crash
DPS identified the driver as 71-year-old Theodore Fajen III of Lufkin, who was pronounced dead on the scene by a justice of the peace.
The investigation remains ongoing and no information is available at this time, DPS said.
UPDATE: Dejae Brown and Alana Mumphrey voluntarily surrendered to law enforcement sometime Thursday. This according to Longview Police Department Public Information Officer LaDarian Brown. The investigation is ongoing.
LONGVIEW – An ongoing assault investigation is underway by the Longview Police Department after one woman was left seriously injured early Sunday morning. The incident took place outside of Whiskey J’s, a local bar in Longview, early on Sunday morning and led to the arrest of Ciarrianne Fuller, who was taken into custody on Tuesday after being charged with assault causing bodily injury. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — A fresh watermelon is a Texas Fourth of July staple, but growers across South Texas are facing a tough season as persistent rain and cooler temperatures slow production. Texas A&M AgriLife reports that the unusually wet weather has fueled weeds, insects and crop diseases, all of which make growing and harvesting far more difficult in one of the state’s most important watermelon?producing regions.
According to our news partner KETK, in East Texas the ripple effects are already being felt. Sparks Enterprise Stand, located off Highway 155 in Tyler, has sourced its melons from Grapeland for eight years and says supply?chain prices have climbed. Even so, owner Bianca Woods says they’re keeping customer prices steady, topping out at $15 per melon, because “we’re in business for the people.”
Despite the challenges in South Texas, Woods says crops across the Pineywoods have remained steady. Early?season melons may not be as sweet due to the lack of sunshine, but growers expect flavor to improve as sunny days return and fields begin to dry out.
McALLEN (THE TEXAS TRIBUNE) — As the New World screwworm continues to infiltrate livestock and other animals in Texas, many have been asking how the parasitic fly landed here to begin with.
Last week, the Texas Animal Health Commission identified a potential cause: small wildlife and rodents like armadillos, opossums and rabbits.
MAP: Where have New World screwworm cases been reported in Texas?
Until now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has pointed to multiple factors, including border policies under President Joe Biden to the illicit movement of cattle at the hands of drug cartels.
The new finding is based on conversations with entomologists, Lewis R. “Bud” Dinges, executive director of the Texas Animal Health Commission, told the Texas House Committee on Agriculture and Livestock.
However, the source of the first case of New World Screwworm remains under investigation, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Other health experts say it’s still undetermined what allowed the invasive pest to finally breach the Texas-Mexico border.
Tracing the source
During last week’s committee hearing, Dinges said epidemiological investigators have found no evidence so far linking Texas cases to the illicit movement of cattle from Mexico.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said it is still investigating to determine how screwworm spread.
“That’s very much an unknown, still, at this time. But wildlife is susceptible to New World Screwworm in the same manner that livestock and other warm-blooded animals are,” said a spokesperson for Texas Parks and Wildlife.
However, the spokesperson added that small mammals don’t travel long distances such as the distance between the last known detection in Mexico at the time to the location of the first case in Texas, which was detected in LaPryor on June 3.
Moving north
The USDA has repeatedly mentioned that models predicted that screwworm would inevitably arrive in the U.S. after the parasitic fly began moving north from South America in 2023.
The pest began trickling up through Panama after it broke through the Darien Gap, which had served as a barrier for screwworm for decades.
It then slowly moved through Costa Rica until it reached Nicaragua where it traveled quickly, said Jeremy Radachowsky, Mesoamerica and the Caribbean regional director for the Wildlife Conservation Society.
“Not only was it moving very quickly, but it was moving exactly along these paths of cattle trafficking and cattle contraband that we’ve been able to identify earlier,” Radachowsky said.
Screwworm detections followed those cattle-trafficking paths into Honduras and Guatemala. A few weeks later, Mexican officials detected their first case in November 2024.
Screwworm was predicted to have arrived in the U.S. last summer, USDA officials said, but efforts to stop it delayed it for a year.
“We’ve been actively and vocally warning that in order to stop screwworm, you have to stop this illegal and unregulated movement of cattle from south to north,” Radachowsky said. “That is definitely the driver.”
But how it crossed from Mexico into the U.S. remains unclear, he said.
The USDA closed all southern ports of entry to livestock imports from Mexico in May 2025 and have kept them closed since then, preventing cattle from legally crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.
The Wildlife Conservation Society does not have clear information on how screwworm crossed into Texas, Radachowsky said, but noted that it can infest and travel with other warm-blooded animals like pets and wildlife.
Governor Abbott launches New World Screwworm tracker website
“At the Texas-Mexico border, you’ve got feral pigs, white tailed deer, other wildlife, basically moving back and forth as well,” he said.
The unknown
There are 13 active cases of New World Screwworm in Texas as of Tuesday. An average of 15 suspected cases are reported to the Texas Animal Health Commission every day, Dinges said during the committee hearing last week.
State Rep. Ryan Guillen, a Republican from Rio Grande City who chairs the committee, asked whether it would be logical to assume there are more cases between the Texas-Mexico border and the location of the confirmed infestations that just haven’t been reported.
Dinges replied that testing for screwworm has been ongoing for over a year and cases had not been detected until now.“We’ve been submitting anywhere from two to six larvae samples a week since last May and we have not detected any New World Screwworm larvae until June 3,” Dinges said.
Despite those assurances, farmers and ranchers throughout Texas are operating under the assumption that screwworm is present in their area.
“There’s just so much country that’s unsurveilled,” said John Sewell, a rancher from Kinney and Uvalde County said during the hearing. “I’m in between two — one south of me and one north of me. Do I think I don’t have it? I would be a fool to think I didn’t have it.”
Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.
MARSHALL — A Waco-based real-estate company has secured a contract to start landscape and renovation work at the former Marshall High School to transform it into a new lofts, they announced on Tuesday. After working with the city and visiting the site to take bids, Versatile Real Estate Company will begin its extensive work on the property’s landscape and renovations to the building on July 6, the company said.
According to our news partner KETK, the building will be restored and given a new purpose through Versatile’s contract by creating modern loft residences and community gathering areas. According to the company, the soon-to-be Marshall Lofts “celebrate the character of the past while creating a vibrant, connected community for the future.”
We are excited to share this wonderful rendering of what the old Marshall High School will look like once our project is complete,” Versatile said. “Thank you to the City of Marshall and most of all the people who live in the community for your extreme patience, and enduring the experience of seeing the Historic site in its current state.” Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – The Tyler Parks and Rec Department held a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday to celebrate Stewart Park, which will be the newest park to open in Tyler in more than 20 years.
The park is located on Frankston Highway and is named after the Stewarts family, who previously sold their land to the city and made an important impact on the city’s education in the community.
Additionally, the park will serve as the starting point for the Legacy Trail Extension, a 12-foot-wide multipurpose trail that runs through W.E. Winters Park and connects to Peete Elementary School.
The park will also include playground equipment, a pavilion, and picnic areas as well as new bathrooms. The city said the goal is to complete the park by the end of this year.
AUSTIN, Texas (KETK) — As Texas continues to attract major technology investments, state lawmakers are raising concerns about how the rapid growth of data centers could affect water supplies, particularly in rural parts of East Texas.
The Texas House Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing Tuesday to examine the industry’s water demands as state officials work on the next Texas State Water Plan ahead of the 2027 legislative session.
Much of the discussion centered on whether the state has enough information to accurately predict future water needs as more data centers move into Texas.
Temple McKinnon, director of Water Supply Planning Divisions for the Texas Water Development Board, testified that the agency surveyed industrial facilities, including 341 data centers, earlier this year to better understand water usage in 2025. However, only about 17% of facilities responded.
That response rate drew criticism from lawmakers.
McKinnon acknowledged the low participation and said the agency relies on historical data and estimates when survey responses are unavailable.
“Many facilities, there’s low response rates across the board, there can be, and when we don’t get a response, we do whatever we can to estimate around it. We might roll that over depending on past use,” McKinnon said.
Lawmakers questioned whether those estimates are sufficient given the pace at which data centers are being developed across the state.
State Rep. Trent Ashby, R-Lufkin, shifted the conversation toward East Texas, where he said some counties lack groundwater conservation districts that monitor and regulate groundwater use.
Ashby asked McKinnon whether a data center located in a county without a groundwater conservation district would face any restrictions on groundwater pumping:
“So if you’re in a county with a data center or proposed data center and there is no GCD (groundwater conservation district), there is no requirement or obstacle if you’re a data center to overcome to pump as much groundwater as you want, am I correct?” Ashby asked.
“There would be no entity in place to regulate that use, yes,” McKinnon responded.
The exchange highlighted concerns from some East Texas residents who worry that growing industrial water demands could strain local groundwater supplies in areas with limited oversight.
Ashby said he has heard from constituents concerned that future data center development could impact water availability for rural communities that depend on wells and aquifers.
Google announces $10M Texas water impact fund; makes data center water use pledges
Lawmakers emphasized that additional studies and more accurate reporting will be necessary to understand the long-term impact that data centers could have on Texas water resources and to determine whether current planning efforts adequately account for future growth.
Texans remain wary of the rapid growth of data centers, citing concerns like noise, water use, energy demand, and land impact. A UT Austin Texas Politics Project poll reflects that sentiment, showing 56% oppose local data?center construction while 29% support it. Still, lawmakers noted a competing pressure: the national?security risk of falling behind China in the race for advanced artificial intelligence.
Throughout the hearing, multiple county?level officials urged the Legislature to give local governments more authority to block or regulate data?center projects. They argued that communities should have a stronger voice in deciding whether these facilities fit their long?term development goals.
The hearing remained underway Tuesday afternoon. Committee Chairman State Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine, said discussions could continue into the evening as lawmakers gather information to help shape future water policy and planning efforts across Texas.
SMITH COUNTY — Amid a surge in cryptocurrency scams sweeping East Texas, Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith convened regional lawmakers Monday in an urgent bid to confront what he warned is becoming a rapidly escalating threat. According to our news partner KETK, the meeting was attended by several lawmakers, including Sen. Bryan Hughes, State Representatives Cole Hefner and Daniel Alders, and the Captain of the Texas Federal Crimes Intelligence Center, Jeff Roberts.
Driven by a spike in cases, Smith convened the meeting after a growing number of East Texas seniors were coerced into depositing thousands of dollars into Bitcoin ATMs, funds that vanish instantly and are rarely recoverable.
Unfortunately many East Texans have failed to realize they were being scammed before being left in financial ruin. In early May, a Georgia inmate orchestrated a crypto kiosk scam by directing an elderly Smith County woman to a local crypto kiosk after claiming they were a sheriff’s office employee. The scam resulted in the woman losing $13,000 and the scammer was charged with theft from the elderly. Read the rest of this entry »
CAMP COUNTY — A crash that happened on U.S. Highway 271 Sunday afternoon left two siblings dead, after a vehicle collided head-on with an 18-wheeler in Camp County, officials say. According to Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Adam Albritton, troopers responded to the two-vehicle crash just south of the Titus County line at approximately 2:32 p.m. According to our news partner KETK, preliminary investigation found that a white Nissan Altima, driven by 16-year-old Gavin Brooks of Mt. Pleasant, was traveling northbound on Hwy 271 when the Nissan crossed over into the southbound lane and collided with a semi-trailer.
Brooks and the passenger of the Nissan, 21-year-old Morgan Brooks were both pronounced deceased on the scene, DPS said. The driver of the semi-trailer was transported to a local hospital for their injuries.
Mount Pleasant ISD, where both Morgan and Gavin attended, released a statement on Monday following the tragic crash.
“Our hearts are broken at the loss of our students, Morgan Brooks, who graduated in 2023, and her brother Gavin Brooks-Thompson, a Class of 2027 senior,” the district said. “MPISD extends our deepest condolences to their family, friends, teachers, and classmates and the entire community of Mount Pleasant.” Read the rest of this entry »