Today is
Tuesday July 21, 2026
RUSK COUNTY — Following a fatal crash in Rusk County on Saturday afternoon, one man was arrested after it was discovered he had allegedly caused the crash while driving intoxicated. According to an affidavit from the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office and our news partner KETK, a trooper was dispatched to a multi-vehicle crash at the intersection of FM 3053 and FM 1639 in Gregg County.
Once on the scene, the trooper observed a Nissan Versa that had become disabled following the crash. The driver of the Nissan was identified as Tanner Templeton and two pickup trucks that were involved in the incident were found disabled behind Templeton’s car. Authorities believe that the crash was caused when Templeton was driving westbound on FM 1639 and while he was approaching the intersection, he drove past a stop sign without stopping and was struck by a pickup truck traveling northbound on FM 3053.
After striking Templeton’s car, one of the trucks driven by Tracey Fears was pushed into oncoming southbound traffic and struck head-on by another truck. After being hit by the truck, Fears was pronounced dead on the scene and his two passengers were taken by helicopter to a local hospital after suffering serious injury. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – Residents of Tyler gathered for a community meeting on Monday to voice concerns about a planned Bitcoin mining data center. The Bitcoin mining facility is currently proposed for 1105 W. Erwin Street in Tyler. On Monday, Mark Buntsev, a community liaison for Vulcan Core LLC, hosted a community meeting with residents living near the W. Erwin Street site, where his company proposes to build a Bitcoin facility.
The facility would use specially designed computers to “mine” Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, a currency that is created and stored only digitally. Developers met with Tyler residents at The Meeting Place banquet hall, located just blocks from the proposed site of the Bitcoin facility, according to out news partner KETK.
“Some of their concerns were the usage of water, the usage of electricity and the usage of noise, all of which I’d like to think that we were able to address through resources such as a further understanding of the technology itself, understanding that we don’t have any kind of power draw or water draw from the city. We utilize distilled water mixed with glycol,” Buntsev said on Monday. Read the rest of this entry »
WOOD COUNTY – One man died on Sunday after an 18-wheeler hydroplaned and crashed into his vehicle on Highway 80 near Mineola. The Texas Department of Public Safety told our news partner KETK that 45-year-old David Earl Johnson of Grand Saline was driving his Ford Fusion west on Highway 80 about half a mile west of Mineola at around 10:47 a.m. on Sunday, as an 18-wheeler was heading east.
Johnson’s Ford was hit when the 18-wheeler hydroplaned on the wet roadway and crossed into the westbound lane of Highway 80. Johnson was fatally injured in the crash and was later pronounced dead at the scene, according to DPS.
The condition of the 18-wheeler driver is currently unknown and DPS is currently investigating the crash.
Update: KTBB talked to the City of Nacodoches Wednesday night. They felt comfortable of the main being patched up by Thursday evening.
NACOGDOCHES – A major roadway is currently closed down following a sewer main collapse on Monday afternoon.
According to the City of Nacogdoches and our news partner KETK, the sewer main on West Spradley Street collapsed after excessive rainfall in the area. Crews are expected to begin working to repair the sewer main once conditions allow, and the street will remain closed to traffic until further notice.
Due to the closure, residents are asked to enter and exit the neighborhood at the intersection of South Loop 224 and Old Lufkin Road. An entrance can also be made to the street at the intersection of Old Lufkin Road and U.S. 59 South.
KTBB talked to the City of Nacodoches Wednesday night. They felt comfortable of the main being patched up by Thursday evening.
TATUM, Texas (KETK) – One man has been arrested after an alleged aggravated assault happened at an apartment complex in Tatum on Saturday morning. According to the Tatum Police Department and our news partner KETK, a Tatum PD patrol officer and deputies from the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office responded to a reported aggravated assault at an apartment complex in Tatum at around 12:54 a.m. on Saturday.
The Tatum PD officer arrested one man in connection to the aggravated assault. The man was booked into the Rusk County Jail on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Tatum PD did not identify the man but they did note that no one was injured during the assault.
SABINE COUNTY (KETK) – Former Sabine County Sheriff Thomas Raymond Philips was buried in Beaumont on Saturday, after he died at the age of 81 earlier this month.
Philips was born in Beaumont but moved to the Toledo Bend Lake area with his wife in 1977. They operated a mom-and-pop store there before he started his career with the Sabine County Sheriff’s Office in 1989.
Before he was elected as sheriff in Jan. 1997, Philips served with the sheriff’s office as a dispatcher, jailer, chief jailer, deputy sheriff and with K-9 Chico as the county’s first K-9 officer.
Former Sabine County Sheriff Thomas Raymond Philips. Photo courtesy of the Sabine County Sheriff’s Office.
Philips served as sheriff of Sabine County from Jan. 1997 and Dec. 2000. Philips continued working for another 16 years until he retired as a court security officer at the Jack Brooks Federal Building in Beaumont in 2016.
He passed away at 81-years-old at the Parkview on Hollybrook senior community in Longview on June 4. Current Sabine County Sheriff George Griffith and many other law enforcement members helped escort Philips’ coffin to Forest Lawn Cemetery on Saturday.
ATHENS – The City of Athens has announced that several roads around the city have been closed by flooding as heavy storms move across East Texas. The flooding comes as the National Weather Service has extended a flash flood warning across much of western Henderson County until 10 p.m. The warning includes all of Athens, Log Cabin, Malakoff, Cross Roads and Cayuga.
“Please stay off the roads unless travel is necessary. Never drive around barricades or attempt to cross a flooded roadway. Water may be deeper or moving faster than it appears,” the City of Athens said. “Turn around, don’t drown. Please slow down, use caution and give emergency crews room to work.”
MARSHALL – Heavy rains Monday in Marshall have created flash flooding, and have made Highways 80 and 59 dangerous to travel. Reports say the high water on Highway 80 between Longview and Marshall, have had some drivers turning around when encountering these conditions. Many drivers have attempted in driving through. Read the rest of this entry »
(UVALDE, Texas) — Former Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo is set to return to a Texas courtroom on Friday, as the judge overseeing his criminal trial weighs moving the case out of Uvalde and whether the whole thing might have to wait because US Customs and Border Protection has refused to cooperate.
Arredondo in 2024 was charged with 10 counts of endangering students by failing to quickly respond to the 2022 mass shooting. The criminal case has stalled due to two ongoing civil lawsuits that seek to force agents with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Border Patrol Tactical Unit — involved in taking down the gunman — to testify in the case.
Nineteen students and two of their teachers were killed when Robb Elementary School was attacked by a former student on the last day of school, May 24, 2022.
Arredondo led the response to the 2022 shooting rampage, and prosecutors allege that he ignored his training by waiting some 77 minutes before agents stormed a classroom and killed the gunman. Earlier this year, a jury acquitted former school police officer Adrian Gonzales on similar charges after a three-week trial.
Families of the victims responded to that verdict with outrage and some are looking to Arredondo’s trial as another opportunity for justice.
“We had a little hope, but it wasn’t enough,” Jacinto Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter Jackie died in the shooting, said after Gonzales’ acquittal in January. “Again, we are failed. I don’t even know what to say.”
Arredondo has pleaded not guilty, arguing he followed his training and saying he did not consider himself as the incident commander that day, though investigators said he was just that. Arredondo’s attorney Paul Looney told ABC News that he believes the case against Arredondo is weaker than the failed prosecution of Gonzales.
“They tried the one they thought that they had the best shot at, but now they’re going to put everything they’ve got into doing this one, because they do want to win at least something,” Looney said.
Friday’s status conference comes as Judge Sid Harle weighs the future of the case. The judge has said he wants to determine how the trial against Arredondo can proceed amid the ongoing litigation with CBP and whether — as in the case of Gonzales — the trial ought to be moved out of Uvalde.
Both Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell and Arredondo filed federal lawsuits to compel the federal agents to cooperate with investigators and potentially testify at trial.
“The three border patrol agents whose cooperation is now being sought by District Attorney Mitchell — two of whom participated in the actual killing of the gunman and the third who was present in the hallway during most of the incident — are essential to the pending Texas criminal prosecution,” Mitchell wrote in her lawsuit.
CBP attorneys have argued that the request for testimony is unreasonable, unnecessary and “negatively impacts CBP operations and national security” by taking up resources and potentially disclosing sensitive information.
Attorneys have argued that CBP revealed enough information through the investigative summaries prepared by the Texas Rangers and a report released by CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility.
“It is unclear from your request how testimony from the identified CBP employees is genuinely necessary to the proceedings,” an attorney for CBP said in a court filing.
Earlier this year, a new judge was assigned to the lawsuit filed by Mitchell, and this week she filed a motion to schedule a status conference in that case. Looney, who filed a separate lawsuit largely mirroring the District Attorney’s, said he anticipates the litigation will take another eight months to a year.
Friday’s hearing will be held in Uvalde, though the trial of Gonzales was held in Corpus Christi to find an impartial jury, due to the widespread impact of the shooting on the Uvalde community.
Arredondo’s lawyer said he expects Harle to grant his motion for a venue change, though he claimed there is “no sense of urgency” to resolve the venue issue while the case remains stalled by the ongoing civil litigation.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
CHEROKEE COUNTRY – Officials Tuesday have identified the man who was found dead and recovered from Lake Palestine last Thursday evening as 24-year-old Donavan Townsend. According to Cherokee County Precinct 4 Justice of Peace Rodney Wallace, the incident occurred near the Brookshire’s Recreation Center.
POLK COUNTY, Texas (KETK) — The discovery of an indoor marijuana farm in Polk County has led to the arrest of a man, and several others to follow, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday.
While conducting a search warrant at a Livingston residence off of FM 943 on Wednesday, investigators located a “sophisticated indoor marijuana grow operation” on the property. Investigators were able to recover over 50 but less than 2,000 pounds of marijuana from the farm, amounting to an estimated worth of $100,000.
At the home, one resident was identified as Alexander Vega, who admitted to growing the marijuana. He was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana, a second-degree felony, the sheriff’s office said. Currently at the Polk County Jail, his bond has been set at $100,000.
Several other names connected to the farm were discovered during the investigation, and more suspects may be charged in the future.
“Due to the potential risks associated with chemicals and materials commonly used in indoor marijuana grow operations, members of the State’s Methamphetamine Initiative Group (MIG), a Houston HIDTA initiative, responded to assist with the removal of the marijuana plants and to help identify chemicals located on the property,” the sheriff’s office said.
As for the land, residences and two vehicles, the sheriff’s office looks to seek seizure through forfeiture proceedings.
“This investigation is another example of the dedication and persistence of our Narcotics Division and our law enforcement partners. Indoor grow operations are not simple marijuana cases,” Sheriff Byron Lyons said. “These operations can involve large amounts of drugs, dangerous chemicals, electrical hazards, and organized criminal activity. Our office will continue to aggressively investigate narcotics trafficking in Polk County and hold those responsible accountable.”
(NEW YORK) — The detection of New World screwworm in cattle does not pose a risk to beef consumers, and humans are unlikely to become infected by the parasite themselves, experts told ABC News.
There have been a total of six cases of New World screwworm (NWS) detected among animals in the U.S. since the beginning of the month — in four cattle, one goat and a dog, according to the latest update from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The goat was newly confirmed as the latest case to be infested with New World screwworm, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a press conference Monday.
The screwworm likely migrated from Mexico and Central America, Ben Weinheimer, president and CEO of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, told ABC News. The U.S. closed the border to Mexican cattle coming into the country in 2024 as a result of the screwworm outbreak in the region, Derrell Peele, a livestock marketing specialist at Oklahoma State University, told ABC News.
Officials continue to investigate the case of the dog that they believe likely may have been infected in Mexico, Rollins said. The screwworm typically spreads by transport of either livestock or pets, Peele said.
The screwworm does not currently present a food safety issue, Rollins said, adding that there is “no need to panic.” A screwworm infection does not affect the meat, Peele said.
“These developments obviously represent a serious threat to our livestock and wildlife, but they haven’t caught us off guard,” Rollins said. “We have been tracking this pest for a long time, and we have fought before, and we will do so again.”
Americans can continue to feel confident about consuming beef safely, Dustin Pendell, a professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University and director of the Collaborating Center for the Economics of Animal Health, told ABC News.
The outbreak marks the first time the screwworm has been detected in the U.S. in decades. The USDA officially declared the screwworm eradicated from the U.S. in 1966 and successfully eliminated a small outbreak in the Florida Keys in 2017, which occurred primarily among endangered Key deer.
Screwworms infestations begin when a female fly lays eggs on open wounds or other parts of the body in live-warm-blooded animals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The screwworm is “very treatable” if caught early, which allows the animals to be minimally impacted, Weinheimer said.
The USDA uses the sterile insect technique to treat for screwworm. The highly effective treatment involves sterilizing screwworm pupae — the immobile stage of the screwworm before metamorphosis — by exposing them to gamma radiation and then releasing them into the wild to mate with fertile females. The females then lay unfertilized eggs that never hatch, ending the reproductive cycle.
Millions of sterile flies have already been released in the affected area, USDA officials said.
State officials also apply containment protocols, including establishing quarantine zones, in order to contain infestations, Weinheimer said.
“You’ve seen this huge surge in response by the federal and state officials to stay on top of it as much as possible,” Weinheimer said.
Construction of a new sterile fly production facility is underway at Moore Air Base in Texas and is expected to be completed by November 2027, Rollins said. Once completed, along with other facilities, an estimated 500 million sterile flies will be released on a weekly basis.
Screwworms are actually a fly larva that burrows into and eats living flesh, unlike regular maggots that only feed on dead and decaying matter, according to the CDC.
Symptoms in animals could include a wound that has not healed or a wound that smells foul, Ann Hohenhaus, senior veterinarian and director of pet health information at Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, told ABC News last week. White larva may also be visible within the skin lesions, Hohenhaus said.
Infected cattle may not feel well and may stop producing milk and gaining weight, Hohenhaus said. The parasite can also infect a herd quickly if treatment does not begin early enough, she added.
Infection in humans is not common, Hohenhaus said.
People who have open wounds or small breaks in the skin — such as a scratch, insect bite or recent surgery scar — could be at increased risk of screwworm infection if they are in areas where the flies are present, according to the CDC.
Those who have open or unhealed wounds should see a physician should they believe they were exposed to the parasite, Hohenhaus said.
The outbreak is not expected to cause beef prices — which are already at an all-time high — to increase, the experts said.
The current drought conditions in the U.S. is making it difficult to expand herds because there isn’t enough grass available to feed on, Pendell said, adding that hay and other supplemental feeds increase costs even more.
In addition, geopolitical issues, such as the war in Iran, are causing fertilizer and fuel costs to increase, William Secor, a livestock economist at the University of Georgia, told ABC News.
“Cattle prices are going to continue to be high for quite a while because of these issues,” Pendell said.
However, the costs from the screwworm will be absorbed by producers, and consumers will likely not see any further price increases from the outbreak alone, Secor said.
ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration is once again bypassing federal environmental laws to speed up work on border barriers and related infrastructure in the Big Bend region of West Texas, this time for a project in and around the region’s namesake national and state parks.
According to a preliminary federal notice released Monday, the latest regulatory waiver will apply to more than 100 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border in the region, from near the Closed Canyon trail in Big Bend Ranch State Park through the entirety of Big Bend National Park and into remote parts of southeastern Brewster County.
In the notice, Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin wrote that the administration is bypassing a wide range of laws “to ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads” along the southern border.
While U.S. Customs and Border Protection continues to insist it will not build a 30-foot-tall steel border wall in either the state or national park, the agency’s current plans call for a mix of vehicle barriers, surveillance technology and patrol road upgrades in the parks as part of a project dubbed “Big Bend 4.” A CBP spokesperson confirmed that the latest waiver is intended for that project.
This week’s waiver comes after six former superintendents of Big Bend National Park penned a letter to Mullin urging him to not take such a step.
“This is devastating news, giving CBP unfettered authority to do anything they want within the national park,” said Bob Krumenaker, the park’s most recent former superintendent who now chairs the Keep Big Bend Wild advocacy group .
Technically, this latest regulatory waiver isn’t new: It’s a revision of a similar one issued in May for a different stretch of the border.
In Monday’s notice, Mullin wrote that last month’s filing – which initially applied to part of the Rio Grande east of Big Bend National Park – contained an “incorrect” description of the area covered by the waiver. The new filing contains updated GPS coordinates, changing the area of the border where federal laws will be bypassed.
The stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border covered by the Trump administration’s latest regulatory waiver for border security infrastructure is located between these two points on the map, according to GPS coordinates in a preliminary federal notice released Monday.
Park supporters have been particularly concerned about the potential for new road building along the Rio Grande, which Krumenaker said in a statement advocates will “continue to do everything possible to deter.”
“Their utter disregard for the will of the people, the taxpayers’ money, the actual data showing minimal numbers of border crossings inside the park, and the values that Texans and all Americans hold dear as represented by the National Parks leave us without sufficient words to express,” he said.
In a statement, a CBP spokesperson said the agency is coordinating with the National Park Service, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and other agencies.
“While there are priorities for new border wall and detection technology in (the Border Patrol’s) Big Bend Sector, the combination of barriers, roads, and technology (cameras, infrared illuminators, and other detection technology) in the areas adjacent to the Big Bend National Park and State Park are still in the planning stages, while CBP focuses on other higher priority locations,” the agency said.
The latest waiver will allow CBP to ignore a wide range of federal laws as it moves to install or upgrade a mix of surveillance technology, vehicle barriers and patrol roads in the parks, as the agency’s latest map of the Big Bend 4 project calls for.
“These horrific plans are an affront to the millions of Americans who treasure Big Bend,” Laiken Jordahl, an advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “Politicians who’ve never set foot here are signing a death warrant for this wild and beautiful place.”
The Center noted that the latest waiver notice, as written, allows for the installation of new border fencing, barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors.
The latest development comes as Customs and Border Protection is gearing up to begin construction on an actual 30-foot steel border wall through other parts of the Big Bend region outside the parks within weeks.
Amid months of shifting plans and public confusion about what exactly the administration is seeking to build in the region, anti-wall advocates have continued to sound the alarm about the physical wall plan, saying the approximately 175-mile border wall through Hudspeth, Jeff Davis and Presidio counties is still a threat.
Jordahl’s group, along with West Texas residents, has already sued the Trump administration over an earlier federal regulatory waiver intended to speed up the steel border wall. He said the Center for Biological Diversity will fight the new waiver “with everything we’ve got.”
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This story was originally published by Marfa Public Radio and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Environmental groups on Wednesday sued attempting to stop the Trump administration from giving SpaceX more than 700 acres (280 hectares) of wildlife refuge in Texas, claiming it would worsen ecological risks to a Gulf Coast region already transformed by billionaire Elon Musk’s rocket operations.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this month approved moving forward with the deal with SpaceX, which would surrender 683 acres (276 hectares) the company owns in exchange for federal land in the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. The 103,000-acre (41,700-hectare) refuge spans four counties along the Texas border and is home to animal habitats and historical landmarks.
Maps show the land SpaceX would acquire would be closer to the company’s launchpad near the U.S.-Mexico border.
The exchange would be the first time the U.S. government has swapped land in the area with SpaceX, said Laiken Jordahl, a spokesperson with the Center for Biological Diversity, which filed the lawsuit alongside other opponents.
The lawsuit asks a federal court in Washington to halt the exchange, which has worried SpaceX opponents in the area who have long criticized the company’s expanding footprint over lost access to beaches and concerns over exploding rockets.
“Rather than exercising its enforcement authority to protect the Refuge from SpaceX’s activities and to require mitigation to address the harm SpaceX has caused, the Service seeks to give SpaceX over 700 acres within the Refuge,” states the lawsuit, which was filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups.
A spokesperson for the Fish and Wildlife Service said the agency does not comment on ongoing litigation.
Earlier this month, the agency issued a final environmental assessment report that determined the exchange would cause no significant impact to the area. The report said the federal government believed the acquisition would represent a “net conservation benefit” and provide “substantial long-term conservation value and improving landscape-scale habitat connectivity across refuges in South Texas.”
SpaceX did not return an email seeking comment.
The lawsuit was filed as the company is preparing to go public, putting Musk on the path to become the world’s first trillionaire.
The space exploration company first broke ground in Texas more than a decade ago and has expanded rapidly, so much that SpaceX employees last year voted to incorporate their own local government called Starbase.
AUSTIN, Texas (THE TEXAS TRIBUNE) — Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday released sweeping regulatory recommendations on data centers for the Legislature to pass in the 2027 session, as Texas grapples with an explosion of artificial intelligence-driven development and soaring power demands.
In a letter to state regulators, Abbott outlined a series of proposals designed to ensure data centers shoulder the costs of their growth rather than Texas ratepayers.
Angelina County residents call for action against AI data centers
Among his legislative priorities:
Requiring new facilities to add power generation to the state’s power grid
Requiring data centers pay for their own grid interconnection and infrastructure costs
Mandating the use of “closed-loop” water systems, which draw a large amount of water at the start but reuse it over some period of years
Require annual reporting by all data centers on electricity and water use
Establishing best-practice standards to address community concerns like noise
Repealing data center sales tax exemptions and “other outdated or unnecessary incentives for data centers”
The Texas Tribune reported earlier this year that the state is poised to lose $3.2 billion in sales tax revenue over the next two years because of a sales tax exemption.
“The rapid scale of data center development requires oversight to ensure everyday Texans are not burdened with the costs of infrastructure driven by data center expansion, and to ensure that as data centers interconnect to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid, residential electric bills are not negatively affected,” Abbott wrote in the letter first obtained by the Texas Bullpen.
It’s a striking call for industry regulation by the Republican governor in a state that has long prided itself on being a favorable environment for business. In recent months, Abbott has toed the line of championing the industry, declaring Texas the “epicenter” of AI development, and issuing statements about how his office was sensitive to the concerns about strain on resources and quality of life.
The Data Center Coalition welcomed the governor’s proposals saying the industry already follows many of the recommended practices and is committed to working with agencies to support “responsible infrastructure growth.”
Locals sound alarm over data center planned near Henderson County water source
“It’s important to recognize that data centers are a diverse industry serving a wide range of needs, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to facility design, cooling technology, or regulation. The right approach in one community may not be the right approach in another, which is why siting and operational decisions are made in close coordination with local utilities, water providers, and management districts,” said Dan Diorio, the organization’s vice president of state policy.
In the immediate, the governor directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas to “initiate action to reduce residential transmission costs” by July 31 and start requiring data centers to pay for all of their costs associated with building power infrastructure for their operations, to ensure residential ratepayers bear none of it.
He’s also asked the PUC and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s main grid operator, to submit a joint memorandum by July 17 summarizing what they’ve done to prevent that data center development have caused risks and added costs onto Texans.
The move comes as opposition to large-scale data center projects grows across Texas. Community groups have organized against proposed developments over concerns about water use, noise, land impacts, and strain on local infrastructure. A March Quinnipiac poll found that 65% of Americans oppose the building of an AI data center in their community.
A Texas Tribune analysis found that nearly 60% of data centers that are planned or under construction would be in red state House districts that voted for President Donald Trump.
As of May, ERCOT reported that large projects requesting to connect to the grid totaled 439 gigawatts of power capacity — five times larger than the all-time peak demand on the state’s grid. Of those projects, about 89% are data centers, though energy experts say it’s unlikely that all of them will be built.
ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas previously described the influx of requests as “an unprecedented change in the pace of growth.”
LONGVIEW — As a proposed expansion to Toll 49 takes shape, contractors and officials have presented changes and adjustments at the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority (NET RMA) meeting on Tuesday, after East Texans’ voiced concerns for safety. At Longview’s Mod Cobb Convention Center, locals gathered for the NET RMA’s public information meeting to hear about the expansion project, which would stretch from State Highway 110 to US 271 and give drivers another option for traveling east from Tyler.
This was the second part of the public meeting — the first half happened in Tyler on June 2 — as the project undergoes an Environmental Impact Statement study. Some residents have raised concerns regarding the road’s proximity to schools, such as the Save Kids from Loop 49 advocacy group, which looks to keep school children safe from the effects the expansion may have.
Since the first public hearing, changes have already come about, moving the route farther from the elementary school. Despite the approved reroute, some still think the project is too close to schools and highly populated roads. Read the rest of this entry »
LONGVIEW – An investigation has been launched after one person was discovered to have drowned at Lake Cherokee on Wednesday afternoon. According to the Elderville-Lakeport Fire Department and our news partner KETK, firefighters were dispatched to the north side of Lake Cherokee at around 12:40 p.m. after receiving reports of a missing person.
Once on the scene, firefighters began searching the area and it was reported that the missing individual was last seen on a boat dock 45 minutes prior to when emergency personnel arrived at the lake. The individual was later discovered to be dead in the water, according to the fire department.
The Gregg County Sheriff’s Office has launched an investigation following the death and any further information regarding the incident will be released when deemed appropriate.
“At this time, the Elderville-Lakeport Fire Department would like to extend its sincere condolences to the family and loved ones affected by this tragic incident,” the fire department said.
KERRVILLE (AP) – Three more cases of the New World screwworm have been confirmed, including one outside the main cluster in Texas, demonstrating the difficulty of stopping a resurgent pest that could devastate the nation’s cattle industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.
The screwworm is actually a fly larva that eats living flesh instead of dead material. The flies lay their eggs in open wounds of animals like cattle, but wildlife, pets and occasionally even humans can be infested. The government has a program to breed sterile male flies and drop swarms of them from planes to mate with wild females, which kept screwworm contained at the southern end of Panama for decades.
So far, there are five confirmed cases: three calves and a goat in Texas and a dog from neighboring Lea County, New Mexico. The small dog, which the USDA initially reported as a Texas case, lives in New Mexico and was reclassified as the first in that state.
The dog had not traveled to Mexico or Texas, so authorities were investigating around the property where the pet lived. If they find infected flies, animal inspections in the area will increase, New Mexico State Veterinarian Samantha Holeck said during a virtual news conference Monday.
Screwworm cases continue to climb
The first two screwworm cases were discovered last week in calves a few miles apart in south Texas. A case was announced Monday in a calf in La Salle County, southwest of San Antonio, and in a goat in Gillespie County, west of Austin.
In each case, officials have set up a 12-mile (20-kilometer) quarantine zone to try to slow the parasite’s advance.
Along with cattle and other warm-blooded livestock, scientists worry screwworms could devastate the millions of wild white-tailed deer in Texas.
Scientists expect new cases could pop up in the coming days and weeks, but it doesn’t mean screwworm is spreading rapidly, said Edward Burgess, a University of Florida entomologist who studies the fly.
“When that first case is seen, everyone is being vigilant and their eyes are on it more intensely,” Burgess said. “And when you are looking for something, you are more likely to see it.”
A race to stop the screwworm now moves to Texas
Screwworm gets its name from the maggots’ habit of burrowing — or screwing — into a wound, according to the USDA. The pest eats the flesh of the animal, further opening wounds and increasing the risk of deadly bacterial infections. Animals can die within a few weeks if not treated. There are a dozen government-approved medications to treat livestock.
The agency and the U.S. cattle industry have been racing to prevent an outbreak since screwworm was detected in Mexico late in 2024. The USDA has been dropping sterile flies in south Texas since February and is working to both increase sterile fly production in plants outside the U.S. and build a $750 million fly factory in Texas.
So far, screwworm’s reappearance hasn’t greatly affected beef prices, which are already near record levels because there are fewer cows in the United States. Although the parasite attacks live cattle, it does not infest meat or fruit.
Canada temporarily stopped importing cattle, horses or other livestock from Texas on Friday. The parasites prefer humid areas where temperatures are at least 77 F (25 C), making them more of a summer problem up north.
Fighting screwworms with sterile male flies
Burgess said the long-term solution — breeding sterile male flies — is months away. Since wild female flies mate just once, if that encounter is with a sterile male, outbreaks can eventually be halted as the flies die out.
The goal is to have enough sterile flies to stop the pests from returning in 2027 after the winter kills off most of them, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said at a news conference at the U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas.
Scientists are also working on ways to sterilize only male flies to make the program even more effective.
Texas officials encouraged ranchers to keep a close eye on their herds and local wildlife. There’s now a 24-hour screwworm hotline and a website and map for reported cases.
“This is a highly treatable condition if you act on it immediately,” Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said.
However, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller — who lost the recent Republican primary to a candidate backed by Abbott — said the federal response will take too long and risks crippling the cattle industry.
Instead, he says a poison bait could eliminate the screwworm problem in a few months, even if the USDA and other experts say the bait hasn’t been proven effective and could poison other flies, animals and even humans.
“What the hell is a good fly?” Miller said in an interview.
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This story has been updated to reflect that the USDA revised the dog screwworm case to New Mexico, not Texas as the agency initially reported, and to correct the spelling of Kerrville.
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Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Scott McFetridge in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.
LONGVIEW – Longview ISD held a ceremony on Monday to swear in Benjamin Kemper as the first police chief of the newly developed district police department. Prior to joining the district’s police department, Kemper worked with the Longview Police Department for twenty-four years, where he most recently served as Assistant Police Chief. Over his career, he has led patrol operations, criminal investigations, support services and special operations, including service as SWAT Commander and Captain of the Operations Bureau.
Before joining Longview ISD, Kemper earned a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Sam Houston State University and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of Oklahoma.
During the ceremony Kemper spoke about what his new job means and why he believes it is a important role in the community.
“It’s the commitment to protecting everybody within the school district. It’s not just the students or staff, it’s about making sure that we can create the safest learning environment we can for everybody,” Kemper said. “So our students can come to school every day without the fear of safety concerns.So our students can come to school every day without the fear of safety concerns. and they can come here to learn what our district is about.”
KILGORE – A pedestrian was killed on Monday morning at the CB Tire Shop in Kilgore after a truck left State Highway 135. According to the Kilgore Police Department, emergency services were sent out to the 700 block of State Highway 135 at around 8:07 a.m. on Monday because of a reported pedestrian crash. Upon arrival, responding personnel learned that a white 2024 Ford pickup truck was traveling south on State Highway 135 when the vehicle left the road and hit a pedestrian at the CB Tire Shop.
The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene following the crash. Kilgore PD said their preliminary findings show that the driver of the Ford had a medical emergency before their vehicle crashed off the road.
Kilgore PD is still investigating this crash.
TRINIDAD – The chief of police for the Trinidad Police Department has resigned as the Henderson County community continues to deal with ongoing water woes. Our news partner KETK News has learned from a Trinidad Police Department officer that Chief Charles Gregory has submitted his two-week notice to city leadership, notifying them that he’s resigning from his position.
This news comes as Trinidad community residents gathered at the Trinidad Community Center on Monday to discuss solutions to the city’s ongoing water issues, which have prompted frustration with the city’s leadership, two lawsuits and calls for new leaders. On Thursday, the Trinidad City Council met to discuss the water problems. At that meeting, city council members voted 3 to 1 to dismiss Municipal Judge Shella Bievens and the city attorney.
BROADDUS, Texas (KETK) – Broaddus ISD has announced that one of their former teachers has been referred to law enforcement over allegations that they had an inappropriate relationship with a student.
According to the district, administrators received information on Thursday that alleged a teacher was having an inappropriate relationship with a student involving “grooming behavior” and possible physical contact.
Broaddus ISD immediately notified the proper law enforcement authorities so they could investigate the allegations. The teacher is no longer employed by Broaddus ISD.
The district said there was no indication that there was any threat to any students.
“Broaddus ISD remains committed to providing a safe and supportive learning environment and will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement and all appropriate authorities throughout the investigative process,” Broaddus ISD said. “The safety and well-being of our students remain our highest priority. We appreciate your understanding and support as this matter proceeds. Due to the ongoing investigation and privacy laws, the district will not be providing additional details at this time.”
NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KETK) – One person was injured in a shooting that happened near Carpenter Elementary School in Nacogdoches on Sunday.
According to Nacogdoches Police Department, officers responded to 1005 Leroy Street near Carpenter Elementary School at around 12:52 a.m. because of reported gunshots near there.
Officers arrived at the scene and were told that a person was shot and then taken to a local hospital for treatment. The officers went over to the hospital and were told that an unknown person had shot the victim with a firearm.
One person the officers talked to during their investigation was arrested after they were found to be in possession of a controlled substance. Anyone with information about the shooting can contact Nacogdoches PD at 936-559-2607.
APPLEBY, Texas (KETK) – Nacogdoches County officials said one man has died after his ATV ran into a fallen tree on Saturday near Lake Naconiche.
According to Nacogdoches County Precinct 3 Constable Roger Dudley, a man was driving his ATV on County Road 134, north of Appleby and to the south of Lake Naconiche, just before 11 p.m. on Saturday when the ATV struck a tree that fell across the county road.
Hitting the tree caused the ATV to flip into the air, ejecting the driver before the ATV landed upside down, according to Dudley. The Central Heights/Appleby Fire Department, the Nacogdoches Fire Department and the Nacogdoches Ambulance Service responded to the crash scene and attempted life saving measures but the victim’s injuries were too serious.
Dudley said the victim’s wife informed his office that her husband did not survive his injuries from the crash. Dudley asked the public for many prayers for her family following this loss.
RUSK COUNTY – The Rusk County Sheriff’s Office is currently searching for a man wanted in connection to a crash that happened on Highway 79 on Friday. According to the sheriff’s office, a two-vehicle crash happened at around 6 p.m. on Friday on Highway 79 near County Road 341 in Chapman. Dispatchers were told that two people fled from the crash scene on foot.
The Texas Department of Public Safety was able to locate one of those suspects from the crash scene but one man wasn’t found during their search on Friday. The sheriff’s office identified that man as Derek Laningham. On Saturday at around 8 a.m., a resident called the sheriff’s office from County Road 341 because a man had entered his home and took his car keys and clothes. The sheriff’s office said this man was also identified as Derek Laningham.
Deputies searched the area near the caller’s home on foot and in ATVs but they still haven’t found him as of Saturday night. Laningham now has a warrant out for his arrest and the sheriff’s office asked residents to call them at 903-657-3581 if a suspicious person is spotted near County Road 341.
ATHENS – An 18-year-old man was arrested recently in connection to a February fatal crash that left one woman pedestrian dead on FM 2709 near Athens. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and our news partner KETK, Martha Anette Belcher, 73 of Athens, was walking along the westbound lane of FM 2709 near Highway 19 at around 7 a.m. on Feb. 25, when she was hit and killed by a gray Chevrolet Silverado.
Texas State Troopers then investigated to try and identify the vehicle and driver involved in the hit-and-run crash. A DPS press release identified 18-year-old Alexis Davila of Athens as the driver of the Chevrolet. DPS officials said Davila fled the scene of the crash and never reported it to law enforcement. He was arrested on May 29 for collision involving death and tampering/fabricating physical evidence.
Davila was released from the Henderson County Jail on May 30 after posting a $30,000 bond.
CAMP COUNTY – Camp County Sheriff’s Office deputies are currently searching for a man who was last seen near FM 556 and FM 1519 W. Richard Spence is listed as a white man with brown hair and a goatee who’s about 5-foot 6-inches to 5-foot 8-inches tall and weighs between 120 to 140 pounds.
Spence was last seen wearing a brown t-shirt with yellow print on the front and blue jeans while he was in the area of FM 556 and FM 1519 W.
Anyone with information about Spence’s location or disappearance is asked to call Lt. Randy Huggins at 903-856-6651.
BROWNSBORO – 1 person is dead and two people have been injured after a three-vehicle crash happened on Highway 31 between Brownsboro and Chandler on Saturday.
According to Brownsboro Fire Rescue and our news partner KETK, the crash happened at around 9:42 a.m. on Saturday when an 18-wheeler, a pickup truck and a white car crashed in the 19251 block of Highway 31 near Rock Hill Baptist Church.
Brownsboro Fire Rescue told KETK News that one person died in the crash while two others were injured and have been transported to a local hospital for treatment.
The Chandler Volunteer Fire Department and Brownsboro Fire Rescue both responded to the crash scene and they’re diverting traffic to the middle lanes of Highway 31.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott expressed concern Friday that a new factory isn’t expected to start breeding sterile New World screwworm flies for more than a year as a big part of the effort to stop its flesh-eating larvae from threatening the $113 U.S. billion cattle industry.
Abbott pledged Texas will help the U.S. Department of Agriculture accelerate construction of the $750 million breeding facility outside Edinburg, Texas, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of the U.S.-Mexico border. He said Texas is willing to spend its own funds to see that construction is “24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Without greater sterile fly production, Abbott said during a news conference in the state capital of Austin, “We cannot make it through a second summer.”
The USDA confirmed an infestation of New World screwworm fly larvae this week in a 3-week-old calf in La Pryor, Texas, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio and 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Mexico border. It was the first case confirmed in Texas since 1966.
The department on Friday announced a second confirmed case found in a one-month-old calf in Zavala County, Texas, about 5.6 miles (9 kilometers) from the first case.
The new factory in Texas is the larger of two fly-breeding facilities funded by the USDA.
Separately, the USDA invested $21 million in converting a site in southern Mexico from breeding fruit flies to breeding screwworm flies. That factory is expected to start producing flies next month, eventually 100 million a week.
The other factory in Texas will be the size of two Costco stores, said Rear Admiral Michael Schmoyer, a member of the USDA’s screwworm response team. It is expected to produce up to 300 million flies a week.
Officials believe both factories are needed to eradicate the fly from the U.S., Mexico and Central America.
Schmoyer said the federal government has already shortened the planning and construction timeline considerably — drafting plans in a few months rather than taking a year, for example. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the USDA hopes it will be running sooner than its planned November 2027 opening date.
But Abbott said Texas is determined to have construction go even faster.
“This is going to spread over the course of the summer,” he said of the fly.
Infestation hits among record beef prices
An untreated infestation of New World screwworm fly larvae can kill an animal, but there are now a dozen government-approved medications to treat livestock. Federal and state officials have been quick to stress that fly’s larvae — which feed on living material — do not infest meat or fruit.
“There’s a food production issue, but not a food safety issue,” Abbott said.
Derrell Peel, a professor of agribusiness at Oklahoma State University, said the beef supply isn’t likely to be affected unless officials restrict cattle movement more than locally or unless infestations appear in feedlots or other places where cattle are concentrated. He does not expect that to happen.
“It’s probably not a major market issue,” he said.
Consumers are paying record beef prices because of a tight cattle supply, and Peel expects prices to rise even further when ranchers take heifers out of the supply chain to rebuild their herds. But he said the arrival of the screwworm in Texas “doesn’t change the supply fundamentals.”
Screwworm outbreaks in Mexico starting in 2024 prompted U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to close U.S. ports of entry to its cattle in May 2025. Mexican imports were once about 1.2 million animals a year and dropped about 80% last year, according to industry statistics.
But Peel said Mexican imports were only about 3% of the U.S. cattle supply.
“It’s been just one more thing on top of others,” he said, not a major driver of prices.
Breeding sterile flies has eradicated pest before
The New World screwworm fly was an annual, warm-weather scourge of U.S. cattle ranchers from at least the 1930s through the 1960s.
But breeding sterile flies and dropping swarms of them from planes eradicated it from the U.S. by the early 1970s, except for a brief outbreak among deer in the Florida Keys in 2016 and a case confirmed in a Maryland man who traveled to El Salvador last year. Until an outbreak in Panama in 2023, the fly had been considered eradicated outside its remote, southernmost region bordering Colombia.
Females mate once in their monthslong lives, and if they breed with sterile male flies, their eggs won’t hatch after being laid in open wounds and mucous membranes of warm-blooded animals, including cattle, wild mammals, household pets and humans.
Once the U.S. and other nations eradicated the fly years ago, they shut down fly-breeding facilities until there was only one left in the Western Hemisphere, in Panama. It can produce about 117 million flies a week.
However, past eradication efforts needed about 500 million flies a week, said Schmoyer, a member of the USDA’s screwworm response team, during Abbott’s news conference.
With fly drops, officials try to predict future
Schmoyer estimated that the USDA already has dispersed 130 million flies in Texas since January, most of them from planes, and those drops are now about 4 million a week. It also is releasing another 4 million a week in the ground as pupae, which are flies in the stage between larvae and adult.
But, even with those millions of flies, the USDA must be strategic about where to disperse them, Schmoyer told reporters. Federal and state officials are using scientific models to predict how the fly will move.
“In essence, it’s not where the flies are today, but where they could be weeks from now,” he said.
Part of the science involves traps, and Texas State Veterinarian Bud Dinges said they’ve been deployed up to 120 miles (193 kilometers) away from La Pryor to monitor the fly’s movement.
CHANDLER, Texas (KETK) – The Chandler City Council voted to hire a new city attorney in a meeting discussing the city’s leadership on Thursday night. During the meeting, city council discussed the conduct of City Administrator Kalon Rollins and Chandler Police Department Chief Johnny Foster. The city’s agenda for Thursday’s meeting included discussion of improper spending, bond issues, social media policy and hiring policy under Rollins and Foster.
The city council members also voted to hire Ronald D. Stutes, 67 of Tyler, as the new Chandler City Attorney during Thursday’s meeting. Stutes is a member of the Fairchild, Price, Haley & Smith law firm and has represented both the City of Palestine and the City of Dallas.
Ultimately, no formal action was taken against either Rollins or Foster at Thursday’s meeting.
PANOLA COUNTY – Charles Seth Alexander, 38 of Timpson, was captured by the US Marshals Joint East Texas Fugitive Taskforce in Nacogdoches County on Friday. Alexander was a wanted fugitive out of Panola County and was the subject of a manhunt on Wednesday before he left the area.
According to the Panola County Sheriff’s Office and our news partner KETK, multiple agencies actively searched the vicinity of County Road 198 and County Road 176. Deputies were assisted by tracking dogs, horses and drones as they work through heavily wooded terrain.
Officials had asked the public to stay clear of the search zone, lock their homes and vehicles and secure outdoor pets until the situation is resolved. Authorities have not yet released additional details about the fugitive or what led to the search.