Today is
Wednesday June 03, 2026
TATUM – A safety concern along a stretch of highway in East Texas is getting attention after the Tatum police chief made a public plea for action. The concern is along State Highway 149, from the city limits traveling south to Tatum Middle School, where on Tuesday, an 18-wheeler hydroplaned into oncoming traffic before slamming onto school property.
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SMITH COUNTY – Traffic along Interstate 20 entering Lindale is back open after an 18-wheeler crash backed up traffic for miles. Our news partner KETK reports that the crash happened around 5:30 p.m. on I?20 between U.S. 69 and FM 14. DPS officials reported that a pickup truck carrying a camper lost control on the interstate and an 18?wheeler struck the camper from behind. No injuries or fatalities have been reported.
COLLIN COUNTY – U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs announced that a McKinney man who was involved in the Homeland Security Task Force for trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine in the Eastern District of Texas has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III sentenced Eraldo Orozco-Fernandez, 34, to 180 months in federal prison after he entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine.
Orozco-Fernandez was pulled over for a traffic infraction in McKinney on March 31, 2023, according to information provided by the court. During the stop, a search of the car turned up more than $2,800 in cash, a gun, and about 3.76 kilograms of cocaine. Another eight kilograms of methamphetamine, about one kilogram of cocaine, and $6,000 in US dollars were found during a search of Orozco-Fernandez’s McKinney home. Orozco-Fernandez acknowledged taking part in a plot to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine in the Eastern District of Texas.
CHEROKEE COUNTY – County officials released a statement regarding the arrest of a jailer: Jonathan Mendez, 28, of Jacksonville. Mendez was arrested after Sheriff Brent Dickson was made aware of Mendez allegedly falsifying his timesheet. Detectives developed evidence indicating that Mendez had falsified his Cherokee County timesheet for personal financial gain. After a warrant was obtained, Mendez was subsequently arrested and booked into the Cherokee County Jail the same day on a tampering with government records charge . His bond was set at $10,000.
AUSTIN – Texas will lose out on $3.2 billion in sales tax revenue over the next two years thanks to an exemption for the state’s booming data center industry, according to the comptroller’s office. That figure is likely a vast underestimate given the explosion of new facilities being built, but already makes the tax break one of the state’s costliest incentive programs and soon to be the most expensive of its kind in the nation. Lawmakers, who will meet in January for the next legislative session, say they are considering proposals to either limit the scope of the tax break or get rid of it altogether. Lawmakers approved the tax break more than a decade ago, when data centers were smaller and required fewer resources. From 2014 to 2022, the exemption amounted to between $5 million and $30 million in lost state revenue per year. By 2023, that skyrocketed to more than $150 million, and this year Texas is forgoing at least $1.3 billion — a number that is rapidly increasing every year, based on state projections.
The money Texas is poised to lose from the tax break on a yearly basis could pay for the entirety of the state’s new school voucher program, or it could double the size of a state disaster fund to help local communities like Kerr County prevent flooding. It’s also quickly outpacing the cost of Texas’ highly controversial Chapter 313 tax abatement program, which allowed manufacturing companies to avoid paying local school property taxes, drawing the ire of lawmakers who eventually shut down the program last year at its height of more than a billion dollars a year.
Texas already has more than 300 operating data centers, with more than 100 additional projects planned or under development. At least 142 more are currently under construction, leading the nation and beating out Virginia, which has 141 under construction, according to an analysis by data firm Aterio. By fiscal year 2030, the comptroller’s office forecasts the annual value of the tax break will be nearly $1.8 billion — a $500 million increase from the current fiscal year — according to the 2025 report.
FORT WORTH (DMN) – The former FedEx driver charged with killing 7-year-old Athena Strand after delivering a Christmas package to her family’s Wise County home pleaded guilty Tuesday before his capital murder trial even began. Tanner Horner’s plea before State District Judge George Gallagher will send the case directly into sentencing. A jury will have the choice to sentence Horner to death or life in prison without parole. The Dallas Morning News reports that Athena’s body was found two days after she went missing and several miles away, after investigators said Horner led them to it. A medical examiner ruled she died from blunt force trauma and strangulation. No evidence of sexual assault was found. Although the case is based in Wise County, it was moved to nearby Tarrant due to argument that Horner could not get a fair trial in Wise County. Horner is charged with capital murder of a child under the age of 10 and aggravated kidnapping. He has remained jailed since his arrest. Horner was charged with three unrelated counts of child sexual assault shortly after being taken into custody in Athena’s slaying. These charges are separate and reportedly occurred in a 2013 incident. Athena’s family later sued FedEx and Big Topspin Inc., the Dallas-Fort Worth-based contractor that hired Horner on the bases of lack or proper background checks on drivers. A nondisclosure agreement entered in the case prevented family attorney Paul Belew from disclosing what happened.
CROCKETT (KETK) – Lieutenant Lonnie Lum of the Crockett Police Department has died from ALS. According to the department, Lum died on Thursday morning and served with Crockett PD for 20 years. Our news partners at KETK provided a statement from Crockett PD, stating, “Lt. Lum faithfully served our department for 20 years, leaving behind a legacy of service, leadership, and dedication that will not be forgotten,” Crockett PD said. “Words cannot fully express what he meant to everyone here. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers as they navigate this difficult time. Rest easy, Lt. We’ve got it from here.” Funeral services for Lum have not been shared publicly by the department.
VAN ZANDT COUNTY – Precinct 1 County Commissioner Mitch Curtis was arrested in December 2025 for official oppression and impersonating a public servant; and on Thursday, those charges against him were dropped.
According to the County District Attorney’s Office and our news partner KETK, the charges were dropped because the complaining witness declined to assist with the case. In June of 2025, the lawsuit was initially filed against Curtis for allegedly pretending to be a police officer in an effort to stop a man from shooting guns on his own property. Curtis is still holding the position of Precinct 1 County Commissioner as of April 2.
TEXARKANA – Authorities have discovered a DNA match for a person who has been missing since January of last year, nearly eight months after human remains were discovered in a Texarkana creek bed.
Amber French, 43, is the identified victim discovered near Waggoner Creek in August 2025, according to a statement released by the Texarkana Police Department on Monday. Our news partners at KETK report that the remains, which were thought to be bones, were initially discovered on August 1, 2025, by someone strolling along a creek bed. The police department verified that they were human and that began an investigation.
More bones were discovered when Texarkana detectives, Texas Game and Fish officers, and a K-9 unit were dispatched to the scene. Officials could only conclude at the time that the body had decayed because the bones were old enough. After that, a medical examiner in Dallas received the bones. According to the police department, DNA revealed that they belonged to French, who was reported missing in May 2025 after her family had not heard from her since January. PIO Shawn Vaughn of the Texarkana Police Department told KETK News on Monday that while foul play is “not necessarily suspected,” it is also not ruled out. The investigation is still ongoing.
AUSTIN – Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick expanded on an initial list of priorities that included “preventing Sharia law” and looking into Medicaid fraud by directing state senators to research a wide range of policy issues ahead of next year’s legislative session, including prediction markets, data centers, THC, and more.
Patrick’s priorities included data centers three times. The Lieutenant Governor, who is in charge of the state senate, gave various committees instructions to evaluate the water requirements of “energy-intensive technologies,” such as data centers, and to think about how to meet their electricity needs. Additionally, Patrick charged the Health and Human Services Committee with researching “the impact of THC on increased health care costs, mental health emergency detentions, and the risk of being diagnosed with a THC-induced psychotic disorder,” indicating a continued focus on outlawing hemp-based THC products.
Patrick expressed interest in prediction market gambling because, despite the state’s ban on sports betting and casinos, markets like Kalshi and Polymarket have grown thanks to a federal loophole. Regarding property taxes, Patrick reiterated “Operation Double Nickel,” his plan to lower property taxes by raising the portion of a home’s value that is exempt from taxes in order to fund public education.
GRAPEVINE – On Friday, the Texas Tribune reported that Bo French, a Republican running for Texas Railroad Commissioner, called for the deportation of 100 million people, or almost one-third of the nation’s population. “I’m going to say something that’s going to make some people uncomfortable: The problem is, we call it Sharia [law], but the problem is actually Islam,” French said.
During a panel discussion titled “Do not Sharia My Texas” at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Grapevine, French, a former Tarrant County GOP chair who has previously faced criticism from his own party for his frequent use of derogatory language on social media, made the remarks. According to the Pew Research Center, there were 14 million undocumented immigrants in the United States in 2023. This means that French is advocating for the deportation of millions of Americans. Gov. Greg Abbott praised his efforts to combat Islam in Texas at a later CPAC panel, stating that it is “something that we have been fighting for well over a decade.”
TEXARKANA – A 30-year-old is on the run after allegedly assaulting an elderly man on Bowie Street in Texarkana on Tuesday afternoon.
The Texarkana Police Department reports that an elderly couple unintentionally collided with a parked car while they were pulling into a convenience store parking space. The husband was seated in the passenger seat when Freddie Miller, the car’s owner, came out of the store and spoke briefly with him.
The conversation eventually turned violent, as Miller made an attempt to steal the money the man was carrying.
According to the Texarkana Police Department and our news partner KETK, “Miller hit the man multiple times in the face and took the money when he tried to resist.” He then briefly returned to his car, got out, and took the wife’s purse out of her hands.”
Later on, the purse was discovered in the middle of the road, but it was empty. Miller drove off in a Ford Fusion after the incident. When the police arrived at Miller’s house after tracking the car, he was not there. The Texarkana Police Department stated, “Incidents like this—senseless violence, especially involving senior citizens—are particularly troubling and something we take very seriously.”
Please call the police department at 903-798-3116 if you have any information about his whereabouts. If people want to stay anonymous or ask about a reward, they can submit any information online at http://www.p3tips.com or the Texarkana Area Crime Stoppers at 903-793-STOP
MARSHALL – A Marshall man found guilty of murder and other charges related to a deadly shooting in 2024 was given a 35-year prison sentence on Monday. Curtis White, Jr., 19, started his 35-year prison sentence on Monday after being found guilty in the 71st District Court of murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and deadly conduct discharge of a firearm.
According to our news partner KETK, White was fined $10,000. On July 16, 2024, at approximately 11:50 a.m., a maroon car pulled up beside a white Nissan that was stopped at a red light on East Grand in Marshall. This led to the shooting. Before leaving the scene, White, the driver of the maroon car, fired into the Nissan, hitting the driver and a passenger.
The driver was taken to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while the passenger, Markel May, 20, died at the scene. White was taken into custody at the Harrison County Jail on a $1.2 million bond.
TYLER – A man was sentenced to 45 years in prison on Monday, more than a year after he was arrested for allegedly dousing his girlfriend in gasoline and setting a Tyler house on fire. Following a report of a burning home, the Tyler Fire and Police Departments arrived at the 3300 block of Shady Trail on November 18, 2024, at approximately 3:37 a.m.
Our news partners at KETK report that Gregory Bargaineer, 67, entered the Smith County Jail twenty minutes later “to turn himself in for throwing gasoline on his girlfriend,” according to arrest records.
The body of Bargaineer’s alleged girlfriend, Marilyn Mceachin, was discovered on the floor close to the remains of a bed after the fire department extinguished the flames. Investigators were informed by Bargaineer that the victim had served him with an eviction notice the previous week. Read the rest of this entry »
EAST TEXAS – East Texas Congressman Nathaniel Moran spoke to KTBB on the two major issues dominating headlines: the partial government shutdown and how conflict in the Middle East is affecting Americans.
Representative Moran highlighted how Republicans “[…] certainly want to see this shut down.” He also mentioned how progress is being impeded by Democrats playing politics with an appropriations bill they [Democrats] already agreed to.
Moran said the delay “has now led to almost 100,000 DHS employees missing their paychecks last week, including TSA agents who are legally required to keep working.”
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