Today is
Saturday November 23, 2024
TYLER – On Monday, the United States Department of Education announced 356 schools nationwide as Blue Ribbon Schools. According to our news partner KETK, four of these schools were from East Texas. In a release from the department, National Blue Ribbon Schools are schools that “excel in academic performance or make significant strides in closing achievement gaps among different student groups.â€
Of the 356 nationally recognized schools, the following East Texas schools were awarded:
Caldwell Arts Academy in Tyler for exemplary achievement gap closing
Gus Winston Cain Elementary School in Whitehouse for exemplary high performance
Hudson Elementary School in Longview for exemplary high performance
Neches High School in Palestine for exemplary achievement gap closing
All of the schools were awarded a National Blue Ribbon School flag as a “recognized emblem of exceptional teaching and learning.â€
SULPHUR SPRINGS – The Sulphur Springs ISD is asking the community to help them with efforts end social media threats. According to our news partner KETK, another student in Sulphur Springs was arrested Saturday night for making an online threat to the school.
In a release from the superintendents office, federal law enforcement contacted the Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday in regards to a social media threat. Sulpur Springs ISD said a 14-year-old middle school girl was taken to a juvenile facility. The student is now facing felony charges for making a terroristic threat.
The district went on to say that type of behavior will not be tolerated as it drains county and city resources.
“We will continue to advocate for those caught participating in this type of behavior to be prosecuted to the maximum extent allowed by law. If you do not monitor you child’s social media, law enforcement will. We will take no chances with the safety of our students and staff. We would ask you again that you partner with us in making this behavior stop,†the district said.
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RUSK COUNTY – A Henderson woman was arrested on after deputies found her to be the passenger of a 12-year-old behind the wheel during a traffic stop, the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office said. According to our news partner KETK, Rusk County sheriff’s deputies stopped a vehicle late Saturday night, September 14, on County Road 201 in Henderson for reckless driving.
Officers found 39-year-old Holly Riehl of Henderson in the front passenger seat. However, operating the vehicle was a 12-year-old child. The juvenile was seated on a cushion and jacket to better see the steering wheel and control console. The sheriff’s office said Riehl was found in possession of an open alcohol container and deputies saw she attempted to toss a plastic bag of cocaine.
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TYLER – Jerry Thomas, from Rusk, was awarded $4.5 million in a lawsuit after an accident that cost him his hand, according to our news partner KETK. In a release from the office of Daniel Gibbins, the lead attorney for Thomas, the lawsuit against Antonio Munoz Asseradero LLC over safety concerns at the sawmill found that unsafe working conditions were the cause of an accident that resulted in the loss of Thomas’ hand.
“This verdict reflects the seriousness of Jerry Thomas’s injury and the negligence that caused it,†Gibbins said. “Justice has been served for Mr. Thomas, and we are proud to have helped him secure the compensation he needs to rebuild his life after this tragic incident.â€
TYLER – Tyler Parks and Recreation Department is again hosting Movies in the Park this fall. The Parks Department has shown 134 movies to date. The Movies in the Park program is a free movie for families and individuals to enjoy at Bergfeld Park, located at 1510 S. College Ave, Faulkner Park, located at 410 Cumberland Rd, and the Tyler Rose Garden, located at 420 Rose Park Dr. Three movies will be hosted starting Oct 5. Come out and see these classics!
Movies in the Park fall schedule:
Bergfeld Park Saturday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. – Hocus Pocus, rated PG.
Faulkner Park Saturday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. – Bad News Bears, rated PG-13.
Tyler Rose Garden (Queen’s Court) Saturday, Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. – Elf, rated PG.
The Movies in the Park program is made possible in part through sponsors with the Tyler Parks and Rec department. The fall season sponsors include Southside Bank, and more sponsors are needed!
For more information or questions, please contact Tyler Parks and Rec at (903) 531-1374 or visit TylerParksandRec.com.
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LONGVIEW — Workforce Solutions East Texas has announced the relocation of its workforce center to the Park Place Shopping Center just west of Gilmer Road, at 1905 W. Loop 281, Suite 40. The business hours will be Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Longview Workforce Center will open on October 1, 2024.
Workforce Solutions East Texas provides no-cost recruitment and employment services to businesses and job seekers in the East Texas area. The new facility is 25,712-square-feet. The Workforce Solutions East Texas Board approved entering a five-year lease term with five one-year extension options.
The current Workforce Solutions East Texas, Longview office at 209 S. Center Street will be closed from September 23 to 30, 2024, to prepare for the move. During this time, staff will serve customers virtually by calling 1-844-ETWORKS.
TYLER – Keep Tyler Beautiful (KTyB) invites Tyler residents to bring their family and friends to help cleanup community parks during Park Service Day. This year, the event will be hosted at the Tyler Senior Center, 1915 Garden Valley Rd., on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Park Service Day is an event where each September volunteers take on beautification and restoration projects. This year’s projects includes giving the interior of the Senior Center a fresh coat of paint, updating the flower beds out front, building a retention wall at Fun Forest Park, repainting the safety signs and steps at the Fun Forest pool, and adding a mural to the restroom area.
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AUSTIN (TEXASTRIBUNE) – Gov. Greg Abbott has declared the Venezuelan gang a foreign terrorist organization and asked the Department of Public Safety to create a strike team targeting them.
What is Tren de Aragua?
Tren de Aragua is a Venezuelan gang that started in a prison in the state of Aragua and has since expanded into Central America and the United States, including Texas, New York, Colorado and Wisconsin. The group focuses on human smuggling and other criminal activity that targets migrants, such as kidnapping, extortion, and drug trafficking.
According to a report from Transparency Venezuela, the group adopted its name between 2013 and 2015 but may have begun operations earlier.
What is Texas doing to target the gang?
Gov. Greg Abbott signed a proclamation on Sept. 16 that declares the gang a foreign terrorist organization. He also directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to mobilize a strike team with state troopers, Texas Rangers, and other law enforcement groups to pursue the gang wherever they are known to be operating in Texas.
Declaring the gang a foreign terrorist organization means gang members could face increased sentences for crimes such as distributing illegal drugs. State law also authorizes civil penalties against foreign terrorist organizations.
Texas doesn’t have a database that tracks individuals affiliated with Tren de Aragua, but Abbott announced that law enforcement officers would work to create one.
How does the gang operate?
The group started by extorting businesses in Venezuela and then began trafficking humans into Colombia, Peru and Chile. According to Abbott, the organization seeks to infiltrate countries and set up a base of operation for their criminal activity. DPS Director Steve McCraw said El Paso was the gang’s “ground zero.â€
Is the gang a major public safety threat in Texas?
According to Abbott, there has been Tren de Aragua activity in Texas since 2021. He said more than 3,000 undocumented immigrants from Venezuela have been arrested in Texas for crimes such as human smuggling, and another more than 200 are wanted.
Michael Shifter, a senior fellow with the Inter-American Dialogue, a foreign policy think tank, said the gang poses a greater risk to Latin American countries such as Peru, Colombia and Chile. Still, Shifter said, the organization should be taken seriously.
“It is clearly a major problem that needs to be dealt with,†he said. “I think there’s reason to be confident that U.S. law enforcement can handle it.â€
Did the gang take over a hotel in El Paso?
During his press conference, Abbott noted that more than 100 TDA members had been arrested at the Gateway Hotel in downtown El Paso on charges including human smuggling and possession of illegal drugs. Some media reports described it as a “takeover†of the hotel by the gang.
The 121-year-old hotel was shut down on Sept. 12 because of broad criminal activity, not because of any specific gang, according to the El Paso County Attorney. The hotel had operated without a valid certificate of occupancy and was the scene of persistent criminal activity including aggravated assaults, criminal trespass, public intoxication and burglary, according to the county attorney’s office. Police reports note that criminal activity increased in the hotel because of Tren de Aragua.
How is the gang’s activity playing into U.S. politics?
When he announced the state crackdown on the gang, Abbott said Texas has seen “slow but increasing activity of TDA in our state†which he blamed on President Joe Biden. “The fact of the matter is, this is something that has exploded in the aftermath of the president saying that if you’re from Venezuela, you’ll be allowed in the United States.â€
In January, the Biden administration announced a humanitarian parole program allowing certain people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to live and work lawfully in the U.S. for up to two years.
Abbott’s press conference came on the heels of the presidential debate, where former president Donald Trump brought up online right-wing reports of Venezuelan gangs “taking over†a Colorado apartment complex.
Shifter said Abbott’s move must be looked at in the context of the upcoming presidential election, since Trump has hammered on the narrative that undocumented immigrants are invading the country, committing crimes and stealing jobs from Americans.
“Trump has clearly highlighted this in the debate and is trying to stoke fear,†Shifter said. “I think Gov. Abbott is trying to ratchet it up saying this is a major transnational group and the Biden-Harris administration has not been effective in containing it.â€
This article was originally publishing in The Texas Tribune.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans have blocked for a second time this year legislation to establish a nationwide right to in vitro fertilization, arguing that the vote is an election-year stunt after Democrats forced a vote on the issue.
The Senate vote was Democrats’ latest attempt to force Republicans into a defensive stance on women’s health issues and highlight policy differences between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in the presidential race, especially as Trump has called himself a “ leader on IVF.â€
The 51-44 vote was short of the 60 votes needed to move forward on the bill, with only two Republicans voting in favor. Democrats say Republicans who insist they support IVF are being hypocritical because they won’t support legislation guaranteeing a right to it.
“They say they support IVF — here you go, vote on this,†said Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the bill’s lead sponsor and a military veteran who has used the fertility treatment to have her two children.
The Democratic push started earlier this year after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law. Several clinics in the state suspended IVF treatments until the GOP-led legislature rushed to enact a law to provide legal protections for the clinics.
Democrats quickly capitalized, holding a vote in June on Duckworth’s bill and warning that the U.S. Supreme Court could go after the procedure next after it overturned the right to an abortion in 2022.
The bill would establish a nationwide right for patients to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies and a right for doctors and insurance companies to provide it, an effort to pre-empt state efforts to limit the services. It would also require more health insurers to cover it and expand coverage for military service members and veterans.
Republicans argued that the federal government shouldn’t tell states what to do and that the bill was an unserious effort. Only Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted with Democrats to move forward on the bill both times.
Meanwhile, Republicans have scrambled to counter Democrats on the issue, with many making clear that they support IVF treatments. Trump last month announced plans, without additional details, to require health insurance companies or the federal government to pay for the fertility treatment.
In his debate with Harris earlier this month, Trump said he was a “leader†on the issue and talked about the “very negative†decision by the Alabama court that was later reversed by the legislature.
South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said that Democrats are trying to create a political issue “where there isn’t one.â€
“Let me remind everybody that Republicans support IVF, full stop,†Thune said just before the vote.
The issue has threatened to become a vulnerability for Republicans as some state laws passed by their party grant legal personhood not only to fetuses but to any embryos that are destroyed in the IVF process. Ahead of the its convention this summer, the Republican Party adopted a policy platform that supports states establishing fetal personhood through the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which grants equal protection under the law to all American citizens. The platform also encourages supporting IVF but does not explain how the party plans to do so.
Republicans have tried to push alternatives on the issue, including legislation that would discourage states from enacting explicit bans on the treatment, but those bills have been blocked by Democrats who say they are not enough.
Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, said in a floor speech then that his daughter was currently receiving IVF treatment and proposed to expand the flexibility of health savings accounts. Republican Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama and Ted Cruz of Texas have tried to pass a bill that would threaten to withhold Medicaid funding for states where IVF is banned.
Cruz, who is running for reelection in Texas, said Democrats were holding the vote to “stoke baseless fears about IVF and push their broader political agenda.”
LONGVIEW — A Longview man has died after a Monday night pedestrian car accident. According to our news partner KETK, 62-year-old Johnny Ray Johnston died about 7:50 Monday night. Police said that Johnston was walking on Alpine Road, about one block from Ed’s concrete construction, when he was hit by a Ford SUV going south. Reports said that Johnston failed to yield the right of way when he walked into the roadway where he was hit by the SUV. Johnston was taken to a hospital where died from his injuries.
CARTHAGE – A 17-year-old was arrested after allegedly trespassing on a Carthage ISD campus with an airsoft rifle on Tuesday. According to our news partner KETK, the 17-year-old was arrested by Cathage Police and charged with making a terroristic threat, criminal trespass and public intoxication and was booked into the Panola County Jail.
Police said they got a call at before school opened Tuesday morning, that a suspicious man was seen at the Carthage High School campus. Officers responded and talked to Campbell, who is not a Carthage ISD student. Police described him as “agitated and seemed to be intoxicated.â€
Campbell had a backpack containing a gas mask, a long gun and multiple magazines. Police said the rifle was determined to be a brightly colored airsoft rifle.
The case remains under investigation by city, state and federal law enforcement.