Today is
Thursday June 04, 2026
Tyler – Workforce Solutions East Texas (WSET) is pleased to announce the relocation of its workforce center to the Midtown Centre. The new Tyler workforce center location is now open to the public and operates at the Midtown Centre shopping center on 1421 South Beckham Avenue. The business hours are Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Workforce Solutions East Texas is a community partnership providing no-cost recruitment and employment services to businesses and job seekers in the East Texas area. The chief elected officials in the region, the Workforce Solutions East Texas Board, and the board’s administrative agency, the East Texas Council of Governments, elected to lease the 28,500-square-foot facility. The boards approved entering a seven-year lease term with three three-year extension options.
Additional assistance is available to veterans, individuals with disabilities, and people who have been dislocated from a job. Details on workforce center locations and service hours can be viewed here.
MOUNT VERNON — A former NBA player and current East Texas resident is looking to make a transition in politics by running for mayor of Mount Vernon in the upcoming May election.
Greg Ostertag and his family moved to Mount Vernon in 2015 and he has since been an active member of the community. He has also been an active member of the school district, volunteering to coach local sports, officiate high school basketball games and serve as a substitute teacher.
Prior to Ostertag and his family moving to East Texas, he spent over 10 years playing in the NBA, including a nine-year stint with the Utah Jazz. Ostertag ended his playing career in 2012 following a brief stint with the Texas Legends.
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AUSTIN (AP) — The security guard at Camp Mystic the night of last year’s deadly flood acknowledged Wednesday that if a general evacuation order came early in the storm, lives could’ve been saved.
Glenn Juenke, who helped move some girls to a two-story building before getting trapped inside a cabin himself, also saved a group of campers when he told them to run to higher ground as flood waters rose.
He testified at the end of a three-day hearing in a legal fight between the camp operators, who want to reopen the all-girls Christian Camp this summer, and families of some of the victims who died in the July 4th flood that swept through the Guadalupe River in the predawn hours.
Juenke, called as a witness for the camp operators, said it was his decision to tell a group of campers to scramble on foot up a hillside as floodwaters rose, and was not an order from camp directors or authorities.
He did not recall camp operators ever training the campers, counselors and staff where to go in case an emergency evacuation was needed.
The camp’s plan to reopen has angered families of the girls who were killed, and the camp license is still under review by state health regulators. A judge last month ordered the camp to preserve damaged areas as evidence for pending lawsuits. That ruling is under appeal.
The hearing has produced the most extensive details from camp operators of what happened in the flood, including missed chances to prepare for the storm, and the delayed decisions to evacuate.
Describing the storm that came roaring through camp, Juenke said he first joined camp directors Dick and Edward Eastland in driving some of the girls away from their cabins. But Juenke later abandoned his truck when the water got too high to drive.
Now on foot, Juenke ordered a group of young girls to run to higher ground. He returned to another cabin where he was soon trapped in waist-deep water. Storage trunks were tossed around the current before they were sucked out and away.
Juenke ordered the girls in the cabin to get on air mattresses, and they stayed floating there for several hours.
“It was a long night. We were getting bitten by fire ants. There were spiders … The girls did everything I told them to do,” Juenke said. None of the girls in that cabin died.
Juenke said they emerged around dawn. He then met up with Catie Eastland, one of the camp directors, near the two-story recreation building where about a hundred girls had escaped the flood.
“I said y’all could have had a million different evacuation plans, nothing would have worked,” Juenke testified.
Lawyers for the families have zeroed in on the lack of a detailed evacuation plan and the failure to send orders to get out of the cabins. A short emergency notice posted in cabins, one that had passed state inspection just two days earlier, had told campers to stay in their cabins until given instructions by staff.
In all, 25 campers and two teenage counselors were killed. Camp co-owner Dick Eastland also died.
“You can blame it on Mother Nature or God Almighty, but if anyone had used the speakers or walkie talkie and told them to leave before 3 (am), they would’ve survived,” said Brad Beckworth, an attorney for the family of Cile Steward, 8, the only camper whose body still has not been recovered.
Juenke defended his actions and those of the staff that night.
“We did everything we could do in the time that we had,” Juenke said.
RUSK – A Dallas woman has been arrested in connection with a terroristic threat that placed Rusk ISD on a secure hold on Wednesday morning, Rusk officials confirm. According to our news partner KETK, Rusk ISD went on a secure lockout on Wednesday following a reported threat to the primary school. The lockout, which prohibited anyone from entering or leaving the school, has since been lifted, the district said.
Rusk Police Sgt. Jeremy Farmer told KETK News that the threat was found to be non-credible, but because of the large police response, Trinishia Sandles was arrested with the third degree felony of terroristic threat. During the investigation, authorities were able to locate Sandles in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, who allegedly made the initial call. Sandles is believed to have been facing a “mental health-related concern.”
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MORRIS COUNTY (KETK) – An update has been provided regarding the ongoing cleanup efforts following the oil spill in the Ellison Creek Reservoir in March.
According to Morris County Judge Doug Reeder, Railroad Commission inspectors have reported significant improvement across the reservoir, including on the western shoreline, where cleanup operations appear to be nearly complete.
Inspectors also reported that crews are continuing to contain and remediate affected areas on the eastern side of the reservoir, where oil can still be observed around nearby dock structures. Inspectors are also reporting that, following a test of the reservoir’s water, no significant change in its composition has been found.
“Our top priority is the protection of our natural resources and the safety of our citizens,” Reeder said. “We will continue to provide updates as state agencies provide us meaningful information.”
Residents with any questions about the status of the reservoir are asked to contact the Morris County Sheriff’s non-emergency number at 903-645-2232.
HENDERSON COUNTY – After almost two years since he was last seen, a Brownsboro missing man was found dead in an abandoned house in Henderson County on Monday. According to our news partner KETK and Henderson County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse, authorities received a call about what appeared to be a dead body in a vacant house on County Road 3606. The man was identified as Brady Booth, who was last seen in Brownsboro in 2024.
The body was found “heavily decomposed,” but no physical trauma was reported in the preliminary autopsy. Foul play is not suspected at this time, Hillhouse said.
Located on the scene were the same clothing Booth appeared to be wearing in camera footage of his last known appearance, Hillhouse said.
The case is still under investigation as authorities wait for a toxicology report, which could take up to 12 weeks.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Republican leaders across the U.S. are encouraging chapters of the conservative political group Turning Point USA in all public high schools in the wake last year’s assassination of co-founder Charlie Kirk, an effort they describe as countering the oppression of conservative voices in education.
The group’s endorsement by Republican governors — at least eight so far — has stirred debate about free speech in America’s schools, with critics arguing many of the same conservative leaders have sought to silence others with measures to restrict what teachers can say on sex education, LGBTQ+ issues and other topics.
Adding to the divisions has been some governors’ invocation of Christian religion in their support of the clubs.
At her news conference last month announcing a partnership with Turning Point USA, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said God had worked through Kirk to grow the conservative group and that she hoped it would spark “the exact type of civic engagement that we want to see” among high school students.
“It’s never too early to learn the values of faith and freedom that power our country,” she said.
For Fayetteville High School student Lily Alderson in Arkansas, that crossed a line. Alderson, president of the school’s Young Democrats club, said the governor’s endorsement violates the requirement that governments not favor a particular religion.
“We’re a public school,” Alderson said. “We shouldn’t be a school — or a state, even — that is telling people what they should believe in.”
At the same high school, Lukas Klaus leads the local Turning Point USA chapter. As he sees it, the Republican governors are ensuring conservative voices like his are allowed to be heard.
“I’ve heard numerous other stories from around the states of Club America chapters trying to get started where they’re having serious problems with the administration straight-up saying ‘no,’ ” said Klaus. He said he has never heard of a public school disallowing a Young Democrats club.
The push gained momentum after Charlie Kirk’s death
In recent months, the Republican administrations of Nebraska, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Montana, Florida, Tennessee and Indiana have each announced partnerships with Turning Point USA to promote school chapters, called Club America, in every high school in those states.
Already, there are nearly 3,400 Club America chapters across the 50 states, according to Turning Point USA, which says it has more state partnerships in the works.
While the partnerships don’t require schools to establish the conservative clubs, they do make clear that efforts to start the clubs can’t be rejected by school administrators.
Turning Point USA got its start in 2012 on college campuses, promoting itself as a hub for young people committed to conservative values. Kirk was the co-founder and the face of the group, known best for his “ Prove Me Wrong ” events on college campuses where he invited students to challenge his conservative views on political and cultural issues. Kirk was killed by a sniper in early September while speaking on a college campus in Utah.
While Kirk was praised by conservatives as a champion of free speech, he was also criticized for comments that many other Americans found hateful toward LGBTQ+ communities, non-Christians, people of color and women.
Some of those critics faced a backlash from Republicans who saw them as dishonoring Kirk, leading to firings by universities, sports teams and media companies. Florida’s education commissioner also promised to investigate teachers over objectionable comments about Kirk. In Texas, a teachers union has sued the state’s education department, accusing it of an improper “wave of retaliation” against public school employees over their social media comments following the assassination.
Critics say governors are elevating Turning Point over other clubs
The governors’ endorsements of Turning Point USA, to the exclusion of other student clubs, has come under criticism from teachers unions and civil liberties groups.
Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, said he could only imagine how Republican leaders would react if a Democratic governor announced they were calling for a democratic socialist club in every high school.
“They would be running to the press to talk about how awful that is,” Royers said. “How is this fundamentally any different?”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas said the state’s support for the clubs amount to “differential treatment based on the content or viewpoint of the clubs, and a problem under the First Amendment.”
Turning Point USA spokesman Matt Shupe called objections from the ACLU hypocritical, noting the civic organization’s mission to protect free speech rights.
“The state of Arkansas is not forming our chapters; they’re not doing our job or our students’ jobs for us, nor are they saying other groups can’t be formed,” Shupe said in an email. “They’re simply stating students cannot be blocked from forming a Club America or a TPUSA college chapter when students want to start one.”
Today’s app is a collective way for all of us to watch each other. David Rancken’s App Of The Day is called Citizen. You can find Citizen in the Apple Store and Google Play below.
MARSHALL – Traffic delays are expected on Interstate 20 in Marshall following a crash on Tuesday afternoon involving two 18-wheelers. According to our news partner KETK, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), said the crash occurred on I-20 going westbound near FM 3251 and involved two 18-wheelers and an SUV. Both westbound lanes of I-20 are currently closed, and the DPS is advising drivers to seek an alternative route until the roadways reopen. A DPS spokesperson could not confirm if any injuries were sustained during the crash.
CASS COUNTY, Texas (KETK) — A 12-foot-long alligator has been killed after being hit by a vehicle early Tuesday morning in Cass County.
According to Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD), Texas Game Wardens were notified at around 4 a.m. of the incident on FM 3129, which led to the euthanization of the alligator due to its injuries.
13-foot alligator removed from Sam Rayburn Lake
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For alligators in Texas, it’s mating season, and they are on the move, looking for new waterways and mates. TPWD said that if they are left alone, they will more than likely move on.
“Alligators by nature are shy animals that, if left alone, keep to themselves and play an important role as apex predators in aquatic ecosystems,” The TPWD said. “Like any predator, it’s best not to approach them, and it is illegal to feed or harass them.”
The TPWD considers removing and relocating alligators as a last resort, saying that it is only generally done if it has been identified as a nuisance or an immediate danger to the public.
David Rancken’s App of the Day could make getting a rescue animal easier. The name of the app is WeRescue. You can find WeRescue in the Apple Store.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas said Monday he will retire from Congress after bipartisan calls to expel him.
Gonzales had already said he would not seek reelection after admitting to an affair with a staff member who had later died by suicide. His retirement announcement came just hours after Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California said he would be resigning from Congress as he also confronted allegations of sexual misconduct.
House Republican leaders had already called on the three-term Gonzales to not seek reelection as they try to hold on to a strongly Republican district in November’s midterm elections. And the House Ethics Committee had initiated an investigation. Under House ethics rules, lawmakers may not engage in a sexual relationship with any employee of the House under their supervision.
“There is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all,” Gonzales said in a social media post. “When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office.”
He said it has been a privilege “to serve the great people of Texas.” He gave no further details on his plans to step down. Previously, he had insisted he would serve out the remainder of his term as the GOP works to hold its slim House majority.
Last month, the top Republican and Democratic members on the House Ethics Committee said in a joint statement that an investigative panel would look into whether Gonzales engaged in sexual misconduct toward an employee in his office and whether he discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.
That announcement came the same day that Gonzales, appearing on the “Joe Pags Show,” was asked if he had a relationship with the aide, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles.
“I made a mistake and I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales went on to say he had reconciled with his wife and had asked God to forgive him. He also said he looked forward to the Ethics Committee investigation.
But as lawmakers returned from a two-week break on Monday, there was a growing clamor among members to take a stand against alleged sexual misconduct. Swalwell’s alleged transgressions brought renewed attention to the issue.
Comments from lawmakers on social media suggested some were open to an expulsion trade-off of sorts that would affect each party equally.
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-N.M., said both Gonzales and Swalwell “are not fit to serve in Congress given their sexual transgressions against women who work for them.”
“There’s already been a resolution announced to expel Swalwell that I will support. I will introduce a resolution to expel Rep. Gonzales,” Leger Fernandez said.
In a separate post that came after the Texas lawmaker made his retirement announcement, she challenged Gonzales to make it “effective immediately.”
“He has until 2PM tomorrow — when we will file his expulsion,” she said on X.
CORPUS CHRISTI (AP) – In parched southern Texas, a yearslong drought has depleted Corpus Christi’s water reserves so gravely that the city is scrambling to prevent a shortage that could force painful cutbacks for residents and hobble the refineries and petrochemical plants in a major energy port.
Experts said the city didn’t expect such a bad drought, and new sources of reliable water didn’t arrive as expected. Those problems arose as the city increased its water sales to big industrial customers.
“We just have not kept up with water supply and water infrastructure like we should have. And it’s decades in the making,” said Peter Zanoni, the city manager since 2019.
Corpus Christi, a city of about 317,000 people that also supplies water to nearby counties, is closely tied to its oil and gas industry. The region makes everyday essentials like fuel and steel and ships them to the world.
Zanoni said it is highly unlikely the city will run out of water, but without significant rainfall or new sources, residents may face forced cutbacks and industry may have to do with less. At a time when the Iran war is already raising gas prices, the shortage is hitting an area that produces 5% of the U.S. gasoline supply.
Droughts are common, but this one has dragged on for most of the past seven years. Key reservoirs are at their lowest point ever. The quickest fix is different weather.
“We are actively praying for a hurricane,” former city council member David Loeb said, half in jest. Loeb doesn’t want anyone injured, but after wrestling with previous droughts in his time on the council, he feels the lack of rain acutely.
The drought isn’t expected to lift by summer, leaving officials scrambling to tap more groundwater to avoid an emergency.
After the last drought in the early 2010s, the city approved a pipeline extension to bring in more water from the Colorado River and promoted conservation. In the years that followed, water use actually fell. The city, seeing opportunity, added a petrochemical plant and steel mill to its long list of industrial customers.
City officials had allowed for drought in their calculations — just not this kind of drought, Zanoni said. It has hit especially hard because reservoirs never fully recharged after the last one.
And it’s come at a bad time.
After many years, the pipeline extension finally delivered its full capacity only last year. Meanwhile, discussion of building a desalination plant that would remove salt from seawater — a potentially drought-proof solution recommended in 2016 — bogged down over concerns about costs as high as $1.3 billion and environmental impact.
“If the then-city council had followed through on that, we would have had that plant up and running by now,” Zanoni said.
Corpus Christi has followed its long-established plan for reducing water use. Stage 1 seeks voluntary actions from citizens like taking shorter showers and limiting how often they can water. Currently, the city is in Stage 3, which means pauses on many outdoor water uses.
Many residents are angry that they can’t water their lawns, that their bills are set to rise sharply and that they may face fines, said Isabel Araiza, co-founder of a grassroots group active on water issues. Some don’t feel industry will be asked to share in the pain, she said.
The city’s drought plan allows for charging residents and businesses extra if they use lots of water. But big industry, which Zanoni says consumes as much as 60% of the city’s water, can opt to pay a permanent surcharge to avoid the possibility of having a much larger fee added in times of drought.
Araiza calls it a bad system. Once industry pays the surcharge, she said, they have no incentive to conserve water.
A Port of Corpus Christi police officer guides a boat through the port Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Corpus Christi, Texas. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A Port of Corpus Christi police officer guides a boat through the port Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Corpus Christi, Texas. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
The city has defended the system, saying in a statement that industry does not “get a pass on water conservation” or forced curtailment. The statement said the business surcharges have raised $6 million a year.
It is wrong to suggest industry isn’t helping, said Bob Paulison, executive director of the Coastal Bend Industry Association. Companies have stopped landscaping, they recycle water for essential cooling needs and they are looking for alternative water sources, he said.
The city hasn’t imposed extra costs on anyone yet.
But Zanoni said water rates may eventually double as the city invests roughly $1 billion on infrastructure — costs that some argue will disproportionately benefit industry and make life for residents more expensive.
The city is in a water emergency when it has 180 days before water supply can’t keep up with demand. Officials have run through different scenarios for getting new water and the drought easing, and have said an emergency could come as early as May, as late as October, or not at all.
The city has tapped into millions of gallons of new groundwater, and it hopes to get even more.
The biggest unknown is the Evangeline Groundwater Project, which involves a pipeline and about two dozen wells that could add enough water to head off an emergency. It still needs state approval but the city hopes water could be flowing as soon as November. New sources come with drawbacks – some have raised water quality concerns, and there are worries too much pumping could deplete groundwater.
If the city has to declare a water emergency, it would be able to more aggressively curtail water use – mandatory reductions that would apply evenly to all industry and residents. That is a sensitive decision and is likely to be a “knock-down drag-out bloodbath,” Loeb said.
Because residents on average have already reduced their water use, future mandatory cuts are likely to fall heavier on industry.
“It’ll be an unbelievable disaster,” said Don Roach, former assistant general manager of the San Patricio Municipal Water District that has lots of industrial customers in the area. “When you cut the cooling water off to most of these industries, they just have to shut down. There’s no other way around it.”
Paulison said companies that produce fuel, polymers, iron and steel “have the least amount of flexibility in just cutting water usage.” He added, however, that companies remain optimistic they can reduce usage, adapt and continue operations.
Zanoni said the city’s plans should buy time to avert the worst.
“We are hoping we don’t get there, but we don’t work on hope,” he said.
EL PASO (AP) – Federal regulators have cited three contractors, including one owned by a campaign donor to President Donald Trump, for safety violations stemming from the death of a worker helping build a major immigration detention center last year.
Violations deemed serious by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration were found in its investigation into the July 21, 2025, death of Hector Gonzalez, 38, who was crushed by falling materials in a construction accident as contractors raced to build Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas.
The violations were highlighted in a report released Monday by the watchdog group Public Citizen, which scrutinized the companies profiting from work at the costly but troubled U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center.
Gonzalez’s death came days after the Army awarded a contract worth up to $1.3 billion to Acquisition Logistics to build and operate the camp at Fort Bliss, near the U.S.-Mexico border. The site opened the next month and quickly became ICE’s largest detention center for immigrants awaiting or challenging their deportation, eventually housing more than 3,000 people at times.
The camp has been beset by allegations of inhumane conditions, disease outbreaks and the deaths of three detainees in December and January. A February inspection by ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight found dozens of violations of national standards. ICE replaced Acquisition Logistics, a small Virginia company that had no prior experience running a detention facility, as the prime contractor last month, awarding a no-bid contract to Amentum Services.
“The Trump administration is doling out billions of dollars in taxpayer funds on contracts that have led to the deaths of four people in a six-month period. And things are not likely to improve,” said Public Citizen researcher Douglas Pasternak, who authored Monday’s report.
OSHA investigated Gonzalez’s death, as it does routinely for workplace fatalities, to determine whether safety rules were followed. It ultimately declined to cite Acquisition Logistics but sought penalties against three subcontractors that helped build the camp. The companies — Base International, JMJ Production Services and Fulfillment Personnel Services — were cited in January for violations of safety standards governing the use of powered industrial trucks, records show.
Base International — owned by Florida businessman Nathan Albers, a donor to Trump and other Republican Party politicians and groups in recent years — employed Gonzalez. OSHA found the company violated a safety standard by exposing employees to “struck-by hazards” from an unstable, elevated load of stacked composite beams on a forklift while they were unloading supplies.
The investigation cited the other two companies for violating that standard as well as another by failing to ensure employees were certified to operate powered industrial trucks on the site.
JMJ Production Services and Fulfillment Personnel Services each agreed to pay reduced fines of $15,000 for the violations as part of settlements with OSHA in February. But Base International is contesting its citation, for which OSHA has proposed a $11,585 penalty, the agency’s enforcement database shows. If a settlement is not reached, an administrative law judge will hold a hearing to consider the appeal.
“Base International is appealing the ruling, because there was no wrongdoing by the company,” company spokesperson Tom McNicholas said.
Albers is also CEO of Disaster Management Group, a federal contractor that shares the same Jupiter, Florida, address as Base International.
Public Citizen’s report described Albers as a close associate of the Trump family who donated more than $150,000 to Republican campaigns in 2025. It said Albers’ wife had co-chaired a pet fundraiser at Mar-A-Lago with Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, last month.
Juan Munoz, founder and president of Austin, Texas-based JMJ Production Services, told the AP by phone Friday, “I wish I could talk about that but you’d have to talk to my attorneys.” He didn’t respond to a follow-up email he requested.
Fulfillment Personnel Services, based in Mobile, Alabama, did not respond to phone and email messages seeking comment.
SPRING, Texas (AP) — The man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI founder Sam Altman’s home in San Francisco was opposed to artificial intelligence and had list of other AI tech executives, according to court documents.
Authorities allege Daniel Moreno-Gama threw the incendiary device about 4 a.m. Friday, setting an exterior gate at Altman’s home alight before fleeing on foot, police said. Less than an hour later, Moreno-Gama allegedly went to OpenAI’s headquarters and reportedly threatened to burn down the building.
On Monday morning, FBI agents went to Moreno-Gama’s home in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston, where they spent several hours before leaving. He has been charged with possession of an unregistered firearm and damage and destruction of property by means of explosives.
When Moreno-Gama was arrested Friday, officials found a document on him in which he “identified views opposed to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the executives of various AI companies,” court documents say.
Moreno-Gama wrote of AI’s purported risk to humanity and “our impending extinction,” according to the criminal complaint.
Advocacy groups that have issued grave warnings about AI’s risks to society condemned the violence.
Anthony Aguirre, president and CEO of the Future of Life Institute, said in a written statement Friday that “violence and intimidation of any kind have no place in the conversation about the future of AI.”
Hours after the attack on his house, Altman posted a photo of his husband and their toddler in a blog post addressing the threats against him.
“Normally we try to be pretty private, but in this case I am sharing a photo in the hopes that it might dissuade the next person from throwing a Molotov cocktail at our house, no matter what they think about me,” Altman wrote.
He added that “fear and anxiety about AI is justified” but it was important to “de-escalate the rhetoric and tactics and try to have fewer explosions in fewer homes, figuratively and literally.”