Today is
Sunday April 20, 2025
LONGVIEW- The Longview Gas Plant, with over 600 miles of pipeline just outside of city limits, is believed to be unsafe by some of its employees.
The Longview Gas plant plays an important role in processing low quality gas produced across the region by separating the mixture into higher value products, like butane, hexane, and condensate. They are the only plant in East Texas to do so, and without them, many oil horses would grind to a halt. Due to the plant’s economic importance, and possible dangers presented by the conversion process, the Department of Homeland Security and the Texas Railroad Commission – which regulate the state’s oil and gas industry- consider the plant critical to Texas energy infrastructure.
In 2020, the plant was acquired by the Houston-based company, J. Global Energy Midstream. According to a report by The Tyler Morning Telegraph, Longview Gas Plant employees say that a chaotic working environment and cavalier attitude toward safety by the facility’s Brazilian ownership are endangering East Texans. This assertions has been illustrated by a worker death, two fires, and an oil spill, among other incidents. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – Our news partner, KETK, reports that the Sulphur Springs Police Department is seeking the public’s help to identify a person who reportedly attempted to steal rent checks from a drop box.
Sulphur Springs PD has made the above photos available so that people can come forward with more information should they recognize the suspect.
If anyone has any information about the person, officials ask they contact Det. Rusty Stillwagoner or Det. Jason Reneau of the Sulphur Springs Police.
AUSTIN (AP)- The CIA is headed to the South By Southwest festival to share tips on finding innovative solutions to complex challenges.
America’s preeminent spy agency will deliver a presentation Sunday on creative problem solving at the annual SXSW music festival and tech conference held in Austin, Texas, the CIA announced Monday.
The typically tight-lipped agency said a CIA historian and one of the agency’s public affairs officers will deliver the talk, entitled “Mission Possible: The Spies’ Guide to Creative Problem Solving.”
Sunday’s presentation from the CIA comes during the first weekend of the event, which brings together thousands of artists, technology experts, business leaders and entrepreneurs.
The agency said its tips on creative problem solving are designed to be helpful to anyone, even if their particular challenges don’t include running covert surveillance, organizing clandestine meetups or sniffing out double agents.
“Come learn how creative problem-solving has helped resolve complex challenges we’ve faced in protecting national security, and how you can apply creative thinking to your own seemingly impossible missions,” the agency wrote in a social media post promoting the talk.
This month’s presentation comes at a tumultuous time for America’s intelligence community. The agency recently offered buyout offers to employees as part of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s efforts to shrink and reshape the federal government.
Trump has long criticized America’s intelligence agencies, and his CIA director, John Ratcliffe, has promised big changes, claiming the agency has strayed from its original focus on human-collected intelligence.
Ratcliffe is a former congressman and one-time director of national intelligence.
MOUNT PLEASANT – Our news partner, KETK, reports that the Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation recently announced that NXG Truck Bodies is bringing 95 new jobs to the area with their new manufacturing plant. The new 120,000-square-foot manufacturing space will bring a $20 million investment to Mount Pleasant, according to the Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation (MPEDC).
“We’re thrilled to support this major development and look forward to seeing its impact on our community,” MPEDC said.
The NXG Truck Bodies plant is located on County Road 3210 just off of Highway 30 to the northeast of Mount Pleasant. They’re currently preparing the plant to start work on what NXG says will be the next generation of truck bodies.MPEDC said NXG Truck Bodies is currently hiring a production supervisor and a maintenance supervisor. Anyone interested in working at NXG Truck Bodies can apply in person at 2305 County Road 3210 or online. To keep track of the plant’s progress visit NXG Truck Bodies on Facebook or on their website.
The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents on Friday passed a resolution banning all drag performances from taking place on its 11 university campuses.
This means that Draggieland, a beloved annual event scheduled for March 27 at the Rudder Theatre on the College Station campus, will have to find a new venue. Students have also held drag shows at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi and East Texas A&M University.
The move potentially sets up another First Amendment fight between students and university administrators.
The resolution says the board recognizes the need for universities to foster a sense of community and belonging among students but adds that drag shows are “inconsistent with [the system’s] mission and core values, including the value of respect for others.”
The resolution also says drag shows are “likely to create or contribute to a hostile environment for women,” contrary to university and federal anti discrimination policies.
“These events often involve unwelcome and objectively offensive conduct based on sex for many members of the respective communities of the universities, particularly when they involve the mockery or objectification of women,” the resolution says.
The resolution says having on-campus drag shows may be seen as promoting gender ideology and that both President Donald J. Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott have said federal and state funds may not be used for that purpose. It directs the system’s chancellor and the president of each institution to implement the policy, including canceling any upcoming drag shows.
The vote was unanimous. Regent Mike Hernandez III was absent.
The Queer Empowerment Council, a student group that hosts Draggieland and other LGBTQ+ events at Texas A&M University, said in a statement Friday evening that it was “profoundly disheartened” by the decision.
“The power of drag as a medium of art is undeniable, serving as a platform for self-discovery, inclusivity, and celebration of diversity. QEC firmly believes that the Board of Regents’ decision undermines these values, which are vital to fostering a supportive and inclusive environment for all students,” the council said.
It is exploring whether it can hold Draggieland on the same or a different date at a different venue.
“We are committed to ensuring that our voices are heard, and that Draggieland will go on, no matter the obstacles we face,” the group said.
In 2023, West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler canceled an on-campus drag show, similarly arguing such performances degrade women.
The students said his comments were off base and sued him for violating their First Amendment rights as well as a state law that prohibits universities from barring student organizations from using their facilities on the basis of the political, religious, philosophical, ideological or academic viewpoints the organizations express. The court has allowed Wendler’s cancellation to stand while it makes a decision.
“They are imposing a restraint on an entire category of protected speech under the First Amendment and in no public college campus should that ever occur per our Constitution,” said JT Morris, senior attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, of the regent’s decision Friday. Morris is representing the students in the West Texas A&M case.
Civil rights groups also condemned the resolution. Ash Hall, policy and advocacy strategist for LGBTQIA+ rights at the ACLU of Texas, said the West Texas A&M lawsuit plus one their organization spearheaded and ultimately blocked a statewide ban on drag shows “makes this kind of absurd.”
“To do this now, while that’s already happening, is a waste of time and resources and makes it seem like the Board of Regents is more focused on culture wars than educating their students,” they said.
Sofia Sepulveda, field director for Equality Texas, noted that not all drag is performed by men.
“Women performers also delight in a chance to poke fun at stereotypes that have held women back for generations,” she said.
She also criticized the gender disparities among the flagship’s faculty.
“If A&M is worried about creating a hostile environment for women, then why don’t they hire more women?” Sepulveda said. “Right now, only 40% of the faculty at Texas A&M are women, 60% are men. That’s a serious issue.”
Draggieland organizers have said the event is an important outlet for the LGBTQ+ community at a time when it has come under attack from conservative policymakers in Texas and across the nation.
Students raised funds to keep the show going when the university stopped sponsoring it in 2022. In the years since, they’ve seen LGBTQ+ representation and resources on campus diminish.
Last year, Texas A&M University cut an LGBTQ+ studies minor and stopped offering gender-affirming care at the Beutel Student Health Center. In a statement Friday afternoon, the university said it had begun coordinating with the division of student affairs to notify student organizations about the board’s decision.
Regents were also expected to discuss Friday who should be the system’s next leader after Chancellor John Sharp retires this year. Regents met in Houston earlier this week to interview candidates. They did not make a decision on a finalist Friday.
Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.
Since starting their beekeeping business southwest of San Antonio in late 2019, the Wheeler family has aimed to produce about 3,000 bee colonies each year, many of which are used to pollinate crops like watermelons and pumpkins.
In the last 15 years, bee colony collapses have become more common. It’s typical for the Wheelers’ Frio Country Farms to lose about half of their bees each year. But last year, that trend worsened and the growing number of dead bees is hurting their financial bottom line.
The losses have gotten so bad that the Wheelers are considering pivoting away from pollination services toward honey production, said co-owner Ryan Wheeler, 36, in the hopes that it will help the bees stay “healthy and strong.” Farmers throughout the country rely on beekeepers like the Wheelers to grow bees to pollinate more than 100 types of fruits and vegetables.
“I just don’t really know why, but [the number of bee deaths] was definitely elevated this year,” Wheeler said. “I’m hoping that it’s nothing terrible, but it sounds scary when you hear all of the reports.”
The Wheeler family’s operation is one of the thousands experiencing what experts are calling some of the heaviest bee losses in recent memory. Since June, commercial beekeepers in Texas have lost about two thirds of their bee colonies on average, according to a survey published last month that was administered by Project Apis m., a honey bee research nonprofit. Commercial beekeepers across the nation lost about 62% of their bees — with no apparent reason — in the same period, the survey also said.
The financial losses to beekeepers nationwide go up to $635 million, the survey added. Experts worry the colony collapses are unsustainable and will have a chain effect on fruit and vegetable growth that will impact consumers. They say having fewer bees to pollinate this year can lessen the quality and quantity of foods that rely on pollination like watermelon, berries and, especially, almonds.
Heavy bee losses in one season can also impact the beekeepers’ ability to grow more in the next, causing a “trickle-down effect,” said Geoffrey Williams, an agriculture professor at Auburn University who co-authors a yearly survey on bee losses each year.
“This is one of the years where, from what I’ve heard through the grapevine, these beekeepers may not even recover,” Williams said. “In some cases, I think we’re going to lose beekeeping companies because they had to essentially just throw in the towel.”
The heavy losses in the past year are expected to have an outsized impact on Texas, which is one of the nation’s top beekeeping states. Texas has had somewhat of a beekeeping renaissance in recent decades, with the number of beekeeping companies in the state more than quadrupling from 1,851 to 8,939 from 2012 to 2022, according to a Washington Post analysis of census data.
In addition to having a relatively mild climate ideal for growing bees, the state became an attractive location for the industry thanks to a 2012 law that gives tax breaks to those who keep bees on at least five of their acres.
But heavy losses in recent years threaten some of the beekeeping gains the state has made. The colony collapses have impacted even some of the largest honey bee outfits in Texas, hurting their revenue and ability to provide enough bees to their partners in California for almond pollination. Almond crops are fully dependent on bee pollination.
For many beekeeping companies in Texas, sending bees to pollinate almonds in California represents a high portion of their income early in the year. Some companies, like the Wheelers’ Frio Country Farms, weren’t able to send bees to pollinate in California this year. Others, like Tim Hollmann’s more than 40-year-old beekeeping business, had to send over a much smaller supply than usual.
Hollmann, 62, has operated Hollmann Apiaries since 1984, but bees have been a part of his life for even longer. In running a small bee outfit with his father during his teenage years, Hollmann said he was able to put himself through college at the University of South Dakota.
Today, he’s responsible for growing thousands of bee colonies each year. Though his business is based in South Dakota, about half of its operations are in Texas. Before Hollmann’s bees are shipped off to California in early February to pollinate almonds, they are nurtured in Texas for several months. But Hollmann has struggled to meet his quota over the past few years, and it’s unclear why that has been the case.
“We’ve lost some serious ground here last year that certainly we’re not going to make up for this year,” Hollmann said. “In fact, we’re going to fall further behind.”
While he brought about 6,750 bee colonies to Texas late last fall, he was only able to send about 1,800 to California for almond pollination earlier this month. With about 124 colonies remaining in Texas, Hollmann said more than 70% of his bees died in the past year, exceeding the national average. He can’t remember experiencing losses ever that high before.
Beekeepers and experts in the field have compared recent losses to a phenomenon that occurred heavily in the late 2000s called Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD. First reported in 2006, CCD occurs when a majority of worker bees in a colony suddenly disappear. In the late 2000s, honeybee colony losses jumped from about 10-15% on average to 30-50% each year. Loss averages haven’t improved since.
“The beekeeping industry has been warning for almost 20 years that we’re going to pass a point of no return at some point,” said Blake Shook, a Texas beekeeper who co-founded a business that supports others in the bee business.
The high losses over the past year, Shook said, could impact the price of fruits, vegetables and other foods reliant on bee pollination for growth. Fruits and vegetables like apples, blueberries, pumpkins and watermelons, could have their quality “greatly diminished” by heavy bee losses, he added. Texas is one of the four largest watermelon-producing states in the country, coming behind Florida, Georgia and California.
“Bees are the backbone of agriculture,” he added. “All things that make food delicious and nutritious come from honey bees. ”
While the heavier bee losses are putting beekeeping operations and producers at risk, it is still unclear what the underlying causes are or how they can be reversed. But bee experts say there are a few potential culprits.
According to Garett Slater, one of the state’s leading honey bee specialists at Texas A&M University, there are often five key reasons why honey bee colonies collapse: parasites like the Varroa mite, pathogens, pesticides, poor nutrition among the bees and weak queen bees, who are responsible for keeping bee colonies unified and laying eggs. The cause of recent losses is likely a combination of these factors, said Slater, who works directly with beekeepers to help prevent colony collapse.
rroa mites in particular have been a common pest for honey bees, Slater added. The mites are often able to spread viruses that honey bees are not immune to, he said, making it difficult to address the problem. Slater added that Texas A&M is currently working with the United States Department of Agriculture to help breed bees that are resistant to varroa mites.
Unlike the mid-to-late 2000s, Texas and the U.S. are better prepared to address the heavier bee losses today and discover why they are happening. Slater said. His position at Texas A&M is relatively new and began in June. In the role, he supervises specialists throughout the state who promote sustainable beekeeping practices.
Even prior to this past year, the losses beekeepers were facing was “already unsustainable,” Slater said. More frequent and consistent losses moving forward would already heighten the problems beekeepers are already facing, he added.
“If 70% losses become the new norm, that could directly impact pollination, that could directly impact honey production, [and] that could directly impact bee sales to local beekeepers and groups across the state,” Slater said. “So it could have a huge impact locally in Texas but even across the nation.”
Juliana Rangel, a professor of entomology at Texas A&M, said the losses beekeepers are seeing are likely not due to any human error. The beekeepers she’s engaged with haven’t changed their practices all that much since last year, she said, suggesting that another factor is likely at play.
Hollmann, who has been in the industry for more than 40 years, is also at a loss about what is causing the colony losses. He has his suspicions, namely that the Varroa mite might be causing havoc or colonies aren’t adequately supporting their queen bees.
But he also has bigger picture worries. Hollmann feels that continued high losses may dissuade people from joining the industry, which plays a crucial role in maintaining the food ecosystem and helping to grow nutritional foods in the U.S. and across the globe.
“I’m just not sure we’re going to get the young, talented individuals to want to carry on this industry for the next generation and generations beyond,” he said. “I’m seriously worried about that.”
Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.
HENDERSON COUNTY – Our news partner, KETK, reports that five people were arrested in Henderson County after investigators conducted two major drug busts on Thursday.
According to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, at around 8:45 a.m. investigators conducted a narcotics search warrant in Moore Station on County Road 4300. Authorities found Mickey Shane Hargett, 62, and Lonnie Leon Hall, 60, at the home. Officials said they discovered a hole in the backyard where Hargett buried a plastic container that included baggies and scales for the distribution of narcotics. Hargett was arrested for the manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance along with active arrest warrants while Hall was arrested for possession of a controlled substance with active arrest warrants. Read the rest of this entry »
MOUNT ENTERPRISE – Our news partner, KETK, reports that a Mount Enterprise man was arrested after a family member reported she has been sexually abused every week since she was 13.
According to arrest records, the victim said that Daniel Alton Flanagan, 51 of Mount Enterprise, has been sexually assaulting her since she was 13 until recently. She explained that the abuse happened once a week until she was about 22. The document said now that the victim is older, the abuse has continued and has been happening every three or four weeks. Flanagan was interviewed at the Rusk County Sheriff’s office where he allegedly admitted to having sex with the family member since she was about 13 and that the abuse had continued until about a month ago.
Flanagan was arrested on Monday for continuous sexual abuse of a child younger than 14 and prohibited sexual conduct with an ancestor or descendant. He is being held on a $225,000 bond at the Rusk County Jail.
TYLER – Our news partner, KETK, reports that school choice may soon pass it’s final hurdle in the Texas House of Representatives. Governor Greg Abbott said that for the first time in our state’s history, a school choice proposal has enough backing from representatives.
“I think House Bill Three is going to be one of the finest, if not the finest, school choice bill in America,” said State Rep. Brent Money (R) Greenville.
Money, who represents Hopkins and Van Zandt counties in Austin, said the bill will allow parents another option for education and should only affect the students and families who apply for the program.
“There are strong protections, legal protections, the strongest in the state that say that this program cannot be used to change the way homeschoolers homeschool, private schoolers private school and it’s not going to change the public schools either,” Money said. Read the rest of this entry »
HENDERSON – Our news partner, KETK, reports that during a search of a Henderson home on Thursday, authorities reportedly found illegal narcotics and a firearm.
The Henderson Police Department said multiple agencies conducted a joint operation, executing a state search warrant at a home on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at around 7 a.m. The police department said they found methamphetamine, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and a pistol. One person was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The police department has not released the identity of the person arrested.
Henderson PD was joined by the Kilgore Police Department, Rusk County Sheriff’s Office and the North East Texas Regional SWAT Team.
WHITEHOUSE- A 35-year-old man was injured on Thursday while pouring gasoline on a controlled burn in Whitehouse.
The Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office responded to the 17000 block of Forest Lane in Whitehouse at around 1:41 p.m. According to our news partner, KETK, officials said the man was burning plastic household items, a toaster and aerosol cans. He was transported by helicopter to a local hospital for treatment after being issued a Class C Misdemeanor citation for illegal burning.
“Smith County Fire Marshal Chad Hogue reminds residents to never use ignitable liquids when conducting controlled burn,” the Smith County Fire Department said.
TYLER – Congressman Nathaniel Moran had the opportunity to meet with President Trump and Vice President Vance to “increase liberty and prosperity for all Americans.”
According to our news partner, KETK, Congressman Moran was in the Oval Office this week discussing the emphasis of joint efforts between House Republicans and the White House to “secure the border, slash government waste, unleash American energy production and increase liberty for the American people.”
“It was an honor to visit the White House this week to speak with President Trump and Vice President Vance,” Moran said. “During our meeting, President Trump laid out his vision to increase liberty and prosperity for all Americans – and House Republicans are hard at work to deliver on that vision.”
LUBBOCK (AP) — A child who wasn’t vaccinated died in a measles outbreak in rural West Texas, state officials said Wednesday, the first U.S. death from the highly contagious — but preventable — respiratory disease since 2015.
The school-aged child had been hospitalized and died Tuesday night amid the widespread outbreak, Texas’ largest in nearly 30 years. Since it began last month, a rash of 124 cases has erupted across nine counties.
The Texas Department of State Health Services and Lubbock health officials confirmed the death to The Associated Press. The child wasn’t identified but was treated at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, though the facility noted the patient didn’t live in Lubbock County.
“This is a big deal,” Dr. Amy Thompson, a pediatrician and chief executive officer of Covenant Health, said Wednesday at a news conference. “We have known that we have measles in our community, and we are now seeing a very serious consequence.”
In federal response, RFK Jr. appears to misstate several facts
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s top health official and a vaccine critic, said Wednesday that the U.S. Department of the Health and Human Services is watching cases and dismissed the Texas outbreak as “not unusual.”
He appeared to misstate a number of facts, including a claim that most who had been hospitalized were there only for “quarantine.” Dr. Lara Johnson at Covenant contested that characterization.
“We don’t hospitalize patients for quarantine purposes,” said Johnson, the chief medical officer.
Kennedy also seemed to misspeak in saying two people had died of measles. A spokesman — Andrew Nixon, for the Department of Health and Human Services — later clarified that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified only one death.
The federal government is providing vaccines as well as technical and laboratory support in West Texas, but the state health department is leading the response, Nixon said.
The CDC has said it will provide only weekly updates on the measles outbreak, and had not yet updated its public webpage to reflect the child’s death. Texas health department data shows that a majority of the reported measles cases are in children.
In rural Texas, some patients have needed oxygen or intubation
The virus has largely spread among rural, oil rig-dotted towns in West Texas, with cases concentrated in a “close-knit, undervaccinated” Mennonite community, state health department spokesperson Lara Anton said.
Gaines County, which has reported 80 cases so far, has a strong homeschooling and private school community. It is also home to one of the highest rates of school-aged children in Texas who have opted out of at least one required vaccine, with nearly 14% skipping a required dose last school year.
More than 20 measles patients have been hospitalized at Covenant, including the outbreak’s first identified case, hospital officials said.
Some patients’ respiratory issues progressed to bacterial pneumonia, and they needed an oxygen tube to breathe, Johnson told The Associated Press. Others had to be intubated, though Johnson declined to say how many due to privacy concerns.
“Unfortunately, like so many viruses, there aren’t any specific treatments for measles,” she said. “What we’re doing is providing supportive care, helping support the patients as they hopefully recover.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said through a spokesman that his office is in regular communication with the state health department and epidemiologists, and that vaccination teams are in the “affected area.”
“The state will deploy all necessary resources to ensure the safety and health of Texans,” said spokesman Andrew Mahaleris, calling the child’s death a tragedy.
Later Wednesday, the state health department confirmed a new measles case in Rockwall County, east of Dallas. The person had traveled internationally and is not related to the West Texas outbreak.
Vaccines are safe and effective, and measles was once considered eliminated
The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is safe and highly effective at preventing infection and severe cases. The first shot is recommended for children ages 12 to 15 months, and the second for ages 4 to 6 years.
The vaccine series is required for kids before entering kindergarten in public schools nationwide. Most kids will recover from measles, but infection can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.
Vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic, and most states are below the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartners — the level needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks.
Last week, Kennedy vowed to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles, polio and other dangerous diseases, despite promises not to change it during his confirmation hearings.
The U.S. had considered measles — a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours — eliminated in 2000, which meant there had been a halt in continuous spread of the disease for at least a year. Measles cases rose in 2024, including a Chicago outbreak that sickened more than 60.
In the current outbreak, Lubbock’s first case was in an unvaccinated child who sat in an emergency room with a kid who had measles, said Katherine Wells, director of the local health department, calling it a testament to how quickly the virus spreads.
“When you see it in real life, you really realize how contagious it is,” said Wells, noting she expects more local cases, with a couple under investigation as of Wednesday. “An entire household gets sick so quickly. Whole families are getting sick with measles.”
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AP writers Jim Vertuno and JoNel Aleccia contributed to this report. Seitz reported from Washington.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
TRINITY — Our news partner, KETK, reports that a man has died after being struck by a vehicle on Tuesday night in Trinity.
According to Trinity Police Department, around 9:14 p.m. officers responded to a vehicle and pedestrian fatality crash on the 1866 block of Robb Street at the south end of Trinity city limits. Officials said that the male pedestrian died on scene after being hit by the vehicle, but the crash is still under investigation.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all involved,” Trinity PD said.
GUN BARREL CITY — Our news partner, KETK, reports that a man was arrested after a woman was shot in Gun Barrel City Sunday afternoon.
According to Gun Barrel City Police Department, around 4:08 p.m. officers responded to 346 Flagship Lane regarding the shooting of Mackenzie Wisdom, 22 of Gun Barrel City. Wisdom was then transported to a local hospital where she died due to her gunshot wound. Officials said officers determined this was an isolated incident and arrested John David Bunch-Stiles, 23 of Gun Barrel City, for state jail felony criminally negligent homicide.
“The Gun Barrel City Police Department would like to extend our condolences to the Wisdom family,” the department said.