The Latest Breaking News from East Texas

Once a tool of journalists and concerned citizens to hold government accountable, open records requests have been increasingly used by political opponents and conspiracy theorists to slow down the pace of government.

Livingston and Jasper residents hope a lawsuit will force their municipality-operated utility company to offer lower rates and create more transparency in setting rates. They’re among the 5 million Texans living outside the state’s deregulated market and cannot choose their energy provider.

The Martinsville Independent School District used a federal grant to replace four buses, which started transporting students last month. The principal believes he will save enough money on gas to hire a new teacher.

The East Texas town is one of 218 local governments asking voters to approve new debt for repairs and upgrades to city infrastructure. Local leaders say inflation isn’t helping them keep up with capital needs.

The East Texas school leader was following school district policy — and state law — which allows for corporal punishment. Texas is one of 17 states that allows it, despite one Democrats efforts to ban the practice.

Globally, mass timber construction projects are expected to reach more than 24,000 by 2034. So far, at least 134 mass timber projects are in progress or completed in Texas. The first such project was a six-story office building in downtown San Antonio.

A town of 34,000 people, Lufkin sits deep in the Piney Woods, a region dotted with rural towns. Local civic leaders hope a long list of efforts can revitialize the city’s downtown and reboot its economy.

Jasper’s second Black mayor wants to help residents pay their bills while a younger city council wants to invest in the city’s culture. Residents call their heated arguments at city council meetings “foolishness” and “embarrassing.”

Texas is one of 17 states that still permits hitting, spanking and paddling in schools. Republican lawmakers stood by the practice earlier this year in part because they say it was permitted in the Bible.

Members of a Lufkin church had been in the West African country on a mission trip when a coup broke out. Airspace had been restricted, but the U.S. government stepped in this week.

The federal agency has settled a lawsuit the Sierra Club brought over pollution from a coal-burning power plant. The agreement requires the EPA to weigh in on the state’s plan to improve air quality in Rusk and Panola counties.