Mold Remediation in Tyler, TX

TYLER, Texas (KETK) — Election day is here, and with thousands of East Texans expected to cast their ballot today, KETK has compiled a list of polling locations to make the voting process a little easier.

According to NBC News, 77.3 million mail-in and early in-person votes were casted nationally and in Texas nearly 9 million casted their vote ahead of election day. Today, that number is expected to skyrocket.

Polling locations will be open nationwide from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and East Texans can find the closet polling location near them down below:

ANDERSON COUNTY

ANGELINA COUNTY

BOWIE COUNTY

CAMP COUNTY

CASS COUNTY

CHEROKEE COUNTY

FRANKLIN COUNTY

GREGG COUNTY

HARRISON COUNTY

HENDERSON COUNTY

HOPKINS COUNTY

HOUSTON COUNTY

MARION COUNTY

MORRIS COUNTY

NACOGDOCHES COUNTY

PANOLA COUNTY

POLK COUNTY

RAINS COUNTY

RUSK COUNTY

SABINE COUNTY

SAN AUGUSTINE COUNTY

SHELBY COUNTY

First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall at 175 Faulkville Road

SMITH COUNTY

TRINITY COUNTY

UPSHUR COUNTY

VAN ZANDT COUNTY

WOOD COUNTY

Read Next >

Read Next >

Next story

Read Next >

in

Editor’s Note: The above video shows KXAN News’ top morning headlines from Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Everything’s bigger in Texas — including debt.

Online platform LendingTree named Austin the most debt-ridden metro in the country, analyzing anonymous credit reports from approximately 210,000 users in the 50 largest U.S. metros. When looking at nonmortgage debt — which included auto loans, student loans, credit cards, personal loans and other types of debt — LendingTree reported a per-person average of $45,920 in debt for Austin residents.

Within that figure, Austinites’ average debt broke down into:

LendingTree experts said Austin’s current city infrastructure leaning largely car-centric aided to the higher auto loan debt, particularly when paired with high interest rates and increased auto costs. On the student loan front, LendingTree’s report pointed to Austin having a highly educated population as well as robust industry jobs in the science and technology fields, which often spell out higher education attainment and related debt.

“As it has grown so rapidly over the years, Austin has become a far more expensive place to live than it used to be,” said Matt Schulz, LendingTree’s chief credit analyst, in the report.

Austin wasn’t the only Texas city with high debt levels. LendingTree’s Top 10 metro breakdown included four Texas cities in the rankings:

The top metros with the least nonmortgage debt ranked as follows:

LendingTree’s study noted high-earning jobs as an explanation behind top rankings in communities like San Jose, San Francisco and New York, while other cities like Louisville had some of the lowest average credit card debt levels nationally.

The full analysis is available online.

Even though she was raised as a Longhorns fan, it's unlikely that senior guard Shay Holle remembers anything about the last time that the Texas women's basketball team reached the Final Four. Holle, after all, had not yet turned 2 years old when Stacy Stephens, Heather Schreiber and Jamie Carey led Jody Conradt's squad to the national semifinals in Atlanta.

Holle, however, remembers plenty about Texas just missing out on Final Four berths.

She was a first-year reserve when an upstart Texas team ended the 2020-21 pandemic season with an Elite Eight loss to South Carolina. One year later, Holle started as Stanford bested UT in the same round of the NCAA Tournament. Texas and Holle again reached the Elite Eight last season as a No. 1 seed, but North Carolina State prevented the Longhorns from advancing.

"Off the bat, it has been frustrating. You have to take a step back and be like, 'OK, I have been to three Elite Eights in the past four years, which is obviously super special and something that not a lot of people can say,'" Holle said this week. "I think it fuels our fire a little bit. I think we always remember those games."

National championship is the ultimate goal at Texas this season

Holle is correct. Those recent shortcomings definitely haven't been forgotten at Texas.

When asked earlier this month about the team's goals for the upcoming season, All-American candidate Madison Booker replied that "No. 1 is to get past that (Elite Eight) hump right there."

Booker later insisted that the biggest goal for the Longhorns is to win a national championship. Unsurprisingly, those ambitions are shared by many players on a team that opens this season as the No. 4 team in both the USA Today Coaches Poll and Associated Press rankings.

"National championship, that's always a goal," senior Taylor Jones said.

"The ultimate goal is to win a national championship," shared senior Laila Phelia.

Stated freshman Jordan Lee: "I would definitely say nothing short of a national championship (is the goal)."

USC, UT-Tyler provide preseason tests for Texas

The NCAA will crown its next champion in Tampa in April. Thus the road to the Final Four for Texas begins Nov. 10, when the Longhorns welcome Southeast Missouri State to Moody Center for their season opener.

Texas, though, has already gotten some work in.

The Longhorns participated in a closed-door scrimmage with USC two weekends ago, and UT head coach Vic Schaefer reported Phelia and freshman guard Bryanna Preston looked good against the third-ranked Trojans. Schaefer said it was evident that USC, which opens its season Nov. 4, had been practicing longer than Texas before adding that "we showed some competitive spirit. At the same time, I also think it showed we've got some things to address."

Last week, Texas held an intrasquad scrimmage at Moody Center. Preston once again shined, and Texas fans got their first extended look at senior guard Rori Harmon following last year's season-ending knee injury. During the second half of the scrimmage, Texas rallied to tie a team of male practice players.

"It's so early in the season, we're still trying to get chemistry and all of those things," Holle said. "Obviously, I feel like the main thing you want to see is just the competitive spirit. I think that was definitely there in both scrimmages we've had."

The final preseason tune-up for Texas will take place this Thursday night when it hosts UT-Tyler in an exhibition game. The Patriots play on the Division II level and went 27-9 last season.

Will Thursday's exhibition game be competitive? Probably not. Under Schaefer, Texas has won its last four public exhibitions by an average of 52.3 points.

But that doesn't mean that the Longhorns won't get something out of playing on Halloween.

"I want to see us take care of the ball. I want to see us defend really hard, play really hard," Schaefer said. "And again, it's execution. It's playing at a pace. I think we learned in the first scrimmage with USC, we didn't like our pace, and so playing with pace, both out of transition as well as on the half-court, I just think we've got to continue to work on that piece. We've got depth. I want to be that team that just wears you down, and my teams typically do that and I think we've got the personnel now."

Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Get access to all of our best content with this tremendous offer.

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - Depending on who wins the presidential election, the future of energy policy in America may impact producers across the Lone Star State, including in East Texas.

For instance, if elected, former President Donald Trump has said he would exit the Paris Climate Agreement. If Vice President Kamala Harris secures the White House, the United States is expected to remain in the agreement. Trump said he will continue to invest in fossil fuels, while Harris says her administration will invest in clean energy.

936,476 people worked in the energy sector in Texas in 2022.

Speaking at an oil fracking location at his ranch near Carthage, President of the East Texas Gas Producers Association, Cliff Todd, said “If we see one president coming in, we’re gonna see ‘drill baby, drill’ happen again.” Trump has used the phrase over the course of the campaign.

Under the Biden administration, America has reached record levels of oil production, averaging 12.9 million barrels of crude oil per day last year. That follows President Joe Biden’s decision to revoke permits for the Keystone XL pipeline shortly after entering office. The project would have carried oil nearly 1,200 miles from Alberta to Nebraska.

“After the board rooms of the large oil and gas companies started picking up on, ‘well this is the way they’re going,’ I think it hurt a lot of future investments,” said Todd.

“Under the Trump administration he relieved policies,” said Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian. “I’m against many of the additional policies instead of restricting the government or restricting unfair competition.”

Jeff Harris, General Manager of the Delek US Tyler Refinery, said he wants the federal government to allow more oil and gas exploration in Texas and increase fuel transportation using pipelines. He hopes more environmental regulations are not put in place.

“We’re probably at the point, however, where the clean air and the clean water folks, anything we add to that to now is going to be extraordinarily expensive for the industry and may put people out of business,” Harris said. “It will require significant amounts of capital investment for the refineries in the United States to meet substantially increased regulation.” According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, there were “132 operable petroleum refineries in the United States” on Jan. 1 of this year.

Rhetoric is another concern for Harris and Todd.

“It is harder to hire in our industry when the federal government treats our industry as an enemy,” Harris added. “Using terms like ‘Big Oil’ and things like that is not very helpful to us.”

“There’s a lot of rhetoric about anti-frack,” Todd added. “We don’t need those types of talk and slowing down the oil and gas industry.”

On the other side of oil and gas are renewable energy solutions, including solar. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, Texas ranked first in solar capacities installed last year. Texas’ solar energy is projected to grow by over 50 gigawatts over the next five years, which is similarly ranked number one.

Owner of EasTex Solar, Cal Morton, said he does not want much from the federal government, with his concern being on a state level, such as imposing limits on solar energy.

“I didn’t think we would be at this stage this soon, that in 2024, 2025 that we could install a solar system for the price that we can do that nowadays, namely on the back of solar panel prices being so much less today than they were 10 years ago, 15 years ago,” Morton said. “We’re in a good place.”

“I think we will have more wind, solar, I hope we have more nuclear,” Jeff Harris said. “I think it’s just the way we’re evolving. Fossil fuels may or may not last forever, you’ve got to have an alternative.”

Copyright 2024 KLTV. All rights reserved.

A lack of funding led to layoffs at Cumberland Academy in Tyler, the school said in a media statement.

Cumberland Academy laid off a total of 50 teachers, aides, and nursing staff as part of budget cuts aimed at addressing a significant financial deficit, according to Superintendent Charles Pulliam.

The academy has implemented strategic budget adjustments to “manage a $2 million shortfall resulting from the state’s ongoing funding freeze, the end of federal COVID relief funding, inflationary pressures, and rising costs,” Pulliam said in a statement to the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

Pulliam called the budget adjustments “necessary actions.” The approved measures include “reassignments, consolidations, staff reductions, and a modest salary adjustment for all staff members.”

“These steps balance immediate financial needs with our commitment to maintaining high-quality education for our students,” Pulliam said.

The changes include strategic reassignments, consolidations of positions, attrition and staff reductions and realignments.

In total, 50 positions out of just over 300 have been eliminated, which Pulliam said is “right-sizing the school faculty and staff to the number of students we are serving.”

Employees affected by the layoffs are being offered severance packages, are eligible for rehire, and will receive transition assistance during this period, according to Pulliam.

Cumberland Academy is a public, tuition-free charter school. It started as a private elementary school founded by Dr. Jim Cotton and Mrs. Cotton more than 20 years ago but was turned into a charter school in 1998. Later it expanded to include a middle school and then a high school.

In Texas, independent school districts typically receive about 55% of their funding from local property taxes and the remaining 45% from state sources such as the sales tax and proceeds from oil and gas, according to the Texas Public Charter Schools Association. However, by contrast, charter schools receive 100% of their funding from state sources. Unlike ISDs, they have no authority to levy local taxes and receive no local tax funds.

Charter schools do not receive more taxpayer funding than ISDs, the Texas Public Charter Schools Association says. Overall, charters receive $676 less per student than ISDs, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Parents of students at Cumberland Academy have expressed disappointment and frustration with the school. Through social media comments and "rants" on community pages, parents are not happy about what they say was a swift and unexpected decision.

Email*

Select Newsletters to Sign Up For

News Updates

Breaking News

Sports Digest

Obituaries and Death Notices

Jennifer Blake, a parent of three children in the charter school system, spoke to our news partners at CBS19 about the sudden changes at Cumberland.

"My daughter is in the high school. She showed up to a classroom that had a note on the door where her teacher advised that he was released, and no one was there to cover the class," Blake said. "... It's just concerning as to how it's going to affect our children and their educational endeavor here at Cumberland."

Blake expressed shock of how quickly the decision was made and shared with the staff and parents, citing a lack of "proper notice."

Additionally, the changes are having an effect on the students.

"Our kids are feeling the effect — watching teachers walk out crying, hugging teachers," Blake said. "... They didn't think about the emotional effect that it would have on our children."

Blake says she's been an advocate for Cumberland for the last 10 years, but now she's feeling hurt.

"To see this going on is disheartening, and it also tells me a lot of the things that I've heard in the past that I've overlooked because I've been an advocate, are coming to pass," Blake said. "I'm just very concerned as a parent that it's affecting our children and their education and the mere fact that they didn't have a plan in place. Perhaps they do, but it's not showing that they have a plan in place when children are showing up to classrooms that are empty or classrooms that are not attended to."

She said with this change happening in the middle of the school year, students "have to readapt," which will affect their academics and overall learning and social experiences at school.

Blake added, "Don't get me wrong — I love the school, and I've loved the mission throughout the year, but I sincerely believe that the vision has changed."

Pulliam was appointed as superintendent in May. The school said in a previous statement that he has demonstrated leadership in various roles over the years. In a previous role as Chief Development Officer at Life School of Dallas, Pulliam led multiple departments and oversaw the development of a comprehensive learning and performance management system, which earned a $4.6 million implementation grant. His leadership helped increase the organization’s revenue from $35 million to $70 million over six years, the school previously said.

The Texas Venture Alliance, in partnership with the East Texas Technology and Innovation Coalition, has announced the inaugural Texas Venture Fest set to take place Thursday evening at True Vine Brewing in Tyler’s Mosaic District.

Organizers say this event will bring together innovators, entrepreneurs and ecosystem supporters from across Northeast Texas, creating a unique opportunity for networking and collaboration within the region’s startup community.

As part of the event, two panels are planned: one focusing on Founders and Entrepreneurs, and the other on Innovation Ecosystem Support Providers. Notable entrepreneur commitments include Ryan Dixon of True Vine Brewing, Justin Ross of Liquet in Athens, and Keith Lindsay, a Shark Tank alum and co-founder of True West in Jacksonville. A surprise guest panelist may also be in attendance, organizers said.

On the Innovator Support side, Mike Rainone from Product Concept Development (PCD) Works and Maria Brackenridge, Team Lead with the DFW Airport Innovation Team, are confirmed participants, with Alden Warr serving as the moderator.

True Vine Brewing Company is located at 2453 Earl Campbell Parkway in Tyler.

The schedule for the evening includes:

5 to 6 p.m.: Meet, Greet, Networking

6 to 6:25 p.m.: Panel 1: Founders and Entrepreneurs

6:30 to 6:55 p.m.: Panel 2: Innovation Ecosystem Support

7 to 8 p.m.: Networking

Texas Venture Fest has evolved significantly since its inception. Originally launched in 2022 as the “Austin Venture Crawl,” the event attracted 1,300 participants in Austin. Last year, it expanded to 15 venues across nine cities, with nearly 3,000 attendees and over 40 venture panelists. Now rebranded, the 2024 Texas Venture Fest will introduce the Texan’s Choice Awards, enabling attendees to vote for their favorite investor, startup, and community leader.

Organizers have hinted at additional special guest panelists and VIPs, adding to the excitement of the evening. Among the notable contributions, Alvie IV, founder of Alvies Boots and Flip Flops, has donated a pair of Signature Billy F. Gibbons “Have Mercy” boots for a door prize drawing.

For further details on participation and sponsorship opportunities, visit the Texas Venture Alliance website. The event is expected to be a significant milestone in the East Texas’s startup landscape, inviting all to discover the region’s potential.

To register, visit https://lu.ma/texas-venture-fest-east-texas-2024 .