Free Republic

HENDERSON -- Drugs, guns, prostitutes and fraudulent Social Security and immigration green cards are believed to have been sold and traded by a Rusk County family with connections to a violent Mexican Cartel. A sizeable force of federal and state law enforcement raided a Rusk County family compound Wednesday morning after two years of investigations by multiple agencies into the Hernandez family's alleged illegal activities. Dallas Region FBI Spokesperson Mark White said there was a sizeable number of agents and other officers involved in the "no knock" warrant due to the multiple buildings and multiple families on the tract of...

Not one of the 11 East Texans who approached the podium at Wednesday's hearing on Interstate 69 voiced support for the planned highway. "This is highway robbery, and we should not pursue this project," said David Simpson, a Longview resident and fifth-generation Texan. "This process has bypassed the Constitution. It has bypassed the U.S. Congress, and I'm opposed to it because of the unconstitutional way that it has been pushed through." The public hearing, held at Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Center, was a chance for residents to comment and ask questions about Interstate 69/Trans-Texas Corridor. The corridor would extend...

A state mobility agency wants local input concerning a major corridor that might slice through East Texas. A town hall meeting will be held in Carthage on Wednesday to discuss the Interstate 69/Trans-Texas Corridor study area, according to a Texas Department of Transportation media release. The meeting, slated for 6:30 p.m. at the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame located at 300 West Panola Street, will be the first of 11 such discussions held statewide. Interstate 69 consists of two parts — a completed portion from the Canadian border to Indianapolis, and a mostly proposed extension to the Mexican border...

In recent memories, there have been many schoolyard tragedies ranging from Beslan massacre to Columbine shooting. This one is the worst schoolyard tragedy. New London, Texas, located in Rusk County, is the richest rural county in the nation because of oilfields throughout East Texas. This is in midst of the Great Depression grappling America. A new school is built which holds 500 students and 40 teachers. The school wanted to save money for natural gas bills, which cost $300, they tapped into natural gas straight from the field. It was odorless as a result. This peaceful and thriving town's world...