The third quarter of 2025 kicked off with the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas being named recipient of the Ralph W. Steen East Texan of the Year Award at the Deep East Texas Council of Governments and Economic Development District’s annual membership and awards luncheon, which also marked the 50th anniversary of the Ralph Steen Memorial East Texan of the Year award. The award was in recognition of almost two centuries of service, friendship and support to East Texas and the entire State of Texas.
Brett Foisie of Livingston, the owner of Drone Bros, was called to assist Texas EquuSearch with flood relief and search and recovery efforts in the aftermath of devastating catastrophic flooding that occurred in the Texas Hill Country. The Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes, resulting in the deaths of over 100 people, including five campers and one counselor from an all-girls Christian summer camp located in Kerr County.
A local family wishing to remain anonymous made a $100,000 contribution to the Polk County Higher Education & Technology Foundation to establish an endowed scholarship for students pursuing career and technical education courses specifically through the Texas State University System Polk County Center.
Work Force Solutions of Deep East Texas announced the appointment of Dr. Ty Cauthen as its new leader. Cauthen brings a strong background in educational leadership and rural workforce development, with a passion for equity, innovation, and creating opportunity.
Roy Grant Wagner, 44 of The Woodlands, pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to prison for the death of Cole Edward Overstreet, 18 of Livingston, in a Sept. 24, 2021 hit-and-run collision following Livingston’s Homecoming football game.
The Texas State University System Polk County Center received delivery of a state-of-the-art mobile ambulance simulator to support Lamar Institute of Technology’s Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training program, made possible through the Texas Workforce Commission’s Rural Training Lab Grant received by Workforce Solutions Deep East Texas. The ambulance simulator will serve as a hands-on training tool to prepare participants for EMT certification, helping address the growing demand for emergency medical professionals in Polk County.
The Center of Hope’s disaster response ministry coordinated with local churches and contacts in the Texas Hill Country to determine what was needed for victims of the catastrophic flooding that occurred July 4 and then sent a semi-truck loaded with pallets of supplies to Kerr County for disaster relief.
The results of an electric cost of service and rate study conducted by GDS Associates Inc. that was approximately a year in the making debunked allegations that the City of Livingston was overcharging its residential customers for electricity. The findings, presented during a special called city council meeting, revealed that the city’s electric rates were “very competitive, close to current costs.”
Livingston ISD welcomed two new principals to the district with the announcement of Justin Turbeville as the new principal at Livingston High School and Myra Kerscher as the new principal at Cedar Grove Elementary School.
David Mitchell, the City of Livingston’s newest police chief, was sworn in before a standing room only crowd in city council chambers and the Livingston Police Department’s new command staff became officially complete the following week with the swearing in of Jack Mueller as the new lieutenant.
A new – yet familiar – face at the Polk County Chamber of Commerce emerged when Kim Jernigan was named the new administrative assistant. Jernigan said she considered the opportunity both an honor and a natural extension of the work she’s been passionate about for years.
The ParaPath program to become a certified teacher through Lamar State College Orange and Sam Houston State University kicked off at the Texas State University System Polk County Center. The program is designed to assist those already working in the classroom as instructional paraprofessionals to earn their degree and teacher certification. While the curriculum is the same as a the traditional teacher preparation coursework, the courses are offered locally in the evenings, on weekends and online to allow paras to continue to work while attending classes.
Work began on installation of a seven-foot wide concrete cart path at the Livingston Municipal Golf Course. The cart path project is just one of several improvement projects planned for the course that are being funded by private donations. Other planned improvements include the reworking of five sand traps, addressing some drainage issues, redoing the putting green and reforestation to replace trees that were lost during severe flooding last year. Funding is being provided by the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, the Smith Family Foundation and the Livingston Lions Club. Though no city funds will be expended on the projects, because the golf course is owned by the city, everything must go through the city, meaning the city was responsible for seeking requests for proposals. A resolution creating a separate fund for donations received for golf course improvement projects was approved and a contract was awarded to Nelson & Nelson.
Numerous local artists displayed their work and creations at a number of downtown businesses as part of Livingston Main Street’s White Linen Sip & Shop & Artwalk which provided an opportunity to stroll downtown and support local businesses while also celebrating local artists and the vast amount of talent in the area.
Economic development, educational and workforce opportunities were shared as part of the Texas State University System Polk County Center’s Lunch & Learn Series when the center hosted a town hall meeting to earmark and celebrate its one-year anniversary.
Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Fraga and the Board of Trustees of the Onalaska Independent School District broke ground on the site of its new high school which is expected to be completed in December of 2026. The new high school will be located at 1885 FM 3459 in Onalaska next to the current junior/senior high school which will become a middle school. Voters in the OISD passed a $42 million bond issue in March 2024 for construction of the new campus.
The City of Onalaska held a grand opening for its new pickleball court which is situated in the city’s Garland Park which is located at 416 Onalaska Loop about 1.5 miles north of US 190.
Livingston High School Sophomore Cameron Ivory was selected as a recipient of the UIL Outstanding Performer 2025 Texas State Solo & Ensemble Contest from approximately 100,000 students participating, quite a feat considering only 2-3% of solo performances were recognized as outstanding. He received a gold medal for his achievement.
The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas celebrated the 38th anniversary of the tribe’s federal restoration by President Ronald Reagan during a special ceremony at its welcome center.
The Livingston Volunteer Fire Department celebrated 110 years of service to Livingston with a special ceremony, program and lunch for the community. Members of the department who have passed away were recognized, retirees of the department were recognized and service awards were presented.
Jury Appreciation Day in Polk County was celebrated with breakfast being provided for everyone that arrived for jury duty that day. Polk County District Clerk Bobbye Christopher greeted potential jurors as they arrived and gave them each a notebook. They were also given raffle tickets for door prizes that were provided through funds contributed by local attorneys.
The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas welcomed Congressman Morgan Luttrell to its Tribal Cultural Center for a discussion and tour of tribal facilities. Luttrell met with members of the tribal council during the visit to discuss the implications of the redistricting maps and their impact on the tribe. The conversation also touched on broader political priorities and the importance of ensuring native voices are represented at the federal level.
In what had been a long time coming, the Polk County Memorial Museum at 514 W. Mill St. in Livingston received a brand new parking lot to accommodate its visitors. The new parking lot includes two handicapped parking spaces, a ramp to the front porch, four regular parking spaces and five additional angle parking spaces out front.
Lamar State College Orange once again shattered records, welcoming its largest student body in the institution’s history. Preliminary enrollment for Fall 2025 stood at more than 4,500 students, a dramatic increase from the previous fall’s final headcount of 3,613. Two factors contributing to the enrollment increase were the implementation of the Texas State University System Polk County Center located at 1015 US 59 Loop North in Livingston as well as the partnership LSCO has forged with local school districts to provide dual credit courses to local high school students.
The Robert Rankin Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the City of Livingston hosted a 9/11 Prayer and Remembrance Ceremony to honor first responders on the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terroristic attacks.
While many East Texas residents agree that the Southeast Texas Area Reliability Project is necessary for power reliability, but those same residents believe that routing the power lines across Lake Livingston is a bad idea. Entergy Texas Inc., an electric utility company providing service to more than half a million customers in 27 counties, announced plans to construct a new single-circuit 500 kilovolt transmission line approximately 160 miles in length over East Texas. The project was approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Texas, which also will decide the project’s route, affecting Jasper, Montgomery, Newton, Polk, San Jacinto, Trinity, Tyler and Walker counties. However, the preferred route would have the power lines cross Lake Livingston at a narrow portion between Trinity and Onalaska, directly through Barrett’s Landing, an upscale subdivision.
In an attempt to mitigate local traffic congestion, representatives of the Texas Department of Transportation made a presentation to the Livingston City Council regarding the proposed concept of one-way split pairs including Washington Avenue (Business 59) and Houston Avenue (S.H. 146). A one-way split is a couplet of parallel one-way streets, each carrying traffic in opposing directions, designed to increase road capacity by separating opposing flows of traffic on two different street segments. This setup allows for greater volume, more efficient signal timing and a reduction in intersection conflicts. Although a traffic study had not been conducted at that time, the representatives indicated that they wanted to gauge the city’s interest.
The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas announced that its long-anticipated casino resort will be located in Leggett, Texas on its existing reservation land. The tribe received official notification from the National Indian Gaming Commission and the Solicitor’s Office for the Bureau of Indian Affairs confirming that the Leggett land, which had been in trust since 2001, was eligible to be used for gaming purposes. This confirmation from the two federal agencies affirmed that the project could move forward. Upon confirmation, the tribal council presented the change in location to the tribal membership, who granted approval during a general membership meeting.
