WASHINGTON – There were less people out of work in January, dropping the unemployment rate to 8.3 percent, the lowest in nearly three years. The economy created 243,000 jobs last month, the most in nine months. Employers have added an average of 201,000 jobs per month in the past three months. More jobs and higher incomes should help consumers boost spending and increase economic growth.
Students at a Texarkana high school are protesting the school over punishment handed to a student who jumped in a pond over a prank, and some students say they are getting suspended for their protests.
***UPDATED 8 p.m.***
Zoey Smith, a 3-year-old missing near Canton since early this afternoon, was found safe and sound about 7:30 p.m., Van Zandt County Sheriff officials said.
Nate Anderson, the 16-year-old Chapel Hill teenager charged with shooting his 19-year-old sister to death in September 2010, has pleaded guilty to first degree felony murder, Dave Goldman reports from the Smith County Courthouse.
The Texas University Scholastic League released its new classifications for high school football and basketball this morning, and there are some incredible changes for area schools.
The jaw-dropper comes in Class 3A, where the new District 16-3A consists of Bullard, defending state-champion Chapel Hill, Gilmer, Gladewater, Henderson, Kilgore and Spring Hill
***UPDATED FEB. 2***
Friends and family of Mark Adams, the Lindale High School graduate who was killed last week in a car accident while helping a stranded motorist, will celebrate his life Friday at multiple memorial services.
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. — Six more weeks of winter. But if it stays as mild as it has been in some parts of the country, the groundhog is off the hook. Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his lair to "see" his shadow this morning, in the process predicting six more weeks of winter. Of course it's all scripted. Phil's prediction is determined ahead of time by the Inner Circle, a group who dons top hats and tuxedos to host the event.
The northern half of East Texas is under a slight risk of severe weather today. Isolated thunderstorms with the possibility of very large hail could develop later this afternoon.
We will keep you posted both on-air and online! Be sure to"like" us on Facebook to receive updates. You can also stay ahead of the storms by checking our interactive radar on the weather page!
Birth Control Pill Recall
WASHINGTON — A packaging error has led to the recall of 1 million packets of birth control pills that could leave women with an inadequate dose of the hormone-based drugs and raise the risk that they will get pregnant accidentally.
An adorable 3-year-old boy in Peru is undergoing surgery today after doctors found a parasitic twin growing inside his stomach. Dr. Carlos Astocondor, a physician at Las Mercedes Hospital in Chiclayo, has taken this case. He told reports this is extremely rare, and happens about one in every 500,000 births.
TYLER -- Three suspects, including a local standout high school football player, have been arrested for shooting several people with blow darts.
In news that will likely make mothers everywhere wince in sympathetic pain, a 14-pound baby boy has been born in Des Moines, Iowa. -- and the parents even spent some time in East Texas.
