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Truck driver charged with killing teen who was getting off school bus in East Texas

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Truck driver charged with killing teen who was getting off school bus in East Texas


Gregory Jackson, 41, was charged with criminally negligent homicide after striking and killing a teen who was getting off the school bus Thursday.

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Authorities arrested a truck driver who struck and killed a teen as he was getting off a school bus Thursday. 

Gregory Jackson, 41, was charged with criminally negligent homicide, according to a report by ABC 13. 

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Police say a Livingston ISD school bus was heading northbound on US-59 when it stopped in the outside lane to drop off a student. The bus had turned on its flashing red lights and extended its stop sign, the report states. 

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Autumn Witt, 28, was sitting in a Toyota when a semi-truck struck the back of the car. The Texas Department of Public Safety said the 18-wheel truck, driven by Jackson, veered right and hit the teen in a driveway. 

The teen was pronounced dead at the scene. Jackson and Witt did not suffer injuries from the incident. 

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Jackson was employed by Livingston Trucking. According to records, the company had been involved in seven crashes over the past two years, three of the seven resulted in injuries. 

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Livingston ISD released a statement on Facebook Thursday after it was confirmed that the teen had died. 

“At times like this, we are reminded how precious life can be and how fragile each life truly is.

“It is sad when our district loses a member of its family. It is even more tragic when such a young life is taken away from us. 

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“We extend our thoughts and sincere condolences to family and friends,” the post said. 

Livingston ISD told ABC 13 that they plan to review the safety of that bus route, which could result in possible changes. 

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Jackson was booked into the Polk County Jail. 

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The investigation is ongoing. 





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ESPN tags lefty starter as possible Texas Rangers free agent fit

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ESPN tags lefty starter as possible Texas Rangers free agent fit


The MLB offseason is upon us.

Free agency officially opens five days after the conclusion of the World Series, and the Texas Rangers might have an extensive shopping list.

A bat? An arm? The Rangers could use at least a couple of both after finishing 78-84 in their World Series defense campaign.

With baseball abuzz with free agency rumors, ESPN recently released a list of potential fits for MLB’s top free agents — the ones not named Juan Soto, at least.

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ESPN names veteran left-hander and former Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Max Fried as a potential fit for the Rangers to sign this offseason.

Fried is a 31-year-old starter with a career 3.07 ERA in eight seasons as a major leaguer. He’s pitched at the top of the Braves rotation for years, appeared in two All-Star games and finished top-5 in Cy Young voting twice.

Here’s what ESPN said about his fit with Texas: “The Rangers might not be the obvious destination, but Max Scherzer, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney are free agents (assuming Eovaldi opts out of his $20 million option). Jon Gray is under contract for one more year and Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle are health risks. Prospects Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter are possible rotation options but given the age of some of the key offensive players — Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Adolis Garcia — the Rangers should be all-in to win now before their stars get older.”

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Aside from triggering DFW sports fans with usage of the phrase “all-in,” there could be a problem with ESPN’s projection.

There’s no question Fried would be a boon for the Rangers rotation. There’s plenty of question about the price tag, though.

Fried is one of the top free agents of the winter, the No. 4 player on the market according to Keith Law’s annual top 50 list. Early projections have his contract landing somewhere around the $150-180 million range.

For a team with an extremely uncertain financial situation that is believed to be cutting payroll heading into the 2025 season, that contract may be a little rich for the Rangers at the moment.

Can big-market Rangers even compete with Dodgers, Yankees’ advantages in MLB’s newest era?

ESPN also lists the Boston Red Sox and the seemingly endless pockets of the world-champion LA Dodgers as possible Fried suitors.

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So the ace lefty would be a huge get for the Rangers this winter if they can pull it off, but it’d be a surprising one, as well.

Twitter: @dmn_rangers

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Best College Football Prop Bets for Texas A&M vs. South Carolina in Week 10

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Best College Football Prop Bets for Texas A&M vs. South Carolina in Week 10


One of the biggest games on the Week 10 card features Texas A&M in primetime for the second week in a row, this time on the road in Columbia, South Carolina to face a well rested Gamecocks team.

How can South Carolina deploy LaNorris Sellers to better the team’s chances of winning? We discuss both Sellers passing and rushing yard prop as well as Texas A&M’s Le’Veon Moss’ rushing yard prop in our player prop betting preview below!

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

LaNorris Sellers UNDER 167.5 Passing Yards

Sellers is limited as a passer, but has gone over this in two straight games. However, I believe those numbers are a bit misleading given that Alabama’s defense is far worse than expected and the Gamecocks were able to blowout Oklahoma. 

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Given that this game has a low total and is expected to be a rock fight with a low total, I’m going to bank on the Texas A&M defense having answers for the limited Gamecocks passing game. 

On the season, South Carolina ranks outside the top 100 in EPA/Play, but the real issue is the team’s shaky offensive line against the Texas A&M defensive line. The Aggies pass rush is elite, evident in the team’s resounding second half effort against LSU. 

Texas A&M is 36th in sacks and 11th in tackles for loss, so I don’t expect a ton of time for Sellers to read the defense. This season, when under pressure, Sellers is completing 41% of his passes with nine turnover worthy plays.

The Aggies should win at the line of scrimmage all night and put South Carolina in obvious passing situations, where the visitors can drop more back into coverage. The home underdogs are 98th in third down success rate while Texas A&M is 26th in that same metric on defense. 

In a projected rockfight, take the under on Sellers’ passing yards.  

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LaNorris Sellers OVER 21.5 Rushing Yards

The South Carolina offense has allowed more sacks than all but one team in the country (Oklahoma), a big issue against the elite Texas A&M defensive line. 

Sellers is going to have a ton of negative yardage due to sacks, but off a BYE week, I expect South Carolina to look to improve its field position by using Sellers as a rusher. He has run the ball at least 10 times in all but one game he has played in this season, and has gone over this number in four of six games. 

With fresh legs, against a potentially taxed Texas A&M defense, I like for the Gamecocks to look to use Sellers more as a rusher than a passer. 

Le’Veon Moss UNDER 83.5 Rushing Yards

Moss is the lead back in the Texas A&M backfield, but Amari Daniels has had his fair share of rushes as well, so I don’t expect a monster volume game from Moss. Further, he is set to face an elite South Carolina defense on the road. 

The Gamecocks are top 10 in yards per carry allowed and has one of the best defensive lines in the country, ranking 11th in tackles for loss. 

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While Moss has shown the ability to get over this mark, given the defensive matchup, and the likelihood that this game will feature a ton of, if not all of, Marcell Reed at quarterback who can attack the Gamecocks offense with his legs, I need to go under on Moss’ rushing yard prop. 

I believe the Texas A&M inability to have a dominant passing game will lead to a lot more loaded boxes for Moss and co. to run through, limiting his ability to rip off a chunk play. 

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

Follow Reed on Twitter @ReedWallach and get all his college football bets on betstamp @rw33

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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Virtual appointments to renew Texas driver’s license are a win-win

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Virtual appointments to renew Texas driver’s license are a win-win


For too many Texans renewing, replacing or getting their first driver’s license, the process is a bureaucratic nightmare. Average booking times range from 40 to 180 days, without counting the time you spend at the driver’s license office.

This is why we welcome a novel idea from the Department of Public Safety that will allow virtual appointments. This will not only help customers get their documents faster, but it will also help the agency get around staffing shortages, which are worse in metropolitan areas like Dallas, our colleague Amber Gaudet reported.

How will virtual appointments work? A customer would book the online appointment and then upload the required documents ahead of time. During the virtual meeting, a DPS employee, who could be anywhere in Texas, will review the documentation and take the driver’s photo if needed.

Many Texans are already using telehealth services to meet their physicians in a virtual setting, and many of us have office meetings in online conference rooms. Renewing a driver’s license remotely makes sense.

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But DPS’ pitch goes even further. Noncommercial drivers could take their road test virtually. This will require road and driver-facing cameras and the help of a passenger to act as a proctor. We are more skeptical about this. But as technology continues to evolve, assessing driving skills without being in the car might be feasible in the near future.

DPS has been struggling for years with wait times for driver’s license processing.

In 2018, The News reported that people waited up to eight hours, sometimes outdoors and in extreme weather. Back then, the online system was not as efficient, but now the problem is waiting for an appointment. Good luck if you are in Plano, where a renewal or replacement appointment can take up to 64 days.

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With tens of thousands moving to Texas each month, DPS has had difficulty keeping up with the demand.

DPS is asking the Legislature to invest $22 million over the next five years in the system. About 40% of Texans have to be in person to get their updated license. This includes first-timers and noncitizens, but also those who have renewed online previously.

This is a sensible investment, but lawmakers should also consider security enhancements to avoid cybersecurity threats like the 2023 breach in which criminals illegally obtained thousands of licenses.

It is commendable that DPS is looking for practical solutions to a problem that has frustrated Texans for too long. Legislature, take the wheel.

We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com

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