Jim Bell is a Lufkin native with many years of experience in commercial and public radio news broadcasting. Winner of many awards for news writing, reporting and news production from Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Association, Houston Press Club, Dallas Press Club, Harris County Medical Society and Texas Medical Association. He's been married to the same woman for 35 years, with four children and six grandchildren.
Jim Bell
Angelina College Goes Smoke-Free This Fall
Angelina College officials have decided it's time to ban all uses of tobacco products at the school. The new policy makes the entire AC campus, including all off-campus centers, 100 percent tobacco-free.
Small Towns Offering to Pay Student Loans
From rural Kansas to upstate New York -- communities worried about their aging and shrinking populations are trying anything they can to attract young professionals and get them to move there. Some are even offering to pay off all or part of their student loans.
B’Ship Texas Leaking — Is She Doomed?
The historic 100 year old Battleship Texas at San Jacinto State Park is fighting a new enemy, and she may not win this battle. She's so rusty her hull is leaking. Worse, fixing this latest leak is like trying to save a dying man with a band-aid. It's sad to contemplate, but this most historic of all 20th century battleships appears to be doomed.
Stolen Concrete Eagle Finally Comes Home
Better late than never we suppose. Nearly 40 years after it was stolen from its perch outside the offices of the Longview News-Journal newspaper, a large concrete eagle has been returned to the owner. The thief's family is still so embarrassed by it they don't want to be identified.
Polk County Courthouse on Endangered List
Although it's nowhere near as old as many public buildings, the Texas Historical Commission says the Polk County Courthouse in Livingston is one of the most endangered courthouses in the state. The THC says unless it gets major work soon, the building will have to be demolished...
Colleges Finally Teaching Financial Literacy
It's about time. Colleges and universities are waking up to the fact that student loans have become a national crisis. So many students and graduates are buried under student loans they can't repay, classroom and online courses in financial literacy are now part of the curriculum on a growing number of college campuses.
Houston Leads Nation in Settling Refugees
Lost in Houston's famous urban sprawl, its insane traffic and stifling heat, is the fact that more refugees come to Houston than any other city in the United States. We're talking about people who have fled their home countries for one reason or another, and have been accepted by our State Department as refugees.
Couple Sues Media Over Mass Grave Reports
A Liberty County couple has filed a massive libel lawsuit against the Liberty County Sheriff's Department and a bunch news media outlets, over a "psychic's" claim that bodies were buried in mass graves on their property. No mass graves were ever found.