An East Texas-based ministry is taking people from darkness to the light, restoring vision to more than 10,000 people through Sight.org’s mobile clinics in West Africa. Since Lewis Swann co-founded Sight.org in 2012 in Tyler, the organization says it’s also shared the Gospel with more than 50,000 people in Togo, a mostly French-speaking country of…
Category: Lane’s Topics
These posts are general interest topics that I address.
Family history buried among the pages of hundred-year-old school books
What an incredible treasure! My grandmother, who turns 98 next month, is learning something new about her own mother who died 73 years ago. A relative recently discovered these more-than 100-year-old school books that belonged to my great-grandmother! Schooling in the early 1900s concluded with 6th or 7th grade. Throughout her adulthood, it turns out,…
Remembering Hurricane Katrina through the lens of prolific photographer Syndey Byrd
I’ll never forget what happened 20 years ago. I’ll never forget the pain that washed over my home state of Louisiana, the nearly 1,400 lives lost, or the healing and restoration that lingers two decades later. I’ll never forget laying eyes on the devastation in New Orleans for the very first time. A place of…
East Texas woman navigates grief by building wooden crosses
Everyone handles the loss of a loved one differently. Amber Acosta refused to let her father’s memory fade away after his death in 2016. It was inside his workshop that Amber says she unexpectedly found inspiration. “Someone can have such a large presence in your life. And to not have that anymore, it can take…
Meet Christian worship music artist Reese Germany
A rising voice in the Christian worship music scene, Reese Germany’s songs bring encouragement to those who are hurting. Her lyrics and songs give life to powerful testimony about finding hope through suffering. “I feel like my life is a song,” Reese said. “I feel like God has written a story that only he could…
Lane Luckie honored by alma mater as Distinguished Communications Professional
Journalist Lane Luckie, an alumnus of Northwestern State University, was recently recognized by the Department of New Media, Journalism and Communication Arts with a Distinguished Communications Professional Award during a luncheon and program on Friday, April 4. Luckie was honored alongside media strategist Valsin Marmillion and the late famed sportswriter Jerry Byrd. Created in 2021,…
RIAS exchange program brings 10th journalist from Germany to East Texas
Burak Ünveren, a broadcast journalist visiting from Germany, is leaving East Texas with a fresh perspective on local journalism and daily life in the United States.
WATCH: Golden Hour on the Texas State Railroad
Click here to take a trip on a historic railroad through the Pineywoods of East Texas.
East Texas athlete defies cancer diagnosis to play college softball
Softball has become a type of therapy for 18-year-old Addison Babbs. The freshman from Nacogdoches County is finishing her first semester at Angelina College and earned a spot on the Lady Roadrunners softball team. Until recently, very few of her teammates knew about an inoperable tumor deep inside the right half of her brain. Competitive…
Artist Robert Puschautz creates sacred art to elevate minds toward eternity
An East Texas artist is looking to his faith to bring beauty to the world. From his studio in downtown Tyler, Robert Puschautz is training aspiring artists to produce sacred art that inspires others. “There’s a need for new imagery, a need for beautiful art to occupy people’s hearts and minds,” Puschautz said. The Stabat…
The future of Journalism and Communications is now
Aspiring communications professionals have never had more opportunities to pursue their passions for journalism and content creation. Schools like my Alma Mater, Northwestern State University, are creating pathways for students to thrive in a multimedia-driven workplace. The university’s Department of New Media, Journalism, and Communication Arts recently held its 51st Journalism and Media Day to…
Andy Eaker’s journey from childhood coma to hospital chaplain
Nearly 30 years ago, Andy Eaker miraculously bounced back from a serious childhood brain injury. Today, the Longview native is using that experience to encourage and empathize with patients as a hospital chaplain. In June 1996, Andy Eaker was one of the first examples of extraordinary faith profiled in KLTV’s ‘Power of Prayer’ series. That…
Blue Skies Ahead: Celebrating East Texas TV legend Mark Scirto’s retirement
As we celebrate Mark Scirto’s tenure at KLTV, I’m feeling so nostalgic about all the memories involving Mark and his impact on my life and career.
WATCH: The Eiffel Tower, a timeless landmark
Click here to take a tour of Paris’ most iconic sights aboard a Seine River cruise.
WATCH: Cruising Paris’ famed Seine River
Click here to take a tour of Paris’ most iconic sights aboard a Seine River cruise.
WATCH: Lane Luckie reports from France on 80th anniv. of D-Day
Click here to watch Lane’s live coverage of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France.
Fmr. East Texas nurse, 103, recalls treating soldiers wounded on front lines of D-Day
At 103, memories of serving during one of modern history’s defining moments are still a source of pride for Lucille Wright, who now lives along the shores of Toledo Bend Reservoir in rural Sabine County. She served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War II from June 1943 to February 1946, achieving the…
Last practices for 1944 D-Day invasion staged two weeks earlier at Tyler airport
Two weeks before the largest amphibious invasion in military history was launched on D-Day, the U.S. military coordinated an exercise involving air drops over Tyler. According to a May 20, 1944 report in the The Tyler Courier-Times, an afternoon newspaper no longer in publication, the maneuver would involve air-dropping 25 thousand pounds of equipment onto…
WATCH: Organist plays in Paris’ oldest church
Click here to listen to an organ playing inside Église Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
WATCH: Inside La Madeleine Church
Click this video to explore the striking architecture of Paris’ La Madeleine Church.
German soldiers captured in World War II held in East Texas POW camps
As the unprecedented D-Day invasion in France got underway in June 1944, German prisoners of war were arriving in Texas by the thousands. According to the Texas Historical Commission, more than 50 thousand German soldiers were held at nearly 70 prisoner of war internment camps in Texas during World War II. Many were captured in…
Longview HS Lobo Choir group takes final bow after week in Paris, France
The Longview High School Lobo Choir’s week abroad is winding down with a second day of immersion in the history and culture of France’s capital city. On Monday, June 10, their final day in France, the choir performed at La Madeleine Church, known for its atypical neo-classical architecture style that mimics the Pantheon. Originally intended…
East Texas soldier tapped to wrangle wild horses ahead of Normandy invasion
The National Archives and Records Administration’s work to catalogue millions of photos from World War II has spanned decades. “The Second World War was documented on a huge scale by thousands of photographers and artists who created millions of pictures,” the agency stated on its website. The growing image archive continues to reveal fascinating details…
Longview HS choir performs in D-Day Memorial Parade in Normandy
On Saturday, June 8, the Longview High School Choir made a visit to the Normandy American Cemetery, a day after their scheduled performance during a commemoration ceremony was canceled due to an unplanned visit by U.S. President Joe Biden. Students walked through the rows of marble grave markers and reflected on the lives lost in…
French village salutes fallen WWII hero who trained in East Texas
80 years ago, soldiers from Texas known as the ‘Tough Hombres’ arrived in the town of Périers during the Battle of Normandy in northwest France. This week, this small town of two thousand residents will honor their liberators from the U.S. Army’s 90th Infantry Division with several memorial events. A focal point of the tribute…
Longview Choir performs in D-Day remembrance ceremony at Brittany American Cemetery
On their third day in France, the Longview High School Choir had a deeply moving opportunity to perform on hallowed ground. The Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial is the final resting place of 4,404 American service members, most of whom lost their lives in the Normandy and Brittany Campaigns of 1944. On Thursday, June 6,…
WATCH: A solemn visit to Normandy’s Omaha Beach
Click here to see the final resting place of more than 9,000 American war heroes.
Tyler’s Camp Fannin trained soldiers for front lines at Battle of Normandy
Over the course of World War II, more than 200 thousand military personnel trained at Camp Fannin, located between Tyler and Winona, before seeing combat on the front lines in both Europe and the Pacific. Today, little evidence remains of what was once a sprawling, 14 thousand acre complex dedicated to the training of infantry…
7 things to know about the D-Day invasion
World leaders and even a choir from Longview High School will be attending the 80th anniversary commemorations of the D-Day invasion at Normandy, France. Here are 7 things to know about World War II’s pivotal Battle of Normandy: 1. D-Day was the largest amphibious invasion in military history. On June 6, 1944, Allied forces stormed…
WATCH: Arromanches, site of D-Day’s artificial harbor
Click here to see how the site of the Gold Beach invasion and a critical Mulberry harbor marked the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
Artifacts from Battleship Texas flown to France for 80th anniversary of D-Day
80 years after the U.S.S. Texas bombarded the Normandy coast in support of the Allied invasion on D-Day, artifacts from the historic battleship will return to France as part of the commemorations planned on June 6. In 1944, the U.S.S. Texas provided critical support for the landings at Pointe du Hoc and at Omaha Beach….
Understanding the D-Day invasion, Battle of Normandy
On their second day abroad in France, the Longview Choir group continued their immersion in history with visits to Arromanches-les-Bains, Gold Beach, Saint Lo and Bayeux. The students from Longview visited the D-Day 360 Museum in Arromanches. Here, the choir members will got an overview of the history they will explore in the week ahead….
WATCH: Flying into Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
Click the video below to enjoy this look around at Europe’s third-busiest airport.
Lane Luckie earns German media prize for international reporting
Lane Luckie was honored Monday night as a recipient of a RIAS Media Prize award for his reports from Germany last September. The 32nd annual awards are presented by the RIAS Berlin Commission and celebrates some of the best of transatlantic broadcast journalism. The winners were celebrated at a gala ceremony at Berlin’s Meistersaal, a…
Longview High School choir embarks on trip to perform at D-Day observance in France
The Longview High School Lobo Choir is setting out on a trip of a lifetime after being invited to perform at the 80th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day landings in Normandy, France. On Monday, the group of 28 students and seven chaperones, led by director Melody McMullen, left Longview High School on a charter bus…
Lane Luckie 