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GLADEWATER – Gladewater residents are being asked to conserve water. On Friday, the City of Gladewater issued a notice to residents that they are now in Stage 1 Water Conservation due to water levels and their drought contingency plan as reported by our news colleagues at KETK. “We need everyone to work to conserve water usage as much as possible at this time,” according to a statement from the city. “We will provide an update as this changes.”

CANTON – A new Sonic drive-in in Canton will feature something unique. According to our news partner KETK, this new Sonic will be first in the United States to have pickleball courts. The Canton Economic Development Corp. adds, the pickleball courts can be reserved using the CourtReserve App. If you’re wondering if pickleball will replace the playground for your kids, don’t. The new Sonic location will have both.

RUSK COUNTY — Rusk County Sheriff’s Office and the Henderson Police Department have apprehended three individuals and seized suspected methamphetamine, suspected cocaine, suspected MDMA, suspected marijuana and firearms. According to the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office and our news colleagues at KETK, they received leads during a fugitive apprehension investigation that led to a controlled substance search warrant being served at 1307 Martin Luther King Street in Henderson. Continue reading 3 arrested in Rusk County on drug, firearm charges

TYLER – The University of Texas at Tyler received part of a $1.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation to study ants and their potential impacts on soils in southeastern U.S. environments. “This collaborative research award recognizes the high quality of our biology department’s work,  which will help determine whether soil animals such as ants impact soils at larger scales,” said Dr. Kouider Mokhtari, UT Tyler interim senior vice president for research. “This novel research has broad applications that could advance our understanding of how soil nutrients and mineral composition are impacted by ant nests.” UT Tyler will collaborate with the University of Central Florida and Yale University’s School of the Environment on the two-year, two-part project.

TYLER – On Thursday, Sept. 21, Tyler Animal Services was alerted by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) that one bat submitted for analysis tested positive for rabies. The bat was found near the 9300 block of Tipperary Drive. The known individuals and animals with possible exposure have been identified and addressed. It is critical for people to not handle bats, skunks, raccoons or other wild animals. It is important for children to tell their parents of any contact with wild animals or any sick animals. If a person is bitten by an animal, the bite incident must be reported to the Local Rabies Control Authority, Tyler Animal Services Director Shawn Markmann, for proper investigation. Continue reading Tyler bat tests positive for rabies

TYLER — A former Smith County deputy was sentenced on Wednesday to three years probation and a $1,000 fine for fraud with identification documents after entering a plea agreement. According to our news partner KETK, Luis Alberto Sandoval, 30, was with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office from November 2017 until his arrest in August 2021. He pleaded guilty in February to the federal charge after being accused of misuse of information to assist a Mexican drug trafficker. A warrant alleged Sandoval got a text message from a phone in Mexico asking him to the run the driver’s license of a known drug dealer who attempting to cross back into the U.S. Continue reading Former deputy sentenced for assisting drug trafficker

COFFEE CITY — One week after Coffee City deactivated their police department and fired their police chief, many drivers who’ve been pulled over say they want their speeding tickets dropped. “I intended to come up here with the hopes of getting the ticket dismissed since they dismissed all of their policemen,” said Steve Prather, who was at city hall to contest a ticket. Prather went into city hall with hopes to challenge his citation on Wednesday. “I just paid them $315 to get a deferred adjudication,” said Prather. Coffee City resident, Kolby Horton said he has $11,000 worth of tickets that he said were given unlawfully. Horton said it caused him to plead guilty to each offense. Acording to our news partner KETK, if you got a ticket from the Coffee City Police Department, the city secretary said you have to pay the ticket or choose to go to trial. Continue reading Coffee City drivers have questions

TYLER – The University of Texas at Tyler is celebrating a record-breaking enrollment year, seeing its largest enrolled freshman class for the third consecutive year. UT Tyler is doing this while increasing retention with new transfer and graduate/professional students. Total fall 2023 enrollment for the university is 9,761 students. First-time-in-college freshmen made up 1,328 of those students, which is a 14% increase over the previous record year of 2021. New transfer enrollment is 1,163 students, which is an overall increase of 9.72%, the highest in the last three years. While graduate/professional programs saw a 21% increase with 692 students, which is the highest within the last five years. Continue reading UT Tyler celebrates record enrollment year

MINEOLA — Mineola ISD recently granted its school the ability to bring in chaplains to help serve students during times of crisis. “We believe the benefit far out ways the concern,” said Mineola Superintendent Cody Mize. This comes after Senate Bill 763 was passed in June. The law allows public schools to use safety funds to employ or use volunteer chaplains. Mineola ISD voted to start using volunteers. Continue reading Mineola ISD approves chaplains as counselors

TYLER – On Wednesday, Sept. 20, the Tyler City Council and Smith County Commissioners Court came together in a joint public meeting to approve the design plan presented by Fitzpatrick Architects for Downtown Tyler’s public spaces. This is the first step of many the City and County will be considering moving throughout this process. The approved design for Downtown Tyler will help grow economic development, increase tourism, improve the quality of life for the community, as well as beautify the area with green space and landscaping. Continue reading Tyler and Smith County approve downtown design plan

WOOD COUNTY – A woman turned herself in to Wood County authorities on Wednesday after her employer reported they suspected her of theft. According to the Wood County Sheriff’s Office, the Lake Fork Special Utilities District reported a possible theft in late June. The report said the water supply corporation suspected their employee Rachel Sneed, of Mineola, had stolen about $40,000 from them. Officials said that during the investigation it was determined that Sneed had stolen “upwards of $300,000 using various methods over three years between 2021 and 2023. A warrant was issued on Tuesday for Sneed for theft of property, and was released on a $100,000 bond the same day she turned herself in to the jail.

MARSHALL – Marshall man was found guilty of possession of a controlled substance by a jury on Tuesday and sentenced to 40 years in prison. According to the Harrison County District Attorney’s Office and our news colleagues at KETK, this comes after Anthony Byrd, 38, was arrested in March during a drug raid at the Timber Village Apartments. “After officers located and detained Byrd, a search of the apartment was conducted, which uncovered a variety of narcotics,” the district attorney’s office said. “Inside the apartment, officers found marijuana, Xanax, hydrocodone and 469 grams of methamphetamine that had been stamped into pill form mimicking the drug Adderall.” Continue reading Marshall man sentenced for meth possession

TROUP – At Monday night’s Troup City Council Meeting, Mayor Jeff Hale and the Troup City Council adopted the lowest tax rate in Troup since 1986. For the previous three fiscal years, the Troup City Council had adopted a property tax rate that was less than the No-New-Revenue tax rate. Through the leadership of Troup’s Mayor and City Council, the property tax rate of $0.544700 adopted by the Troup City Council at Monday’s city council meeting is 23.43% less than the 2022-2023 property tax rate of $0.710545 and is a reduction of 42.77% in Troup’s tax rate since it peaked at $0.951771 in fiscal year 2012-2013. While lowering the city’s property tax rate by almost 43% since fiscal year 2013, Troup’s Mayors and City Councils have also supported law enforcement by increasing police salaries and benefits by an average of almost 19% in this year’s budget.

CARTHAGE – The Panola County Sheriff’s Office said they detained an escaped inmate who escaped from a work detail while in custody in Louisiana according to our news partners at KETK. Sheriff Cutter Clinton said in a release the Richland Parish Sheriff’s Office in Rayville, La. notified them on Monday that Jeremy Dewayne Young escaped from a work release detail and might have fled to Panola County. According to authorities, investigators became aware of a potential location on County Road 328 in DeBerry on Tuesday and observed a vehicle parked at the residence that was reported stolen out of Carthage and was suspected to be involved in the escape. Continue reading Louisiana fugitive arrested in East Texas

TYLER — Tyler police have arrested three more suspects following a shooting on New Copeland Road, near Rose Rudman Park, on August 28. Willie Ogilvie, charged with deadly conduct and Anjaylee Goodwyn, charged with tampering with evidence, were booked into the Smith County Jail on Tuesday September, 19. A juvenile suspect has also been charged. On September 19, Tyler Police were notified that Angel Lopez was arrested by the U.S. Marshall’s Service on warrants in this case and booked into the Harrison County Jail for deadly conduct and tampering with evidence. Jace Ogilvie (pictured) was booked into the Smith County Jail on a deadly conduct charge August 29. He was charged September 1st with tampering with evidence. According to Public Information Officer Andy Erbaugh, further arrests and charges are pending as the investigation continues. Continue reading Additional arrests following August Rudman shooting