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HALLSVILLE – A two vehicle accident in Harrison County has killed a recent East Texas high school graduate. The accident happened in Hallsville Wednesday night. Killed was 18 year old William Austin Gray, a Carthage High School graduate in May. He was pronounced dead at Longview Regional Medical Center just over half an hour after the accident. A passenger in his car was seriously injured. Police reports say the accident occurred when a car driven by a Shreveport man ran a red light and hit Gray’s car on the driver’s side. The Shreveport man was cited for disregard of a red light and additional charges are pending.

SMITH COUNTY — Not everyone had a happy start to the Fourth of July. According to our news partner KETK, some folks are still cleaning up after storms ripped through East Texas Tuesday. One place that suffered damage: Carmen and Tony Scott’s house on Smith County Road 411, just north of I-20. They say around 6 p.m., straight-line winds uprooted a tree and smashed a carport just after Carmen got home. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Tony Scott says after cleanup, they plan to start over on a new carport.

GLADEWATER — A Gladewater man has been arrested and charged with injuring a 3-year-old child. According to our news partner KETK, Deion Marquis Sanders, 22, is in the Gregg County Jail on a bond of $100,000. Gladewater police say they were contacted Monday by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and informed that a 3-year-old child had been seriously injured while in the custody of a caregiver. After an investigation, police obtained an arrest warrant for Sanders and arrested him in Longview Tuesday. Injury to a child is a 3rd degree felony, punishable by 2 to 10 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice if convicted and a fine up to $10,000. The child is currently receiving treatment at a medical center in Dallas.

TYLER — The Healthy Me, Healthy Babies Coalition wants to end high rates of deaths of mothers & babies in Smith County. To do that, officials say they need to know more about the overall health needs of the community. The coalition, consisting of the Northeast Texas Public Health District and partner agencies, is asking what moms need for a healthier pregnancy & birth. You can go to https://uttyler.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dmycNMBnu1XAL2d to complete a survey and make your voice heard.

TYLER — The Smith County Sheriff’s Office has applied for a donation of more than 100 kits of naloxone, a medication designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdoses. According to our news partner KETK, the sheriff’s office is trying to be proactive and get ahead of the opioid crisis. If the agency gets this donation, all deputies and investigators will be given naloxone injectors in case one of them comes into contact with deadly opioids or fentanyl. All of the sheriff’s office’s K-9s are already equipped with naloxone.

TYLER – With the 4th of July celebration, Tyler police warn you about fireworks and gunfire. Everyone is reminded that unauthorized fireworks are prohibited in the city. You need a special permit from the city to discharge them. If you are caught in the park discharging fireworks you will be asked to leave and are subject to a citation. All alcohol, smoking and fireworks are not allowed in city parks, and that includes Lake Tyler Parks and Lindsey Park. They also remind you that the shooting of firearms into the air in celebration is a violation of the law. There are documented cases of persons being killed by celebratory gunfire in the U.S.

TYLER – Traffic will be affected by Tyler’s big 4th of July celebration Wednesday night. All traffic attending the Fireworks show at Lindsey Park will be required to enter into the main entrance off Spur 364. The Greenbriar Road park entrance will be an exit only. Beginning at 9:00pm, Spur 364 at Loop 323 will be closed to all westbound traffic. Officers are requesting any resident who lives off Spur 364 between Loop 323, who needs to get to their residence during this time, to present their driver’s license showing proof of their residency to the officers stationed at this location. Officers will allow residents only to proceed westbound on Spur 364. After the Fireworks show all eastbound traffic on Spur 364 will be forced to turn right onto Loop 323 heading towards Hwy 155.

KILGORE — A 34-year-old Kilgore man has been arrested on suspicion of paying $120 for nude photos of a teenage female relative. According to our news partner KETK and the Longview News-Journal, Carlos Lynn Rios was held Tuesday in the Gregg County Jail on $25,000 bond, charged with possession with the intent to promote child pornography. His arrest came almost three months after the victim’s mother went to the White Oak Police Department on April 9 to report her daughter returned from school April 2 with $120, police said. Continue reading Kilgore Man Charged with Possession of Child Porn

MARSHALL – A man is in custody in connection with a shooting last Friday night in Marshall. Quaylon Rashard Dixon,25, of Marshall, turned himself in to detectives at the Marshall Police Department on Tuesday. A warrant had been issued for Dixon charging him with one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was accused of shooting a man during a dispute off Carters Ferry Road. He was treated at Good Shepherd Medical Center in Marshall for multiple gunshot wounds, which were described as non-life threatening.

LONGVIEW – Gregg County Crime Stoppers has increased the reward in the 2016 shooting death of Ronnie Horaney. The $20,000 reward has been increased to $70,000 with funds provided by the victim’s widow and children for the sole purpose of bringing closure in this case for their family. The Longview businessman was shot while answering the door at his home on Tryon Road just north of Longview. The Gregg County Sheriff’s Office has released a sketch of a person of interest in this case and they are asking for help from the community in identifying this person. Continue reading Reward Increased in Gregg County Murder Case

TYLER – There is a new historic landmark for Tyler. The Tyler Historic Preservation Board has designated Smith County’s Crescent Laundry Building as a Tyler Historic Landmark. The laundry started in 1923 on East Erwin Street. It moved to East Ferguson four years later. The business was the first and largest dry cleaning company in Smith County and continued in operation until 2000. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. It currently houses Smith County’s Facility Services Department.

EAST TEXAS – A host of Independence Day celebrations around the area means an abundance of fireworks displays on Wednesday. Tyler’s annual 4th of July celebration will be at Lindsey park on Spur 364. The gates open at 2:00 and the fun starts at 4:00. There will be a host of activities, live entertainment and, of course, the fireworks display which will begin around 9:15. Longview’s July 4 Fireworks and Freedom Celebration started at The Maude Cobb Convention Center at 11:00am. Kilgore’s celebration will be at the city park from 6:00 to 10:00pm. Palestine’s celebration will be at Steven Bennett Park, which will open at 5:00pm.

LONGVIEW – Longview police have identified the woman killed in a weekend accident. She was Crystal Hastings, 38, of Gilmer. The accident happened shortly before 5:15 Saturday morning on Loop 281 near the Birdsong Street intersection. When officers arrived they were told the woman was walking in the middle of the loop’s inside westbound lane when she was hit by a truck. She was then hit by another vehicle and died at the scene. Her body was sent for autopsy as police continue their investigation.

TYLER – State troopers in Smith County have arrested a Mississippi man accused of attempted murder. Laderrius Thornton, 22, of Indianola, Mississippi, was booked into the Smith County Jail on Monday. Jail records show he is wanted out of Ashley County, Arkansas, for aggravated robbery, kidnapping, theft, murder criminal attempt to commit and failure to identify.

EAST TEXAS – Dry conditions continue prompting area officials to caution about outdoor burning. According to our news partner KETK, Henderson and Rusk counties have enacted a burn ban. Harrison County issued a burn ban order Monday. Violators could be fined up to $500. The order will be in effect for no longer than 7 days. In Gregg County, there’s no ban yet, but Fire Marshal Mark Moore is asking residents to refrain from all outdoor burning. He says cooking and fireworks are contributing factors this time of year for wildfires.

TYLER – The city of Tyler officially recorded a high temperature on Monday of 100 degrees. The National Weather Service says it hit 100 in the city at 4:58 Monday afternoon. The airport first recorded 100 at 2:59 Monday afternoon. This is the first 100 degree reading for the city since July 28th, 2017, which was the only time the city hit the century mark last year.

PALESTINE – The City of Palestine will spray for mosquitoes on Tuesday and Wednesday. Between the hours of 9:00pm on Tuesday to 5:00am on Wednesday, sprayers will be dispatched to Area 5. This encompasses the streets of Park Avenue north to the city limits near Kenny and Gardner Drive, and from Avenue A and Texas 155 east to the city limits. You can go to the City of Palestine’s website at cityofpalestinetx.com for a full map of the spraying areas.

TYLER – A year-long narcotics investigation by the Smith County Sheriff’s Office and Texas Department of Public Safety has resulted in 10 persons indicted on federal and state drug and firearm charges. Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said the investigation began in June of last year. It has resulted in six people being indicted nearly a week and a half ago by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to distribute and possess methamphetamine. The indictments on four others were on state charges. Investigators recovered around a 1 kilogram of methamphetamine and seized around 15 firearms, two of which were stolen. Continue reading Ten East Texans Facing Drug and Weapons Charges.

GILMER – A couple is indicted in Upshur County in the death of a Longview woman. According to the Upshur County District Attorney’s office, Lindsey Jo McFadden, 29, of Longview, and Carlton Lamar Grant, 37, from the Metroplex, have been indicted for capital murder. They are charged in the April death of Rachel Rhoads, 24. The couple are said to have been trying to kidnap her when they strangled her and set her body on fire off Farm Road 726. McFadden and Rhoads were said to be friends of the victim, who attended drug rehab classes together. Continue reading Two Indicted in Longview Woman’s Death

TYLER – The new director of the Center for Earth & Space Science Education at Tyler Junior College is Dr. Beau Hartweg. He began his duties last week. As TJC science center director, Hartweg is responsible for creating science-related programming including dome shows, exhibits and events; working closely with area schools to coordinate field trips; developing grant proposals; and serving as the center’s community and media representative. He comes to Tyler from TCU where most recently he has been an adjunct professor of science content for elementary teachers.

KILGORE — A man has died after being hit by a train in Kilgore while he was walking along the tracks. He has been identified as Jeremy Nathan Owens, 38, of Kilgore. The accident happened around 5:00 Sunday afternoon near Longview Street. Authorities say Owens was walking east when hit by the east bound Union Pacific train. Kilgore police say the conductor sounded the horn when they saw a man on the tracks. The accident remains under investigation.

TYLER – An appeals court has upheld the murder conviction of a Tyler woman. The 12th Court of Appeals in Tyler has affirmed the conviction of Louise Anderson, 49. Last September, a jury found her guilty of the murder of her boyfriend, John Wayne Pierce, 58, of Tyler. She was sentenced to 40 years in prison. In December of 2015, Pierce was shot once in the parking lot of the Game Room on Highway 31 West. The shooting is said to have followed an argument between the two.

GREGG COUNTY — The Gregg County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an aggravated robbery. Officials said just after 1:30 Saturday morning, a Rudy’s Taco employee was closing the store on Old Highway 135 South, in Kilgore, when he was approached by two armed men. The suspects took multiple items, including a significant amount of cash from the restaurant and employees, then fled on foot. One victim said he saw two white passenger cars leaving the area from across the road just after the robbery, which he believed may be involved. EMS transported a juvenile victim to an area hospital for non life-threatening injuries received from being struck by one of the suspects. The suspects were said to be black males, dressed in dark clothing.

TYLER — Here’s a look at work planned in TxDOT’s Tyler District during the Week of July 2. Note: TxDOT offices will be closed, Wednesday, July 4, in observance of Independence Day. TxDOT is not allowing lane closures on I-20 this coming week due to increased holiday traffic. Summer seal coat operations continue in the district. Motorists should expect lane closures and delays during this work. You can go to https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/media-center/local-news/tyler/026-2018.html for a full rundown of what’s on tap around the district.

AUSTIN — Keep Chandler Beautiful is one of five local beautification programs to win the first ever 2018 Recycle 2 Support Recycling Grants under a partnership between Keep Texas Beautiful and Recycle 2 Support. The grants will provide the communities with monetary assistance to help strengthen their local recycling programs, according to a news release. Keep Chandler Beautiful will use its grant to grade and pave a 400-square-foot area on a major street to help make room for a paper and plastic roll off container and aluminum collection bin. Recycle 2 Support is a company that provides recycling opportunities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

LONGVIEW — A woman is dead after being hit by two vehicles while crossing Longview’s Loop 281 Saturday morning around 5:15 near the Birdsong Street intersection. When officers arrived they were told the woman was walking in the middle of the Loop’s inside westbound lane when she was struck by a truck. She was then hit by another vehicle and died at the scene. She did not have any identification on her, and her body was sent for autopsy. Police continue to investigate.

GLADEWATER – An apparent murder-suicide is under investigation by Gladewater police. According to our news partner KETK, police responded around 4 p.m. Friday to a residence on Shell Circle and discovered the bodies of the two sole occupants. The preliminary investigation indicates Sarah Maines, 65, died after being shot by her husband, William Maines, 66. It is believed William then shot himself to death. Autopsies have been ordered.

TYLER — Smith County judicial records show 40-year-old Larry Cowart, a suspect in a June 9 homicide, has been released from jail. That’s according to our news partner KETK. Sheriff Larry Smith says deputies were initially sent to a location on CR 1145 around 2:20 a.m. on June 9 but initiated a traffic stop in Tyler after learning the victim was being transported in a private vehicle. EMS was called after 43-year-old Heath Bearden was seen unresponsive in the passenger seat, and Smith says Bearden was dead on arrival of EMS. Witnesses said several people were at Cowart’s home when Cowart shot Bearden once in the chest. An autopsy was ordered, and a bond of $750,000 was recommended for Cowart.