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TATUM – Our news partners at KETK report that a woman who was punched and choked attempted to free herself from her attacker, who is now behind bars, by hitting him with a metal cup, the Tatum Police Department said. According to Tatum PD, Dameion Deon Simon and an unarmend woman were traveling to a friends house when they got in a verbal argument that became physical. The police department said it is alleged that Simon punched the victim several times and choked her. “Our victim, according to a written statement, attempted to free herself from Mr. Simon (victim was pinned down in Mr. Simon’s lap) by striking him with a metal cup,” Tatum PD said. Continue reading Woman fends off attack with metal cup, man arrested

MARSHALL – Our news partners at KETK report that a pedestrian is injured and a driver is behind bars after a Tuesday night crash in Marshall, authorities said. According to the Marshall Police Department, officers were called around 7:50 p.m. to the intersection of West Burleson and North Bishop Street where a pedestrian had been hit by a vehicle. The department said officers found a male victim who reported that a dark-colored vehicle had hit them and then fled. Officials said the victim was taken to a local hospital to treat their broken leg. Marshall PD said an investigation identified 30-year-old Jonathan Olvera, of Marshall, as the driver. Police said Olvera cooperated with investigators and was charged with accident involving serious bodily injury. Olvera was booked into the Harrison County Jail and also has an outstanding warrant for tampering with physical evidence out of Marion County. “This investigation is ongoing, and no additional details are available at this time,” Marshall PD said.

SMITH COUNTY — One person is dead following a deputy-involved shooting in Lindale. According to our news partner KETK, Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a threat call at a business in Lindale on Tuesday at around 12:50 p.m. The caller said Jonathan Layton had recently been terminated and had made threats that “he was going home and would return to the business to kill them.”

Before officials arrived, Layton had left the business and a description of his vehicle was released. A responding deputy noticed the suspect vehicle headed south on US 69 prior to receiving the information. Officials attempted to contact Layton at the 13200 block of CR 4109 east of Lindale, and found his vehicle in the front yard of a residence.

“When deputies attempted to contact Layton at the residence, he turned around holding a handgun pointed in their direction. One of the deputies fired at Layton with his duty weapon incapacitating him,” Smith County officials said. Continue reading Man dies in deputy-involved shooting

FORT WORTH (AP) — Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas won reelection Tuesday, defeating U.S. Rep. Colin Allred and Democrats’ latest try at ending decades of GOP dominance in the booming state that was thrust this election year to the center of battles over immigration and abortion.

Cruz, 53, secured a third term following another expensive reelection campaign, six years after only narrowly beating Beto O’Rourke. This time around, Cruz implored Republicans to take his race seriously. He tried recasting himself to Texas voters as a get-things-done legislator, far from his reputation as an unapologetic firebrand with national ambitions.
Continue reading Ted Cruz wins a third term to the US Senate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rep. Nathaniel Moran won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing Texas on Tuesday. Moran did not draw an opponent in the race for the 1st Congressional District seat, which includes all or part of 17 counties in far east Texas. An attorney, Moran previously served as county judge in Smith County and was first elected to the U.S. House in 2022. The seat was previously held by Republican Louie Gohmert, who launched an unsuccessful bid for Texas attorney general in 2022.

TYLER – Ted Cruz wins third senate term and Republican Rep. Nathaniel Moran has won re-election to the U.S. House. Full election results from our news partner KETK can be found here here.

LONGVIEW – A 30-year-old man was arrested after a Tuesday morning shooting that hospitalized one person, according to our news partner KETK. Longview PD had officers responding to a shooting around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, at the intersection of Christie Road and Ruthlyn Drive. When police arrived, they found an unidentified male had been shot. EMS took the victim to a local hospital.

Investigators found out the shooting occurred because of an argument between two people and the shooting suspect. He is identified as Grant Shore of Longview. Shore was quickly found, taken to the Gregg County Jail and is facing an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge with a $50,000 bond.

TATUM – Our news partners at KETK report that after an unsigned check was taken from a local pastor’s desk, an employee that was working on the church is behind bars with a felony forgery charge, the Tatum Police Department said. According to the police department, a Tatum church pastor, who has not been named, stopped by the station and filed a report on Nov. 1.The police department said the church was having carpentry work done when an employee “began prowling” through the pastors office when he was alone. The man accused, identified as Oliver Martinez-Cruz, reportedly discovered an unsigned check in an unlocked desk drawer. Tatum PD said Martinez-Cruz would go on to take the check, make it out to himself, sign and endorse it. Continue reading Man charged with forgery after check taken from pastors office

SMITH COUNTY – The Smith County Commissioners Court voted to rescind the Smith County Burn Ban Tuesday, November 5, after receiving much-needed rain the past few days. Smith County Fire Marshal Chad Hogue gave the court an update on fire conditions and recommended that the burn ban be lifted.

“We’ve gotten quite a bit of rain.” Hogue said, adding that the rain that was received countywide puts us in much safer fire conditions.

During the burn ban, which was issued October 8, Smith County responded to 285 outdoor fire incidents. The Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office issued 35 citations and 10 warnings for illegal burning. Hogue said the Sheriff’s Office and Constables’ Offices also issued citations.

WINNSBORO — According to our news partner KETK, a traffic stop led to the arrest of a Winnsboro woman after officers found and seized methamphetamine, mushrooms and cannabis concentrate. The Winnsboro Police Department said officers conducted a traffic stop for speeding in the 900 block of Gilmer Road. The officer reportedly smelled marijuana coming from the car and the driver, Jamie Abbott, allegedly admitted to having narcotics inside the vehicle.

“Officer Hanner was able to recover over 20 grams of methamphetamine from the vehicle as well as psilocybin mushrooms, multiple controlled substance medications, THC wax and drug paraphernalia,” the police department said. Abbott was then arrested for possession of a controlled substance and taken to the Wood County Jail where she’s being held on a $25,000 bond.

TYLER – It’s just hours before voting locations open on election day and work doesn’t stop for poll workers. According to our news partner KETK, they spent the day loading up equipment and moving it out to voting locations. “We are also, we’re finishing counting absentee ballots, our mail ballots,” Smith County election administrator Michelle Allcon said.

Before walking in and casting your ballot, there are a few things you need to remember.

“You can’t wear any paraphernalia campaigning, electioneering t-shirts, hats, buttons, things like that,” Allcon said. Firearms are not allowed and absolutely no electronic devices are allowed in when you come to vote.

“If you have your notes on which candidates you want to vote for or against write it on a sheet of paper, bring that sheet of paper in because you won’t be able to use your cell phone with your notes on it,” Allcon said.
Continue reading East Texas polling stations prepare for Election Day

SMITH COUNTY – Smith County party chairs said they hope Tuesday’s early morning showers don’t deter anyone from making their voice heard. Just hours away from Election Day, our news partner KETK reports that both the Smith County Democratic and Republican parties believe local, state and national races are going in a positive direction.

A new problem that’s risen up and could affect voting in East Texas is the weather. Even though rain is expected to linger into the first hours of Election Day, Democratic Party chair, Hector Garza said its still important to get in line.

“It’s important enough to weather the storm. It’s important enough to take an umbrella if it’s raining. This is this is your right, this is something that you do,” said Hector Garza, the Smith County Democratic Party Chair. Continue reading Smith County party officials set expectations for Election Day

KILGORE – While Kilgore was known to have the “World’s Richest Acre” because of the discovery of oil in the 1930s and the large number of oil wells in the area. Saturday, it was the home of radio broadcasting legends. The Texas Radio Hall Of Fame held its induction ceremony at the Texas Broadcast Museum, in downtown Kilgore.

Locally, KTBB Owner and General Manager added Hall Of Fame recipient to his over four decade career as an on-air talent and station manager and owner. In an interview after his induction, Gleiser said, “You know, I’ve loved the radio since I was a kid. That fact that my name is in the hall of fame in Texas radio, I just don’t know what to say, I am so profoundly greatful.”
Continue reading Paul Gleiser inducted into Texas Radio Hall Of Fame

GREGG COUNTY – Our news partners at KETK report that nearly a decade after the shooting that led to John Allen Franco’s death, a Kilgore man has been sentenced. According to arrest documents, the shooting stemmed from a threat to show nude photos. In 2017, a person allegedly told Gregg County investigator that Jessie Brown hunted down Franco because of a threat Franco made to show nude photos of Brown’s relative. That interview gave police enough information to charge Brown with the 2015 murder. Continue reading Kilgore man sentenced for 2015 murder

SMITH COUNTY — Smith County saw 50 percent of the registered voters cast their ballots early in the 2024 Presidential Election. During the past two weeks of early voting, 84,436 ballots were cast in Smith County. That includes 81,554 in-person votes and 2,882 mail-in ballots. Although the numbers of voters in the current election were more than those who early voted in the 2020 Presidential Election, the percentage of voters was lower.

Smith County saw 79,787 ballots cast during three weeks of early voting in the 2020 Presidential Election. That’s 60 percent of the 146,700 registered voters at that time. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, early voting was extended to three weeks instead of the normal two. There are 162,000 registered voters in Smith County for the current election. Continue reading Smith County Election Day information

SULPHUR SPRINGS – Sulphur Springs ISD is in mourning after the district said that two first graders and their father died in a crash on Saturday. The Texas Department of Public Safety said the crash happened at around 7 p.m. on Saturday when a GMC Yukon heading east on State Highway 49 in Morris County failed to stay in one lane and hit two oncoming vehicles.

The first vehicle hit had three people in it who DPS said were taken to a local hospital to be treated. The second vehicle hit also had three people in it, two who were pronounced dead at the scene and another victim who died later that night at a local hospital, according to DPS. DPS added that the driver of the GMC was taken to a local hospital where they are in critical condition. Continue reading Three dead, four injured after Morris County crash

SMITH COUNTY — Smith County Road 474, between U.S. Highway 69 North and CR 431 (Jim Hogg Road) will be closed to through traffic today, November 4, through Friday, November 8. The closure is for the construction of a sanitary sewer line.

LUFKIN – Lufkin ISD said the Lufkin High School cheerleading squad was heading to a competition in Rosenberg on Sunday morning when their bus crashed. According to our news partner KETK, three students were taken to receive medical attention at a local hospital after the bus was involved in a crash in Houston. 36 students and several adults were reportedly on the bus when it crashed. Two of the three students taken for medical attention have been released while one is still being held for observation, the district said. The rest of the team is being transported back to Lufkin.

“Lufkin ISD appreciates the support and assistance of first responders, staff and parents who arrived on the scene,” said Lufkin ISD.

NACOGDOCHES COUNTY – According to our news partner KETK, Nacogdoches County Sheriff deputies were dispatched to do a welfare check in the 16000 block of U.S. 59 North at around 7 a.m. on Sunday morning. Shortly after the call for the check came in, more calls came in about shots fired. NCSO SWAT officers, the Nacogdoches Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety and Nacogdoches County EMS were all dispatched to respond to the reports of shots fired.

The man was eventually contacted and taken into custody at around 8:30 a.m. without any incident or injuries reported. He was then taken to a local hospital to be evaluated, according to the sheriff’s office.

Officials said an investigation into the standoff is underway.

TYLER – The Tyler Police Department said that one person was taken to the emergency room after a shooting on Saturday afternoon. According to our news partner KETK, officials received a report of a suspicious noise or gunshots around 4:50 from the area of West 5th Street and South Englewood Avenue. Arriving officers learned that one person had been shot and was taken to a local emergency room. The victim reportedly suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound after a disturbance between several people. The investigation is ongoing.

HENDERSON COUNTY – An 83-year-old Crockett man was charged with promoting child pornography into Henderson County and arrest documents allege he was in the process of downloading the material when an investigator stopped by. According to our news partner KETK, an investigation began on Oct. 2 when a device successfully downloaded files that contained child porn and later the IP address was traced back to a Crockett home.

On Oct. 24 an investigator stopped by the home and made contact with Bert Franklin Burris, 83 of Crockett, who was sitting at his computer in the living room, documents said. “The suspect stated that he does download and watch child pornography on a regular basis and the youngest child that he remembers seeing in child pornography is approximately 5 years of age,” the affidavit said.

Burris then told the investigator that he was downloading the material onto his computer when he made contact with him and that he had been viewing child pornography since he was about 50-years-old, the arrest documents said. Continue reading 83-year-old admits to download of child porn

TYLER – For the past two weeks people have been able to get out and vote early before Election Day on Nov. 5. But as we get into the final hours some counties are seeing fewer people turning up to the polls. Smith County is worried about what election day will look like after getting a low turnout on Friday, according to our news partner KETK.

“Early voting started out really very, very strong,” but the last few days had been slow, so we’re hoping to pick up because our goal is to beat 2020, That is extremely low for the last day of early voting” Smith County election administrator Michelle Allcon said.

Polling locations have run across a few issues this year and are reminding people to follow the Texas election code when voting. “Please don’t wear your hats or your t-shirts or your buttons, keep your flags in the car,” Allcon said.

MINEOLA — WorldAtlas listed the top nine most comfortable towns in Texas for seniors, deeming them as charming towns ideal to settle down due to their slow paced life, cozy natural setting and outdoor activities. Both Mineola and Hawkins represented East Texas on the list. You can view the entire list here.