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LONGVIEW — The Longview Police Department announced that Marteleus DeShon Epps, 37, was found dead north of Longview on Sunday. According to our news partner KETK, the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office said Epps was found in the woods off Highway 155 near Gilmer, with his truck parked close by. Upshur County Sheriff’s Office is investigating his death and officials said “there is no immediate indication of foul play in this matter.” An autopsy has been ordered, which is set to be done by Forensic Medical Management Services in Tyler, officials said. Epps was reported missing on Saturday.

TYLER — The Smith County Collections Department’s annual Warrant Round Up is underway as of Sunday. “Smith County Courts have hundreds of active warrants they are seeking to clear,” Judicial Compliance/Collections Director Sheryl Keel said as quoted in a news release. “We are encouraging defendants to take advantage of the options available to settle outstanding warrants immediately.” Keel says once the arrest period begins, Smith County will target persons on the delinquent and/or warrant list, and arrests can take place at any location — including the defendant’s home, school, or workplace. “I urge you to contact the Judicial Compliance Department at 903-590-4624 to make arrangements on your case,” she said. For more information about warrants or citations, visit this link.

TYLER — TxDOT schedules another week’s worth of roadwork in the Tyler District for the week of March 20. In Gregg County, work continues on US 259/SH 42 (Business) in Kilgore from Woodlawn Street south to the Rusk County line. The project consists of milling and in laying hot mix asphalt on all lanes and striping. Motorists should expect alternating lane closures. You’re asked to slow down and watch for workers. Expect delays. In Smith County, Tyler maintenance will have a ditch maintenance crew on FM 2964 at various locations. A second crew will be on FM 14 performing bridge maintenance. Expect lane closures and flaggers controlling traffic at both locations. There will also be an herbicide unit at various locations throughout the county. Click here for a complete rundown of roadwork around the district.

MARSHALL — Police have made an arrest in a Marshall shooting death, and the suspect has been charged with murder. On March 16 at around 1:40 p.m., police responded to a 911 call on Randolph Street from a man who said he had been shot. According to a news release, officers found Adrian Rashad Ward, 34, suffering a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Marshall Fire Department paramedics transported him to a local hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. Investigation by police detectives led to the arrest later that day of Johnthan Antione Reeves, 28, on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. That charge has since been upgraded to murder. Reeves remains in the Harrison County Jail.

MARSHALL — Another honor is given to a key figure in what has become a national holiday. Opal Lee, an East Texas native and 1953 Wiley College graduate, was named the Grandmother of Juneteenth after her efforts helped the holiday become nationally recognized. According to our news partner KETK, her alma mater has now awarded her an honorary doctorate to celebrate its 150th year. “I was grateful, I really was…Wiley means a lot to me,” said Dr. Lee. Lee was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 for her activism toward making Juneteenth a federal holiday. Continue reading Opal Lee awarded honorary doctorate during Wiley College’s 150-year celebration

KILGORE — A restaurant in Kilgore reopens after strong winds tore off its roof early this month. According to our news partner KETK, Brigitta’s Hungarian Restaurant returned to its normal hours Friday. Helping hands from a local roofing company are credited with the quick return to business.

TYLER – Habitat for Humanity of Smith County’s Board of Directors has approved Mary Alice Guidry as the affiliate’s new chief executive officer. Mrs. Guidry’s role with HFHSC will officially commence in early July. According to a news release, Guidry joins the Habitat team after serving six years on its Board of Directors, serving terms as secretary as well as president. She is a licensed architect with nine years of experience as a senior project manager with Fitzpatrick Architects, Inc., of Tyler. Current Smith County Habitat CEO Jack Wilson will be retiring at the end of June and returning with wife Patricia to Sarasota, Florida, where they lived before coming to Tyler in 2008.

IRVING (KRLD) – A Texas-based company that owns local TV stations across the country is being sued by DIRECTV. The lawsuit accuses Irving-based Nexstar Broadcasting and two other companies of improperly working together to set prices that local TV stations charge satellite companies to carry those stations. DIRECTV’s lawsuit claims that has led to some of those stations being blocked from their service — including stations in Amarillo, Tyler, Lubbock, Abilene, Midland-Odessa, and Wichita Falls. The Tyler station is our news partner KETK. A statement from Nexstar says the lawsuit is “without merit.”

KILGORE (KRLD) – Taxpayers in East Texas win a settlement in a lawsuit against their school district. 13 plaintiffs in the Kilgore ISD filed the class-action lawsuit against the district in 2016. They alleged that the school district wrongly removed a homestead exemption in 2015 and illegally assessed and collected taxes as a result. The dispute had to do with changes in state law regarding homestead exemptions around that time. The case ultimately went to the state Supreme Court, but the Kilgore ISD decided to settle. A Gregg County Court-at-Law judge approved the agreed upon settlement of more than $2.9 million to the district’s taxpayers, who have until May 1 to apply to receive a payment from the settlement.

COFFEE CITY — The Coffee City Police Department is warning people about a man who is allegedly impersonating an officer. Authorities said he is a white man between 25 and 35-years-old, and he is driving a black Tahoe with red and blue lights. The man is around 5’6” and between 165-190 lbs. The man reportedly pulled people over in Tyler and Coffee City, and he was wearing a tan or brown uniform, officials said. Coffee City officers typically wear dark blue or black uniforms, and they have their badge and name tag. Police vehicles also have “police” written on the side and Texas license plates that say exempt. Law enforcement said they have also received two reports that another man in a black Charger has pulled people over. Continue reading Coffee City police looking for man impersonating officer

AUSTIN — The Texas Senate Tuesday voted 19-12 to send Senate Bill 2 to the House of Representatives. The measure would make illegal voting a felony. According to our news partner KETK, Senator Bryan Hughes of East Texas authored the bill after an amendment in 2021’s Senate Bill 1 lowered the felony to a Class A misdemeanor. “This type of voter fraud this bill is targeting is exceedingly rare. It hardly ever happens,” said Katie Owens with voter services for The League of Women Voters of Tyler/Smith County. Hughes said in the last session the bill wasn’t debated, was overlooked, and needed attention. “To lower the penalty of an offense sends the message that this offense is less serious and we do not want to send that message,” said Hughes. Continue reading Hughes’s illegal voting bill advances but draws local opposition

TYLER — The City of Tyler Fire Department and Emergency Management officials are monitoring the weather conditions in the Tyler area for the severe thunderstorms predicted for the evening of Thursday, March 16 and Friday, March 17. According to the National Weather Service in Shreveport, large hail, damaging wind gusts, and isolated tornadoes are possible in Tyler. Officials say emergency service capabilities are at full strength. Fire, Police, Streets, Water/Sewer, Traffic and Information Technology departments will place personnel on standby if needed and respond as appropriate, according to a news release. Continue reading City of Tyler officials monitoring severe weather predicted for Thursday and Friday

LONGVIEW — Longview residents looking for information on the city’s finances have a new tool – the city’s Open Finance Portal. The interactive website provides citizens and stakeholders access to current municipal government financial information. The platform pulls financial data directly from the city’s financial system and is refreshed daily, according to a news release. Officials say the portal provides users the opportunity to view, filter, and analyze revenue, operating budget, actual spending, and vendor data. Click here to learn more.

TYLER — The Texas Department of Transportation is hosting a virtual public meeting with an in-person option regarding the six-lane widening project on FM 2493, more commonly known as Old Jacksonville Highway. Officials encourage you to participate and share your comments on improving safety and mobility along the highway from Loop 323 to FM 2813. The virtual public meeting is available from 8 a.m. Tuesday, March 21, through Wednesday, April 12. The in-person public meeting will be held in a come-and-go format March 28 from 5-7 p.m. at the Regional Training and Development Complex on the Tyler Junior College West Campus. Click this link for all the details.

LONGVIEW – A report filed to the Texas Attorney General’s office revealed more details on Sunday’s fatal officer-involved-shooting in Longview. According to our news partner KETK, the report says on March 12 at approximately 3:35 a.m., a White Oak police officer observed a vehicle with a flat front tire traveling west on Highway 80. When the vehicle made a u-turn in the intersection to head east on Highway 80, the officer activated his lights and siren to pull the vehicle over, but the driver reportedly did not stop, according to the report. The driver continued into the city of Longview, stopped at Loop 281 and Highway 31, and ran from the vehicle while allegedly shooting several rounds from a handgun in an unknown direction, according to the report. Continue reading New details on Longview officer-involved shooting

TYLER — The Tyler Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Transportation Policy Committee will hold a regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, March 23 beginning at 10 a.m. at the Tyler Development Center’s Large Conference Room on W. Ferguson St. The committee will receive a presentation on the draft 2024-2025 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) detailing the MPO’s proposed budget for the next two fiscal years. It will also receive a presentation on statewide and local safety performance in 2021 and consider supporting the 2023 statewide performance targets adopted by the Texas Transportation Commission. Click here for further details.

HARRISON COUNTY – Officials in Harrison County are seeking help finding a missing 24-year-old man. According to our news partner KETK, Jose Roman Teniente is described by the sheriff’s office as 5’8″ and about 280 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Teniente has brown facial hair and was last seen wearing blue jeans, a black shirt, and tan boots. Officials said he has a tattoo of a sun with a face on one of his wrists and was last seen walking in the northwestern part of the county, in the Harleton and Lake Deerwood area. Anyone with information on Teniente’s location is asked to contact Lt. Mack Fuller or Sgt. David Newsom at 903-923-4000.

TYLER – The Transportation Planning and Programming (TPP) Division of TxDOT will be collecting short-term traffic counts at 6,000 locations in the Tyler District until April 6. The effort began this past Monday. These 24-hour traffic counts will be collected by contract personnel for all system roadways, including state highways, city streets and county roads, according to a news release. Officials say on average, TPP collects 80,000 short-term traffic counts throughout the state on an annual basis. Traffic count data are then analyzed and adjusted to create an Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT), one of the many products produced from traffic count data. Continue reading TxDOT to conduct short-term traffic counts till April 6

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A Longview man who is facing over a dozen federal charges in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot filed a motion last week asking the court to keep prosecutors from mentioning “imaginary police deaths that took place on Jan. 6, 2021.” According to our news partner KETK, Ryan Nichols, 32, was arrested on Jan. 18, 2021, by the FBI and has since been indicted on multiple charges including assault, civil disorder, tampering with a witness, and violent entry on Capitol grounds. Nichols was granted release from detention and allowed to return to his Longview home “strictly for the purpose of preparing for trial,” according to court documents. On Feb. 27, Nichols also filed a motion asking the court delay his trial to review 41,000 hours of soon-to-be-public CCTV footage to ensure he and the Court have “accurate facts and context surrounding Jan. 6.”

TYLER – After over 15 years, Jack Wilson will hang up his hard hat at the end of June as the chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity of Smith County. “There have been many changes during my time here, and our affiliate has evolved by leaps and bounds,” says Wilson as quoted in a news release. When I got here, we had built 74 homes, and soon we’ll finish construction on our 120th Habitat home in Smith County.” The affiliate will celebrate Wilson’s tenure with the organization in June with a hybrid Retirement Party Fundraiser, raising funds to benefit the mission of Smith County Habitat and to fund the lead gift toward the Jack Wilson Legacy Endowment Fund. Continue reading Smith County Habitat CEO Jack Wilson to retire after more than 15 years

CHAPEL HILL – Parents, grandparents, teachers, and business owners in Chapel Hill have joined together to support the school bond that was recently announced by the Chapel Hill ISD School Board. That’s according to a news release from Bulldog Strong, a political action committee formed by the group. Organizers say they will use the PAC to help get the word out about the bond and encourage voters to approve it. “Last year, we recognized that those of us who support our kids and teachers too often stay quiet,” Bulldog Strong President Paul Welch said as quoted in the release. “We formed the PAC last year to give ourselves a stronger voice. After what happened in Uvalde, we are even more determined to get this bond passed to improve the safety of our schools.” Continue reading Chapel Hill community members join hands to support school bond

TYLER — Former Tyler Junior College Dean Dr. Aubrey Sharpe died on Monday, the United Way of Smith County announced. He was 78-years-old. According to our news partner KETK, Sharpe was a development officer with United Way. “His impact on our organization and the community as a whole is enormous,” the nonprofit said. Sharpe was the organization’s board president in 1998, and he was on several sub-committees for many years. “His presence around the office would always light up the room, and he will be deeply missed by all of us,” United Way said. Sharpe was born in Miami, according to his obituary. He was a member of the Tyler Chamber of Commerce and previously the Dean of the School of Continuing Studies and Technical Administrator of the West Campus for TJC. Continue reading Former TJC Dean Dr. Aubrey Sharpe dies

SMITH COUNTY — One woman was injured in a Monday night crash in the Bullard area on FM 346 at Olivia Lane after her car flipped into a nearby pond. According to Bullard Fire Chief Peter Riley, that area of FM 346 has seen several similar wrecks due to the road’s sharp turns. Our news partner KETK reports, Bullard Fire was called to the scene of a crash where a car was flipped upside down around 11:40 p.m., and Riley said before they got there, two Bullard teenagers had climbed into the pond and turned the car on its side allowing the woman to breathe while first responders were on their way. Continue reading Bullard teens help save woman after car crashes into pond

TYLER – A groundbreaking ceremony will be held on March 30 at the site of a former bank in downtown Tyler. According to our news partner KETK, the building will be renovated into an apartment building. In April 2022, a New Orleans based tax-advantaged real estate company, NORF, purchased three buildings that they plan to reconstruct into rental units in Tyler. On March 1, NORF closed on financing and received the permits to start working on one of their previously purchased buildings known as The Wilcox on 230 South Broadway Avenue. NORF will be converting the former bank into 31 market-rate apartments that will highlight the building’s mid-century modern design and will include a green space along the former bank’s drive-thru. Continue reading Historic structure in downtown Tyler to be renovated into apartment building

SMITH COUNTY – Smith County now has a new local health authority. Dr. Valerie B. Smith was appointed by the commissioner’s court on Tuesday and sworn in by County Judge Neal Franklin. She replaces Dr. Paul McGaha after his retirement. Smith is assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine. She has served the children of East Texas for nearly two decades as a pediatrician at St. Paul’s Children’s Foundation. Smith got her degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and did her pediatric residency at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock. She got her master of public health from the UT Science Center School of Community and Rural Health. She was recommended to the commissioners court by the NET Health Board of Directors. Health Authorities are “physicians appointed to administer state and local laws relating to public health within an appointing body’s jurisdiction,” according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

TYLER — The sale of home generators is on the rise in East Texas. The owner of East Texas Generators in Tyler, John Crymes, says his company has seen a 300 percent increase in the sale of generators in the past two years.This follows the arctic cold of February 2021, and this winter’s ice storm, which resulted in 300-thousand power outages across the state and 40-thousand in East Texas. Whitehouse resident and generator owner Alfredo Llave says his home was without power for 10 days in frigid weather of two years ago and for five days because of straight-line wind damage two months later.Generators and other emergency preparation supplies can be purchased tax free from April 22 to 24.

ATHENS — Athens resident Monica Figueroa was arrested and charged with capital murder Monday in the death of her four-year-old son, Grayson Hurt. At last report, Figueroa was in jail awaiting her initial court appearance. According to Henderson County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse, at about 6:41 a.m. Monday the Athens Police Department received a call for service to Figueroa’s residence on Mitchell Street in Athens from Mary Johnson, Figueroa’s mother. When officers arrived at the residence, they located Figueroa. Officers entered the residence with emergency medical personnel and found the deceased child inside the door, partially covered with a blanket, according to Hillhouse. Investigators learned that Grayson was killed Sunday afternoon. Continue reading Two Athens women charged in death of child

HARRISON COUNTY – A man was arrested Sunday after a multi-county pursuit that went through Smith and Gregg counties on I-20 before ending in Harrison County. According to our news partner KETK, officials say Harrison County dispatch was told that Texas Park Police and multiple units from Smith County were in a pursuit on I-20 and headed toward Harrison County. “Units briefly lost sight of the vehicle in Gregg County,” officials said. “Harrison County deputies and Gregg County DPS units picked up the pursuit in Harrison County.” Officials said the driver — later identified as Taye Thomas Payne, 24, of Shreveport, La. — continued to flee in a gray Honda Accord and exited I-20 onto FM 968, where the car crashed into a wooded area near Hut Horton. Continue reading Shreveport man arrested in East Texas after multi-county pursuit

SMITH COUNTY — Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith is renewing his ongoing battle against trail rides following the latest local incident. “We’re not trying to stop anybody from having fun, but each and every time one of these trail ride combination concert events happen, just almost every time you can set your clock by it, there’s going to be a shooting,” Smith said. Three men were arrested with five guns Saturday night at a trail ride on County Road 46 where two people were shot and sent to two hospitals, according to the Sheriff’s Office and our news partner KETK. Continue reading Sheriff denounces trail ride concerts following latest incident