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SMITH COUNTY — Smith County Judge Neal Franklin rescinded the burn ban Tuesday, September 26, after the county received some much-needed rain. Franklin made the decision based on the recommendation of Smith County Fire Marshal Chad Hogue. “Smith County received an adequate amount of rainfall Sunday night and during the early morning hours of Monday to reasonably lift the burn ban, which was enacted on August 1, 2023, for the safety of the public,” Hogue said. “I would like to thank the residents of Smith County for their understanding and cooperation while the burn ban was necessary.” Hogue encouraged anyone planning to conduct outdoor burning to do it in a safe manner. Continue reading Smith County burn ban lifted

WOOD COUNTY — A Gilmer man has been charged with intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault in connection to a wreck that killed one of his passengers and injured another. According to our news partner KETK, the preliminary report from DPS indicated Leopoldo Guerrero, Jr., 24, was driving a 2007 Chevrolet 1500 east on State Highway 154, 13.3 miles west of Gilmer on Sept. 18 at 7:00 a.m. DPS said he veered off the roadway to the north and the truck overturned. 34-year-old Diana M. Valenzuela from Longview was taken to a Quitman hospital where she died a few hours later. A 25-year-old passenger was taken to a Tyler hospital with incapacitating injuries. After an investigation, Guerrero Jr. was charged with intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault. Continue reading Gilmer man charged in fatal wreck

TYLER — A former Tyler ISD substitute teacher was indicted for aggravated sexual assault of a child and improper relationship between an educator and a student on Aug. 3. According to our news partner KETK, 48-year-old Karen Dunn was an ISS substitute at Ramey Elementary School when a 10-year-old reported she had “touched her inappropriately” with three other students in the classroom. Tyler ISD police were called to Ramey Elementary School on May 16 after the child reported the incident to another teacher, saying Dunn told her about things she does with her sister and boyfriend, handed the child a piece of paper with her name, address and phone number on it and told the child to come over. The number was not one Tyler ISD had on file for Dunn. Dunn had been a substitute since 2016 and was terminated when the child reported her after a member of Tyler ISD HR contacted Dunn using the phone number given to the child. Dunn is still in the Smith County Jail on a $250,000 bond. Her next court date is scheduled for Oct. 2.

EDOM – The Texas Department of Public Safety says that one man is dead after a motorcycle and vehicle crashed on FM 279 on Saturday, according to our news partners at KETK. According to DPS, Roy Lewis Woods, 58 of Ben Wheeler, was driving a 2022 Harley Davidson motorcycle west on FM 279, 3 miles west of Edom. Karla Kay Coyle, 63 of Brownsboro was driving a 2012 Ford F-150 in the eastbound lane when the motorcycle reportedly failed to take a curve and hit the Ford. Woods was pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Wade McMillan and Coyle had relatively minor injuries, DPS said. A DPS investigation into the crash is ongoing.

WOOD COUNTY – A former volunteer firefighter in Hainesville pleaded guilty to four counts of arson last Thursday. According to our news partner KETK, Courtney Keel of Mineola was arrested September 2021 after the Wood County Sheriff’s Office investigated a number of suspicious fires over 2020 that were worked by the volunteer firefighter. Though Keel pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree felony arson, motions for a new trial have been filed in his case.

TYLER – Six East Texas men were indicted in Smith County last month for soliciting someone under 18, according to KETK. The men had all been arrested in January as part of an undercover sting, where according to their affidavits, the men messaged who they thought was a 17-year-old named “Sarah” but was in reality a sergeant with the Office of the Attorney General conducting an online investigation. Continue reading Six men indicted for soliciting minor

HARRISON COUNTY – A man is dead after a rollover crash Friday evening on I-20 near Marshall. According to a preliminary DPS report And our news colleagues at KETK, a Ford F-150 was traveling east on I-20 and “failed to drive in a single lane, veering off the roadway to the right.” The truck overcorrected, and DPS said it caused the truck to rollover. The driver, identified as 47-year-old Billy Warren, of Lufkin, was pronounced dead at the scene. According to DPS he had not been wearing his seatbelt. The crash remains under investigation.

TYLER — Tyler police are asking motorists to use caution Monday morning when approaching intersections as multiple are without power. According to our news partner KETK, the following intersections are without power as of 7 a.m.: Broadway Avenue/Centennial Parkway, S Broadway Avenue/Market Square Boulevard, Loop 323/E Erwin Street and Loop 323/Lyons Avenue. Authorities are working to get generators deployed to these locations. “If you approach any intersection that is without power, treat it as a four-way stop. If you come to an intersection with blinking red lights, treat that as a four-way stop,” police said. “Emergency crews are working to get all intersections up and running as quickly as possible.”

TYLER – With severe weather Sunday night in our region, there are reports of over 9,030 without power. According to our news partner KETK, these are current as of 6:00 P.m. Monday. For a county by county listing of power outages from ONCOR and SWEPCO click here.

LINDEN – The Linden Police Department is investigating a fatal shooting that happened on Friday in the parking lot of a Crump Food Store in the 700 block of West Houston Street. According to Linden PD, the shooting happened around 3:30 p.m. when a store employee Larry Lawrence, 39 of Queen City, was helping put groceries in the back seat of a car. Officials said that there was a dog in the back seat and that Lawrence reportedly began to pet the dog when a .22 rifle in the back seat went off and hit him in the chest. According to our news partner KETK witnesses attempted to resuscitate him and when police and EMS arrived, they took over lifesaving procedures, but he was later pronounced dead at a helipad site. Linden Police Chief David Dulude said that the incident appears to have been accidental but that the case is still under investigation while they try to figure out how the rifle went off.

TYLER – According to our news partner KETK Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, M.D., announced that $68,042,000 in regional mitigation funds was approved for infrastructure projects across Deep East Texas on Friday. The funds were approved by the Texas General Land Office and will include over $42 million for broadband and interoperable radio communications infrastructure that will be administered by the Deep East Texas Council of Government (DETCOG). The money allocated by the land office is sourced from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the Regional Mitigation Plan, a plan to help reduce risks and impacts of future natural disasters. Continue reading Land Commissioner announces $68 million for infrastructure

TYLER – The East Texas State Fair is officially back. The event kicked off Friday morning with Senior Day to start the huge event and of course, the fair has all the essential fun you would expect. Plus your food favorites like giant turkey legs and don’t forget about the Ferris Wheel. The fair runs through Oct.1. For the daily schedule of the East Texas State Fair, click here

TYLER – Smith County remains under a burn ban. Since the Smith County Burn Ban was issued on August 1, 2023, there have been a total of 57 illegal burning citations issued across the county. A violation of the burn ban is a Class C Misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $500. If your fire gets out of control and destroys a neighbor’s property, you could be held liable for the value of that property. Check here to see if your county is on the list. For more information related to the burn ban, please contact the Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office at 903-590-2655. Continue reading Smith County burn ban update

TYLER – CHRISTUS Health and Aramark are ending their contract, and officials with CHRISTUS said employees laid off from Aramark are expected to begin employment with their new vendor according to our news partners at KETK. In a statement, CHRISTUS Health said they will begin working with a new vendor, Morrison, on Nov. 1 and Aramark employees will be offered positions. “We do not expect any disruption to current operations or employment,” the statement from CHRISTUS said. “While technically these employees will be laid off from Aramark, we expect them to transition immediately to employment with Morrison.” Continue reading CHRISTUS contract with Aramark to end

HENDERSON COUNTY – Officials in Henderson County are investigating after a drowning Thursday night in the Cedar Branch Park subdivision. According to Payne Springs Fire Rescue, they and other agencies responded around 8 p.m. to “reports of a male subject that had been working construction at a residence went for a swim in the lake and went under the water and did not resurface.” The victim was later recovered after units began searching the water, including the Gun Barrel City Fire rescue boat that has side scan sonar. This sonar was used to locate the victim after officials had been searching the area for some time. The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.

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.