KTBB News, Weather, Talk

TYLER – A man stole hundreds of dollars from a Zippy J’s in Tyler early Wednesday morning after shutting off the store’s power and claiming to have a gun that he was ‘not afraid to use.’

According to a report from our news partner KETK, at Zippy J’s #19 on 1610 South Vine Avenue in Tyler, a man shut off all power to the store before entering the north side of the building.

“With his hand in a backpack, he tells them he has a gun and he is not afraid to use it,” Zippy J’s clerk said. He stole about $700 from two registers.

The store clerk said the man ran across the street towards Tyler Bingo Hall after he obtained the money. As of now, the Tyler Police Department is unsure if the man had a gun.

SMITH COUNTY – According to a press release from Smith County, county Road 431, also known as Jim Hogg Road, is closed between CR 472 (just north of Interstate 20), and CR 41 (Sand Flat Road).

The road is expected to be closed for about two weeks. Detour signs have been set in place to alert drivers that alternate routes need to be taken while a drainage culvert is replaced on CR 431.

UPSHUR COUNTY – The man responsible for causing thousands of dollars of damage to Union Grove High School in January has been sentenced to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to criminal mischief on Tuesday, according to the Upshur County District Attorney’s Office and our news partner KETK.

The Upshur County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene after receiving reports of vandalism at Union Grove High School. Once at the school, deputies observed considerable damage to the campus, including broken windows, destruction of the school’s trophy case, and other damage to school property, including water fountains and monitors. Continue reading Man sentenced to ten years for vandalizing high school

TYLER – Our news partner KETK reports that a man was arrested on July 1 in Tyler after admitting to a predator-catcher organization that he had videos and pictures of children being sexually assaulted on his phone.

According to a Smith County arrest affidavit, around 5:40 p.m., deputies responded to 4373 Gallion Circle, where a private organization, EDP Watch, used a decoy to locate a possible child predator attempting to meet with a 12-year-old girl. The organization said they used a decoy that posed as a 12-year-old girl to communicate with the suspect, Joel Gaona, and that they were set to meet him, but he didn’t show up.

The document explained that EDP Watch then went to Gaona’s home, and videoed the interaction in which he admitted to having child pornography on his phone. Goana gave his phone to the organization after he was told they had software that would erase everything off of it. Continue reading Tyler man arrested for trading child pornography

TYLER – After more than a year-long pause, the City of Tyler announced the official return of its curbside recycling program, beginning Monday, July 14. The service was temporarily suspended following a structure fire at Rivers Recycling in Kilgore, which handled the processing of materials collected through our curbside recycling program. This unfortunate incident resulted in significant damage and the closure of the plant. However, we are pleased to announce that a new facility, the Northeast Texas Regional Materials Recovery Facility (NETX), has officially opened its doors, and the City of Tyler has signed a contract with them to sort and sell all curbside recycling materials. Continue reading Curbside recycling service has resumed in Tyler

WOOD COUNTY – In response to the recent tragic flooding in Kerr County, first responders in Wood County organized a donation drive at the Mineola Football Stadium on Tuesday.

According to a report from our news partner KETK, for Agriculture Mechanics teacher, Mason Wintters, the flooding hit close to home. Wintters has family in Kerr County and has spent many family reunions in the area.

“Seeing this one is kind of like its hitting in your backyard, it’s tough to see your neighbors get hit especially with something so powerful,” Wintters said.

Mineola ISD Police Chief Cody Castleberry organized the donation drive to help those recovering from the rushing waters. Castleberry said that from 5 hours away it’s hard to know how to help, but this was his solution. Continue reading Wood County gathers donations for the Texas Hill Country

LINDALE — A Lindale veterinarian is asking East Texans to donate supplies that will help comfort animals that were affected by the recent floods in Kerrville and Central Texas. According to our news partner KETK, the Lindale Veterinary Clinic is asking East Texans to donate various supplies to the Kerrville and Texas Hill Country Flood Relief Donation Center in Lindale. One of the clinic’s veterinarians has ties to the area and wants to make sure that animals in need are not forgotten during rescue efforts.

The center is asking for the following supplies which will go toward assisting many animals caught in the recent flood: Continue reading Local veterinarian requests donations for animals affected by floods

HOPKINS COUNTY — Nearly three decades later an East Texas homicide case has come to a close after a search warrant was executed on Tuesday at the suspect’s house, where they located the firearm used in the murder.

According to our news partner KETK, the Texas Rangers reopened Geraldine Blackmon’s 1996 unsolved homicide case with renewed efforts, including interviewing witnesses, conducting extensive forensic analysis and examining new ballistic evidence. Earlier this year, officials recovered a firearm barrel that matched the bullet collected from the 1996 crime scene from William Doyle Magness’s residence. A search warrant was executed on Tuesday, where Magness was arrested without incident and charged with Blackmon’s murder.

“The arrest of Magness marks a significant step toward achieving justice for Blackmon and offers long-overdue answers to her family and the Hopkins County community,” the sheriff’s office said. Continue reading Authorities recover gun used in cold case, suspect arrested

TYLER – According to our news partner KETK, officials took the next steps in revitalizing downtown Tyler on Tuesday when the Tyler City Council and Smith County commissioners coming together to help guide the future of the Rose City. The city and county leaders voted on and approved a new “lease and use” agreement for the downtown Tyler Public Square, which grants the city of Tyler access to the area.

Mayor of Tyler Don Warren said the city will be leasing the land from the county to help move the downtown improvement project forward, while also updating the city’s infrastructure.

The infrastructure improvements will be partially paid for by $10 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, which is included in the $23.6 million total funding from the city’s half-cent sales tax fund, along with contributions from Tyler Water Utilities, and an information technologies fund for a total investment of $25.6 million. Continue reading Tyler leaders move forward with downtown revitalization

RUSK COUNTY – 50 firearms, stolen property and suspected methamphetamine was seized from multiple East Texas homes by the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office last week, according to a report from our news partner KETK.

On July 1, Sheriff’s deputies searched a home in the 1600 block of East Main Street in Henderson, where they recovered 36 firearms, which were revealed to have been transported from a home on 8100 CR 334. Officials said during the search of the second home, 14 firearms, a stolen cargo trailer, body armor and meth were recovered.

Following the search, Bobby Blake Prior of Henderson, who was already in Rusk County Jail for a prior arrest, was charged with possession of a controlled substance, felony theft, unlawful possession of a firearm, and illegal possession of body armor by a felon on July 2.

He remains in Rusk County Jail with bonds totaling $55,000. The investigation remains active, and officials do anticipate more arrests will be made.

CHAPEL HILL — According to a report from our news partner KETK, a FedEx delivery truck driver has died after being ejected from their vehicle on Highway 64 near Chapel Hill on Tuesday.

Smith County Emergency Services District 2 said officials responded to the scene in the 16000 block of Highway 64 at around 1:26 p.m. on Tuesday. The driver was reportedly stepping out of their truck when another vehicle hit the truck and ejected the driver, fatally injuring them.

The identity of the driver has not been released to the media at this time.

SMITH COUNTY – According to a press release from the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025, the Special Investigations Unit, along with Tyler DPS Criminal Investigations Division, followed up on a lead received from the Lindale Police Department in reference to illegal narcotics being shipped to an address in Tyler.

Investigators were able to establish probable cause for a search warrant for the address of 409 Sutherland Dr. A probable cause affidavit was presented to the Honorable 114th State District Judge Reeve Jackson. After reviewing the affidavit, Judge Jackson issued a search warrant.

On Thursday, July 3, 2025, Law Enforcement personnel executed the search warrant at 409 Sutherland Dr. During the search of the residence, Investigators located two kilos of cocaine, five pounds of marijuana, dangerous prescription drugs, two loaded handguns, and a loaded rifle. Also located was over $15,000 in US currency, a currency counter, as well as scales and packaging material used for re-distribution. Continue reading Smith County man arrested in drug investigation

GILMER — According to our news partner KETK, a 53-year-old man and an 11-year-old boy were killed on Sunday during a head-on collision with another vehicle on Farm to Market Road 852 in Gilmer.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Ignacio Aguillon Gonzalez and an 11-year-old boy died while heading eastbound on FM 852 in a 1997 Nissan pickup truck when a 2006 Cadillac Escalade crossed over the center stripe and collided head on with the Nissan. DPS said the Escalade contained a 16-year-old driver and two minors at the time of the crash. Officials are still investigating the crash and information regarding the survivors’ conditions are not available at this time.