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CHEROKEE COUNTY — A Rusk woman has died following a wreck just north of the Rusk city limits. According to the Department of Public Safety report, Rachael Paralee Finley, 38, was driving north on Highway 69 around 6:30 Wednesday night when her vehicle veered off the roadway. She reportedly over-corrected and rolled her Toyota Sequoia several times. Finely was pronounced dead at the scene. The crash remains under investigation.

SMITH COUNTY — A Tyler man was arrested late Wednesday night for possession of child pornography. According to our news partner KETK, Matthew Kyle Landua, 25, was taken into custody by Smith County Sheriff’s deputies after 11 p.m Wednesday night. He was booked into the Smith County Jail with bond set at $750,000.

TYLER — Authorities have arrested a fugitive suspect Tyler police described as “armed and dangerous.” According to our news parnter KETK, Jeffery A. Johnston, 34, was arrested in the area of North Northeast Loop 323 and Morningside Drive after authorities combed a search perimeter. Tyler police and the Smith County Sheriff’s Office were assisted by K-9 units and drones in the search. According to the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, Johnston took off when authorities attempted to serve a warrant on him. Jeffery was wanted on multiple charges, including forgery, manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance and parole violation. He was booked into the Smith County Jail and now has a charge of evading arrest.

FORT WORTH (AP/STAFF) – A 51-year-old Tyler man has been convicted of kidnapping in the abduction of an 8-year-old girl as she walked with her mother along a street in Fort Worth. Jurors returned a guilty verdict against Michael Webb Wednesday after deliberating for about 15 minutes. A federal judge will determine Webb’s sentence. Prosecutors have requested a life prison term. Testimony included video of Webb admitting to an FBI agent that he snatched the girl from the street. The girl was abducted May 18. Police acting on a tip searched Webb’s hotel room in nearby Forest Hill the next morning but didn’t find her. Continue reading East Texas Man found Guilty of Kidnapping Girl

TYLER — The front man of Poison plans to support East Texas area charities as a part of his visit to Tyler. Rock star Bret Michaels is scheduled to perform at the East Texas State Fair this weekend. At Saturday’s show Michaels will be auctioning off his iconic cowboy hat, as well as other items to benefit local charities. Michaels’ team has not announced which local charity they plan to support. Continue reading Bret Michaels To Auction Iconic Hat For Local Charity

TYLER — The month of October marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The 1 in 3 Foundation in partnership with the national effort is hosting a panel discussion and will offer a free lunch and learn. “The Impact of Domestic Violence on Families: A Panel Discussion” will be held on Thursday, October 3 from 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at the UT Health Science Center at Tyler Biomedical Research Building Conference Room (#699) located on Highway 271. This is a community event open to the public.

PALESTINE — Neighborhoods throughout Palestine are invited to join over 38 million neighbors for National Night out next Tuesday. National Night Out has become an ever-growing event including neighborhoods from all around Palestine. On October 1st between 6:00pm and 9:00pm, Palestine Police, Citizens on Patrol, Fire Department, EMS, and Anderson County Emergency Response will be visiting block parties around Palestine. For complete block party details across Palestine. Continue reading National Night Out in Palestine

TYLER — On Wednesday morning the Tyler City Council members approved increasing the property tax rate, as well as the new 2019 – 2020 budget. According to our news partner KETK,the new value is 25.99 cents per $100 of property value. Last year’s rate was 24.4452 cents per $100 of property value. Property tax funds will be designated in the budget for fire, parks, and police.

TYLER — September is childhood cancer month and a Tyler middle school is giving towards children facing the disease. According to our news partner KETK, Aneesa Cedillo organized the fundraiser. Cedillo, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 6. The cancer survivor along with the help of classmates at Moore Middle School raised more than a thousand dollars for the Gold Networks of East Texas. GNET Founder, Heather Rucker was presented with the check Tuesday during a pep rally.

SMITH COUNTY — Friday will mark a special day for two local high school drill teams. The Smith County Commissioners Court approved September 27, 2019 as “Whitehouse First Ladies Day” and “Chapel Hill Highlighters Day” in honor of both squads celebrating 50 years. Drill Team Director Kayla Noman and Captain Bailee Boyd represented their teams in Smith County Commissioner’s Court on Tuesday and received the resolutions. Both groups recently performed in tandem to celebrate the milestone.

TYLER — The City of Tyler and Liberty Hall will host the annual Bergfeld Showcase Concert on on Friday, Oct. 25. The event is set for the the Centene Stage at Bergfeld Park on S. College Ave. The enjoyment kicks off at 6 p.m. with fun and food trucks and live music beginning at 7:30 p.m. Paul Cauthen will be returning home to headline the night. Continue reading Paul Cauthen in Concert at Bergfeld Park

TYLER — Tyler Police are searching for 2 suspects that took off without paying for the $10,000 dollar gold chain. Video from inside Broadway Square Mall shows the pair running from the store around 3:45 on Monday afternoon. An employee allowed them to look at a 26” 14k gold chain valued at $10,000. Once the chain was in the hands of the suspect, the pair bolted from the store. Continue reading Tyler Police Looking for Jewelry Theft Suspects

BEN WHEELER — An abandoned church in Ben Wheeler was destroyed after a late-night fire on Monday. According to our news partner KETK, the church was known as Bethlehem CME and was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived just after 10:30 p.m. There were no walls left standing and the building was nearly consumed. Witnesses said that the church had not been in use for some time. There were no utilities connected to the structure. There were no signs that the building was targeted because it was a church or due to its religious affiliation.

HARRISON COUNTY – After a 5-year-old boy died from injuries sustained during a suspected child abuse case in East Texas, the Harrison County District Attorney’s Office may upgrade charges to murder punishable by the death penalty or life in prison. According to our news partner KETK, when deputies arrived at the house of Danielle Faulkner and her boyfriend Larry Prudhomme, investigators were told the child fell off their porch causing him to have a seizure and trouble breathing. While treating the boy, EMS noticed he was extremely bruised all over his body and told deputies that they didn’t feel the amount of bruising was consistent with falling off the porch. Continue reading East Texas Boy Dies from Alleged Child Abuse Injuries

GILMER — Gilmer City Council voted to declare the East Texas town a Safe Haven for the Unborn on Tuesday, September 24. In a 4-1 vote, the city passed the ordinance, which bans abortions at all stages within city limits and prohibits abortion businesses from setting up shop within the town. Gilmer is now the sixth city in Texas to pass such an ordinance, following in the footsteps of Waskom in June and Omaha and Naples earlier this month. With a population of nearly 5,000, Gilmer became the largest Texas jurisdiction to take such a stand.

GILMER –The City of Gilmer will discuss passing an ordinance outlawing abortion Tuesday night. According to our news partner KETK, the city council meets Tuesday night and the abortion ordinance is listed on the agenda. The East Texas Right to Life director Mark Lee Dickson celebrated the city of Teneha on social media Monday night, following their decision to become the latest community to unanimously declare itself a “sanctuary city for the unborn.” Continue reading Gilmer to Discuss Ordinance Outlawing Abortion Tuesday Night

TYLER — The Junior League of Tyler has announced that the matriarch of the Robertson family, known as “Miss Kay,” will be a keynote speaker at this year’s 41st annual Mistletoe & Magic Holiday Event. Marsha Kay Robertson, one of the stars of “Duck Dynasty,” is the author of several published popular cookbooks, and is grandmother to sixteen children. Tickets are on sale now for the occasion set for December 6th at Harvey Convention Center. More details available by clicking the link. https://www.juniorleagueoftyler.org/mistletoe-magic/

ATHENS — In an effort to give students a real-life food service opportunity, the Athens Masonic Lodge #165 has partnered with the Athens High School Culinary Arts Class. The AHS Culinary Arts Class will prepare a dinner for the Masons’ meeting each month. The Masons pay the Culinary Arts Class for the food. The objective is to give students a chance to demonstrate what they have learned in a very tangible way.

LONGVIEW — Nonprofits TexProtects and Buckner Children and Family Services will be hosting a legislative wrap-up Thursday morning at the Longview Public Library. The meeting is from 10 a.m. to noon and is open to the community and will meet in the Moeschele room. The goal of the meeting is to unpack issues related to child welfare discussed during the 86th legislative session and how they relate to East Texas. The second hour of the event will be a policy round table discussion and encourage participants to share their input.

TYLER — Traffic is back to normal today following an accident Monday evening that knocked out power to the traffic signal at the intersection of SH 155 & Grande Blvd in Tyler. The signal was out of service for several hours while crews rebuilt the control box. Motorists did experience minor delays as traffic slowed down going through the intersection, but quickly returned to normal with the repair.

ANDERSON COUNTY — An Anderson County family was in court yesterday following an earlier discovery of 23 dead horses and other livestock on their 240-acre ranch. According to our news partner KETK, Monday’s hearing would decide if the 95 surviving animals would be awarded back to the Dear family or remain in the custody of the state. The Dear family says it was confusion between them and a hired fencing contractor accidentally locked the animals from a water source at the vacant home. Continue reading State to Auction Remaining Livestock from Dear Ranch

PALESTINE — The Palestine Public Library will be having a large sale this week at the Book Sale Room inside the Palestine Mall. All proceeds benefit the Palestine Public Library. The special sale is this Friday from 3 to 6 pm and Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm. The library says they will have thousands of books on sale from $2.00 for hardbacks to ten cents for small romance novels. Continue reading Palestine Library Book Sale This Week

TYLER — City of Tyler Managing Director, Heather Nick, AICP, has been elected president-elect of the American Planning Association (APA) Texas Chapter. She is an award-winning planner with more than 15 years of performance. Nick is a certified planner and holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Texas at Tyler. She also graduated from UT-Tyler summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. Nick received two associates degrees in Computer-Aided Drafting and Design as well as in Information Systems from Tyler Junior College. Texas is the 3rd largest chapter and Texas benefits approximately 2,600 members. The APA is the world’s largest planning organization with 45,000 members from over 100 countries. Nick will begin her two-year term as President-Elect on Nov. 8, 2019. Afterwards, she will serve an additional two-year session as President of the APA Texas Chapter.

LONGVIEW — An officer involved shooting happened in Longview late Sunday night involving a Longview Police Officer. The incident happened after the officer originally conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in the parking lot of the Sunset Motel on W. Marshall Avenue. The officer removed two people from the vehicle, and then a 3rd man attempted to pull away from the scene. The driver did not follow the officers commands to stop. The vehicle was driven in the direction of the officer and the officer fired at the vehicle. The driver fled the scene and another fled on foot. Police are presently searching for the vehicle and the suspects that left the scene. Continue reading Longview Police Officer Involved in Shooting

TYLER — A group of cyclists is riding this week from Tyler to Corpus Christi, to change lives. According to our news partner KETK, 114,000 people are awaiting an organ donation, 10,000 of those are in Texas. To help bring those numbers down, a group of bicyclist will spend the week riding for organ donations. On Sunday, riders arrived at Tyler Christian Fellowship. The 11 travelers are each carrying a name on their back, representing someone whose life was changed by a donation. Continue reading Cyclists Travel State Championing Organ Donors

TYLER –National Voter’s Registration Day is Tuesday, and the League of Women Voters is ready to sign up East Texans to vote. The League of Women of Voters of Tyler/Smith County has nine different locations ready to bring awareness to the community on the importance of voting and the ease of signing up. The deadline to register to vote for the upcoming elections is October 7. To find their locations, click the link. http://lwvtyler.org/

HENDERSON COUNTY — A vehicle theft report lands an East Texas man in jail. According to the Henderson County Sheriff, a deputy was responding to a report of of someone possibly stripping a stolen vehicle in the Payne Springs area Sunday. The deputy was able to confirm that the vehicle had been reported stolen earlier that day. Joshua Rhodes, of Gun Barrel City, was arrest for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He was booked into the Henderson County Jail. The vehicle was released back to the owner.

LUFKIN — A Lufkin Police officer was assaulted while working security at movie theater late Saturday night. According to our news partner KETK, Det. Ron Stubblefield was taken by ambulance to a local hospital for a broken arm following the incident, which occurred around 11:35 p.m. at 109 Miles Way. Theater staff requested that Stubblefield ask a group of roughly 20 people to leave the movie Downton Abbey because they were recording the movie and being disruptive. When Stubblefield approached the group, the suspect – described as a younger black male, 5’9-5’10, thin build, wearing a white hoodie – aggressively bumped into the officer. A confrontation then ensued in which Stubblefield was assaulted and forced to the ground, breaking his arm near the elbow. Continue reading Lufkin Police Officer Assaulted at Movie Theater

LONGVIEW — This month, state-funded Buckner Project HOPES celebrates its five-year anniversary serving parents in the Longview community and announces it has been approved for another five years of funding. “The year before we received the funding, Gregg County was ranked as the third highest in the state for being at risk of teen pregnancy, early substance abuse, and family violence, including child abuse,” said Project HOPES Director Michelle Heflin in a news release. “Those numbers are a big reason Buckner was awarded the program contract for the counties of Gregg, Upshur, and Harrison.” The program is intended to address child abuse and neglect prevention by focusing on community collaboration in high risk counties. Go to https://www.buckner.org/project-hopes to learn more.