Today is
Thursday June 11, 2026
TYLER – CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital has announced this year’s miracle child, who the community will meet Thursday evening. This year’s Miracle Child is 4 year old Jack Bryans. He will represent Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals throughout the coming year. And it all starts at Tyler’s Christmas Parade. Jack and his family will be on hand to celebrate and light the city’s Christmas tree after Thursday night’s parade. After noticing significant developmental delays, a battery of tests revealed lesions on the boy’s brain. These lesions were later diagnosed as Leigh’s Syndrome. This is a progressive, incurable metabolic disease that affects the entire body. Despite the limitations Jack’s condition causes, this happy boy’s disposition has earned him the nickname “Joyful Jackâ€.
TROUP – A burn ban has gone up in Troup. Troup Mayor Pro-tem Carol Wilson signed the proclamation on Monday. It was issued at the recommendation of the Troup Fire Chief Tim Mager. Occording to the proclamation, the burn ban will remain in effect until it is rescinded.
ATHENS – A Smith County man has been indicted for a Henderson County murder. The Henderson County District Attorney’s Office tells KETK that Dennis Odell Metcalf, 40, of Tyler, was indicted for the September murder of James Arthur Featherston, 24, of Murchison. The shooting occurred in a home on Easy Street in the Forest Grove subdivision of Chandler. Metcalf later surrendered to deputies without incident. He reportedly admitted to fatally shooting Featherston. In a news release following the shooting, Henderson County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse said there was no indication of an altercation between the two men and no immediate signs the two knew each other before the shooting.
TYLER – The Smith County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help in identifying three theft suspects. The three men committed the theft from a motor vehicle. It occurred on November 10th around 10:00pm. According to the department’s Facebook posting, the suspects left the establishment and stole the victim’s tailgate off of their Chevrolet pickup. They then drove away in a newer model Chevrolet Suburban. It is believed they are from the Jacksonville area. You can go to
https://www.facebook.com/SmithCountySheriffsOffice and see some pictures of the suspects.
TYLER – A Tyler fire has turned up a marijuana grow in the city. The fire was reported shortly after 7:15 Monday morning at a home on West 31st Street. The fire in the duplex was quickly extinguished with only light damage. Besides finding the fire started from candles near a bed, they also found around 100 marijuana plants. With the plants were special grow lights and items related to the operation. Tyler police investigators are looking into the ownership of the grow operation for future prosecution.
TYLER – It was a strong showing for University of Texas at Tyler students and faculty at this year’s Association of Technology, Management and Applied Engineering Conference. The ATMAE student chapter placed second in the robotics competition among the top 10 teams nationwide. In addition, senior mechanical engineering major Caleb Nehls of Tyler placed second among 32 students nationwide in the “Industrial Technology IQ†competition. Also at the conference, professor Dr. Mark Miller, chair of the Technology Department and interim chair of the Human Resource Development Department, received the prestigious Charles W. Keith Award. It recognizes exemplary accomplishments toward the significant development of ATMAE. This was the first year the UT Tyler student chapter had ever competed in these competitions. Read the rest of this entry »
LONGVIEW – A Gregg County man is facing a variety of charges after fighting with, and trying to run away from, a Longview police officer. It started with a call about criminal trespass on Rainbow Drive. It ended with two fights, and two foot chases and the suspect, Jason Lee Jones, 37, of Gladewater, arrested on a variety of charges. Read the rest of this entry »
LONGVIEW – Two Longview robbery suspects were arrested a short time after a convenience store was held up. The EZ Mart on South High Street was robbed shortly before 8:45 Sunday night. An off duty officer, who was driving in the area, saw two men running from the store. One hand a bandanna over his face. The officer detained Christopher Lawerence Williams, 25, of Kilgore and Corey Tremayne Lilly, 18, of Longview. When it was determined the men were the suspects in the holdup, they were arrested and booked into the Gregg County Jail on aggravated robbery charges and each placed under a $100,000 bond. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – An auto/pedestrian accident in Smith County has killed 44 year-old Jason Brandon Lyons of Tyler. The accident happened shortly before 8:45 Saturday night on State Highway 155, about 5 miles south of Tyler. The Department of Public Safety reports it started when a pickup towing a boat stopped in the road, blocking the southbound lanes. A car heading south hit the pickup which hit Lyons, who was standing beside it. The truck’s driver, Elizabeth Ann Arnold, 39, of Hillsboro, and the car’s driver, Terri Lynn Flusche, 49, of Palestine, are both in stable condition in a Tyler hospital. The accident remains under investigation.
TYLER – Here’s a look at work planned in the district for the week of November 27. Weather conditions or other unforeseen issues could change these work schedules.
In Smith County, daily lane closures remain in effect on I-20 eastbound and westbound at Toll 49 as the contractor for the Lindale Relief Route conducts work to install deck panels and overhangs of the Toll 49 Mainlane Bridge. Closures on I-20 will begin with the westbound right lane, then the left lane, eastbound right lane, and then the left lane. Lane closures are planned for 9:00am to 4:00pm, Nov. 27 – 30, and from 9:00am to noon on December 1. Local law enforcement will be on site to assist with traffic control. Read the rest of this entry »
LONGVIEW – Two Longview residents have been arrested after leading law officers on a two county chase. In the Gregg County Jail is Ethan Brett McKinney, 46 and Whitney Rene Hubbard, 24. White Oak police knew McKinney was a fugitive, and tried to stop his pickup Friday night on Highway 80 near Moody Boulevard. He didn’t stop and headed toward Gilmer on State Highway 300. After numerous turns and U-turns, the truck crashed into a ditch at the intersection of McCann Road and Farm Road 1844. Besides multiple warrants in Gregg County, McKinney is also charged with evading arrest. Hubbard is charged with possession of a controlled substance. Read the rest of this entry »
AUSTIN – The state has started its winter stocking of pounds and lakes of rainbow trout. They are stocking 150 bodies of water with 300,000 rainbow trout through March. A total of 18 Neighborhood Fishing lakes and ponds located in Texas’ 11 most populated urban centers were the first of the season to offer rainbow trout fishing. Stockings start November 21 in most locations and continue every two weeks. Tyler State Park has received its first stocking of 3,430 rainbow trout. Tyler’s Faulkner Park Lake has been stocked with 1,900 fish and Woldert Park Pond has been stocked with 1,344 fish with other stockings scheduled. You can go to http://www.tpwd.texas.gov/troutstocking for the full list of public water bodies receiving rainbow trout this year, along with scheduled stocking dates and numbers of fish. You will need a license to fish if you are 17 or older. Kids fish for free and no license is needed at Texas State Parks.
MARSHALL – Former Harrison County District Clerk Mellinda Gayle Craig, 47, of Hallsville has been charged with driving while intoxicated. She was released on a $2,000 bond on Thanksgiving Day. She was arrested by a state trooper after she is said to have failed to stop for a Harrison County’s Sheriff’s deputy. She was said to have been driving at a high rate of speed on Farm Road 154 in Harrison County. According to the Marshall News Messenger, she was arrested in 2014 on charges of public intoxication. She was also arrested in 2014 by Texas Rangers and later indicted on three charges including misdemeanor assault causing bodily injury, misdemeanor deadly conduct and misdemeanor criminal trespass. According to the newspaper, Craig has not yet received a sentencing for those 2014 arrests.
TYLER – Tyler police are looking for the suspects who stole a banks ATM machine. It happened at the BTH Bank on the Old Jacksonville Highway around 2:00 Thursday morning. Someone had stolen a piece of heavy equipment, a skylift, from a nearby construction site. They drove it to the bank and forced the ATM from its concrete foundation and loaded into the back of a U-Haul box truck. After receiving the call, it took officers only six minutes to get to the bank, but the suspects had already left.
TYLER – An Art and Maker Gift Market has opened in downtown Tyler. The market features one-of-a-kind gift items, for purchase, made by area artists and artisans. The market opened Saturday at Gallery Main Street, 110 West Erwin Street. Artists, artisans and makers were encouraged to submit their work for a jury process to select pieces for the “micro†gift boutique. The opening coincided with downtown Tyler’s participation in Small Business Saturday. The market is a partnership between two City of Tyler programs: the Innovation Pipeline and Gallery Main Street.