Today is
Thursday June 11, 2026
For shoppers, Friday was black Friday and Monday is Cyber Monday. Sandwiched in between is Small Business Saturday. It was founded by American Express in 2010. According to the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, around 112 million consumers spent $15.4 billion on that day last year. Small businesses in the area have geared up for the event with specials for the shoppers. There are 2,600,000 small business operations in Texas. They employee about 45% of all employees in the state. They say, shopping with them provides a variety of benefits, among them, It helps create jobs in the community and the tax dollars stay local.
EAST TEXAS – The Christmas season is officially here. Shoppers are flocking to area stores. And several special Christmas tree exhibits are open. At Tyler’s Prestige Estates Assisted Living and Memory Care Center, it’s the annual Winter Wonderland of Christmas Trees. Along with the beautiful and unique Christmas trees is a big 12 foot tree where you can leave an unwrapped toy for the Tyler Firefighters Toy Drive. The toys will be picked up by the firefighters on December 10th. In Palestine, the Palestine Veterans Administration Clinic is hosting an Angel Tree to benefit area veterans in need. It’s inside the Palestine Mall. And In Lufkin, The Museum of East Texas is holding its annual Festival of Trees.
PALESTINE — Acting on a tip, law officers have found a missing Palestine woman safe and unharmed. According to KETK, Palestine police say 24-year-old Haley Dawn Grant was located Wednesday evening at a location in Anderson County. Police took a missing person report on Monday. Her friend said she had been missing since November 18. She was last seen at a gas station in Palestine. Friends and family had been searching for her, not knowing why she would disappear. They said it was not of her character to just go missing. “I want to thank all of the family and friends of Haley Grant for the prayers and concern about her. I want to thank the Palestine Police Department and Anderson County Sheriff’s Office for all their work in finding her,” said Haley’s friend, David Lusk.
LONGVIEW – Gregg County authorities have charged two Kilgore men with a robbery that occurred last month. Arrested Wednesday were Jonathan Zuniga, 22, and Clarence Bedford III, 22. They were arrested at a home in the Kilgore-Liberty City area. They are charged with robbing the E-Z Mart on Highway 135 in Kilgore. The robbery occurred October 22nd around 4:15am. The arrests stem from leads developed by investigators as well as as a Crimestoppers tip. Both are in the Gregg County Jail with bonds of $75,000 each. Read the rest of this entry »
LONGVIEW – Dollar General building a warehouse in Longview is a step closer to reality today. Longview’s Zoning Board of Adjustments has approved zoning variance requests for a 110-acre site at the Longview North Business Park. DG Distribution of Texas wants to build a nearly 1 million-square-foot distribution center at the location. DG Distribution of Texas is a division of Dollar General Corp. in Tennessee. The Longview News Journal reports Longview is lone finalist for Dollar General’s 17th warehouse. A finalized agreement between the company and the city of Longview remains tentative pending legal matters, according to the Longview Economic Development Corporation. A city official told the paper he believes the deal can be “wrapped up” before the end of the year.
TYLER – Tyler’s Salvation Army is a beehive of activity. Preparations are underway for the annual community Thanksgiving meal. They expect to feed up to 1,500 persons Thursday between 11:30 and 1:00. The staff and volunteers started the preparations Wednesday afternoon. Over 200 volunteers have signed up this year to help with the Thanksgiving festivities. The Hubbard Family, a 5-piece East Texas musical group will be performing as the guests enjoy their meal. It consists of Greenberg Smoked Turkeys, dressing, fruit salad, green bean casseroles, candied yams, and pie. The cost of the meal is underwritten by many in the community.
TYLER – What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? Tyler’s Goodman Museum wants to know. The museum plans to build a Trail of Gratitude. Through December 1, the museum invites you to share your thanksgivings. They will even supply colorful paper and writing utensils for you. These papers will be collected and laminated and hung from posts to create a trail on the property for the community to walk through and enjoy. The trail will be on display through the second weekend in January.
ATHENS – A traffic stop southeast of Athens has resulted in a drug arrest. The sheriff’s deputy stopped motorcyclist Durrell Lee Hopkins, 57, of Larue, for a traffic violation at the intersection of Farm Road 804 and County Road 4712. A search turned up illegal drugs and a .45 caliber handgun. Hopkins was booked into the Henderson County Jail on charges of unlawfully carrying a weapon and possession of a controlled substance.
PALESTINE – A Palestine woman has been reported missing. She is Haley Dawn Grant, 24. Grant’s family and friends told officers Monday that they had been unable to make contact with her. She was last seen at a convenience store last Saturday. Grant is described as having dark hair, 5’8″ tall and weighing 120 pounds. Anyone with any information regarding this case is urged to contact the Palestine Police Department at 903-729-2254 or Sgt. David Kassaw at 903-731-8482.
NACOGDOCHES – The secretary of state’s office has accepted the filing of another candidate seeking to unseat Tyler Congressman Louie Gohmert. The application is that of Brent Beal of Nacogdoches. He went on a tour of the 1st congressional district to get petition signatures in lieu of paying a filing fee. He submitted over 800 signatures. 500 signatures had been required. Beal who is a business professor at The University of Texas at Tyler, will be running in the Democratic Primary against Shirley McKeller, who is running for the 4th time. Beal is critical district’s current congressman. He said, “Gohmert has failed to represent East Texans beyond those in his far-right GOP base.”
LONGVIEW – Longview’s National Night Out activities was once again one of the top ones in the country. According to the National Town Watch Association, the Longview/Gregg County activities ranked 11th for a community with a population size from 100,000 to 300,000. National Night Out Block Party were held in neighborhoods and businesses around the city and county. A total of 134 parties registered for National Night Out, which was held on October 3. The activities, which are coordinated by the Longview Police Department, Partners in Prevention and the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office ranked 14th in the competition last year.
LONGVIEW – LeTourneau University recently placed one of its computer programing teams in the Top 10 national rankings in the IEEEXtreme 11.0 programming competition. In the competition, students compete against each other from across the globe to solve a set of programming challenges. The competition is organized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. LeTourneau won 1st place in the Southwestern region, 8th place nationally, and 161st out of 3,350 teams worldwide. Team members are computer science engineering major Azrael Brown of Duncanville, Texas; computer science engineering major Chandler Griscom, of Coatesville, Pennsylvania; and computer science network security major Brian Scott of Anniston, Alabama.
AUSTIN – Two Tyler residents have been recognized in the state in the area of nursing. Vania Padilla is the Texas Health Care Association’s Nurse of the Year for Region 4. Lucretia Howard is the Texas Health Care Association’s Certified Nurse Aide of the Year for Region 4. Region 4 is one of 10 statewide, and includes Central Texas. Both employed by the Heights of Tyler Nursing Home. Both were nominated by their co-workers and selected by a panel of long term care clinicians from across the state. They were honored during the Texas Health Care Association’s Annual Convention and Trade Show in Houston.
LONGVIEW – A woman wanted in Tennessee has been arrested in Longview. Arrested was Valrie Ann Hart,36, of Longview. She was taken into custody at a home on Alpine road by U.S. Marshall’s Service Violent Crime Task Force Agents. They were assisted by the Gregg County Organized Drug Enforcement Unit. Hart was named in warrants for robbery, aggravated robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, theft, and two outstanding felony warrants for homicide. The warrants are out of Polk County, Tennessee. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – Because of two businesses, some area residents will have a ham to go with a holiday meal. Hormel Foods and the Brookshire Grocery Company have donated over a 1,000 Hormel Cure 81 half hams to the East Texas Food Bank. In total, the two companies are donating over $100,000 in hams to dozens of food banks and food kitchens in communities where Brookshire’s, Super 1 Foods and Spring Market stores operate. The truck with the hams arrived Tuesday morning.