Today is
Thursday June 11, 2026
TYLER – Preparations are being made to usher the Christmas season into Tyler. The city’s Christmas tree was brought in on Monday. It is sitting on the downtown square. It’s a Leyland Cypress that is 28 feet tall and 14 feet wide. For the third straight year, the city’s Christmas tree has come from the Bright Star Farm in Alba. It will be decorated in preparation for the lighting ceremony. That will take place following Tyler’s Christmas parade on November 30th. Throwing the switch to light the tree again this year will be a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital’s Miracle Child. The child’s name will be announced next week.
TYLER – An inmate found hanging in his Smith County Jail cell earlier this month has died. Just before 11:00 Tuesday morning, Quincey Butler, 44, was removed from life support at a Tyler hospital. His body has been sent to a Dallas lab for autopsy. The former New Orleans resident had been placed in a single inmate cell since he was considered to be a danger to other inmates and was also on a suicide watch. Sheriff Larry Smith says Butler was on a required ten minute observation and had been checked nine minutes prior to being found hanging in his cell. Per department protocol, the Texas Rangers are investigating the death.
TYLER – Tyler police have identified a suspect in a recent theft at Bishop T.K. Gorman High School. After receiving numerous tips from the public, he has been identified as Vernell Richardson, 23, of Tyler. He was arrested Monday afternoon after meeting with his probation officer. He is on probation for burglary of a building. He is now in the Smith County jail. He is said to be the man got into the Gorman gym early last week by telling a student that he was there to work on the floors. He then went to the boys’ locker room and stole several cell phones and personal belongings. The following day, a man used the same story to enter the All Saints locker room and steal the same type of items. The All Saints burglary case remains under investigation.
LONGVIEW – A missing Longview teen is said to be safe. Longview police have been looking for Sophia Torres, 16. She was believed to be with “Robby†Robert Dale Amburn, 27, of Longview. A Facebook posting says she has been located and is safe. Police spokesperson Kristie Brian says, since she is a juvenile they can’t discuss more than she was a runaway and has returned home on her own.
KILGORE – Kilgore police are now saying a wreck on Interstate Highway 20 last Friday, which involved a cattle trailer, was caused by a hit an run driver. The accident, which caused a traffic flow problems for several hours, occurred between Mile Markers 588 and 589. The trailer had turned over in the median, trapping over 60 head of cattle and killing several of them. The investigation has shown the truck had been hit by another vehicle, which continued east bound on the interstate. The truck was described as a white pick-up with black and gold pinstriping and lettering down the side. It may have been a company truck. It should have damage to the front driver’s side.
TYLER – Tyler’s Beauty and the Box Program continues to grow. The beautification program began last year. It takes traffic signal boxes scattered around the city and turns them into works of art. What started as a pilot program of ten boxes in the Downtown Business Arts and Culture District has grown to 17 vinyl-wrapped boxes. The newest box added to the collection is at the corner of Erwin and Bois D’Arc. It is sponsored by Marvin United Methodist Church. You can go to http://www.KeepTylerBeautiful.com to see how you can sponsor a utility box.
TYLER – Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith is seeking the public’s help in identifying a man who stole a travel trailer earlier this month. It happened in the early morning hours of November 3rd. It is described as a 26 foot long white and gray Grey Wolf Travel Trailer. It was taken from the Cubesmart Storage Facility on Hwy 155 South just outside the Tyler loop. It was taken by a white male driving a white, newer model, Chevrolet 4×4 crew cab pickup. If you recognize him, you are asked to contact the Smith County Sheriff’s Department.
GUN BARREL CITY — We all love free stuff — but one East Texas man is accused of taking that a little too far. A federal indictment accuses Michael Barnes, 36, of Gun Barrel City of pretending to be a musician to get guitars, headphones, and amps that he said would be used in photo shoots. He wrote one company, claimed he played for the Texas Rangers, and got himself baseball gloves. Former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Richard Roper says, “And you’d wonder, gosh, maybe a member of the Texas Rangers organization would have enough money to buy his own gloves or get one from the club.” Roper adds any prison time depends on the value of the swag. Barnes is charged with 29 counts of wire fraud, eight counts of mail fraud, and four counts of aggravated identity theft.
LUFKIN (AP) — An East Texas woman found incompetent to stand trial in the death of her nephew has remained in county jail eight months after she was committed to a mental health facility. The Lufkin Daily News reports that Billie Jean Cuttler, charged with capital murder after the body of 3-year-old Mason Cuttler was found in a pond, was ordered to a state hospital to undergo a program to better understand court proceedings. Afterward she would stand trial or charges would be dismissed. During a competency trial, an expert testified that Cuttler intellectually functioned below 99.8% of the population. The boy’s father and Cuttler’s then-boyfriend Bobby Woods Jr. is also charged
TYLER – Thanksgiving travelers using Tyler’s Pounds Regional Airport this week will be greeted by Therapet human-animal teams. They will be at the airport today and Wednesday to greet arriving and departing travelers to help them beat holiday stress. Therapet Executive Director Carianne Fisher said research has found that people’s blood pressure and heart rate go down, their positive hormones increase and it helps people relax when they love on a dog for a little while. In addition to the Thanksgiving holiday, Therapet will also be visiting during the Christmas season on December 21 and 22.
LONGVIEW – The next segment of the new Farm Road 2275/George Richey Road Extension in Longview opens today. According to TxDOT, the $12.4 million project runs from McCann Road westward to State Highway 300. The remaining work will be conducted with the roadway open to traffic. This project is part of a new location four-lane divided highway designed to provide a safer and more efficient east/west thoroughfare for Longview. It stretches four miles from U.S. Highway 259 to State Highway 300. The contractor, East Texas Bridge, Inc., of Longview, started construction on this Phase II segment in summer 2016. Phase I from U.S. Highway 259 to McCann Road, at a cost of $34.3 million, opened to traffic in October 2016.
TYLER – Here’s a look at work planned in the district for the next two weeks (Week of November 20 and 27). Weather conditions or other unforeseen issues could change these work schedules. Due to the high traffic Thanksgiving Holiday, TxDOT Tyler will not allow lane closures on construction and maintenance projects from Wednesday, November 22 through Sunday, November 26th. You can go to http://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/media-center/local-news/tyler/060-2017.html and see the project update for TxDOT’s Tyler District.
TYLER – TxDOT has announced an emergency contract is being put in place to expedite the Farm Road 849 bridge replacement project. This comes after the westbound overpass, located at Interstate Highway 20 in Hideaway, sustained major structural damage when it was hit Tuesday morning by an oversized load carrying a tank vessel. Engineers have evaluated the structure and found it to be unsafe for traffic until the replacement is complete. The damage includes three of the four girders being struck including the top flange of the girders being pulled away from the concrete deck. Because construction plans to replace the structure have been previously completed, expediting the project is feasible and the best option since repairs would be costly and inefficient. The timeline for moving the project forward includes finalizing the construction plans and seeking bids by early December and work getting underway shortly after that. Read the rest of this entry »
LONGVIEW – Longview police continue looking for a missing teenager. And they have more information about the man who may be with her. They are looking for Sophia Torres, 16. She is Hawaiian with black hair that is dyed red. She has dark brown eyes and is 5 feet 3 inches and weighs about 125 pounds. They believe she is with “Robby†Robert Dale Amburn, 27, of Longview. (pictured here) He drives a white 2006 Pontiac G6 TX LP BVN3624. Read the rest of this entry »
GREGG COUNTY – State troopers assisted Kilgore Police Department with a rolled over truck-tractor semi-trailer, that for a while, blocked the westbound lanes of Interstate Highway 20 in Gregg County. Crews had to off-load some 60-plus head of cattle from the truck before they could remove the wreckage. It took several hours, but the traffic flow in the area between Mile Markers 589 and 588 has returned to normal.