Today is
Sunday June 14, 2026
DIANA – Upshur County authorities continue their efforts to find several bank robbers. Around 5:00 last Friday afternoon, the three men, one who was armed, took an undetermined amount of money from the Security State Bank in Diana. They then fled the bank on foot. No injuries were reported. Authorities have released a picture from a video that was made at a near by business. It shows two of the suspects just before the robbery and before they covered their faces. If you recognize them, you are asked to contact your local law enforcement agency.
MARSHALL – Marshall police detective Carlos Pacheo is promoted to sergeant. After three years in the U.S. Army, Pacheo became a sheriff’s deputy in Wilson County. He came to work in Marshall in 2007. Over the next ten years, he has worked in many areas. Besides currently being in the criminal investigations division, he is also a member of the department’s SWAT Team.
AUSTIN – The Texas Water Development Board has approved financial assistance totaling $12,605,000 for 4 water and wastewater systems in the state. Two of the systems are in East Texas. The TWDB approved $750,000 to the city of Chandler and $1.9 million to the D&M Water Supply Corporation in Nacogdoches County. Both will use the money to finance the planning, acquisition, design, and construction costs associated with water system improvements
WASHINGTON – Tyler Congressman Louie Gohmert stands behind President’s Trump’s comments about the violence that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia. It occurred during a white nationalist rally that saw one person killed and 19 injured. Gohmert says everything the president said was appropriate, there was hate on both sides, and it is to be condemned. Gohmert tells KTBB, there is an insidious part of America that wants this country in flames and wants to destroy our freedom. Gohmert says, “We can’t let them do it. We’ve got to call out hate where ever it is.”
TYLER – Smith County has approved an application for an anti-hate rally in Tyler. The hour long “Don’t Participate in Hate Rally†is scheduled to start at Thursday night at 7:00 in downtown Tyler. There will be prayers for the people of Charlottesville, Virginia as well as prayers for more unity in Tyler. While a group of counter-protesters were demonstrating in Charlottesville last Saturday, a car plowed into the crowd, killing one person and injuring 19.
LONGVIEW – A shooting has sent a man to a Longview hospital. He was shot in the leg and the injury is said to be life threatening. It was reported around 4:15 Wednesday afternoon at the American Fidelity Apartments on Morrison Street. We will have more information when it becomes available.
TYLER – Tyler Municipal Court has appointed Amy McCullough as Presiding Judge of the Court. She has been serving as interim judge of the court since February. McCullough is a graduate of Tyler Junior College. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Mississippi and her masters from the University of Oklahoma. She then earned a law degree from South Texas College of Law. As an attorney, she practiced as an Assistant District Attorney in Harris County and in municipal government as the City Attorney of Pearland in the 1990s. She then went into private practice.
McKINNEY (AP/STAFF) – A North Texas man must serve life in prison without parole for the 2016 fatal shooting of his estranged wife and her twin sister. Investigators say Kelley Bigham, 51, of McKinney, was upset that his wife wanted a divorce. He shot the two in June of last year while stopping at the house to get some belongings. Both were shot in the head. The couple’s adult daughter fled unharmed with her young son and called police. A few minutes later he sent a text to his daughter saying, “I’m sorry.” Bigham was later arrested at his father’s home in Point, northwest of Emory, in Rains County.
QUITMAN – Because of an incident near Mineola a couple of years ago, an Arizona man received a lengthy prison sentence. A jury this week found John David Hill, of Tuscon, guilty of evading arrest with a vehicle. He was then sentenced to 99 years in prison. The lengthy sentence stems from his eight previous felony convictions. Two of them were for evading arrest. In October, 2015, a Wood County constable tried to stop Hill. After a while, after running red lights and speeding through a service station parking lot, he finally stopped only to run away. He was arrested after a brief foot chase.
TYLER – As it gets ready for the new school year, Tyler Junior College will be conducting emergency drills on Wednesday. The active shooter drill will be conducted on the main campus as well as the west campus from 2:30 to 3:00pm. During the drill, campus police will send out a series of messages which will state “this is a drill” at the beginning of each communication. Officers from various law enforcement agencies including Tyler Police and FBI will assist in the drill along with representatives from Trinity Valley Community College, Kilgore College and UT Tyler. Following the drill, a weather emergency informational meeting will be held.
COFFEE CITY – The Coffee City Police Department is seeking help in solving a burglary. It occurred sometime between July 19th and the 23rd. Someone broke into the Jungle Adult Store and Patriot Games game room on Highway 155. They got in by forcing open a rear door. Besides causing significant damage to both buildings, they stole sexually oriented items, copper, surveillance camera equipment and smoking materials such as pipes and hookahs. If you have any information, you are asked to contact the Coffee City Police Department or your local law enforcement agency.
MARSHALL – Five persons have been arrested after members of the Marshall Police Department’s SWAT Team served a search warrant at a home on East Fannin Street. The action was part of an ongoing narcotics investigation. Seized were 50 grams of methamphetamine, 37 grams of ecstasy, 7 grams of powder cocaine, 20 grams of crack cocaine, 29 grams of Xanax, 55 grams of marijuana and an undisclosed amount of money. They also seized three firearms, one of which had been reported stolen. Arrested on drug and firearm charges were Brian Dewayne Davis, 26, Louis Dewayne Talley, 23, Cecilia Davis, 48, Gerald Wayne Talley, 56 and Willie Earl Brown. All are Marshall residents.
MARSHALL – After several hours of jury deliberations Monday and Tuesday morning a mistrial was declared Tuesday afternoon in the trial of former Hallsville ISD coach Dean McDaniel. The mistrial came after information was received by State District Judge Brad Morin. He did not say what that information was. McDaniel’s defense attorney, Mark Lassiter of Dallas, told the Marshall News Messenger, the judge had no choice but to declare a mistrial after an alternate juror told members of the jury false information about McDaniel during the lunch break. Read the rest of this entry »
POYNOR – A Smith County man is being held in Henderson County for stealing a backhoe. Arrested was Ethan Lee Christian, 25, of Whitehouse. The backhoe was taken from a construction site in the Poynor area. When the backhoe was found, nearby was a pickup, stuck in mud. A search of the area turned up Christian. He was arrested for theft of property over $30,000 and he also had three outstanding warrants in Smith County.
PALESTINE – City Manager Mike Alexander has named Andy Harvey to be the Palestine’s new police chief. The Palestine City Council approved Harvey’s selection at Monday’s meeting. Harvey has been with the Dallas Police Department for 22 years. He is currently in the department’s crime scene response section. He starts his new duties August 28th.