Today is
Thursday June 04, 2026
LAKE TYLER – A Whitehouse High School student has drowned in Lake Tyler. The school system has identified him as high school junior Ti’Auje’ Reaves, who was known as T.J. A variety of agencies were called to the lake. Tyler police received the call shortly after 12:45 Tuesday afternoon. The initial report was a teenager was swimming toward a buoy when he disappeared near the Lake Tyler Marina. A helicopter was called in to aid in the search. The investigation into the drowning continues.
SMITH COUNTY – A traffic stop on Interstate Highway 20 has resulted in drug charges against a Smith County man. Arrested shortly before midnight on Monday was Anthony Dewayne Toliver, 24, of Winona. During the traffic stop, the sheriff’s deputy found a small amount of marijuana and two large zip-lock baggies with over 1.5 pounds of methamphetamine. Toliver has been charged with possession of marijuana and manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance. He was placed in the Smith County jail under bonds totaling $8,000.
TYLER – Tyler’s Luby’s Cafeteria will be auctioning off all remaining furniture and equipment. The store was permanently closed at the end of February. It had been in Tyler for 55 years. When it closed, the general manager for Luby’s in Longview told our news partner KETK the store had foundation issues. Besides the furniture and equipment, they will be auctioning off all the building fixtures. You can go to this Craigs List link https://easttexas.craigslist.org/bfd/d/tyler-auction-lubys-tyler-texas/6852720960.html for photos and inventory.
TYLER – Smith County officials are reminding you that they’ve cancelled jury duty for Wednesday. Smith County residents who were planning to report for jury duty on Wednesday with their yellow cards don’t have to make the trip to the Smith County Courthouse. However, if you have been asked to return for jury duty by a specific court, you must still report.
LONGVIEW – A woman is in custody of Dallas police in connection with a Longview murder over 41/2 years ago. The Longview News Journal, quoting Dallas County online records, says Latoddra Quenice Pratt, 24, was arrested last Thursday on a murder warrant out of Gregg County. She will soon be returned to Gregg County. She is being held in the death of Tyson Patterson, 33. He was one of two persons shot just before 4:00am on August 28, 2014. The shooting occurred at an apartment on West Garfield Street. While Patterson was killed, another man was treated and released from the hospital after being treated for injuries in the shooting.
TYLER – In a couple of weeks there will be a partial closure of Tyler’s Old Bullard Road. The partial road closure is to improve drainage structures on Old Bullard Road near Rice Road. It is expected to begin on Monday, April 22nd and should be closed through late August. The project will include the installation of three additional 5’ x 3’ concrete box culverts under Old Bullard Road, as well as new curb inlets and channel improvements just upstream. Motorists can expect delays throughout the construction period. Southbound traffic will remain open to one lane, having through access along Old Bullard while northbound traffic will be rerouted along Rice Road to Richmond Road to Timberwilde Drive. Four electronic message boards are up notifying motorists of the upcoming construction.
TYLER – A student at Tyler’s T. K. Gorman High School is a finalist in the National Merit Scholar Program. He is Aidan Boyne. According to the school’s Facebook page, he has earned a perfect composite score of 36 on the ACT test.
TYLER – The Macy’s building on South Broadway in Tyler is getting a new tenant. Officials with Hobby Lobby have told our news partner KETK that its store is moving into the building. The store is expected to be open in the 65,000 square foot building in July.
LINDALE – County Road 484, north of Lindale, is back open to drivers after a bridge was repaired. A portion of the road was closed in February while Smith County Road and Bridge crews replaced a wooden deck on the bridge with a concrete deck and reworked the guard rail. The road just south of the Sabine River, from County Road 431, west to County Road 452.
TYLER – Tyler’s firefighter of the year is Matt Ford, seen pictured with Chief Coble. He was one of the persons honored over the weekend at the 28th annual award banquet of the Tyler Fire Department. Also during the ceremony, firefighters, along with retired firefighters and civilians were honored for their actions and service to Tyler. Additionally, firefighters receiving promotions over the past year were also recognized. Battalion 2 A-Shift received the Outstanding District Award and 21 firemen received Lifesaving Awards.
TYLER – An associate professor of management at the Soules College of Business at the University of Texas at Tyler has been elected to serve in various leadership roles for the Southwest Decision Sciences Institute. Dr. Venugopal “Venu†Gopalakrishna-Remani will serve as vice president for programs and meetings for 2019-20, program chair for 2020-21, president-elect for 2021-22 and president for 2022-23. Gopalakrishna-Remani holds a Ph.D. in business administration and currently serves on the UT Tyler Faculty Senate. He has presented his research at various national and international conferences.
TYLER – Three persons have been arrested in Tyler trying to pass a phony check. The four are all from Fort Worth. Tyler police say that this is an organized group of suspects working out of the Metroplex. They have been specifically targeting East Texas businesses. The three are currently in the Smith County jail, charged with engaging in organized criminal activity. A woman was detained and then released due to her having an infant with her. A warrant has been issued for her arrest. The check they tried to pass in Tyler had Miller Tire & Wheels of Tyler as the payee. The business does not exist. Additional locations where the checks may have been passed, or attempted to be passed, are not known at this time. Any business that has come in contact with someone trying to pass a check on this mythical business is asked to contact Sergeant Colby at 903-531-1098 or Detective Hale at 903-535-0121.
TYLER – We could know late Tuesday afternoon the names of the finalists for the position of president at Tyler Junior College. School trustees will meet in closed session Tuesday afternoon to come up with the finalists who will be invited to town for interviews. They are scheduled to come out in open session at 5:30 to announce the finalists. Over 80 persons have applied to become Tyler Junior College’s next president. They come from throughout the United States and Canada. The search for TJC’s next president began in January after TJC’s Chancellor and CEO Dr. Mike Metke announced he would retire this summer.
TYLER – TxDOT is planning to conduct the following construction and maintenance work throughout the district during the week of April 8. Schedules are subject to change due to weather conditions, equipment failure or other unforeseen issues. Tyler Maintenance crews plan to continue base repair operations on State Highway 110N near Farm Road 3271. Crews will also conduct ditch maintenance on roadways around the county. Expect lane closures with flaggers providing traffic control. Read the rest of this entry »
EAST TEXAS – A weekend storm has brought a good amount of rain to Texas. According to the National Weather Service, the two day storm total at Tyler Pounds Field was 2.68 inches while downtown Tyler recorded 1.47 inches. The two day storm total for Longview was 0.97.