Today is
Thursday June 18, 2026
TYLER- Law officers served search warrants at 7 Tyler businesses that contained suspected gambling devices. Tyler policemen and sheriff’s deputies went to the businesses as a result on an on-going investigation. It was conducted by the police department’s vice unit. Numerous gambling devices were seized in the Wednesday raids. Tyler police spokesman Don Martin said no one was arrested, but investigators will continue to gather evidence for future prosecution. Read the rest of this entry »
LONGVIEW – A candidate has stepped forward to run for the post that will be available since Judge David Brabham will not seek re-election. Gregg County attorney, Scott Novy has announced he will be running for Judge of the 188th State District Court. Novy will be running as a Republican in the primary election next March. In 1989, he went to work in the Gregg County District attorney’s office. In 1992, he joined a Longview Law firm. He was also appointed Municipal Judge for the City of Lakeport, which he served for 25 years. Novy is currently in private practice, specializing in estate planning, probate and guardenships.
TYLER – The Tyler city council meeting contained the swearing in of one new member and two returning members. The new member is Bob Westbrook, (pictured) who took his Oath of Office for City Council District 5. he is a past Chairman of the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce. The returning members are District Linda Sellers, who represents District 1. She took Oath of Office for her second term and Ed Moore, in District 3, took Oath of Office for his third and final term.
FORT SMITH, Ark – Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is buying four area radio stations. All of the stations are owned by the Waller family. One of those is the Tyler station known as the Breeze, which shut down last August following the death of Dudley Waller. The station could be back on the air soon. According to InsideFortSmith.com, Huckabee’s East Texas Results Radio filed the paperwork for the sale with the FCC on Monday. The filing said the deal is worth $1.2 million. Read the rest of this entry »
LONGVIEW — 21-year-old Yarshim Shaw of Longview is jailed after police say she hit a man with a wrench and slammed his head into a wall. KETK reports that Longview police responded on Sunday to a house on Nowlin Street. A man told officers he and Shaw were in a relationship and she got upset after he asked her to pay back a $10 debt. She has been charged with aggravated assault.
TYLER – Tyler police along with Smith County sheriff’s deputies are raiding game rooms in Tyler. The concern is some may be running illegal gambling operations. The raids follow similar raids last November and December. Late last year and early this year, Tyler police sent out warning letters to businesses with known gambling machines. Smith County sent out a similar letter to 50 game rooms in unincorporated areas within the county back in February. We’ll have more information on the raids when it becomes available
TYLER – Tyler Police Chief Jimmy Toler spoke Tuesday evening about crime statistics and racial demographics for citations issued in 2016. KETK reports Toler was the guest as the Tyler Together Race Relations Forum held a meeting on those topics. Toler says transparency is key for the department as it makes fostering diversity a priority of 2017. “We go through cultural diversity training, we have outreach, but you know any time that we meet with our officers and we meet with our employees, we talk about their performance and we talk about issues that come up,” Chief Toler said. Read the rest of this entry »
GREGG COUNTY — A Longview man was arrested Monday after police said a woman stopped him from choking another woman by using a stun gun on him. According to KETK and the Longview News-Journal, Antonio Bernard Richardson Jr., 24, was held Tuesday in the Gregg County Jail on $5,000 bond, charged with assault of a family/household member impeding breath or circulation. Police said the incident happened around 4:00 Monday afternoon at the Longview Square Apartments on Pine Tree Road. Police said Richardson punched the mother of his two children in the mouth and then wrapped his arm around her throat and lifted her off the ground. A bystander said she was not able to get Richardson off the woman, so she used a stun gun on him, causing him to let go and flee, police said. He was arrested about 10 minutes later at his home.
WHITEHOUSE — A local school band director is retiring after 46 years as a music educator. KETK reports, Whitehouse ISD’s Denny Whitley is also being inducted into the Texas Bandmasters Hall of Fame this summer. His students say it’s not just his teaching of music that has changed their lives. Whitley said his last count was about 25 students who have gone on to become band directors themselves after being influenced by him. Monday night was his last spring concert after leading bands in Texas for 46 years, 28 of those at Whitehouse ISD. “Falling in love with your instrument, that’s the fun part of seeing the kids getting serious about what we tell them to do,” said Whitley. He retired once in 2005 but decided to come back for another 12 years before retiring for good in 2017. Read the rest of this entry »
LONGVIEW — A former Longview police officer has received the maximum sentence for sexually abusing four boys over a 30 year period. Michael Patrick Healy, 68, who pled guilty last Friday, was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to indecency with a child by sexual contact and attempted indecency with a child by sexual contact. They carry prison terms of 20 and 10 years. State District Judge David Brabham assessed the maximum punishment and ordered the sentences to be served consecutively, making it a 30 year prison term. Healy has indicated he will appeal the sentence. According to the Longview News Journal, testimony during the punishment hearing indicated the Longview man sexually abused his now-grown son and at least three other boys, two of them the son’s cousins.
LUFKIN – A grand jury has no-billed a Lufkin police office in a fatal March 1st shooting. Killed was Epthen Lamont Johnson, 40, of Lufkin. Police said Johnson was on top of his victim, Jose Isabel Rodriguez Jr. attempting to cut his throat when Officer Robert Blake Witherspoon, a six year veteran officer, shot him. Authorities said the officer’s verbal commands were ignored when the officer took lethal action. Rodriguez was hospitalized with multiple injuries. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – Precinct One Smith County Constable Henry Phillip Jackson, 65, has pleaded guilty to federal tax violations. Jackson pleaded guilty Tuesday to four counts of willful failure to file federal income tax returns before U.S. Magistrate Judge K. Nicole Mitchell. According to federal prosecutors, Jackson, who has served as an elected constable since 1999, received income from 2010-2013 that required him to file federal income tax returns for those years. However, Jackson failed to file those returns and now owes more than $160,000 in taxes. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – Tyler Junior College has done it again. For the 6th straight year, the school has met and exceeded its goal of collecting 50 gallons of blood. Jacque Decker, Carter BloodCare manager of operations and field recruitment says the week long blood drive at the college brought in 54.6 gallons or 437 units of blood. According to the school’s website, since TJC began its “50 Gallon Challenge†six years ago, more than 300 gallons of blood have been collected, potentially saving more than 7,200 lives in East Texas.
TYLER – Smith County jury duty has been cancelled on Wednesday. If you have a Smith County jury summons for duty on Wednesday, you do not need to report to the courthouse. Smith County Jury Coordinator Lisa Bennett said jury duty has been cancelled for all courts. However, if you have been asked to return for jury duty by a specific court, you must still report.
EDOM – Van Zandt County authorities are searching for clues in the death of Sherry Banks, 62, of Edom. She was shot to death sometime between Thursday May 11 at 8:00pm and Friday May 12 at 10:00am. She was shot while driving on Farm Road 279 just east of Edom. After the shooting, her vehicle ended up in a wooded area. Any information can be called into the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office at 903-567-4133 extension 495 or Crime Stoppers 903-567-7867.