Today is
Thursday June 18, 2026
WHITEHOUSE — A Brownsboro man has been arrested after leading authorities on a chase. Marlin Welch, 63, was booked into the Smith County Jail on Saturday. He’s been charged with evading arrest. Bond was set at $3,000. Additional details were not available.
EAST TEXAS — The National Weather Service said Friday that a tornado touched down Thursday evening near Gladewater, one of five twisters confirmed across East Texas. The Gladewater tornado was classified as EF-1 and touched down at about 6:15 p.m. Thursday just west of the city, the weather service said. According to the Longview News-Journal, also confirmed Friday were an EF-2 tornado near Garrison in Nacogdoches County; an EF-0 tornado near Edgewood in Van Zandt County; and an EF-1 tornado near Minden in Rusk County. Another tornado was also classified as an EF-1. The National Weather Service performed damage assessment throughout Friday in Gregg, Upshur, Wood and Smith counties. Those assessments had not been completed as of late Friday afternoon. Read the rest of this entry »
DALLAS (AP/STAFF) — A Dallas-area military veteran will serve life imprisonment without parole for the 2013 shooting deaths of four women, including his girlfriend and estranged wife. A judge sentenced Erbie Lee Bowser, 48, on Friday after a Dallas County jury deliberated for 10 hours over two days before becoming deadlocked on a death penalty. Bowser was a 1986 all-state football selection while attending Tyler’s Robert E. Lee High School. He was convicted of capital murder on May 5 in the fatal shootings of girlfriend Toya Smith and her 17-year-old daughter, Tasmia Allen, in Dallas. Investigators say Bowser then drove to nearby DeSoto and fatally shot his wife, Zina Bowser, and her 28-year-old daughter Neima Williams. Four other children were wounded. Bowser’s attorneys had argued that he’s mentally ill and suffered concussions playing football. Bowser is a former member of the Dallas Mavericks ManiAAC male dance troupe.
SHREVEPORT – Two damage survey teams from the National Weather Service-Shreveport office are investigating storm-related damage from Thursday’s storms in East Texas. One team is focusing on Smith, Upshur, and Gregg Counties. Another team is focusing on Nacogdoches, Rusk, and Shelby Counties. The strongest of the storms was an EF-2 tornado in the Garrison area of northeastern Nacogdoches County. It had winds of between 111-135 miles an hour. Reports also indicate an EF-1 tornado on the west side of Gladewater and an EF-1 tornado in southeast Rusk County, on the east side of Minden. Read the rest of this entry »
EAST TEXAS – East Texas letter carriers will be doing more that bringing mail to your home Saturday. They will also be picking up food in their annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. The country’s largest single-day food drive provides you with an easy way to donate food to those in need in the community. All you have to do is put bags of non-perishable goods next to you mailbox before tomorrow’s mail delivery. The letter carriers will pick up the food and distribute them to local food agencies. This marks the 25th year of the letter carriers’ annual food drive. You are encouraged to leave a sturdy bag, paper or plastic, containing non-perishable foods, such as canned soup, canned vegetables, canned meats and fish, pasta, peanut butter, rice or cereal, next to your mailbox. You can visit http://www.nalc.org/food to learn more.
ATHENS – The Henderson County sheriff’s office is seeking additional help in solving a couple of cold cases. They are seeking the help of the Sheriff’s Association of Texas Cold Case Review Team. Sheriff Botie Hillhouse said the team will bring “fresh eyes†to old cases. One is the death of Shelly Watkins, who was found floating in the Trinity River just west of Seven Points on Labor Day in 1993. The second death is that of Ricky Gene Herriage. His body was discovered March 8, 1987 under a bridge, next to Walnut Creek. According to Sheriff Hillhouse, they will continue to gather the evidence needed to solve the crimes and bring the suspects to justice.
DALLAS — A Dallas County jury remains sequestered in the death penalty phase of Erbie Bowser’s capital murder trial. Defense attorney Andy Beach said the jury may have rejected the insanity plea, but it cannot ignore Bowser’s brain injuries, mental illness, and anti-psychotic drug prescriptions. The night Bowser killed four women and wounded four children, Beach said, was the night he snapped. Prosecutor Glen Fitzmartin portrayed Bowser as a self-centered, controlling manipulator. He said it’s time for the jury to serve up justice. The jury has two possible results: life without parole or death by injection. Bowser was a 1986 all-state football selection while attending Tyler’s Robert E. Lee High School.
KILGORE – A Kilgore hospital has lost its Medicare certification. Allegiance Specialty Hospital in Kilgore was cited following an inspection by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. They found deficiencies in the building infrastructure. There have been some layoffs as result of the action. The emergency department operated by Christus Good Shepherd Health System and a sub lease to Kilgore College were not affected. Administrator Karen Ross told the Longview News Journal “The hospital will remain open while it awaits the resurvey and completes the reinstatement process.”
LONGVIEW — Police arrested a Longview man after finding more than 800 grams of drugs in his house. KETK reports 25-year-old Patrick Toliver was held on bonds Wednesday and charged with manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance. On Tuesday, police responded to a house on Peach Orchard Road after an officer found drugs on the back porch. Police say they found more than 20 bags and multiple bottles filled with different drugs.
TYLER — One person is in custody after Smith County deputies responded Thursday morning to a reported shots fired call. Sergeant Darrell Coslin tells KETK gunfire was called in around 11:20 on Highway 64 West at a mobile home park. Two people have been detained, but only one was arrested. Bacilio Chavez of Tyler is charged with deadly conduct. No injuries were reported. Two weapons were seized at the scene.
TYLER — Tyler Police have arrested three suspects from Dallas following several reported burglaries at local pharmacies. It started just after midnight and ended around 1:30 with the arrests of Alexis Foster (pictured), 22, Traymall Cherry, 23, and Damion Spearman, 24. responded to burglaries at 1041 NNE Loop 323, 2701 WSW Loop 323 and 108 Shelly dr. Witnesses at the Shelly dr. burglary reported seeing two black males run from the business and get in a black four door car. They reported the vehicle left the scene north on Old Bullard Road. A short time later, an officer spotted a vehicle matching the description at Amherst and Broadway. The vehicle was stopped and stolen property from all three burglaries was located inside. The suspects were charged with three counts of burglary of a building each.
AUSTIN – The governor’s request for low interest federal disaster loans for those affected by the tornadoes that swept through Texas on the weekend of April 28th has been granted by the Small Business Administration. The request was granted for Van Zandt, Smith, Henderson, Hunt, Kaufman, Rains and Wood counties. In a news release from Austin, Governor Greg Abbott said, “I extend my sincerest appreciation to the SBA for their swift action in aiding those affected by these deadly tornadoes,” said Governor Abbott. “Texans have always worked together to help their neighbors and rebuild their communities after a tragedy strikes, and this time will be no different.” Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – A Louisiana man has been sentenced in Tyler federal court for his part in a kidnapping conspiracy scheme. Gary Cutright, 22, of Zwolle, Louisiana, pleaded guilty in January. He was sentenced Thursday by judge Thad Heartfield to 13 years in federal prison. Over an 18 month period, ending in January of last year, Cutright and four others, who have already pled guilty, conspired to commit kidnapping, robberies and assaults in East Texas and West Louisiana. They are acused of kidnapping a person and bringing them to Carthage in December 2015 and a kidnapping in Longview in March of last year. Read the rest of this entry »
WHITEHOUSE – Whitehouse police are looking for a black or blue truck that hit a Whithouse student and left the scene. The boy was treated and released from the hospital. The accident happened shortly before 7:45 Thursday morning at the exit drive of the Holloway Sixth Grade Campus.
CHANDLER – Another East Texas traffic stop has resulted in a drug bust. The latest occurred around 1:00 Thursday morning Thursday in the Forest Grove subdivision in south of Chandler. Two Henderson County sheriff’s deputies stopped a suspicious vehicle. After the driver got of out the vehicle, deputies noticed a white-colored plastic bag on the road. Inside the bag was about 10 grams of suspected methamphetamine. Arrested was David Wayne Cummings, 49, of Chandler. He’s being charged with possession of a controlled substance and tampering with physical evidence. Read the rest of this entry »