Today is
Sunday June 07, 2026
TYLER – A state district court jury in Tyler has sentenced Jessica Lauren Vass, 36, of Lindale, to a probated sentence of ten years and fined her $10,000 for intoxicated manslaughter. Vass pleaded guilty to the charge on Monday. In April of last year, Vass was involved in a thee vehicle accident on Toll 49, just north of Highway 64. A car, driven by Annette Burkhart, 56, of Garland, was stopped southbound on the side of the roadway with a flat tire. A pickup truck, driven by Gary McCrary, 62, of Flint, was stopped behind the disabled car and McCrary was assisting Burkhart in changing the flat tire. The Vass venicle hit the back of the truck, which hit the other car. The vehicles then hit the victims.
TYLER – Tyler Junior College has received a $261,975 grant. The funds are part of 23 Texas Workforce Commission grants totaling almost $5 million recently awarded to colleges and school districts around the state. TJC will use the funds to to purchase and install equipment that will provide 487 students with high-tech training to enter the healthcare field.
CANTON – A Van Zandt county burglary suspect has been able to slip away from law officers. Eva Crutchfield, 36, of Edgewood, was arrested Wednesday night on Highway 19 in Canton. A sheriff’s deputy put her in handcuffs after determining she was a suspect in a home burglary. While the deputy was conducting an inventory of her vehicle, she was able to slip off the handcuffs and ran into nearby woods. Several law enforcement agencies searched for her, but she was not found. She now has two felony warrant out for her arrest, burglary of habitation and escape while arrested.
LONGVIEW – A police chase in Gregg County results in a Mississippi man going to prison. Jreymarcius Jreymaine Reason, 35, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for tampering with evidence and evading arrest. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was arrested by a state trooper last October after a chase of just over 10 miles. In his car officers found a .38 revolver that had been reported stolen out of his home town of Natchez, Mississippi.
TYLER – After 43 years in law enforcement, a Tyler police officer is retiring. Officer David Swain was hired by the department in April 1975. He is retiring on Sunday. He currently holds the most seniority as a patrol officer. He has served under the direction of six Tyler police chiefs. In 2007, he chose to be transferred to the Tyler Pounds Regional Airport as a Security Officer. This was a position created after 9/11 to assist the TSA officers with screening of passengers and securing the Airport terminal and grounds. Twice assisted the Secret Service with guarding former presidents Gerald Ford and George Herbert Walker Bush when they came to Tyler.
JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville police say a missing runaway teen has been found and safe. They had been looking for Kaden Bannister, 14. He was last seen around 9:00 Monday night at his home. He was not at school on Tuesday.
HENDERSON – Rusk County authorities are asking for the public’s help in locating a missing woman. She is Kimberly Flint, 51, of Reklaw. She was last seen around 3:00 Wednesday afternoon on Highway 84 east of Reklaw. She is described as a white female, who is five feet tall and weighs around 150 pounds. If you know where she can be found, you are asked to call the Rusk County Sheriff’s Department at 903-657-3581 SGT. Roy Cavazos lead Investigator.
MARSHALL – A Longview woman has pleaded guilty in the death of one of her twin sons. April Lynn Gibbons, 35, was sentenced to 17 years in prison in a Marshall courtroom Tuesday. She had been charged with murder. In a plea agreement, she pleaded guilty to manslaughter. She also pleaded guilty to endangering a child, in connection with boy’s twin brother. Her sentence on that charge was 24 months. As previously reported, in February of last year, she gave both boys adult doses of Melatonin, Dimetapp and Ibuprofen so they would go to sleep. When she awoke, 18 month old Aaron was found dead. Her parents, who were at home at the time, have also been indicted in the case. They have a pre-trial hearing early next month on charges of child endangerment.
HUNTSVILLE (Staff/AP) – A Tyler man has been executed at a state prison in Huntsville. Troy James Clark, 51, was put to death Wednesday evening for the May, 1998 slaying of Christina Muse, 20, of Tyler. Evidence showed Clark hit Muse with a stun gun, beat her, bound her and kept her in a closet before she was drowned at Clark’s home. He then stuffed her body into a barrel with cement and lime before dumping it in a ravine. Records indicate Clark, who was a 6th grade dropout, and a friend were using and selling methamphetamine and were worried she would snitch on them. The U.S. Supreme Court, last October, rejected his appeal. Clark had contended he had deficient legal help at his Smith County trial in 2000.
LONGVIEW – A Smith County man has been indicted in Gregg County on a charge of attempted capital murder of a police officer. Jason Alan Dillard, 42, of Winona, was arrested in Kilgore back in June. The arrest followed a chase by law officers in which Dillard is said to have shot at them. Other charges include charges of aggravated assault on a peace officer; deadly conduct; unlawful possession of a firearm by felon; and evading arrest. In May of 2015, Dillard was charged in connection with that deadly biker shootout at a restaurant in Waco. Those charges were later dropped. He remains in the Gregg County Jail under bonds totaling $1.145 million.
LINDALE – It looks like the portion of Toll Road 49 around Lindale will open soon than had been anticipated. Now, instead of a completion date in 2019, it looks like it could open near the end of next month. Our news partner KETK reports that what Chris Miller, executive director of the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority, told the Longview Rotary Club this week. The nearly 7 mile, $126.2 million project extends the northern end of Toll 49 from Interstate Highway 20 to U.S. Highway 69 north of Lindale. Miler also said they are pushing forward to extend the road into Gregg, Upshur and Harrison counties.
TYLER – The city and county will have a meeting in Tyler on having the two governments work together on city issues. The meeting is Thursday afternoon at 3:30 in the county commissioners courtroom at the Smith County Courthouse Annex Building. It is something they have been working on since the first of the year. There are two focal points. First, discussing downtown Tyler revitalization. The second is discussing how to improve services provided by both the city and county. The coalition will be co-chaired by County Judge Nathaniel Moran and City Manager, Ed Broussard.
DALLAS – Federal authorities have completed a 10 day action. It has resulted in the arrest of 98 criminal aliens and immigration violators in North Texas and Oklahoma. Twelve of the arrests were made in northeast Texas. The local arrests occurred in 7 area cities. They were Tyler, Longview, White Oak, Athens, Canton, Gilmer and Palestine. Most of the aliens targeted by deportation officers during the two state operation had prior criminal histories. This included homicide, alien smuggling, assault, burglary, dangerous drugs and various sex offenses. Twenty nine of those arrested had illegally re-entered the United States after having been previously deported. Also arrested were five confirmed and documented gang members.
TYLER – The Better Business Bureau of East Texas is warning about a Payroll Diversion Scam. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center has issued an urgent warning about an old scam which has come back with a new twist. It is a direct deposit phishing scam that targets the online payroll accounts of employees in a variety of industries. You are warned to be on the lookout for emails requesting personal information They may be from cybercriminals looking to access bank account information. Once they get the information, they can block the employee from accessing their account. This allows the scammer to reroute direct deposits to a prepaid card or other account which they control. If you get an email requesting log-in credentials or personal identifying information, don’t respond to it.
GLADEWATER – A Gladewater man remains in the Gregg County Jail following a weekend accident. Taylor Lane Guynn, 25, is charged with intoxication assault and accident involving serious bodily injury. The Longview News Journal reports he is accused of hitting another vehicle head-on. The Other driver was injured.