Today is
Sunday June 07, 2026
TYLER – Because of a water main issue under the street, the eastbound lanes in the 1500 block of Rice road are temporally shut down. All eastbound traffic is using the center turn lane to keep traffic flowing in both directions. Traffic cones and barricades are being utilized to control the traffic flow at this time while the water department is working on the problem.
MARSHALL – A report of an aggravated sexual assault is under investigation in Marshall. It is said to have occurred on the campus of Wiley College. The school’s Facebook page says the college and Marshall police are investigating the report. The Marshall Police Department’s Public information Officer, Kelly Colvin, said they responded to Wiley Avenue shortly after 6:00 Saturday evening. The school is offering counseling for any student who wants it. President Dr. Herman Felton says the individuals involved have been identified. No other details were released.
TYLER – An Overton man has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Being held in the Smith County Jail under a $45,000 bond is Kevin Wade Cooper, 40. He is accused of hitting his ex-wife’s daughter with his car. The incident was reported Monday night on County Road 2228, just south of Tyler. Cooper was later stopped by Whitehouse police who had received a description of his vehicle. The girl is said to be in stable condition at a Tyler hospital.
TYLER – The Smith County grand jury has indicted a Henderson County man for murder in connection with a fatal accident. Sean Eammon Waite, 34, of Murchison was arrested after leading law officers on a chase on his motorcycle in mid June. It started as Waite was being chased by Tyler police on Highway 31 West towards Toll 49. Sheriff’s deputies then joined in the chase. It ended when the motorcycle crashed at the intersection of Highway 31 West and Farm Road 2661. Waite was arrested after a short foot chase. His passenger, Alicia Ann Adams, 28, was dead at the scene. Waite remains in the Smith County Jail on bonds totaling nearly $1 million.
TYLER — Judicial records show a Tyler man has been indicted in the death of his 4 month old daughter. Sofia Ibarra died after being removed from life support in a Dallas hospital in late June. Her dad, Andres Ibarra, 19, is charged with capital murder. He remains in the Smith County Jail under a bond of $1 million. He told sheriff’s department investigators that he hit the child in the ribs and abdomen with his fist four or five times and then threw her. After the incident, he went outside and smoked marijuana and then went to sleep. He discovered the next morning the child was pale and not breathing normally and took her to a Tyler hospital and was later transferred to Dallas.
TYLER — We’re used to being on the lookout for deer while driving — but come mid-fall, you’ll want to be super careful. Deer mating, or rut, season is fast approaching; that’s when does go into heat. Smith County Game Warden Chris Swift says the bucks will have one thing on their mind. Swift says the bucks are very elusive for 95 per cent of the year. But he cautions that once they get on a doe, they’ll run through a back yard — and are sometimes seen in downtown Tyler. According to Swift, “It’s just kind of a crazy time” of the year, though it only lasts for two or three weeks. Swift says the rut season in East Texas runs from Halloween to Thanksgiving, but it’s earlier closer to the coast. He says it keeps troopers busy answering car versus deer wrecks.
TYLER — The 8th annual Art of Peace celebration is underway in Tyler, and this year it’s getting some unexpected international attention. Again this year, the festivities include a peace poetry anthology, published under Art of Peace co-founder Anne McCrady’s literary imprint, InSpiritry. McCrady recently heard from the teacher of two high school students in Bhutan whose poems are included in the anthology, “Sowing Seeds of Peace.” He let her know that Art of Peace, InSpiritry, and his students were honored with a front-page story and full-cover photo in Kuensel, the national newspaper of Bhutan. As quoted in a news release, McCrady said, “For me as a peace advocate and for all of us with Art of Peace, having an international impact is a dream-come-true.†Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – When the East Texas State Fair opens in Tyler on Friday, new regulations will be in place on items allowed to enter the fairgrounds. The new rules, which are designed to keep visitors safe, are similar to rules set by other events, stadiums, and fairgrounds across the country. The fair will be using metal detector wands and bag searches to aid in the enforcement of rules prohibiting potentially hazardous items. These items include: permitted and non-permitted firearms, knives, or other weapons, tobacco, alcohol, illegal drugs, oversized bags, ice chests/coolers, pets, obscene material, unauthorized marketing, drones, hover boards, and non-permitted golf carts. Persons trying to bring any of these items to the fair will not be admitted into the fairgrounds. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – Here’s a look at road work planned in the Tyler district of TxDOT during the week of September 17th. Schedules are subject to change due to weather conditions, equipment failure or other unforeseen issues. Slow down and pay attention when traveling through work zones.
Tyler Maintenance and Special Jobs crews plan to continue milling operations on Farm Road 14 between U.S. Highway 271 and Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard. Once complete, crews will move the operation to Farm Road 2015 at US 271. Base repairs are ongoing on Farm Road 2908 just north of Farm Road 2767. Expect lane closures with flaggers providing traffic control at all work locations. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER -Tyler Junior College will observe its 92nd Founders Day on Monday. The ceremony begins at 7:30am at Windsor Plaza, located at the corner of Apache Pass and South Mahon Avenue on the TJC main campus. The annual event celebrates the day the school was founded , September 17, 1926. It also serves as a time to remember TJC employees and board members who passed away last year. This year, TJC will honor the memories of: John Burket, Noamie R. Byrum, Gene Carney, Kenneth English, Norman Hoot, Steve Morrow, Tracy Rea, Ann M. Snyder, William L. “Bill†Thomas, and William W. “Bill†Wilmeth. The public is invited to addend the ceremony.
LONGVIEW – A suspicious vehicle call has resulted in the arrest of a Longview man. He is Jace Martin Laws, 33. He was found sitting in a car in the area of Farmer Street and West Pliler Precise Road. He ran from arriving officers, but was arrested after a short foot chase. He is said to have fought with the two officers and all three received injuries. They were taken to Longview Regional Medical Center with non life-threatening injuries. Laws was booked into the Gregg County Jail on 2 charges of assault on a peace officer and a charge of evading arrest.
RUSK – A Bullard woman has died in a Cherokee County accident. She is Nona Kay Bickerstaff, 79. Her pickup was was crossing over to the northbound lanes when she pulled out into the path of a truck driven by Clemente Martinez-Mendez, 33, of Jacksonville. Bickerstaff was pronounced at the scene. Martinez-Mendez was transported to UT Health-Jacksonville in stable condition. The accident happened just after 11:00 Thursday morning on U.S. Highway 69, nearly three miles north of Rusk.
TYLER – Acting on a citizen’s tip, Corey Edmond Simpson, 34, of Tyler, was arrested at a store on West Gentry Parkway shortly after 6:00 Friday evening. Simpson had been named in several warrants. As an officer tried to stop him from leaving a residence, he rammed the officer’s car and headed toward the Lake Tyler area. He is said to have hit a second vehicle at Old Omen and University. There were no injuries. Besides previous charges, he now faces additional charges of aggravated assault on a peace officer, evading arrest. He is in the Smith County Jail on bonds totaling $1,000,000.
TYLER – Tyler fire chief David Coble has graduated from FEMA’s National Emergency Management Executive Academy. The academy is at the Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, Maryland. According to a city news release, it is for senior executives at the top of their careers. It’s the final phase of FEMA’s Emergency Management Professional Program. Chief Coble completed his training August 30th.
HENDERSON – One person has died in a one vehicle accident in Rusk County. Dead at the scene was Jesse Charles Key, 23, of Henderson. The Department of Public Safety reports his car left the road and ended up in a grassy ditch. As he overcorrected, the car went into a sideways skid and hit a drainage culvert. It then rolled several times, throwing the driver from the vehicle. The accident happened just before 3:15 Friday morning on U.S. Highway 79, 13 miles northeast of Henderson.