Today is
Monday June 08, 2026
PALESTINE – The City of Palestine will spray for mosquitoes starting on Monday. Between 9:00 Monday night and 5:00 Tuesday morning, sprayers will be dispatched to Area 2. Area 2 encompasses the streets of Kolstad Street to the north south to Loop 256 and the Willow Creek Business Park, and from Royall and Elm streets west to Oak and Variah Streets. You can go the City of Palestine’s website at cityofpalestinetx.com for a full map of the spraying areas.
LONGVIEW – Beginning Monday, High Street will be reduced to one lane in each direction between Eckman Street and South Street. This closure prohibits left turns on and off of High Street at Luckett Street, Hopkins Street, College Street, and Mitchell Street. College Street will be closed to through traffic east of High Street. This street work is part of the High Street Sewer Line improvements. This project consists of replacing sanitary sewer main along High Street between Mitchell Street and College Street and between Radio Street and Birdsong Street. The closure is scheduled for four weeks.
TYLER – Here’s a look at work planned in the district during the week of May 14th. 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.
In Tyler, work has resumed on the project that’s extending turn lanes and adding right turn lanes at various intersections. On Tuesday, daytime lane closures are planned for Grande Blvd. and Old Jacksonville Highway during activation of new traffic signals. Night work is set for Wednesday and Thursday at the Broadway Avenue and South Town Drive work location. The southbound, outside lane of Broadway Ave. as well as South Town Dr., west of Broadway, will both be closed from 7:00pm to 6:00am each night. Alternate routes are encouraged. Additional project information is available in the Smith County section of this release. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – Early voting is underway in Smith County in the runoff in the Democratic race for governor. That is the only race on the ballot. Polls will be open from 7:00 until 7:00pm on Tuesday. The early voting runs Monday through Friday of this week at the HUB on East Ferguson Street in Tyler. Hours are 8:00am till 5:00pm Monday through Wednesday and from 7:00am till 7:00pm on Thursday and Friday. The election is on Tuesday, May 22nd.
LONGVIEW – A Longview fire death is being investigated as a homicide. The body of Johnny Quentin Miller, 44, of Longview was found in a burning duplex on Loring Lane late Wednesday morning. No word on how the fire started. The preliminary autopsy report showed he had hemorrhaging around his anterior neck muscles and almost his entire body was covered in burns. It also said no soot was found in his airway. Detectives say they are still awaiting the final report from the autopsy which will guide their investigation. Miller’s missing Dodge Caravan has been found. It was located on South Mobberly Avenue.
TYLER – The spring commencement at Tyler Junior College was held yesterday, and it’s a special day for over a dozen Chapel Hill students. Over 1,200 degrees and certificates were awarded. This includes the first 11 graduates of the new TJC Veterinary Technician program and 10 graduates from the second class of graduates from the Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene program. The 15 Chapel Hill students are from their school’s early college program. They’re received their Associate of Arts degrees before they got their high school diplomas.
MARSHALL – A Marshall woman, who drove her car into a school last month, has been arrested. Anterra Gatson, 30, was arrested Thursday and charhed with attempted aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. and felony criminal mischief. Her bonds total $105,000. On April 11th, her vehicle crashed into a classroom at Price T. Young Elementary School. She was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. Even though there was extensive damage to the building, no students or staff were injured. Gatson was arrested after the investigation showed she deliberately crashed her car into the building.
MARSHALL – A string of vehicle burglaries is under investigation in Marshall. The burglaries happened Thursday night. A total of six vehicle burglaries were reported. In all six cases, the vehicles had been left unlocked. Marshall police remind you to lock the doors. Also, don’t leave any valuables in plain sight. If you have information about the suspects, or if you see anyone suspicious in your neighborhood, you are encouraged to call the police.
TYLER – The North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority, for the third year in a row, is giving back $500,000 to the East Texas region by awarding funds to its member counties for transportation related projects. Harrison County will receive $150,000 for the US 59/Interstate 369 Marshall Relief Route. NET RMA will present Bowie County a check in the amount of $350,000 for a feasibility study for I-369 West Spur. So far, NET RMA has awarded $1,400,000 in funds towards the transportation-related projects in areas in East Texas.
HOUSTON (AP/STAFF) — A 28-year-old East Texas man on death row for the slaying of his girlfriend’s 13-month-old daughter in what prosecutors said was an exorcism has lost a federal appeal. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday rejected arguments from Blaine Keith Milam, who was condemned for the 2008 beating death of Amora Carson at Milam’s trailer on County Road 2125 in Rusk County. Milam’s attorneys contended he had deficient legal help at his trial and in earlier appeals and that the trial judge gave jurors a faulty instruction. Evidence showed the child was bitten some 30 times and beaten with a hammer. Milam’s trial in 2010 was moved about 140 miles south to Conroe because of extensive publicity in Rusk County. Milam doesn’t yet have an execution date.
TYLER – There was a celebration at the Tyler Rose Garden Thursday. Mayor Martin Heines read a proclamation that designating the day as “Tyler Municipal Rose Garden Great Places in Texas Day.” The celebration was in recognition of the rose garden being named by the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association as one of the 2018 Great Public Spaces in Texas. The recognition is part of the APA’s Great Places in Texas program that recognizes and promotes streets, neighborhoods, and public spaces that has, what they call “exemplify exceptional character.†The Tyler Municipal Rose Garden is a 14-acre park, making it the nation’s largest rose garden. It has over 38,000 rose bushes of at least 500 different varieties.
TYLER – There will be more DNA testing in the capital murder case of Gustavo Zavala-Garcia. At a Tyler hearing Thursday morning, the state and the defense announced they agreed upon the clothing items that will be tested. State District Judge Jack Skeen signed the order for the testing.The clothes belong to the suspect and the 10 year old victim, Kayla Gomez-Orozco. She was abducted from a Bullard church in November, 2016. Her body was found days later inside a well on the suspect’s property. The new DNA testing could take months. The next pretrial hearing in the case is scheduled on July 12th. The trial is still set to start in October. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty.
GLADEWATER – A Gladewater man, critically injured in an accident late last month, has died. Dakoda Lane Gour, 21, was taken to a Longview hospital following the April 30th accident. The Croley Funeral Home obituary says he died on Wednesday. The Department of Public Safety report says he was leaving from a private driveway when he rode into the side of a truck on U.S. Highway 271. The truck driver swerved in an effort to avoid him, but was unsuccessful.
TYLER – The spring commencement at Tyler Junior College is going on today, and it’s a special day for over a dozen Chapel Hill students. Over 1,200 degrees and certificates are being aawarded. This includes the first 11 graduates of the new TJC Veterinary Technician program and 10 graduates from the second class of graduates from the Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene program. The 15 Chapel Hill students are from their school’s early college program. They’re receiving their Associate of Arts degrees before they get their high school diplomas.
TYLER – And alert for a missing Tyler woman has led to her being found. Wednesday evening the police put out an alert for Zelda Boucher, 80. The woman, who suffers from loss of memory and confusion at times, was last seen around 10:00 Wednesday morning leaving her residence on South Tipton in her Lincoln Navigator with her two small dogs. A person who was aware of the media alert saw her walking her dogs in North Tyler and contacted the police. Her vehicle is still missing at this time.