Today is
Saturday June 13, 2026
TYLER – Three Tyler city councilmembers took their oaths of office on Wednesday morning. Newly-elected District 5 Councilmember Lloyd Nichols, re-elected District 1 Councilmember Stuart Hene and re-elected District 3 Councilmember Shirley McKellar were sworn into office and District 6 Councilmember Brad Curtis was elected Mayor Pro Tem. This will be Lloyd Nichols’ first term as a Tyler councilmember. He came to Tyler in 2000 while working as Area Vice President for Luby’s Cafeteria. In 2007, Lloyd left Luby’s and opened The Diner, which he operated for 15 years before selling it in 2022. Read the rest of this entry »
LINDALE — East Texas native and Grammy Award-winning country singer Miranda Lambert held a signing for her cookbook “Y’all Eat Yet?†on Tuesday in Lindale. According to our news partner KETK, the book signing was held at Lambert’s boutique called The Pink Pistol which is located on 55 Miranda Lambert Way. Her hometown, Lindale, was the final stop for Lambert’s first book tour after she went to New York City and Los Angeles. “Y’all Eat Yet?†features recipes for everyone with the stories highlighting memories to go along with them.
TYLER – Six people from Bullard, including four teenagers, were awarded during the Smith County Commissioners Court meeting on Tuesday with Community Hero Awards for their efforts in saving a woman after her car crashed into a pond in March. “This court rarely gives out a Community Hero Award and we feel like it is very fitting for these six people that went beyond their character and went beyond what is expected of them and saved the life of another human,†Commissioner Pam Frederick said. According to our news partner KETK, Derek and Drue Bowers, their father Troy Bowers, teenagers Sheane Congo and Kyle Schneider and neighbor David Isabell jumped into the water after seeing the woman’s car upside down in the pond. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – A 20-year-old was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to terroristic threat in a Smith County court. According to our news partner KETK, Tyler Auston Tate was indicted in February 2022 and entered a guilty plea on April 6. Tate was arrested in December 2021 after the FBI National Threat Operations Center received a tip about a possible shooting threat at Winona High School, where he was a student at the time. According to the sheriff’s office, evidence was gathered including documentation of credible threats of death and/or serious bodily injury to individual students at the high school. Tate was found incompetent to stand trial on June 15 of last year. A status hearing was held on Jan. 18, then Tate appeared in court again in April to plea and be sentenced.
LONGVIEW – A woman is dead after being hit by a vehicle while riding her motor scooter in Longview. According to our news partner KETK, on Sunday, around 10:47 p.m., Longview Police responded to reports of a hit-and-run involving a vehicle and a pedestrian on a motorized scooter on the 1500 block of E. Marshall Avenue. When officials arrived, they learned that the vehicle was traveling eastbound when the collision occurred and left the scene in the direction of Eastman Road. Officials said the pedestrian hit by the vehicle was identified as Carrie Evette Pickron, 39. Pickron was taken to a local hospital where police said she succumbed to her injuries. The vehicle police are looking for is described as a two-tone black/grey Dodge Challenger car with black wheels and possible front-end damage.
HENDERSON COUNTY – On Sunday, a woman was arrested after Henderson County officials went to her house regarding a theft investigation and allegedly found drugs while they were there. According to our news partner KETK the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office said that they sent two officials to Amy Fann’s residence in Golden Oaks just outside of Payne Springs while investigating a theft. While at the residence, officials discovered suspected methamphetamines inside the home. They proceeded to arrested Fann for manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance and a harassment warrant out of Grayson County. Fann was booked into the Henderson County Jail where she is awaiting arraignment.
RAINS COUNTY — Remains that were found in Rains County in November 2022 were identified as a retired Dallas firefighter who was missing since 2017. According to the Rains County Justice of the Peace, DNA confirmed that the remains were identified as Michael Glenn Chambers who was reported missing on March 10, 2017. Our news partner KETK reports that Chambers’ remains were found in a wooded area near Highway 276 east of the City of East Tawakoni. The Texas Rangers and Hunt County Sheriff’s Office assisted RCSO with the recovery and investigation. The remains were then sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification in Fort Worth.
“I ask for the continued prayers for the Chambers family. Mr. Chambers’ family has waited for answers for a long time, and I hope this brings some closure to the Chambers family. This remains an open investigation and my office will continue to diligently investigate this case,†Hunt County Sheriff Terry Jones said in a statement.
Officials said the investigation remains open and no further information will be released as of this writing.
RUSK COUNTY — Two people were arrested on Thursday for being in possession of a reported stolen truck out of Rusk County. Our news partner KETK reports that on May 4, patrol officers received a call regarding a suspicious vehicle on Highway 323. The caller reportedly saw the truck pull in behind a house and when deputies got to the location, they ran the plates and discovered it was a vehicle that had recently been reported as stolen out of Rusk County.
Officials said deputies arrested Brandon Matthews and Alyssa Williams for being in possession of the stolen vehicle and charged them with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle adding that the vehicle is to be returned to the owner.
FRANKSTON – Two people are dead after a tree fell on a house during Thursday night storms in Frankston. According to Anderson County Sheriff Rudy Flores, a 29-year-old woman and 33-year-old man were killed during the storms. “He was pinned down in the house by a big oak tree this morning, it’s devastating on his family and his kids and stuff,†said Derrick Fields owner of Fields and Sons Logging and Tree Service. The tree was removed from the home on CR 3000 Friday morning and their bodies have been taken to a funeral home.
According to our news partner KETK Frankston was hit hard in the overnight storms. Roma’s Italian Restaurant lost their roof during the storm, and managers say it may take a month before they can reopen their doors. They added that they are grateful for everyone that has stopped by and offered to help clean up.
TYLER – Around East Texas, numerous communities celebrated the National Day of Prayer. It gave places like Tyler, Longview, Lufkin and Gladewater a chance to show how passionate they are about their faith. According to our news partner KETK, Tyler held its 32nd annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast early Thursday morning. The mayor of Tyler Don Warren said they prayed for everyone. “We prayed for first responders, we prayed for young people, we prayed for hope and love,†said Warren. He added the whole point of these events is to bring people with different backgrounds together. In Gladewater, an outside prayer service was held at the Veterans War Memorial. The mayor of Gladewater Scott E. Owens said there’s no better time than now to get together and pray. The National Day of Prayer is held the first Thursday in May and has been observed across the country since 1952.
TYLER – A Tyler man was sentenced to five years in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to manslaughter in a 2021 fatal wreck on Loop 323. Jose Esparza, 25, was initially arrested in November 2021 after a high-speed, three-car crash in front of Mercado’s. According to our news partner KETK, Esparza was driving in a black Corvette westbound on the road when he struck the back of a truck “at a high rate of speed.†The Corvette’s computer showed he was driving at 113 mph when the brakes were slammed. Esparza had minor injuries, but his passenger was taken to hospital in critical condition and died two days later. The warrant said Esparza was not intoxicated at the time of the wreck, and the Corvette “was almost unrecognizable due to the severity of the damage.†Esparza was indicted for manslaughter in April 2022, and pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charge on Wednesday.
TYLER — The son of Smith County Clerk Karen Phillips and County Precinct 3 Commissioner Terry Phillips, attempted to speak at the Commissioner’s Court meeting on Tuesday to “correct the slander†surrounding his family after his mother and brother’s arrest. According to our news partner KETK during the public comment portion of the meeting, Judge Neal Franklin announced that Lance Phillips requested to comment on a specific agenda item and would be given three minutes to do so. “This is what can happen to you when you’re driving down the Smith County roads. I just wanted to correct the slander about my family on and for the record,†Lance Phillips said. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – The Glass Recreation Center in Tyler is offering free life skills classes for teens from age 13 to 17 starting on June 6. These classes which are being offered for subjects like resume writing and car maintenance are limited to 15 participants per subject and will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursdays. According to the center, parents can choose the classes their teen will participate in but class spots are limited. To learn more about the Teen Life Skills program, call the Glass Recreation center at 903-595-7271 visit Tyler Parks and Rec online.
TYLER – Tyler is home to the largest municipal rose garden, and on Rose Sunday, the community came together to honor our city of roses. Tyler’s rose garden blooms with more than 15,000 rose bushes, seeing 100,000 visitors every year according to our news partner KETK. On Rose Sunday, people gathered to celebrate these beautiful blooms. “We are here to promote our rose garden, our beautiful 14 acres that are blooming out there and promote our city,†said Executive Director for the Texas Rose Festival Association Liz Ballard. There to honor Tyler’s roses was the Texas Rose Festival court, and the 2023 Rose Queen Laura Bryan. Today, more than one-third of the nation’s rose bushes are processed, packaged and shipped from this area. It’s building up excitement for the 90th Texas Rose Festival in just a few months.
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