Today is
Thursday June 04, 2026
CORSICANA – A Corsicana ISD police officer has been injured after an accidental discharge of a firearm on school property. Our news partners at KETK report that the district released a statement wendesday. The statement noted the officer at Bowie Elementary experienced an accidental discharge of a firearm at approximately 9:20 a.m. Wednesday. No students or campus staff have been injured. However, the district police officer did sustain an injury. Emergency medical personnel responded promptly to provide care. The district is actively cooperating with local law enforcement as they continue their investigation.
VAN ZANDT COUNTY – The Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office is looking to the public for help as they investigate a three-person convenience store burglary. Deputies responded to a reported burglary at Scott’s Grocery on State Highway 64 on November 12 at approximately 5:22 a.m. Our news partners at KETK report that a car had arrived at the store just before the break-in, according to surveillance footage that investigators examined.
The three men suspected of breaking in were spotted entering the store through the north side of the parking lot while donning masks and black attire. They allegedly took $3,137 in cash and multiple cartons of cigarettes. According to the sheriff’s office, they were observed leaving the store in an unidentified silver four-door car. Investigator Ricky Wills encourages anyone with information about their identities or vehicles to get in touch with him.
MARSHALL – A Marshall ISD strength and conditioning coach has been terminated following a reported incident that occurred earlier this month. When asked for comment, the district stated they can not provide any additional information at this time, about the employee due to confidentiality policies. However, the district did state that the incident occurred on Nov. 5 after an athletics practice. While an investigation was conducted, the coach was placed on administrative leave. Monday the school board voted to terminate the coach.
EAST TEXAS – Law enforcement agencies across the area are announcing partnerships with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 287(g) program. The program can be separated into three parts: the Jail Enforcement Model, the Task Force Model, and the Warrant Service Officer program. Our news partners at KETK have compiled a list of participating agencies, their partnership, and when their partnership was signed, which can be found here.
RUSK COUNTY – In the 1983 KFC murder case, which resulted in the deaths of five people, Rusk County authorities are getting ready to name a third suspect. Our news partners at KETK report that Mary Tyler, Opie Hughes, Joey Johnson, David Maxwell, and Monty Landers were kidnapped from a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Kilgore on September 23, 1983. They were then driven to a remote oil field in Rusk County, where they were shot and killed.
Within a week, authorities named Romeo Pinkerton and Darnell Hartsfield as suspects. But it was not until 2005 that indictments were returned, as DNA evidence from the scene connected both men to it. Hartsfield died in prison in 2023, and Pinkerton is currently serving a life sentence. Read the rest of this entry »
GLADEWATER – Following the release of video showing a suspect in a recent break-in, the Gladewater Police Department is asking for the public’s help. According to our news partner KETK, in the early morning hours of Oct. 30, authorities say a building was broken into with a pickup truck. Police are looking for help identifying the vehicle’s owner and present location after obtaining surveillance footage of it. Gladewater authorities are asking anyone with information regarding the car or the break-in to please contact them.
SMITH COUNTY – Our news partners at KETK report that a motion pertaining to the Precinct 4 Constable’s Office joining the 2867G Task Force Model Program will be discussed at the Tuesday morning Smith County Commissioners Court meeting.
Local law enforcement can enforce U.S. immigration laws, including identifying and processing immigrants with pending or active criminal charges, through the 2867G Task Force Model, a partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Constable Josh Joplin of Smith County Precinct 4 recently assured locals that he will not target immigrants while defending his office’s decision to participate in the 287(g) Task Force Model Program.
LUFKIN – Lufkin Middle School was placed on lockdown Thursday morning after officials received a report that a student have a firearm on campus.
According to the Lufkin ISD, school administrators immediately enacted the secure protocol upon receiving the report. The campus remained in secure status for around 35 minutes while law enforcement and administrators conducted their investigation. Following the investigation, the report was determined to be false and no weapons or firearms were found on campus.
HAWKINS – A Hawkins City Council election’s results have been overturned after over 100 ballots cast in the race for the Place 5 seat were ruled as invalid because voters did not sign a voter roster to certify that they were eligible to cast a ballot. Smith County 475th District Court Judge Taylor Heaton ruled that the election is now void, and the seat will be empty.
ANDERSON COUNTY – A company from the Dallas area is suing the local groundwater conservation district for impeding the installation of forty-three high-capacity water wells in East Texas. This year, the proposed project, which was supported by Conservation Equity Management and its CEO Kyle Bass, angered East Texans. One state lawmaker even attempted to halt the project during a special session. Bass has maintained that the company’s objective is to determine the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer’s water content before starting to extract from its depths.
The Groundwater District did not respond to requests for comment. The Dallas Morning News and The Texas Lawbook were the first to report on the lawsuit.
In April 2025, the Neches & Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District declared the applications to be “administratively complete,” which is a legal term that indicates they were properly completed. By completing that step, the project was one step closer to receiving district approval. Read the rest of this entry »
KILGORE – Our news partners at KETK report a Kilgore ISD student was struck in a hit-and-run on Friday morning. The school district stated that the student was waiting to be picked up for school by a bus when the incident occurred. The hit-and-run happened at the intersection of CR 2105 and CR 2106 at around 6:15 a.m., the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office confirmed. The student was struck by a “dark colored vehicle,” and no other description has been provided at this time. The Kilgore Police Department said the student was treated by EMS on scene before being taken to a local hospital.
GLADEWATER – After a Dallas investigation, a former Gladewater Police officer was taken into custody and charged with indecency with a minor.
Kenan Robert Laza, 29 of Longview, was taken into custody and charged with indecency with a child, a third-degree felony.
According to a release, Gladewater Police Chief Kyle Ready stated that the Dallas Police Department initially called at approximately 5 p.m. on Thursday to inform him that Laza had been taken into custody at his home.
A release states that Chief Ready arrived at Laza’s house and fired immediately. In order to guarantee that justice is served “to the fullest extent of the law,” the department stated that they are working in tandem with the Dallas Police Department during an investigation.
LONGVIEW – At a court hearing Thursday, a Kilgore man convicted of killing a Hallsville teen in 2015 was given a reduced sentence. Coby Ray Hudgins, 33, was first given a 99-year prison term for killing 17-year-old Kayla Williams in 2013. Hudgins agreed on Thursday to a reduced sentence of 45 years in prison instead of a new sentencing hearing. Based on expert testimony that concluded Hudgins’ “traumatic history as a sexual assault victim combined with the physical and mental effects of that trauma” could have shortened his sentence, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted him a new hearing.
HENDERSON COUNTY – DNA evidence has led to the identification of a suspect in the 1987 murder of an East Texas man who was discovered dead beneath a bridge, following nearly 40 years of investigation. Rickey Herriage’s body was discovered under a bridge on Henderson County’s County Road 1500 on March 8, 1987. For decades, the case remained unsolved despite the deputies’ best efforts. As of 2025, authorities have identified Dallas Reynolds Casanova as a possible suspect based on DNA testing. The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that Casanova, who was a resident of Henderson County at the time of the murder, passed away in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2008.
Read the rest of this entry »
SMITH COUNTY – A new agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that will enable the Smith County Sheriff’s Office to receive reimbursement for immigration enforcement work was unanimously approved by the Smith County Commissioners Court on Tuesday.
An agreement that permitted trained officers to enforce limited immigration authority under federal supervision was previously approved by the court earlier this year. Sheriff Larry Smith said the new contract includes a reimbursement element for time and equipment used for ICE operations. According to Smith, ICE already has 32 trained officers who are capable of detaining individuals.