TYLER — On Monday, April 22, Tyler Water Utilities (TWU) identified a significant break in a water main located at 2025 SSW Loop 323. This break has resulted in the depletion of water tanks on the west side of town, causing water shortages or low water pressure in many households and businesses. TWU crews are working on the repairs, water valves have been identified and shut off, and the leak has been contained.
TWU is working with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to determine the extent of the issue. The City will continue to update residents as they learn more.
GLADEWATER — The City of Gladewater has announced that there will be a water outage near Hendricks Street and Walnut Street this Wednesday. According to our news partner KETK, city contractors have planned these outages so that they can tie in waterlines in the area that have been replaced. The city added that any additional updates would be shared to their social media and their Genasys alert system.
TYLER — Insomnia Cookies, a popular late-open bakery, is planning to open a location in Tyler soon. According to our news partner KETK, on the website for Insomnia Cookies, they list a location in Tyler as “coming soon.†The address is 3979 University Boulevard Unit 400, near the University of Texas at Tyler campus. Insomnia Cookies’ describes themselves as a bakery that is open late to cater to late night cravings, offering a number of cookies, brownies ice cream and more. According to their website their locations offer delivery of the sweet treats as well.
HENDERSON COUNTY — Former Payne Springs police officer Jonathan Hutchison pleaded guilty to charges on Monday. According to our news partner KETK, on Monday, Hutchison pleaded guilty to his charges of manufacturing or delivering a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance as part of an open plea. The court said that a charge of money laundering is being considered.
In March of 2023, Hutchison, alongside former Payne Springs Chief of Police April Meadows, were arrested after search warrants revealed controlled substances in their homes. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — The Tyler Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is hosting an open house for community members to update the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) on Tuesday, April 23, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. The meeting will be in the Tyler Development Center’s large conference room at 423 W. Ferguson St. During the open house, community members will learn about revised construction dates, updated project cost estimates, and clarification edits to project descriptions for proposed highway and transit projects, including: widening FM 756 from Jeff Davis Drive to FM 346, Constructing an overpass at the intersection of FM 756 and FM 346 and widening FM 2493 from Loop 323 to FM 2813. Read the rest of this entry »
WHITEHOUSE — The Whitehouse Independent School District named Dr. Casey Whittle as their lone finalist for superintendent on Monday. According to our news partner KETK, the Board of Trustees sorted through nearly 40 candidates, and decided Whittle would be the best fit.
“Our goal was to find the person we thought could inspire our students more than anybody else and could equip them with those type of opportunities,†Todd Raabe, Whitehouse Board of Trustees president, said. “We really believe Casey Whittle’s our man.â€
According to a release, Whittle has dedicated nearly 25 years to public education and served as assistant superintendent for human resources at Wylie ISD and as high school principal in Comal ISD. Whittle said he plans to help develop teachers, so they can take their students across the finish line. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — A former employee of a Tyler nursing home pleaded guilty Friday in the death of a resident who was tied to a wheelchair. Bobby Posey, 23, was arrested after Larry Coffey, a resident of the Tyler nursing home where Posey worked, died after falling while tied to a wheelchair. Posey was charged with injury to an elderly or disabled person causing reckless body injury. On Friday, Posey pleaded guilty to the crime in Judge Austin Jackson’s court and received five years deferred probation.
Posey’s indictment said that he had a legal duty to act, and had assumed care, custody, or control of the elderly individual by virtue of his employment at the facility. For ignoring the man’s restraints, Posey was found partially at fault for his fatal injury. Read the rest of this entry »
SMITH COUNTY — With a theme of “Breaking Ground,†Smith County leaders met Tuesday to address the ever-growing region at the annual State of the County, according to our news partner KETK. Nearly 500 people gathered at Green Acres Baptist Church for Smith County’s 2024 state of the county, highlighting construction plans and new partnerships like at the county jail.
“We continue to work with entities, we’re working with the city of Tyler and then the other cities within the county so I think this unity that we’re seeing now is going to be nothing but movement forward, and it’s really going to be exciting,†Smith County Judge Neal Franklin said. Read the rest of this entry »
SMITH COUNTY — Sections of Smith County Road 463, also known as Wood Springs Road under Interstate 20, and CR 370 have water over the roadways, according to county officials. Smith County Road and Bridge crews are out clearing downed trees, but none have been reported blocking the entire road to cause a closure. Drivers are reminded to not drive through high water crossings.
TYLER — Tyler Police are investigating after a man was shot in the ankle Sunday. According to our news partner KETK, officers said they received conflicting stories about where the shooting took place, but said a property on Lenox Avenue is of interest to the investigation. The victim was taken to the hospital for treatment of the not life-threatening injury. Tyler Police Department Public Information officer Andy Erbaugh said investigation is ongoing.
TYLER — The University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine received a $400,000 gift from an anonymous donor to support the hospice and palliative medicine fellowship. According to a press release from the school, the purpose of the gift is to retain physicians in the East Texas region. After a doctor graduates from medical school and residency, completing a fellowship can offer them additional specialization and differentiate them from other candidates. As the last piece of a physician’s medical education, a fellowship often determines where they stay for the rest of their practice.
“This generous donation to our hospice and palliative medicine fellowship program signifies a significant step forward in our mission to provide exceptional health care services to the East Texas community,†said Dr. Brigham C. Willis, School of Medicine founding dean. Read the rest of this entry »
HENDERSON COUNTY — It took years, but an intellectually disabled Texas inmate has been re-sentenced from death to life without the possibility of parole by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Randall Mays was condemned in 2008 for gunning down two Henderson County Sheriff’s Deputies. Six years before that, in 2002, the US Supreme Court decided that people with an IQ below 70 cannot be executed. Mays has an IQ of 63. Benjamin Wollf with the Texas Office of Capital and Forensic Writs helped represent Hayes and says the death penalty should only be used on those who qualify. Mays has had three execution dates come and go.
EAST TEXAS — Texas Department of Motor Vehicles issued a bulletin Wednesday regarding the April 8th Eclipse and big-trucks. Due to the Solar Eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024, that is expected to cause severe traffic delays, no size/weight permitted travel will be allowed on that day from midnight to midnight in the following counties:
Anderson, Atascosa, Bandera, Bell, Bexar, Blanco, Bosque, Bowie, Brown, Burnet, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Coleman, Collin, Comal, Comanche, Coryell, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Dimmit, Edwards, Ellis, Erath, Falls, Fannin, Franklin, Freestone, Frio, Gillespie, Grayson, Gregg, Hamilton, Harrison, Hays, Henderson, Hill, Hood, Hopkins, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, Lamar, Lampasas, Leon, Limestone, Llano, Marion, Mason, Maverick, McLennan, McCulloch, Medina, Menard, Milam, Mills, Morris, Navarro, Parker, Rains, Real, Red River, Robertson, Rockwall, San Saba, Smith, Somervell, Sutton, Tarrant, Titus, Travis, Upshur, Uvalde, Val Verde, Van Zandt, Williamson, Wood, and Zavala. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — Local Chick-fil-A restaurants donated thousands of soups and cookies on Wednesday to the Salvation Army in Tyler. According to our news partner KETK, the occasion was made possible through the donation drive that was held in February where for every soup bought, two would be donated.
“The idea is that the community helps out, that every time they buy a soup, we donate the soup. And over the course of time, it’s been like 75,000 bowls of soup over the last 15-20 years that we’ve been able to donate to the community,†Ikey Eason, Troup Highway Chick-fil-A owner, said. Read the rest of this entry »
RUSK COUNTY — A collectible pistol that was reported stolen three decades ago and ended up in a pawn shop is back in the hands of its original owner, and now law enforcement depict how they work with shops to identify stolen items. According to our news partner KETK, on Friday, a Camp County lawyer who bought the pistol at a pawn shop returned the firearm to Gordon Allen, World War II veteran and original owner. “Sometime the wheels of justice move slow but they still move,†Allen said.
Rusk County Sheriff Johnwayne Valdez said finding stolen guns at pawn shops is not a common occurrence, but it does happen. Unlike 30 years ago, when technology was limited, law enforcement and pawn shops now work together to check items brought into businesses. Valdez said pawn shops are required to put every item they purchase into a database, especially guns. Read the rest of this entry »
