Today is
Friday July 24, 2026
PALESTINE — Palestine police arrested a man they said tried to evade arrest after stealing his mother’s vehicle. According to our news partner KETK, authorities said that on June 10 at 11:18 a.m., they received information from a Houston County woman who said her son could be in Palestine with her stolen vehicle. “The complainant also stated that her son, identified as Brandon Bennett, 43, had warrants for his arrest,†Palestine police said. Corporal Yvette Durbin gathered information and confirmed that the vehicle in question had been reported stolen out of the Houston County Sheriff’s Office. Just minutes after that, Officer Tim Green saw Bennett and the vehicle at the Clean Scene car wash on Crockett Road. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — A Tyler woman was arrested on Tuesday after being indicted on two charges of manslaughter. According to our news partner KETK, Chasity Head, 33, is accused of “failing to yield the right of way at a stop sign†after ingesting marijuana on July 5, 2022. Documents said the wreck caused the deaths of her unsecured passengers, Aiden Rice and Kyleigh Head. Chasity Head was indicted for manslaughter on April 27. Her bond has been set at a total of $500,000.
TYLER — An official at an East Texas hospital says young people are becoming more prone to strokes. The stroke coordinator at Christus Health, in Tyler, Jennifer Burwell says it’s not uncommon to see patients at 30, 20 and even 18 years old who have suffered strokes. She says it’s because they’re not as active as they should be. The CDC says 80% of strokes are preventable, but they are the third leading cause of death in Texas. Burwell says remember the acronym “BE FAST” to recognize the symptoms of stroke: balance, eyes, face, arm, speech, and time.
VAN ZANDT COUNTY — An East Texas deputy is sentenced to 44 months in prison for hitting a handcuffed suspect in the face. Former Van Zandt County Chief Deputy Craig Shelton received 3 years and 8 months sentence in a Tyler Federal Court Wednesday. Shelton said he accepted full responsibility for violating the victim’s civil rights in the November 2021 incident. In addition to his prison sentence, Shelton will also receive drug and alcohol counseling. Also Wednesday, former Van Zandt County Deputy Blake Snell was sentenced to 1 year of probation for obstruction of justice in the incident involving Shelton.
TYLER — The debt ceiling and budget cuts package is heading toward a crucial U.S. House vote. East Texas Congressman Nathaniel Moran spoke with KTBB Wednesday morning about his thoughts on the overall Fiscal Responsibility Act package. Moran said, “As I read this bill over the past few day, I can tell you we’re in a much better place under this bill than we were 90 days ago, when the President would not negotiate on a debt ceiling increase.” Moran goes on to say, “We have a lot of spending reforms, a lot of regulatory and administrative reforms that have been needed for a while. It’s good. Whether or not it’s good enough to earn a ‘yes’ vote from me and a ‘yes’ vote from the First District of Texas…we’ll see.” Moran says, “We’re going to work through that process all the way up until the time of the vote today, and then we’ll cast the vote that best represents the interests of the people of the First District of Texas.” Read the rest of this entry »
NACOGDOCHES — Governor Abbott has signed a bill officially making Stephen F. Austin a member of the University of Texas System. The Nacogdoches University becomes the 14th affiliate of the UT System. State Representative Travis Clardy says SFA will receive about $125million in funding over the next four years as a result of becoming a UT System member. SFA will have access to the permanent university fund, the largest high-education endowment in the U.S SFA will retain its colors, culture, and name. Students and tenured faculty are guaranteed to retain their status in the university.
TYLER — Polling ahead of a major senate showdown seems to point to a big shakeup. A new UT Tyler poll, conducted between May 10th and 21st shows Senator Cruz with a single digit lead over Democrat Collin Allred, which looks eerily similar to early polling in his race against Beto O’Rourke in 2018. Cruz went on to win that race by less than three points, in spite of the seemingly photo finish results. Analysts say it might not be all that accurate. A separate poll for the same race released last week by Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation show Cruz with a more comfortable 7 point lead.
LONGVIEW — Longview ISD’s Summer Child Nutrition Program will start giving out free breakfast and lunch for students on June 6. According to our news partner KETK, the food will be available at J.L Everhart Elementary School, Hudson PEP Elementary School, Ware Elementary School, Forest Park Middle School and Longview High School. Breakfast will be served from 7:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. and lunch is served from 12 p.m. to 12:30p.m., except for at the high school where lunch will be served until 2 p.m. There are no requirements students need to meet to be fed by the program. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — The Cotton Patch Cafe in Tyler is closed for the rest of the day following a grease fire in their kitchen that happened around 3:45 p.m. on Sunday. According to our news partner KETK, an employee said the restaurant will be closed for Monday and they are awaiting approval from a health inspector to hopefully reopen by Tuesday. Tyler Police Department confirmed that the fire started in one of the restaurants deep fryers and was put out by Tyler Fire Department. Officials said that no one was injured in the fire.
TYLER — The City of Tyler is accepting applications for City Boards and Commissions until Friday, Aug. 4. The City Council will make appointments at the Wednesday, Aug. 23 meeting. Those appointed will serve voluntarily and without pay for two-year terms. The boards and commissions include: Read the rest of this entry »
OVERTON — A substitute teacher at Overton ISD said she was watching over the in-school suspension students on Tuesday when she said the unthinkable happened on a trip out of the classroom. “I look over and the other student was directly behind the resource officer,†said Candy Russell, substitute teacher and parent at Overton ISD. According to our news partner KETK, Russel claims at that moment the 11-year-old reached for the school police officer’s gun. Without thinking, she said she yelled his name and ran towards him. Immediately, she said a report was made to the administration. “I said, ‘I need you to go in the office and rewind the video a minute or two and see what just happened.’ I couldn’t even spit the words out of my mouth,†said Russell. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — Tyler Police are searching for two suspects believed to be involved in a shooting Monday. Officers responding to a shots fired report at an apartment complex on north Broadway Ave. found that several vehicles and at least one apartment had been hit. A potential suspect, Kerick Johnson, 18, was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound to his torso. He was treated and released. Detectives later determined that Johnson, along with Marqus Gray, 21, were the shooters. Arrests warrants have been issued for the two. Johnson and Gray are wanted on charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, with a $400,000 bond, and deadly conduct, with a $100,000 bond. Anyone with information regarding this case is urged to contact Tyler Police at 903-531-1000 or Tyler-Smith County Crime Stoppers at 903-597-2833.
TYLER — Tyler police are investigating an early morning shooting that left one man dead and one man injured. Officers responded to West Oakwood following a report of a shooting around 12:30 Wednesday morning. Officers located a white sedan, and found a man, later identified as Kenneth Ray Dorsey, 34, Tyler, dead from a gunshot wound. A second man was found inside the vehicle with a gunshot wound, but was said to be awake and alert. He indicated that the suspects, who were unknown to them, shot at them from another vehicle and left the area. The unnamed victim was taken to a local hospital and is reportedly in critical condition. Contact Tyler Police 903-531-1000 or Tyler-Smith County Crime Stoppers at 903-597-2833 with any information.
SMITH COUNTY — A Whitehouse woman was sentenced to six years of probation with 600 hours of community service after being found guilty by a jury of felony bodily injury to a child. According to our news partner KETK, Cheryl Layne, 46, and her husband Mark Layne, were initially arrested on multiple child abuse charges in 2019 after two of their children told a school resource officer they had been abused. According to arrest documents, the children told authorities one of them had his head slammed against a wall by Cheryl who then hit the other boy with an archery arrow on his back. Read the rest of this entry »
MARSHALL — An East Texas jail is coping with drug-laced mail coming to inmates. Some officers at the Harrison County Jail in Marshall have reportedly been overcome from their skin coming in contact with Fentanyl on the envelopes. Jail Administrator John Hain says inmates would tear the mail into strips to share them with other inmates. The Harrison County Jail started scanning the mail and providing it to inmates electronically. Now, the county has hired the phone service for jail inmates, City Tele Coin of Bossier City, Louisiana, to scan the mail, taking that risk away from sheriff’s personnel. Hain says other counties, including Tarrant and Denton Counties, have started similar systems.
TYLER — No injuries were reported after a car crashed into a Tyler dental office Monday morning on Old Grande Boulevard. According to our news partner KETK, the car struck and damaged the brick wall outside of East Texas Dental Group, but officials with Tyler police said the driver and people inside the office were not injured. Police cleared the scene and the car was towed.
HENDERSON COUNTY — A second person was arrested for murder on Wednesday in connection to a shooting death on April 21 near Gun Barrel City. According to an arrest warrant obtained by our news partner KETK, Chelsey White, 31 of Mabank, gave her husband Chaz White a bulletproof vest and firearm he used in a shooting near Gun Barrel City on April 21. The warrant said Chelsey told investigators in an interview that while at home she heard her husband Chaz talk to other people about how a man they knew was passed out in his truck. Chelsey said Chaz was excited about robbing him, according to the warrant, and witnesses told authorities Chaz and the man had problems with each other. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — One of the animal ambassadors from the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler is set to be featured in a new set of Forever stamps by the USPS. The collection was released May 19th and will feature an image of an Attwater’s prairie chicken from the Caldwell Zoo, according to our news partner KETK. The rest of the collection will display photos of endangered animals selected from Joel Sartore’s National Geographic Photo Ark project, which has documented over 13,000 different species. Attwater’s prairie chickens are native to the southern parts of both Texas and Louisiana, but they are so endangered, they can only be found in two places within our state: the national refuge and the Goliad private reserve. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — The City of Tyler is growing and the growth isn’t limited to just one area. “We’re seeing growth in residential and industrial and retail growth,†said Scott Martinez, CEO, Tyler Economic Development Council. According to our news partner KETK, Mayor Don Warren says keeping up with the growth means tackling several major initiatives at the same time.“There’s a lot of rabbits in the hat, and we just got to figure out which one we’re going to pull out next, but there’s going to be something that comes out of that,†said Mayor Don Warren, City of Tyler. Read the rest of this entry »
MARSHALL — Logging crews discovered human skeletal remains while working in Marshall, according to Harrison County officials and our news partner KETK. On Tuesday morning, deputies responded to a call from workers reporting they had found skeletal remains in the area of Harris Lake Road and Stagecoach Road in Marshall. Officials searched the area and confirmed that the bones were those of a human. The remains were sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification’s Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology in Fort Worth. The investigation is ongoing. “I am very proud of our Patrol Deputies, Criminal Investigators, and Crime Scene Investigators for their long hours and commitment to recovering the skeletal remains,†Sheriff BJ Fletcher said.
TYLER — Paving on Donna Drive, Melinda Lane and Elm Street in Tyler is scheduled to begin today and last through the end of the week. The city is asking residents to refrain from parking vehicles on the roadways while the work is done. Drivers can expect traffic delays in the area. Flaggers will be present. Drivers are reminded to obey the signs and flaggers and drive with caution.
HENDERSON COUNTY — A man was arrested on Monday for murder in connection to a shooting that left a 25-year-old woman dead near Gun Barrel City on April 21. According to our news partner KETK, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office said Chaz White, 32, of Mabank, was arrested after a tactical team came to his home and took him into custody based on arrest and search warrants that were issued. About a week after the shooting, Sheriff Botie Hillhouse said the shooting that killed a woman, identified as Alexis Garoutte, was believed to be drug-related. “We located methamphetamine, we located heroin and we located a pretty large amount of fentanyl,†Hillhouse said. “We’ve been working on this case ever since.†The sheriff’s office said more arrests could come in connection to their ongoing investigation.
LONGVIEW — Four people are in critical condition after a vehicle crashed into a Longview building “at a high rate of speed,†according to our news partner KETK. Authorities said that on Saturdaym May 13, four Longview fire ambulances responded for treatment and transport of the victims. The building’s structural integrity was found “extremely compromised†after the incident, officials said, and the LFD Special Operations Technical Rescue teams worked to prevent further collapse of the building. The total operation took four hours.
TYLER — When Tyler Police Officer Bianca Smedley began working for the Community Response Unit in 2021, she wanted the Hispanic community to benefit from the many opportunities and resources the Tyler Police Department has to offer. She made it her mission to reach out to Spanish-speaking Tyler residents with information and resources. This is how “Comunidad” was born. “Comunidad” is a community meeting hosted by TPD entirely in Spanish. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — The Tyler City Council approved a $58,000 contract with ERI Consulting Inc. on Wednesday for the demolition of the former Tysen House. According to our news partner KETK, the city said the abandoned property has been an ongoing problem and poses public health and public safety risks for community members and first responders. Since December 2021, the property has caught fire three times with four firefighters being injured during one of them. The most recent fire happened on April 28. The former Tysen House was ruled by the Planning Director to have no significant historical value. ERI Consulting will begin asbestos removal in six weeks and demolition will begin in eight weeks after abatement. The project is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
SMITH COUNTY — A man has been arrested after being indicted for the charge of assault to a pregnant person. According to our news partner KETK, Trevor Starnes, 27, caused bodily injury to a pregnant woman by striking her with his hand and “with a hard object and causing the complainant to strike a hard object.†Starnes was booked into the Smith County Jail on May 5 with a bond amount of $25,000. According to online records, Starnes was previously arrested May 20, 2022 for assault of a pregnant person. His record also lists numerous arrests for possession of a controlled substance.
TYLER — The son of the Smith County clerk who was accused of interfering with deputies during an arrest, and Precinct 3 Commissioner Terry Phillips, returned to commissioners court Tuesday morning and was arrested for disruption of a meeting. According to our news partner KETK, this is the second week in a row, Lance Phillips has attended the Commissioners Court meeting. The previous week, he was speaking in court defending his family against slander but was removed from the podium because he wasn’t commenting on the agenda item. Before court Tuesday morning, The Smith County Sheriff said Judge Neal Franklin spoke to Lance Phillips about the court’s rules. Read the rest of this entry »
WELLS — The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office said one person has died after a shooting on Mitchell Street Monday. Wells Police Department were the first responders and Chief Harold Rapsilver detained the suspect, Noel Price Jr, 56, of Wells. Officials said EMS and the Wells Fire Department attempted to save the victim, Samuel Murrell, 42, of Wells, but attempts were unsuccessful and the victim died at the scene. Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division is investigating. Price was booked into the Cherokee County Jail on a murder charge.
RUSK — A Rusk man was arrested for invasive visual recording after allegedly stealing his his coworker’s intimate photos from her phone, according to an arrest warrant. According to our news partner KETK, Michael Andrew Dorsey, 26 of Rusk, allegedly sent himself a female coworker’s intimate photos without her consent while he had her phone to order pizza at work, arrest documents show. An arrest warrant describes his coworker’s report to Crockett Police Department. Read the rest of this entry »
EAST TEXAS — This round of elections is bringing change to two local school districts. According to our news partner KETK, arguably the biggest result of the election comes from Chapel Hill ISD, as all three bond propositions passed totaling over $113 million. This bond means the construction of a new middle school, a new multipurpose center for athletics and fine arts, a new career and tech facility, classroom additions and a new operations facility. Cody Levrets was also elected as the District 4 seat of the Tyler ISD Board of Trustees. The City of Chandler also elected against the sale of alcohol for off-premise consumption.