Today is
Saturday June 06, 2026
SMITH COUNTY — The Justice Department announced Monday that Smith County was one of four Texas counties found to be in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, stating that their elections website is not accessible to people with certain disabilities. According to our news partner KETK, Smith County received a public letter dated Nov. 6, one day before Election Day, along with Colorado County, Runnels County and Upton County, detailing the DOJ’s findings. The DOJ said they found the websites “are not accessible to individuals who are blind or have low vision, or who cannot grasp a mouse, and use screen readers, keyboards or other assistive technology.†The investigation was launched in response to a complaint about accessibility of the website. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — ampV’s flagship building will now be known as the Campbell and Snow Veterans Resource Center following a ceremony on Monday. According to our news partner KETK, the building was renamed in honor of Susan Campbell and Jim Snow, who co-founded CampV in 2017. In the past four years, CampV had more than 16,000 appointments aiming to help service members and their families. “It was Jim Snow and Susan Campbell that came together in a Starbucks parking lot, in a Starbucks of all places, and wrote down on a napkin a one-stop shop idea for veteran services here in East Texas,†said Jim Gladhill, CampV executive director. Campbell and Snow said there were a lot of resources for veterans to navigate but they wanted to be an organization that was easily accessible and online. “There are a lot of sources but it is hard for veterans to navigate all that goodwill online to be able to have a trusted resource and I think that’s what we are representing,†said Campbell. Their goal now is for CampV to serve more veterans and for their program to be redone across the state and nationwide. Click here for more details.
SMITH COUNTY — The Smith County Sheriff’s Office said that a man was found dead in Lake Tyler on Monday around 6:30 p.m. According to our news partner KETK, Kendrick Young, 27, was last seen by his mother around 10 p.m. on Sunday. His fishing gear was reportedly spotted by a witness at Lake Tyler. Officials said that Young’s mother went to the lake looking for her son and found his car parked nearby. The Smith County Sheriff’s Office was contacted and Young’s body was found in the lake, near the intersection of CR 230 and Gordon’s Landing Road. Young was pronounced dead by Justice of the Peace precinct 3 Judge James Meredith. An autopsy has been ordered.
TYLER — A shooting on East Locust Street Thursday left one person injured. According to Tyler Police Department Public Information Officer Andy Erbaugh and our news partner KETK, two people arrived at a hospital at around 2 p.m. with bullet holes in the car. Police said one person had gunshot wounds. The unnamed victim’s condition is unknown. Additional details were not available.
TYLER — A Tyler nurse has been recognized by Ardent Health Services with the 2023 Nurse of the Year Award. Rachel Carney, RN, is nurse in the renal/urology unit at UT Health Tyler. Presented annually by UT Health Tyler’s parent company, the award recognizes an outstanding nurse for their compassion, skill and willingness to go the extra mile in caring for others. Rachel’s DAISY Award nomination came from a patient who had a lengthy hospital stay following surgery. “In addition to helping with my medical needs, she talked me through several days of severe physical and psychological discomfort and helped me with things I never expected I would need help with, including bathing, changing my linens and shaving my beard,†the DAISY nomination read. “She even talked me through a borderline nervous breakdown and called to check on me during a well-earned day off. I felt like I was being taken care of by a loved one. I can’t express how much that meant to me.†Carney said she was shocked to receive the award. “I don’t do this for awards, I just try to do my job,†she said. Read the rest of this entry »
KILGORE — Kilgore Police have obtained an arrest warrant for a man wanted in connection to local construction fraud. Ignacio “Nacho†Terrones faces charges of misapplication of trust funds in construction fraud. Terrones is believed to be the subject of “several similar investigations in other cities and counties,†according to authorities. Authorities say Terrones was given the opportunity to turn himself in over the weekend, but failed to do so. Several other warrants have been issued against him as well. Kilgore Police said they do not want the public to approach or attempt to apprehend him. Anyone with information is asked to contact their local law enforcement agency or Kilgore Police Department Detective Joshua Sims at 903-218-6907 or email [email protected].
TYLER — Tyler Water Utilities (TWU) has partnered with KSA Engineers, as part of a national initiative by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to inventory the types of materials of all customers’ water service lines in the City’s distribution system by October 16, 2024. The inventory is an important step in protecting public health and minimizing the risk of lead entering drinking water from service pipes and fixtures in people’s homes. As part of this plan, TWU asks customers to complete a survey to identify the water service line material on their property. A customer’s water service line connects the water meter to their house or business and is their responsibility to maintain or replace. The material will be either PVC, copper, galvanized steel, or lead. Lead service lines were banned in 1986 because of Federal Safe Drinking Water Act amendments. If a home or business was built after 1989, the property is unlikely to have a lead service line. Read the rest of this entry »
NACOGDOCHES — A jury in Hawaii has convicted a couple of stealing the identities of babies who died in Texas. The former Nacogdoches couple, Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison, are in their mid-60s. They assumed the identities of Bobby Edward Fort and Julie Lyn Montague, two infants who died and were buried in central Texas near Burnet in the late ’60s. Primose and Morrison were accused in the trial of adopting the false identities in 1987 when they lost their home to foreclosure and had other serious debt problems. When they’re sentenced in March, the couple each face up to 19 years in prison on federal charges of conspiracy, passport fraud and identity theft.
SMITH COUNTY — A Tyler man has been indicted for shooting a man on Oct. 8, 2022. Kendrick Bell, 29, was reportedly charged after he shot someone by “firing several rounds into the victim’s car where he was seated.†According to our news partner KETK, a deputy from Smith County answered a call regarding a black Chrysler parked in front of the caller’s house. On his way to the address, a dispatcher notified the deputy of a shooting and that the suspect had fled the scene. Authorities said the shooting began due to a money dispute that occurred one day prior to the shooting. A crime scene analyst found the suspect’s driver’s side mirror cover that belonged to a 2010-2015 Camaro. On Oct. 14, a sergeant located the suspect vehicle at a Walmart on Loop 323 and conducted a felony stop. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — A Tyler man was indicted on two charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after he was accused in two separate road rage shooting incidents in June. According to our news partner KETK, Ashton Smith, 21 of Tyler, was arrested earlier this year after officials at the time reported two shootings on June 2 and June 13 near the intersection of FM 16 and FM 14 in northern Smith County. The two unrelated callers reportedly told authorities they were shot by a Black man in a black Jeep SUV, and the shootings were linked after investigators reviewed security footage. One of the victims allegedly told authorities the incident stemmed from road rage. Read the rest of this entry »
SMITH COUNTY – All fire and hazmat crews have been cleared from an early Tuesday morning gas spill caused by an 18-wheeler accident on Loop 323, between Lavender Road and Farm-to-Market Road 14 in Tyler. According to Smith County Fire Marshall Chad Hogue the eastbound lanes of Loop 323 are open, while the westbound lanes are still closed. TxDot is still active at the spill area.
FLINT (AP) — American service members are twice as likely as civilians to take their own lives. For decades, discussions of suicide prevention skirted fraught questions about firearms. But some families who’ve lost a loved one to suicide want to talk openly. They believe if the United States wants to get serious about addressing an epidemic of suicide, it must find a way to respect a veteran’s right to own a gun, but keep it out of their hands on their darkest days. One mother who lost her 25-year-old son to suicide says the military must do more to keep guns away from its soldiers in crisis. She leaned out of the tent at a small-town summer festival, hoping someone would stop to ask about her tattoos, her T-shirt, the framed pictures of her son on a table in the back of the booth. Barbie Rohde has made herself a walking billboard for this cause. She feels called to say the words, as much as they sometimes rattle the people who stop at her booth: “veteran suicide.” Read the rest of this entry »
ANGELINA COUNTY — The Angelina County Sheriff’s Office said that they found more than 39 pounds of cocaine during a traffic stop on Wednesday. According to our news partner KETK, officials said that Lt. Wes Waggoner and Sgt. Chris Carrol with the ACSO attempted to make traffic stop on a Nissan Titan following a violation on Highway 59 north of Lufkin. In the course of trying to stop the Nissan, a Ford F-150 pickup truck came from behind Carrol and Waggoner’s vehicle and passed in front of them, swerving of the highway and almost causing a crash. After avoiding being hit, officials said the two deputies interviewed the driver of the Nissan. Minutes later, the press release said that a Department of Public Safety K-9 trooper showed up and the K-9 conducted a open-air sniff test. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — The Tyler Police Department is searching for two people suspected of robbing two stores in Tyler and pepper spraying an employee. According to Tyler Police Department Public Information Officer Andy Erbaugh and our news partner KETK, a man and woman took a loaded cart at Academy Sports + Outdoors on South Broadway Avenue on Wednesday. Officer Erbaugh said when an employee confronted the suspects, the employee was pepper sprayed. The two then reportedly proceeded to rob Ulta Beauty north of Academy. Officer Erbaugh said the subjects drove east on Highway 31 in a silver sedan.
TYLER — Residents of the Tyler area attended Tuesday’s metropolitan planning open house for an update on who is paying for the massive Old Jacksonville project, according to our news partner KETK. “Originally it was proposed to be 100% state funding and now there’s an update that it’s actually 80% federal funding,†said Michael Howell, metropolitan planning director. The other 20% will come from the state to fund the $113 million widening of Old Jacksonville highway from the loop to FM 2813. “We did adopt the plan as it was originally shown, but they realized it was an error that was reported to us and went ahead and made a correction on that,†said Howell. In addition to the widening, an overpass will be built on the intersection of Old Jacksonville Highway and W. Grande to improve traffic flow from each direction. Read the rest of this entry »