Today is
Friday April 18, 2025
SMITH COUNTY — A Smith County father and grandmother are behind bars after the alleged abuse of a three-month old baby. The Smith County Sheriff’s Office said that at around 6 p.m. Wednesday night, a deputy responded to a hospital in Tyler regarding a possible child abuse. Once the deputy was on scene, he was informed by hospital personnel that a three-month old baby had received significant injuries that looked like child abuse.
According to our news partner KETK, at the time, the infant was undergoing CT scans and X-rays. The attending nurse informed the deputy that the baby was lethargic, weak and had bruises on their face and neck. An investigator then spoke with the babyâs mother, who reportedly told officials that her baby had just returned home after spending several days with his father, Zachray McGinn, at a home on County Road 2192 near Whitehouse. Read the rest of this entry »
SMITH COUNTY — A Troup man is in custody after running from the scene of a shooting that left one wounded. According to our news partner KETK, Troup Police said that they responded to a call about a victim suffering from a gunshot wound Tuesday. While EMS personnel were treating the victim, officers proceeded to the scene of the shooting, where they were informed that the suspect might still be inside the home.
With assistance from the Arp Police Department, White House Police Department and the Smith County Sheriffâs Office, officers quickly set up a perimeter around the home. After multiple attempts to contact the suspect by phone and using loud speakers were unsuccessful, officers decided to enter the home, but they discovered that the suspect had fled. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — The Tyler City Council Wednesday approved the transfer of properties from the City of Tyler to the East Texas Cares Resources Center, which will carry out the day-to-day operations of the houses as a temporary shelter for families or individuals to help address the increasing homeless population.
The houses located at 512 W. 32nd St. and 516 W. 32nd St. will be used by East Texas Cares Resources Center as non-congregate shelters (NCS), which provide units and/or rooms as temporary shelter to families or individuals.
Those eligible to use the shelter must meet the “qualifying population” criteria as set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through the American Rescue Plan, known as the HOME-ARP program. Read the rest of this entry »
EAST TEXAS — According to our news partner KETK’s Chief Meteorologist Carson Vickroy, “Weâve got one more day before our first, and hopefully only wintry event of the year. Weâll observe our third consecutive hard freeze tomorrow morning followed by temperatures being well below average tomorrow afternoon. (Highs in the low to middle 40s). The storm system is over the Rockies right now and will be making it in to Texas tomorrow night with the first bouts of precipitation arriving Thursday morning.
Precipitation will gradually increase throughout the day Thursday. I expect weâll mostly snow/sleet north of highway 80 (1?-2?), with the highest amounts along and north of Interstate 30 (2?-4?+). Further south it gets more interesting. Iâve said over the last couple of days that places like Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, & Henderson are in the wintry âBattlezone.â This means that precipitation type is unclear and could change several times during this event. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — The Texas Medical Board has suspended a Tyler medical professional after determining he poses âa continuing threat to public welfareâ following his arrest for murder. According to our news partner KETK, the board announced Monday that Scott Lee Gobleâs respiratory care practitioner certificate was temporarily suspended following his arrest. A temporary suspension hearing will be held soon, however his suspension remains in place until the Board takes further action.
According to an arrest affidavit, the Tyler Police Department was dispatched to Juniorâs Taco on 3815 South Southwest Loop 323 at around 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 11, after receiving calls from someone claiming their father had just shot someone at the restaurant. When officers arrived, they located a gunshot victim, later identified as Heriberto Ramirez, who had sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Records show Ramirez was taken to a local hospital where he later died from his injuries. Read the rest of this entry »
GREGG COUNTY — A former Longview ISD employee was sentenced for the abuse against special education students at J.L Everhart Elementary. According to our news partner KETK, Cynthia Denise Talley was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday for seven counts of injury to a child with intent to cause bodily injury and one count of unlawful restraint of a minor. Talley is one of six women arrested in 2022 after Longview ISD officials reportedly saw video footage of employees and campus administration mistreating special education students.
The other former J.L. Everhart employees also charged for mistreatment of students are Paula Hawkins Dixon, Cassandra Renee James, Linda Kaye Brown Lister, Priscilla Johnson and Cecilia Gregg.
Gregg, Dixon and Talley were âreleased from employmentâ from the district in October 2021â immediately upon the districtâs discovery of their alleged actions,â according to a statement from the district. Read the rest of this entry »
SMITH COUNTY — Police have arrested an East Texas man in connection to a 2023 deadly Fourth of July crash after he reportedly admitted to drinking and driving. According to an affidavit obtained by our news partner KETK, DPS troopers were dispatched to a crash on Farm to Market 346 near Dudley Road in Smith County around 12:30 a.m.
The Tyler Police Department, Whitehouse Police Department, firefighters and medical personnel were already at the scene where a 2017 Buick had crashed into a tree and sustained extensive front-end damage.
Documents identify the driver as Raul Trejo and front seat passenger as 44-year-old John Freeman. Authorities said Trejo was transported to a local hospital for minor injuries while Freeman was unresponsive and later died. The trooper on the case went to the hospital to talk with Trejo and told him Freeman had died. Read the rest of this entry »
NACOGDOCHES — A Nacogdoches man, accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death, was sentenced to 45 years in prison on Dec. 20. According to our news partner KETK, on Oct. 3, 2022, officers were called to a residence in the 2300 block of Elizabeth Street âin reference to callers advising a family member was found deceased in the residence.â Upon arrival, officers found Rose Catherine Garner, 60 of Nacogdoches, dead from injuries caused by a a stab wound.
Investigators obtained a homicide warrant for Garnerâs boyfriend, James Edward Harris. He was arrested in Longview the following day and was taken to the Nacogdoches Law Enforcement Center. According to the Nacogdoches District Attorneyâs Office, Harris plead guilty to murdering Garner on Dec. 20 at the 420th District Court in Nacogdoches County.
TYLER — Texas ranked second in the nation for the most growth in 2024 in one-way customer transactions during the past year, U-Haul Growth Index found. According to our news partner KETK, this marks the ninth consecutive year Texas has been among the top two leading U-Haul growth states with two East Texas cities helping lead that growth.
âPeople continue to move to Texas from across the country seeking a better, more affordable life with fewer government regulations,â U-Haul Area District Vice President Matt Merrill said.
Despite a larger-than-usual increase in departures that impacted its ranking, Texas still had the second-largest net gain of U-Haul movers in the country. According to U-Haul, Texas accounted for 50.3% of all one-way traffic in and out of the state last year. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER â TxDOT crews are getting ahead of possible winter weather conditions for East Texas by preparing roadways around the eight-county district. The pre-treatment of bridges and other roadway areas susceptible to wind and ice has begun and will continue through Friday, Jan. 3.
I-20 and other major roadways will be pre-treated with a brine solution consisting of salt and water designed to prevent ice and snow from sticking to surfaces. The process is a fast-moving mobile operation with minimal impacts to traffic. Drivers should allow a safe traveling distance between their vehicles and the mobile convoys distributing the pre-treatment materials. Read the rest of this entry »
BEAUMONT (AP) â Shamsud-Din Jabbar grew up in Texas, joined the U.S. Army and eventually settled in Houston, where he spun up a real estate business and made $120,000 a year for one of the worldâs largest consulting firms.
But the 42-year-old U.S. citizen, who authorities say plowed a rented truck through New Year’s revelers in New Orleans before being shot and killed by police, also faced pressures. He finalized a third divorce in 2022, saying in filings he couldnât pay his mortgage and his business was losing money.
On Thursday, authorities and relatives were still piecing together why Jabbar barreled through a crowd in a Ford F-150 on Bourbon Street, killing 14 revelers and injuring at least 30 others. Officials said the attack was inspired by the Islamic State group, making it one of the deadliest IS-inspired assaults on U.S. soil in years.
FBI officials said Jabbar posted five videos to his Facebook account in the hours before the attack in which he aligned himself with IS. Authorities also found an Islamic State flag on the truck used in the attack early Wednesday.
âItâs completely contradictory to who he was and how his family and his friends know him,” Abdur-Rahim Jabbar, one of his brothers, told The Associated Press on Thursday at his home in Beaumont, about 90 miles outside Houston.
The 24-year-old said his older brother had increasingly isolated himself from family and friends in the last few years but he hadnât seen any signs of radicalization when they talked. He said it had been a few months since he had seen his brother in-person and a few weeks since they talked on the phone.
âNothing about his demeanor seemed to be off. He didnât seem to be angry or anything like that. He was just his calm, well-mannered, well-tempered self,â the younger brother said.
Law enforcement officials said after driving into the Bourbon Street crowd and crashing the truck, Jabbar exited the car wearing a ballistic vest and helmet and fired at police, injuring at least two before he was shot and killed by officers returning fire.
Army, court and other public records piece together a picture of a man who had been stationed or lived in multiple states including North Carolina, Texas, Georgia and Alaska, had been married multiple times and seemed to be experiencing financial difficulties as he tried to adjust to civilian life.
Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, serving on active duty in human resources and information technology and deploying to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant.
A spokesperson for Georgia State University confirmed Jabbar attended the school from 2015-2017 and graduated with a bachelorâs degree in computer information systems in 2017.
He had been married at least three times over the last two decades and had at least three children who were mentioned in divorce and custody agreements. His two most recent marriages, in Georgia and Texas, each lasted about three years, according to court documents.
Dwayne Marsh, who is married to one of Jabbar’s ex-wives, told The New York Times that Jabbar had been acting erratically in recent months. Marsh said he and his wife had stopped allowing the two daughters she shared with Jabbar to spend time with him.
The AP left a message at a number listed for Marsh Thursday. Messages were also left for Jabbarâs two other ex-wives at their numbers or with their attorneys.
The AP also left messages for Jabbarâs mother that were not returned as of Thursday afternoon. Abdur-Rahim Jabbar said their father had declined to speak with reporters.
Divorce records also show Jabbar faced a deteriorating financial situation in January 2022. Jabbar said he was $27,000 behind on house payments and wanted to quickly finalize the divorce.
âI have exhausted all means of bringing the loan current other than a loan modification, leaving us no alternative but to sell the house or allow it to go into foreclosure,â he wrote in a January 2022 email to his now-ex-wifeâs attorney.
His businesses were struggling, too. One business, Blue Meadow Properties LLC, lost about $28,000 in 2021. Two other businesses he started, Jabbar Real Estate Holdings LLC and BDQ L3C, werenât worth anything. He had also accumulated $16,000 in credit card debt because of expenses like attorneys fees, according to the email.
Court documents show he was making about $10,000 a month doing business development and other work for the consulting firm Deloitte in 2022.
On Wednesday, police blocked access to a Houston neighborhood where Jabbar’s last address was listed, a small white mobile home in a gated community where ducks and goats were roaming in the grass. On Thursday, the FBI said it had finished a search of the area but did not release more details.
Despite the tumult indicated by court documents, Abdur-Rahim Jabbar said his brother hadn’t shown any outward signs of distress or anger about his relationships.
âI think he blamed himself more than anything for his divorces. … And he never was bitter towards his ex-wives,â the younger Jabbar said.
Childhood friend and fellow veteran Chris Pousson reconnected with Jabbar on Facebook around 2009, before the two lost touch again around 2019. From his home in Beaumont, he said his biggest takeaway from periodic check-ins with Jabbar were positive messages and praise for his faith, but nothing that raised any flags.
âI never saw this coming. And in the military, actually, I did anti-terrorism in the military. And if any red flags would have popped off, I would have caught them and I would have contacted the proper authorities,â he said.
âBut he didnât give anything to me that would have suggested that he is capable of doing what happened.â
TYLER — The Tyler Animal Shelter is offering free microchips and registration for any cat or dog this new year. The shelter says inserting a microchip is a quick process in which a tiny chip is inserted under a pet’s skin. The chip is a permanent, helpful tool that ensures a pet can be easily identified if lost.
According to a news release, Tyler Animal Services will insert and register pets’ microchips or confirm that an existing microchip is registered correctly, at no cost. Pet owners do not have to be residents of the City of Tyler to obtain this service, and vaccinations are not required.
Interested pet owners can bring their furry friends to the Tyler Animal Shelter located at 4218 Chandler Hwy. Â For more information, call (903) 535-0045.
TYLER — Tyler Transit is transforming its existing fixed route service into a MicroTransit service starting Monday, Jan. 13. New payment methods are being rolled out as well. Riders will be able to book a ride by calling (903) 533-8057 from the bus stop or through the Tyler Transit app. Public comment period will remain open until Monday, Jan. 6 at 1 p.m. Click here to submit questions and comments.
All Tyler Transit bus stops will be used as pick-up locations for riders. The ride will take them directly to the doorstep of a destination within sight of the closest bus stop on any existing route. The MicroTransit service will be split into three zones, with two drivers per zone. If a passenger’s destination is in a different zone from where they are picked up, they will be taken to Stop 400 near the Bergfeld Center and Fire Station 7, where a driver will be waiting or arriving shortly to complete the trip. Read the rest of this entry »
MARSHALL — The Marshall Fire Department said the investigation into the fire that damaged the historic First Methodist Church earlier this month has been completed. According to our news partner KETK, investigators determined that the fire originated in the lower level of the church where administrative officers were located. The fire was identified âas electrical in nature and was found to be unintentional.â
The fire was first reported at 1:15 a.m. on Dec. 9 and quickly spread requiring multiple agencies to respond. After 15 hours of intensive firefighting operations, the fire was brought under control at 4 p.m., however officials remained at the scene for several days to ensure the fire was completely extinguished. Read the rest of this entry »