Today is
Saturday June 20, 2026
SMITH COUNTY – Drivers continued to face big challenges on part of I-20 in Smith County Thursday following a late morning accident. DPS reported late Thursday afternoon that the westbound lanes remained shut down after a tractor-trailer overturned in the left lane near the Highway 110 interchange. Traffic was being diverted onto other highways at the Highway 110 exit, and drivers were advised to avoid the area. You can use this link to stay up to date on this accident and others around East Texas.
EAST TEXAS — Plans continue for East Texas Christmas parades, with the Rotary Clubs of Tyler putting on the Rose City event and the local AMBUCS heading up arrangements for the Longview attraction. Both are set for December 1 in the cities’ downtowns, with the Tyler parade kicking off at 6 p.m. and the Longview activity beginning at 6:30 in the evening. The Tyler event will be capped by the lighting of the downtown Christmas tree by this year’s Children’s Miracle Network Miracle Child. Longview’s parade includes marching bands, floats, and an appearance by Santa. Click here for more on what’s happening in Tyler. Check this link for more information on the Longview parade and other holiday activities around Longview.
TYLER — Black Friday means the usual crush of shoppers, along with countless special deals, and the Better Business Bureau Serving Central East Texas has some advice for anyone hitting the stores. Topping the list: Start early. Many retailers have posted their Black Friday deals. This makes it easier to plan ahead and have a strategy. Check Black Friday store hours and sales ahead of time. Certain stores may also offer discounts or deals during different times. Another tip: Plan ahead. This includes making a shopping list and creating a budget to help avoid impulse purchases. It also means doing your research. Read product reviews, and check out this link for Business Profiles and customer reviews to make sure you are purchasing from a reputable company. Read the rest of this entry »
ELKHART – A man at the center of a Silver Alert was found on Wednesday, according to Texas DPS. The alert was issued for 72-year-old Charles Milford on Wednesday after he was last seen on Nov. 22. According to our news partner KETK, DPS says 72-year-old Charles Milford is roughly 5’2″ and weighs 150 pounds, and was last seen on the 7200 block of Highway 294 in Elkhart. He was wearing a gray button-down shirt with blue jeans. He wears a black toupee and has gray hair underneath. His vehicle is a white 2015 Chevrolet Colorado with Texas license plate number PRT6582. Silver Alerts are designed to notify the public of missing older adults with a documented mental condition, according to DPS.
TYLER – As holiday travel season kicks off, Steve Thompson, the manager at Tyler Pounds Regional Airport, says the location is full of energy. According to our news partner KETK, the aviation industry is overcoming the impacts of the pandemic. The number of people flying is now the same as pre-pandemic numbers. “An interesting fact is when we looked (at) the numbers we had significant higher numbers of people traveling to Tyler for this holiday week than people traveling from Tyler,†said Thompson. He says with heavier foot traffic, this is the perfect time for city officials to show off their facilities and convenience. “We have ample curb space that enables quick loading and unloading of folks. We have TSA precheck to facilitate people getting through the airport quickly here,†said Thompson. Read the rest of this entry »
KILGORE — The Kilgore College Rangerettes will perform alongside pop superstar Mariah Carey Thursday in the finale of the 96th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Rangerettes are marching in the parade this year in their traditional red, white, and blue uniforms, and will be in special costumes for their performance with Carey. Also, a group of the Rangerettes Forever helped to open the parade in maroon cheer uniforms.
TYLER – Tyler Salvation Army volunteers and staff present their annual community Thanksgiving meal. The Salvation Army was planning on feeding up to 1,000 guests Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Celebrating “family,†the current residents of The Salvation Army are having their meal served by volunteers, according to a news release. The volunteers are serving the community at the Salvation Army’s corps buildings in the breezeway between the dormitory and fellowship hall. Over 110 volunteers signed up this year to help with the Thanksgiving meal. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – A five-year-old boy who was at the center of an Amber Alert on Monday after being abducted from Overton has been returned home, and his alleged abductor has been charged with kidnapping. According to our news partner KETK, Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith says Pamela Medlock, 59, was arrested Monday after being stopped by a Texas State Trooper on I-20 near Colorado City, Texas. “She was supposedly headed to Arizona,†Smith said. Officials said she was arrested after detectives interviewed her, and a recommended bond has been set at $250,000. She remained in Mitchell County as of midday Tuesday. Read the rest of this entry »
EAST TEXAS — As usual, city offices in Tyler and Longview will be closed for Thanksgiving Day. But the city of Tyler also wants you to know all non-emergency city offices will be closed as of noon on Wednesday. Solid waste collection is just one of a number of services that will be affected. Click here for more information on the Tyler schedule, and visit this link for additional information from Longview.
TYLER – The United Way of Smith County will host their third annual “Tyler Gives†online fundraiser on November 29th, which falls on International Giving Tuesday. According to a news release, the event is aimed at meeting local needs by providing United Way’s partnering local nonprofit agencies with a generous gift at the end of the year. More than 400 individuals came together last year and raised over $230,000 on TylerGives.org in a matter of hours. Thanks to Tyler Gives sponsor Express Employment Professionals and its subsidiary Specialized Recruiting Group, all fees associated with the event are covered, allowing 100% of the donations to go directly to meeting needs. United Way and the event sponsors are providing a $75,000 match for Tyler Gives this year. Read the rest of this entry »
EAST TEXAS — Several East Texas hospitals have been given “A†safety grades for fall 2022. Our news partner KETK reports the ratings come from The Leapfrog Group. That’s described as a national nonprofit that aims to save lives by evaluating hospitals based on the performance of harm prevention systems and the hospital’s amount of errors, injuries, accidents, and infections. Each hospital is given a numerical score that is then converted into an letter grade of A, B, C, or D, with “A†being the safest. UT Health North Campus Tyler, CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital-Tyler, UT Health Athens, and UT Health Henderson are among those receiving “A” grades. Click here for more details.
TYLER — On Tuesday around noon, employees of the Tyler Urban Forestry Division, Parks and Recreation Department, and Streets Department will be delivering and installing an Eastern red cedar tree in the Downtown Tyler square. The new Christmas tree is estimated to be 30 feet and has been donated anonymously in honor of all loved ones lost to cancer, according to a news release. The tree will be decorated in anticipation of the Christmas Parade and the 37th Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony to be held on Thursday, Dec. 1.
TYLER — TxDOT schedules another week’s worth of roadwork in the Tyler District. This week, officials are drawing special attention to a Smith County project. TxDOT and contractor crews are scheduled to continue work on SH 155, with sweeping operations planned through the week after getting underway Monday. Weather permitting, crews are due to begin fog seal and hot mix resurfacing Tuesday and continue that through the week as well. The project stretches from Loop 323 in Tyler to the Anderson County line and consists of resurfacing, upgrading drainage structures, and repairing bridge joints. The expected completion date is spring of 2023. Click here for a complete rundown of this week’s roadwork around the district.
KILGORE – A man was arrested in Kilgore Friday after officials said a pickup truck towing an allegedly stolen U-Haul trailer took off as a K9 unit in Smith County tried to make a traffic stop. And late Friday afternoon, we learned the story had taken on a significant illegal drug angle. According to our news partner KETK, Smith County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Larry Christian says the truck led authorities on a chase around 11:30 a.m. down I-20 into Gregg County, with speeds exceeding 100 mph. Officials say the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office and DPS deployed spikes in front of the truck before the pickup exited onto Highway 42. The driver blew through several red lights in Kilgore as sparks began to fly from the tireless rims of the truck and trailer, according to authorities. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – Smith County reports retired judge Randall Rogers has died. According to our news partner KETK, the county said they are offering their thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of the former County Court at Law No. 2 judge. County officials also thanked him for his 30 years of service to the county.
TYLER – Two men have been indicted in a cryptocurrency money laundering conspiracy in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston. Randall V. Rule, 71, of Reno, NV, and Gregory C. Nysewander, 64, formerly of Irmo, SC, are charged with money laundering conspiracy, money laundering, and a conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act. The two are alleged to have conspired with others to launder the proceeds of wire fraud and mail fraud schemes through cryptocurrency. The defendants converted funds from romance scams, business email compromises, real estate scams, and other fraudulent schemes into cryptocurrency and sent the cryptocurrency to accounts controlled by foreign and domestic co-conspirators, according to federal officials. Click here for more details.
TYLER – Goodwill Industries of East Texas has been selected by Texas Mutual Insurance Company, the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance, as a recipient of grants from its second request for proposal (RFP) of 2022. According to a news release, fewer than 50 organizations have been awarded more than $3.5 million to support their efforts in workforce development and safety training. As quoted in the release, Goodwill CEO and President Kimberly Lewis said, “We are honored to be among those chosen by Texas Mutual Insurance Company to continue in our mission of providing skills training and vocational opportunities for people with barriers to employment. Goodwill’s focus has always been around putting people to work and utilizing safe work practices is critical in every industry.” Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — Tyler’s Glass Recreation Center will be closed for renovations and maintenance from Monday, Nov. 21, through Saturday, Nov. 26. During this period, officials say crews will be resurfacing the gym floor and repainting interior walls. The facility will reopen on Monday, Nov. 28, at 7 a.m. Classes and programs will resume their normal schedules upon reopening. For further information, call the Glass Recreation Center at (903) 595-7271 or visit this link.
TYLER — The City of Tyler announced that Old Omen Road from University Boulevard to Shiloh Road has a “slightly different look.†According to our news partner KETK, the city said the road was recently seal-coated and repainted, adding a small buffer between the main lanes and the bicycle lane to make traveling safer for bicyclists on the roadway. The update is part of the city’s “Tyler Bike Stripes Project,†which identifies 11 bicycle lane routes and includes a centralized hub near downtown Tyler, painting bicycle lanes, and placing signage along the roadways.
TYLER — Retired Tyler Police Detective Wayne Allen was sworn in as Smith County Precinct 2 Constable Friday after recently being elected. Allen began working for the Tyler Police Department in 1991. He served in the patrol and traffic divisions before becoming a Financial Crimes Detective. In this role, he primarily conducted complex fraud investigations as a member of the United States Secret Service-East Texas Financial Crimes Task Force. In February 2019, Allen retired from the Tyler Police Department and moved into corporate security with The Home Depot before being elected Precinct 2 constable in November. Allen replaces Interim Precinct 2 Constable Shawn Scott, who was appointed by the Commissioners Court in October 2021. Scott recently was sworn in as police chief for Chapel Hill Independent School District.
TYLER — Tyler Recycles Day is back in 2022 on Saturday, Nov. 19, from 8 a.m. to noon. Officials say the event is Keep Tyler Beautiful’s most popular community collection event, joining thousands of local organizers holding recycling events across the country to celebrate America Recycles Day. During Tyler Recycles Day, community members may bring acceptable recyclables to the Downtown Recycling Center on N. Bois D’Arc Ave. Ark-La-Tex Shredding Company and Interstate Batteries will be providing special services for the duration of the event. Ark-La-Tex Shredding will offer free personal document shredding for individuals and businesses. There will be a collection station for all types of batteries hosted by Interstate Batteries. Read the rest of this entry »
LONGVIEW – Two Longview students were apprehended on Wednesday after threats were allegedly made towards Longview High School. According to our news partner KETK, Longview police officers were made aware around 10:30 a.m. of a possible verbal threat towards another student and staff at the campus. Officers said they took immediate steps to investigate the incident, which they say corroborated the initial accusation. Detectives obtained two directives to apprehend the suspects, which were signed by a local judge for the “exhibition, use or threat of exhibition or use of firearms†and “tampering with physical evidence.†Officials say the students were apprehended off school grounds without incident and taken to the Gregg County Juvenile Detention Center. Read the rest of this entry »
RUSK COUNTY – The Rusk County Sheriff’s Office says a juvenile was arrested on Thursday after a terroristic threat was made against the Carlisle Independent School District. According to our news partner KETK, deputies said they received a call from the school district, and after their investigation, the juvenile was arrested and charged with felony 3 terroristic threat. “The Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Carlisle ISD administrative team for their quick actions that enabled us to quickly resolve this situation before it happened. We will work hard with all our school districts to ensure the safety of our children and their staffs,†said the sheriff’s office in a prepared statement.
TYLER – The Christmas season is almost here, and The Tyler Salvation Army began celebrating Friday with a Christmas Kick-Off. Celebrations began at 11 a.m. in the breezeway between JC Penney and Chick-Fil-A at Broadway Square Mall. The Christmas Kick-Off launches The Salvation Army’s Kettle and Angel Tree season. This holiday season, 43 locations will be hosting the iconic red kettle as volunteers ring a bell to raise money for The Salvation Army with the goal set at $385,000. This year, each kettle stand will have a QR Code and an NFC tag which will allow donors to use Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo, and PayPal rather than dropping cash or coins in the kettle. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – A UT Tyler professor has been awarded a TxDOT grant of nearly $600,000 to enhance the asphalt currently being used in highway/road resurfacing projects for improved wet-weather driving. Mena Souliman, PhD, is an associate professor and the Ronald D. Brazzel Endowed Professor of Civil Engineering at the university. The Texas A&M Transportation Institute will work with Souliman on the three-year project. Souliman and his collaborators will examine the current highway/road construction processes in the hope of decreasing crashes on wet resurfaced pavements. The 2021 “Weather Conditions for Crashes†report from TxDOT found that “rain†was the most repeated weather condition behind “clear/cloudy†in all reported crashes. Read the rest of this entry »
LONGVIEW — The City of Longview has scheduled a number of holiday events through December – and that’s only part of what will be happening around town. Celebrations kick off Saturday, Nov. 19, with the Downtown Longview Christmas Tree Lighting at Heritage Plaza. District 3 Councilman Wray Wade will host a free community Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, Nov. 24, at the Green Street Recreation Center. Then on Thursday, Dec. 1, at 6:30 p.m., the Longview AMBUCS Christmas Parade will return to downtown Longview. Other activities include pics with Santa, ArtWalk Longview, and the Longview Public Library Cheermeister Party. In addition to all that, businesses and nonprofits across the community have scheduled their own holiday events. Click here for a detailed rundown.
AUSTIN – The University of Texas Board of Regents Thursday gave final authorization for design, development, and additional construction funding for the University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine’s new Medical Education Building — a $308 million project. The UT Tyler School of Medicine will welcome its first students to campus in the summer of 2023, and the building is expected to be completed in March 2025. “The regents are taking the next pivotal step in launching the UT System’s seventh medical school – one that is specifically dedicated to benefiting Northeast Texas for generations,†said Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife, as quoted in a news release. Read the rest of this entry »
GILMER — The body of an East Texas missing man was found on Wednesday. According to our news partner KETK, the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office says William Chad Martin, 38, of Ore City, was located in the Latch Community in Upshur County in a pasture creek bed close to North Live Oak Road. He was found about half a mile from where he was last spotted on Nov. 5. Martin was last seen running into a 500-acre wooded area. His body was located by property owners who were helping in the search. An autopsy has been ordered. Officials are still investigating the situation. Read the rest of this entry »
LONGVIEW – The Longview Police Department said Wednesday they are working on creating means to help support an officer who was determined to have a rare form of cancer after undergoing open heart surgery. According to our news partner KETK, the police originally called on the public in mid-October to offer prayers for Officer Larry Solomon as he underwent the heart surgery. The department now says a mass was found near his heart during surgery and it turned out to be angiosarcoma. Officials said Solomon has already begun treatment. The department says the Longview Police Benefits Association will be fundraising for Solomon starting with t-shirt sales. You can learn more here.
TYLER — The Smith County Peace Officers Association Wednesday delivered almost 1,000 pounds of canned and non-perishable food items to PATH in Tyler. Officials say the donations were collected at the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, Courthouse, Annex Building, Emergency Operations Center, and Juvenile Probation office, along with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Tyler Police Department. Also, the Peace Officers Association collected donations at their monthly luncheons. Law enforcement personnel say they encourage everyone to donate to PATH during what’s termed “this critical time of need.” You can drop off your donations at the PATH office at W. Front Street and Chilton Avenue in Tyler.