Shelby County Today

November 12, 2025 - State Loop 500 was the scene of a two-vehicle 18-wheeler crash which resulted in a large fuel spill on Monday, November 10, 2025, that required a HAZMAT team to address.

While the scene was being cleaned of hazardous materials, TxDOT had both ends of the roadway leading up to the crash scene blocked to traffic. Through the early morning hours Center Fire Department worked traffic control while Center Police Officers investigated the incident.

According to details released by the Center Police Department on Wednesday, November 12, sometime just before 12:51am a Peterbilt truck tractor owned by ES Express, LLC and driven by James Griffith, Jr., 65 of Pittsburgh was parked on the shoulder of SL 500 facing west. Griffith failed to yield right of way to oncoming traffic when entering the westbound traffic lane.

A Peterbilt truck tractor owned by Polk Oil Co. hauling fuel and driven by Samuel Rothfeld, 46, of Lufkin struck the rear of the trailer that the truck driven by Griffith was hauling and overcorrected left of center before leaving the eastbound lane and traveling onto the shoulder before turning over onto its right side facing west.

The tanker was hauling 7,000 gallons of fuel before the collision and Lone Star Hazmat Response was contacted to clean up the scene.

Rothfeld was transported by ambulance to Nacogdoches Medical Center for treatment and Griffith refused treatment at the scene.

Griffith was issued a citation for failure to yield right of way.

Center Police Department officers cleared the scene at 9:40am, Center Fire Department personnel cleared the scene at 10am and the HAZMAT crew remained at the location until the completed their clean up project.

November 10, 2025 - As of 2pm a Hazmat crew with Lone Star Hazmat Response continues to work at cleaning up the area and the roadway is down to one lane.

Drivers should continue to use caution when traveling through this area until cleanup has finished.

(7:18am) - State Loop 500 between US Highway 96 south and the Tyson Feedmill Road, around a quarter mile, is shut down due to a fuel spill November 10, 2025 as of 7:18am.

Drivers should consider using an alternate route until the scene is clear, as there is no access, and expect the roadway to remain closed until cleanup is finished.

November 11, 2025 - U.S. Highway 59 between Tenaha and Timpson was the scene of a two-vehicle crash on the evening of Monday, November 10, 2025.

Emergency personnel with the Tenaha Volunteer Fire Department, and Shelby County Sheriff's Deputies responded to the location near CR 4644 where vehicles involved had come to rest on both sides of the highway.

According to details from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), the preliminary crash investigation indicates that at approximately 6:01p.m., a 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe driven by Shaneeta Rhodes, 43, of Tenaha and a 2018 Hyundai Elantra driven by John Ross, 18, of Tenaha were traveling east. It is reported that the driver of the Elantra failed to control his speed and struck the rear of the Santa Fe when it slowed to make a left turn onto County Road 4644.

Rhodes and one passenger, identified as a 14-year-old female, were transported to Nacogdoches Memorial Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

Ross and one passenger identified as a 16-year-old female, were not injured.

This is an ongoing investigation, and according to DPS, no further information is available at this time.

Details were not released on related charges.

The crash was investigated by DPS Trooper Matt Chandler.

Freeze Warning Overnight, 9pm-9am

November 9, 2025 - The National Weather Service, Shreveport, LA issued a Freeze Warning in effect from 9pm Sunday, November 9 to 9am Monday, November 10, 2025.

Sub-freezing temperatures as low as 23 are expected for portions of south central and southwest Arkansas, north central and northwest Louisiana, southeast Oklahoma, and east and northeast Texas from 9pm Sunday to 9am Monday.

Frost and freeze conditions could kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing.

Precautionary/Preparedness Actions: Remember to take care of People, Pets, Plants, and Pipes. Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold.

Elevated Fire Danger Today

An Elevated Fire Danger is active today as well with winds near 15 mph with gusts up to 25-30 mph from mid-morning into early evening.

• AVOID outdoor burning!
• Avoid sparking a fire with your vehicle, secure tow chains and never park or drive over tall grass!
• Properly dispose of cigarettes!

Monday Night/Tuesday Morning Probability of Freeze

Chances are high that temperatures Monday night/Tuesday morning will fall to or below freezing across Southeast Oklahoma, Southwest Arkansas, much of North Louisiana, and portions of extreme Eastern Texas.

November 6, 2025 - Jessie Griffith has resigned as mayor of the city of Joaquin as of the Friday, October 31, council meeting. 

Griffith shares that the duties of mayor, which he has been willing to take on, aren’t without their personal impact as that stress has wrought havoc on his health, and due in part to that he made the decision to resign.

“Last Memorial weekend I had a heart attack,” said Griffith. 

During Griffith’s first term as mayor, he highlights some of the challenges they had involving HAZMAT incidents.

“My first term as mayor we had a lot to happen. We had two major HAZMAT spills,” said Griffith. 

Griffith said the city had to pay for the first one, which involved theft of the city’s diesel that was drained into a creek.

“Another one we were able to get a grant from TCEQ/EPA to pay when they dumped the cooking grease,” said Griffith.

When he was sworn in for his second term, a new public works director had to be named.

“There were a lot of problems found with the pumps and the lines and everything, and then we had violations from the past administrations at TCEQ,” said Griffith. “I made everybody aware of what was going on and I figured it was better to fix the pumps and lines and have the water running inside instead of outside the lines. To me that just makes common sense.”

According to Griffith, violations through TCEQ were pending at one point and rather than incur fines, he says that TCEQ allowed the city to use those funds that would have gone toward fines instead toward repairs of the city infrastructure. Griffith explained that when the city water is down in Joaquin, water is supplied by Logansport and those bills can range from $25,000 to $40,000.

“If we didn’t fix those water lines, we have to contend with those large water bills and we were still going to have to pay TCEQ,” said Griffith. “This way we fix the lines, we don’t have to pay TCEQ any violations and whenever I walked out the other day our [water] bill was $9,000.”

Griffith recalled that someone asked him if he authorized the payment for those repairs, and he said he did and that it only made sense to fix the problem, especially as demonstrated by the reduction in the water bill.

During his time as mayor, Griffith shares that he helped secure the grant for the boat ramp on the Texas side, a new water well for Joaquin, a new $500,000 downtown revitalization grant and a $500,000 grant for groundwater storage, and he helped with Mariana lithium in coming to Joaquin and beginning work on their factory.

“I want to say thank you, to everybody that stood behind me and I think I did a pretty good job, I think I can walk away with my head high and like I told them from the very beginning I don’t do politics and I wasn’t about to start now,” said Griffith.

Griffith wants the community to know that money was spent on making needed repairs in the city.

“I want the people of Joaquin to know what the money went to, that it went to fixing stuff, it was not spent on anything except for repairs to the city of Joaquin.”

The Garrett Family Foundation has got a lot of good things going on and Griffith wants to see that town grow, and he wants to see enough job opportunities made available in Joaquin so that when kids graduate they don’t have to leave to make a living.

“I brought some good stuff into town and my job was to make Joaquin better when I left than when I stepped in and I believe I did that,” said Griffith.

Griffith said he hopes it keeps going and he looks forward to seeing Joaquin continue to grow.