Lufkin

This Just In: Conviction Upheld in Case of Man Who Stomped on Pregnant Girlfriend’s Belly

We Read The Small-Town Police Blotters, So You Don’t Have To

Charlie Wilson's War -- Over A UT Chair

Rocksteady Ska-lawags

Austin's Stingers put the buzz back in a tired genre by revisiting its roots

Letters

Austin's Stingers put the buzz back in a tired genre by revisiting its roots

Tree's Company

The tannenbaum gets a makeover at Buffalo Bayou ArtPark

Fish Tales

Rayburn's bass diminish as debates continue over pollution discharges

Reeling

Bass kills and lesions on fish worry Sam Rayburn anglers. So does the state's plan to lower the lake's pollution standards.

On the Blues Highway

Trudy Lynn recalls her journey to musical acclaim

Another Texas Arrest In That A-Hole Prankster Ring

The Smoking GunNewly arrested prankster​The Smoking Gun continues to stay on top of the effort to out and punish the juvenile a-holes (some of them sex offenders, some of them merely Mom's-basement types) who go around ruining property and people's days with "pranks."The hilarity involves calling ... More >>

Ever Been Fingerprinted? Well, You Might Just Be... I Dunno, Oh, SATAN!

​Pam McLaurin is a teacher in Big Sandy ISD in Polk County in deep East Texas. The Texas Education Association has asked her to submit to a background check. McLaurin, who has taught for 20 years, has complied with every part of the check save for the mandatory fingerprinting, which she opposes on ... More >>

A $2 Million Car, A Pelican And A Lagoon

A Bugatti Veyron, sans pelican​Here is a sentence with so many strange and wonderful parts in it that it's best just to let it speak for itself:A Lufkin man drove his $2 million Bugatti sportscar into a Galveston-area lagoon after being distracted by a pelican.First, who spends $2 million on a car ... More >>

Lufkin Love Quadrangle Ends In Tragedy: Three Dead, One In Custody After Trailer Park Bloodbath

Photo courtesy Angelina County Jail​Mixing jealousy and alcohol is a bad idea. So is confessing a recent threesome with your roommates to your gun-toting, volatile ex. Those are but two of the lessons you could draw from a weekend triple homicide in a trailer park on the pinewood fringes of rough ... More >>

Purple Drank Goes Pro, Thanks To ESPN

​ESPN's Outside the Lines, the Emmy Award-winning investigative series that examines topical issues off the playing field, aired a feature over the weekend on Houston's very own rap mascot - purple drank - the dangerous mix of prescription codeine cough syrup and any range of mixers from Sprit ... More >>

Houston Slammed By European Travel Blog: We're Boooorrring

But...but...there's the Kemah Boardwalk!!​Among world cities, in which category does Houston rank second only to Brussels, the capital of the European Union? Tedium, at least according to the European Union-funded wiki blog OpenTravel. According to "Chili," an English-language challenged scr ... More >>

Ricky Penson: Please Enter Your Guilty Flea

Photo courtesy Angelina County SORicky Penson needs better escape routes​Just like many a mother has warned, if you lie down with dogs, you'll get up with fleas. A Lufkin man recently learned that lesson, and what's more, he's sharing it with the police force of that honky-tonking little East Texa ... More >>

Rayond Wilson II: Three Life Sentences For East Texas Trailer Park Bloodbath

Photo courtesy Angelina County JailRaymond Wilson II ​Back in December, Hair Balls brought you the story of an East Texas trailer park murder spree that left two women and one man dead. Late last week the accused in the case -- 46-year-old Raymond Wilson II -- took a plea deal granting him three ... More >>

Edwin Jabroskey Simpson: Four Loko-Knockoff Theft Could Equal Decades In Prison

Photo courtesy Angelina County SOEdwin Simpson: ​Edwin Jabroskey Simpson of Lufkin was thirsty, and in his view, overly sober. And nothing -- not abject poverty nor an angry cop -- was gonna stop the hulking 22-year-old from getting hold of an ice-cold 24-ounce can of Tilt Premium Malt Beverag ... More >>

Meth Fires Galore In Lufkin

Photos courtesy Angleina County SOGilbert Sayers: Would you rent a room to this guy?​Man, Lufkin's got the crystal methamphetamine blues bad. Just as one high-profile meth lab fire case comes to a close, another one opens... We begin with the adventures of Gilbert Sanders and Charles Euper... ... More >>

Montgomery County Cops Take Down Motel Meth Lab In New Caney

She's 34...THIRTY-FOUR!​Acting on a tip, Montgomery County Constables took down a "shake and bake" meth lab in a New Caney motel in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Arrested were 34-year-old Kerry Lee Datray, of Cleveland, and 38-year-old Wayne Paul Walters of Lufkin. Each was charged manu ... More >>

Manuel Lopez-Mendoza: Guilty In Brazen Attempted Heist Of Giant Pink Bunny

A giant pink rabbit in a pick-up truck. In Lufkin, of course​Thieves around the world are often noted for their sleight of hand, their ability to conceal what is not theirs and spirit it away to a place of safe-keeping undetected. Some are true masters of the art. Fifty-year-old Manuel Lopez- ... More >>

Ricardo Coulston: Blowjob In Kiddie Flick Lands Lufkin Teen In Jail

Ricardo Coulston REALLY enjoyed Mastermind, until the cops showed up​When you think of movies that could inspire people to commit acts of public lewdness, Megamind, the new Will Ferrell-, Brad Pitt- and Tina Fey-voiced animated children's superhero flick doesn't immediately spring to mind. Bu ... More >>

Joseph Michael Weeks: Teen "Male Whore Dog" in Trouble Again, for Doing What Male Whore Dogs Do

Joseph Michael Weeks: Lufkin's been warned​Back in July, hours before he allegedly sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl who was messed up on cough syrup, a Lufkin mother called Joseph Michael Weeks a "male whore dog." And now, while out on bond for that case, the 19-year-old has racked up two ... More >>

Scott Stewart: Front Porch Fracas Over Crack Cash Lands Lufkin Man in Jail

Scott Stewart: The pepper balls did him in​While Scott Stewart might not charge much in rent, the 38-year-old East Texas landlord definitely does prove that adage that you get what you pay for. And there's another old chestnut his alleged actions would seem to buttress, one first uttered by fu ... More >>

Earline Garcia: Attempted Petty Orajel Theft Leads to Felony After Employee Narrowly Escapes Getting Run Over

You stay classy, Earline.​Come on, people. Do we really need to give you a refresher course on how to shoplift? Apparently so. 1. If you really have to steal stuff, keep the value of the items you swipe under $50. That way, if you get caught, it will only be a Class C Misdemeanor, and you wil ... More >>

Twitter Dumbness: Trent Cantrell, Former Lufkin City Planner, Resigns After Sour Tweets About Town

Even if you really, really hate the town whose government is signing your paychecks, you might want to keep those thoughts to yourself. If you absolutely must Tweet your opinions on the matter, only let your friends see 'em. Former Lufkin city planner Trent Cantrell didn't take those precautions, an ... More >>

Brian Ruston Linscomb: Calls Cops On Own Motel Party, Despite Being Wanted On Boatload of Warrants

Orange County SOBrian Linscomb: Pay no attention to the huge number of warrants, officer.​For a while there, it seemed like Brian Linscomb's Sunday evening Lufkin motel party was going off swimmingly. At least one woman and several unidentified men crammed into Linscomb's lodgings at the Angel ... More >>

Michael Wayne Turner: Drunk, Crack-Addled, and Dogbit Is No Way to Drive Through Lufkin, Son

Angelina County SOMichael Turner had a rough day.​When you see a young man with a bloody mess of a face driving a PT Cruiser around your neighborhood, it's probably a good idea to go ahead and call the police. That's just what some concerned Lufkin citizens did early Monday evening when just t ... More >>

To Quote: The Scientist: Ask a Stupid Question, Get a Band Name

It's a well-known fact that most band names are essentially gobbledygook, but here at Rocks Off were working hard t find meaning in the oddest monikers. ​Your humble narrator does a lot of writing for the Houston Press, the editors of which are very keen to publish our work in return for us k ... More >>

The Lufkin Daily News Police Blotter: Ten Highlights from the Last Year

Lots of news gems come from the Lufkin paper.​We get a lot of stories here at Hair Balls from the Lufkin Daily News. Unlike so many of its fellow small-town East Texas newspapers, the editors and reporters have both a keen eye for mayhem and a dark, mordant sense of humor about it. That last ... More >>

David Allen Smith: Busted for Kiddy Porn after Wife Turns Geek Squad Loose on Computer

He doesn't look like he'd have kiddie porn at ALL.​Marriage and a weakness for child porn. It's a combo that doesn't mix. The latest area man to find that out the hard way is 67-year-old David Allen Smith of Lufkin. Police there say Smith's vile stash came to light after his wife took thei ... More >>

Feds Bring Down Hammer on Lufkin Meth Trade

In two distinct actions, federal authorities have indicted 17 East Texans on over 200 counts of crimes related to the crystal methamphetamine trade in and around Lufkin. You just might be hearing this song all over town this week: In the first action, the Lufkin Daily News has reported that a fed ... More >>

James Robert Monday's Manic Monday: East Texan Busted For Hauling Off Air-Water Machine from Store Parking Lot

James Robert Monday: Manic indeed​In the latest of our series of "Only in East Texas" crimes, an AARP-aged man by the name of Monday was busted on the day of the same name for -- get this -- stealing a convenience store's coin-operated air and water dispenser. Not the quarters in it, mind yo ... More >>

Matthew Wayne Fuller: Police Say He Forced Six Year Old Girl to Watch Sex Tape

Angelina County Sheriff's DepartmentMatthew Wayne Fuller​If, as has been suggested, Lufkin is the weird-crime "Florida of Texas," then the Lufkin-adjacent hamlets of Etoile, Huntington and last but not least, Zavalla are the "Floridas of Lufkin." Guys like 31-year-old Matthew Wayne Fuller see ... More >>

James Edwin Durham: One-Man Lufkin Crime Wave Finally Brought Down -- Featuring Musical Mugshot Slideshow

Check the musical slideshow of Durham's mugshots after the jump. More beauties like this after the jump.​It's been a rough year for James Edwin Durham. Since last November, the 39-year-old Lufkin man has allegedly burned his mother's house down while cooking meth, gotten shot in the ass, be ... More >>

Comment of the Day: James Edwin Durham

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Eric Paul Morgan: Veteran Houston Robber / Thief Comes to Grief in Navasota

Courtesy of the Grimes County Sheriff's DepartmentEric Paul Morgan​After a short multi-county crime spree, including an armed home invasion in Lufkin and a bank robbery in Navasota, Eric Paul Morgan sits in the Grimes County Jail. He's already been charged with bank robbery, and Lufkin police ... More >>

PR Headline of the Day

Parker Afraid of Dick

Justin Delane Nash: Accused of Second Sick Crime Against a Child in 17 Months

Phots by Angelina Count ySOJustin Nash's most recent mugshot...​A girl's school journal entry has led to an arrest for an alleged sex crime. On September 23, a Lufkin schoolgirl handed in a journal to her teacher in which she had written, "I wish I had a better life. I got raped by Justin and ... More >>

Ray's Drive-In in Lufkin: Surpassing Expectations

Head north on Highway 59 to meet this monster burger.​On the way out to deep East Texas last week for a story, I found myself suddenly starving and in unfamiliar territory: Lufkin. Unwilling to sacrifice myself upon the fast-food altar when I know that there's great small-town food to be had ... More >>

Texas Tweakers

James "Bull" Durham burned down his mother's house while cooking meth. In Angelina County, the jail is full of guys like him..

The 2011 Houston Press Crimes of the Year

From a fake vampire to a getaway guy in a wheelchair, a defendant peeing in court to a cop-car backseat blow job, it's been a wild year.

Cover Story: The Year in Crime

​We like to think we are pretty hard to surprise. As the son of hard-living hippies who were close friends of people like Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt, I'd seen more by the time I was 12 than many of my peers have experienced up to this day. Since then, I've traveled the world and worked i ... More >>

The 2011 Houston Press Crimes of the Year

From a fake vampire to a getaway guy in a wheelchair, a defendant peeing in court to a cop-car backseat blow job, it's been a wild year.

Douglas Paul McCoy / Pas Doctor Geronimo: Lufkin Indian Outlaw and K-2 Fan Debuts New Name in Court

Jessica Cooley / Lufkin Daily NewsPas Doctor Geronimo makes his courtroom debut under his new name while rocking his Walkman to Tim McGraw's "Indian Outlaw."​ Lufkin's Douglas Paul McCoy seems hell-bent on setting the record for most appearances in Hair Balls crime stories. Late last week, he ... More >>

The PasDoctor Geronimo Manifesto: A Presidential Run and a Birthday "Tepee/Tent-Residence" Orgy, Starring Cameron Diaz

Jessica Cooley / Lufkin Daily NewsPasDoctor Geronimo has quite the bash planned tonight.​Hair Balls' old friend PasDoctor Geronimo is back at it this week. This time around he's not in trouble with the law. Instead, the Lufkin man, whose "white man's name" is Douglas Paul McCoy, has filed a ... More >>

PasDoctor Geronimo: Planned Courthouse Lawn Tepee/Tent-Residence Birthday Orgy Halted By Lufkin Cops

Micah Powell / Lufkin Daily NewsPasDoctor Geronimo unsuccessfully pleads his case yesterday afternoon​Sadly, PasDoctor Geronimo's hoped-for 12-plus woman birthday orgy in a custom-built "tepee/tent-residence" on the Angelina County Courthouse lawn -- starring Cameron Diaz -- did not take place ... More >>

Supreme Cinderella-Like Dysfunction Reigns in Gay-Related Lufkin Sibling Steak-Knife Stabbing

Angelina County JailShakira Walker: No magic pumpkin ride for this bullied sister.​Family dysfunction and domestic disharmony are kind of our stocks-in-trade, but this sick twist on a Cinderella story out of Lufkin shocks even us in its callousness. According to KTRE, on Friday evening 18-y ... More >>