Town Updates

The latest features, automated feeds, and improvements to your GvilleTX app.

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July 2026

Improvement

Incident reports now tell you the whole story, and keep up

Incident reports used to be a single line. They now carry everything we actually know: what happened, where, who responded, whether anyone was hurt, and how it ended. When more comes in over the radio, the report updates itself instead of staying frozen at the first thirty seconds.

  • A report that changed shows when it was updated, so you know you are reading the current version.
  • Far more of what happens around town now reaches the incident page, including the routine calls that never used to make it.
  • The bar for a Facebook post is deliberately higher than the bar for the website — you only get interrupted for something worth acting on.
  • The privacy rules have not moved: street-level locations only, no names, no medical details, and nothing that implies anyone is guilty.
View live incidents
Improvement

Live incidents, right on the homepage

The homepage now shows live incident reports as they happen, so you can quickly see what emergency crews are responding to around Gainesville and Cooke County.

See live incidents
Feature

Live incident reports for Gainesville & Cooke County

See what emergency crews are responding to around town, usually within minutes: fires, crashes, hazards and more, each with an approximate street-level location on a map. Every report is preliminary and double-checked before it posts, and you can confirm it, dispute it, or report an error right on the page.

  • Locations are approximate on purpose: street level only, never an exact address.
  • No names, no medical details, and nothing that implies anyone is guilty.
  • Spot something wrong? Every report has a one-tap error report, no account needed.
View live incidents
Feature

Search all of GvilleTX from one place

Use the new search box in the header to find local news, events, businesses, government documents, garage sales, community aid, and public safety information. Open the full results page to filter by type and narrow things down.

Search GvilleTX
Feature

Local obituary notices are now in one place

You can now find recent Gainesville and Cooke County obituary notices here, with the key details and a direct link to each full memorial notice.

  • Open Obituaries any time from the News & Alerts menu.
  • If you use the daily email digest, you can add Obituaries in Notification Settings.
View obituaries
Notifications

More useful local updates, on your terms

Road closures now appear in alerts, gas-price drops can reach you when you opt in, and you can add local sports scores to your daily digest.

  • Turn on Local sports scores in Notification Settings for Friday-night finals and score cards in your digest.
  • Garage-sale cards can now show how far away they are when you have added a location to your profile.
  • Road conditions in your digest focus on nearby conditions when a profile location is available.
Manage notification settings
Notifications

Reminders that come to you

GvilleTX now nudges you about the things you told us you care about — no more checking back and hoping you didn't miss it.

  • Save an event and we'll remind you the day before and right before it starts.
  • Save a garage sale and we'll remind you the evening before it begins.
  • Get a heads-up the day before public government meetings (turn on Gov Docs in your digest settings).
  • A lost pet reported in town now sends an alert so more eyes are looking sooner.
  • Watching a topic in Gov Docs now sends a real notification to your device, not just a bell on the site.
  • If you're on a visit streak, we'll warn you the evening it's about to break.
Manage notification settings
Notifications

Choose a morning jail report in your daily digest

You can now add a morning jail report to your daily digest, with new bookings, booking photos, and the most common charges from the day before. It starts off, so turn it on in Notification Settings if you want it.

Manage notification settings
Notifications

Choose alerts and your daily digest during setup

When you set up GvilleTX, you can now turn on local alerts and choose a daily email digest before heading to your dashboard. Not ready? You can skip both and change them later in Settings.

Manage notification settings
Notifications

Get urgent alerts without an account

You can now turn on severe weather and urgent local alerts from Weather or Garage Sales without creating an account. If you sign up later, your alert settings come with you.

Check the weather
Improvement

Photo ID verification for removal requests

Removal requests now ask for a photo ID so requests come from the person filing them. Your ID is reviewed by a person, never published, and deleted when the request is decided.

Open Public Safety
Notifications

Get a heads-up for school closures and trash pickup changes

Choose School & service alerts in Notification Settings to get a heads-up when school closes or local trash pickup shifts. Active notices also appear on the School and Waste pages.

Manage notification settings
Notifications

Save a search and hear when something new matches

Save a search for news, events, or garage sales and we’ll let you know when something new matches. Manage your searches anytime in Settings.

Manage saved searches
Feature

Get local updates right from the page you’re reading

Reading a story, checking an event, or browsing garage sales? You can now sign up for Gainesville updates without leaving the page.

Feature

Request a correction or removal for a booking record

If a jail booking record is wrong or has been legally cleared, you can now submit a private request directly from the record page. Every request is reviewed by a person.

Open Public Safety

June 2026

Improvement

Edit or remove a garage sale you posted

Posted a garage sale and need to fix a date, the address, or the list of items — or take it down? Open your sale and use Edit or Delete. Only you can change a sale you posted, and your updates show up right away.

Garage Sales
Improvement

Booking and registry posts now tell the whole story

Jail booking and sex offender registry write-ups now read in plain language and go deeper. Instead of a bare list of codes, each one explains the charges in everyday terms, the bond, a person's prior record around the county, and — when it's in the court system — where the case stands.

  • Charges are spelled out in plain English instead of court shorthand.
  • When someone has been booked before, the rundown notes the pattern — how often and for what.
  • If a case is on the court docket, you'll see the court, the next hearing, and how earlier cases were resolved.
  • These fuller write-ups now lead the posts shared to our Facebook page and group, too.
Open Public Safety
Feature

Opinion columns and local commentary

GvilleTX now has an Articles section — opinion columns and letters on local issues across Gainesville and Cooke County. Find it in the site menu and check back for new pieces.

Read Articles
Improvement

A clearer Events page, built around the calendar

The Events page got a full redesign. A new monthly calendar puts what's happening front and center — every day shows its events so you can scan the week at a glance, and all-summer programs no longer clutter every square. Tap any day for the full rundown, and browse featured happenings and everything else upcoming below.

  • Each calendar day lists its events by name and time; tap a day to see the details.
  • Long-running programs (like summer reading) are tucked into a single "Ongoing this month" strip instead of repeating on every day.
  • On your phone, the calendar becomes an easy day-by-day agenda.
  • Events with a photo get a Featured spotlight; everything else is laid out in clean, readable cards.
Open Events
Feature

Find local Vacation Bible School programs

There's a new page for summer Vacation Bible School. See which Gainesville-area churches are hosting, with the theme, dates, times, ages, and a link to register — browse them grouped by month or flip to a calendar to see what's happening on any given day.

  • Switch between a month-by-month list and a calendar view.
  • Each listing shows the host church, dates and times, age range, and a Register link when one's available.
  • A church's page now points you to its VBS when it has one coming up.
See VBS programs

May 2026

Improvement

32 more communities on My City — and the services that serve each

The My City picker grew from 6 to 38: every city, town, census-designated place, unincorporated community, and historical ghost town in Cooke County, plus our Grayson County neighbors across the border. Pick yours and you'll now see who runs the local water, fire, EMS, post office, schools, library, and community center — where we could confirm it.

  • Pick by county and type: Cooke or Grayson, City / Town / Census-designated place / Unincorporated / Historical.
  • Each service entry includes a phone you can tap to call and a website link when one exists. Nothing is invented — if we couldn't confirm it, we left it off.
  • Ghost towns (Bloomfield, Coesfield, Custer City, Freemound, Hemming) show up too, tagged "(historical)", with a one-sentence note about each.
  • Your current community pick stays remembered on your device, so you land where you expect next time.
Open My City
Improvement

Missing-person & safety alerts now come with the full picture

When a Silver, AMBER, or other Texas DPS alert goes out for our area, you now get the details that matter at a glance — the person's name and age, where and when they were last seen, what they were wearing, and their photo — and each alert links straight to its own page instead of the general list.

  • Alerts shared to our Facebook page now lead with a clear poster image and the key facts, so you can recognize someone and act fast.
  • Tapping an alert takes you to that specific alert, with everything in one place.
  • Call 911 if you see the person — the agency handling the case is listed too.
Open Alerts
Feature

Spotted a better gas price? Report it and help your neighbors

You can now report the gas prices you see around town. Tap the new Report button (or report straight from the gas page), enter the price by hand or snap a photo of the sign, and once it's checked it shows up for everyone with a "Community" tag. The freshest price wins, so your report can bump an out-of-date one.

  • Report from the floating Report button anywhere on the site, or from the gas prices page and the gas card on your home screen.
  • Type the prices yourself or take a photo of the station sign or pump — your call.
  • Submitted prices are reviewed before they go live, so the numbers stay trustworthy.
  • Approved community prices show a "Community" badge in the list, on the map, and on your home screen.
  • Earn points for the reports you contribute — your running total shows on your profile.
See gas prices
Feature

New Alerts hub — one place for every time-sensitive Gainesville notice

We pulled Alerts out of the Public Safety section and gave it its own home at /alerts. The redesigned page leads with a glance-and-go status strip, surfaces accidents, utility outages, and warming-center openings alongside weather and AMBER alerts, and tucks long-term construction projects into a collapsible section so a real emergency doesn't get buried under a multi-year highway widening.

  • Live count chips at the top — "3 Advisories", "12 Civic Updates" — tap to jump to that section.
  • Election deadlines, new educator Do-Not-Hire entries, and recently-opened warming or cooling centers now show up alongside weather and DPS alerts.
  • Every alert is a tap-through with a real detail page or source link — no more dead-end rows.
  • When nothing's happening, the page shows a clear "All Clear" message plus a list of what cleared up in the past week so you know the page is working.
  • Push notifications for a wider set of urgent alerts: severe weather, AMBER and missing-person alerts, accidents on I-35, warming/cooling centers opening, and city emergency declarations.
  • Mid-sentence cutoffs in feed descriptions ("to ..") are gone — the card now invites you to tap for the full text instead.
Open Alerts
Improvement

Community Aid — clearer cards, a month calendar, and more places to find help

Every Community Aid card now shows the at-a-glance tags that used to be hidden until you clicked in — By appointment, ID required, Seniors, Children, Proof of residency, Approval required. The calendar gained a Month view alongside the existing Week view, and when a filter comes up short the list now keeps adding upcoming days until you have a real handful of options.

  • New: Your Neighbor's House Food Pantry in west Grayson County, open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
  • New: Custer City Baptist Church — free Clothes Closet every Thursday 9am–noon, plus the annual Prom Dress giveaway so you can see we track those pop-up events too.
  • DASH hot meals corrected — weekends and federal holidays, 10am–noon, with the approval contact (Mary Klements, 940-665-0661) now on the listing.
  • Meals on Wheels listing now lists Judy Hunt at TCOG (903-813-3505 ext 1, [email protected] — email is faster) and notes proof of income is required.
  • Abigail's Arms — 24-hour crisis hotline and emergency shelter are walk-in (no appointment), plus their Amazon and Walmart wishlists are surfaced in the give-help panel.
  • VISTO Backpack Buddies shows as its own card so the kids' weekend program isn't buried under the main pantry.
  • Calendar 'Clothes' filter now actually shows clothes orgs on the All Transportation tab works too — both used to silently come up empty.
  • Month view: tap any future day with services to jump straight to that day's listings.
Open Community Aid
Improvement

9 new community aid spots and clearer listings

Stanford House senior breakfast, Mt Pleasant Bible Church, Valley View Cares, MasterKey Food Assistance, My Bro's House, the VISTO Backpack Buddy program, Meals on Wheels home delivery, TAPS public transit, and ABBA Women's Center for diapers and formula. Cleaner labels on every page, and a tidy 'Photo coming soon' placeholder where we don't have one yet.

  • Living Word Ministries hours match their 2026 calendar — open Tuesdays and Thursdays 10am–noon, weeks 1, 2, and 3 of each month.
  • Mt Pleasant Bible Church lists their Amazon wishlist directly so you can ship items they need.
  • VISTO's give-help list reads as plain items, no fine-print footers.
Browse Community Aid
Feature

Search Aid — type what you need on the Community Aid page

A new search bar at the top of the Community Aid page lets you type what you need — “food”, “diapers”, “rent help”, “Lindsay” — and we'll find every nearby org and service that matches, with typo tolerance built in.

  • Searches across org names, the services they run, requirements text, and the city / address.
  • Typo-tolerant — “sacrid hart” still finds Sacred Heart.
Try it on Community Aid
Improvement

Community Aid calendar, easier to read

The weekly schedule went from a cramped seven-column grid to a clear day-by-day itinerary. Each day is its own section, services are color-coded by need, and 24/7 places sit at the top so you don't have to scroll past them seven times.

  • Today is anchored with a red rail and a TODAY badge so you can find right now at a glance.
  • Color-coded categories: orange for food, indigo for bills & housing, teal for health, violet for benefits & access, rose for clothes.
  • Always-available services (24/7 blessing boxes, by-appointment pantries) pulled up to an 'Available Anytime' section at the top.
  • Filter by need (food, housing, health, benefits, clothes) — matches the same filter on the main page.
  • Names and addresses no longer get cut off — every row is full width.
Open the calendar
Improvement

Community Aid expanded

The Community Aid page now covers food, housing, utilities, mental health, internet access, and government benefits. New: photos on every card, "Open now" / "Opens at X" / "Closed for the day" status, and a section showing what's open tomorrow.

  • A dozen new organizations added — Meals on Wheels of Texoma, DASH (weekend hot-meal delivery), Abigail's Arms Family Crisis Center, Texoma Community Center for mental-health support, TCOG energy/utility assistance, Real Life Church food pantry, Gainesville Housing Authority, Cooke County Library Wi-Fi & computer access.
  • Plus the WIC and Texas HHSC offices for help signing up for SNAP, Medicaid, and CHIP.
  • Photos on every card so you know what to look for when you arrive.
  • Live status: "Open now," "Opens at X," or "Closed for the day," plus a section for what's open tomorrow.
Open Community Aid
Improvement

TX DPS alerts now include the full flyer

Texas DPS alerts in your app now carry the full alert — subject names and ages, vehicle descriptions, agency contact info, and the flyer images DPS publishes — not just a short headline. Push, SMS, and email notifications fire the same way.

Notification settings
New Source

Texas DPS alerts — AMBER, Silver, Blue, and more

Texas DPS Statewide Alerts — AMBER, Silver, Blue, Endangered Missing Persons, CLEAR, CAMO, and Power Outage — are now in the app. Alerts in or near Cooke County reach your push, SMS, and email automatically. Want every Texas alert? Toggle 'statewide DPS alerts' in notification settings.

Notification settings
Feature

Community Aid: pantries, meals, and blessing boxes in one place

Find what's open today, browse by type (food pantry / hot meal / blessing box / clothes), see requirements up front, and support the orgs by donating or fulfilling their current needs.

  • 18 Cooke County orgs to start: VISTO, VFW, Living Word, Sacred Heart, St. Martha's, Soul Food, Hillcrest, plus blessing boxes at the library, VISTO, and Whaley UMC — and more.
  • Calendar + map views answer 'what's open today and tomorrow.'
  • Submit a correction or a new org — admin reviews and applies.
Open Community Aid
Improvement

Your Representatives page redesigned — full slate + reactive map

Your full slate of representatives is now grouped by level (Federal → State → County → City → School) — every seat that affects you, not just the top six. The 'Browse by Level' map redraws as you change tabs, showing your jurisdiction highlighted with neighbors faded. Seats where we have a name but no photo show as 'Photo coming soon'; seats nobody currently holds show as 'Seat unfilled — help us track this' so you can flag what we're missing.

See your reps
Feature

Who Represents You — for everyone in Cooke County

See every elected official who represents you, from the President all the way down to your county commissioner precinct. Type your address (or sign in) to get a personalized list. Each rep page shows their term, contact info, predecessors going back 20+ years, and a map of their district. Browse by level (Federal/State/County/City/School/Special) or by jurisdiction.

Find your reps
New Source

Texas Do Not Hire registry — for educators flagged by TEA

The Texas Education Agency's Do Not Hire registry is now searchable in the app — educators ruled ineligible for hire or under investigation, by name. When a name on the registry matches a local jail booking or sex-offender entry, you'll see a cross-link badge on their profile.

Search the registry
Feature

Daily digest, push notifications, streaks, and app-store apps

Pick a time and we'll send you the day's events, mugshots, gov docs, garage sales, weather, and gas prices in one email or push. Visit daily and earn a flame badge for your streak.

  • Daily digest at the time you choose, in your inbox or as a phone push
  • Friday afternoon weekly recap
  • Visit streaks with a 🔥 badge in the header
  • Verify your phone to receive SMS digests
  • Install GvilleTX from your home screen — Android Play Store + iOS coming via App Store
Set up your digest

April 2026

Improvement

Full business profiles — hours, photos, menus, contact

Every business in the directory now has a proper page: hours of operation, photos, offerings (menus / services / products), multiple contact methods, and customer-suggested edits.

Browse the directory
Notifications

SMS digests via verified phone

Verify your phone number and we'll text you your daily digest. Six-digit code, ten-minute window. Your number stays private.

Verify your phone

January 2026

Feature

Profiles, follow your neighbors, follow topics

Build a profile, follow other locals, and follow topics like Public Safety, Schools, or Government to filter your feed to what you care about.

Set up your profile
New Source

Mugshots, jail bookings, and the sex-offender registry

The Cooke County jail roster is now in the app and kept current — see who's been booked and what they're charged with, in plain language. The Texas DPS sex-offender registry is in too, with a map view of your neighborhood.

Public safety
New Source

City + County agendas, minutes, and ordinances — with plain-language summaries

Every council agenda, meeting minutes, ordinance, and notice from the City of Gainesville and Cooke County is now in the app. Each one comes with a 2-minute readable summary so you don't have to wade through a 50-page PDF.

Read what just happened
New Source

Every local event — city, parks, chamber, library, AgriLife

Every local event from the City, Parks & Rec, the Chamber, the library, and AgriLife is now in one place, with consistent categories so you can find what you actually want. Browse, filter, RSVP.

What's happening
New Source

450+ Gainesville businesses

The full Gainesville Chamber of Commerce directory is now in the app, plus our own additions. Search by category, see hours, get the phone number.

Find local businesses