KTBB News, Weather, Talk

KEY WEST, FLA. (AP/STAFF) — Tropical Storm Isaac is churning toward the northern Gulf Coast and promises to give the Republican National Convention a good drenching after lashing the Florida Keys and Miami area with wind and rain.

The National Hurricane Center predicts Isaac will grow a Category 1 hurricane over the warm Gulf of Mexico and possibly hit late Tuesday somewhere along a stretch that starts west of New Orleans and runs to the edge of the Florida Panhandle. That would be one day shy of seven years after Hurricane Katrina struck catastrophically in 2005.

KTBB’s Dr. Bob Peters said Tampa could look for periods of rain continuing through Tuesday, with tropical force storm winds Monday afternoon and evening. It’s all worrying organizers of the Republican National Convention in Tampa. KTBB owner-general manager Paul Gleiser is there for exclusive coverage.

TYLER — Here’s a quick look at work planned in the Tyler District of the Texas Department of Transportation.

TYLER — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews on Tuesday are scheduled to make base and pavement repairs on State Highway 64 just west of West Loop 323. Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress. Motorists are encouraged to be prepared to reduce speed and merge in and around the work zone.

GREGG COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to conclude pavement repairs on eastbound Interstate Highway 20 between the Smith County Line and Farm Road 3053 in Liberty City. Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress. Motorists are encouraged to be prepared to reduce speed and merge in and around the work zone.

FRUITVALE — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to conclude approximately three weeks of pavement-repair work on U.S, Highway 80 in the Fruitvale area. Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress. Motorists should be prepared to reduce speed and merge in and around the work zone.

CHEROKEE COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to continue edge work on Farm Road 855 between U.S. Highway 69 in Mount Selman and Farm Road 346 south of Teaselville. Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic in two-lane areas.

HENDERSON COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to perform resurfacing operations on Ranch Road3062 (Star Harbor Road) in Malakoff. Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic.

LONGVIEW — The Longview Police Department reminds drivers to use caution when they approach or pass, from either direction, a school bus, especially loading and unloading. State law prohibits drivers from passing school buses when the bus is operating a visual signal. The driver of a vehicle shall stop before reaching the school bus when the bus is operating a visual signal and may not proceed until: the school bus resumes motion; the operator is signaled by the bus driver to proceed; or the visual signal is no longer actuated.

The driver of a vehicle is not required to stop if the highway has separate roadways and the bus is on a different roadway. The law defines a separate roadway as a roadway that has intervening space or where vehicles are not permitted to drive, a physical barrier, or clearly indicated section constructed to impede vehicular flow, such as a concrete or grassy median. A highway is NOT CONSIDERED to have separate roadways if the roadway is only separated by a left turn lane.

TYLER — The City of Tyler would like to remind everyone that a new school year is starting and that means a change in traffic patterns. School flashers will be in operation in marked school speed zones beginning Monday, August 27, 2012, between the hours of 7 to 9 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m. with the following exceptions:

• West Loop 323 near John Tyler High School – This school speed zone
will be in effect between the hours of 8 to 8:45 a.m. and 4 to 4:45 p.m.

• South Donnybrook Avenue near Robert E. Lee High School – This school
speed zone will be in effect between the hours of 8 to 8:45 a.m. and 4
to 4:45 p.m.

• Copeland Road at Hubbard Drive – This school speed zone will be in
effect between the hours of 7 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 4:30 p.m.

• Paluxy Drive at Yosemite Drive – This school speed zone will be in
effect between the hours of 7 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 4:30 p.m.

• Old Jacksonville Highway at Silverwood Drive near Grace Community
School – This school speed zone will be in effect between the hours of
7:15 to 8:30 a.m. and 3 to 4 p.m. on Monday through Thursday. Friday
hours are 7:15 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 to 2 p.m.

• University Boulevard near Grace Community School – This school speed
zone will be in effect between the hours of 7:15 to 8:30 a.m. and 3 to 4
p.m. on Monday through Thursday. Friday hours are 7:15 to 8:30 a.m. and
12:30 to 2 p.m.

• Garden Valley Road at Charlotte Drive near Boulter Middle School –
This school speed zone will be in effect between 7and 9 a.m. and 3:15 to
4:45 p.m.

A new school zone has been added this year for the PACE program at the Alvin V. Anderson Educational Complex on Confederate Avenue between Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and Vance Street. This school speed zone will be in effect between 7:45 to 8:15 a.m.,11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and 3:45 to 4:15 p.m. There’s much more at http://www.cityoftyler.org on back-to-school safety for Tyler motorists.

TYLER — One person has been injured in a weekend aggravated assault in Tyler. It happened around 7:45 Saturday night at 2116 Grand Avenur. Authorities said several rounds had been fired at the location. One subject had been shot in the hand, causing a serious wound. He refused treatment at the scene and was released. Several cars in the vicinity sustained damaged due to gun fire. Several subjects were taken into custody. Names have not been released.

TYLER — Tyler Police have arrested seven suspects after a shots fired complaint. It happened around 5:15 Sunday morning at 1212 Paul. A witnesses reported several Hispanic males in the front yard, drinking and firing a pistol. Arriving officers recovered a firearm and drugs at the scene. Seven subjects were arrested at the scene. Charges ranged from public intoxication, possession of a controlled substance, unauthorized carrying of a weapon and disorderly conduct.

GILMER — A jury on Friday found an Ore City woman guilty of murdering her 10th husband. According to the Longview News-Journal, Gordon Maxwell’s family members cried as they embraced each other Friday afternoon outside of Upshur County’s 115th District Court, minutes after a jury pronounced Sharon Maxwell guilty. Testimony in the trial revealed Maxwell was shot repeatedly while lying in his bed, his body wrapped in covers, dumped in his truck, doused with gasoline and set on fire August 30, 2011.

According to testimony in the case, after Maxwell returned home from work Aug. 30, he and his wife took her two children to Ore City High School and returned home. District Attorney Billy Byrd suspected Gordon Maxwell may have told his wife during the ride that he intended to leave her.

Gordon Maxwell’s body was found in a burning vehicle. He had been shot four times in the head while lying in the couple’s bed. Sharon Maxwell admitted she dragged his body from the bed, through the house, across the back porch and to his truck where she poured gasoline on it. She also threw bullets inside the truck, Byrd said, to make it look as if the bullets in his head were a result of the fire.

The punishment phase of the trial is set to begin on today.

MOUNT PLEASANT (AP) — An ammonia leak at a northeast Texas meat packing plant has sickened more than a dozen people. A spokeswoman at Titus Regional Medical Center in Mount Pleasant says 17 patients were transported to the hospital for examination. Spokeswoman Shannon Norfleet says the examinations were precautionary and no serious injuries or illnesses were found. The leak happened about 2:30 Friday afternoon at the Pilgrim’s Pride poultry packing plant. Company spokeswoman Margaret McDonald says contract workers were performing maintenance on the plant roof when the leak began and the plant was evacuated. McDonald says all workers taken to the hospital were examined, treated and released, and the leak was repaired in about thirty minutes.

JACKSONVILLE — Lon Morris College will suspend the fall semester as it continues to look for a purchaser of the college or a new financial partner. According to KETK, the college was denied access to federal financial aid funds recently because of a Department of Education decision based on its bankruptcy, even though the college has continued to operate and was preparing to open for the fall. In a news release, Lon Morris says it continued to work with the DOE on the matter, but ultimately, a timely and workable resolution was not available. The college says students previously admitted at Lon Morris for the fall semester are being notified, and Jacksonville College and Tyler Junior College are working to accommodate Lon Morris students in the immediate term.

Lon Morris had experienced financial difficulty for years as the school tried to expand through costly programs and unfunded scholarship aid, and took on almost $20 million in debt to finance its expansion. Dawn Ragan, the Chief Restructuring Officer of the college, said “The oldest junior college in Texas has been trying to do everything right to preserve an East Texas institution educating students for 158 years. The DOE’s action to cancel all federal financial aid is justified by bureaucrats merely quoting policy, noting they are powerless to use judgment to provide reasonable or practical accommodations. We understand we would literally need an act of Congress to ensure this does not continue to happen to other schools in the same predicament.”

Officials say the school intends to continue working with its investment bankers, Capstone, to find a partner. Students with questions about records or transfers may contact [email protected] or call 903-589-4000.

TYLER — a vehicle-pedestrian accident is under investigation by Tyler police. Around noon Friday, Tyler police, fire, and EMS crews responded to the 3400 block of Varsity. Angela Chantel Hickman, 23, of Dallas, was crossing the roadway on foot from U.T. Tyler heading towards her apartment at 3400 Varsity. According to police, a pick-up driven by 68-year-old William McClenny of Tyler had just pulled out of a private drive heading westbound on Varsity when Hickman stepped out in front of his vehicle, causing her to be struck. Hickman was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries by EMS. Police say the pedestrian failed to yield the right of way, so no charges were filed against the driver.

LONGVIEW — Longview police have taken 38-year-old Stephen Cannada of Longview into custody on allegations involving drugs and child endangerment. Around 9:20 Thursday evening, officers observed a red Chevrolet truck leaving a motel located in the 1500 Block of East Marshall Avenue. Officers stopped the vehicle, and Cannada was identified as the driver. According to police, Cannada had two small children with him in the vehicle and one was holding an open can of beer.

Officers searched Cannada’s vehicle and located suspected crack cocaine under the seat of the truck. Officers claim that Cannada had left the two small children in the vehicle while he went into an undisclosed room at the motel and allegedly purchased crack cocaine. Cannada was arrested and charged with two counts of abandon/endangering a child and one count of possession of a controlled substance (penalty Group 1 less than 1 gram). Police say ee was transported to the Gregg County Jail without incident. The children were released to a family member.

LONGVIEW — Beginning Monday, the City of Longview will conduct citywide truck-mounted mosquito spraying in response to increased cases of West Nile virus in East Texas and around the state. The spraying will occur primarily Mondays through Thursdays from 4 – 6 a.m. and 9 – 11 p.m., generally taking place according to a geographic schedule. In addition to the set schedule, targeted spraying may occur where there is a suspected West Nile concern. You can go to http://www.LongviewTexas.gov for more details and to view a map of the spraying schedule.

SHERMAN – U.S. Attorney John M. Bales announced Friday that 30 individuals have been identified and indicted following a lengthy investigation into drug trafficking in the Eastern District of Texas. Beginning on Aug. 22 and continuing through Aug. 23, a combined task force of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies began executing 30 federal arrest warrants for defendants charged in a conspiracy to distribute over 500 grams of methamphetamine in and around the Greenville area since 2010.

On Aug. 9, a federal grand jury returned a 6-count Indictment charging 30 individuals with conspiracy to distribute and possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Those indictments included two Arp residents: James Dennis Sloan, 53, and Janice Wells Sloan, 52. Also named: Jason Dale Jacobs, 30, of Grand Saline, and James Brian Humphrey, 36, of Como.

If convicted of the drug conspiracy charge, the defendants face a minimum of 10 years and up to life in federal prison. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of any property used to commit or facilitate the crimes or derived from proceeds of the conspiracy.

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) – Four workers injured in a flash fire at a Wyoming natural gas processing plant are contractors from East Texas. The men work for AltairStrickland, a mechanical contracting firm based in LaPorte, Texas. President Jeffrey Weber told the Casper Star-Tribune that all four are from the Lufkin area. They were injured Wednesday morning while working at ConocoPhillips’ Lost Cabin gas processing facility in central Wyoming. Cody Clark, Dwayne Bennet, Chris Lowe were listed in critical condition at the Western States Burn Center in Greeley, Colo. on Thursday. Joey Holloway is being treated at Riverton Memorial Hospital but his condition isn’t known. The fire is under investigation. An explosion destroyed part of the plant in 2010. Nearby residents were told to evacuate then but there were no evacuations this time.

TYLER — Tyler Junior College has a new budget. School trustees Thursday approved a $75 million dollar budget. That’s up nearly $1 million from the current budget. The tax rate went up just under two cents per $100 valuation. T.J.C. feels the fall enrollment will be around 11,000 students. That would bring in the same amount of money in the previous budget without having to increase tuition and fees like they had to do last year. The budget contains no pay raises for employees. That makes three straight years without a salary hike.

Grassroots America – We the People expressed its appreciation to the college “for the outstanding results you have produced in response to our request to make TJC’s operations and finances more transparent and available to taxpayers.” The group also reiterated what it sees as the need to budget funds for the preservation of the new allied health and nursing facility when it is completed. Other recommendations included posting online TJC’s total debt schedule by year; a three-to five-year schedule of effective full-time employees for comparison and with justification for any changes in each category of employee; posting what TJC safely can publicize regarding upgrades and improvements in campus security in a place on the college’s website other than the student handbook; and posting a statement about the status of TJC’s retirement benefits funding.

TYLER — Tyler school trustees have adoped a new budget. At Thursday night’s meeting, the school board approved a $127,765,085 budget. They also maintains the same tax rate tax rate of $1.375 for every $100 valuation. But because of state budget cuts, no employees raises are in the new budget.

The citizen group Grassroots America – We the People expressed its overall support for the budget, saying Grassroots members are pleased the District continues to implement recommendations from the independent Staffing Analysis from 2010-2011. Grassroots also asked the Board to “really scrutinize the administrative positions dealing with academics and curriculum” and “determine whether you are getting a real return in terms of academic progress in return for what you spend on these positions.” The group additionally asked TISD “for a deep scrutiny of your C-Scope program from a cost-benefit standpoint”; applauded “the continued focus on fiscal accountability through the efforts of your internal auditor and the audit committee”; applauded the District’s management of existing debt; and expressed its appreciation for “the mature way Tyler ISD has handled the decline in state funding.”

LUFKIN (AP & STAFF) — A Lufkin woman is going to prison in connection with the death of her infant son who died while he slept with her. State District Judge Paul White sentenced Vanessa Lynn Clark, 33, to 9 years and 11 months in state prison. She can appeal since the sentence is one month short of the maximum sentence.

Back in April, a jury found Clark guilty of child endangerment in the death of her two month old son Tristan. Her husband, Mark Clark, was also indicted in the infant’s death. A jury acquitted him of the charge last May.

Prosecutors said Vanessa Clark had elevated levels of Xanax and hydrocodone in her system when she took Tristan into bed, despite her husband’s pleas that she not. Tristan was suffocated, just as 1-month-old Christian Clark was when Vanessa Clark placed him in bed with her and her husband in 2009.

TYLER — A fire, said to be be suspicious in nature, has destroyed a Smith County mobile home and extensively damaged another one. It happened Thursday morning at the Town and County Mobile Home Park on County Road 4351 and near Highway 110 north. No one was living in the home when the fire started and no injuries were reported.

LONGVIEW — Longview investigators are trying to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed a home in the 100 block of Peoples Drive. The fire was reported around 4:30 Thursday afternoon. No injuries were reported.

CROCKETT — A Houston County man has been arrested after authorities say he stole a backhoe and went on a joy ride. It had been reported stolen from County Road 2125. A sheriff’s deputy found the backhoe, driven by Jason Bennett, 38, on State Highway 21. He appeared to have been intoxicated. KETK reports Bennett was charged with theft, driving while intoxicated and reckless destruction of property. His bond is set at $17,000. Bennett was fined an additional $100 for a mailbox that had been destroyed by the backhoe.

HALLSVILLE — Speed limit changes are implemented in parts of Hallsville. KETK and the Longview News-Journal report the speed limit has dropped from 35 to 25 miles per hour in the Timber Ridge and Rutland subdivisions. The changes are safety precautions for cyclists and pedestrians in those neighborhoods.

WINONA (AP/Staff) — An attorney for the family of a two-year-old found dead Wednesday morning has released a statement on behalf of the family. According to KETK, Austin Reeve Jackson says, “Any reports as to inappropriate behavior on their part during the search for their son is entirely false. The tears they have cried, and continue to cry, are as real as they are plentiful. During the investigation the family cooperated with law enforcement and wanted nothing more than to see the safe return of their son. At this time, the Kimbley family remains committed to working to see a just outcome for their son and the reuniting of their family under happier circumstances.”

The body of Jacob Kimbley, found in a septic tank near his home, has been sent to Dallas for autopsy. Justice of the Peace Mitch Shamburger says the results are expected by the end of this week. Authorities say as in similar cases, the death is treated as a homicide until the evidence indicates otherwise.

Jacob went missing from his home on Farm Road 16 near Winona just before 2:00 pm on Tuesday, setting off a search that involved a team of over 150 emergency responders and volunteers. Authorities say Kimbley disappeared while playing hide and seek with two other children, who are unharmed. Kimbley was described as non-verbal and mentally challenged. The investigation into his death is continuing, spearheaded by the Smith County Sheriff’s Office. As the investigation got underway, Child Protective Services removed the other children from the home. They will be placed in foster care.

TYLER — Small businesses across the country: struggling, not only to turn a profit, but just keep their doors open. KETK reports some are getting a little sympathy from Washington. Texas Senator John Cornyn dropped by Tyler Wednesday lending an ear to some East Texans trying to turn a profit in this shaky economy. Four men representing three very different East Texas businesses met with Cornyn to discuss very similar concerns. Cornyn commented that one common theme is uncertainty — about regulation, taxes, and the cost of doing business. The senator says, “Businesses like these are unwilling, for good reason, to hire new employees and to make any significant investment in growing their businesses because they just don’t know what’s gonna happen.”

Mark Chamblee, owner of Chamblee Rose Nursery in Tyler, hosted the discussion. Chamblee says the meeting definitely gave Cornyn an unfiltered view of exactly what’s happening. What the businessmen are up against are rising costs of operation and trepidation about expanding their businesses — and they don’t feel the president understands their importance to the economy. One participant chimed in that without such businesses, “There would be no taxes to collect to build a road, to build a bridge, or to hire policeman, or to get an inspector or to even fund the president’s job.”

Both the senator and the business owners believe Wednesday’s discussion will go a long way in making their voices heard in Washington. Cornyn says, “I think this is a powerful way to tell a story that people would not otherwise listen to.”

TATUM — The Rusk County Sheriff’s Office is reaching out to citizens to assist in identifying a suspect in a theft of batteries from a BP American Production Company oilfield lease on County Road 2145 in Tatum. On August 11, around 6:00pm, an unidentified white male entered onto BP property and took two 12 volt, Optima Gel, Deep Cycle batteries, with “Stolen from BP” branded across the top. According to KETK and the sheriff’s office, the batteries are valued at approximately $250 each. The suspect was captured on a hidden camera located near the batteries.

Any information may be reported to the Rusk County Crime Stoppers at 903-655-8477 or Rusk County Sheriff’s Office at 903-657-3581. The Rusk County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 for information leading to the suspect’s arrest.

HOUSTON (AP/Staff) – Texas landowners are vowing to fight on despite a county judge’s ruling that a Canadian company can run a pipeline across private property to bring crude oil to Gulf Coast refineries. Red’Arc farm manager Julia Trigg Crawford is behind the lawsuit. She says in a statement Thursday she is disappointed by the ruling from Lamar County Court-at-Law Judge Bill Harris that TransCanada can use eminent domain to obtain right of way across her family’s farm. Harris issued the ruling late Wednesday. Crawford says she will take her battle to the state Legislature.

TransCanada wants to build a pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to Gulf Coast refineries. While it awaits a U.S. State Department decision on that project, it plans to construct a section of pipeline from Oklahoma to the Gulf. That portion of the pipeline would run through much of East Texas

TYLER — One person is in custody in connection with a Tyler drive-by shooting. It happened just after 12:30 yesterday morning at 829 West 32nd Street. The victim said a grey sedan had fired several shots at the house. The suspect’s vehicle was found a short time later and after a brief pursuit, four black males jumped out of the car, while it was still moving, and fled. Officers were able to apprehend one of the suspects, identified as a juvenile. The other suspects were able to evade arrest.

Inside the vehicle, officers found a firearm and other evidence. The captured suspect was taken to the police department and was interviewed by detectives. He was charged with aggravated assault and evading arrest. He’ll be transported to the Smith County Juvenile Attention Center due to his juvenile status. No one was injured at the victim’s house.

WILLS POINT (AP) – Officials say nobody was hurt in a fiery wreck involving a freight train and a gasoline tanker truck in East Texas. Union Pacific spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza says the accident happened around 1:30 yesterday morning in Wills Point. Emergency crews applied foam as spilled gasoline from the truck burned for several hours. The flames were nearly out by about dawn.
Espinoza says the trucker jumped from the cab before the train hit the rig, which apparently became stuck on the tracks. Espinoza says the residential-area crossing is not equipped to handle a big tanker. She says a conductor and an engineer were on the train hauling containers with mixed freight. No hazardous materials were on board. Some nearby homes briefly were evacuated, as a precaution.

TYLER — A woman who confessed to robbing a Tyler bank will have a long time in prison to think about her actions. After deliberating over 5 hours Wednesday, a jury sentenced Vanessa Ashley Ashford, 28, to 50 years in prison. On Monday, she had pleaded guilty to the March 29th robbery of the Regions Bank at 1810 East Southeast Loop 323. The Shreveport, Louisiana woman decided to let a jury determine her punishment.

The bank was robbed by a woman with a large knife. Witnesses were able to get a partial license plate of the woman’s car. Tyler Police Officers responding to the area located a black Chevrolet Impala at University/Lazy Creek in Tyler and initiated a traffic stop. The officers found a bag full of money and an exploded die pack in the trunk of the woman’s car.

After she was arrested for the Regions Bank robbery, she admitted to officers she also robbed the Telco Credit Union on West Front Street in Tyler back on February 29th.

LUFKIN — A jury has found a Lufkin man guilty of the stabbing death of Frederic Gilmore back in March. The jury deliberated in just under two hours Wednesday before returning the guilty verdict against Rodney Evan Shepherd, 44. The punishment phase of his trial starts on Friday.

Gilmore was found lying in the front yard of a home at 908 Rowe Avenue. He had a stab wound in his neck. He was taken to the hospital where he died. Gilmore told officers that he and Shepherd had been arguing inside the house. The argument then moved outside where Shepherd said he stabbed Gilmore.

TYLER — Tropical Storm Isaac is getting better organized. KTBB’s Dr. Bob Peters said Wednesday morning that Isaac was moving through the eastern Caribbean, and will probably intensify to a hurricane Thursday morning. Peters says eventual landfall will probably be in Florida, most likely Monday. He adds that landfall could be in Tampa Bay, and it could be Monday night, with peak winds of about 95 miles an hour. KTBB owner/general manager Paul Gleiser will be in Tampa covering the Republican National Convention.