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HENDERSON (AP) – A Fort Worth hunter who allegedly thought he bagged a deer faces a weapons charge over the fatal shooting of an Overton man. The Rusk County Sheriff’s Office on Monday announced 54-year-old Rodney Connally has been arraigned on a felony charge of unlawful possession of a firearm. Bond was set at $50,000. Sgt. Viki Penny had no information on an attorney for Connally. She told The Associated Press it does not appear that Connally knew 41-year-old Louis Conner Jr. The shooting happened Saturday morning on a deer lease. Penny says Connally notified officers when he thought he shot a deer, then discovered Conner had been shot. Penny described the investigation as an “accidental shooting” and says results will be forwarded to prosecutors. Further details on Connally were not immediately released.

LONGVIEW — Four persons have been cited for reckless damage or destruction following a four acre grass fire. It started near Longview around 1:00 New Year’s morning when fireworks the group was shooting started a fire in a wooded area near McCann and Graystone Road. Had it not been for the quick response by the Longview and Judson Metro Fire Departments, nearby houses and buildings could have been destroyed or damaged.

MABANK – Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the New Year’s Day fire at the Edward Jones Building in Mabank. It was reported around 8:00am. While the fire was contained in the Jones’ building, there was some smoke damage at nearby stores. No injuries were reported.

EAST TEXAS — Tyler and Longview have welcomed the first babies of the New Year. Both were little girls. Tyler’s first born in 2011 arrived at Mother Francis Hospital at 12:26 Saturday morning. Lillian Elizabeth Holm tipped the scales at 8 pounds and one ounce. She is the daughter of Kenneth and Tiffany Holm. By 5:30 Saturday night, six babies were born at Mother Francis Hospital.

Longview’s first born of the year arrived at 3:32 Saturday morning at Good Shepherd Medical Center. She is Nyla Pierce, the daughter of Nathan and Carrie Pierce of Carthage. Nyla weighed in at 7 pounds and 8 ounces.

TYLER — Suddenlink and Viacom have announced that they’ve reached an agreement, in, principle, on a long-term contract. That means the new agreement covers all of the Viacom networks included under the prior agreement. Of those networks, the seven typically featured on Suddenlink’s widely available Expanded Basic service are MTV, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Comedy Central, Spike TV, VH1, CMT. The others are featured on optional digital services and include Logo, Palladia HD, Nick Jr., TeenNick, NickToons, Nick2, MTV Hits, MTV2, MTV Jams, Tr3s, VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul, and CMT Pure Country.

In addition, EPIX will be made available to Suddenlink customers in the next few months. EPIX provides consumers with the latest Hollywood movies, 15,000 films from three of the top motion picture libraries and cutting-edge original programming on television, on demand and online, exclusively in HD and SD.

Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed. But, according to a statement released by Suddenlink, there will be no changes to the recently announced rate adjustments for Suddenlink’s most-popular services; the company will absorb any difference and customers will have a choice about whether or not they want EPIX.

ANDERSON COUNTY — A 17-year-old was pronounced dead 10 minutes before midnight Friday after a one-vehicle wreck in Anderson County. Brandon Heath Miller, 17, of Tennessee Colony died when his 1999 Jeep Cherokee veered off the road, struck a metal post and caught fire, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. The wreck occurred on FM 2054 north of Tennessee Colony. Miller was pronounced dead by Anderson County Justice of the Peace James Todd. His body was taken to Harrington Funeral Home in Palestine. The cause of the crash was under investigation

NACOGDOCHES — One man was arrested after a pursuit that, at times, reached more than 110 miles per hour while driving in the wrong lane of traffic down Highway 59 North at 5:30 a.m. Saturday. Samuel Thompson, 21-year-old Colmesneil resident, was charged with evading arrest in a motor vehicle and driving while intoxicated after he nearly hit two deputies head-on, Nacogdoches Constable Precinct 4 Jason Bridges said.

Thompson, driving a gold Saturn, was first clocked driving 98 miles per hour when Precinct 4 Deputy Constable Jimmy Marble attempted to stop the vehicle. According to the Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel online, Thompson nearly hit both Marble and Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Deputy Ben Curtis, who was transporting an inmate to the Nacogdoches County Jail at the time, and Marble continued the pursuit. Thompson nearly hit several other vehicles while continuing in the wrong lane of traffic into Angelina County, where Marble was able to get the vehicle stopped, Bridges said.

GILMER — Three Upshur County Officials, indicted on charges of official oppression and abuse of official capacity, have turned themselves into authorities. Released on their own personal recognizance were County Judge Dean Fowler, Sheriff Anthony Betterton and Precinct 3 Commissioner Lloyd Crabtree. The action comes after they ended public comment at commissioners court meetings and allegedly threw a man out for having duct tape over his mouth. Yesterday Upshur County Commissioners voted to return public comments to the courts agendas.

JACKSONVILLE — An East Texas Teacher resigns after indecent photos of her surfaced. Krystal Looney, 25, taught at Jacksonville High School up until the pictures surfaced on the internet during the Christmas break. Autumn Green, who says she was kicked off a cheerleading squad coached by Looney, posted the pictures online. KETK spoke with Green, who says she put the pictures of Looney on her facebook wall. Green tells us she did not realize Looney would lose her job. Looney did not want to comment, but other sources confirm the pictures were taken off and Looney resigned.

Superintendent Joe Wardell says, “All I can tell you is that we did have a teacher resign over Christmas break. We’re very limited by law as to what information we can give out about any kind of personnel issue.” Jacksonville’s employee standards of conduct says: “Employees shall be held to the same professional standards in their public use of electronic media as they are for any other public conduct.”

WHITEHOUSE — A 19-year-old East Texan gets one year in jail after sexting a minor. Matthew Bower, Whitehouse, was sentenced for sending a nude photo of himself to a 14-year-old girl. With more and more teens getting cell phones, some parents say it’s a problem. Experts say it’s important to set ground rules.

LONGVIEW — Longview Police have released the name of the woman found dead in a motel Thursday morning. She is said to be Bridget Jefferson, 37, of White Oak. Just before 8:00 yesterday morning, officers were dispatched to the Executive Inn and Suites 1900 block of East Marshall. Officers found Jefferson dead. An autopsy has been ordered. Officials said multiple people of interest were being sought in connection with the investigation, and investigators were studying video footage from security cameras in the area to determine who may have been in the room with the woman.

MARSHALL — A Marshall woman is arrested after leading authorities on a two-county chase. Taken into custody Tuesday afternoon was Lisa Shields, 46. The Department of Public Safety says state troopers tried to stop her car near the 611 mile marker on Interstate Highway 20 in Harrison County. It took officers 15 minutes before she was finally stopped near the 591 mile marker in Gregg County. At times her speed reached 130 miles an hour. She was booked into the Harrison County Jail on charges of evading arrest and reckless driving and her bond set at $9,000.

TYLER – Two persons have been arrested in connection with the robbery of an individual. It happened Wednesday afternoon in an apartment in the 4400 Block of Kinsey. The victim told officers he, his roommate and three or four other people were there playing video games. At some point the victim heard a visitors leave. He realized that they had taken some of his property which included his gun, his wallet and other personal property. He went outside and saw some of the visitors leave in a green Hyundai Elantra. Officers located the green Hyundai Elantra in the area and detained the occupants.

Investigators have confirmed their involvement in the robbery and recovered the weapon and some of the personal property. Arrested in the case were Benjamin White, 21, was was charged with aggravated robbery, and Rashad Williams, 20, who was charged with ggravated robbery and possession of a controlled substance.

TYLER — The Tyler Police Department and other Smith County law enforcement agencies will be out in force during the New Year holiday on the lookout for drunken drivers, and they won’t be taking “no” for an answer. Starting Thursday and continuing through Sunday, a multi-joint effort between the Smith County District Attorney’s Office and police agencies from all over Smith County will participate in the “No-Refusal” DWI Campaign once again. Upon the arrest of a suspected drunk driver, he or she will be asked if they would submit to blow into a breath-test machine or take a blood test. If the driver refuses, officers will obtain an immediate search warrant signed by a judge on call to have blood drawn by a nurse on staff at the Smith County Jail. The blood is then analyzed to determine whether the driver’s blood-alcohol concentration is 0.08 or higher, the legal limit for driving in Texas.

Tyler police say this program has proven to be an effective tool to combat drunken drivers. According to a police department news release, it is the intent of all law enforcement agencies that this effort will act as a deterrent, persuading people to avoid driving while intoxicated because they know that police officers will be conducting sobriety testing with or without driver’s consent. Simply put, according to police: “Please don’t drink and drive!”

LONGVIEW — Police in Longview are investigating a hit-and-run accident that happened Tuesday evening shortly after 10:15. Police say Khanh Vu, 52, of Longview walked eastbound across the 900 block of Pine Tree Road, failed to yield right of way, and was struck by an oncoming vehicle. The vehicle then fled the area without stopping to provide aid. Khanh Vu was transported to a local hospital with life threatening injuries. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Longview Police Department.