KTBB News, Weather, Talk

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

HENDERSON COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation contractor Garey Construction, Ltd. today is scheduled to shift traffic through the construction project on US 175 between Eustace and the Kaufman County Line. Eastbound traffic will be shifted to the permanent lanes, and the interchange at State Highway 334 will be opened to traffic. Meanwhile, final resurfacing work on the westbound lanes is scheduled to continue, causing traffic to remain reduced to one lane until the resurfacing work is completed.

Also this week in Henderson County, TxDOT maintenance crews are scheduled to continue base and pavement repairs on Ranch Road 2588 south of LaRue. Daytime lane closures will be in effect in each location while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic.

GREGG COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to perform pavement repairs in several locations throughout Gregg County, including:
* Loop 485 in Gladewater;
* US 80 near White Oak;
* Spur 63 in Longview
* SH 322 south of Longview
Daytime lane closures will be in effect in each location while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic in two-lane areas.

SMITH COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to perform edge repairs on Farm Road 346 in Flint between U.S. Highway 69 and Farm Road 2493. Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic.

RUSK COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to continue several days of resurfacing operations in various locations on U.S. Highway 84 east of U.S. Highway 259 in Mount Enterprise. Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress, and motorists are encouraged to be prepared to reduce speed and merge in and around the work zone.

ANDERSON COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to perform resurfacing operations in various locations on Farm Road 315 between U.S. Highway 175 in Poynor and Farm Road 837 in Brushy Creek. Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic.

VAN ZANDT COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to continue base and pavement repair operations on Farm Road 751 in the northwest corner of the county between the Hunt County Line and Ranch Road 47 in Wills Point.

A second crew will be at work performing fog seal operations on Interstate Highway 20 frontage roads near Farm Road 773, State Highway 19 and Farm Road 1255. Daytime lane closures will be in effect in each location while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic.

QUITMAN — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to begin approximately two weeks of resurfacing operations on State Highway 154 east of State Highway 37 near Quitman High School. Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic in two-lane areas.

TYLER — The Texas Rose Festival begins Thursday, and a special touch at Friday’s coronations will be stories that make Tyler special — and that you’ve probably never heard. They range from the city’s connection with the classic film “Casablanca” to how Tyler emerged from a failed peach crop to become a leader in the rose industry. On KTBB “Staff Meeting,” Festival Executive Vice President Tom Ramey said the Queen’s Court will provide the details: “Each girl will represent a story that sets this city unique — apart from any other city in America.” Ramey says one of his favorite stories involves the rose being named the national flower in 1986. According to Ramey, “It was a man from Tyler, Texas, who said, ‘We will do whatever it takes to make the rose the national flower of America.'” Ramey says details will come at the coronations.

The number to call for coronation tickets is (903) 566-7424. You can also go to http://www.texasrosefestival.com for more information. The “Staff Meeting” show is available at http://www.ktbb.com/audio beginning early Monday morning.

LONGVIEW — Tomorrow, neighborhoods throughout Longview will join forces during the Texans Against Crime event. Texans Against Crime is sponsored by the City of Longview Partners in Prevention and the Longview Police Department. This is the 20th year that the City of Longview has participated in an awareness campaign against crime. Currently, 79 block parties are planned across Longview.

All citizens are encouraged to participate by hosting or attending one of the many TAC parties designed to promote neighborhood alliances that strengthen our community and preserve the quality of life in East Texas.

To register to host a block party, or to find out about parties in your area, please call Partners in Prevention 903-237-1019.

TYLER — One person has been injured and one is being sought in connection with a Tyler stabbing. Officers received a call shortly after 1:35 Saturday morning that a stabbing victim was being treated at Mother Francis Hospital. The victim told officers the incident happened at a party at 514 West Barrett Avenue. The victim identified the suspect, who was said to have immediately fled the scene following the stabbing.

TYLER — Tyler Police Investigators have arrested three suspects in connection to an aggravated sexual assault of a child case that was reported on September 26. Police say the incident occurred on September 3, when five men in their late teens picked up three female juveniles ages 12, 14 and 15. The females all live in the Chapel Hill school district and were attending a high school football game at Rose Stadium. According to police, the girls went with the men to a private residence in Tyler, where the three suspects allegedly sexually assaulted the 12 year old girl. Police say after the assault took place, the girls were dropped off back at the football stadium.

Arrested were Joshua L. Baker and Glenn Authar Williams, both 18, and 19-year-old Brandon High, all of Tyler. Police add that the suspects have been identified as members of a local criminal street gang. Investigators are pursuing further charges for engaging in organized criminal activity. Judge Jack Skeen set bond at $250,000 for aggravated sexual assault of a child, a 1st degree felony.

LONGVIEW — The Longview Police Department has been awarded a Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (S.T.E.P.) grant from the Texas Department of Transportation for 2010 – 2011, awarding the Department of up to $62,109 to be used for providing additional traffic enforcement. Including local match funds, the S.T.E.P. grant has a total program budget of $95,560.63 that will be used to pay off-duty officers to conduct traffic enforcement on overtime. The current grant runs from October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011.

The awarding of the grant represents the fourth consecutive year the Longview Police Department has received a comprehensive S.T.E.P. grant, which focuses enforcement on speeding, seatbelt, and child restraint violations and driving while intoxicated. While seatbelt and DWI enforcement is conducted City-wide, speed enforcement is concentrated on ten sites that have been identified to have a compliance rate of less than fifty percent. Speed surveys conducted show compliance rates as low five percent at one site, to a high of forty-eight percent at a site that has been a S.T.E.P. speed site for several years.

The 500 – 900 block of E. Loop 281 had a compliance rate of only fourteen percent at the beginning of 2008, but has increased to forty-eight percent (48%) due to the increased enforcement provided by the S.T.E.P. grant. Police say the higher compliance rate at this location is an indicator that the program is working to reduce overall speeds at that location, but still has a lot of violators.

The 2009 – 2010 Comprehensive S.T.E.P. grant ended on September 30, 2010. Work under that grant resulted in the following:

Number of Hours of Enforcement: 1,560
Speeding Tickets Issued: 2,876
Adult Seatbelt & Child Restraint Tickets Issued: 1,044
Other Tickets Issued: 1,019
DWI Arrests: 51
Arrests for Other Offenses: 57

According to Sgt. Buddy Molpus, Traffic Section Supervisor and Program Coordinator for S.T.E.P., it is the goal of S.T.E.P. to reduce the severity of traffic crashes that occur in Longview as well as reduce the number of crashes. “We know for a fact that the speed of vehicles involved in a crash plays a major role in how serious that crash will be. We also know that properly wearing seatbelts and using child safety seat systems correctly will reduce the number and severity of injuries received when a traffic crash does occur. If we can increase voluntary compliance with speed limits and convince motorists and their passengers to buckle up, we can make a positive impact on traffic safety in Longview,” Molpus said.

“Crashes are going to happen,” Molpus continued. “It’s inevitable. The number of crashes that happen may rise and fall from year to year because of a variety of factors outside of our control. But if we can reduce the overall severity, that’s huge.”

KILGORE — Smith County Precinct 4 Commissioner JoAnn Hampton has been appointed Chair of the East Texas Council of Governments Board of Directors at the group’s semi-annual meeting. Commissioner Hampton has served on the Board of Directors for eight years and says she’s looking forward to leading the board in the upcoming year. “It is an honor to serve as Board Chair for the East Texas Council of Governments. This organization helps Smith County and all surrounding counties work together for a greater mutual benefit,” Commissioner Hampton said.

The outgoing Chair, Emory Mayor Cay House, also presented Commissioner Hampton with the 2010 Chairman’s Service Award during the meeting. Mayor House said that Commissioner Hampton went above and beyond her duties as a board member and made it her mission to help members of ETCOG work together, bridge differences and reach goals throughout the year.

The East Texas Council of Governments is a voluntary association of counties, cities, school districts and special districts within the fourteen-county East Texas region. ETCOG provides programs and services for East Texas seniors, employers and job seekers; peace officer training and homeland security planning services; rural transportation services; business finance programs; grant writing services; and environmental grant funding for the region.

NACOGDOCHES — Police on Thursday arrested a third person in connection with Monday night’s stabbing death of Thomas Grimes, 49, at a North Street apartment complex where he lived. Melinda Long-Smith, 22, is charged of tampering with evidence and hindering apprehension for allegedly helping homicide suspect Nathan Welsh elude police officers Tuesday. According to KETK, Grimes was found at about 10:50 p.m. Monday outside his apartment suffering from multiple stab wounds, which police say stemmed from a disturbance inside his Austin Place apartment. Milton Brown, 18, was arrested for murder earlier this week in connection with the stabbing.

TYLER – Tyler’s most outstanding citizen is retired oncologist Dr. Gary T. Kimmel. He was presented the T.B. Butler Award Thursday night at the annual meeting of the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce. Kimmel, who moved to Tyler in the mid 70s, retired in 2001. He is the founder and board president of the Cancer Foundation for Life. Also at the meeting, the W.C. Windsor Award was presented to Sharon Brown Wynne. She’s an active community volunteer and current president of the Junior League of Tyler. This award goes to someone under the age of 40 who has contributed greatly to the community.

Other awards presented Thursday night: Brookshire Grocery Company was named Large Business of the Year, and Janie’s Cakes was honored as the Small Business of the Year. B.J. Hornbostel was a double winner, taking home the Volunteer of the Year and Mary Howes Awards. The Howes Award was given to Hornbostel for her work with the Chamber’s Contact Club. Lynda York was gaveled in as Chamber Board Chairman for the new fiscal year as the meeting came to a close.

TYLER — As dry weather persists, several counties have issued burn bans. On Thursday, a 7-day emergency burn ban was declared for Rusk County, according to KETK. Other area counties forbidding outdoor burning include Angelina, Gregg, Panola, Harrison, and Henderson. East Texas has been hit with a number of brush fires in recent days due to the dry and sometimes windy weather.

TYLER — Grassroots America – We the People Executive Director JoAnn Fleming Thursday announced the organization’s opposition to Tyler ISD’s proposed $89.8 million bond on the upcoming November 2 ballot. Fleming says after a careful review of the bond package details, the Grassroots Board of Directors and Watchdog Committee found the bond package lacking in details necessary to ensure taxpayers the wisest long-term use of tax dollars.

Fleming says” In good faith, we invited TISD officials to make their presentation to us last week. We spent more than two hours viewing their plans and asking questions. Bottom line – the district is not ready for this. There are just too many unanswered questions for taxpayers to take a $90 million risk and hope the district figures out the details later.”

Fleming claims the answers to the following questions are unknown:

1. TISD officials say they are working on preliminary steps regarding the standing desegregation order. How will possible future lifting of this order impact attendance zones and facility needs?

2. The TISD Superintendent plans alternative grade configurations – pairing and housing certain grades together. What is the plan? How will it change grade alignments/facilities/annual operating costs/academics? Will we need more facilities or fewer?

3. Where will the new proposed Rice Elementary School be built? Existing site? New location? If new location, where? Is there a vacant 15-acre parcel of land in the Rice attendance zone? If not, will the district use eminent domain to secure the new site?

4. TISD officials indicate there will be future opportunities to close or re-purpose some of the existing middle schools? Which ones? How soon? At what impact to long-term costs?

5. How much will it cost annually to operate the proposed new middle school (teachers, staff, utilities, supplies, maintenance, etc.)? TISD officials say that “it could cost up to $2 million in additional operating costs” and state “it is difficult to know how much it will cost until boundaries are determined and enrollments and staffing can be calculated.”

6. How will the added cost of operating the proposed new middle school be funded since the District’s maintenance and operating portion of the tax rate is at the cap, and the 2010-2011 budget is currently balanced with $5 million in federal stimulus funds held in the State’s Rainy Day fund?

Fleming added:

· “Tyler ISD has had no real conversation with the community stakeholders (parents, homeowners, business owners) to discuss and reevaluate the district needs and priorities. They still have no public hearings posted, and we are less than 30 days away from the election.”

· “TISD says the bond election won’t increase the tax rate. This is misleading. The truth is, when the old bonds ($221 million – principal only – from 2004 and 2008 bond elections) pay off, taxes are expected to go down. This is like paying off a huge credit card balance one day and running up a new balance the next day. Your payments might not go up, but you are still in debt! We can no longer ignore debt in this country – debt at any level of government. If the district can stuff another $90 million into the debt portion of the tax rate, this means there’s enough room to reduce taxes. Keeping taxes at the higher rate is a tax increase. To say it any other way is just wrong.”

Fleming concluded, “With so much uncertainty in the economy as a whole – and with rising debt piled on taxpayers and future generations by federal and state government – here at the local level, taxpayers need, want, and deserve clearly-defined long-range plans. We need to know what the plans are and how much they will cost us. We need to understand what results we can expect from the plans. We need a chance to discuss it as a community before we vote to add more local debt. Grassroots America – We the People urges voters to reject the Tyler ISD bond package. Bad planning, bad timing, too many unanswered questions = a debt risk we can’t afford!” You can go to http://www.gawtp.com to learn more about Fleming’s group.

Earlier, Senator Kevin Eltife and former Mayor Joey Seeber announced that the VOTE YES Committee will again support the bond issue. Eltife and Seeber say based on the age, capacity for growth and condition of the aging portable buildings on their campuses, it becomes more cost effective to build and maintain replacement schools. Eltife says, “We fully recognize that these are tough economic times and we hope to educate the voters on the need to continue with our phased approach to upgrading our school facilities.”

TYLER — A new twist in the case of a Smith County 2-year-old who survived after accidentally shooting himself in the head in the family’s bar. Family members tell KETK off-camera that Jaden McLean has been temporarily placed in foster care. There’s a gag order on the case, but sources tell the station that Dustin — Jaden’s father, who had main custody — was seen taking the boy back into the same bar where the shooting happened. The sources say that raised a flag with Child Protective Services. Jaden’s grandfather, Charles McLean, is free on bond after being charged with one count of making a firearm accessible to a child. Authorities say the boy wandered into an office at the bar and found the gun on a desk.

TYLER – Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics has earned the Gold Seal of Approval for health care quality. The Joint Commission awarded Mother Frances Hospital Disease-Specific Care Certification for cervical and lumbar spine treatment in the Spine Center and for hip and knee replacement in the Joint Replacement Center. To earn these distinctions, a disease management program undergoes an extensive on-site evaluation by a team of Joint Commission reviewers every two years. The program is evaluated against Joint Commission standards through an assessment of a program’s processes, the program’s ability to evaluate and improve care within its own organization, and interviews with patients and staff.

“This certification means Trinity Mother Frances does the right things and does them well for Spine Center and Joint Replacement Center patients,” says Jean E. Range, M.S., R.N., C.P.H.Q., executive director, Disease-Specific Care Certification, Joint Commission.

“We voluntarily pursued this comprehensive, independent evaluation to enhance the safety and quality of care we provide,” said Chris Glenney, vice president of operations, Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics. “We are proud to achieve this distinction that offers yet another aspect of differentiation for our Spine and Joint Replacement Centers.” According to press materials, The independent, not-for-profit Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care.

HENDERSON — A Henderson man found guilty of bomb threats gets ten years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system, probated for the full period — plus 180 days in jail as a condition of probation. On Thursday, following thirty minutes of jury deliberation, 20-year-old Lorenzo A. Luna had been convicted on three counts of felony terroristic threats for phoning in the threats to Henderson High School. Authorities say Luna phoned in three bomb threats, on Aug. 27 and 28 and on Sept. 1. Henderson High School was on lockdown and evacuated all three times. No bomb was found. The jury didn’t buy the defense contention that the bomb threats were merely pranks and thus only constituted misdemeanor offenses. Each charge carried a sentence of two to ten years in prison or two to ten years’ probation.

TYLER — Fire has damaged the Hudson Apartments on Shiloh Road. The blaze, with flames and smoke visible for blocks, was reported around 7:30 Wednesday night. At least eight apartments were damaged and around a dozen persons were displaced, but no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but KETK reports fire officials have determined that the blaze ignited in a sub-floor between the first and second stories, where electrical wiring can be found. Investigators say faulty wiring is a possible cause. Electricians will be called in to inspect the accident this week.

Meanwhile, the Smith County Chapter of the American Red Cross is assisting at least nine families affected by the fire. Executive Director Tammy Prater says the agency was assisting families most of Wednesday night and have been continuing their case work. “Residential fires are the single most common disaster threat in our area each year,” says Pratter, “and for a family that has lost everything, a home or apartment fire is just as devastating as a major tornado or hurricane. We are providing fire victims with assistance with food, clothing, prescriptions, temporary shelter, and other special needs the families may have.”

Prater continued, “Because of the number of families that are affected by this fire, our funds have been greatly depleted.” Prater said the blaze was expected to deplete at least 20% of the chapter’s entire disaster budget for the year. “Monies to fund this and other disaster operations come solely from local donations and we are asking for the community’s help,” said Prater.

The Smith County Red Cross Chapter responded to more than 146 home fires last year in East Texas, and provided over 480 individuals (almost 50 % were children) with immediate emergency assistance. To find out how you can help or for further information call 903-581-7981. To make a monetary donation, you can visit http://www.smithcounty.redcross.org or send money to to P. O. Box 8588, Tyler, TX 75711.