KTBB News, Weather, Talk

TYLER — The City of Tyler Police Department received notification yesterday that they have been awarded a grant from the United States Department of Justice COPS Hiring Program (CHP) for four police officer positions. The estimated federal funding to be awarded over the three-year grant period is $853,988.

Currently, the City of Tyler has 187 officers and the additional four officers will bring the total to 191. The new officers will be assigned to the Community Response Unit which provides community policing. The Unit consists to six officers and will grow to 10 with this grant.

The recruitment for the new officers will begin in the next few weeks with the scheduling of a civil service test to identify potential candidates for the positions. For information about the test, please visit http://www.cityoftyler.org

VAN — Van school officials are battling Staph Infections and MRSA. Officials with the Northeast Texas Public Health District say a large portion of high school students are infected, most of them varsity football players. They say football players are more susceptible because they are more likely to have open wounds. Officials say MRSA can be deadly because of its resistance to drugs. According to KETK, that’s why, they say they’re doing everything they can to make sure there are no new cases. Officials say washing your hands is the best way to prevent it from spreading.

Van school officials have addressed the student body. As for parents, a meeting will take place at the Van High School Library on Monday, October 4th at 7:00.

ATHENS — A woman remained in the Henderson County Jail Thursday after scuffling with police at the East Texas Medical Center Gun Barrel City facility. Pamela Jeanne Struble, 47, was charged with two counts of assault on a public servant, possession of a prohibited substance in a correctional facility and criminal mischief. According to KETK, she was also held for disorderly conduct and public intoxication. Total bond on Struble was set at $57,500. Gun Barrel City Chief of Police Damon Boswell said Struble entered the hospital Monday, and began screaming that she was going to kill herself.

TYLER (AP) — A federal judge has lifted a 39-year-old statewide school desegregation order from all but nine rural Texas public school systems in what is now largely a symbolic move.

U.S. District Judge Michael H. Schneider of Tyler found that all but nine of the school systems have either been released from desegregation orders by other federal judges, or are under separate desegregation orders issued in different cases, or weren’t parties to the 1970 suit that spawned the statewide order.

In a four-page order issued this week, Schneider noted that he has neither examined nor determined whether the freed districts are fully desegregated. The districts remaining under the order are mostly small-town districts in east Texas. They are the Buffalo, Colmesneil, Daingerfield, Fairfield, Malakoff, Nacogdoches, Oakwood, Smithville and Whitewright school districts.

TYLER — Two men, one from Rusk County, have entered guilty pleas in Tyler federal court in separate methamphetamine trafficking cases. Derrick Duwayne Walker, 23, of Henderson pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. According to prosecutors, on Jan. 21, 2009, Walker was found in possession of methamphetamine which he intended to distribute to others. Walker was also indicted by a federal grand jury on May 6 and faces up to 20 years in federal prison when sentenced.

In a separate case, Dannis Ivan Villarreal, 24, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, pleaded guilty to being involved in a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. According to information presented in court, on Jan. 25, 2010, Villarreal was stopped for a traffic violation on IH-20 near Longview. A search of the vehicle revealed 13 lbs. of methamphetamine hidden in a secret compartment built into the vehicle. Villarreal was transporting the drugs from Dallas to Georgia. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 6 and charged with drug trafficking violations. Villarreal faces a minimum of 10 years in federal prison. Sentencing dates have not been set for either man.

TYLER – Two men enter guilty pleas in Tyler federal court in separate methamphetamine trafficking cases. 24-year-old Dannis Ivan Villarreal of Lawrenceville, Georgia, pleaded guilty to being involved in a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. According to information presented in court, on Jan. 25, 2010, Villarreal was stopped for a traffic violation on IH-20 near Longview. A search of the vehicle revealed 13 lbs. of methamphetamine hidden in a secret compartment built into the vehicle. Villarreal was transporting the drugs from Dallas to Georgia. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 6 and charged with drug trafficking violations. Villarreal faces a minimum of 10 years in federal prison.

In a separate case, Derrick Duwayne Walker, 23, of Henderson, Texas, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. According to prosecutors, on Jan. 21, 2009, Walker was found in possession of methamphetamine which he intended to distribute to others. Walker was also indicted by a federal grand jury on May 6 and faces up to 20 years in federal prison when sentenced. Sentencing dates have not been set for either man.

TYLER — Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: SBSI) is announces that Chairman and CEO B. G. Hartley will preside over the NASDAQ Opening Bell ceremony at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City’s Times Square on Monday October 4, 2010 at 8:30 a.m. CDT. “We will be ringing the Opening Bell at NASDAQ as part of Southside’s 50th anniversary celebration,” said Hartley. “We are honored to celebrate this milestone with one of our most valued partners. Our association with NASDAQ has been extremely positive, providing Southside Bancshares, Inc. increased exposure that has been an integral part of our growth.”

TYLER — Senator Kevin Eltife and former Mayor Joey Seeber have announced that the VOTE YES Committee will again support the Tyler Independent School District Bond election set for November 2. The VOTE YES Committee comprises a community-wide group of citizens voicing their support of TISD and the proposed bond package. The committee was originally formed in 2004 in support of the successful Phase 1 bond proposal, and VOTE YES also worked for the successful passage of the Phase 2 bond in 2008. Eltife and Seeber co-chaired the past two VOTE YES committees in both the 2004 and 2008 bond elections.

As part of the Master Facilities Plan, Phase 3 includes replacement schools for Dixie Elementary and Rice Elementary, which will conclude all of the elementary work by either rebuilding or remodeling all elementary campuses within TISD. With all elementary work completed, the District takes its first step in Phase 3 to include a new middle school which will be located in Southwest Tyler. 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. The 2010 Bond proposal totals $89.85 million, and Eltife and Seeber say it’s projected to come with no change in the tax rate.

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. School bond issues are a way for the local voters to have input in the process and we fully respect the will of the voters. We hope we can earn their support. And we welcome anyone who would like to join our VOTE YES Committee.” Seeber added, “No great community is built without great public schools. I am proud to enthusiastically endorse this Bond Proposal and encourage others to join me and the VOTE YES Committee.” For more information, you can call the VOTE YES campaign office at 903-360-VOTE (8683).

TYLER — On Thursday, Tyler Police Investigators arrested a second suspect in connection to the homicide of Ronnie Kemp that occurred in Winters Park. The suspect is 18-year-old Amie Catherine Dean of Tyler. She’s the daughter of 60-year-old Sharieff Hussein Dean, who was arrested on Wednesday. Amie Dean was charged with capital murder for retaliation, and her bond was set at $1,000,000 by Judge Judge Skeen. The elder Dean was charged with the same crime, and his bond was set at the same amount. Police say Kemp’s murder occurred on July 5. That night, officers were dispatched to the park at 910 S. Peach Street in reference to a welfare concern. Upon arrival, officers located the body of the 48-year-old Kemp, a Tyler resident.

TYLER — The Texas Association of Regional Councils announces that one of its Citizen Corps Custom Trailers is being awarded to the Smith County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) serving within the East Texas Council of Governments region. “This award is given in recognition of outstanding community outreach work by the Smith County CERT Program, under the direction of Emergency Management Coordinator Oren Hale,” Executive Director of the Texas Association of Regional Councils Penny Redington said. The Smith County CERT program has been recognized as an outstanding program for their Citizen Corp services and local outreach efforts. The trailer will be used by the Smith County CERT team for transporting equipment during deployments, for training and drills and for public awareness events.

TYLER — Two persons are in custody in connection with a south Tyler robbery. It happened just before 5:30 Wednesday afternoon in the 5500 block of South Broadway. The victim told officers he was robbed at gunpoint of an undetermined amount of money. The victim, in his vehicle, then followed the two suspects to the 4600 block of Plauxy Drive. That’s where officers first located the vehicle. They stopped it in the 2400 block of McDonald Road. The two suspects were arrested and charged with aggravated robbery and placed in the Smith County Jail pending arraignment. No injures were reported.

TYLER — A Gregg County man has been sentenced to federal prison for money laundering. Dantrel Robert, 28, of Longview, pleaded guilty in January and was sentenced Wednesday to 60 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Leonard E. Davis. Robert was also ordered to forfeit $30,000.00.

According to information presented in court, Robert was involved in a drug trafficking scheme which involved money being sent to California where it was used to buy illegal prescription drugs, such as codeine and hydrocodone. The prescription drugs were then smuggled from California to East Texas for distribution. After the illegal prescription drugs were sold in East Texas, the money was sent back to California to purchase more drugs, luxury vehicles and other property. A 14-count federal indictment was returned by a grand jury on June 3, 2009, charging Robert and 6 other individuals with conspiracy to comment money laundering.

TEXARKANA (AP) — A Mount Pleasant man is to report to federal prison on Veterans Day for falsely claiming blindness to get veterans benefits. Former U.S. Marine Jim Bob Shipp begins his 63-month sentence on November 11, and must repay more than $800,000. Shipp maintains his innocence and says he’ll appeal.

RUSK — A woman has lost her life in a Cherokee County fire. The body of Anita Perry was found in the wreckage of her burned home Tuesday night. The house is located outside of Rusk on Farm Road 768. The mobile home was fully engulfed in flames when firemen arrived on the scene. Along with Perry, her pet dog and cat were also found dead in the wreckage. The cause of the fire, which is believed to have started in a bed room, remains under investigation.

TYLER (AP) — A Tyler man must serve 45 years in prison over a fatal stabbing during a party at a Smith County deputy sheriff’s home. Prosecutors say Joshua Dwain Barnes on Wednesday pleaded guilty to murder in a plea agreement. Barnes also apologized over the Dec. 27, death of James Brandon Lee.

Barnes, who served in the U.S. Army in Iraq, originally claimed self defense, but prosecutors said his recorded confession to police would be used at trial. Barnes and Lee had argued at a party of then-Deputy Terry Helms Lindsey of Tyler.

Lindsey in June was sentenced to 10 years of probation and six months in jail after pleading guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Investigators say Lindsey, who was off duty, beat Barnes after Barnes stabbed Lee. Lindsey was fired after his arrest.