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LONGVIEW — In the past five years, 17 people have been killed in 14 unsolved homicides in Longview. That’s according the Longview News-Journal. The most recent unsolved homicide happened a little more than a month ago. Kareshia Jones, 30, was shot and killed on 15th Street. Many of these homicides have taken place on the south side of Longview. Longview officers say having just one open homicide investigation is one too many, adding it’s very difficult to solve crimes without the help from the community.

HOUSTON — The Texas Right to Life Political Action Committee Wednesday announced its endorsement of State Representative Bryan Hughes of Mineola for State Senate District 1. A statement from the pro-life group cited Hughes’s “zeal, diplomatic demeanor, and legal expertise.” Hughes so far is opposed by fellow Republican and District 7 State Representative David Simpson of Longview. Current District 1 Senator Kevin Eltife of Tyler has announced he won’t be running again.

ATHENS — The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office has seized over 5,000 marijuana plants from a wooded area, totaling over $5,000,000 in estimated value. KETK reports officials had been conducting an ongoing investigation of a large marijuana grow just outside Brownsboro. According to officials, the growers were apparently living in the area where the plants were found. No one’s been arrested, but investigators say they hope enough evidence was gathered to identify the growers.

LONGVIEW — The Longview Police Department will soon get a pay raise. According to KETK, in addition to a proposed 3 percent raise across the board for city employees, Longview could look to Tyler Police as an example of how to bolster police ranks with bigger wage increases for officers. As work continues on the next budget, City Manager David Willard said Longview is considering a pay structure similar to that of the Tyler Police Department, increasing salaries for every officer, with the largest raises going to officers with more than seven years of experience. Continue reading Pay Raise Planned for Longview Police

PALESTINE – Palestine police continue their search for the gunman responsible for the death of two persons. The shooting happened around 5:30 Saturday morning in the 900 block of North Conway Street. Killed were Timothy Laban Owens, 39, and Ashley Quinn, 25, both of Palestine. Owens was pronounced dead at the scene and Quinn died a couple of hours later at Palestine Regional Medical Center. A 17 year old boy, a relative of Owens, was in the home at the time of the shooting and said he saw a man running from the scene. He appeared to be about six feet tall and was wearing dark colored clothing. Palestine police and Texas Rangers are continuing the investigation of the deaths.

LONGVIEW — LeTourneau University’s Belcher Center has announces its 2015-2016 season. It starts on Thursday, Oct. 1 with the Broadway musical “Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Also included will be the The Texas Tenors, TAO, Seventeen Samurai, Peter Noone and Herman’s Hermits and humorist Dave Barry. You can go to http://www.belchercenter.com for details.

TYLER — Staffing at the Smith County Jail is a heated topic for the Commissioners Court. According to KETK, Sheriff Larry Smith says short staffing is not a new issue. It came up last year when commissioners were discussing the new jail plan, but the debate continues. On Tuesday, commissioners held an open discussion about creating new positions for the jail, as well as increasing the size of the staff. Sheriff Smith says it’s a compliance issue. Currently the jail does not have enough people to watch inmates in different pods, so officials are having trouble meeting jail standards. The sheriff plans to make a presentation outlining the multiple variables he says play into his jail staffing needs. Continue reading Jail Staffing Debated in Commissioners Court

HAWKINS — Members of an East Texas community are responding to the controversy surrounding a sign on city property. The Freedom from Religion Foundation is threatening a lawsuit unless the city of Hawkins relocates a sign on city property that reads, “Jesus welcomes you to Hawkins.” A recent city council meeting addressed the issue, but no action was taken. Now, smaller signs have been popping up all over the city in people’s yards with the same message. The mayor of Hawkins has expressed his support of leaving the sign exactly where it is — as did the majority of people who attended last week’s council meeting.

MABANK — The East Texas firefighter who lost his job after a Facebook post says the post was taken out of context. Kurtis Cook says his comment about the Charleston church shooting was in reference to someone else’s comment. The former Mabank volunteer firefighter wrote, “He needs to be praised for the good deed he has done” on a South Carolina newspaper’s Facebook page about a story on the shooting. Cook says there was a person who posted about donating a large sum of money to the victims — and he was saying that person deserved praise, not accused shooter Dylann Roof. A screenshot that went viral doesn’t show any of the comments above Cook’s comment. Cook has since deleted his Facebook account.

EAST TEXAS – ABC – How does a young artist follow-up her Grammy-winning debut? When it comes to her new album, “Pageant Material,” East Texan Kacey Musgraves is worried about a sophomore slump. She says, “It would be easy to feel a lot of pressure second time around, but because the first one was received really well, and because I just got to be myself and do my thing on it, it made me feel like, well, just do that again, and hopefully people will like it.” The Grammy winner says she wanted her new album, “Pageant Material,” to feel like a throwback. Musgraves adds, “I just was really kind of going for more of a concise, just classic feel this time.” Musgraves will appear on the “The View” Wednesday.

TYLER — Crews begin the resurfacing of failed pavement in a number of spots along Rice/Shiloh Road today. Officials say the work should last up to two days, depending on weather. Locations include Shiloh Road’s intersections with Sweetbriar Lane and Paluxy Drive, as well as Rice Road’s intersections with Kinsey Drive, Hollytree Drive, and Plantation Drive. Drivers should expect lane closures and use extra caution.

TYLER — Tyler Police are looking for a known gang member wanted on several outstanding warrants, including kidnapping. Nicholas Sanchez Jr, 22, is also wanted for assault family violence and a state parole violation. Police said he kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and assaulted her before eventually letting her go. Officials said he is considered to be armed and dangerous and has multiple tattoos. He has several inked tear drops under his left eye and the shape of Texas with “903” inside of it under his right eye. Contact Tyler Police, 903-531-1000 or Crimestoppers, 903-597-CUFF, with any information.

GLADEWATER — Gladewater Police are asking for the public’s help in locating James Edward Hightower. Also known as “LJ” or Little James, Hightower is named in a warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. KETK reports the warrant stems from an incident in the 500 block of Melba on Sunday. Details behind the incident were not immediately available. Gladewater police say Hightower is believed to be driving a gold or tan colored Dodge Durango. If you know his whereabouts, you are asked to contact Sgt. David Burrows with the Gladewater Police Department at 903-845-2166.

DALLAS (AP/Staff) — The case of a troubled Texas hospital system that stretched into East Texas shows how a federal program that distributes funds to help computerize health-care records has been vulnerable to fraud. The Dallas Morning News reports that it also shows the challenges in recouping the money that wasn’t used for those purposes. The U.S. Health and Human Services Department gave nearly $18 million through its $24 billion stimulus program to Tariq Mahmood’s rural hospital chain. The newspaper reported in 2013 that the vast majority of the money wasn’t used to upgrade the hospitals’ electronic records. Joe White, who managed the chain, was sentenced to 23 months in prison. Mahmood (pictured) was sentenced to 11 years for separate crimes of billing fraud.

LONGVIEW — The new Chief Executive Officer of Longview Regional Medical Center will be Casey Robertson. According to information released by the hospital Monday, he starts his new job July 27th. Robertson has served as CEO of Woodland Heights Medical Center in Lufkin for the past five years. Prior to that he held administrative roles at hospitals in Florida and Alabama. Robertson will be succeeding Jim Kendrick. He will be leaving the post next month for a newly created position as Network CEO for 10 Community Health Systems-affiliated hospitals in Oklahoma.

LONGVIEW — Street work continues on West Hawkins Parkway in Longview through the week of July 10. Officials encourage drivers to find alternate routes. Questions should be directed to the city’s project manager, Kevin Jaeger, at 903-237-1112.

LONGVIEW — Officials with the city of Longview are alerting residents to a current scam. Officials say an email asks you to send money overseas to someone who’s been robbed, jailed, or the like. The scammers also seem to know information about the people they contact or the purported victim; authorities say that makes the scam more believable. A telephone scam very similar to this is also afoot in the area. If you get such a message, you’re advised not send money without verifying it through another type of communication, such as a phone call to a mutual friend or a relative of the sender. Officials warn against giving out any personal information via email, telephone, or text message.

TYLER — A Smith County grand jury has no-billed 65-year-old Fredy Neal in the fatal shooting of 31-year-old Michael Caldwell (pictured) outside a Walgreens on January 3. Officials say Caldwell and his girlfriend were asked to leave IHOP on the West Loop due to a disturbance. Police were then called by a driver who said the two were out in traffic, with Caldwell chasing cars on foot. The two then reportedly entered the nearby Walgreens and became disruptive. A verbal altercation ensued in the parking lot, with Neal shooting Caldwell in the chest, later saying he feared for his life.

LONGVIEW (Staff/AP) — The leader of a national political group has issued a statement after admitted Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof said the group influenced his actions. KETK reports 62-year-old Earl Holt III of Longview, a former St. Louis, Missouri, school board member, is the president of the Council of Conservative Citizens. Holt says his group runs “one of perhaps three websites in the world that accurately and honestly report black-on-white violent crime…The CofCC is hardly responsible for the actions of this deranged individual merely because he gleaned accurate information from our website…The CofCC does not advocate illegal activities of any kind, and never has.” Continue reading Longview Man Denies Responsibility for Charleston Massacre

TYLER — A Smith County grand jury has indicted 33-year-old Roy Edward Smith, accused of stabbing Victoria Massey multiple times as she left her Moore Grocery Loft apartment on North Broadway in June 2012. In a case that drew wide attention and spurred safety concerns, the victim was left for dead but survived. Police say they got a key break last June through a DNA sample from a sock that contained a rock Smith allegedly used to strike Massey in the head before the stabbing. Continue reading Suspect Indicted in 2012 Moore Loft Stabbing

TYLER — A Tyler house has been destroyed by fire. It was reported around 11:00 Sunday morning in the 4000 block of Gatestone Boulevard. There were no injuries. Firefighters tell KETK at the scene the family who lives at the house were at church when the blaze began. It started in the garage and spread to the house. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

De KALB (AP) — Two Northeast Texas law officers will not be prosecuted over the 2014 fatal shooting of a domestic disturbance suspect during an exchange of gunfire. The Texarkana Gazette reports a Bowie County grand jury Thursday declined to indict anyone in the death of Eddie Davis of De Kalb. Officers on Aug. 8 answered a domestic disturbance call at the 64-year-old man’s home, approached a back door and Davis began firing. De Kalb police Officer Sharon Coleman was shot in the leg as she and sheriff’s Deputy Danny French tried to subdue Davis. Coleman’s body camera showed Davis ignored multiple requests from the officers to drop his gun before he was fatally shot. De Kalb is a town of about 1,900, located 140 miles northeast of Dallas.

AUSTIN (AP) — Thousands of Texans have sought government help in the weeks since deadly storms and flooding devastated parts of the state. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Saturday that more than 17,500 individuals have registered so far for assistance. A federal disaster declaration was updated Wednesday to cover 30 Texas counties. FEMA says nearly $29 million has been approved for claims linked to recovery since severe weather began May 4. Two people were killed May 10 when a tornado hit Van. Memorial Day weekend flooding in parts of Texas damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses. More than two dozen people were killed statewide. Disaster assistance for homeowners and renters may include grants for housing and home repairs. The U.S. Small Business Administration offers low-interest loans for eligible applicants.

SMITH COUNTY — The body of a drowning victim has been recovered from the swimming area of Tyler State Park. Witnesses say a 19 year old from of Dallas went underwater and never surfaced. He had been swimming with friends when he accidentally drowned Saturday. Dive team members recovered his body after searching a couple of hours.

PALESTINE (AP/STAFF) — Police are seeking a suspected gunman after a man and a woman were fatally shot at a house in East Texas. The shooting happened around 5:30 Saturday morning in the 900 block of North Conway Street. They have been identified as Timothy Laban Owens, 39, and Ashley Quinn, 25, both of Palestine. Owens was pronounced dead at the scene and Quinn died a couple of hours later at Palestine Regional Medical Center. Palestine police say a 17 year old male at the home during the shootings early Saturday was not harmed and called for help. The teen is a relative of Owens. The suspect fled. Police did not immediately provide details on the wanted man or a possible motive. They are scheduled to release more information today.

TYLER — The Tyler Police Department reports finding a woman who was the object of a critical missing person case. Krystal Rochell Dixon, 22. She was last seen at 7:30 Friday night leaving East Texas Medical Center. It is reported that she was found around 9:00 this morning and is safe and in good health. No other information was released.

TYLER — City crews are addressing issues with part of the storm sewer system in the outside lane of southbound traffic on Broadway Avenue just south of Erwin Street. The outside southbound lane will be closed until the temporary work is completed. Drivers should use caution due to the construction activities.

MABANK — A Mabank firefighter has been terminated following allegations of racism. KETK reports Kurtis Cook has also been banned from the department’s property. The action came after community members shared a photo from a social media comment thread where Cook appears to have made a racist comment in reference to the South Carolina church shooting. The picture shows a profile stating: “He needs to be praised for the good deed he has done.” The investigation into Cook’s actions were announced Friday morning. He was terminated a short time later. Continue reading Comments Gets Mabank Fireman Fired

COFFEE CITY (AP/STAFF) — Traffic was delayed on one East Texas highway because a boat had nowhere to float. Nobody was hurt Friday when a pontoon boat fell off a trailer and onto Highway 155 in Coffee City. Law enforcement officers in the town of nearly 300 people say the driver of the vehicle hauling the pontoon boat made a wide turn onto the highway. The boat slipped off the trailer, overturned and ended up blocking several lanes of traffic. A wrecker was brought in to help put the boat back on the trailer. Traffic was diverted until the boat was moved.