KTBB News, Weather, Talk

NACOGDOCHES — One structure was destroyed, but another 20 or 30 homes saved after a fire began about four miles west of Nacogdoches on Highway 7 Sunday afternoon. The fire, as well as those across the state, is an example of how high winds, low humidity and dry vegetation can easily catch fire and spread.

Nacogdoches County Commissioners on Monday, recognizing the dangers posed by such fires in East Texas, enacted a burn ban. Sunday’s fire brought Lake Nacogdoches and South Nacogdoches volunteer fire departments, as well as two Nacogdoches Fire Department engines and the Texas Forest Service to combat the fire, which burned about seven acres according to the Texas Forest Service. It was unknown if the vacant structure which burned was a home or another type of building, Nacogdoches Fire Department Captain Robert Ford said.

VAN ZANDT — Two men are arrested, authorities search for a third after an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip. Raymond Ybarra, 60, and Thomas Jacobs, 39, both of Wills Point were taken into custody at a home in Van Zandt County. Authorities found a significant amount of methamphetamines, as well as two weapons and a stolen 16-foot flatbed trailer. A third man fled from the scene at the time of the arrest and deputies are looking for him. A reward of $1,000 was awarded to the tipster.

ANGELINA COUNTY — A man who said his trailer loaded with metal was stolen was able to follow the trail which led deputies to the arrest of an Etoile man. James Anthony Tiller, 22, is charged with theft exceeding $1,500. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, a man contacted the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office on April 12 to report that his trailer, loaded with a large amount of metal items, was stolen from his property located in the 1100 block of Old Highway 69 South. He estimated the value of the trailer and medal to be $13,700. Authorities concluded that Tillery stole the trailer. Investigator Mike Jones said Tillery was due a probation visit so he waited for him during the visit and made the arrest on Thursday.

LONGVIEW — A Longview home has been extensively damaged by fire. It was reported around 7:00 Sunday night in the 200 block of Solti Street. Fire investigators say the blaze appears to have started from a outdoor cooker that was too close to the house. No injuries were reported.

LUFKIN (AP) — West and Central Texas have not been alone in enduring destructive wildfires. At least one home has been destroyed in wildfires dotting the Piney Woods of East Texas. A statement from the Texas Forest Service says the one home destroyed was in a seven-acre fire in Nacogdoches County that threatened 20 to 30 homes in a pine plantation before firefighters tamed it. About 100 miles north of Houston, Trinity County saw a pair of forest fires with flames moving from treetop to treetop. No structures were reported damaged, but fires in Hardin and Tyler counties between Beaumont and Lufkin threatened almost 50 homes before the flames were tamed.

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

LONGVIEW — Texas Department of Transportation contractor Knife River started major pavement-repair operations on the State Highway 149 project in the Whiskey Bend. Crews established the lane closure Saturday afternoon and begin work yesterday morning. Once in place, the closure will last approximately two weeks, with various daytime lane closures to follow over the life of the project. This closure will have an impact on traffic in this area and will cause delays. TxDOT recommends seeking alternate routes if possible or leaving early to avoid delays during this closure.

Also this week in Gregg County, TxDOT maintenance crews this week are scheduled to continue pavement-repair operations on Spur 63 between U.S. 80 Highway and Loop 281. Daytime lane closures will be in effect in each location while the work is in progress, and motorists are encouraged to be prepared to reduce speed and merge in and around the work zone.

CHEROKEE COUNTY — Beginning Tuesday, Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews are scheduled to begin several weeks of pavement-repair operations in Rusk, Reklaw and Jacksonville. Crews will be working in the following locations in the following order:
*U.S. Highway 69 and U.S. Highway 84 in Rusk, working in and around the intersection;
*US Highway 84 east of U.S. Highway 69 in Rusk;
*US Highway 84 in Reklaw in the curb-and-gutter section;
*U.S. Highway 69 and U.S. Highway 79, working in and around the intersection;
*U.S. Highway 79 east of U.S. Highway 69.
Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic.

A second crew is scheduled to continue fog seal operations on U.S. Highway 175 between Frankston and Jacksonville. Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress, and flaggers and pilot vehicles will control traffic.

WOOD COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to perform pavement repair operations in various locations on State Highway 37 in Winnsboro between State Highway 11 and Farm Road 515, and south of Winnsboro near Farm Road 1647. 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.

HENDERSON COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation contractor A.L. Helmcamp is scheduled to begin work Monday to repair and resurface Ranch-To-Market Road 2329 between U.S. 175 west of Athens and Farm Road 316 south of Eustace. Crews will begin by closing the US 175-end of the project to thru-traffic for approximately two months while the most damaged part of the roadway is repaired. During this closure, TxDOT recommends using Ranch to Market 3054 via Log Cabin as an alternate route. Once that work is complete, the remaining four months of the $1.2 million project will be accomplished using daytime-only lane closures.

Also this week in Henderson County, TxDOT maintenance crews this week are scheduled to perform resurfacing operations on Farm Road 85 between the Navarro County Line and State Highway 274 in Seven Points. Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic.

SMITH COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to perform edge-repair operations on Farm Road 848 between Farm Road 346 in Whitehouse and State Highway 64 east of Tyler, and on Farm Rad 2015 between Interstate Highway 20 and Farm Road 16 west of Winona.

A second crew is scheduled to perform ditch maintenance in various locations on Farm Road 756 (Paluxy Drive) south of the curb-and-gutter section in Tyler.

Finally, construction crews on Monday and Tuesday are scheduled to add centerline rumble strips to State Highway 64 between Chapel Hill and Arp. 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 pavement-repair operations on SH 19 in Canton between Interstate Highway 20 and State Highway 64. Once that work is complete, crews will be performing the same work on State Highway 64 west of State Highway 19 and on State Highway 243 west of State Highway 198. 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.

RUSK COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to perform edge repairs on State Highway 323 between Loop 571 and State Highway 42. Daytime lane closures will be in effect in each location while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic.

ANDERSON COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to perform edge repairs on Farm Road 321 between Tennessee Colony and the end of state maintenance. Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic.

LONGVIEW — LeTourneau University’s School of Business is hosting organizational leadership expert Dr. Jim Laub as keynote speaker for its second annual “Business through the Eyes of Faith” initiative, which hosts a free public forum on the application of biblical principles in the workplace. The public is invited to hear Laub speak to students, faculty, and staff about servant leadership from a Christian perspective at 3:30 p.m. Monday in the Education Building Lecture Hall, Room 117-120 on the Longview campus, 2100 South Mobberly Avenue.

Laub will also speak about “Building Healthy Organizations” during a free event at the same location from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. He will share key aspects that he says business leaders need to consider to develop healthy organizations, reduce turnover, provide sustainable growth, and have a positive effect on an organization’s bottom line. He will discuss why some organizations are strong and thriving while others are weak or even toxic places to work. Laub remarks that a healthy organization is one that fulfills its mission while strengthening its employees. He says it develops people while increasing its capacity for change and new vision.

TYLER — We’re winding down to election day, May 14 — and another vote on a Smith County jail bond proposal. County Commissioner Jeff Warr appears on this week’s KTBB “Staff Meeting.” He’s spearheaded the current plan after several others failed. This time, Warr says, he made sure to find out what the community would support. He tells us, “I decided I would go out and start meeting with different civic groups, different organizations, different city councils and leaders in the community and get their input.” And Warr says there’s no organized opposition to the plan. He adds that the proposal is cost-effective and addresses safety, his own major concern. The cost is $35 million, and 384 beds would be added.

You can go to http://www.smith-county.com for more information or to submit questions. You can also go to http://www.ktbb.com/audio to access the “Staff Meeting” show online.

JACKSONVILLE –Lon Morris College employees were paid Friday despite fears that paychecks would not be distributed on time. Afton Barber, Lon Morris spokesperson, said a wire transfer was received by the college on Friday and allowed 167 employees to receive their bi-monthly paychecks. Lon Morris officials initially thought the wire transfer would be delayed. “The wire transfer has not yet arrived,” said Tommy Ferguson, vice president of business and administrative affairs, in an email to employees Thursday. “This means that payroll will be delayed again.” Employees’ pay for March 31 was delayed five business days. The college is having financial problems due to expenses related to expanding student enrollment from 350 to 1,000 over two years, adding new academic and sports programs, and cuts to the Texas Equalization Grant Program, Ferguson said in a previous interview. Ferguson did not release details about the wire transfer. “I’m not going to say because I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know where it came from.” Lon Morris aims to raise tuition by $750 this fall to help alleviate the problem, he said.

LONGVIEW — The Arizona-based company that operates Longview’s network of a dozen red light cameras has pocketed $1.6 million for nearly 30,000 violations logged in the four years since the system started. The city’s take? Not a dime. In fact, Longview owes the company more than $650,000. However, a clause in the city’s contract with Phoenix-based RedFlex Traffic Systems states the city will owe nothing when the contract expires. The contract also guarantees RedFlex all revenue from the cameras. “When you throw that $1.6 million out there that looks like a lot of money,” said Mayor Jay Dean. The city is one year away from its opportunity to re-negotiate its deal with RedFlex. In preparation, Dean said the city has requested the company’s accrued costs of equipment, installation, maintenance and personnel since the contract began.

LONGVIEW — Diagnostic Clinic of Longview on Friday afternoon dropped efforts to halt lease renewal and extension talks between Gregg County and Good Shepherd Medical Center. Earlier Friday, Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt said he had received the latest version of a proposed lease agreement between the county and Good Shepherd, and had reinstated a public hearing on the matter for Monday morning. “We’re going to proceed with the hearing, but there will not be any vote by the commissioners court on Monday,” Stoudt said. It is possible the public hearing on Good Shepherd’s proposal to have its lease extended could continue past Monday. “We want to give everyone a chance to be heard, and we’ll do that,” he said. Stoudt said he was pleased Diagnostic Clinic had ended its efforts to secure a restraining order, void the county’s current lease agreement with Good Shepherd and halt further negotiations.

TYLER — Road construction crews were hard at work on Earl Campbell Parkway on Friday, which will run from Highway 155 to the Loop 323 in Tyler. Originally an extension of New Sunnybrook Drive, the new road’s name was changed last year to Earl Campbell Parkway by city officials. Those looking to take advatage of the new road, officials say, don’t expect the road to be done anytime this year. They say the two year project may not look like much now, but in the fall of 2012 it will be a four lane highway connecting the two busy areas.

TYLER — The immigration raid on a Tyler restaurant has sent shockwaves through the Hispanic community. At a local community center they gathered to talk about what this stepped up enforcement will mean. They gathered in the Hillside Community Center today to ask questions and get information on the raid on the China King Restaurant Thursday. Agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency spent the day questioning employees, but there were no arrests.

“The fact that they did not arrest anybody showed me that they are being very humane about their process,” says Gilbert Urbina of the Hispanic American Association of East Texas. “They were there, probably, due to information that they received. They are very organized and they have a specific target that they want to get to.”

And if the suspected illegal has a family, the process gets more complicated, and expensive. So authorities take it step by step.
“If the consequences are that you’re being removed,” Urbina says, “and there’s no avenue of relief for you. Then you have to plan accordingly to possibly move your family back to your home country.”

Urbina told KETK, the fact that an ICE office was established here means not only that there is a problem with illegal labor, but also that enforcement is going to be stepped up.

TYLER — Tyler Police have released the identity of a man found dead Friday morning as Todd Jackson, 49, Dallas. Officers say they received a call around 6:00 reporting a man lying on a sidewalk at West Erwin and Bruck. The caller advised that the subject laying on the sidewalk was bleeding. Police responded to the scene and requested EMS. Jackson was declared dead at the scene. Authorities say the autopsy shows no foul play involved, but toxicology results are pending.

EAST TEXAS — At least two East Texas groups holdd events Saturday as tax season winds down. A Tax Day Tea Party, sponsored by We The People-Longview, was held on the Gregg County Courthouse Lawn. Guest speakers included radio talk show host, author, filmmaker, and singer/songwriter Mike Church; LouAnn Anderson with Americans for Prosperity; Dr. Keith A. Rothra, Professor of History and Political Science with LeTourneau University & Kilgore College; and Mike Schwartz, Co-Founder of We The People-Longview.

The Tyler Tea Party held a Tax Day TEA (taxed enough already) Rally from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. on the downtown square. Featured Speakers included Neal Barton, Mike Church, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, Retired Judge Cynthia Kent, and local attorney Ken Good. Entertainment will be provided by American Idol finalist Krista Branch. Among the topics, overspending, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms – and yes, even the controversial birth certificate issue was mentioned. You can go to http://www.tylerteaparty.org for more information.