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TYLER (AP/Staff) – A judge has ruled that an East Texas teen accused of fatally stabbing his teacher is unfit to stand trial and should get additional evaluation. The review will help determine whether Byron Truvia needs to be committed to a mental health institution. He was a juvenile when special education teacher Todd Henry (pictured) was attacked in a classroom at John Tyler High School in September 2009. Defense attorney Jim Huggler says the ruling Wednesday in Tyler, by Judge Floyd Getz, means the 17-year-old suspect will be returned to Vernon State Hospital for evaluation by two physicians over the next 90 days. Huggler says the physicians will determine whether the youth should be committed to a hospital where he would receive further evaluations every year.

TYLER — Tyler police welcome the newest K-9 member, Paco, to join the Tyler Police Department K-9 program. Police introduced Paco at Food Fast Store #70, located at 1222 WSW Loop 323. Paco is a two-year-old German shepherd male who is imported from the Netherlands. He was trained by U.S. Canine Unlimited in Katlan, Louisiana. Paco has been trained to track people and to detect marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and ecstasy. Police are thanking Food Fast Corporation for its donation to the police department, which allowed the department to purchase a second K-9 and pay for its training. This is the second donation in recent years by Food Fast to the Police Department to provide funding towards the K-9 program.

AUSTIN — Dog owners whose pets kill a child or senior citizen could spend some time in prison. For Jacksonville Republican State Representative Chuck Hopson, the issue is personal. He’s had two kids lost in his district to vicious dog attacks. Hopson says it would be a first-degree felony when a child under the age of fifteen or an adult over the age of 65 is killed by a dog. Hopson says someone would face that charge only if the person had been notified that he or she had a vicious dog, or if it was the dog owner’s negligence that led to the fatal attack. The bill is being considered by a House committee.

KILGORE — Kilgore Fire Department officials are searching for suspected arsonists in connection with three fires that happened within a day of each other. Kilgore Fire Marshal Brandon Bigos said Kilgore firefighters responded to the first two fires about 80 yards from one another on a piece of developmental property off Old Private Road 3500 at about 6 p.m. March 9, and fire crews were dispatched to the third fire on Swanson Street the following evening.

Anyone with information should call (903) 983-1559 or submit an anonymous tip to Gregg County Crime Stoppers at (903) 236-STOP.

TYLER (AP) – The issue of whether a teen accused of stabbing his teacher to death in 2009 can stand trial as an adult will again be considered in court. A hearing was scheduled Wednesday in Tyler for the youth, who’s now 17. He is accused in the deadly attack on special education teacher Todd Henry in a classroom at John Tyler High School. The Texas Supreme Court ruled last October that the question of the teen’s competency for trial can’t be determined until a mental health evaluation is completed. His court-appointed attorney, Jim Huggler, declined comment Tuesday except to say the hearing involves further mental health issues stemming from the case. The teen was returned to juvenile detention in Tyler in February after spending three months at the Vernon State Hospital.

MARSHALL – One boy is dead and another injured after a car hit the go-cart they were riding on Monday, the first day of spring break. Killed was Ethan Moore, 12. A seven-year-old child is in critical condition at LSU Hospital in Shreveport. The youngsters were riding on County Road 4102 near Marshall when they tried to make a right hand turn and were hit by a car driven by a friend of Ethan’s family, Candace Paluk, 29, of Marshall.

ZAVALLA — A three-vehicle accident claimed the lives of two people Tuesday afternoon on U.S. Highway 69 north of Zavalla, according to Angelina County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Bryan Holley. Holley said a car driven by Bruce Gulley, 51, of Zavalla was northbound on U.S. Highway 69, and a car driven by Megan Hollingsworth, 19, of McKinney was southbound. Gulley’s car went into the southbound lane and collided head-on with Hollingsworth’s vehicle.

Both drivers were dead at the scene, Holley said, and both had to be cut out of their vehicles. A third car, driven by David Fields, 53, of Woodville, was also involved. His car was struck by Gulley’s car. Fields had minor injuries and refused transport, according to Holley.

TYLER — Retired Tyler police officer Allan Crosby and his sister, Audrey Crosby Spies, a retired Bowling Green, Ky., and former Tyler police officer, plan to walk across Texas this spring in memory of their sister and to raise money to help East Texas cancer patients. Working with East Texas Medical Center, they plan to start their walk on April 1 on the Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas state line near Atlanta, Texas, and walk 857 miles during April and part of May to El Paso. The walk, called “Cops Crushing Cancer,” is in memory of the Crosbys’ sister, Jacqueline Crosby Mazzola, a retired Dallas police officer, who died in 2010 of colon cancer. Mazzola told her family to look for change on the street as a sign that she was dropping pennies from heaven for them to help cancer patients. Crosby says they are asking walkers to get pledges of one penny per mile.

All money raised from the walk will go to ETMC’s Cancer Institute Remembrance Fund. The fund, which is coordinated through the East Texas Medical Center Foundation, assists cancer patients and the community through patient support programs, such as retreats and support groups, cancer screenings, advancement of cancer programs and services and assistance to patients with special needs. Crosby hopes retired and active law enforcement officers as well as cancer survivors will join them as they pass through their county and walk with them. They plan to use their Facebook page, under Cops Crushing Cancer, to update walkers as to when they will be in their area.

The walk will begin in Cass County on State Highway 155 and turn onto U.S. Highway 80 to travel to Dallas. Walkers will travel through Dallas-Ft. Worth and take routes north of Midland to reach El Paso. They are staying off main interstates so the trip will be safer for the walkers. To make a donation by check, you can send your tax-deductible gift to the ETMC Foundation, Cancer Institute Remembrance Fund, P. O. Box 6400, Tyler, TX 75711. For more information on the walk, you can contact Crosby at 903-245-9004.

TYLER – The new director of sponsored research at The University of Texas at Tyler is Dr. Michael Odell. A member of UT Tyler since 2006, Odell holds the Celia and Sam Roosth chair in education and is a professor of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. He replaces Dr. Arlene Horne, who accepted a position at the University of West Georgia.

“In this role, Dr. Odell will work to continue the growth and success of sponsored programs, begun by Dr. Horne, at UT Tyler,” said Dr. Peter Fos, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. The Office of Sponsored Research provides effective leadership through the promotion and support of quality research and sponsored programs both within the university and through collaborative efforts with other universities, industries and businesses. Sponsored research awards topped the $12 million mark in 2009.

Odell holds a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction and science education from Indiana University and a master of arts in teaching degree from UT Dallas. He was instrumental in creating the UT Tyler East Texas STEM Center, which also is under his directorship. He also has served as a consultant or project evaluator to school districts, industry, professional organizations and universities. Odell currently serves as a reviewer for Pearson Publishing and has been acknowledged in a number of industry-leading science education textbooks.

TYLER — The United Way of Tyler/Smith County has surpassed its $1.7 million campaign goal for 2010 by over $13,000. The final take of $1,713, 829 is also 10% more than what was raised in the 2009 campaign. United Way President Nan Moore says she’s very pleased. She says it’s the first time in about six years the campaign has met or exceeded its goal. Moore attributes that largely to “a stronger and larger group of volunteers in our loaned executive group and in our campaign cabinet.” And she says that’s needed because of a local market shift from larger to smaller businesses. According to Moore, years ago, volunteers often addressed hundreds at a single sitting, but now it’s much more common for them to speak to groups of ten or 15.

LINDALE — The Lindale Independent School District has applied for a waiver from the Texas Education Agency which would exempt the district from holding classes on May 31 as a snow day makeup. The date was originally scheduled on the district’s school calendar to recover instruction time lost after LISD’s closure on February 4 due to winter weather. The district will extend two early release days to full-length instruction days to meet the criteria for the waiver. Students will no longer be released two hours early on March 22 and May 26. Instead, classes will be released at the regularly scheduled end time on each campus. The Lindale ISD school board approved the amendment to the calendar on Monday night. “By substituting two early release days for a full makeup day, we are not requiring students to be back in the classroom after Memorial Day,” LISD Superintendent Stan Surratt said.

LINDALE — A groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday for the construction phase of the Lindale Industrial Park Infrastructure Project. John W. Clary, president of the Lindale Economic Development Corporation (LEDC), calls the effort an “important economic development project for Lindale and northern Smith County.” Located south of I-20 on Harvey Road (CR 433), the land for the 120-acre park was purchased in 2007 by the LEDC. The infrastructure project is being completed in partnership with the City of Lindale and the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) through a 50/50 matching grant from the EDA and LEDC Funds. The infrastructure project will include a new cul-de-sac concrete street with storm drainage, water, and wastewater to all sites within the park. Sites are available from two acres to 40 acres.

TYLER — A home has been destroyed by a Smith County fire. It happened at 12412 Farm Road 14, just south of Interstate Highway 20. The home’s owner, Steven Kovac, said it started in a wood burning stove. He says he tried to put the fire out himself, but it got out of control. No injuries were reported, but the homeowner does not have insurance.

LUFKIN — Lufkin Memorial Hospital staff members call police after suspecting a young patient was abused. Lufkin Police say a mother brought her son into the hospital Saturday night after she noticed he was bleeding. An examination showed he had a severe case of a sexually transmitted disease. Police are investigating the case and so far, no arrests have been made.

PITTSBURG – A Camp County man has been arrested and charged with his wife’s death. Johnnie Morse, 75, is charged in the death of Terry Morse, 73, his wife of 56 years.

Last Wednesday night Morse called the Camp County Sheriff’s Department to report his wife missing. He told officers he had returned home and his wife’s car was there but she wasn’t. A search of the area the area turned up no trace of the woman.

Last Friday Morse came to the sheriff’s department to report he had found his wife’s body behind a gun safe in the master bedroom. An autopsy was ordered. The body was so badly decomposed deputies were unable to determine the cause of death.

At last report Morse remained in the Camp County Jail in lieu of a $100,000 bond.