KTBB News, Weather, Talk

TYLER — Tyler’s Glass Recreation Center will be closed for renovations and maintenance from Monday, Nov. 21, through Saturday, Nov. 26. During this period, officials say crews will be resurfacing the gym floor and repainting interior walls. The facility will reopen on Monday, Nov. 28, at 7 a.m. Classes and programs will resume their normal schedules upon reopening. For further information, call the Glass Recreation Center at (903) 595-7271 or visit this link.

TYLER — The City of Tyler announced that Old Omen Road from University Boulevard to Shiloh Road has a “slightly different look.” According to our news partner KETK, the city said the road was recently seal-coated and repainted, adding a small buffer between the main lanes and the bicycle lane to make traveling safer for bicyclists on the roadway. The update is part of the city’s “Tyler Bike Stripes Project,” which identifies 11 bicycle lane routes and includes a centralized hub near downtown Tyler, painting bicycle lanes, and placing signage along the roadways.

TYLER — Retired Tyler Police Detective Wayne Allen was sworn in as Smith County Precinct 2 Constable Friday after recently being elected. Allen began working for the Tyler Police Department in 1991. He served in the patrol and traffic divisions before becoming a Financial Crimes Detective. In this role, he primarily conducted complex fraud investigations as a member of the United States Secret Service-East Texas Financial Crimes Task Force. In February 2019, Allen retired from the Tyler Police Department and moved into corporate security with The Home Depot before being elected Precinct 2 constable in November. Allen replaces Interim Precinct 2 Constable Shawn Scott, who was appointed by the Commissioners Court in October 2021. Scott recently was sworn in as police chief for Chapel Hill Independent School District.

TYLER — Tyler Recycles Day is back in 2022 on Saturday, Nov. 19, from 8 a.m. to noon. Officials say the event is Keep Tyler Beautiful’s most popular community collection event, joining thousands of local organizers holding recycling events across the country to celebrate America Recycles Day. During Tyler Recycles Day, community members may bring acceptable recyclables to the Downtown Recycling Center on N. Bois D’Arc Ave. Ark-La-Tex Shredding Company and Interstate Batteries will be providing special services for the duration of the event. Ark-La-Tex Shredding will offer free personal document shredding for individuals and businesses. There will be a collection station for all types of batteries hosted by Interstate Batteries. Continue reading Tyler Recycles Day 2022

LONGVIEW – Two Longview students were apprehended on Wednesday after threats were allegedly made towards Longview High School. According to our news partner KETK, Longview police officers were made aware around 10:30 a.m. of a possible verbal threat towards another student and staff at the campus. Officers said they took immediate steps to investigate the incident, which they say corroborated the initial accusation. Detectives obtained two directives to apprehend the suspects, which were signed by a local judge for the “exhibition, use or threat of exhibition or use of firearms” and “tampering with physical evidence.” Officials say the students were apprehended off school grounds without incident and taken to the Gregg County Juvenile Detention Center. Continue reading Police: Two Longview ISD students apprehended after threat towards high school

RUSK COUNTY – The Rusk County Sheriff’s Office says a juvenile was arrested on Thursday after a terroristic threat was made against the Carlisle Independent School District. According to our news partner KETK, deputies said they received a call from the school district, and after their investigation, the juvenile was arrested and charged with felony 3 terroristic threat. “The Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Carlisle ISD administrative team for their quick actions that enabled us to quickly resolve this situation before it happened. We will work hard with all our school districts to ensure the safety of our children and their staffs,” said the sheriff’s office in a prepared statement.

TYLER – The Christmas season is almost here, and The Tyler Salvation Army began celebrating Friday with a Christmas Kick-Off. Celebrations began at 11 a.m. in the breezeway between JC Penney and Chick-Fil-A at Broadway Square Mall. The Christmas Kick-Off launches The Salvation Army’s Kettle and Angel Tree season. This holiday season, 43 locations will be hosting the iconic red kettle as volunteers ring a bell to raise money for The Salvation Army with the goal set at $385,000. This year, each kettle stand will have a QR Code and an NFC tag which will allow donors to use Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo, and PayPal rather than dropping cash or coins in the kettle. Continue reading Tyler Salvation Army holds Christmas Kick-Off

TYLER – A UT Tyler professor has been awarded a TxDOT grant of nearly $600,000 to enhance the asphalt currently being used in highway/road resurfacing projects for improved wet-weather driving. Mena Souliman, PhD, is an associate professor and the Ronald D. Brazzel Endowed Professor of Civil Engineering at the university. The Texas A&M Transportation Institute will work with Souliman on the three-year project. Souliman and his collaborators will examine the current highway/road construction processes in the hope of decreasing crashes on wet resurfaced pavements. The 2021 “Weather Conditions for Crashes” report from TxDOT found that “rain” was the most repeated weather condition behind “clear/cloudy” in all reported crashes. Continue reading UT Tyler professor awarded TxDOT grant for road safety enhancement

LONGVIEW — The City of Longview has scheduled a number of holiday events through December – and that’s only part of what will be happening around town. Celebrations kick off Saturday, Nov. 19, with the Downtown Longview Christmas Tree Lighting at Heritage Plaza. District 3 Councilman Wray Wade will host a free community Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, Nov. 24, at the Green Street Recreation Center. Then on Thursday, Dec. 1, at 6:30 p.m., the Longview AMBUCS Christmas Parade will return to downtown Longview. Other activities include pics with Santa, ArtWalk Longview, and the Longview Public Library Cheermeister Party. In addition to all that, businesses and nonprofits across the community have scheduled their own holiday events. Click here for a detailed rundown.

AUSTIN – The University of Texas Board of Regents Thursday gave final authorization for design, development, and additional construction funding for the University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine’s new Medical Education Building — a $308 million project. The UT Tyler School of Medicine will welcome its first students to campus in the summer of 2023, and the building is expected to be completed in March 2025. “The regents are taking the next pivotal step in launching the UT System’s seventh medical school – one that is specifically dedicated to benefiting Northeast Texas for generations,” said Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife, as quoted in a news release. Continue reading UT Regents approve cost for UT Tyler Medical Education Building construction

EAST TEXAS — Governor Abbott is requesting a disaster declaration for parts of Northeast Texas. Storms that moved through the Dallas-Fort Worth area the afternoon of November 4th intensified when they got to Northeast Texas that evening, and several tornadoes developed. Abbott’s office says crews have been assessing damage, and they believe it meets the threshold set for a disaster declaration from the U.S. Small Business Administration, which would make people in that region eligible for low-interest disaster recovery loans. The request is for a disaster declaration covering Lamar and Morris Counties, plus Bowie, Camp, Cass, Delta, Fannin, Marion, Red River, Titus, and Upshur Counties.

GILMER — The body of an East Texas missing man was found on Wednesday. According to our news partner KETK, the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office says William Chad Martin, 38, of Ore City, was located in the Latch Community in Upshur County in a pasture creek bed close to North Live Oak Road. He was found about half a mile from where he was last spotted on Nov. 5. Martin was last seen running into a 500-acre wooded area. His body was located by property owners who were helping in the search. An autopsy has been ordered. Officials are still investigating the situation. Continue reading Missing man’s body found

LONGVIEW – The Longview Police Department said Wednesday they are working on creating means to help support an officer who was determined to have a rare form of cancer after undergoing open heart surgery. According to our news partner KETK, the police originally called on the public in mid-October to offer prayers for Officer Larry Solomon as he underwent the heart surgery. The department now says a mass was found near his heart during surgery and it turned out to be angiosarcoma. Officials said Solomon has already begun treatment. The department says the Longview Police Benefits Association will be fundraising for Solomon starting with t-shirt sales. You can learn more here.

TYLER — The Smith County Peace Officers Association Wednesday delivered almost 1,000 pounds of canned and non-perishable food items to PATH in Tyler. Officials say the donations were collected at the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, Courthouse, Annex Building, Emergency Operations Center, and Juvenile Probation office, along with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Tyler Police Department. Also, the Peace Officers Association collected donations at their monthly luncheons. Law enforcement personnel say they encourage everyone to donate to PATH during what’s termed “this critical time of need.” You can drop off your donations at the PATH office at W. Front Street and Chilton Avenue in Tyler.

TYLER — The Tyler Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Transportation Policy Committee will be holding a regularly scheduled meeting Thursday at 2 p.m. in the Tyler Development Center Large Conference Room on W. Ferguson St. The committee will consider adopting an amendment to the Transportation Improvement Program to update the highway projects list to reflect the latest project information in the TxDOT Unified Transportation Program. Also up for consideration: adopting an amendment to the Unified Planning Work Program to redistribute funds related to Task 5 – Special Studies. You can learn more here, and you can contact the MPO by calling (903) 531-1175 option 5.