KTBB News, Weather, Talk

TYLER — NET Health’s George Roberts brings us up to date on the improving COVID picture in East Texas. Roberts notes that cases continue to go down in his survey area, and he’s hopeful that will continue in coming days. Among other things, hospital patient numbers dropped to 93 from 94 this past Monday and have fallen off significantly in recent weeks. Gregg County continues to lag behind other area counties, but Roberts isn’t too concerned, reiterating that the area-wide picture remains strong. Continue reading Roberts weighs in on latest COVID statistics

TYLER — A former Louisiana FBI agent who is accused of exposing himself several times to two Tyler teens has been indicted. According to our news partner KETK, David Harris is scheduled to appear in a Smith County court on June 20. He is also facing criminal charges in Louisiana and Florida for separate incidents. Harris is accused of several sex crimes dating back to 2016, though his attorneys maintain his innocence. He had previously been assigned to the FBI Field Office in New Orleans, where he investigated child sex crimes, but has since been fired by the FBI. A warrant stated that the investigation started in 2021 when the father of an alleged victim sent a letter to the Inspector General’s Office detailing incidents in which Harris allegedly exposed himself to the man’s daughter and another teenage girl from 2018-2019.

TYLER — A signature Tyler event helping usher in the spring season returns Saturday. It’s the ninth annual Brookshire’s FRESH 15 race. The race starts and finishes at Brookshire Grocery Company’s flagship store, FRESH by Brookshire’s, on Old Jacksonville Highway. Money raised will benefit multiple local charities. Drivers should note that there will several road closures. Click here for all the details.

TYLER — The Tyler Police Department hands out its annual awards for outstanding service at a Tuesday banquet. Officer Blake Kelley was recognized as Officer of the Year. Rookie Officer of the Year is James Meredith, and the Priority Response Team was named Unit of the Year. Numerous other honors were also presented. According to a news release, the recipients “are called to serve” and “went above and beyond the call of duty.” You can view the complete list here, together with details on the recipients.

SAN AUGUSTINE — An electricity provider in East Texas is warning about a scam. The Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative says someone pretending to be with the company is calling people from local numbers demanding money and threatening to disconnect their service. The company’s service area includes San Augustine, Nacogdoches, Shelby, Newton, Panola, Jasper, Sabine, and Rusk Counties. The company says it would never call and demand payment immediately like that.

HENDERSON — The Rusk County Commissioners Court approved a burn ban Thursday morning. According to our news partner KETK, the ban prohibits all outdoor burning in unincorporated areas of the county. It is currently the only county-wide active burn ban in East Texas. The Rusk County Office of Emergency Management has posted about multiple fires that departments in the county have responded to this week. One was near Kilgore after a three-acre wildland fire broke out. Officials say the fire started as a small brush fire. They asked afterward for no one in the county to burn until further notice.

EAST TEXAS — Smith County Judge Nathaniel Moran has won the Republican nomination for U.S. Congress District 1 in Texas, but we don’t yet know which Democrat he’ll face in November. We do know it will be either Jrmar Jefferson or Victor D. Dunn. According our news partner KETK, Jefferson led all four Democratic candidates with more than 45% of the votes in the Tuesday primary and Dunn earned more than 28% of them. The primary runoff elections are scheduled for May 24.

LONGVIEW — Because of the new changes this year in Texas, many vote by mail applications and ballots were rejected this election cycle — and East Texas was no exception. Tuesday’s primary was the first election day since Senate Bill 1, also known as the election integrity bill, was signed in Texas. According to our news partner KETK, Gregg County Elections Administrator Jennifer Briggs said her staff is in the process of reaching out to voters who need to make corrections on their ballots. She said the majority of the problems came from the new law, which states that ID numbers need to be on their application and on a ballot as well. For future elections, administrators across East Texas counties have recommended taking time when filling out a ballot. Briggs said there is still time to make corrections. East Texans have up to six days after the election to fix their mail-in ballot that was already submitted.

SMITH COUNTY — A Smith County jury sentenced Yoelvis Herrera, 33, of Houston, to 65 years in prison and $5,000 fine on Wednesday for the offense of Unlawful Interception of an Electronic Communication. Prosecutors presented evidence that on December 4, 2019, financial crimes detectives with the Tyler Police Department located a credit card skimmer inside a pump at a local gas station. The skimmer was removed and surveillance was set up at the pump. On December 8, 2019, detectives observed the defendant open the gas pump door and look inside for the skimmer. Continue reading Gas pump skimmer sentenced to 65 years in prison

SMITH COUNTY — A 70-year-old woman was killed after she failed to control her speed at a red light which resulted in a five-vehicle crash, according to our news partner KETK and the Texas Department of Public Safety. On Monday around 1:20 p.m. DPS troopers were called to the five-vehicle crash about two and a half miles west of Tyler in Smith County. According to DPS, Mary Grooms, 70, of Murchison, was driving a 2007 Infiniti G35 westbound on State Highway 31 in the inside lane approaching a red light. Continue reading Elderly woman dies after 5-vehicle crash in Smith County

TYLER — A Tyler man was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Monday after pleading guilty to several child prostitution charges. According to our news partner KETK, 26-year-old Brandon Johnson entered his plea before 7th District Court Judge Kerry Russell. He admitted to committing human trafficking, child prostitution, and child sexual assault. He was arrested in June 2021 after an investigation by the Texas Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Marshals. Judicial records show that he was sentenced to 40 years in prison for all three charges and they will be served concurrently.

TYLER — The Tyler Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) invites the public to attend an open house and provide input on a proposed amendment to the Master Street Plan which will extend Waljim Street, connecting Market Square Boulevard and West Grande Boulevard. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 8, from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Tyler Development Center’s large conference room across from City Hall. The Master Street Plan is a long-range planning document that classifies streets based on current and forecast traffic counts. It recommends street elements, such as curbs, turn lanes, bike lanes, or sidewalks that the street should incorporate to best convey traffic movement, according to a news release. Click here for more information.

TYLER — A Tyler man and woman are accused of kidnapping two girls and sex-trafficking them into Louisiana, according to multiple arrest warrants obtained by our news partner KETK. The investigation began with a missing person report in mid-February from a home on CR 420. 27-year-old Aaron Wallace and 22-year-old Teresa Fletcher are each charged with two counts of kidnapping with bonds set at $500,000 each. If convicted, they are both facing up to 20 years in prison.

AUSTIN — A Tyler man has been renominated by Gov. Greg Abbott to be the presiding officer of the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority. It will be for another two-year term that will run through February 1, 2024. According to our news partner KETK, the RMA is a political subdivision that was created to “finance, acquire, design, construct, operate, maintain, and expand or extend transportation projects in 14 counties in North East Texas,” according to a press release from Abbott’s office. Gary Halbrooks is the CEO of Venue Properties, a real estate company involved “in the brokerage, development, investment, and management of commercial real estate throughout the southwestern and southeastern United States,” per their website. Continue reading Tyler man renominated to North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority

WHITEHOUSE — A Whitehouse ISD bus was involved in a wreck Wednesday morning, according to the district’s Facebook page. Our news partner KETK reports, the wreck was on Highway 69 just south of FM 346, which is roughly seven miles west of the high school campus. First responders were called to the scene, but no students were taken to the hospital. The district said that no serious injuries were reported. A separate bus picked up the students and brought them to their campuses.

RUSK COUNTY — The Rusk County Sheriff’s Office arrested two people, seized drugs, a firearm, 17 electronic gaming machines and gambling paraphernalia from the “Susie Q” game room on County Road 3291 in Garrison during an evidentiary search warrant. According to our news partner KETK, on Monday, RCSO executed a search warrant based on allegations of illegal gambling. During the search, they recovered 17 electronic gaming machines, gambling paraphernalia believed to be associated with keeping a gambling place, suspected “crack cocaine”, suspected marijuana, money and a firearm. Continue reading 17 electronic gaming machines, drugs seized in Rusk County, two arrested

EAST TEXAS — East Texans turned out to cast ballots Tuesday in this year’s Texas primary, with a number of seats contested on the local, state, and national levels. In one key contest, Nathaniel Moran cruised to an easy victory in the GOP race to succeed Louie Gohmert in Congress. Gohmert was vying for attorney general, but he’s now out of the race; Land Commissioner George P. Bush will face incumbent Ken Paxton in a runoff. In State House District 6, Matt Schaefer won big over challenger Charles Turner. Schaefer will go up against Democrat Cody Grace in November. John Moore and Pam Frederick won their Smith County Commissioners Court elections, and neither faces a November opponent. In Gregg County, longtime Precinct 2 Commissioner Darryl Primo was soundly defeated by challenger Ray Bostick Jr. Click here for the full Smith County results. Use this link for the complete results in Gregg County.

TYLER — The Caldwell Zoo is currently in the process of making changes to its leadership — and to the zoo itself. According to our news partner KETK, Hayes Caldwell, the zoo’s executive director for more than 50 years, is transitioning to the role of president and CEO of the Caldwell Foundation. His longtime assistant director, Scott Maddox, has reportedly taken the position of chief operating officer, leading day-to-day operations. Mr. Caldwell also announced that the new president and CEO of the zoo will be Steve Marshall, who is currently senior vice president of operations at the Audubon Zoo and Park in New Orleans. He will be transitioning into his new role at Caldwell in April. Continue reading Caldwell Zoo making changes in leadership, exhibits

TYLER — NET Health CEO George Roberts is upbeat about the continuing decline in COVID numbers in his survey area. Roberts says the virus appears to be bottoming out locally by all measures, including a hospital patient number now down to 94. But he cautions that things still aren’t back to normal yet. Roberts continues to urge vaccinations, saying we can’t be sure when there might be a resurgence. He says officials continue to monitor the recently discovered BA-2 omicron variant “very carefully,” though it doesn’t appear to be having any significant impact locally so far. Roberts says according to the CDC, BA-2 continues to account for some 3.9 per cent of COVID cases nationwide, as it did last week. For more information on COVID-19 in East Texas, click here.

TYLER — The city of Tyler is putting out the word on a couple of events that may be of interest to you. Registration is now open for the Tyler Parks and Recreation 2022 Corporate Challenge. Officials say it provides a great opportunity for businesses to promote fitness throughout their organization and allows for networking opportunities with other companies in the community. Click here for more information. Meantime, Keep Tyler Beautiful is challenging Tyler area artists of all ages to create unique artwork for the Recycled Art Contest. The theme is “Be a Recycling Superhero!” Submissions will be accepted no later than Friday, March 18, at 5 p.m. You can go to this link for more details about that activity.

EAST TEXAS — East Texans are heading to the polls for the Texas primary. Smith County has 35 vote centers available. During two weeks of early voting, 19,614 votes were cast — about 13 percent of the 148,746 registered voters in the county. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and voters can go to any of the 35 polling locations across the county, regardless of where they live. Click here for more details. Gregg County also has plenty of information for local voters. Click this link to learn more. KTBB will have election night coverage following President Biden’s State of the Union Address.

ATHENS — More than three years since one child was killed in an Athens ISD bus crash with a Union Pacific train, lawyers are still haggling over evidence needing to be collected. According to our news partner KETK, 81-year-old John Stevens is charged with criminally negligent homicide and injury to a child after the January 2019 wreck that killed 13-year-old Christopher Bonilla and injured 9-year-old Joselyne Torres. At a hearing on Monday, lawyers for Union Pacific went back and forth with Stevens’ defense team on depositions for Robert Ray and Roger Johnson, the train’s conductor and engineer, respectively. Judge Scott McKee ordered all parties to be back in his courtroom at 9 a.m. on April 5.

TYLER — A Tyler woman allegedly lied about having more than $110 million to buy a home, according to an arrest warrant obtained by our news partner KETK. 27-year-old Mary Strobel is charged with forgery for greater than $300,000, a first-degree felony in Texas. She also was facing an illegal firearm possession charge from Bossier City, Louisiana. The warrant stated that a Tyler home was listed for $1.2 million and that Strobel and another man, who has yet to be charged, approached a realtor to buy the property. The documents say that Strobel met with the seller and agreed to a $1.1 million contract for the purchase. Strobel also agreed to put down $10,000 cash in earnest money. Continue reading Warrant: Tyler woman lied about having $110 million to purchase home

TYLER – TxDOT will be busy with another round of construction and maintenance work in the Tyler District this week. In Smith County, Tyler Maintenance starts Tuesday with a base failure crew on FM 2015 at IH 20. This will be under one-way traffic worked by flaggers. In Gregg County, crews will be continuing mill and inlay operations on FM 2204. There will be left lane closures east and westbound from US 259 BUS to Danville Rd. Click here for the full rundown of roadwork around the district.

TYLER — The Smith County Sheriff’s Office has identified the victims in a double shooting discovered Friday. According to a news release, they were 21-year-olds Cody Russell Lovelady Jr. of Flint and Jarah Breann Shelton of Tyler. Officials say around 11:15 Friday morning, a deputy saw a black Ford F-250 on FM 2868 near the intersection of Hwy. 155 South. The vehicle was still running and a female was sitting in the front seat with a handgun. After removing the handgun, authorities say the deputy realized that the female and a male who was also in the front seat were both dead. The deputy secured the vehicle and called for assistance. Autopsies have been ordered, and the investigation continues.

SMITH COUNTY – Smith County Precinct 1 Constable Curtis Traylor-Harris and two high-ranking deputies were indicted on Thursday for felony theft by a public servant and a misdemeanor of official oppression, according to Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman. Precinct 1 Chief Deputy LaQuenda Banks and Pct. 1 Sgt. Derrick Holman were charged along with Harris. Harris, Banks and Holman were arrested in November 2021 for allegedly stealing from a Tyler residence while they were working. They were previously charged with theft, official oppression and abuse of official capacity. Those who are convicted with theft by a public servant will receive a third-degree felony. They could get a fine not greater than $10,000 and be sentenced between two to 10 years in prison. Continue reading Smith County Constable, high-ranking deputies indicted for felony theft, official oppression

MARSHALL — Authorities say a Harrison County man, 38-year-old Brandon Phillips, has been found safe after going missing. According to our news partner KETK, the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office had been asking for the public’s help in locating Philllips. A truck belonging to Phillips was found near Hallsville and investigators say that it was found “in a manner that [they] believe he left the location on foot.” Officials did not say how long Phillips had been missing.

TYLER — The Tyler Police Department was able to determine the car that likely killed a woman in a hit-and-run on North Broadway in Tyler. According to our news partner KETK, police believe that a 2006 to 2007 Toyota Camry may have hit Kelsey Hise, 30, on Feb. 19 around 7:30 p.m. She was found on N. Broadway Avenue near Queen Street and later died from her injuries. Police do not know the color of the vehicle, but they are urging the public to look out and call about any vehicle with damage to the front end with a broken mirror. Anyone with information should contact Tyler PD at 903-531-1000.

TYLER — Black History Month continues in Tyler Saturday with the African American Cultural Events Committee City-Wide Annual Black History Program. Guest speaker is technology executive, investor, and author James Mobley (pictured). Tickets are $30 for the event, set for 6:00 p.m. at the Tyler Rose Garden Center. For tickets or sponsorship opportunities, you can call (903) 571-2469 or (903) 944-2279, or email [email protected].