KTBB News, Weather, Talk

TYLER – The Smith County Sheriff’s Office said a driver has been arrested after allegedly running over a pedestrian around 12:15 a.m. on Monday near State Highway 64 West and County Road 1125 in Tyler, according to our news partners at KETK.

Jesus Mora, 38, called 911 and told dispatchers that he had ran over a man with his vehicle and fled the scene, according to authorities. The sheriff’s office said another witness had called 911 and reported that Mora had run over the pedestrian on purpose before leaving the scene. Continue reading Driver arrested for running over pedestrian near Tyler

ANGELINA COUNTY – Several East Texas counties have enacted burn bans due to dry conditions and fire risk. When a county issues a burn ban, all outdoor burning is prohibited in that county. Courtesy of our news partners at KETK, here is a list of burn bans across East Texas: Continue reading LIST: East Texas counties under burn bans

BROOKSTON – An Amber Alert has been issued for a 15 years old girl who was suspected of being abducted in the town of Brookston, TX which is near Paris.The victim is a white female named Erika Anderson, though she may use the name Erika McCarver. She was last seen wearing a gray hoodie. The suspect is 22-year-old Jonathan Ramirez. He is driving a green and beige 2009 Toyota Camry. The license number is RWW6625.
If you have any information please call your local 9-1-1.

LONGVIEW — The Longview Public Library will be changing it’s hours of operation starting on Monday, July 31, according to the City of Longview. According to our news partner KETK, the library is making these changes in order to better accommodate rising daily patron attendance. The press release added that some minor adjustments might be made to weekly youth and adult programs. In total, the library won’t be losing any hours, officials said. The library’s curbside pickup will be available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each week from Monday through Friday, according to a City of Longview press release. The library’s new hours of operation will be: Monday – Wednesday: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m., Thursday – Saturday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday: 1 – 5 p.m. Computers will shut down 30 minutes before the end of each day.

PAYNE SPRINGS – Payne Springs Fire Rescue said they responded to a grass fire that started because of alleged illegal outdoor burning around 2:35 p.m. on Saturday. Our news partners at KETK report the grass fire started in the Allen Ranch area of Payne Springs and spread to several outbuildings, one of which was completely destroyed, according to PSFR. Officials reminded the public to always have a water source nearby and to always watch any burning.

LUFKIN – A 27-year-old man was arrested late Thursday night after officials said he led officers on a high speed chase. According to our news partners at KETK and the Lufkin Police Department, officers attempted to pull over a Dodge pickup for an expired registration in the 800 block of North Medford Drive around 11:55 p.m. when the truck refused to stop. Officials said the 13-minute pursuit reached speeds more than 100 mph with the truck at times driving on the wrong side of the road. The pursuit ended on Highway 69 South after officers performed a precision immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver on the truck. Continue reading Man accused of leading Lufkin officers on high-speed chase

TYLER – After trying to catch up from 2022’s summer drought, East Texas farmers are praying for a better crop season this year, according to our news partners at KETK. “It all depends on the weather, whether you have a good season or a bad season but it’s been good so far, now how long it’s going to last, I don’t know,” said farmer Dennis Floyd. “The okra seems to be doing really good right now, the tomatoes seem to be doing really well, we’re getting very good corn,” said Allison Lott, owner of HWY 80 Produce. Continue reading East Texas farmers facing challenges in summer heat

NACOGDOCHES – The Nacogdoches Police Department is investigating the case of a 2-year-old child that reportedly shot themself in the head around 11:37 a.m. on Saturday, according to a press release. Our news partners at KETK report that Nacogdoches police and fire departments responded to a report of an accidental shooting at a residence in the 800 block of Texas Oak Street. According to Nacogdoches PD, when first responders arrived they discovered that a 2-year-old child had found a handgun inside the residence and accidentally fired the gun which critically injured them. Continue reading Nacogdoches police investigate accidental shooting of 2-year-old

PITTSBURG — Two minors were detained after an investigation into suspicious credit card charges in Pittsburg. According to the Pittsburg Police Department and our news partners at KETK, on Monday a citizen notified the Pittsburg Police Department that their credit card appeared to have a suspicious charge after a recent purchase at McDonald’s in Pittsburg. This happened at the McDonald’s at 101 S. Greer Blvd. Continue reading Juvenile McDonald’s employees accused of credit card fraud

TYLER – The Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office is encouraging citizens to postpone any outdoor burning as drought conditions worsen. Our news partners at KETK report that Officials said the county isn’t under a burn ban yet but the Keetch-Byram Drought Index is expected to rise daily. “While the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) remains in the low 500 range for Smith County, it is expected to rise daily if the area doesn’t receive significant rainfall. Historically, the County has implemented a burn ban when the KBDI reaches the mid-600 to 700 range. However, officials also monitor weather conditions and forecasts, along with the daily incident responses from fire departments throughout the county. Continue reading Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office discourages outdoor burning

TYLER — As East Texas experiences extreme heat, our news partners at KETK spoke with CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler where it’s critical to monitor its facilities’ temperatures around the clock. KETK asked: It’s easy to manage your AC at home, but what does it take to cool down more than one million square feet? Continue reading Local hospital on regulating facility temperature in extreme heat

LONGVIEW – Our news partners at KETK report that the Longview Fire Department responded to a structure fire at R&K Distributers on Wednesday. The first unit on the scene said they saw smoke coming from the west side of the building. According to authorities, an investigation showed that the fire was in a part of the building where several pallet jacks had been charging their batteries. Officials said that the building’s internal sprinklers were able to put out the fire and the firefighters helped clear out the smoke from the building. Continue reading Longview structure fire causes $250,000 in damage

LUFKIN – The U.S. Marshals Service on Monday arrested a fourth suspect wanted in relation to the April 3 fatal shooting of Richard Coutee, of Lufkin. Our news partners at KETK report that Jardon Castle, 18, of Jasper was arrested by Marshals around midnight in Lake Charles, La. Castle is expected to be taken back to Angelina County in the next few weeks, officials said. “We would like to thank the U.S. Marshals Service for all of their hard work in getting the last of these suspects into custody,” Lufkin Police Department spokeswoman Jessica Pebsworth said. Continue reading Fourth man in Lufkin murder arrested in Louisiana

TYLER – CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital and Louis and Peaches Owen Heart
Hospital have earned the American College of Cardiology’s National Cardiovascular Data
Registry Chest Pain MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2023.

CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital is one of just 262 hospitals nationwide to receive the award
and one of just 32 in Texas. Continue reading CHRISTUS earns national recognition for cardiac patient care