KTBB News, Weather, Talk

The Tyler City Council voted on Wednesday to authorize the City Manager to execute a contract with Lone Star Land Enhancement in the amount of $3,678,365.44 for the Sanitary Sewer Right of Way Clearing. The Right of Way clearing project is prioritized by the current condition of the easements and by determining how urgent the need to access the sanitary sewer assets associated with the easement. In all, the project identifies 394,486 linear feet of easements needing to be cleared. This project is funded with water utility bond. The City Council also voted on Wednesday to authorize the City Manager to execute a design contract with KSA Engineers, Inc. in the amount of $467,000 for the design, bidding, construction administration and inspection of a new administration building at the Westside Wastewater Treatment Plant. Continue reading Tyler City Council approves contract to clear sanitary sewer right of way

TYLER — The City of Tyler is presenting the extension of the Legacy Trail Project to be paid for by the proposed Half-Cent Sales Tax Fund for fiscal year 2023. Phase II of the project will add a total of 2.2 miles of trail, which includes 1.7 miles of shared-use path and half a mile of sidewalks from Peete Elementary connecting with Stewart Park along the roadway rights-of-way and through W.E. Winters Park. Currently, the city is working with a consultant to survey the area and create design plans. This part of the project is estimated to cost $354,000 and be completed by February 2023. Construction is expected to begin in fall 2023. Continue reading Proposed Half-Cent work plan includes extension to Legacy Trails

JACKSONVILLE – A Jacksonville woman was arrested on Monday for failing to register as a sex offender for the second time. According to our news partner KETK, officials said Jennifer Gail Stevens, 38, was arrested at a residence on Jacksonville Square Drive. Failure to comply with sex offender duty to register is a third degree felony. Stevens was previously arrested in February for non-compliance with The Texas Sex Offender Registry Duty to Register.

TYLER – A Tyler man pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution after being accused of kidnapping two girls to sex-traffic them in Louisiana, according to Smith County judicial records. According to our news partner KETK, Aaron Devonte Wallace, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Teresa Swan Fletcher, 23, was also indicted for aggravated promotion of prostitution in connection to the case. Her plea docket agreement is scheduled for Sept. 20.

BULLARD – A Bullard ISD bus was involved in a wreck on Tuesday, the district announced on Facebook. According to our news partner KETK, officials said Bus E1 was involved in an accident near CR 181 and FM 344. Six students and two student aides were on board but were not injured. Another bus came to pick up students.

TYLER – The Smith County Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to rescind its burn ban following recent rains, highlighted by Monday’s downpour. “I 100 percent recommend rescinding the burn ban after the rain we’ve had,” Smith County Fire Marshal Jay Brooks said. “We received a good saturating, soaking rain, which was exactly what we needed.” The burn ban was issued by the Commissioners Court on July 5. Numerous other area counties are also lifting their burn bans. Continue reading Smith County, others lift burn bans

TYLER — The city of Tyler will be retiming 19 traffic signals this week for the year two signal timing improvements project. The identified intersections will build upon the corridors which were retimed in 2019 and 2021 and focus on areas that have seen less reliable travel times. according to a news release. This year the initial implementation of the new signal timings will be done remotely by the traffic engineer with the Advanced Transportation Management System (ATMS). Previously, signal retiming had to be accomplished in the field. Officials say the new system is allowing for a quicker implementation and less staff time in the field. Continue reading Traffic signal retiming to begin this week

WINONA – The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down in Winona on Monday. According to our news partner KETK, the tornado had wind speeds of roughly 95 mph and was 200 yards wide, uprooting roughly 50 trees and damaging a few structures. No injuries or fatalities were reported in the four minutes it was on the ground. Most of the damage was right when the tornado was crossing FM 16 at Hussey Circle. It narrowly missed Winona ISD, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at NWS Shreveport Charlie Woodrum said.

TYLER — Starting Sept. 1, Tyler Solid Waste crews will continue collecting residential garbage and recycling at 6 a.m. In August, Solid Waste implemented a heat prevention program that allowed crews to start collecting an hour earlier than the usual start time of 7 a.m. The earlier start time allowed crews to work during the cooler hours and finish routes earlier. “After receiving great feedback from the community and our team, we decided to continue with the earlier start time,” said Solid Waste Director Leroy Sparrow as quoted in a news release. “Fulfilling the needs of our community while maintaining our crews’ safety is our top priority.” Continue reading Tyler Solid Waste implementing earlier start time year-round

DALLAS – Gov. Greg Abbott has signed a disaster declaration for 23 Texas counties after damaging winds and heavy rainfall across Texas — nine of them in East Texas. According to our news partner KETK, Camp, Henderson, Hopkins, Marion, Rains, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt, and Wood counties are included in the declaration. Abbott said additional counties could be added as storms continue to move through the state.

TYLER – The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Oversight Committee approved approximately $3.5 million to The University of Texas at Tyler Health Science Center to fund two CPRIT cancer prevention related programs. With the assistance of $997,120, the DEFEAT (Delivering Education, Focused Navigation, and Equitable Access throughout East Texas) program will focus on recruiting underserved and uninsured women between 40 and 75 years of age to have proper access to breast cancer screenings, according to the release. The Health Science Center also received $2,482,127 for the continued expansion of the Colorectal Cancer Prevention grant “Screening to Optimize Prevention of CRC in East Texas.” Continue reading UT Tyler Health Science Center receives more than $3 million in CPRIT grant funding

TYLER — TxDOT schedules another week’s worth of roadwork in the Tyler District. In Gregg County, a Kilgore project consists of completely rebuilding the traffic circle and full width of roadway to the Rusk County line. The traffic will be reduced to one lane in the southbound direction for the duration of the project. In Smith County, Tyler Maintenance will have a crew on Loop 323 cutting high shoulders and spot cleaning ditches. The work will take place from the Loop extension to US 69. Click here for a complete rundown of roadwork around the district.

TYLER — City of Tyler officials are welcoming your input on their proposed 2022-2023 budget, beginning Wednesday. Improvements to public safety, services, and employee retention are listed as top priorities. Opportunities for public input are set for two city council meetings, on August 24 and September 14 — both at 9 a.m. at City Hall. Final adoption of the budget is scheduled for the September 14 meeting. Click here for all the details.

SMITH COUNTY — No student injuries were reported after a Chapel Hill ISD bus was involved in a four-car crash on Highway 64 East. According to our news partner KETK, units with the Smith County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office were assisting DPS, Emergency Services District 2 and the Chapel Hill Volunteer Fire Department on the scene, according to Constable Josh Joplin Precinct 4. EMS arrived on the scene, and minor injuries were reported by officials, none of them having happened to students on the bus, according to officials.

TYLER — The Tyler ISD Board of Trustees approved its general fund budget for the 2022-2023 school year during its meeting on Monday. This budget includes lowering the tax rate by 10.98 cents and raising teacher pay. The district’s budget will be more than $169.5 million for the school year which includes a net funding increase of about $3.1 million, according to a release. Tyler ISD officials said that this increase comes from a healthy district property tax growth. Continue reading Tyler ISD lowers tax rate, increases staff pay