KTBB News, Weather, Talk

TYLER — The city of Tyler and Smith County are updating and recapping local COVID-19 testing availabilities. Officials say the Texas Department of Emergency Management (TDEM) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) are providing free walk-up COVID-19 testing opportunities for anyone with or without COVID-19 symptoms. St. Louis Baptist Church on Frankston Hwy. in Tyler began offering the tests Monday; they’ll continue there through Friday, Oct. 30. Testing will occur on Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Continue reading COVID-19 testing in East Texas

TYLER — The owners of the People’s Petroleum Building in downtown Tyler announce the upcoming addition of a new restaurant to occupy the second floor. According to a news release, Prime 102 will open late this fall for weekday lunches and dinner service Monday through Saturday. The space was formerly occupied by Jack Ryan’s, which recently closed. Operating Partner Steve Barnhart took a moment Monday to visit with KTBB. He told us the menu includes “prime steaks, excellent seafood, lighter fare as well, lunch, salads and sandwiches, pasta dishes.” He says he’s “very excited to bring great hospitality and service to the downtown area.” Continue reading New restaurant to open in People’s Petroleum Building

LONGVIEW — Longview Mayor Andy Mack announced Monday morning that he will be seeking a third and final term. According to our news partner KETK, Mack was first elected in May 2015 and again in 2018. He replaced Rep. Jay Dean, who had led the city for the previous 10 years. Mack is a native of Longivew and attended Stephen F. Austin State University, where he earned a B.S. in Biology. He then studied at the Baylor College of Dentistry, where he earned a Doctorate in Dental Surgery.

TYLER – TxDOT has kicked off another week of construction and maintenance work in the Tyler District. Seal coat operations continue with work in Anderson and Van Zandt counties. Motorists should expect lane closures and delays during this work to seal and protect roadways from water and to provide a longer life cycle, according to a news release. Go to https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/media-center/local-news/tyler/037-2020.html for a complete rundown of work throughout the district.

ATHENS — Using an aerosol can and a lighter as a torch, a LaRue man burned two people Sunday and was arrested by Henderson County deputies, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. Mark Anthony Negrete, 18, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon when he was arrested at a residence off FM 804. He confessed that he burned a juvenile female in the face and another victim, according to the release. According to officials, an investigation discovered Negrete used a canister of starter fluid and a lighter to create a torch. The juvenile female went to the UT Health Hospital in Athens with burns to her face and hair. This investigation is said to be ongoing.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald J. Trump announced the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States. Congressman Louie Gohmert told KTBB, “It’s going to be a very difficult time for the country going through this confirmation because of the bias and hatred for Christian beliefs, but for the good of the country, we have got to move forward. Of course, Biden and others have said we need to wait until a new President is sworn in, and my thought is is that we can’t wait four and a half years.” Continue reading Gohmert: ‘Precedent is clearly there to move forward on confirmation’

LONGVIEW, Texas (AP) — An East Texas county commissioner and three other people have been indicted on charges that they fraudulently solicited mail-in votes from able-bodied voters by claiming they were disabled, often without the voters’ knowledge or consent. Gregg County Commissioner Shannon Brown and three paid workers of Brown’s 2018 Democratic primary campaign are charged with multiple counts of election-related fraud and record tampering. Penalties for the various violations range from six months in jail to 99 years in prison. All four defendants have been released on their own recognizance. Court records listed no attorneys for the four on Saturday.

TYLER — A man who led Upshur County Deputies on a motorcycle chase eventually escaped their pursuit, but was later detained in Smith County. According to our news partner KETK, Smith County troopers attempted to stop the man on the motorcycle, Friday on HWY 271. Dylan Alexander Taylor, 27, lost control of the bike and went down on FM 344 at CR 187. Taylor, of Frankston, was transported to the Smith County Jail without incident. According to officials no one was injured, in the incident.

TYLER — Tyler ISD is combining their customary campus book fairs to create one gigantic district wide online book fair. According to a media brief from TISD, the theme of the school year is “Adapt and Deliver”. Moving to one district wide online book fair is the latest example of adapting processes to deliver “positive results”. Proceeds from the online book fair will not only help individual school libraries, but will also help stock campus digital libraries. Anyone who wants to shop the virtual book fair can do so through October 4 by clicking the link. https://www.scholastic.com/bf/tylerindependentschdist. There is also a link to the online book fair on each campus website.

LONGVIEW — A Gregg County Grand Jury indicted four defendants on election offenses earlier this week. Friday evening, State Senator Bryan Hughes told KTBB, “Mail-in ballots are prone to cheating, they are more prone to fraud than any other method of voting.” Gregg County Precinct 4 Commissioner Shannon Brown had 23 felony counts brought against him from the 2018 Democratic Primary, in all the 4 arrested in the alleged voter fraud scheme, had 134 felony counts against four defendants. Continue reading Senator Huges: ‘foolish to expand mail-in ballots’

TYLER — The Smith County Sheriff’s Office has recently been made aware of another warrant scam in the area. The Department said in a news brief, that the fraud had been attempted with several phone calls to citizens on Friday. involves involves several phone calls that have been received by several Smith County citizens this morning. The caller is identifying himself as Sgt. Larry Christian with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office. In one particular instance, the caller informed the victim that she failed to show up for a court date and she needed to post a $2,500 surety bond. Continue reading Warrant scam circulating in Smith County

Athens — A Henderson County Narcotics Investigator arrested two alleged methamphetamine dealers and a wanted woman on Thursday night. According to a media brief from Sheriff Botie Hillhouse on Friday, Larry Dean McCullough, 40, was found with a substantial amount of meth hidden in the hubcap of a wheel on his vehicle. Wendy Applin, 38, was wanted on an outstanding warrant and was in McCullough’s vehicle. In a separate incident, Ryan Jay Harris, 38, was arrested with meth when a vehicle he occupied was stopped for a vehicle equipment violation. The two men were charged with dealing drugs and the woman was arrested for the outstanding warrant. All three were transported to the Henderson County Jail.

AUSTIN — The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department confirmed that giant salvinia can once again be found in Lake Athens and Lake Gilmer after they surveyed the bodies of water. According to our news partner KETK, Lake Athens was checked earlier this month. All giant salvinia found during the survey was treated. At Lake Gilmer, some giant salvinia was identified near a boat ramp and removed by hand. The lake was surveyed by boat, and no other plants were found. It will soon be searched more extensively. Continue reading Lake Athens and Lake Gilmer see giant salvinia

LONGVIEW — A Gregg County Grand Jury indicted four defendants on election offenses earlier this week. According to court documents the charges are based on allegations committed during the 2018 Democratic primary race for Gregg County Commissioner Precinct Four. On Friday State Representative Jay Dean told KTBB, “The folks that harvest these votes they are professionals…They will go to someone’s mail box and remove the ballot from the mailbox. They are professionals so I think I would encourage everybody to be very careful. If you see anything suspicious; at all, regardless of how big or little it is, you should contact local law enforcement to have it checked out.” Continue reading State Rep Dean: ‘Mail-in ballot fraud happens’

TYLER — Fall officially arrived earlier this week, and on Saturday morning, Lane Chapel’s church parking lot was transformed into a pumpkin lot. Pastor Jeff Cage told KTBB Friday, “People ask me how may pumpkins do we get? I say a lot. I don’t really know. We used to try and count them. Last year, I looked on the bill or ticket on a truck and there were over 20,000 lbs of pumpkins and we did that many twice. Because we will get an 18-wheelers full Saturday morning, and then another 18-wheeler full on October 10th. We will have pumpkins and squash and gords. We will have all sizes and shapes, and colors. There will be stars and green, white, orange, speckled ones. It really is amazing what God can do with a pumpkin.” Continue reading Fall is in the air and the ‘pumpkins are here’

TYLER — The City of Tyler Solid Waste Department and Keep Tyler Beautiful will sponsor a FREE bulky item collection for residential customers (excluding multi-family home communities and businesses). On Friday organizer’s said that residents participating should have their bulky items on the curb by 7 a.m. Oct. 5, and no sooner than 5 p.m., Oct. 2. After crews have collected on your street, do not place more bulky items on the curb. These items will be charged a special pickup fee. For more information click the link. https://www.cityoftyler.org/government/departments/solid-waste/solid-waste-calendar.

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that authorities have arrested Gregg County Commissioner Shannon Brown, Marlena Jackson, Charlie Burns, and DeWayne Ward on charges in connection with an alleged organized vote harvesting scheme during the 2018 Democratic primary election. To increase the pool of ballots needed to swing the race in Brown’s favor, the group targeted young, able-bodied voters to cast ballots by mail by fraudulently claiming the voters were “disabled,” in most cases without the voters’ knowledge or consent. Under Texas election law, mail ballots based on disability are specifically reserved for those who are physically ill and cannot vote in-person as a result. Continue reading Commissioner arrested in Gregg County election fraud scheme

TYLER — East Texas foodies got a chance to chow down at their favorite vendor cafes as they lined the East Texas State Fairgrounds for the opening of “The Taste of the Fair” event. McKinney Food Services Ron McKinney told KTBB, “We are best known for our Texas sized corndogs, with a Texas sized taste…You don’t worry about weight during fair week, you come and enjoy fair food, you only get it once a year usually. The smell, the aroma, I mean it’s just amazing.” The event will continue through Sunday opening daily from 11a.m. to 8 p.m. and then repeating the same hours next week, Thursday through Sunday. Continue reading ‘Taste of the Fair’ opens at ETSF grounds

TYLER — Time’s annual list of the 100 most influential people of 2020 has been revealed, and Patrick Mahommes was listed as one of the most influential people in the world. The 2014 Whitehouse graduate, was the only NFL player to be on the list made up of groups of pioneers, artists, leaders, titans, and icons from the past 12 months. In the off-season, Mahomes signed a 10-year contract extension worth $477 million with another $26 million in potential bonuses, for a total of $503 million. The agreement is the biggest deal in the history of North American sports and professional sports in general. The ‘Time 100’ magazine will be available on newsstands beginning Friday.

LONGVIEW — U.S. Congressman Louie Gohmert will attend the Gregg County Republican Party fundraiser October 9th. Tickets are $250 per person and attendance will be limited to 75 people. Congressman Gohmert told KTBB he has recovered fully from the coronavirus. “I took hydroxychloroquine in combination with other prescribed items by my Dr…Those country’s who have used hydroxychloroquine liberally to ameliorate the effects of COVID. They have a 78% lower fatality rate than we have in the United States. So regardless of whether you think the President was right to believe his experts or not there definitely is something there.” Continue reading Congressman Gohmert: Hydroxychloroquine was part of my recovery

TYLER — The Tyler City Council approved the Tyler Police Department to accept a grant on Wednesday. The contribution from Community Oriented Policing Services is for $250,000. In a media release, city officials said The COPS Hiring Grant will help fund two new police officer positions over the next three years. Tyler PD will take over full financial responsibility in 2023. These officers will be utilized to take a data-driven approach for concentrated crime in specific areas in the City of Tyler. The local Civil Service Commission met and approved Tyler Police Department’s staffing numbers on Sept. 9.

WHITE OAK — White Oak ISD is adding safety precautions following the district closing earlier this month. Air Rover of Tyler was called upon to install an air purification system to help diminish the spread of COVID-19. According to our news partner KETK, WOISD closed in late August through September 9th due to the spread of the virus. The school campuses are back open with the new system that is growing in medical industries, nursing homes, schools, and universities.

TYLER — The Taste of the Fair starts at the fairgrounds, on Thursday, in Tyler. While COVID-19 cancelled the 2020 East Texas State Fair, Fair food classics will be available; including Jumbo Corn Dogs, Funnel Cakes, Turkey Legs, and over 50 specialty foods. Over the next two Thursday through Sunday cycles, vendors will be setup on Fair Park Drive at the East Texas State Fairgrounds. Times of operation are from 11:00 am – 8:00 pm. All food will be prepared fresh, but only served to-go. Masks will be required. Food stands will be open prior to both Tyler Legacy football games, but fair officials remind attendees that outside food is not allowed into Rose Stadium. However, football fans can add fair food to their tailgating experience.