KTBB News, Weather, Talk

AUSTIN (AP/STAFF) – The state’s unemployment rate is holding steady. In East Texas, it is going up slightly. The Texas Workforce Commission reports the state’s unemployment rate in January held at 4.8%. The January number is from the latest statewide reporting period by the commission. Nationwide unemployment during February, the latest U.S. reporting period, was 4.7%. In East Texas, Tyler’s unemployment rate went up to 4.7%. It had been 4.3% in December and January of Last year. Longview’s jobless total in January was 6.6%. It was 5.9% in December. Continue reading A Slight Uptick In Area Unemployment

DOGWOOD CITY — An accident involving a DPS trooper Wednesday night remains under investigation, and the people involved have been identified. Trooper Nicholas Makowski, 30, of Athens, was the driver of the patrol car involved. Alejandro Promotor Chavez, 50, of Tyler, was the driver of the F-150 pickup. A 15 year-old female passenger, also of Tyler, was in the F-150 as well. According to a Department of Public Safety report, Makowski was traveling south on Highway 155 just before 8:00 when the F-150 reportedly pulled out in front of him from the area of Mary Martin Drive in Dogwood City. Chavez was attempting to head north on HWY 155. The patrol unit struck the truck in the area of the driver’s side rear door. Chavez and the teen were taken to a local hospital, where they were treated for non-life threatening injuries. Makowski was treated and released.

OVERTON – The Overton School District is warning parents that someone diagnosed with Whooping Cough has visited the district’s schools. School Superintendent Stephen DuBose says the person, who has not been identified, has been on all three campuses within the last week. While all students in the district are current on all immunizations, he said parents should schedule a doctor’s appointment if symptoms listed in letters they sent out, are present. He added, It is extremely rare to contract the disease if vaccines are up to date.

AUSTIN – Governor Greg Abbott has reappointed Phil Jenkins of Palestine to the Upper Neches River Municipal Water Authority Board of Directors. His new term will expire on February 1, 2023. Jenkins is retired as co-owner of Palestine Contractors, Inc. He is a member and former chairman of the Cartmell Home for Aged Board of Directors and its related Cartmell Foundation. He is a former member of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants and former member of the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors.

TYLER – There will be no school trustee election in Tyler in May. Tyler school trustees at a Thursday morning workshop meeting cancelled the two unopposed races. Board vice president Dr. Patricia Nation and representative Orenthia Mason drew no opposition. This means they will serve three more years on the Tyler school board. But, even though there are no school trustee races, voters will still decide that $198 million school bond package to renovate the city’s two high schools.

LUFKIN — 40-year-old Almuhajir Salahuddin has agreed to a plea bargain of one year in county jail after he phoned in a bomb threat to a Pilgrim’s Pride plant in Lufkin last year. He pleaded guilty to class A misdemeanor terrorist threat. Originally he was arrested on a felony terrorist threat charge as well as several misdemeanor traffic charges. According to the arrest affidavit, the bomb threat cost the plant $2,200 in lost employee productivity and several hundred thousand dollars in loss of product.

TYLER — East Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert is among a number of lawmakers who have problems with the GOP’s new proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare. Joining Melissa Francis on FOX Business Network, Gohmert outlined a couple of things he’d like to change. For one, he said, “We got to be assured that we’re gonna eliminate the exemption from the anti-trust laws for health insurance companies. They can…monopolize.” Gohmert added, “We gotta make health…savings accounts far more attractive than what we’ve done, and we can do that — and that is the key to saving healthcare as we once knew it.”

RUSK COUNTY – A Troup Man is in custody following a Rusk County kidnapping. Arrested Wednesday in Panola County was Benny O’Neal Cagle Jr., 54, of Troup. He was arrested following a chase that ended off County road 462, southeast of Carthage. Cagle’s car left the road and drove into a tree line. He then fled on foot. He was taken into custody, without incident, a short time later. The woman he abducted was unharmed. Cagle has been charged with aggravated kidnapping with bond set at $100,000. Continue reading Rusk County Kidnapping Suspect in Custody

HOUSTON (AP/STAFF) — AT&T says 911 service has been restored for cellphone customers who had been unable to call 911 in East Texas, including Tyler, and several other states. A spokesman for Dallas-based AT&T on Wednesday evening offered customers apologies for the problem. But the spokesman did not immediately provide details on how many states or customers were affected or what caused the outage. During the outage, many law enforcement agencies in affected states provided alternate numbers for people to call if they had an emergency.

KILGORE – Two persons have been arrested in connection with the disappearance of Sheryia Grant of Kilgore. She was 8 months pregnant when she disappeared August 20th, 2016. Arrested Wednesday were Allen Lamont Sutton, 28, and Laneshia Lashae Young, 22, both of Overton. On March 1st, the two were named in sealed indictments returned by the Rusk County Grand Jury. The two count indictments are for tampering with or fabricating physical evidence (human corpse), felony 2, and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence Felony 3. When it was learned Wednesday where the couple could be found, Kilgore police, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service and Longview Police Department, arrested the two in Longview. Continue reading Two Arrested in Kilgore Woman’s Disappearance

TYLER- Another ridesharing program might be operating in Tyler. City manager Ed Broussard told the city council Wednesday Lyft has filed an application to begin operating in Tyler. It would be following Uber, which started operating in Tyler last September. If the application by Lyft is approved, it could begin operating in Tyler by the end of the month.

MOUNT PLEASANT (AP/STAFF) — Three people are dead in Titus County as part of two failed efforts by a man to rob his family members. Titus County Sheriff Tim Ingram said Michael Laplace, 29, of Mount Pleasant, and an accomplice, attacked Laplace’s relatives in an effort to steal money. It looks like both suspects were high on drugs at the time. Laplace is said to have tried to kidnap a cousin early Wednesday but the cousin was able to break free and a gunfight followed. Killed in the exchange were Laplace and a second cousin, Johnny Burleson. It was later determined that Laplace had gone to his grandfather’s house on Tuesday to rob him. It looks like Laplace strangled Sylvester Harnden Jr. when he wouldn’t cooperate. Continue reading Three Killed and One Injured in Titus County Shooting

AUSTIN – The state comptroller’s office will be sending out over $619 million in sales tax allocations for March. This is nearly 6% more than last March. For the most part, local sales tax allocations are running ahead of last years’ pace. Tyler’s check for March is $2,823,408.24. This is nearly 24.97% ahead of March of last year. For the year, Tyler’s sales tax allocation IS $10,407,447 million. That’s 4.65% more than last year. Longview’s March check is 2,097,579.76, or 2.85% over last March. For the year, Longview’s sales tax allocations are over $7,670,523.68. That is 0.33% more than last year.

TYLER — The City of Tyler Street Department has closed South College Avenue between West First Street and West Second Street to bring down a tree in the City right-of-way. Officials expect to have the street reopened to traffic by 3:00 this afternoon.

MARSHALL – A Harrison County mother, first charged with endangering a child, has now been charged with murder in one of her twins’ death. Arrested Wednesday morning was April Gibbons, 33. She has been charged with the February murder of one of her 18 month old twins. She first told police one twin rolled on top of and smothered the other one. But investigators found she had given both twins adult sleeping medication. Also arrested were Gibbons’ parents, Gary Evans, 60 and Carla Evans, 57, who have been charged with endangering a child.

TYLER – CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Health System has named Chris Glenney, FACHE, as President and Chief Executive Officer of the region’s largest integrated health care system. According to a news release, The announcement comes alongside the recent expansion of CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Health System in Northeast Texas and the addition of CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital – Sulphur Springs. Glenney has been a part of the System since 1998, and has extensive operational and clinical leadership experience across the organization. Continue reading CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Health System Names New President/CEO

LONGVIEW — A suspect arrested in connection with a September home invasion has been named as one of two suspects in the Dec. 10 shooting of an 18-year-old Longview man. According to the Longview News Journal and KETK, Trekeymian Jamal Allison, 19, Carthage, and Keandre Bailey, 18, Longview, have been named as suspects in the homicide of Daxtan Rashaad Castleberry. Allison (pictured) was also arrested in connection with a September 2016 home invasion. On the night of December 10, police responded to a home on the 400 block of Plainview Street after reports of gunshots in the area. Upon arrival, Longview police found Castleberry dead inside the home with multiple gunshot wounds. Two witnesses identified Allison as a suspect. Continue reading Burglary Suspect Connected to Longview Homicide

TYLER – The Texas Department of Transportation says there will be work on State Highway 64 in Tyler for the next couple of weeks. The work will impact traffic flow. The contractor is scheduled to work for about four days from east Loop 323 in the inside westbound lane to the U.S. Highway 271 intersection. Work will then move to between State Highway 155 and U.S. Highway 271 for another six days. Motorists are advised to use alternate routes to avoid the daily lane closures and delays on Highway 64.

TYLER – Two men have been indicted in a child trafficking case in Smith County. Quintus Blaylock, 24, of Tyler (pictured) and James Ray Ellis, 21, of Addison, were arrested for human trafficking in December. They are accused of trafficking two 15 year old girls from Dallas. The district attorney’s office says the two were indicted March 2nd. The charges include trafficking of persons under the age of 18. Ellis has also been charged with sexual assault of a child and Blaylock has been charged with indecency with a child. Both remain in the Smith County Jail, Blaylock under a $450,000 bond and Ellis under a $355,000 bond.

TYLER – A professor at the University of Texas at Tyler has been named to serve on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO] Non-Governmental Organization Liaison Committee. Dr. Teresa Kennedy will serve a two year term representing the International Council of Associations for Science Education. Dr. Kennedy joined The University of Texas at Tyler in 2009 and holds a joint professorship appointment in the Colleges of Education and Psychology and Engineering. She also serves as the assistant vice president for international programs and senior international officer, leading all activities conducted by the university’s Office of International Programs. She is currently serving as president of ICASE, an international organization created in 1972 by UNESCO to extend and improve science education worldwide.

TYLER – Local, state and federal authorities have started arresting Mexican Nationals believed to be invloved in numerous marijuana fields in East Texas. At a Tuesday afternoon news conference, Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith announced 13 state arrest warrants have been issued by 114th State District Judge Christi Kennedy. Only three of the suspects have been located and arrested. The group is said to be responsible for fifteen marijuana cultivation sites around East Texas. The organization is said to be linked to the Los Zetas Cartel. From July 2015 to last November, around 77,000 individual marijuana plants were seized from the sites. The value of the plants have been estimated at over $101 million. Continue reading Arrest Warrants Issued in Connection to East Texas Marijuana Fields

TYLER – Tyler’s CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital is being ranked 45th among the nation’s Top 100 Hospitals. The honor comes from Truven Health Analytics, which evaluates clinical and operational performance in 11 areas. This includes such areas as inpatient mortality, complications, 30-day risk-adjusted readmission rate and the patient rating of the overall hospital performance. Researchers evaluated close to 3,000 short-term, acute-care, nonfederal hospitals for the survey. Christus Mother Frances Hospital had previously earned this award six times, most recently in 2014 and 2016.

TYLER – Two persons arrested in Louisiana for a Tyler robbery have been transferred back to Smith County. Booked into the Smith County Jail on Monday was 32 year old LeTroy Merritt and 20 year old Zaira Patterson, both of Shreveport. They were arrested on February 28th for the robbery three days earlier at the Walmart on South Broadway. A pedestrian was hit by one of the suspects’ vehicles as they fled. They suffered minor injuries. Minutes after the robbery, police took into custody three other suspects. They, also are residents of Shreveport.

BULLARD — The Texas Department of Transportation is developing plans for improvements to Farm Road 2493, and a public meeting on the item will be held this evening from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Bullard High School Gym. The plans pertain to the stretch of the highway from Farm Road 346 in Flint to U.S. Highway 69 in Bullard. Proposed improvements will help ease congestion and improve safety through the area, according to TxDOT officials. At the meeting, project information will be presented in a come and go format with no formal presentation planned. Rather, citizens will have an opportunity to review the preferred alternative, provide additional input, voice concerns and get answers to their questions. The preferred alternative was selected based on feedback received during a public meeting held last spring.

WELLS – A groundbreaking ceremony Monday morning signaled the start of the widening of U.S. Highway 69 in southern Cherokee County. The $18.1 million project will widen the highway in the Wells area. The schedule shows the permanent west side construction, and traffic switch to be done by the end of of the year. East side construction of the road is projected to be done by next spring. Till then, you can expect single lane closures and delays during the detour construction. Expanding the road from two to four lanes will help reduce congestion since Highway 69 in Cherokee County serves as a hurricane evacuation route. Continue reading A Wider Highway 69 in Cherokee County

TYLER – The University of Texas at Tyler has awarded notable faculty members the inaugural Crystal Talon Award, sponsored by the Robert R. Muntz Library. The library’s Crystal Talon Award recognizes outstanding scholarship and creativity of faculty from each college as determined by their dean.

Award recipients include:
Ben and Maytee Fisch College of Pharmacy – Dr. Jonathan Cho, clinical assistant professor of clinical sciences and Dr. Simi Gunaseelan, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences. Continue reading 1st Crystal Talon Awards Handed out at UT Tyler

KILGORE – Two teens are in custody following a Monday morning burglary in Kilgore. Arrested were Markell Jerome London, 17, of Kilgore and a 15 year old girl from Kilgore. Officers responded to a report of suspicious activity in a residential area between Highway 42 and highway 31. They then started getting residential alarms. Arriving officers chased the two persons they saw running from the area and were able to catch them. The investigation into their activities is continuing.

UPSHUR COUNTY — Randell Jay Phillips, 42, of Big Sandy, was indicted following a 2016 DWI crash in which his 2-year-old grandson died. According to the Upshur County District Attorney’s Office, on October 29, 2016, Phillips, while intoxicated, was speeding on FM 49 with his grandson unrestrained in the front seat of the vehicle. Authorities say Phillips went off the roadway and hit a tree causing his grandson to be crushed underneath the dash. Before the fatal accident, Phillips had been convicted of two DWIs. Continue reading East Texas Man Indicted for Murder

TYLER – Here’s a look at work planned in TxxDOT’s Tyler District during the Week of March 6. These schedules are subject to change due to weather conditions, equipment failure, or other unforeseen issues. Slow down and pay attention when traveling through work zones.

Mill and inlay operations continue on US 69 in Jacksonville at the start of the week before moving to SH 64/Fifth Street in Tyler around mid-week. This type of work requires lane closures that cause traffic delays. The contractor, Madden Contracting Company, will conduct work between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Continue reading TxDOT’s Weekly Roadwork Update