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TYLER – A two story home in Tyler has been extensively damaged by fire. It was reported shortly after 5:45 Sunday afternoon at 1604 North Bois D Arc, near the intersection of West Vance Street. Fire Marshall Paul Findley says arriving firemen reported fire on the upper floor of the two story residence. Initial findings indicate that the fire may have started in an upstairs bedroom near a space heater. There were no injuries reported and the fire remains under investigation.

LONGVIEW – A space heater that had fallen over is responsible for a fire that destroyed a Longview home. The fire at 318 Gum Street was reported around 11:45 Friday night. No injuries were reported.

TYLER – Two members of the Tyler Police Department were promoted Monday morning. Police Chief Gary Swindle promoted Robert Lee Plymail, a graduate from Hawkins High School in 1983, from sergeant to lieutenant. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1983 to 1986 when he was honorably discharged. He graduated from the East Texas Police Academy in 1986. Lee worked for the Smith County Sheriff from 1987 to 1993. He has been with the Tyler Police Department since 1993. In 1998 he was promoted to Sergeant and served as a patrol Sergeant until 2008. In 2008 he moved to investigations as the Youth Crimes Sergeant.

Plymail received the Certificate of Merit bar in 2002 and the Police Commendation bar in 2004. He has Master Peace Officer certificate through TCLEOSE and has been a TCLEOSE Instructor since 1998. He has instructed Family Violence, Penal Code and Arrest and Search and Seizure classes in the basic academy. He has also instructed Intermediate Arrest Search and Seizure for in service training. Lee has been a member of the Special Operations Team since 2008

Also at the ceremony, Officer Paul Robeson was promoted to Sergeant. Robeson began working for the Tyler Police Department in May of 2002, and currently holds an Advanced Peace Officer license. In 2003, Paul was chosen as the Rookie of the Year. That same year he worked as a cross-trained Investigator in Property Crimes. He also joined the Honor Guard that year and has been an active member since then. Within a few years of being hired, Paul was chosen as an FTO where he served for several years. He also became part of the Police Department’s Accident Investigation team as well as a TCLEOSE instructor.

In 2006, Robeson was selected to work in the Criminal Investigation Division as a Crimes Against Children Investigator. While working within this division he received several awards including: Plain Clothes Officer of the Month, Unit of the Year, East Texas Crisis Center Hope Award, and several other Volunteer awards given through the Childrens Advocacy Center.

In December 2007, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from UT Tyler. And, in May 2009, Paul transferred into the Traffic division where he has been working up to this point. Since obtaining his Peace Officer license, he has received hundreds of hours of specialized training furthering his knowledge. He has been trained as an intermediate crime scene officer and has processed numerous major scenes. He has also received advanced training in accident investigations. He has attended 100’s of hours of investigation related courses.

AUSTIN (AP/Staff) – East Texas native Beryl Pickle, widow of longtime Texas congressman Jake Pickle, has died. Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home in Austin said that Pickle died last Thursday. She was 93. Pickle was born in Rusk and grew up in Jacksonville. She attended Lon Morris College. She and Jake Pickle, whose first wife died in 1952, were married in 1960. Three years later, he won a seat in Congress. The congressman, who served in Washington for 31 years, died in 2005. Longtime aide Paul Hilgers told the Austin American-Statesman that Beryl Pickle had a keen sense of humor and kept her husband grounded. Stepdaughter Peggy Pickle says she came to politics reluctantly, “but once she got into it, she came to enjoy it.” Services will be this Thursday at First United Methodist Church in Austin.

SMITH COUNTY — The bridge on County Road 3111 (Joy Wright Mountain Road) north of FM 1252 has been reopened to traffic. The bridge was shut down Thursday for repair according to Smith County Road and Bridge Administrator Doug Nicholson. Also, County Road 46 near County Road 411 has been temporarily closed by the Texas Department of Transportation for Loop 49 construction.

TYLER — Witnesses on the scene of a four-vehicle accident Friday afternoon in Tyler say a motorcycle and a car collided, sending the motorcycle into the ditch. According to KETK, the man on the motorcycle went to the hospital. The extent of his injuries is unknown, but they are reportedly not life-threatening. According to the driver of the car, the man on the motorcycle was in her blind spot before they hit. At least two more cars rear-ended the first in the process.

TYLER — Tyler Police officials tell KETK a six-vehicle accident at Troup Hwy. and Loop 323 in Tyler was caused when a car ran a red light just before 2:00 Friday afternoon. Officials say a black Grand Prix was headed north on Troup when it drove through the red light and kept going. Several other cars were crossing on the Loop and ran into each other to avoid the Grand Prix. Six people were sent to the hospital with unknown injuries. Witnesses did not get a license plate number on the Grand Prix, whose driver is still sought by authorities.

TYLER – On Thursday, the Texas Education Agency corrected Dogan Middle School’s accountability rating, naming the campus Academically Acceptable. This correction is in response to an appeal filed by Tyler ISD on July 29, 2011.

In July of this year, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released preliminary campus and district accountability ratings. At that time, Dogan Middle School was listed as Academically Unacceptable. After researching the issue, Tyler ISD discovered a flaw in the way the results were calculated at Dogan and brought it to the attention of TEA. TEA reviewed the information submitted by the district, granted the appeal, and changed the rating to Academically Acceptable.

“We are pleased that TEA corrected our rating to ensure it reflects accurate performance results,” Dogan Middle School principal Masud Shamsid-Deen said. “Dogan students, teachers, and administrators are proud of the improvements we have made thus far, and we will continue to strive to achieve top results.”

Officials say Dogan Middle School has made great gains on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), which is currently the test used to determine accountability ratings. In the 2010-2011 academic year, Dogan students achieved improvements in math scores ranging from four to nine points, and science scores were seven to 32 points higher than the previous year. In addition to meeting state standards, Dogan exceeded federal school improvement requirements.

This is the final year that TEA will utilize TAKS to determine accountability ratings. Beginning in 2012, all Texas school districts will be measured on the more rigorous State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR).

NACOGDOCHES (AP/Staff) – A county-wide burn has prompted Stephen F. Austin State University to adorn its homecoming bonfire structure with electric lights instead of torching it with flames. SFA dean Adam Peck says the college has traditionally set a bonfire structure ablaze for homecoming but the state’s prolonged drought made that “inadvisable” this year. The Daily Sentinel reports that in the absence of a bonfire, students dropped plans to burn shirts printed by other colleges as they’ve done in the past. Peck said school officials would collect the shirts and donate them to the needy instead. The university’s torchlight parade went on Friday night as planned but with lanterns, glow sticks and other portable lights guiding the way to the bonfire site instead of lit torches.

LONGVIEW — Two Gregg County Jail staffers were injured – one hospitalized – after an altercation with an inmate, authorities said Friday. That’s according to KETK and the Longview News-Journal. Cedric Duwayne Ward, jailed since Oct. 1 on $10,000 bond for two assault charges, was formally charged on two counts of assaulting a public servant. Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace B.H. Jameson set bond at $50,000 on each charge.

According to arrest reports, Cpl. Ryan Waldow and Detention Officer Aaron Medlin responded to Ward’s jail cell at 7:48 p.m. Thursday after reports that an inmate was “causing problems” and was a “potential breach of security.” Officers tried to remove Ward from his cell to restore order, but he began to resist, shoving Waldow into a table while hitting Medlin on his upper right leg and left ring finger. Ward also bit the officers, reports showed.

Wadlow was transported to Good Shepherd Medical Center for treatment. Medlin was treated by jail medical staff. Ward, 33, of Longview, remained jailed on $110,000 bond.

JACKSONVILLE — Some Jacksonville residents may sleep a little better knowing that police have arrested nine individuals selling drugs in the city over the past two months and they say it’s only the beginning. Authorities say the recent busts are primarily due to the community alerting them to areas where drug deals might potentially occur. They say many of the raids they’ve done have been at individuals’ homes, and that they even raided a business. They say all told they’ve confiscated around fifteen thousand dollars in cash, crack cocaine, marijuana, a few cars, and even some weapons.

LONGVIEW — A Longview man was charged early Thursday morning with driving while intoxicated after police said he hit two parked vehicles and ran his vehicle through the garage of a Longview home. Police spokesman Kristie Brian said officers were dispatched to the 500 block of West Cheryl Street around 3:20 a.m. in connection with a car that struck a residence.

Brian said Sky Paxton Cass, 21, was traveling down West Cheryl Street when he lost control of his vehicle, hit multiple parked cars and ran his vehicle through the garage of a home. Rayvin Morales, who lives in the residence , said she was asleep in the house with her three children when the crash occurred. Morales said no one was injured in the crash, “only startled.”

Cass was arrested after failing a field sobriety test. He was transported to Good Shepherd Medical Center to be examined before police booked him into Gregg County Jail.

MARSHALL – A Harrison County jury has sentenced Renrick DeCarlos Taylor, 22, to 99 years in prison for murder. It took the panel on Thursday only five minutes to reach a decision. The same panel, on Wednesday, deliberated around 2½ hours before convicting Taylor of the 2009 murder of LaShun Rena Jenkins, 30. Taylor is the first of the two co-defendants to be tried in the case.

LONGVIEW — Eleven persons are the latest to graduate from the City of Longview Citizen’s Police Academy. They join the ranks of the over 500 citizens who have completed the academy during the past twenty years. During the past 7 weeks, the students attended classes twice a week and learned about the inner workings of the police department. Academy courses were taught by current police officers and other guest speakers, including the District Attorney, Agents from the County Organized Drug Enforcement Unit, and a demonstration by the SWAT team.

Students were also given the opportunity to participate in the Police Department’s firearms simulator. This program is used to train officers how to react in different situations. The exercise allowed Academy students to experience, firsthand, the type of training Longview Police Officers complete on an annual basis. Students also had the opportunity to participate in the Department’s ride-along program. The ride-along program allows the individual to accompany and observe an officer as he or she performs daily patrol duties. The class is offered every September and is free of charge.

The current graduates are:
1. Lisa Clark
2. Charlotte Erickstad
3. Roger Erickstad
4. Tiffany Ethridge
5. Steve Hunt
6. Evelyn Jackson
7. Everett Johnston
8. Hans Manhave
9. Debbie Hanhave
10. Stacey Martinez
11. Brenda Nutter

TYLER — According to officials at Centerpoint Energy a new gas pipeline is being installed on East South East Loop 323, beginning at the intersection of Paluxy, going west and ending between South Broadway and Old Bullard Road. There will be intermittent lane closures until the end of the year, which will affect the outside westbound lane and possibly some intersections along that route. Some of this project will be worked during late evening and night time hours. It’s hoped that installation will be completed on or before the end of year. Drivers are urged to use extreme caution while workers are present and anyone utilizing this road is encouraged to temporarily seek alternate routes.