KTBB News, Weather, Talk

LUFKIN — Lufkin police are asking for the public’s help in solving a copper theft. According to KETK, officials say an equipment yard of Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative was burglarized in late August. During the incident, property was damaged, and $9,000 worth of valuables, including copper, was taken.

ANGELINA COUNTY — Estimates from those East Texas wildfires are being tallied. The cost of the Angelina County “River Bottom Fire” has been an estimated $115 thousand loss. The fire started in Cherokee County and spread to Nacogdoches County damaging more than 6,500 acres. The amount was determined by a collection of receipts from the fire departments for possible reimbursement.

TRINITY (AP) — A woman has been accused of setting five fires in an East Texas area in what her son calls a bid for attention. Tommie Ragsdale is in the Houston County Jail in Crockett charged with five counts of arson. Bond is set at $450,000. Trinity County Constable Woody Wallace arrested the 46-year-old Trinity woman Monday on suspicion that she was involved in five Sunday fires.

TYLER — Toll 49, Segment 3B construction begins to impact traffic on Farm Road 724 at County Road 1148. CH2M Hill, the NET RMA’s Design/Build contractors, is starting construction of the FM 724 at County Road 1148 intersection, and this work is scheduled to be underway over the next several weeks. The construction will require the closure of a lane of FM 724 to traffic. Flaggers will be directing motorists on the remaining open lane during this period. There are message boards set up to remind traffic and area residents of the flagging operation and the work in on FM 724. Motorists need to be prepared for potential delays in the construction area.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tyler Congressman Louie Gohmert joins other Republicans going after President Obama’s long-term deficit package. Gohmert remarks, “He does more damage to the economy than I could have dreamed.” Among other things, Gohmert says the package would wipe out independent oil producers, opening the door for big oil companies to charge more. Gohmert also targets the American Infrastructure Financing Authority, which the congressman terms “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on steroids.” And he criticizes the package’s increased taxes on the wealthy.

HALLSVILLE — A 44-year-old Longview man was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy early Tuesday morning after authorities say he pointed a gun at three law enforcement officers in a standoff that lasted nearly six hours. That’s according to KETK and the Longview News-Journal. Harrison County Sheriff’s spokesman Jay Webb said two Hallsville police officers and one Harrison County sheriff’s deputy were dispatched at about 2 a.m. Tuesday to Lansing Switch Road in connection with a family disturbance.

Webb said when officers arrived, Richard Owen Dean had a gun and barricaded himself in a motor home. Webb said after Dean denied the deputies’ attempts to speak with him, he continually pointed the gun at his head and made threatening gestures with the weapon toward the law enforcement officers. Deputies then fired a shot, killing Dean. Webb said the Harrison County deputy was placed on administrative leave while Texas Rangers investigate. He was unsure whether the two Hallsville officers were placed on leave.

ANGELINA COUNTY — A Matagorda man who critically injured a Lufkin man in a drunk driving accident last year will serve time in prison. Cecil Brannon, 50, was sentenced to 10 years in prison last week for intoxicated assault causing serious bodily injury. With the charge against him being a third-degree felony, Brannon received the maximum sentence but is to be considered for shock probation within 180 days.

Brannon is responsible for the Nov. 6 wreck that critically injured 61-year-old Koshy Alexander. Alexander was taken to Memorial Medical Center-Lufkin following the accident in front of Winston 8 Ranch and then airlifted to Memorial Hermann Hospital. Alexander was traveling north on U.S. Highway 59 when his white Honda CRV was struck by Brannon. Brannon, traveling south on U.S. 59, lost control of his vehicle after slamming on his brakes to avoid rear-ending a vehicle in front of him. He then went into the northbound lane, hitting Alexander’s car head-on.

Brannon has a history of DWI and DUI in Matagorda County dating to 1990.

JACKSONVILLE — Jacksonville police obtained a warrant for the arrests of three men suspected of brutally assaulting Jose Arredondo in his vehicle as his family watched July 6. Arredondo and his family identified Jimmy Upshaw, 28, Jarvis Glenn, 25, and Jonathan Duke, 22, as the alleged suspects. Officers say after a reward for information was offered, an anonymous tip was called in. Authorities say the men have extensive histories with police.

LONGVIEW – Longview firemen have contained a grass and woods fire off Toler Road. The fire, which had threatened a construction and an oil field site, was reported around 1:15 Monday afternoon. Longview fire officials called in extra units to battle the blaze near McWhorter Park. Volunteers from the White Oak Fire Department, along with the Texas Forest Service, helped bring the blaze under control. No word on what caused the fire.

LONGVIEW – An Upshur County man has died in a weekend traffic accident in Longview. Killed was Franklin Walton, 87, of Gilmer. The accident happened just after 2:45 Sunday afternoon in the 3200 block of Dundee Road.

Investigators say the accident began when a Ford Expedition driven by Raina Romero, 32, of Longview, veered into oncoming traffic to avoid hitting another vehicle that had stopped in front of her. Romero’s vehicle hit head-on a vehicle driven by Jerri Fort, 44, of Gilmer. Walton was a back seat passenger in Fort’s vehicle. The drivers of both vehicles were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. The accident remains under investigation.

MAUD – A northeast Texas woman has been killed when the golf cart she was driving was hit by a car. Killed in the weekend accident was Correne Cox McKeever, 82, of Maud. The Saturday morning accident happened on Farm Road 2149. The Department of Public Safety says the woman had used the golf cart to check her mailbox. She was hit by the car when she tried to turn the golf cart around in the road.

TYLER – No injuries were reported in a drive by shooting at a Tyler apartment complex. It was reported around 8:30 Monday night at the Varsity Place Apartments on Varsity Drive. Witnesses say someone drove through the complex shooting. Some shell casings were found in the apartment’s parking lot. The investigation is continuing.

AUSTIN — Texas Tea Party groups want Governor Perry off the presidential campaign trail long enough to pursue a crackdown on illegal immigration. They’re dropping off letters signed by thousands at Perry’s office. The groups want him to call another special session or sign an executive order saying police have the power to enforce immigration laws. Among those applying the pressure: Smith County activist JoAnn Fleming. “This simply sets free law enforcement free to enforce law,” says Fleming. “That word really means something. It is the reverse of illegal.” Fleming says she can’t believe an Arizona-style crackdown hasn’t already happened here.

LONGVIEW — Gregg County residents who suffered housing-related damages from recent wildfires can now register for assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. According to KETK, FEMA sent crews to Northeast Texas after five counties were added to a Domestic Assistance Declaration this past Friday. The other four are in the Houston area. “It applies to homeowners, people that rent or businesses,” FEMA spokesman Bill Lehman said. “The critical thing to pass on to people is that … FEMA assistance covers people who are uninsured or under-insured.”

The assistance includes reimbursement for hotels or other temporary housing, repairs to homes and items that are not covered under insurance policies. The assistance does not apply to property damage other than to residences, Lehman said.