KTBB News, Weather, Talk

SMITH COUNTY — Smith County is currently under a burn ban but officials said that didn’t completely rule out Labor Day grilling. Under the burn ban issued by the Smith County Commissioners Court in July, county residents may still use a fully contained charcoal, propane or natural gas grill for cooking purposes only. Open barbeque pits are restricted.

Additional burn ban information for Smith County is now available by phone through the Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office. Call 903-590-2656 and choose option five to check up-to-date information on the current burn ban in place for Smith County including specific information about restricted activities and ticketable offenses. Please do not call 9-1-1 unless it is to report an emergency.

Smith County has issued dozens of tickets for fire-related activities since the ban was instated in July. Anyone with questions about fire-related jobs or activities is encouraged to call the information line.

TYLER — The Tyler Fire Department responded to a 2-alarm fire in the 2900 block of specialty Drive. Officials say the warehouse storage facility was heavily damaged. No word on the estimated loss. The Tyler Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire.

TYLER — Tyler Fire Investigators responded to a bomb threat at a local retailer store. It happened around 12:30 at Wal-Mart, 6801 South Broadway yesterday afternoon. Authorities arrived on scene and during the search, received several more bomb threats throughout the day. Around 4:30, officials were notified of a small fire in one restroom that employees were able to extinguish. That fire is being investigated as a separate incident. Investigators are following several leads and the case remains open at this time.

TYLER — The Tyler Police Department and other law enforcement agencies participate in the “No Refusal” enforcement campaign for ths Labor Day Holiday. Since last January 1, the Tyler Police Department has arrested 283 drivers for DWI. Reports indicate that seven persons have died in a crash where alcohol was related this year and 27 persons have been injured. Law enforcement agencies in Smith County have been out in force during the Labor Day Holiday on the lookout for intoxicated drivers on our streets, highways, and area lakes. Officers haven’t been be taking “No” for an answer once again. The No-Refusal initiative began Friday, September 2, and runs through Monday, September 5, 2011.

A multi-joint effort between the Smith County District Attorney’s Office and police agencies from all over Smith County signed on for the “No-Refusal” D.W.I Campaign. Upon the arrest of a suspected drunk driver, he or she is asked to blow into a breath-test instrument or take a blood test. If the driver says “No” to a test, officers obtain an immediate search warrant signed by an on-call judge to have blood drawn by a certified nurse on staff at the Smith County Jail. The blood is then analyzed to determine whether the driver’s blood-alcohol concentration is 0.08 or higher, the legal limit for driving in Texas.

A host of local Judges have been on stand-by to sign warrants for the enforcement campaign. Judge Joel Baker, Judge Jack Skeen, Judge Allen Ross, Judge Randall Rodgers and Judge Christi Kennedy have been on call to assist local law enforcement officers and the Smith County District Attorney’s office in processing driving while intoxicated arrests throughout the weekend. According to information from the Texas District and County Attorneys Association website about 50 percent of DWI arrestees refuse to provide a chemical sample through a breathalyzer or blood test when pulled over.

Police say, “It is the intent of all law enforcement agencies that this joint effort will act as a deterrent, persuading people to avoid driving while intoxicated because they know that police officers will be determining sobriety with or without the driver’s consent. Please Don’t Drink and Drive.”

SMITH COUNTY — Smith County Assistant Fire Marshal Oren Hale says the cause of a deadly fire is undetermined because of the extensive level of destruction to a mobile home. He says authorities are fairly confident the fire was accidental. The man who died as a result of the fire has been identified as 59-year-old Michael Patrick Flowers. Three homes have been termed total losses as a result of the blaze, on County Road 195. According to KETK, firefighters were called to the Cedars mobile home community on the road’s 15000 block Thursday afternoon. Investigators say the victim was able to get outside his burning mobile home, but died when he got outside. Departments from Noonday, Tyler, Bullard, Flint/Greshman, Dixie, and Whitehouse responded.

NACOGDOCHES — A 17-year-old Nacogdoches High School student was arrested Thursday at the school on a grand jury indictment for injury to a child after police say he scalded a then 12-day-old baby in water. Kendrick Tarver reportedly gave his daughter a bath in water hot enough to give her second-degree burns over 25 percent of her body, NPD Sgt. Greg Sowell has said in previously published articles. According to KETK and the Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel, the incident happened the night of July 27 in the 800 block of Jordan Street.

LONGVIEW — As many people stay on the road for the Labor Day holiday, the Longview Police Department wants to remind motorists to be safe.

• Wear your seatbelt. In the State of Texas, all occupants of a vehicle must wear their seatbelt, whether in the front or back seat. Make sure all children riding in a vehicle are in an approved child safety seat. Seat belts have been proven to save lives.

• If you are going to drink, have a designated driver. Don’t endanger your life or someone else’s by drinking and driving.

Police ask you to use extra caution during the weekend and do your part to ensure that Longview roadways are safe for everyone.

TYLER — A plow from the Texas Forestry Service arrived early Friday afternoon to help after a fire broke out on Tyler’s western outskirts. According to KETK, the fire burned five acres but has been contained. Investigators are looking into the cause. Preliminary investigation indicates the fire started near Loop 323 and spread into the Cascades area. No injuries have been reported. The fire broke out in the woods in the area of Scenic Drive, near Spur 364. At one point, seven Tyler units were working to contain the blaze, in addition to units from the Dixie Fire Department.

BULLARD — Authorities say they think have a suspect in an East Texas murder. Investigators say they believe they know who killed William Earl Baker of Bullard. He was shot dead in the driveway of his home in the Shadybrook subdivision off of FM RD 346 last summer. Cherokee County Detectives learned that the suspect was already serving prison time in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on an unrelated felony conviction from another county. Authorities say he’s expected to be transported back to Cherokee County in September to face the murder charge, at which time his identity will be released.

TYLER — Tyler Police say they arrested a 24-year-old woman for theft. Officers say over the past two weeks, Maria Dejesus Borja, of Tyler, a former employee of Southern Utilities, allegedly stole customer cash deposits totaling $20,000. She turned herself into authorities Friday and was booked into the Smith County Jail on a $30,000 bond. Borja is charged with 3rd degree felony theft.

JACKSONVILLE — The latest drug raid by the Jacksonville SWAT team yielded $300 worth of crack-rocks. It happened around 5:00 Wednesday evening at a home on Greeley Avenue. Police say they were tipped off by citizens. Delanious Session, 20, and Jacob Woodard, 18, were both arrested for delivery of narcotics.

ANGELINA COUNTY — A Lufkin man accused of beating his brother to death with a baseball bat earlier this year was indicted for murder by an Angelina County grand jury this week. After hearing evidence against Gary Wayne Hodges, 52, the grand jury decided to formally charge him with first-degree murder. Hodges has been out of jail on a $200,000 bond since the April 29 incident in which he severely beat his brother, 46-year-old Kevin Hodges, in the head with a bat. Hodges was initially charged with aggravated assault, but the charge was upgraded to murder after his brother was taken off of life support at Nacogdoches Memorial Medical Center May 4. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

HENDERSON — Rusk County Commissioners have updated the burn ban for Rusk County. The Commissioners have ordered an Unconditional Burn Ban for all outdoor burning in the unincorporated areas of Rusk County. This ban will allow for outdoor cooking in enclosed gas or charcoal grills, but bans any rolling cooking unit with fire in it on any roads in the county. Ban will also allow for Firefighter training, public utility/natural gas pipeline or mining operations, and harvesting of agricultural crops.

TYLER — The owners of the El Chico restaurant are planning to move forward with their business in Tyler — opening September 13, apparently under a new name. That’s according to our news partner KETK. The restaurant, in the same parking lot as Toys R Us, was initially going to be the highly controversial “Double D Ranch.” Restaurant reps say the name of the new eatery isn’t official yet, but it’s tentatively referred to as “El Chico Ranch.” The venue is still taking applications and hopes to employ 100 people.

The originally planned restaurant prompted citizen concern and litigation due to its scantily clad waitresses. The future menu will reportedly feature Texas comfort food and beer. There’s no word on how the servers will dress. But restaurant officials plan on keeping a November 28 court date on a recent ruling that kept the restaurant from opening as Double D Ranch.

TYLER — 16-year-old Nathaniel Anderson has been indicted in his sister’s murder. 19-year-old Amanda Anderson was found shot to death in their Chapel Hill home in September of last year. A short time later, Nathaniel Anderson, then 15, was taken into custody in connection with the murder. Indictment records obtained by our news partner KETK also show that Anderson’s bond has risen to $1.5 million.