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TYLER – A Mexican national has pleaded guilty in Tyler federal court to failing to register as a sex offender. Concepcion Baldelamar, 49, pleaded guilty to failure to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act when he appeared yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith K. Guthrie. He now faces up to 10 years in federal prison at sentencing. A sentencing date has not been set.

Federal prosecutors say in April, Baldelamar was found to be in the United States after having been previously deported to Mexico following a conviction in Camp County, Texas for indecency with a child sexual contact. Baldelamar failed to register as a sex offender, as required, upon his illegal re-entry to the United States in March 2009. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in June.

TYLER – A 26-year-old Malakoff man has been sentenced to federal prison for his role in a massive credit card scheme. Christopher Scott Michael pleaded guilty on May 10 to access device fraud and was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison Tuesday in Tyler by U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis. Michael was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $94,843.25.

According to information presented in court, on August 18, 2010, a federal search warrant was executed at Michael’s residence, during which law enforcement officers recovered counterfeit charge card making equipment, hundreds of counterfeit charge cards, and cash value cards. A forensic analysis of the equipment revealed that over 6,500 victim entries were fraudulently obtained by Michael. Further investigation revealed that Christopher Michael, his brother, Nathan Michael, Elizabeth Pickrell and Corey Davis conspired together to commit access device fraud in Henderson and Smith counties.

The four defendants obtained goods and services by using fraudulent credit card account numbers obtained through the Internet and at Chicken Express in Tyler, where Pickrell was employed at the time of the fraud. According to evidence, over 500 accounts were compromised in Tyler alone. A federal grand jury returned an indictment on Nov. 3, 2010, charging the four individuals with federal crimes. Nathan Michael, Pickrell and Davis have all pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

NACOGDOCHES — Nacogdoches police are looking for three men said to have kicked in the door to a man’s home, assaulting him before robbing both the man and his wife. According to KETK and the Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel, the incident was reported at about 9:45 p.m. Monday and happened in the 2200 block of Beverly Drive.

“Three unknown individuals, armed with what appeared to be rifles, kicked the door in, demanded property from the man and they did assault him during the offense,” Nacogdoches Police Department Sgt. Chasen Partin said. The man was kicked and hit multiple times and was treated and released from the hospital for his injuries. Three children were in the home at the time, but it is unknown if they saw the attack. “Unfortunately, his wife arrived in the middle of the situation, so she is a victim also and they did obtain a small amount of cash from his wife,” Partin said. The man was the only person injured.

EAST TEXAS — Several cities in East Texas have experienced water line disruptions in recent weeks. In some cases, city officials are blaming the record heat, but others say broken pipes happen year-round. According to KETK and the Longview News-Journal, city spokesman Shawn Hara said Longview has had about four line breaks in the past two weeks. “A number of factors can contribute to water line breaks, including the age of the infrastructure, any ground movement, drought conditions, and system demands,” Hara said. “It can be very difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for which a water line failed.”

Sean Pate, Gladewater city manager, said the excessive heat and drought have contributed to city water line breaks in the past month, but not for the reasons most people might assume. “It’s not so much the extra water usage, although that might be contributing to the problem,” Pate said. “The main factor causing breakage is that the ground is shifting because of the temperatures and drought conditions, which causes some of the older pipes to break.”

LONGVIEW — Gregg County commissioners on Monday proposed decreasing the county’s 2011-12 tax rate by a quarter of a cent. Most homeowners’ tax bills would remain the same, but the new rate is expected to generate more money for the county because of new property added to tax rolls in the past year, County Judge Bill Stoudt said. The 2010-11 tax rate of 26.75 cents would be dropped to 26.5 cents in 2011-12 if the court adopts it later this month. According to KETK and the Longview News-Journal, commissioners scheduled public hearings on the proposed rate at 9 a.m. Aug. 17 and Aug. 22.

HENDERSON — Henderson voters will get to vote on two proposals to legalize alcohol sales in the city. The Rusk County Commissioners Court on Monday ordered the issue be put to voters on the November ballot. County Judge Joel Hale and Elections Administrator Kathie Wittner emphasized that county officials were neither supporting nor opposing the propositions. After having been presented with valid petitions requesting the propositions be placed on a ballot, the court was legally required to call the election. The petitions required at least 997 valid signatures. Wittner has verified each petition had more than 1,100 valid signatures. “State law doesn’t really give the court any options on this issue,” Wittner said. “Just because the commissioners order the election, that doesn’t mean they’re in favor of the propositions.”

According to KETK and the Longview News-Journal, the election is set for Nov. 8. The first proposal would legalize the sale of beer and wine for off-premise consumption. The second would allow for the sale of mixed beverages in restaurants by food and beverage certificate holders. Henderson resident Lanette Weaver spoke against the propositions during the public comments section of the meeting. “I’m very opposed to it,” she said. “I’ve already lost two family members due to drunk driving, and I don’t want to lose any more. This proposal will just lead to honky-tonks all around Henderson.” Weaver said she plans to form a political action committee to oppose the propositions.

Weldon Gray, treasurer of the pro-wet Henderson 1st Committee, said his group has encountered mostly positive reactions to the proposals. Gray says the purpose of the proposals is to attract more businesses to Henderson, particularly chain restaurants that want to serve mixed drinks without having to apply for private club status.

GLADEWATER — The 56-year-old man shot by Gladewater police died of “gunshot wounds,” according to a preliminary autopsy report, possibly indicating he was shot more than once. According to KETK and the Longview News-Journal, the cause of death was listed as homicide. Investigators have not released information about how many times Willie B. Green of Gladewater was shot August 2 by police who said he charged three officers with a knife at a furniture store in the 200 block of South Main Street. All three officers — whose names will not be released until the investigation is complete — were placed on paid administrative leave.

Gladewater Police Chief Farrell Alexander said officers were dispatched to B&C Furniture about 11:15 a.m. August 2 in connection with a report of a fight in the alley behind the business. When police arrived, Alexander said, three officers entered the store and found Green with a knife. “There was only one officer involved in the shooting, and a total of three officers present,” he said last week. “Tasers were used by two separate officers prior to the use of deadly force by the third officer.”

SMITH COUNTY — No injuries were reported in an early morning house fire in Smith County. It started around 1:00 yesterday morning at 8036 County Road 313 East. According to officials with the Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office, two people were able to escape from the mobile home by crawling through the windows. Fire investigators say the blaze was sparked by a cell phone charger overheating in an outlet.

TYLER — The bed of a truck caught fire on Hwy 271 near UT Health in Tyler on Monday afternoon. Officials say several passers-by pulled over to help the drivers of the truck put the fire out before it spread to nearby dry grass. People even removed their shirts and used them to help extinguish the blaze. The truck’s driver said he had no idea how the fire began. The driver reportedly saw smoke coming from the bed of the truck and by the time he had pulled over, it had escalated to a large fire.

HARRISON COUNTY — A Kilgore man was killed and a Longview man was injured in a chain reaction of crashes that left westbound Interstate 20 blocked for nearly 12 hours Monday. Randy Arthur Bradley, 60, of Kilgore was pronounced dead at the scene. Agie Cook, 47, a truck driver from Longview, was injured in the pileup involving two tractor-trailer trucks and a pickup. He was in stable condition at a Longview hospital.

East Texas – Firemen around the area battled the high temperatures and several grass fires Monday. The largest was a 100 acre fire off Farm Road 47 near Interstate Highway 20 West of Canton. Nearly a dozen fire departments brought that Van Zandt County blaze under control.

Firemen from seven Smith County fire departments contained a fire in northern Smith County. Around 45 acres burned of County Road 370. The fire is said to have been caused by a front end loader.

A 25 acre fire has been extinguished off County Road 354 near Winona. For a while some structures were in danger, but no buildings were damaged.

Another fire was reported a couple of miles south of State Highway 31 off County Road 246.

MOUNT VERNON – A one vehicle accident near the 150 mile marker on Interstate Highway 30 in Franklin County has left one person dead and one injured. The accident occurred around 12:45 Monday morning. Killed was Michael L. Anderson, 39, of Texarkana. Slightly injured was Jonnitta Lambert, 21, of Texarkana. According to the Department of Public Safety, Anderson’s SUV had a tire blow out. His vehicle ran off the interstate and overturned.

TYLER – Tyler school trustees have filled three district positions. The action came at a meeting Monday.

The new principal at Hubbard Middle School will be D. Scott Farler, who is pictured here. He has 12 years of education experience. Prior to joining Tyler ISD, Farler worked in Farmersville ISD where he was a junior high school principal and a high school assistant principal. He will begin his new position effective August 10.

Hired as Director of Student Services was Ken Vaughn. Vaughn has 13 years of education experience. Prior to joining Tyler ISD, he worked in Lamar CISD where he was an assistant principal and math/computer technology teacher. He will begin his new position effective August 9.

And named as Director of Guidance and Counseling was Marty Barbieri. She has 22 years of education experience. Prior to joining Tyler ISD, Barbieri worked in Overton ISD where she was a high school counselor and an elementary school counselor. She will begin her new position effective August 15.

SMITH COUNTY — After a two-county chase on I-20, Van Zandt and Smith County troopers say they were able to stop a woman running from law enforcement with a spike strip. According to law officers, the driver, Tammy Scarborough, tried to evade authorities at speeds up to 90 mph after not initially pulling over for speeding. Authorities say Scarborough did pull over two times, but then sped off and was eventually stopped with the spike strip. Scarborough is charged with evading arrest.

RED SPRINGS — A Flint man is ticketed after a business owner allegedly caught the man urinating on his lawn and stealing from his business. Red Springs Motorcycle owner David Winters, also a former peace officer, tells KETK he first saw the man hanging around the store Monday morning. Winters says the man returned later and started to urinate at Winters’ house near the business. Winters says he ran the man off his property, but that the suspect circled around to the back of the shop and jumped the fence. Then the former officer reportedly discovered the man had been stealing in the back and pulled out his gun.

According to authorities, the alleged burglar tried to run, but stopped in his tracks after three warning shots were fired. Winters says he held the man at gunpoint until law officers arrived and cited the man. The name of the accused man has not been released.The Smith County Sheriff’s and Constables Office responded to the incident.