KTBB News, Weather, Talk

NACOGDOCHES – An 11 day old Nacogdoches girl is hospitalized after suffering severe hot water burns. The little girl’s dad brought her to a Nacogdoches hospital emergency room around 9:30 Wednesday morning. He said he was bathing the girl when she suffered the burns. The youngster has since been flown to a Galveston hospital. The Nacogdoches Police Department along with Child Protective Services are investigating the case.

QUITMAN – Two Tyler residents have been arrested in Wood County and charged with burglary. Taken into custody was Marshall Glenn Kea, 41 and Alexa Rae Richmond, 24. The owner of a building says he caught the two removing a variety of items from his building.

TYLER – One person has been arrested as Tyler police execute a narcotics search warrant at a residence located at 2821 Van Highway. Taken into custody was Kevin Dwayne Williams. Officers recovered from the residence just over 8½ pounds of marijuana, narcotic distribution materials, money, firearms, and body armor. Williams was booked into the Smith County Jail for felony possession of marijuana and unlawful possession of body armor by a felon.

TYLER – A call of criminal trespassing has led to a chase of a naked man through Tyler. Police say it all started when a constable responded to criminal trespassing call at Liberty Arms Apartments, 2601 North Broadway. After the suspect got into an argument with the constable, he fled. KETK reports that during the chase, the man ripped off his clothes. He was caught in the 500 block Barrett.

TYLER – Tyler school trustees have announced that Laura K. Jackson has accepted the role as Director of Communications for the Tyler Independent School District. Her hiring was unanimously approved at Thursday’s school board meeting. Jackson currently serves as the legislative liaison for the University of Texas at Tyler. She starts her new duties August 15th. “We are excited to have Ms. Jackson on our team,” said Dr. Randy Reid, superintendent of schools. “She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the District in the area of public relations.”

Jackson holds master of public administration and bachelor of science in political science degrees from Texas A&M University. She has served as a field coordinator and legislative assistant in the office of then State Senator Todd Staples and was campaign manager for State Senator Robert Nichols and State Representative Mark Shelton. She has also served as a political consultant to eight legislators, a Supreme Court justice and an attorney general.

Jackson has been the principal consultant in the creation of statewide Forest Legacy Program application that is intended for nationwide implementation, advised a state agency on Sunset Legislation procedures and strategies, created a system to monitor state agency projects in order to ensure timely and satisfactory completion and prepared a statewide program brochure to highlight achievements of completed projects.

LINDALE — More details are released after one person was killed and one injured in a two vehicle accident near Lindale. Killed in the Thursday morning wreck on Farm Road 16 at County Road 498 was Terry Grant, 62, of Holly Lake Ranch. He was thrown from his vehicle during the accident. Suffering minor injuries was Glenn McLain of Lindale. The Department of Public Safety said McLain, who was pulling onto Farm Road 16, didn’t see Grant’s dump truck because the sun was in his eyes. The dump truck hit McLain’s car, ran off the road and hit a creek embankment.

TYLER — The Tyler Junior College Board of Trustees Thursday announced results of a recent performance appraisal of President Dr. Mike Metke and a related three-year contract extension. The extension takes Dr. Metke’s contract through August 2014. “We are pleased with the direction he’s taken Tyler Junior College and we believe the communities we serve are pleased as well,” said TJC Board President Clint Roxburgh. “He’s managing the college in very tough economic times and during dramatic enrollment growth. Even so, TJC is still meeting the needs of our students and our local employers.”

Officials say enrollment has soared to record levels, nearing 12,000 during the 2011 spring semester. According to a TJC news release, under Metke’s leadership, TJC has created new partnerships with businesses and other institutions; opened new locations in Jacksonville, Lindale and Rusk; and created several new career and professional programs. Metke says those programs will “grow our own” skilled professionals who he says are needed for current and future job openings in East Texas.

RUSK — Rusk police are following up on an accident that critically injured a motorcyclist. According to KETK, around 5:00 Wednesday morning, a truck hit a telephone pole on U.S. Highway 69. The telephone pole and line were knocked down with the cable falling into the roadway. Within a few minutes, a motorcycle driven by Mark Edward Schnackenberg, 44, of Gonzales, La., struck the cable causing him to lose control of the motorcycle and crash in the roadway. Schnackenberg was taken to a hospital in Tyler, where he remains in critical condition with head injuries. He was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. Schnackenberg is a welder working at the power plant in Sacul. Schnackenberg was staying at the KOA campground in Rusk, and was on his way to work when the accident happened.

The Rusk Police Department is seeking the public’s help in locating a 2003 to 2009 Dodge truck. The truck is allegedly a 3/4 ton or one ton truck. Investigators believe the truck has damage to the passenger side, including a mirror missing and the passenger side window broken. The truck may have a welding bed or steel bed replacing the regular pickup bed. This bed will have damage to the passenger side also. If you have any information, contact your local sheriff’s department, police department or the Rusk Police Department at 903-683-2677.

LONGVIEW — One East Texas school district may face a two and a half million dollar shortfall. According to KETK, Longview public schools will dip into their district’s fund balance to cover the budget for this year. The district’s losing over $5 million in federal funding for the upcoming school year. Longview schools are still working on the budget for next year and will approve it in August.

LINDALE — Lindale police say Troy Shelton, the owner of Lindale Tire, is currently in a local hospital after being served with an arrest warrant during a raid. According to Lindale officials, Shelton was weighing drugs when they arrived. Shelton fell and had to be taken to a hospital.

Law enforcement found more than 31 pounds of marijuana along with meth at his house. Shelton was allegedly growing “low-grade” marijuana in his backyard and importing “high-grade” marijuana from California. According to KETK, Lindale police also found more than 100 weapons, including crossbows, brass knuckles, shotguns and handguns. Cash amounting to $6,000 was also confiscated. Shelton has since called Lindale police and apologized and informed them that he was going into heart surgery. Authorities will arrest Shelton as soon as he is out of the hospital.

TYLER — The latest burn ban information for Smith County is now available by phone through the Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office. You can call 903-590-2656 and choose option 5 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. Smith County has issued more than three dozen tickets for fire-related activities since the the ban was instated on July 5. Anyone with questions about fire-related jobs or activities is encouraged to call the information line.

The Smith County Commisioners Court voted on July 12 to extend the Smith County burn ban for a period of up to 90 days, contingent on weather conditions and other factors including the Keetch-Byram drought index, temperature, humidity, wind speed and the volume of calls for emergency service due to fires. Section 418.173 of the government code provides that failure to comply with this plan or with rule, order or ordinance adopted under this plan is an offense of a fine not to exceed $1,000 or confinement in jail of a term up to 180 days. You can also to http://www.smith-county.com for additional burn ban information.

TYLER — Tyler’s St. Paul Children’s Foundation is making lots of progress on its Bridge Campaign. Officials announced $1,386,302.41 has been raised toward the $1.5 million campaign goal. Board President Phil Jensen says, “The campaign goal of $1.5 million was established to take the Foundation from temporary to permanent financial solutions. Your continued help is needed.”

Dr. Duane Andrews, honorary campaign chairman, adds, “St. Paul Children’s Foundation is a light to our community. Without it many, many children would have no place to see a doctor for a cold, for immunizations, for serious illnesses, or simply well-child checkups. Without St. Paul, dental care would be non-existent for those without insurance.” For additional information on the campaign, you can visit http://www.stpaulchildren.org or call Interim Executive Director Sharlyn Cannady at (903) 531-9455.

BULLARD — Officials in Bullard say a portion of Old Jacksonville Hwy, in front of City Hall, was blocked off for a time while crews cleared a downed power line laying across a vehicle. Bullard Police say a passing truck hit a downed line, forcing it onto a McCoy’s work truck following behind. The line then snagged on the McCoy’s work truck. Oncor headed to the scene to shut power off to the line so that crews could remove it from the truck.

LINDALE — Smith County Firefighters battle a house fire in Lindale. Officials say the call came in about 5:40 Thursday morning. The home is located in the 14000 block of County Road 496. Authorities say the fire was under control by later in the morning. No word on whether there was anyone home at the time of the fire.

LONGVIEW –- A cooling system malfunction was being blamed this morning for grounding an American Eagle flight Wednesday evening at East Texas Regional Airport. It was a scary landing for passengers aboard the American Eagle flight 4777. When the plane from Dallas landed shortly after 5:15, smoke was reported in the cabin. After the plane landed, the pilot taxied off the runway and all 47 passengers evacuated the plane safely. They’re still trying to determine what caused the smoke. –