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DIBOLL — An East Texas man wanted after a drug roundup in Diboll turns himself in. According to KETK, Neilson Gibson is charged with delivery of a controlled substance in a drug-free zone. 16 suspects on 30 drug-related warrants were involved in the undercover operation. Police began arresting them last week. Officials say the roundup started June 22 and will continue until all 16 suspects are caught.

TYLER — Smith County is one of a few government entities nationwide to receive the 2011 Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award from the National Purchasing Institute, County Judge Joel Baker announced this week. According to a county news release, the award is earned by those who demonstrate excellence, innovation, professionalism, productivity and leadership in their procurement practices. �We have worked with the Commissioners Court to implement a lot of good procedures,� Smith County Purchasing Director Kelli Davis said. �This is a great honor for the County.�

�This award is based on performance measures and best practices. Mrs. Davis and the Smith County Purchasing Team have gone above and beyond to provide the best and most efficient purchasing procedures to the citizens of Smith County,� County Judge Joel Baker said. Arrangements are in the works for an NPI member to present the award to Smith County in the near future. �The integrity and honesty that Smith County�s Purchasing Department has shown is incredible,� Tarrant County Purchasing Director and former President of the Texas Purchasing Association Jack Beacham said. �Anytime you are considered for an award of this magnitude it is a great honor.�

LONGVIEW � Longview Fire Department officials are investigating the cause of a Thursday morning fire in the 1900 block of Holly Street. Firefighters were dispatched to the home at around 8:40 yesterday morning. They say it was fully extinguished within an hour.

WILLS POINT � Nearly four dozen animals have been recovered from alleged Van Zandt County puppy mill. The animals were found in a filthy trailer house in Wills Point. The ammonia level was so great, the eyes and throats of investigators began burning. There was said to have been no food or water for the animals. Van Zandt County authorities turned over to the SPCA six dogs, 19 puppies, two turtles and a bird. They also found 12 dogs in a pen outside the trailer.

MARSHALL � An Upshur County man has been sentenced to federal prison for firearms violations. Franklin Levern Turner, 56, of Diana, pleaded guilty in February to possessing an unregistered firearm. He was sentenced yesterday to 18 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge T. John Ward. Turner was also ordered to forfeit a Winchester sawed-off 30-30 rifle.

Federal prosecutors say on July 15, 2009, Turner was found to be in possession of a firearm with a barrel length of less than eighteen inches which was not registered to him in the National Firearms and Transfer Record. Turner was indicted by a federal grand jury last August and charged with federal firearms violations.

TATUM � A motorcycle accident in Gregg County has left one person dead. Killed in the Tuesday night crash was Lonzo Lewis Jr., 40, of Tatum. The Department of Public Safety says Lewis was traveling at an unsafe speed when his motorcycle left Farm Road 2906 and hit a barbed wire fence. Lewis was not wearing a helmet.

MOUNT ENTERPRISE � The Tuesday night storms appear to be responsible for a traffic fatality in Rusk County. The accident happened around 10:30 Tuesday night when the victim�s pickup truck hit a tree that had fallen across the roadway. Alvertis Pruitt, 83, of Mount Enterprise, died about 12 hours later at East Texas Medical Center in Henderson. The accident happened on Farm Road 225.

GILMER � One man is dead after being hit by a truck while driving a golf cart in Upshur County on Wednesday morning. DPS officials say Alfred Keck, 74, was heading west on FM 49, just east of Lime Tree Rd., around 7:40 a.m. Authorities say Keck turned his golf cart left in front of a truck driven by Aldon Marty, 38, from Hawkins. According to KETK, officials say Marty was not speeding. Keck was thrown from the cart and pronounced dead at a local hospital.

LONGVIEW � The Gregg County Commissioners Court enacted a burn ban Wednesday during its regular meeting. It�s the latest in a growing series of such prohibitions throughout East Texas and around the state. According to a release by Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt�s office, the ban will be reviewed on a periodic basis.

LUFKIN — A 17-year-old Lufkin man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly soliciting his 13-year-old cousin by reportedly sending her an inappropriate picture via text message. That’s according to KETK and the Lufkin Daily News. The man is not being named in this story in an attempt to protect the girl�s identity. He sent his cousin a text message on May 5 asking her to sneak out of her home and meet him at his mother�s house, according to an arrest affidavit. Authorities say that he then sent a message asking her for a photo and that she responded by sending a picture of herself in a bikini. In response, he said he would send her a picture of himself and did, a photo of his private parts, the affidavit stated.

The girl then sent a message asking why he would send her that photo and he messaged back that he thought she would like it, according to the affidavit. He then reportedly told her that if she would come over he would rub her neck and they could do what they did before. The man was taken into custody Tuesday on a warrant for second-degree online solicitation of a minor. If convicted he faces up to 20 years in prison.

TYLER � A 50-year-old Henderson woman has been sentenced to federal prison for a health care fraud scheme. Sheena Shelton pleaded guilty on July 22, 2010, to health care fraud and wire fraud and was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison Wednesday in Tyler by U.S. District Judge Leonard E. Davis. Shelton was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $125,000 to Medicare and Medicaid.

According to information presented in court, from 2003 to 2009, Shelton controlled and operated KC Medical Supplies, a durable medical equipment supplier in Longview. During that time, Shelton devised and carried out a scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid by submitting fraudulent claims for equipment and supplies which had not been prescribed or authorized by a physician. Shelton prepared documents that represented that physicians had prescribed or ordered medical equipment for certain beneficiaries although they had not. Shelton forged the signatures of local physicians to fraudulent claim forms before submitting them to Medicare and Medicaid for payment. Shelton was ordered to report to the U.S. Marshals Service on August 31, 2011, to begin serving her prison sentence.

AUSTIN (AP/Staff) – The Texas House has adjourned, ending the first special session of the 82nd Legislature — and a last-ditch effort to pass an East Texan’s airport screening bill has fallen short. Lawmakers met to consider two remaining bills and sent a minor judicial finance bill to the governor. But they failed to pass a bill from Longview Rep. David Simpson (pictured). The measure would have outlawed enhanced pat-downs by federal airport screeners unless they had reasonable suspicion that someone was carrying contraband. The House adjourned a day after the Senate, which wrapped up business on Tuesday. Both chambers passed critical fiscal bills and hurricane insurance reforms that were the impetus of the special session. Approval of those bills means there is little reason for the governor to call another special session.

NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (AP/Staff) – A Tyler man accused of killing his girlfriend at a Dallas-area apartment has been captured in southeast Nebraska. The Nebraska State Patrol on Wednesday said 39-year-old Sisro Johnson is in the Otoe County Jail on a murder warrant from Garland, Texas. The beaten body of 45-year-old Zulema McColgan was discovered early Tuesday when officers answered a domestic disturbance call. A Nebraska trooper Tuesday night pulled over an SUV, matching the description of a vehicle being sought, on U.S. 75 just north of the Kansas state line. The suspect then drove off in a chase reaching speeds of 110 mph. The chase ended nearly 30 miles away after the SUV ran over roadway spikes, put down by law officers, and a tire went flat.

CUNEY � Authorities say a plane made an emergency landing in a field in Cherokee County. It happened Wednesday morning off of County Road 3414 north of Highway 175 near the town of Cuney. Officials say the pilot, Roger Willheim, 64, of Frankston, first reported engine trouble around 9:45 and shortly after landed the plane in the field barely missing power lines. Willheim, who was the only person on board, was not injured.

TYLER — Overnight storms Tuesday and Wednesday caused considerable damage throughout East Texas, especially in Wood County and Big Sandy. Fallen trees and downed power lines added to the chaos. Wood County officials say numerous fires occurred overnight as a result of the downed power lines but all had been put out as of Wednesday morning. Power company representatives report that several thousand people lost electricity for varying lengths of time because of the storms.