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TYLER � Smith County Commissioners will consider pledging revenues from the proposed jail addition to pay down the $35 million debt the project would require. It means, the county will promise to use money generated by housing non-Smith County inmates, like federal prisoners. The expansion could increase jail capacity by almost 400 beds. The bond issue for the jail expansion is on the May 14th ballot.

LUFKIN — A Lufkin woman was arrested Monday on a robbery charge, according to a police report. Earline Garcia, 26, allegedly attempted to steal three packages of Orajel and a bottle of BC pain relief from Brookshire Brothers on North Timberland Monday. She managed to walk out of the store with the items in her purse, but after being confronted by a store employee in the parking lot, she gave them back. When the employee told her police had been called she fled the parking lot in her car, attempting to hit him with her vehicle twice, a police report stated. Garcia was later arrested at her home on Hoskins Street and taken to the Angelina County Jail, charged with second-degree robbery.

She also had 13 outstanding warrants through Lufkin Municipal Court for offenses including unrestrained child, speeding, no driver�s license and expired inspection.
Her bond is set at a collective $6,861 on the outstanding warrants, according to jail records. At last report she remained in the Angelina County Jail.

HENDERSON � A motorcyclist was injured in a head-on collision in Henderson. Rusk County DPS officials say the man was traveling on Highway 43, near Farm Road 2658 in Henderson, when he was struck by an SUV. The man was taken to the hospital with head injuries. The driver of the SUV is said to be okay. The Wednesday morning accident is still under investigation. No word yet on whether any charges will be filed.

TYLER � An Ellis County podiatrist has been indicted and arrested for health care and income tax fraud. Shannon Gallentine, 45, of Maypearl, was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 9 and charged with 24 counts of health care fraud and 2 counts of failing to file federal income tax returns. Gallentine was arrested Tuesday and made an initial appearance before Tyler U.S. Magistrate Judge Amos L. Mazzant that afternoon. If convicted, Gallentine faces up to 10 years in federal prison for each count.

According to the indictment, from January 2004 through May 2007, Gallentine, a podiatrist, owned and operated Ambulatory Foot Care in Lancaster, Texas. During this time, Gallentine is alleged to have submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare seeking reimbursement for procedures which he did not perform. As a result of these false claims, Gallentine is alleged to have received in excess of $365,000.00 to which he was not entitled. Additionally, it is alleged that Gallentine willfully failed to file federal income tax returns for calendar years 2004 and 2005.

TYLER � Funeral services will be held on Monday for Jerry Kidd, founder of the Kidd Jones convenience stores. He died Tuesday, two weeks after his 77th birthday, following a lengthy illness. Visitation will be Sunday from 6:00 to 8:00pm at the Stewart Family Funeral Home. Services will be held Monday morning at 10:00 at the first United Methodist Church of Chandler.

TYLER — A Smith County judge orders 15-year-old Nate Anderson detained for another 2 weeks at the Smith County Juvenile Attention Center. Anderson is being held for the murder of his 19-year-old sister, Amanda, who was found shot in the head in their New Chapel Hill home last September. A hearing is set up to determine whether or not he will be tried as an adult.

DIBOLL � Former Diboll Police Chief Kent Havard pleaded guilty to stealing city funds Tuesday, accepting a plea deal for three years probation. Havard will also pay full restitution to the city, totaling about $5,000, in addition to paying a $500 fine and agreeing to permanently surrender his peace officer commission, according to Angelina County District Attorney Clyde Herrington. Havard resigned his 30-year post at the Diboll Police Department on March 2, after being informed he was under investigation by the Texas Rangers.

After the investigation was complete, it was determined there were several incidences of theft, including charges to the city credit card at Wal-Mart and Minute Maid Park, and five stolen cashed checks, Herrington said. Facing grand jury for indictment on March 29, Havard came forward and admitted his guilt Tuesday, Herrington added. According to Herrington, �He said he had gotten into a financial bind and just thought he would borrow that money. He hoped to pay it back but he was not able to do that,� Herrington said. Herrington went on to commend Havard for coming forward. The City of Diboll has appointed retired Texas Ranger Donald Morris interim police chief until a replacement for Havard can be found.

TYLER (AP/Staff) – A judge has ruled that an East Texas teen accused of fatally stabbing his teacher is unfit to stand trial and should get additional evaluation. The review will help determine whether Byron Truvia needs to be committed to a mental health institution. He was a juvenile when special education teacher Todd Henry (pictured) was attacked in a classroom at John Tyler High School in September 2009. Defense attorney Jim Huggler says the ruling Wednesday in Tyler, by Judge Floyd Getz, means the 17-year-old suspect will be returned to Vernon State Hospital for evaluation by two physicians over the next 90 days. Huggler says the physicians will determine whether the youth should be committed to a hospital where he would receive further evaluations every year.

TYLER — Tyler police welcome the newest K-9 member, Paco, to join the Tyler Police Department K-9 program. Police introduced Paco at Food Fast Store #70, located at 1222 WSW Loop 323. Paco is a two-year-old German shepherd male who is imported from the Netherlands. He was trained by U.S. Canine Unlimited in Katlan, Louisiana. Paco has been trained to track people and to detect marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and ecstasy. Police are thanking Food Fast Corporation for its donation to the police department, which allowed the department to purchase a second K-9 and pay for its training. This is the second donation in recent years by Food Fast to the Police Department to provide funding towards the K-9 program.

AUSTIN — Dog owners whose pets kill a child or senior citizen could spend some time in prison. For Jacksonville Republican State Representative Chuck Hopson, the issue is personal. He�s had two kids lost in his district to vicious dog attacks. Hopson says it would be a first-degree felony when a child under the age of fifteen or an adult over the age of 65 is killed by a dog. Hopson says someone would face that charge only if the person had been notified that he or she had a vicious dog, or if it was the dog owner’s negligence that led to the fatal attack. The bill is being considered by a House committee.

KILGORE — Kilgore Fire Department officials are searching for suspected arsonists in connection with three fires that happened within a day of each other. Kilgore Fire Marshal Brandon Bigos said Kilgore firefighters responded to the first two fires about 80 yards from one another on a piece of developmental property off Old Private Road 3500 at about 6 p.m. March 9, and fire crews were dispatched to the third fire on Swanson Street the following evening.

Anyone with information should call (903) 983-1559 or submit an anonymous tip to Gregg County Crime Stoppers at (903) 236-STOP.

TYLER (AP) – The issue of whether a teen accused of stabbing his teacher to death in 2009 can stand trial as an adult will again be considered in court. A hearing was scheduled Wednesday in Tyler for the youth, who’s now 17. He is accused in the deadly attack on special education teacher Todd Henry in a classroom at John Tyler High School. The Texas Supreme Court ruled last October that the question of the teen’s competency for trial can’t be determined until a mental health evaluation is completed. His court-appointed attorney, Jim Huggler, declined comment Tuesday except to say the hearing involves further mental health issues stemming from the case. The teen was returned to juvenile detention in Tyler in February after spending three months at the Vernon State Hospital.

MARSHALL � One boy is dead and another injured after a car hit the go-cart they were riding on Monday, the first day of spring break. Killed was Ethan Moore, 12. A seven-year-old child is in critical condition at LSU Hospital in Shreveport. The youngsters were riding on County Road 4102 near Marshall when they tried to make a right hand turn and were hit by a car driven by a friend of Ethan’s family, Candace Paluk, 29, of Marshall.

ZAVALLA � A three-vehicle accident claimed the lives of two people Tuesday afternoon on U.S. Highway 69 north of Zavalla, according to Angelina County Sheriff�s Office Lt. Bryan Holley. Holley said a car driven by Bruce Gulley, 51, of Zavalla was northbound on U.S. Highway 69, and a car driven by Megan Hollingsworth, 19, of McKinney was southbound. Gulley�s car went into the southbound lane and collided head-on with Hollingsworth�s vehicle.

Both drivers were dead at the scene, Holley said, and both had to be cut out of their vehicles. A third car, driven by David Fields, 53, of Woodville, was also involved. His car was struck by Gulley�s car. Fields had minor injuries and refused transport, according to Holley.

TYLER — Retired Tyler police officer Allan Crosby and his sister, Audrey Crosby Spies, a retired Bowling Green, Ky., and former Tyler police officer, plan to walk across Texas this spring in memory of their sister and to raise money to help East Texas cancer patients. Working with East Texas Medical Center, they plan to start their walk on April 1 on the Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas state line near Atlanta, Texas, and walk 857 miles during April and part of May to El Paso. The walk, called �Cops Crushing Cancer,� is in memory of the Crosbys� sister, Jacqueline Crosby Mazzola, a retired Dallas police officer, who died in 2010 of colon cancer. Mazzola told her family to look for change on the street as a sign that she was dropping pennies from heaven for them to help cancer patients. Crosby says they are asking walkers to get pledges of one penny per mile.

All money raised from the walk will go to ETMC�s Cancer Institute Remembrance Fund. The fund, which is coordinated through the East Texas Medical Center Foundation, assists cancer patients and the community through patient support programs, such as retreats and support groups, cancer screenings, advancement of cancer programs and services and assistance to patients with special needs. Crosby hopes retired and active law enforcement officers as well as cancer survivors will join them as they pass through their county and walk with them. They plan to use their Facebook page, under Cops Crushing Cancer, to update walkers as to when they will be in their area.

The walk will begin in Cass County on State Highway 155 and turn onto U.S. Highway 80 to travel to Dallas. Walkers will travel through Dallas-Ft. Worth and take routes north of Midland to reach El Paso. They are staying off main interstates so the trip will be safer for the walkers. To make a donation by check, you can send your tax-deductible gift to the ETMC Foundation, Cancer Institute Remembrance Fund, P. O. Box 6400, Tyler, TX 75711. For more information on the walk, you can contact Crosby at 903-245-9004.