KTBB News, Weather, Talk

TYLER — Officials with the city of Tyler are upbeat about the latest news on sales tax collections. Information from the Texas Comptroller indicates that total city sales tax revenues deposited for the month of December decreased 2.95 percent as compared to December 2009. But officials say that results in a 3.63 percent cumulative year to date increase for the first quarter of the current fiscal year net. While figures for December were slightly down overall, city staffers say a closer look reveals that the current period collections actually increased 0.70 percent; staffers say other audit and out of period collections equated to a 3.65 percent decrease for a net monthly decrease of 2.95 percent compared to last December.

“This means that we are continuing to see a positive trend in current sales tax collections.” said City Manager Mark McDaniel. “Although the City has not yet reached its overall budget goal, this should be easily achieved by year end.” The reported revenue of $2,410,041.30 is made up of of $1,606,694.20 general sales tax revenue and $803,347.10 half-cent sales tax revenue. The figures represent receipts from October 2010 collections, as there is a two-month period before revenue is reported.

TYLER (Staff/AP) – Tyler police report that a fourth suspect in a massive fraud and identity theft scheme has been taken into custody. Authorities say 30-year-old Nathan Paul Michael of Malakoff was apprehended by the Dallas Police Department and the U. S. Secret Service. All four suspects have been indicted, and three had already been arrested after an investigation in the Tyler area and elsewhere in East Texas. The probe involved over 6,500 victims in East Texas and losses of more than $100,000 for Tyler-area banks alone. Investigators say one suspect worked at a restaurant and wrongly obtained hundreds of credit card numbers through an access device.

TYLER — A 19-year-old woman is taken into custody after allegedly setting a patrol car on fire. It happened Friday morning around 6:00. A Tyler Officer said as they arrived to work, they noticed a 2008 Crown Victoria patrol car on fire. The vehicle was parked inside the secure area of the police department. Officers attempted to put out the fire with extinguishers and move nearby patrol vehicles to protect them from the flames. In the process, authorities say they noticed Payton Herrington, Lindale, inside the secured area. Police say she was responsible for setting the fire. She’s charged with arson, a second degree felony and criminal trespass, a class B misdemeanor.

LONGVIEW — A Longview man is being held on $1 million bond after he’s charged with threatening a witness in his upcoming trial. Toronto “Trigger” Lockridge was arrested this week and charged with aggravated assault. He is scheduled to go on trial in the death of Kelvin Muckleroy, who was found shot in the head Sept. 24, 2009, in his burned house on Chappell Street. Investigators said the fire was set to conceal the death. Brandon Horne, 31, of Longview was found guilty of murder Dec.1 in connection with the death.

According to arrest warrants, Shatoya Davis, who was subpoenaed to be a witness in Lockridge’s trial, told Gregg County authorities that Lockridge showed her a firearm during a conversation Nov. 17 in the parking lot of Cowboys convenience store in the 1700 block of Mobberly Avenue. She said they were discussing her service as a witness. While Lockridge shifted the gun from one hand to the other, he told Davis she did not need to say anything to law enforcement personnel, according to his arrest warrant.

Police say Kamica Barron, Muckleroy’s girlfriend, was hiding in a closet in the home with her two children when Muckleroy was killed. She told authorities she heard Lockridge tell Muckleroy he was going to kill him and told Horne to give him a gun, police said. There were three gunshots, then she heard Lockridge tell Horne to “clean everything up,” police said.

Lockridge’s arrest came on a drug raid. It happened Tuesday around 5:45 p.m. as the Gregg County Organized Drug Enforcement Unit executed a narcotics search warrant at 614 Buchanan Street. Authorities say agents made entry into the residence without incident, and that a quantity of ecstasy and marijuana was located. Also arrested was another Longview man, 20-year-old Sandy Brown. He’s charged with manufacturing and delivery of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana; he was also apprehended on two assault warrants. Brown’s bond is $27,500.

TYLER — A Tyler dentist arrested after video recording devices were found in a home he rented to a woman and her her 15-year-old daughter is back in the Smith County Jail. According to KETK, indictment letters confirm at least seven other people were allegedly taped by 57-year-old Charles Edward Robinson Jr. Robinson Jr. has been charged with improper photo/visual recording and burglary of a habitation with intent to commit a felony. Jail records indicate his bond is set at half a million dollars. He was released from jail Monday after posting a $50,000 bond. Robinson is also charged with possession of child pornography. Cameras were found inside the woman tenant’s attic, focused on both the bedrooms and bathrooms.

PITTSBURG — The investigation continues into a fiery two-vehicle wreck that left two Pittsburg men dead and another in fair condition in a Longview hospital. Bravlio Roman, 59, and Tommy Lee Hefner, 61, were killed after their sport utility vehicle was rear-ended by a vehicle driven by Jairo Perez, 21, Tuesday on U.S. 271 south of Pittsburg.

State troopers said a Honda Odyssey SUV was stopped on U.S. 271, waiting to make a left turn onto CR 1110, when it was hit by a Ford Ranger pickup driven by Perez. The wreck pushed the gas tank to the ground and the car caught on fire, Trooper Robby Moore said. Perez was taken to Good Shepherd Medical Center-Longview with two broken thigh bones.

TYLER — The two men accused in the East Texas church arsons last year have signed a waiver of jury trial and will plead guilty . Jason Bourque of Lindale and Daniel McAllister of Ben Wheeler announced their plea intentions in a hearing in 114th State District Court Thursday. Judge Christi Kennedy set the men’s plea hearing for December. They will be back in court January 10th for sentencing.

Bourque, 20, has been charged with five counts of arson. This is for the fires at Tyland Baptist Church, First Church of Christ, Scientist, Prairie Creek Fellowship Church, Dover Baptist Church, and Clear Spring Missionary Baptist Church. Bourque was also charged with three counts of attempted arson. McAllister, 22, has been charged with two counts of arson and two counts of attempted arson.

JACKSONVILLE — One of two men wanted in a weekend shooting in Cherokee County is in custody. His brother remains at large. Officials announced Thursday the arrest of Ruben Rincon, 22. They are still looking for Hugo Rincon, 19.

Over the weekend, David Thomason, 73, reportedly witnessed the men burglarizing his tool shed at his home west of Jacksonville. Thomason says his truck blocked the men from leaving his driveway. According to the victim, that’s when one them walked up to his truck window and shot him twice. Thomason says he was then pulled from his truck and put on the ground before they moved his vehicle and drove away. Thomason is now recovering and has been released from the hospital.

TYLER — An illegal El Salvadoran immigrant has received a life sentence for the aggravated sexual assault of a child. Oscar Antonio Bonilla, 31, was sentenced Thursday. A jury, back in November, found Bonilla guilty. He could be eligible for parole in 30 years. After serving his prison sentence, Bonilla will be deported.

TYLER — Prekindergarten teachers in Tyler ISD were rewarded this week for their dedication to preparing students for kindergarten when their classrooms received Texas School Ready! certification. According to Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott, “Strong prekindergarten programs help get at-risk children off to a good start and improve their chances for success throughout their school career. This certification can be used by parents to quickly identify programs that are effectively preparing children for kindergarten.”

The teachers receiving the 2010 Texas School Ready! Certification are: Billy Smoot from Bonner Elementary School; Marcia Trefoil, Yesinia Milan Stephanie Denton, Jackie Jackson, and Tameka Scruggs from Griffin Elementary School; Traci Sanders, Vonda Williams, Bobbie Riddick, and Monica Wood from Jones Elementary School; and Alicia Guajardo and Vicki Haddad from the Bo shears Center.

For prekindergarten classrooms from the 2008-2009 school years, 1,765 classrooms are receiving 2010-2011 certifications through a Texas Education Agency-funded evaluation system operated by the Children’s Learning Institute (CLI) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (Unhealthy).

To achieve certification, teachers at preschools and centers apply to CLI and provide information about their classrooms. CLI then studies information provided by Texas public school districts to assess students’ early reading and social development skills after they advance to kindergarten. The annual certification shows that children who graduated from these prekindergarten classrooms went to public kindergarten with the fundamental skills in place to be successful. Licensed childcare providers, Head Start and public prekindergarten classrooms are included in the voluntary program.

LONGVIEW — Customers now have an additional option available for making utility payments to the City of Longview. The Water Utilities Department has authorized Fidelity Express as a third party payment processor to accept customer bill payments at twenty convenience store locations throughout the Longview area. Fidelity Express will charge a fee of $1.50 for each payment transaction.

Utilizing the Fidelity Express locations, customers may pay their water bill in the form of cash, check, or money order. All water bill payments received through the Fidelity Express locations before 3:30 p.m. will be posted the same business days; payments received after 3:30 p.m. will be posted the next business day. Customers are required to have their bill statement coupon to complete payment.

According to Water Utilities Customer Service Manager Willie Marshall, “We learned that other water utilities had achieved positive results by implementing authorized payment processors throughout their communities, so we decided to pursue the effort for Longview customers. We hope this authorized payment source will be a convenient and fast option for customers that might not have access to the internet or are unable to easily travel to City Hall.”

It should be noted that Fidelity Express is the only authorized third party payment processor at this time. Customers that use other non-authorized third party bill payment services should be advised that those non-authorized payments are not immediate and may result in incorrect payment, delayed processing, late fees, or water service cancellation. As such, customers are encouraged to use only the following authorized payment options:
*By mail to City of Longview, P.O. Box 1952
*In person at City Hall, 300 W. Cotton St.
*Online using care at LongviewTexas.gov
*Over the phone with Steelworks at 903-237-1030
*Through Automatic Bank Draft established at the City Hall
*Using Fidelity Express at 20 Longview area convenience store locations.

LONGVIEW — Law officers in Longview arrest two men on a drug raid. It happened Tuesday around 5:45 p.m. as the Gregg County Organized Drug Enforcement Unit executed a narcotics search warrant at 614 Buchanan Street. Authorities say agents made entry into the residence without incident, and that a quantity of ecstasy and marijuana was located. Toronto Lockridge, 34, of Longview and Sandy Brown, 20, also of Longview, were arrested. Lockridge was arrested on an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon warrant. Brown was arrested on allegations of manufacturing and delivery of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana; he was also apprehended on two assault warrants. Both Lockridge and Brown remain in the Gregg County Jail with bonds totaling $1 million and $27,500 respectively.

TYLER — Tyler Police say they’ve made an arrest in several burglaries at a local apartment complex. Authorities say Darious Thomas, 19, Cedar Hill, was taken into custody. The burglaries happened on, and just before, the Thanksgiving holiday at the Cambridge Apartments 3088 Old Omen Road. On December 1, officers located a large bag of clothing in the dumpster on the property of the apartment complex. The clothing was identified as belonging to several residents that had their apartments broken into. Investigators also recovered a dog stolen from an apartment that was found in possession of another
resident.

Evidence started to point to a specific apartment within the complex that was being leased by three students from Tyler Junior College who are from Cedar Hill outside of Dallas. Investigators have also identified friends of these students who are from the Cedar Hill area who are not students but were involved with the string of burglaries.

Thomas was charged with two counts of Residential Burglary. Thomas, who is not a student, but attended Kilgore Community College at one time, was connected to a burglary that occurred before the Thanksgiving Holiday and one during the holiday. Thomas was associated with the residents who lived on the Cambridge property. Thomas is currently in Smith County Jail. Investigators have also issued three arrest warrants for Residential Burglary for Larry Dwayne Jones, 19, Cedar Hill. Investigators have not been able to locate him and believe he has returned to the Dallas area.

ANGELINA COUNTY — The Angelina County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the suspicious death of a 3-year-old toddler. The boy was taken to a local hospital by his mother and stepfather with serious injuries overnight Monday. He reportedly had bruises, fractures and internal injuries. Needing more specialized care, the boy was then taken to a Houston hospital, where he died Tuesday. The Sheriff’s Office had not released the name of the Central boy or his parents.