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TYLER – An investigator with the Tyler Police Department submitted her resignation following her arrest Saturday morning. Melinda Weaver, 32, was charged with public intoxication. She is currently free on a $260 surety bond. Police public information officer Don Martin said Weaver had been with the department just over 6½ years.

HALLSVILLE – A manager of a Brookshire’s store in east Texas is in the running for a national award. Ray Jackson, who is store director at the Brookshire’s store in Hallsville, is in the running for the Food Marketing Institute’s 2019 Store Manager Award. Jackson has been with Brookshire’s for 38 years. He took over his current duties in 2012. Even though there was no growth in the community or reduction in competitors, his store saw a sales increase of 2.26% last year. The winners will be announced on May 14th in St. Louis, Missouri.

KILGORE – Some students have won scholarship money at Kilgore College just by playing a game. The “Clash for College” video game tournament, hosted by the KC Gamers Guild, awarded $4,000 in KC scholarships as prizes for the top five winners of the tournament. It was open to KC students and high school juniors and seniors, it featured Overwatch for Xbox in a one-versus-one double-elimination format. Continue reading Win a Game, Earn Scholarship Money

TYLER – Three Tyler Junior College professors have distinguished themselves as endowed teaching chairs for 2019. The program enables professors to nominate and reward their peers who demonstrate excellence as educators. This year’s recipients are:
• Jae Jerkins, professor, humanities and philosophy – The Thomas Shelby, Jr. Endowed Chair for Teaching Excellence
• James Ledet, coordinator/professor, public administration and criminal justice – The George W. Pirtle and El Freda Taylor Pirtle Endowed Chair for Teaching Excellence
• Regan Minkel, English professor – The Dorothy Fay and Jack White Endowed Chair for Teaching Excellence

TYLER – Some Tyler students got a first had look at the effects of drunk driving with a mock accident. Juniors and seniors at Lee High School were dismissed from class for the Shattered Dreams alcohol awareness event. Tyler fire, police and EMS units, as well as the Air One helicopter, all respond to the scene. There was also a hearse from a local funeral home on hand. The students got to see how the jaws of life were used to removed the injured, who were treated on the scene. Police officers were also on hand to investigate, arrest, and book the mock student “drunk driver.”

LONGVIEW – A woman has pleaded guilty to the kidnapping of a Kilgore College Rangerette. Nancy Alice Motes, 59, pleaded guilty Monday morning to 2 counts of aggravated kidnapping. She was sentenced to five years in prison on each count. The sentences will run concurrently. In December, 2016, Motes kidnapped Alexa Blair, 19, at gunpoint from Blair’s home on Airline Drive in Longview. She was reportedly choked until she passed out and later was tied up in a storage building in Rusk County. Blair was able to escape and call police. Blair’s mother, Rangerettes Director Dana Blair, was at home at the time of the kidnapping and was tied up by Motes.

FLINT – A Smith County man has died in a motorcycle accident. Pronounced dead at the scene was Shane Curtis Chaffee, 53, of Flint, who was not wearing a helmet. The Department of Public Safety says, for some unknown reason, his motorcycle left them road. He was thrown from the vehicle. The accident happened around 7:45 Sunday night on County Road 168, just over 4 miles northwest of Flint.

TYLER – The TSA pre-check mobile enrollment, which was so successful in Tyler in late late January, has returned to the airport. The mobile RV will be at Tyler Pounds Regional Airport through Friday, May 10. It will be located in the back corner of the airport’s long term parking lot. The pre-check is an expedited screening program that enables identified low-risk air travelers to enjoy a quick and efficient screening experience. For travelers who have been pre-checked, there is no need to remove shoes, 3-1-1 liquids, laptops, light outerwear or belts. Currently, the pre-check has more than 450 lanes at over 200 U.S. airports, including the Tyler airport. Continue reading TSA Pre-Enrollment at Pounds Field

LONGVIEW – A Gregg County County Assistant District Attorney has resigned following his arrest. Assistant DA David Hagan, 29, submitted his resignation Monday morning. This follows his arrest early Saturday morning for DWI. He is currently free on a $1,500 bond. Hagan was a felony prosecutor in the 124th state district court. He had been an assistant with the DA’s office since April of 2017. District Attorney Tom Watson accepted has the resignation. He says he intends to have a special prosecutor appointed to handle the case. Watson emphasized that no one is above the law and Hagan’s case will be filed and prosecuted regardless of who has been accused.

SMITH COUNTY — Smith County Road 472 is closed until further notice for a culvert replacement. CR 472 is between Farm-to-Market Road 849 and CR 411; that’s just east of Hideaway, in Precinct 3.

TYLER — UT Tyler Police are looking for the suspect accused of domestic violence at an on-campus apartment complex. According to our news partner KETK, Jaquavion Slaton, 20, is accused of physically assaulting, choking and pointing a gun at a woman Sunday afternoon at the Victory Village Apartments. He then fled on foot towards University Boulevard. Police say that Slaton should be considered armed and dangerous and that he has a history of assault. Slaton is described as 5’5″, 150 lbs with short, curly hair. He has a tattoo of a bird on the right side of his neck and was last seen wearing red shorts and a white shirt.

TYLER – We should know this week who will be the next president at Tyler Junior College. The four finalist for the post were hosted last week. Each candidate spent a day participating in a variety of visits, interviews, and forums attended by the TJC Board, community members, faculty and staff. School trustees will meet in a closed session Monday afternoon to deliberate on the new president. The board will meet Wednesday for their regular meeting at which time they are scheduled to announce the sole finalist. A 21-day waiting period will then begin. On May 23, the TJC Board will announce the seventh president of Tyler Junior College, who will take office on July 1. Continue reading TJC, Close to a New President

CHEROKEE COUNTY — A one vehicle wreck involving a Breckenridge Village van has left one man dead, several injured. According to the Department of Public Safety report, the accident happened around 7:45 Saturday morning on US-69, one mile south of Alto. The driver of the 2003 Ford E350 passenger van, Sylvester Conrod Jr., 55, of Tyler, was pronounced dead at the scene. The van was traveling south on 69 when the vehicle ran off the roadway, struck a concrete culvert and an electrical pole. A passenger, identified as Grady Marshall, 66, of Tyler, was transported to a Tyler hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Twelve other adults were passengers of the van but were not injured. Continue reading Driver Dies following Wreck Involving Breckenridge Village Van

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Twins who were sent to separate foster homes at age 14 recently reunited in Springfield after losing touch for 60 years. RoseMarie Henson and Rosalie Turner found their way back to one another this month with the help of family and DNA testing, the Springfield News-Leader reported. Turner’s daughter, Tina Henderson, started looking for her mother’s twin after a family member completed a DNA test through Ancestry.com. Henderson said she and her cousin were eventually able to locate Henson in Springfield. Turner’s daughters eventually drove her through the night from Longview, Texas, to reunite with her sister in Springfield. Continue reading Twins Separated in Foster Care Reunite after 60 Years

TYLER (AP) – Southside Bancshares Inc. on Friday reported first-quarter earnings of $18.8 million. The Tyler based bank said it had earnings of 56 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for amortization costs, came to 59 cents per share. The holding company for Southside Bank posted revenue of $68.6 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $52.9 million, falling short of Street forecasts. Southside Bancshares shares have increased 8 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has fallen almost 4 percent in the last 12 months.

SMITH COUNTY – The county commissioners have voted to approve an order authorizing fireworks sales over the Memorial Day holiday period. The sales will run from May 22nd through the 27th. The state legislature previously approved three additional holidays for fireworks sales, as long as county commissioners authorize it. The extra holidays are Texas Independence Day, San Jacinto Day and Memorial Day. County Fire Marshal Connie McCoy-Wasson said Smith County residents are allowed to pop fireworks throughout the year, and are only restricted on when they can buy them.

ELYSIAN FIELDS – One person is in custody in connection with a Harrison County shooting caused by an apparent domestic dispute. It happened shortly before 7:15 Friday morning at a store in Elysian Fields. Arrested in Panola County in the shooting was Cortney Tramane Manning, 33, of Marshall. He was arrested on drug and weapons charges out of Harrison County. Injured was Koteshia Endsley, who was taken to a Shreveport hospital for treatment. She had earlier called 911 to report that Manning was following her. Harrison County authorities say the two had had previously dated.

LONGVIEW – A man has been arrested after a child showed up at school with a variety of injuries. The staff at Ware Elementary found visible injuries on the child’s back and lower and upper legs from a cord. The injuries are said to have occurred on Tuesday at the Boys and Girls Club in Longview. Arrested Thursday in the case was Ladarrian Demarcus McGee, 31, of Longview. He is being held in the Gregg County Jail under a $50,000 bond. The Longview Police Department along with Gregg County District Attorney’s office and Child Protective Services is continuing to investigate the incident.

MARSHALL – A former babysitter is heading to prison for the sexual assault of a teenager. Zoya Grace Rogers, 28, of Kilgore, was charged with two counts of sexual assault of a 16-year-old. She was also charged with abandoning and endangering the teen’s 10-year-old autistic sibling, who was left home alone while taking the teen on a joy ride to a Longview strip club. Rogers pleaded guilty to all three charges. She was sentenced to five years for each sexual assault count, and 18 months on the abandoning charge. The sentences will run concurrently. Rogers was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

TYLER – A Smith County Jury has found Jessie Liggins, 38, of Arp, guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a child. The jury then sentenced him to life in prison without parole. He was arrested by Smith County sheriff’s deputies last July. Investigators learned the suspect has assaulted the girl, under the age of 14, on various occasions over an 18 month period. The last assault was witnessed by a family member, who reported the incident to authorities.

TYLER — A Smith County jury sentenced Jeromy Stewart, 38, to two years in state jail for burglarizing Classic Toyota in Tyler. On August 24, 2018, Stewart entered the auto shop and stole various tools. Tyler Police recovered several of the tools from local pawn shops. Officers also found numerous other tools Stewart had stolen during his brief stay in Tyler. He had previously been convicted of multiple felonies for theft, burglary and cocaine possession. The jury assessed the maximum jail sentence and a $4,400 fine.

LONGVIEW – The investigation continues into a fatal accident in Longview. It happened around 10:15 Tuesday night in the area of Nelson and Green Street. Harold Garrett, 62, of Longview was hit by a vehicle that left the scene. He was found lying in the highway and later died at a Longview Hospital. Green Street was closed from Nelson Street to Melton Street during the investigation, until 12:15 Wednesday morning. Anyone with information is asked to call the Longview Police Department at 903-237-1170 or Gregg County Crime Stoppers at 903-236-7867.

TYLER – Officials with Tyler and Smith County have signed a resolution which supports a bill creating a utility district in southern Smith County. The utility district would be in an area between the cities of Tyler and Bullard, an area that is predominately serviced by private utility companies. The area would be known as the Rose City Municipal District, or MUD. The bill was introduced in the current legislative session by State Representative Matt Schaefer of Tyler. The proposed district would have the authority to issue bonds, impose fees, and provide sewer and wastewater services and contract with the City to operate and maintain the district’s sewer and wastewater facilities. Officials feel, if the new district becomes a reality, residents in the area may one day see better sewer and wastewater services at lower costs. Continue reading Work On a South Smith County Utility District

WHITE OAK – A man picked up in White Oak, following a domestic dispute, is now facing a weapon’s charge. Arrested was Fabian Hugo Castro, 19, of Longview. A search of the man, after he was placed in handcuffs, turned up an Uzi submachine gun. It had 24 rounds in the clip and it had a retractable stock, which would allow the user to turn it into a rifle. They feel the weapon may have been stolen, since the serial number had been filed off. Now, besides the weapons charge, Castro also has outstanding warrants from Smith and Gregg Counties. He remains in the Gregg County Jail under bonds totaling $30,000.

TYLER – Tyler city employees who go above and beyond the call of duty are presented the Blueprint Blue Ribbon Award. That award has been given to Lauren Justice, City of Tyler accounting manager. Justice began her career with the city as an accountant in June 2012. She is currently an accounting manager and the staff liaison regarding both internal and external audits and works closely with the city’s Audit Committee.

NOONDAY – Smith County Road 1133, northwest of Noonday, is closed until further notice for a culvert replacement. The part of the road that is closed is between County Road 1131 and Farm Road 2661, in Precinct 1.

TYLER – Three Tyler Junior College students have been accepted for paid summer research fellowships. The funds come from the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. Jeannie Nghiem, a TJC biology and chemistry major from Tyler, has accepted a fellowship at The University of Texas at El Paso, a Division 1 research institution. Martin Morales Alvarez, electrical engineering major and Marco Rodriguez, engineering major, both from Tyler, will both be participating in summer fellowships at UT Tyler.

SMITH COUNTY – The Smith County sheriff’s office has completed a compliance check of registered sex offenders who live in the county. Sheriff Larry Smith said it took two days to conduct the check with around 40 officers from 8 different agencies. Of the 406 persons who were checked, four were found to be out of compliance and two others were not at home and notices were left. The unannounced and comprehensive residential verification checks of this type are conducted on a regular basis in the county. The sheriff said sex offenders have strict requirements. If they violate any of their registration requirements, a warrant will be issued for their arrest.