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MARSHALL – Komatsu is partnering with Texas State Technical College to provide job training. The $131,404 Skills Development Fund grant is from the Texas Workforce Commission. It will benefit workers in the 14 county Workforce Solutions East Texas area, including Smith and Gregg County. The grant will be used to provide custom training to 60 new and incumbent workers in the manufacturing field. Trainees will include data terminal operators, fabrication machine operators and quality control inspectors. A big two foot by four foot check, symbolizing the grant, was presented in a ceremony Wednesday morning at the school in in Marshall.

TYLER – A suspect in a Smith County shooting last year has drawn a prison term. In state district court in Tyler Wednesday, Joel Camacho, 23, of Tyler, entered a guilty plea. Judge Jack Skeen then sentenced him to 20 years in prison. Camacho waived his right to appeal. He was one of three men charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the case. The shooting, which wounded one person, occurred last September near the Eagle Creek Mobile Home Park off State Highway 271 North.

LONGVIEW – A Gregg County woman has been indicted on a charge of solicitation to commit murder. According to the Longview News Journal, Deeanna Ann Aldredge, 23, of Gladewater, is accused of offering to pay $500 to have the father of her child killed. The action came after she lost custody of the youngster. She has been in the Gregg County Jail since June 19th. Her bond is $250,000.

LONGVIEW — A Louisiana man accused of killing a Longview man in May and then setting fire to his duplex has been indicted by a Gregg County grand jury. That’s according to our news partner KETK and the Longview News-Journal. 46-year-old Johnny Len Kellogg is jailed under the name George Purland on $503,500 in bonds on a charge of murder and an unrelated assault charge. Kellogg’s wife told police after his arrest in June that the victim, 44-year-old Johnny Quentin Miller, had made advances toward her and then tried to rape her after inviting the couple to his home for dinner. She also told police that she and Kellogg got Miller off her and that Kellogg took him to a back room of Miller’s Loring Lane duplex, where he reportedly hit Miller in the head with a tire iron. Police said an autopsy showed Miller’s cause of death as strangulation, and investigators believe Kellogg then took items from the duplex and set it on fire.

JACKSONVILLE — TxDOT Tuesday held its final meeting on the Highway 69 Relief Route study for Jacksonville. In the room at Norman Activity Center were maps, with TxDOT workers explaining the different possible routes — along with a video in another room explaining the plan from start to finish. Visitors also had the chance to write their own comments for TxDOT to read. Some were pleased with the proposals presented. One man told our news partner KETK he thinks the new route could reduce truck traffic. But a woman concerned about the route voiced fears of losing her home, which has been in her family for three generations. If a new highway is approved, Jacksonville will join many other East Texas cities with relief routes, or loops. If not, it’s back to the drawing board.

TYLER – Smith County commissioners have adopted a new budget and approved an ever so little tax increase. The action came at Tuesday’s meeting. While approving a balanced budget, the commissioners approved a tax rate of .337311 cents. This is an increase of .007311 over the current tax rate. That means, before exemptions, the average home owners tax bill would increase around $26.00. And on a 4 to 1 vote, the commissioners voted to increase salaries for elected officials. The lone no vote came from commissioner Terry Phillips.

LANEVILLE – One person was killed and 4 injured in a two vehicle accident in Rusk County. The accident happened around 7:15 Tuesday morning on Farm Road 225, nearly 5 miles north of Laneville. Dead at the scene was Payton Lynn Crustner, 9. She was wearing the bottom portion of her seatbelt but was thrown from a car during the crash. She was in a car driven by Miranda Michell Clark, 32, of Laneville. She was hit by a pickup driven by old Marcus Wayne Dukes, 18, of Laneville. The DPS says his pickup was in the wrong lane on a curve when it hit Clark’s car.

TYLER – Three persons have been implicated in a human trafficking case in Smith County. A woman told the Department of Public Safety that she was their victim. Our news partner, KETK, says the activities took place at Tyler motels. Arrested in the case are Brenton Lee Coe, 29, of Tyler, (pictured) and Brittiany Mendoza, 27, of Henderson. Each are charged with engaging in organized criminal activity. They are being held on bonds of $500,000 each. The third suspect, Deantawn Dremal Hopkins, 24, of Tyler, is in prison on a drug charge.

TYLER – Tyler police are looking for the woman involved in an aggravated assault at the Family Dollar Store on East Gentry. She got into an argument with an employee and started throwing items around the store. When the employee went outside to get her license number, the woman, who was leaving, hit him with her car, throwing him into the store’s front doors. He was treated and released at a Tyler hospital. She is described as a black female with a black shirt, multi-colored pants and a bow in her hair. She is driving a black 2010 to 2012 Ford Taurus.

LONGVIEW – Rehabilitation could begin next month on a 65-year-old building in downtown Longview that came close to being torn down. The city council has approved $600,000 in loans over the next two years toward the $9.962 million total cost to rehab the Petroleum Building on East Whaley Street. It was built in 1953 as a five-story parking garage. Offices and light retail were added several years later. The Longview News Journal reports Saigebrook Development of Austin plans to construct nearly 50 apartment homes in what will be called Alton Plaza. The company is hoping to have their conditional approval from the National Park Service for the historic rehabilitation so they can start construction in mid-to-late September.

TYLER – Smith County sheriff’s deputies have arrested a Lindale man for sexual assault of a child. Arrested Tuesday morning was James Albert George, 67. He was arrested after his 21 year old niece, last week, reported the sexual assaults. He is said to have assaulted the victim as a young child multiple times over several years. Investigators say George admitted the assaults to them. He has been charged with continuous sexual assault of a child and booked into the Smith County Jail under a $500,000 bond.

WHITEHOUSE – A Henderson County man is arrested following a shooting near Whitehouse. The suspect, Douglas Mack Peters, 52, of Brownsboro, was at the home on Forest Lane when law officers arrived. Wounded was his brother John Peters and John’s wife Carla, who live at the residence. They were taken to Tyler hospitals for treatment. Detectives say the suspect gave them a statement detailing the events of the shooting. He was named in two arrest warrants for aggravated assault, family violence, serious bodily injury. His bonds total $500,000 and he remains in the Smith County Jail.

ARP — The Arp firefighter and Longview police officer injured after an Arp fire is now reported in stable condition — but still in need of help. 24-year-old Chris Vannoy was severely burned during a shed fire. He suffered burns to more than 50 percent of his body. We are told a Go-Fund-Me started to raise money for Vannoy’s recovery costs has already raised around $18,000. According to our news partner KETK, he still has some time left in the ICU at the hospital. And after he is released, he will start rehab. Another way you can help is by attending a cookout fundraiser September 22. Whataburger in Henderson is also holding a fundraiser.

MALAKOFF (AP) – An East Texas man and woman have been arrested after a 70-year-old woman said they kept her in a dog kennel, beat and kicked her, withheld food and water, and forced her to walk on broken glass. Tyler television station KLTV reports 47-year-old Leonnia Darlene Anderson Castillo of Log Cabin is charged with first-degree felony injury to the elderly and being held at the Henderson County Jail in Athens on a $50,000 bond. A jail booking officer declined to say if she had an attorney. Tommy Lee Anderson, a 49-year-old Malakoff resident, is charged with felony unlawful restraint and free on $15,000 bond. A police affidavit says the victim approached a Malakoff police officer and said she had been staying with the woman, to whom she was related, and her boyfriend when the ordeal began in January. Other relatives rescued her on Aug. 22.

VAN ZANDT COUNTY – One man is arrested following a high-speed pursuit Tuesday night. According to our news partner KETK, authorities say a man attempted to flee from officers in Wills Point, leading them on a chase with speeds of 100 mph, heading east towards Grand Saline. Officials say the man tried to hit the officers’ vehicles as they were following him, and officers attempted to shoot out the man’s tires. DPS officials say about 10 to 15 of their vehicles were involved in the chase, with a helicopter in pursuit as well. They eventually stopped the man’s vehicle with the use of a spike strip on the road. The man then attempted to run north through a pasture near Hwy. 80, but was stopped at gunpoint and captured. The case remains under investigation.

PLANO – Seven ambulance industry defendants have agreed to pay the government over $21 million to settle a false claims act lawsuit. It was alleged that they knowingly submitted claims to the Medicare and Medicaid programs that violated the anti‑kickback statute. Among the defendants in the suit were East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare System, East Texas Medical Center Regional Health Services and their affiliated ambulance company, Paramedics Plus. They were said to have offered kickbacks to several municipal entities to secure their lucrative ambulance business. The court action stems from a whistleblower lawsuit that was filed in January of last year. The U.S. Department of Justice later became a party in the suit. The man who filed the whistleblower lawsuit, Dr. Stephen Dean, will receive over $4.9 million as his share of the settlements.

LONGVIEW – A suspect in a Longview murder is now a suspect in a second murder case. At a joint police department and sheriff’s department news conference in Longview Monday, it was announced that Joseph Wayne Burnette, 41, of Longview, a convicted sex offender, has been indicted in both cases. He is accused of the murder of Felisha Pearson, whose body was found in July off West Birdsong Street. He is now also indicted in the 2006 murder of a woman in Gregg County. That woman, dubbed Lavender Doe by law enforcement officials, remains unidentified. Early last week he is said to have confessed to both murders. He was indicted by the Gregg County grand jury last week.

TYLER – A Smith County man has been charged with arson after being accused of setting his hospital bed on fire. Arrested early Monday morning at UT Health – Tyler was Mason Reid Wyatt, 20, of Lindale. Emergency room personnel quickly put out the fire with only minor damage and no injuries. Wyatt is now in the Smith County Jail.

HALLSVILLE – Louisiana residents have been involved in a Harrison County crash that killed one person and left 3, including two children, injured. The crash occurred just before 1:00 Sunday morning on Interstate Highway 20 near Hallsville. Dead at the scene was Thomas James Emerson, 58, of Homer Louisiana. The Department of Public Safety says his car was heading west in the east bound lanes when it collided an SUV driven by Kristin Holly Hogue, 33, of Bossier City. She was taken to Christus Mother Francis Hospital-Tyler in critical condition. Two children in her vehicle, ages seven and two, were transported to Good Shepherd Medical Center-Longview in stable condition. The accident remains under investigation.

TYLER — Parts of Amherst Drive in Tyler will be closed for utility work every day this week. According to our news partner KETK, it will begin at New Copeland Road and head east about 600 feet. Contractors will be installing a new water line extension on Amherst and tying it into the main on New Copeland. Then they’ll repave the street. Traffic will be detoured in the area, so you can expect delays.

TYLER — UT Tyler has begun working on its master plan for the future, which lets university officials look 20 years ahead. Our news partner KETK reports it was introduced at Friday’s convocation. As part of the plan, the university has already started the Soules College of Business — and has requested state funds for a new college of nursing. UT Tyler President Dr. Michael Tidwell adds that the center of campus will become a “campus green plaza” and parking will be moved to the outer areas of the campus. Tidwell says it’s first and foremost about the students, their parents, and those relying on the university to train the next generation of entrepreneurs, physicians, lawyers, and teachers.

TYLER — The League of Women Voters of Tyler/Smith County celebrates Women’s Equality Day with an event at Tyler Public Library. The League kicked off a two-year run-up to the hundredth anniversary of the day American women won the right to vote — August 26, 1920. Keynote speaker Barbara Bass, Tyler’s first woman mayor, saluted the people who worked hard to achieve that right — noting that she was elected because of them. She also voiced concern about continued low voter turnout in Texas. Bass commented that “it’s time to invigorate and reinvigorate our voter base” — and that it’s “important to reclaim our freedom.” The ex-mayor was helped by several people portraying key figures in the women’s voting rights movement. The event also featured an update from state League President Grace Chimene.

TYLER – Here’s a look at road work planned in the Tyler district of TxDOT during the weeks of August 27th and September 3rd. Schedules are subject to change due to weather conditions, equipment failure or other unforeseen issues. Slow down and pay attention when traveling through work zones.

Among the projects:
Spur 248 Widening Project in Smith County
·Limits: From 1.75 miles west of FM 848/Old Omen Road going east to SH 64 southeast of Tyler
·Contractor: Lonestar Equipment Company, Inc.
·Cost: $8.6 million
·Anticipated Completion Date: Summer 2018
Daytime lane closures are anticipated as the contractor places striping and seeding. The speed limit is 55 mph during construction to widen Spur 248 from two lanes to a four-lane divided roadway with a flush median. Continue reading TxDOT Road Projects Update

TYLER – The 31st Annual Tyler Cattle Barons’ Gala was a huge success. It has been announced that the June gala raised $495,045.75 for the American Cancer Society. The money will be used for cancer research, education, and to assist patients and families who are struggling with cancer. According to a news release, the 2019 Gala is scheduled for June 29th and will again be held at the Texas Rose Horse Park. Next year’s theme will be “Triple Crown – On Track for a Cure!.”

LONGVIEW – Funeral services are scheduled Thursday in Longview for Dr. Peggy Coghlan, 89. She, and her late husband, gave generously to the community. According to a posting on The Longview Public Library’s Facebook page, in the late 80’s, she helped raise $1,107,000 for the Library to provide furnishings, equipment, and books for what was then a brand new Library. Earlier this month, she and her family gave a generous gift of $50,000 to the Library in order to help fund future Summer Reading Clubs. The posting adds, that “her legacy is vast, and she will continue to impact the lives of countless citizens of Longview for many, many years.” According to Rader Funeral Home in Longview, her funeral services will be held on Thursday, at 1:00pm, at First United Methodist Church. Visitation will be from 11:30am to 12:45pm at church before the service. Burial will be in Rosewood Park.

LONGVIEW – There will be no jury duty in Longview on Monday. Gregg County has canceled jury duty for Monday. The Gregg County District Clerk made the announcement Friday.

WHITE OAK – One person is dead and one injured in White Oak in what is being described as an attempted murder and suicide. Police, late Friday morning, found a 73 year old woman, who had been shot in the face, in a residence on North White Oak Road. She was still conscious and told officers she had been shot by her husband who then shot himself. The 76 year old man, identified as Clem Brewer, was found dead in an adjoining room. The woman was taken to the hospital for treatment.

KILGORE – With the help of a Theft Detection Surveillance system, Kilgore police have arrested a copper theft suspect. They say Alan Bobby Glenn II was caught in the act of stealing thusands of dollars worth of copper from a Kilgore business. Glenn was caught around daybreak Friday. As he encountered a police detective, he turned to run, only to run into a officer that goes by the nickname of “tiny.” He quickly gave up.

ATHENS – There is still no trace of an Athens woman who has been missing since August 8th. A Silver Alert was issued for Diana Lynn Musella. She was last seen leaving her apartment that morning. When she never arrived at her destination that day, she was reported missing. She is said to be driving a silver or beige Toyota Corolla with the Texas license plates DNZ2279. If you see her, you are asked to contact the nearest law enforcement agency.

HALLSVILLE – A man who ran from a traffic stop in Harrison County is now in custody, thanks to a county resident. A state trooper tried to stop Derek Hunt, 44, of Hallsville, on Loop 281 on Thursday afternoon. He ran from the scene. During the two hour search for Hunt, he is said to have stolen a vehicle, which he abandoned, and even swam across a lake to escape authorities. He was later arrested on Roy Green Road after a man, who saw him trying to hide, held him at gunpoint until sheriff’s deputies arrived. He is now facing several felony and misdemeanor offenses as well as an outstanding warrant from Marion County.