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TYLER – A Tyler man has been found guilty of prostitution and human trafficking charges. During a bench trial, state district judge Judge Kerry Russell found Dekenndrick Lekeith Ross, 41, guilty. He could get up to 20 years in prison when sentenced later this month. Last June, Ross and Crystal Leshae Lilly, 26, also of Tyler, were arrested following a Department of Public Safety investigation of a human trafficking organization in the Tyler area. They were booked into the Smith County Jail on charges of trafficking of a person for benefits from forced labor and promoting prostitution. Lilly’s trial date has not yet been set.

HOUSTON – A former Tyler resident is reported missing in southeast Texas. She is 36 year old Greta Payne. According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, she was last seen around 1:00am on March 17th. She is said to have left her apartment in Houston and did not return. She was driving a pearl white 2005 Cadillac Escalade ESV with a sun roof and Texas license plate number JTD 1593. The report says she is 7 months pregnant. If you know where she can be located, you are asked to contact the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at 713-274-9360. Her case number is HC-18-43545.

LIBERTY CITY — The pastor of Liberty City’s First Baptist Church says he is increasing security after the destruction of three buses by fire in the church parking lot. According to our news partner KETK, the vehicles caught on fire about 5:00 Monday morning. The Sabine Fire Department quickly put out the flames. An official cause was not immediately released, but Pastor Paul Michael Vacca says he has no reason to believe it’s a hate crime.

LIBERTY CITY – Investigators are continuing their probe in Gregg County into a fire that destroyed a church’s 3 buses. The vehicles caught fire around 5:00am on March 26th. The vehicles were in the church’s parking lot. The fire was quickly put out by the Sabine Volunteer Fire Department. At the time, the church’s pastor Paul Michael Vacca said he had no reason to believe it’s a hate crime. Investigators say they know the fire was started by someone, but they have not determined at this time if was accidental or intentional.

AUSTIN – An East Texan is one of among 5 persons Governor Greg Abbott has reappointed to the Texas School Safety Center Board. Among those reappointed to the panel is Nacogdoches lawyer Paul Robbins. They were appointed for terms set to expire on February 1, 2020. Robbins, who has his office in Lufkin, serves as a regional attorney for the Texas Municipal Police Association. He is also immediate past president of the East Texas Peace Officers Association. The board reports to the Governor, the legislature, the State Board of Education, and the Texas Education Agency regarding school safety and security, and advises the center on its function, budget, and strategic planning initiatives.

PALESTINE – For the second time in a week, Palestine High School was on lockdown. A threatening note found on the campus around 8:30 this morning caused the lockdown. According to the school district, the note is “of a more specific nature than last week’s threat and will be able to be investigated in less time.” Nothing was found and the lockdown was lifted at 10:30.

LONGVIEW – A fatal Longview fire has been ruled accidental. The fire occurred the night of March 9th in a duplex on Cherie Lane. Killed were Randall Russell and his daughter, Lisa Russell Tesmer. A woman was arrested as she stood outside the burning home holding a bottle of charcoal lighter fluid. At the time, arson was suspected. But the fire marshal’s office said Thursday the fire was accidental and there will be no criminal charges filed against the woman.

TYLER — Police officers on UT Tyler’s campus now have new rifle-resistant vests. According to our news partner KETK, the UT system police force received the vests through a grant. Officers now have an upgrade on their level of protection. They say they hope they never have to be used, but just in case, they’ll be ready.

ATHENS — A Wednesday drug raid by an eight-member team of deputies south of Chandler ended with a woman in jail, facing decades in prison. Veronica Wortman, 49, was charged with a first degree felony for manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance. The substantial amount of methamphetamine she’s accused of processing for sale carries a penalty of up to $10,000 and up to 99 years in prison, according to Henderson County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse. Hillhouse sent the team to a home on Hillcrest Drive, near the Sunrise Shores subdivision.

WASHINGTON – Tyler congressman Louie Gohmert says he supports President Trump’s decision to send national guard troops to the southern border of the United States. In a statement released by the congressman, he said he thought the president’s decision was ” sensible, prudent, and has plenty of precedence.” Gohmert said not only will the troops aid in the defense of our law, it also will prevent gang members, drug smugglers, sex traffickers, or terrorists from hiding among, what he called, the “civilian invaders.”

LONGVIEW – Two persons have been arrested by Longview police in connection with the death of a child. A warrant was served Wednesday on Ciara Channel Dison, 27, of Longview, for murder. Shaglenda Denise Reddix, 31, of Longview, is charged with injury to a child. On January 6th, the police assisted EMS with a child call on East Hawkins Parkway. They were told a year old girl was not breathing. She died later that evening. The warrants were served Wednesday morning in the case. Investigators determined that Dison’s action resulted in the death of the child and that Reddix failed to seek the necessary medical treatment to protect the youngster. Both remain in the Gregg County Jail. Continue reading Two Charged in Child’s Death

LONGVIEW – A Longview shooting suspect has turned himself in to police. Gary Lee Nelson 29, showed up at the police department around 6:15 Wednesday evening. He was booked into the Gregg County jail on an aggravated assault charge. He is accused of shooting a woman around 45 minutes earlier on 8th Street. A police report said the woman was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

TYLER – City and school elections are coming May 5th. You must be registered at least 30 days prior to the election to vote. If you need you need to register, or file a change of address to vote, today is the final day to do so. You can register at the Smith County Elections Office, 304 East Ferguson in Tyler. You can also go to http://www.votetexas.gov and fill out a registration form. But you still need to bring or mail the form to the county election’s office. Early voting in the May elections runs April 23rd through May 1st.

TYLER – The Smith County capital murder trial for Gustavo Zavala-Garcia is still set, at least for right now, to begin in October. During a Wednesday pretrial hearing, State District Judge Jack Skeen said he will not sign the defense’s motion for continuance until he hears if additional DNA testing is needed. That could be answered with some trace results that are expected to be released at the end of the month. Zavala-Garcia is accused of kidnapping Kayla Gomez from a Bullard church in November of last year. Her body was found days later in a well on the man’s property. According to an arrest affidavit, a witness said they saw the man with Kayla shortly before she disappeared.

TYLER – A man threatening to jump from a Smith County bridge is now safe. After negotiating with him for around two hours, officers were seen putting handcuffs on him. The confrontation took place on the Toll 49 bridge on Highway 69 south.

LONGVIEW – Two Longview residents have been busted. Andrew Clements Trimble, 40, and Linda Gaile Hyatt, 33, were arrested Tuesday at the Lone Star Motel on East Marshall Avenue. As the officers served a narcotics search warrant, they found in the motel room drug paraphernalia and over 47 grams of methamphetamine. Trimble has been charged with the manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance. Hyatt was arrested on an outstanding Gregg County warrant for possession of a prohibited weapon. Both remain in the Gregg County Jail. Continue reading Two Jailed on Drug and Weapons Charges

KILGORE – Kilgore has recorded a traffic fatality. Donald Jacobs, 49, of Las Vegas, Nevada has died in a Shreveport hospital following a two vehicle accident last Thursday. The accident happened shortly before 11:00 that morning at the intersection of U.S. Highway 59 and Post Oak Road. Investigators say Jacob’s van pulled into the intersection and was hit by a car driven by Cameron Griffin, 18, of Houston. Griffin was treated for minor injuries at a Longview hospital. Kilgore police say the accident remains under investigation.

TYLER — The Army Corps of Engineers says it’ll be July when crews begin removing undetonated bombs left over from Tyler’s World War II-era Camp Fannin. According to our news partner KETK, after the camp was sold to private landowners, people began discovering equipment left behind by the soldiers who trained there. The most common items found have been mortars and sharp pieces of metal. For more than 40 years the Corps has done research to find where most of the undetonated bombs could be, and what it would take to safely remove them. The process of removal will happen in stages. If they find a sharp piece of metal, crews will leave it in place. If it’s a bomb, they will conduct a controlled detonation. The project’s due to wrap up by 2021.

TYLER — For the second time in the last few weeks, the city of Tyler has tabled a requested zoning change. Xing Tan, a Chinese businessman, is looking to build a master-planned “East meets West community.” According to our news partner KETK, the land he’s considering is off the western part of Loop 323, near Sam’s Club. The project is mostly condominiums, but the zoning would allow the company to build with towers up to 15 stories high. The zoning request has been postponed until further notice. The city earlier voiced concerns about the cost of providing services for the new community, which staffers say would be Tyler’s largest-scale development ever.

CONWAY, Ark. — A man wanted in the death of a Longview man will be extradited from Missouri to Arkansas. According to our news partner KETK, the case stems from an Arkansas music festival last month. Austin Dodson was found unresponsive by security personnel. Anthony Flick was a security worker who reportedly called authorities, saying he thought Dodson was asleep on the road. Deputies found Dodson unresponsive; He died a short time later. An autopsy shows he died by strangulation. Flick was arrested for manslaughter.

GILMER – A woman, whose body was found in Upshur County, has been identified. She is Rachel Rhoads, 24, of Longview. Her body was found around 3:30 Sunday afternoon off Farm Road 726, just north of Highway 154, by people riding recreational vehicles. Authorities say the condition of the body indicates that it had not been at the location for more than a very few days. She was reported missing to Longview police last Saturday. No word yet on the cause of death but investigators say the circumstances surrounding her death were “suspicious.”

TYLER – For the seventh straight year, Tyler Junior College met and exceeded its goal of collecting 50 gallons of blood. Lauren Tyler, TJC director of student life, said 52.5 gallons or 420 units were collected during the week-long blood drive at the college.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – An emergency medical care provider in Oklahoma, with ties to Tyler’s former East Texas Medical Center, has authorized a payment of $300,000 to settle a federal kickback lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed in January 2017, alleged that Emergency Medical Services received $20 million in kickbacks from a former Texas contractor. The Tulsa World reports that the EMSA Board of Trustees unanimously approved the settlement during a special meeting Monday. Federal officials said in court filings last week that a settlement had been reached in principle with EMSA and its former president and CEO, Stephen Williamson. A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Joseph Brown, whose Eastern District of Texas office brought the lawsuit, declined to comment to the newspaper on the settlement.

TYLER – The new Dawson Street Garage at CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital – Tyler, has been officially opened. The ribbon cutting ceremony was held late Tuesday morning. The new parking garage will make it easier to get to the hospital as well as the Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital. It has space for 850 vehicles. There is a partially covered walkway from the garage to the hospital entrance. For those who have trouble walking to the hospital, there is shuttle service every 5 to 7 minutes. The new garage is part of a multi-million-dollar expansion project that includes the nearly 200,000 square foot Bradley-Thompson Tower to be built on the south side of the hospital. The tower is expected to be completed in the spring of 2020.

LONGVIEW – Longview police are reporting they found more than they bargained for when they served a warrant in a drug case. The warrant was served at a home on Beaumont Street. Besides finding over 7 grams of crack cocaine, they also found an aquarium. Instead of fish, it contained a copperhead snake. Matthew James Breedlove, 52, said he found it in his yard and captured it. They called Longview Animal Control officers, who took the snake to a separate location and released it into the wild. They kept Breedlove, who was booked into the Gregg County jail on a charge of the manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance. His bond was set at $40,000.

TYLER — A special program on the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be held in Tyler on Wednesday, the 50th anniversary of King’s assassination. The Greater New Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church will host the event from 11:00 a.m. till 12:00 noon. The church is located at the corner of North Horace Avenue and East Oakwood Street. You can get more information by calling 903-216-4327.

ATHENS — Two Henderson County sheriff’s deputies arrested a wanted Gun Barrel City man shortly after midnight Monday, charging him with possession of methamphetamine and a pipe commonly used to smoke illegal drugs. Sheriff Botie Hillhouse says Daryl Anthony Clark, 21, was a passenger in a vehicle traveling through the Oak Harbor subdivision when law officers conducted a traffic stop and found the meth and pipe. The suspect was wanted on two warrants out of the Log Cabin Police Department for not having a driver’s license and failing to appear in court.

LONGVIEW – A Cass County man has been charged in White Oak with kidnapping. Douglas Eugene Barron Jr., 37, of Marietta, is said to have kidnapped a disabled man, stole his car, and tried to force him to withdraw money from his bank account. The Longview News Journal reports the incident happened early Saturday morning at Citizens National Bank in White Oak. Barron was said to have been arrested at a convenience store across the street from the bank. He is charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping, injury to the disabled and unauthorized use of a vehicle. He is the Gregg County Jail under bonds totaling $127,500.

TYLER – The Tyler Municipal Rose Garden has been recognized by the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association. The group has designated the garden as a Great Public Space for 2018. It was one of six selected by the organization. They were chosen because, according to the association, they illustrate most effectively what it means to be a “great” place, including design, functionality, sustainability, character, quality, and community participation. Continue reading Special Recognition for the Tyler Rose Garden.

TYLER – Some new roles for Tyler Junior College’s top two executives have been announced. TJC Board of Trustees approved the changes at a meeting late last week. School president Dr Michael Metke was named Chancellor for the College District of TJC and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Juan E. Mejia, formerly TJC provost and vice president for academic and student affairs, was been named President of the branch locations and TJC District Provost. He will directly oversee the 4 branch locations and the school’s Online Virtual Campus. He will continue to serve as Chief Academic Officer and Chief Student Affairs Officer.