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TYLER – Smith County commissioners took no action Tuesday on new ownership of the Carlton Hotel. The commissioners were scheduled to discuss, in executive session, the possible sale of the building, which was opened over 60 years ago. But, following the closed door session, the matter was not discussed and no action was taken. County Judge Nathaniel Moran had previously said they have received some proposals for the property. But he gave no details. It’s not known if those proposals are still on the table of if the county will continue looking. The county bought the building in 1977. The last county office moved out, for better facilities, nearly four years ago. Continue reading No Action Taken On the Carlton Hotel

TYLER – A new Half Mile of History marker has been unveiled in Tyler. In a ceremony on the downtown square, the marker honoring Edgar “Leo” Chesley was unveiled. Chesley moved to Tyler in 1933 and became very active in the community. Among other things, he was President of the Rose Parade “Strutters” organization, a director of the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce, Director of the East Texas Symphony Orchestra and President of East Texas Savings and Loan Association. The marker honoring Chesley will be installed in the Half-Mile of History sidewalk in downtown Tyler.

LINDALE – Lindale police are trying to identify a man thought to be responsible for some vehicle burglaries. The burglaries occurred a few nights ago at the Hampton Inn. The suspect is described as a white male with an earring in his left ear. They say the man is working alone and driving a silver or light colored Ford Taurus or similar vehicle. The hotel’s video shows the man holding items that were identified by one of the victims as items coming from his vehicle. If you can identify him, you are asked to contact Lindale police.

KILGORE- A missing Kilgore man has been found. Yesterday, Kilgore police were asking the public’s help in locating the missing man. They said Robyn Allmond, 50, is suffering from a medical condition that may alter his ability to remember his surroundings and to return home. This morning, on their Facebook page, they announced Allmond has been found. No other information was released.

HARRISON COUNTY — A Marshall man wanted for assault has been arrested. Dillon Burr, 22, turned himself in to Harrison County Deputies around 1:30 Monday morning. He’s accused of assaulting a man at a Chevron station on East End Boulevard June 25th. Burr is charged with injury to the disabled and probation violation. He was booked into the Harrison County Jail with bond set at $125,000.

MARSHALL – A missing East Texas Teen has been located. The Harrison County Sheriff’s Department had been asking for the public’s help in locating Stephanie Ree Grace, 15. They report the girl has been found in Illinois and is safe. She is now in the custody of her grandfather. When reported missing, it was said she had last seen on Tuesday of last week at her home on U.S. Highway 80 in Longview. Authorities felt she may have been in the company of an adult friend identified as Brittany Badgett. They released no information on how the girl was found.

TYLER – We could find out today if the Carlton Hotel will be getting a new owner. Smith County commissioners are scheduled to discuss, in executive session, the possible sale of the building, which was opened over 60 years ago. County Judge Nathaniel Moran had previously said they have received some proposals for the property. But he gave no details. So during today’s meeting the commissioners could accept a proposal, or keep looking. The county bought the building in 1977. The last county office moved out, for better facilities, nearly four years ago.

TYLER – The trial of a man accused in a fatal Tyler wreck is being delayed. The trial of James Arthur Fulton, 41, has now been set for October 9th. A pre-trail hearing will be held on September 14th. On May 14th of last year, Fulton’s truck hit 21-year-old Haile Beasely’s car head-on in the eastbound lanes of West Grande Boulevard. The Tyler woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Fulton told officers he had two beers at a local restaurant prior to the crash. He then passed several field sobriety tests at the scene. Last November, Fulton was indicted on one count of criminal negligent homicide.

LONGVIEW — A man was arrested Thursday after police said he punched a Longview officer attempting to arrest him. According to the Longview News-Journal and KETK, Cesar Danilo Cordova, 22, was held Friday on bonds totaling $22,500, charged with assault of a public servant, evading arrest detention with a previous conviction and harassment of a public servant. Jail records showed Cordova also was being held on an immigration detainer. Police responded about 7 p.m. Thursday to the 500 block of East Marshall Avenue in reference to a criminal mischief in progress.

TYLER – Here’s a look at work planned in the district during the Week of July 24th. These schedules are subject to change due to weather conditions, equipment failure or other unforeseen issues.

Night work is slated to start Wednesday for a new U.S. Highway 271 project in Tyler. The project consists of repairing the base in the main lanes, conducting work on the side streets, applying a new surface, and striping. This work will have major impacts on traffic flow. Work will be conducted from 7:30pm to 6:00am, Sunday through Thursday nights. Expect lane closures and delays during this work. Get additional project information in the Smith County section of this release. Continue reading TxDOT Road Work Update

BULLARD – A member of the Lake Palestine East Volunteer Fire Department has drowned. Zane Simons, 19, was swimming with friends on Friday evening when he had a seizure and drowned. CPR was performed on him and he was rushed to a Tyler hospital where he died. To assist the family in paying for his funeral, a gofundme account has been established. You can go to https://www.gofundme.com/zane-simons-funeral-fund if you would like to donate.

LONGVIEW – There will be no jury selection in Gregg County on Monday. The district clerk’s office has posted on the county web site that jury selection set for Monday in Gregg County has been canceled.

GLADEWATER – A Gladewater man has been charged with making a terroristic threat. Arrested shortly after 6:00 Friday evening was Leroy Carter III, 58. According to the Gladewater Police Department Facebook page, Carter threatened to come to the Sonic Drive-In on East Broadway and shoot employees. Carter is being held in the Gregg County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

TYLER – A Tyler policeman is trading is changing weapons, from a revolver to a bible. A ceremony was held Friday afternoon as Detective Josh Green retired after 20 years on the Tyler police force. He is retiring to pursue full-time ministry. Green was the Senior Pastor for the County Line Baptist Church in Bullard for the past 5 years. He said he felt God’s calling to plant a church where a Gospel presence is desperately needed. After retirement, he and his family will be moving to Fort Collins, Colorado to begin the work of church planting. Continue reading Tyler Detective Follows God’s Calling

TYLER – A Tyler man, Joshua Adam Scales, 30, has been found guilty of murder. State District Judge Christi Kennedy sentenced him Friday afternoon to 35 years in prison. Scales had been charged with the shooting death of Jordan Ladue, 30. He was killed during a Troup robbery in July of last year. Scales was arrested a few days later in Reklaw at a relative’s house. He was caught as he was trying to crawl out of a back window of the house. Three others have been previously sentenced in the case.

TYLER — The Smith County Commissioner’s Court has been denied an appeal of Visiting Judge Jack Carter’s decision to allow the release of closed session videos. KETK reports the Twelfth Court of Appeals issued the latest ruling on the videos of three sessions. They were released April 24 after the State Attorney General’s Office granted a “Grassroots America – We The People” open records request. In the videos, commissioners discuss buying traffic cameras, which was deemed a violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act. The sessions led to the resignation of County Judge Joel Baker, who also paid a $200 fine in a plea deal.

GLADEWATER – Gladewater Police Chief Robert Vine says four Gladewater children have been found safe after going missing July 11. That’s according to KETK. Earlier, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children had issued a missing alert for Victoria Cervantes, 5; Adrian Cervantes, 17; Christian Cervantes, 14; and Xzavian Cervantes, 7. Further details on how and where the children were found, or why they went missing, weren’t immediately available.

LINDALE — Smith County officials met with about 60 people Thursday evening to listen to their road concerns at the second Road and Bridge Strategic Planning Citizen Input Meeting. County Judge Nathaniel Moran and Commissioners Terry Phillips and JoAnn Hampton, as well as County Engineer Frank Davis, hosted the second of several citizen input meetings planned throughout the county to gather residents’ opinions to develop a long-term road plan. Phillips and Hampton were both upbeat about the session. The next meeting is scheduled for July 27 at New Harmony Baptist Church, in Precinct 4. You can go to http://www.smith-county.com for more information.

AUSTIN (AP/Staff) – A state panel has suspended the medical license of a Texas doctor who federal authorities say wrote unnecessary prescriptions for powerful drugs that contributed to the overdose deaths of at least seven people. KETK reports one of the victims was from Sulphur Springs. A disciplinary committee of the Texas Medical Board took the action Thursday against 56-year-old Howard Gregg Diamond. His practice was based in Sherman. The board says in a statement that Diamond “poses a continuing threat to public welfare.” The suspension will remain in place until the board takes further action. A federal indictment unsealed last week alleges that Diamond began issuing prescriptions in 2010 that had no legitimate medical purpose. People who received the prescriptions died in Texas and Oklahoma. An attorney for Diamond wasn’t immediately available for comment Friday.

MARSHALL — Two Florida residents are facing charges in Marshall after authorities say one of them tried to pass counterfeit money Thursday morning at Hibbett Sports on East End Boulevard. Police got a call about the incident, but the customer left before they arrived. Detectives found the suspect vehicle in the Walmart parking lot. The say the occupants had more than $2,000 that was evidently counterfeit and matched the money left at Hibbett Sports. 37-year-old Waylon Franklin Simms, Jr., and 34-year-old Devin Kaye Harrison were jailed on forgery charges. The crime is punishable by up to a $10,000 fine and/or 2 to 10 years in prison.

TYLER — The Smith County Republican Party has passed a resolution supporting a change in leadership in the Texas House. The party claims Speaker Joe Straus “habitually rejects the planks of the Republican Party of Texas Platform and has disparaged Governor Greg Abbott’s conservative agenda for the Special Legislative Session.” Straus has endured continuing complaints from many Republicans that he’s not conservative enough. The Smith County GOP also passed a resolution supporting Abbott’s and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s agenda for the session.

GREGG COUNTY — A Diana man was killed Thursday in a wreck north of Longview after his vehicle was struck head on by another driver. Benjamin Murphy, 34, was traveling south just before 9:00 Thursday night on U.S. 259 when a pickup truck traveling north stuck Murphy’s vehicle head-on. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the pickup, Danny Lee, 61, of Longview, was taken to Christus Good Shepherd Medical Center in Longview with injuries.

AUSTIN – There was a slight uptick in Tyler’s unemployment rate last month. But, it is still beating the state and national rates. Tyler’s unemployment rate went from 4.1% in May to 4.3% in June. A year ago, Tyler’s unemployment rate was 4.8%. In Longview. June’s unemployment rate was 5.6%. That’s up from 5.3% in May. But that’s still better then a year ago when Longview’s unemployment rate was 6.9%. The June unemployment rate for Texas was 4.6% while the national rate was 4.4%.

TYLER — The City of Tyler Traffic Engineering Department is installing a new traffic signal cabinet at the intersection of Paluxy Drive and Shiloh Road today. Work began at 9:00 and is expected to wrap up by 1:30. The intersection will be a four-way stop until work is finished. Drivers are advised to use alternate routes if possible.

TYLER — Tyler Police are investigating an early morning shooting. Officers were called to Christus Trinity Mother Frances Hospital around 12:30 this morning regarding a man with a gunshot wound. The victim said he was shot while sitting in his parked car on Nutbush Avenue. Several people reportedly found him in the roadway and drove him to the hospital. His identity has not been released. Contact Tyler P-D with any information. Call Tyler Police with any information.

MARSHALL — Students attending Marshall ISD will enjoy two extra weeks of summer because the new junior high school under construction is behind schedule. After looking at the options, officials made the decision to postpone the start of school. MISD Director of Communications David Weaver said classes for all students in the district will begin on September 11. The school year will end one week later, and the school day will also be extended a little to make up the time.

LONGVIEW — The Department of Public Safety is looking for a vehicle involved in a crash around 12:35 Thursday afternoon on Highway 31 near Longview. Witnesses reported seeing a white Dodge pickup truck stopped on the northbound shoulder. The truck made a U-turn from the shoulder to travel south toward Kilgore. At the same time, the driver of a Ford F-150 was traveling north on Highway 31 and had to take evasive action to avoid the Dodge, causing the Ford to run off the roadway to the right and begin rolling. The driver of the Dodge, for an unknown reason, did not stop. DPS is asking the public for information leading to the identification of the driver of the Dodge. The two vehicles did not collide. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office at 903-236-8400.

LONGVIEW — An October 16 trial date has been set for a man accused of fatally stabbing two people and injuring others in November 2013 at a Longview hospital facility. KETK and the Longview News-Journal report 26-year-old Kyron Templeton of Longview is charged with capital murder in the incident at what then was the Good Shepherd Medical Center Ambulatory Surgical Center. District Judge Alfonso Charles in April ordered Templeton to undergo a psychiatric competency evaluation. He was later found competent to stand trial. Templeton also faces three aggravated assault charges stemming from the attack.