KTBB News, Weather, Talk

LONGVIEW – Longview police report the signal lights at the intersection of Hawkins Parkway and Eastman Road will working intermittently this week. On their Facebook page, they are asking that drivers find an alternate route since this intersection is in a heavily traveled area. When the lights are not working the intersection will become a four-way stop.

TYLER – It looks like it was a busy weekend for Smith County lawmen because of suspected drunk drivers. Smith County judicial records show 25 persons were booked into the County Jail for DWI charges. The arrests were made by the DPS, Smith County Sheriff’s Department, and policemen in Tyler, Whitehouse, Lindale and Bullard. Nine of those arrests were for a persons 2nd DWI arrest. Two were arrested for DWI, 3rd or more offenses.

GILMER – The death of an inmate in the Upshur County jail is being investigated by the Texas Rangers. Desmond Juwon Woods, 40, was booked into jail early Sunday for a parole violation. He reported around 8:00 Sunday night he was not feeling well. Sheriff Larry Webb says, while EMS was treating him, he coughed up a bag of what appeared to be illegal narcotics. He was taken to a Longview hospital where he later died. An autopsy has been ordered.

TYLER – Tyler police Vice and Narcotics Sgt. Darin Grissom, a Tyler native, has announced he is running for Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace, which is based in Lindale. Sgt. Grissom, who has lived at Hideaway Lake for about 15 years, has been with the Tyler Police Department for over 28 years. He has received several awards for his performance, including awards for; Meritorious Conduct, Life Saving, Merit and two police commendations. Sgt. Grissom says he is eager to begin a new phase in his life.

TYLER – A University of Texas at Tyler biology professor has been awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation grant. Dr. Jon Seal has received a prestigious Faculty Development Early Career Award An assistant professor of biology, Seal studies fungus-growing Leaf-Cutter ants. He joined The University of Texas at Tyler about four years ago. CAREER grants support early-career faculty who have shown potential to serve as academic role models in research and education. The five year award comes to just over $643,000. Continue reading UT Tyler Professor Receives Prestigious Grant

TYLER – State District Court Judge Jack Skeen has announced he will be seeking re-election as judge of the 241st State District Court. Judge Skeen was first appointed in November 2003 to fill a vacancy on the bench. He has since been elected by the voters of Smith County to 3 consecutive 4 year terms. Prior to putting on the judicial robe, Skeen was Smith County District Attorney for 21 years. Skeen says he believes his experience as DA and district court judge qualifies him to seek re-election.

HENDERSON COUNTY — One person has been arrested following a fatal shooting and reported kidnapping. Gun Barrel City Police said Timothy Washington allegedly shot and killed a man inside of a house on Arbolado Drive. Witnesses reported seeing Washington drive off at a high rate of speed shortly after the shooting. As officers responded to the scene, they saw the suspect’s vehicle in area and pulled him over. As they were conducting the traffic stop, officers discovered the a passenger, who had been taken against their will. A handgun was also found in the vehicle. Washington, 45, has been charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Aggravated Kidnapping, Felon in Possession of Firearm and Murder. The name of the victim has not been released.

MARSHALL — The National Weather Service has confirmed an EF-2 tornado touched down in Marshall Friday evening. KETK reports it wasn’t immediately known what path the storm took as it tore through the city. Multiple trees and buildings were heavily damaged, and more than a thousand residents lost power. No serious injuries have been reported. Residents on Cooks Road said cars, rooftops and other material goods were damaged. Continue reading EF-2 Tornado Confirmed to Have Touched Down in Marshall

TYLER – Here’s a look at work planned in TxDOT’s Tyler District during the Weeks of March 27 and April 3. These 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.

Smith County – Tyler Maintenance crews plan to continue base repair operations moving to SH 64W near FM 279, and on FM 206. Expect lane closures with flaggers providing traffic control at both locations. Continue reading TxDOT’s Weekly Roadwork Update

LONGVIEW — The first ride-sharing service in Longview has launched — technically. Lyft received a permit from the city recently to operate in Longview, city spokesman Shawn Hara said Friday, but so far, the company has no vehicles registered in the city. According to KETK and the Longview News-Journal, it’s the first ride-sharing service company to ask for and receive a city permit. Lyft opened its service Thursday to several Texas cities, including Longview and Tyler. The San Francisco-based company doesn’t list Longview among the cities it serves, but it includes Longview and all of Gregg County in its Tyler service area, according to lyft.com. Continue reading Ride-Sharing Officially Enters Longview Market

MOUNT PLEASANT (Staff/AP) – A coach who was involved in Thursday night’s deadly crash involving a school bus has been released from the hospital. The Mount Pleasant school district shared a Facebook post Saturday evening with the update on Coach David Bagley. KETK reports he was one of four coaches on the bus that was hit by an 18-wheeler. More than 20 people were taken to the hospital after the accident. Bagley is back home recovering. There was no immediate word on the condition of the students and other coaches still in the hospital. Continue reading Mount Pleasant Coach Released from Hospital

TYLER – Students at The University of Texas at Tyler feel the campus is safe and that the university responds to their needs. This is according to a UT System study on sexual assault and misconduct. The study also gave the university more information about students’ experiences with these behaviors. The Cultivating Learning and Safe Environments report was commissioned by the UT System. Conducted by the UT Austin Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, this is the most detailed, comprehensive survey of sexual assault and misconduct in the nation that has ever been undertaken by an institution of higher education. Busch-Armendariz, Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault director, led the research. Of the 8,400 students at The University of Texas at Tyler invited to participate in the survey, 1,149 voluntarily and confidentially completed the online questionnaire. Researchers say this is a good and typical response rate for web-based surveys.

MARSHALL – The Marshall Police Department continues trying to locate a theft suspect. On March 7th, shortly before 7:30am, a man walked into Walmart on East End Boulevard North and went to the electronics department. He then loaded two computers into a shopping cart and left the store without paying. Surveillance video captured the man leaving in a small white car. Anyone with information on the identity of this man is urged to call the Marshall Police Department at 903-935-4575. Those wishing to remain anonymous are asked to call Marshall-Harrison County Crime Stoppers at 903-935-9969.

JACKSONVILLE – Motorists using U.S. Highway 79 throughout this weekend are advised to use caution or take alternate routes to avoid delays. The 2017 Mud Nationals will take place between Jacksonville and New Summerfield in Cherokee County. The event runs through today. There will be traffic delays as traffic stops for check-in at the park entrance. To help alleviate delays, visitors are encouraged to turn left onto County Road 4208 prior to County Road 4209. This will cause backups to occur on the county road as opposed to the highly traveled US 79. A construction project is set up at this location but no work is occurring at this time. However, there are barricades in place and motorists are cautioned not to remove them. Law enforcement is working traffic control for the event to assist visitor entrance into the park.

AUSTIN – Unemployment in Texas is up slightly. But the jobless number has dropped in Tyler. The Texas unemployment rate in February rose slightly to reach 4.9%, the Texas Workforce Commission reported Friday. It was 4.7% in January. But in Tyler, the opposite is true. Tyler’s unemployment was 5% in January. It fell to 4.8% last month. It was 4.25% in February of last year. In Longview, the February unemployment rate was 6.6%. It was 6.4% in January and 5.4% in February last year.

WASHINGTON (AP/STAFF) — Republican leaders abruptly pulled their troubled health care overhaul bill off the House floor, short of votes and eager to avoid a humiliating defeat for President Donald Trump and GOP leaders. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., withdrew the legislation after Trump called him and asked him to halt debate without a vote, according to Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong. Just a day earlier, Trump had demanded a House vote and said if the measure lost, he would move on to other issues. Among those opposing the measure is Tyler Republican congressman Louie Gohmert. Gohmert said the bill did not go through the process that its should have. Acording to Gohmert, “There were misrepresentations about things we could not get into the bill, which the bill desperately needed that would help us keep our prmises to voters because we would’t be able to get them through the senate.” Gohmert said he would not vote for the bill, “This is not what I promised people we will do. This is not repelling Obamacare, it’s not even coming close. It breaks my heart, I can not vote for this. This is not a good bill.”

MOUNT PLEASANT (AP/STAFF) – Two drivers are dead and dozens of students are injured after an 18-wheeler truck veered into oncoming traffic and struck vehicles including a bus carrying a Texas high school track team. Killed were Angrlica Beard, a first year coach who was driving a car behind the bus, and the truck’s driver, Bradley Ray Farmer, 50, of Bogard, Missouri. Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Lonny Haschel says the collision occurred late Thursday on U.S. Highway 271, about two miles south of Talco, as the Mount Pleasant High School athletes were returning from a meet. The boys’ team bus toppled over in the initial collision then the big rig struck a car driven by an assistant girls’ team coach. The girls’ team bus wasn’t involved in any collision. Superintendent Judd Marshall said that 18 students were taken to hospitals. Continue reading East Texas Coach Killed in Wreck Involving School Bus

HENDERSON – Rusk County authorities are looking for a man they believe was responsible for a shooting on Tuesday. He is Billy Wayne Newman, 44, of Henderson. He was seen running from the scene of the shooting that wounded a man on County Road 4132. He was hospitalized for treatment. A warrant for Newman’s arrest has been issued by Justice of the Peace Joe Sorrells. He is being charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

GILMER- The Upshur County Grand Jury has cleared two officers in a fatal shooting in early January. State Trooper John Smith III and sheriff’s deputy Alex Ortiz, shot and killed Dale Hightower Jr., 53, of Gilmer. Hightower had assaulted his girlfriend and was holding her against her will. He was shot after pointing a rifle at the officers and ignored multiple commands to drop his weapon. Video and audio evidence showed that both officers yelled and identified themselves. Next, the officers could be heard yelling for Hightower to put down his gun and not shoot. When Hightower took a defensive position and raised his rifle at the officers, he was shot five times. Continue reading Officers No Billed in Fatal Upshur County Shooting

MARSHALL – Marshall police say that Francine Robertson, 29, has been found. She had been missing since March 14th when she was seen walking in the 2300 block of West Rusk Street. Family members were concerned about her welfare because It is believed she may suffer from some sort of mental illness. The police say she has been found safe in Marshall. No other details were released.

TYLER – A Longview mother and son have been indicted on multiple federal charges of student financial aid fraud. Gracie Brisco, 54, and her son, Robert Brisco were indicted by a federal grand jury in Tyler on Wednesday. Between June 2013 and September 2015, the two are said to have misapplied, stole, and obtained by fraud, false statement, and forgery, funds, assets, and property insured under the Pell Grant Program and the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Programs. If convicted, the defendants face up to five years in federal prison.

VAN – A Clorado woman is in the Smith County Jail following a brief chase on Interstate Highway 20. A state trooper tried to stop Nicole Diane Morris, 44, for a traffic violation shortly before 9:45 Thursday morning. She decided to run. The nearly ten minute chase ended when another state trooper deployed a spike strip on the interstate. It caused Morris to eventually stop at a truck stop near Van. She was taken into custody without incident. Morris has been charged with evading arrest, possession of a controlled substance and DWI.

LONGVIEW – A Longview doctor, injured in a March 8th traffic accident, has died. Kenneth Marshall Flory, 74, was injured in the accident at the intersection of McCann Road and Montclair. His light had turned green and, as he was driving through the intersection, he was hit by a pickup driven by Lloyd Dwayne Rogers, 37, of Lancaster. The impact caused Flory’s car to leave the roadway and strike a wooden privacy fence and a green house located northwest of the intersection. Rogers was issued a citation for disregarding a red light. Flory died from his injuries on Monday. A specialist in internal medicine, Flory was a medical doctor at Christus Good Shepherd Medical Center. Longview police say the accident remains under investigation.

TYLER – Tyler’s annual Azalea & Spring Flower Trail kicks off tomorrow morning. It started this morning at 10:00m with the ribbon cutting ceremony at 212 West Dobbs Street. That signals the opening of three weekends of activities. The flower trail starts at South Broadway and Houston and will split into two trails. Signs mark the routes. There are a host of activities, including a bike tour, a 5K and 10K run, arts and crafts fair, a tour of historic Tyler homes and a re-enactment at the Camp Ford Civil War Prison. At that’s just the tip of the ice berg. You can go to http://www.visittyler.com/azaleatrail for a trail brochure and map.

ATHENS – Two persons have been arrested at an Athens pawn shot with stolen items. Ethan Wang, 19, and Haleigh Pierce, 21, went into a local pawn shop Wednesday afternoon hoping to sell stolen items. After being alerted by a concerned resident, Henderson County Deputy John Haverly and Athens police officers checked it out. They found the items had earlier been stolen. More items from the burglary were discovered in their car along with what was believed to be a controlled substance. Both have been charged with burglary of a habitation. Pierce was also charged with possession of a controlled substance.

TYLER -– A suspicious person has turned into the arrest of a Tyler robbery suspect. Around 12:45 Thursday morning Tyler Police Sgt. Noe Balderas saw a man dressed in all black, carrying a backpack, lurking in a wooded area off Shiloh Road. As the officer approached the man, he ran away. A foot pursuit ensued, aided by two concerned citizens. During the chase, police dispatch reported that someone in the area had been robbed at knife point. With the help of the two citizens, they were able to catch the suspect. After viewing the video of the convenience store on Shiloh Road near Edinburg, they were able to identify Vincent Earl Bowie Jr., 21, of Tyler, as the robbery suspect. Bowie was also identified as being wanted in connection with aggravated robberies in Morris County and Upshur County. Bowie was booked into the Smith County Jail for aggravated robbery and evading detention on $20,000 bond.

TYLER – A man has been arrested after being accused of attacking his fiancé. It happened just before 10:00 Wednesday night on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Tyler. He is said to have assaulted the woman several times and at one point choked her. She was said to have tried to get away several times, but couldn’t. Fearing for her life, she shot the man in the leg and then locked herself in the bathroom with her 7 month old child. After being treated at the hospital for the leg wound, the man was booked into the Smith County Jail on a charge of assault family violence. His name has not yet been released. The woman was not seriously injured.