KTBB News, Weather, Talk

GARDEN VALLEY — Collateral hardship from the Ebola epidemic now includes a delay for Smith County-based Mercy Ships, which operates the world’s largest civilian hospital ship in ports on the West Coast of Africa. Already with one canceled deployment to Guinea, where Ebola first broke out last December, the Mercy Ship now waits in the water with crew and staff, pending an end-of-August decision on field service in Benin. The Mercy Ship was due to sail for the port of Cotonou, Benin, for its 10-month field service last week but has delayed that sail pending further assessment due to the virulence of the outbreak in neighboring Nigeria. Earlier, in April, Mercy Ships made what officials term the difficult decision to cancel the hospital ship’s planned deployment to Guinea, where the Ebola outbreak began last December. Continue reading Ebola Epidemic Delays Mercy Ships Departure

CHANDLER — One motorcyclist is recovering in the hospital after a weekend crash in Chandler. KETK reports it happened during the lunch hour Sunday on Highway 31. A group of motorcyclists were heading toward Tyler. The driver in the front of the group began to slow down; the driver behind him couldn’t slow down fast enough and rear-ended him. A chain reaction ensued from there, reaching all the way to the rear of the group. Troopers said the driver who caused the crash was taken to a nearby hospital; he’s expected to be OK.

TYLER — The East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare System and Tyler Cardiovascular Consultants, P.A., have joined forces to bring heart care to patients, announced Dianne Adelfio, vice president of the ETMC Cardiovascular Institute. CVC support staff are now ETMC team members, and the CVC physicians became formally affiliated with ETMC, effective Aug. 15. Tyler CVC physicians include Drs. Robert Carney, Brent Davis, David Dick, David Hector, Raul Torres-Heisecke, Roderick Meese, Frank Navetta, Robert Smith and Thaddeus Tolleson. These nine physicians are also fellowship trained. Continue reading Tyler Cardiovascular Consultants, P.A., Affiliates with ETMC

LONGVIEW – The City of Longview has adopted a plan to simplify recycling and trash collection. The goal of the simplified collection proposal is to increase recycling participation while also reducing the long-term cost of trash collection. Every City of Longview Sanitation customer will receive a 95 gallon trash cart and a 95 gallon recycling cart. The carts will not cost anything and will remain the property of the City of Longview. Continue reading New Garbage Collection Program in Longview

LINDALE – A Longview man is in custody after leading law officers on a multi-county chase on his motorcycle. Taken into custody early Sunday morning was Justin Bernard Rusk, 27. The chase began around 3:00 Sunday morning when state troopers tried to pull him over. Instead, he sped away. The chase started in Kaufman County and, with speeds reaching 100 miles an hour at times, went through Van Zandt and Smith Counties. He was finally stopped just before 4:30 when he surrendered to law officers at the intersection of Interstate Highway 20 and U.S. Highway 69.

TYLER — The conservative group Grassroots America – We the People brought in multiple Texas State Representatives to its Friday meeting to discuss the border crisis. KETK reports Executive Director JoAnn Fleming and her colleagues recently visited the border to see how illegal aliens get into our country. Fleming and her team sat in dangerous areas surrounding the border at night for several hours before being approached by a border patrol agent who approached them only armed with a flash light. She said after witnessing the events first hand, she realized how much danger our border patrol and other law enforcement agents are in while being in the area. Continue reading The Border Crisis Discussed in Tyler

LONGVIEW — Mosquitoes that wouldn’t buzz off in one Longview neighborhood had city officials stumped on where they were coming from. KETK reports that after an extensive search, city officials found potted plants were where the mosquitoes were breeding on Nixson Drive. The search started after routine mosquito spraying and trapping only got rid of about 100 mosquitoes on the street. City health staffers began a door-to-door search and were led to a backyard with dozens of potted plants holding stagnant water, which according to Longview Environmental Health Supervisor Buck Farrar is a perfect breeding ground for the insects. Continue reading Mosquitoes Breeding Ground Found in Longview

TYLER — Here’s a quick look at events and work planned in the Tyler District of the state highway department.

SMITH COUNTY – Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) maintenance crews in Smith County will be doing edge work on Farm Road 14 north of Interstate Highway 20 this week. A second crew is scheduled to make pavement repairs on Farm Road 2767 at the junction of Farm Road 757. Ditch work will also be conducted on various other roads in the area. Daytime lane closures will be in effect in each location while the work is in progress. Motorists should be prepared to reduce speeds and merge in and around work zones. Continue reading TxDOT Project Updates

LONGVIEW – Longview police continue their investigation of a shooting that sent several to Good Shepherd Medical Center. Their injuries were said no to be life-threatening. The shooting occurred shortly before 3:00 Saturday morning in the 600 block of North Access Road. Investigators say the shooting stemmed from a confrontation between rival gangs following an earlier party at a motel.

GLADEWATER – Three persons have been arrested in Gladewater during a narcotics investigation. Arrested by Gladewater police and members of the Drug Enforcement Agency Task Force were April Michelle Gordon, 36, of Gladewater and Billy Thomas Cate, 56, of Clarksville City. Gordon was charged with manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance under one gram. Cate is accused of possession of a controlled substance under one gram. The third person arrested was picked up on two outstanding Gladewater municipal warrants. In all, 8 persons, including two juveniles, were at the home in the 1500 block of Phillips Springs when the search warrant was served. Investigators say additional charges may be filed as the investigation is continuing.

LONGVIEW — A Longview man is accused of attacking Gregg County sheriff’s deputies and lighting a “small fire” in the back of a patrol vehicle while being taken to jail. According to the Longview News-Journal, officials say he’d been drinking whiskey and smoking two joints of synthetic marijuana. Chase Hayden Dupree, 23, was arrested about 2:15 a.m. Friday by deputies at the North Point RV Park in the 7500 block of U.S. 259, according to judicial records. Continue reading Authorities: Longview Man Attacks Deputies, Lights Fire in Patrol Vehicle

TYLER — Smith County authorities have arrested a burglary suspect who also faces several other charges. On Thursday, a Smith County Sheriffs Office patrol deputy along with a Smith County K-9 officer executed an arrest warrant in the 18000 block of Briarcrest in Flint. Broderick Willis, 18, of Flint is charged with burglary of a habitation. The warrant was issued by Judge Kerry Russell of the 7th State District Court, who set bond at $100,000. Willis is currently being held in the Smith County Jail. Continue reading Smith County Burglary Suspect Arrested

GUN BARREL CITY – Residents of Henderson County will soon have improved access to the highest levels of cardiac care available in the region, according to a news release. The new Gun Barrel City clinic from Cardiovascular Associates of East Texas (CAET), in affiliation with the Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital (LPOHH), launches with an open house Aug. 18. The event’s scheduled from 11 a.m. till 1 p.m., with a ribbon cutting at 11:30 a.m. The facility’s located at 126 West Main, Suite C. Continue reading New Cardiology Clinic Opening In Gun Barrel City

RUSK — A Cherokee County man will spend the next 50 years in prison for the sexual assault of a child relative. According to the Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office, Pedro Yonathan Hernandez, Jr., 23, pleaded guilty to an aggravated sexual assault of a child charge in the 369th District Court on Monday. KETK reports a jury heard sentencing phase testimony Tuesday from authorities and Child Protective Services about Hernandez’s assault on the 12-year-old. The jury handed down a sentence of 50 years without parole.

LONGVIEW — Longview police have identified the officer involved in an August 7 fatal shooting as Johnny Lyons. In a news release, officials say Lyons is a 22-year veteran of the Longview Police Department. At 3:52 p.m. August 7, Lyons conducted a traffic stop in the 400 Block of Delwood Drive near Akin Park. During the traffic stop there was gunfire. The suspect, 23-year-old Regan Marshall Wagner of Longview, was transported to Longview Regional Hospital with life-threatening injuries and later died at the hospital. Lyons was not injured. The Texas Rangers continue to investigate the shooting.

LONGVIEW — Longview ISD officials say e-cigarettes have no place on campus. KETK reports that at this week’s meeting, school trustees voted to prohibit the use of electronic cigarettes, or any other electronic vaporizing device, on district property at all times. The ban is for students, faculty, and even community members who are on school property. And of course that ban includes the Lobos’ football stadium.

TYLER — Smith County Sheriff’s Office detectives are requesting help in locating a suspect in a residential burglary. The suspect is identified as Aaron Bowers, 41, of Tyler. Bowers was released from Smith County Jail at approximately 7:05 p.m. on Thursday after serving time on a criminal trespassing charge. At approximately 1:48 a.m. on Friday, Smith County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch received a call regarding a burglary of a mobile home located in the 12800 block of Highway 31 West in the western part of Smith County. Continue reading SCSO Seeks Burglary Suspect

TYLER — A $25,000 reward has been offered for the identity, arrest, and conviction of the suspects responsible for the Austin Bank robbery that occurred on Tuesday, August 12, at Shaw and Loop 323 in Tyler. Police say this reward for information has been limited to a three-week time period that will expire on Friday, September 5. You’re asked to call the Tyler Police Department or F.B.I. with the suspects’ identification. One of the suspects is show in the surveillance image at left. The incident was the third of four East Texas bank robberies in three days. Only one has yielded arrests, with three suspects in a Monday Gregg County robbery taken into custody. Continue reading Reward Offered in Tyler Austin Bank Heist

GUN BARREL CITY — Henderson County deputies took a woman into custody after allegedly finding meth inside the vehicle she was riding in during a traffic stop. KETK reports that a deputy pulled over a vehicle Thursday on Harbor Point Road in Gun Barrel City for a traffic violation. While speaking with the driver, the deputy identified the passenger as Brittany Miles. Officials say the woman was found to be in possession of a small amount of methamphetamine. She was arrested and booked into the Henderson County Detention Center for possession of a controlled substance. Miles’s bail was set at $4,500.

TYLER — Texas Oncology-Tyler celebrated its 20th anniversary Friday by inviting all current and former patients to stop by the cancer center at 910 E. Houston, Suite 100, and ring the cancer survivor’s bell. The bell ringing tradition was started at Texas Oncology-Tyler in the 1990’s as a celebration of a cancer patient’s completion of treatment. Many other cancer programs have since adopted the tradition. Continue reading Patients Attend Cancer Center’s 20th Anniversary

LONGVIEW – Bonds of $100,000 have been set for all three suspects in Monday’s robbery of the Austin Bank at the Bar K Ranch Store, 5653 Highway 259 North. KETK reports Hannah Ponce, 18, Longview, and Broderick Pippins, 22, Kilgore, were arrested Wednesday. Authorities said Christian Ponce (pictured), 30, Longview, was taken into custody Thursday morning. All three were being held in the Gregg County Jail. Continue reading Bonds Set for Longview Bank Robbery Suspects

LONGVIEW – A Gregg County grand jury has cleared five officers in the death of murder suspect Randy Vinson (pictured). The Texas Rangers investigated the shooting. KETK reports the grand jury cleared;
• Kilgore Police Chief Todd Hunter
• Kilgore Police Sgt. Jarod Sears
• Kilgore Police Cpl. Kevin Stewart
• Kilgore Police Officer Amos Owings
• Gregg County Sheriff’s Deputy Chase Doss Continue reading Law Enforcement Officers Cleared in Fatal Shooting

LINDALE — Southbound U.S. 69 traffic was temporarily halted during the lunch hour Thursday when a large crane being hauled on an 18-wheeler hit the westbound I-20 steel bridge over U.S. 69 near Lindale. TxDOT officials say the crane, which belongs to a TxDOT contractor, was quickly removed and traffic returned to normal flow. The bridge sustained only minimal visible damage but a TxDOT engineer has been dispatched to the scene for a more thorough inspection, according to a news release. Damage was only minor and the bridge remains open.

TYLER — As the immigration crisis continues on the Texas-Mexico border, District 6 State Representative Matt Schaefer and others invite the public to a briefing on the matter today. The event kicks off at 11:45 with a welcome and announcements, with the program scheduled for noon till 1:00 at Lakeview Church of the Nazarene, 10818 University Boulevard (Spur 248) in Tyler. Continue reading Schaefer, Others Organize Border Crisis Briefing

ATHENS — Two East Texans were taken into custody early Tuesday for allegedly manufacturing and distributing drugs in Henderson County. According to Sheriff Ray Nutt, on Tuesday at 2:56 a.m., deputies pulled over a vehicle on US Highway 175 at the intersection of Richardson Road near Athens. KETK reports the driver was identified as Ashley Grooms, 28, of Gun Barrel City, and the passenger as Jerroid Miller, 37. During the stop, authorities searched the vehicle and reportedly found drug paraphernalia, suspected marijuana and suspected meth. While the deputy had the pair pulled over, Miller tried to dump some of the items, according to officials. Continue reading Sheriff: E. Texans Caught with Meth, Marijuana during Traffic Stop

TYLER – Texas Education Agency (TEA) Commissioner of Education Michael Williams recently named John Tyler High School as a Texas Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (T-STEM) Academy for the 2014-2015 school year. According to a Tyler ISD news release, John Tyler is one of only 16 campuses statewide to earn the T-STEM Academy designation. T-STEM academies are rigorous secondary schools focusing on improving instruction and academic performance in science and mathematics-related subjects, according to the release. Their goal is to increase the number of students who study and enter STEM careers. Designated T-STEM campuses serve students in grades 6-12 or 9-12. Continue reading TEA Names John Tyler High School as T-STEM Academy

TYLER — Tyler Junior College and East Texas Medical Center Thursday announced a partnership agreement designed to strengthen the college’s emergency medical services professions (EMSP) program and provide improved professional development opportunities for ETMC. According to a TJC news release, EMSP provides certificates and associate degrees to graduates. “We are very excited to partner with a respected East Texas institution like Tyler Junior College,” said Neal Franklin, general manager, ETMC EMS. “The collaboration is beneficial to both East Texas Medical Center EMS and TJC but we believe the greatest benefit will be to the students.” Continue reading TJC, ETMC Partner in Emergency Medical Services

THERMO (AP) – Six workers at an East Texas coal mine have suffered burns from falling debris. Mine owner Luminant says the accident happened Wednesday in Thermo, about 80 miles northeast of Dallas. Hopkins County Fire Department Chief Kevin Yates says hot ash and burning embers fell on the workers. A Luminant statement says the employees were near an out-of-service lignite storage silo where they unexpectedly came in contact with “hot debris.” Luminant didn’t elaborate. Luminant says the workers sustained burns to their hands and legs, were treated at the scene and transferred to a hospital in Sulphur Springs. One employee was treated and released. The other five were transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

LONGVIEW — The Longview Swim Center will be closed for the remainder of the season following a mechanical failure in the pool’s pump room. The facility was originally scheduled to close for the summer at the end of this week. Ingram Pool, located at 1400 N. Tenth St., will remain open through the remainder of the week. The Dog Days of Summer event will be relocated to Ingram Pool this Saturday. Continue reading Longview Swim Center Closes for Maintenance

LONGVIEW — Authorities responded to another bank robbery in East Texas Wednesday afternoon, the fourth in the area this week. According to KETK, the Longview Police Department says shortly before 3:45, the East Texas Professional Credit Union on Gilmer Road was robbed. Three people held up an Austin Bank near Longview on Monday. A Tyler Austin Bank was also robbed by three men on Tuesday. A Capital One Bank was robbed in Tyler on Monday by a man dressed in a suit. At this time, it’s not known if any of the bank robberies are connected. We’ll update this story as more information becomes available.