KTBB News, Weather, Talk

UNDATED — Here’s a quick look at events and work planned in the Tyler District of the Texas Department of Transportation.

TYLER — Texas Department of Transportation contractor R.K. Hall has announced it planned to resume and complete resurfacing operations later this week on West Loop 323 in and around the State Highway 64 intersection. The work, which should last an estimated two days weather and materials permitting, is scheduled to begin Wednesday. “We’ve been looking for a good moment to get back out there and get this finished up,” said TxDOT spokesman Larry Krantz. “There isn’t much left to do, but it’s obvious that it’s not complete.”

Crews will begin working in the northbound lanes between State Highway 31 (Front Street) and State Highway 110 (Van Highway) which will require multiple lane closures while the work is in progress. Once completed, the crews will return to the southbound lanes. Krantz urged motorists to seek alternate routed if possible on Wednesday and Thursday to avoid delays and to allow the project to be completed more rapidly.

“Our materials have to get through traffic to arrive at the job site,” Krantz said. “The longer it takes the materials to arrive, the longer it takes to get them put down on the road.”

LONGVIEW — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to perform pavement repairs in various locations on State Highway 300 (Gilmer Road), Spur 63, and Spur 502 (Judson Road) in and around Longview. Daytime lane closures will be in effect in each location while the work is in progress. Motorists are encouraged to be prepared to reduce speed and merge in and around the work zone.

HENDERSON COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to continue pavement repair operations on State Highway 31 between Trinidad and Malakoff, followed later in the week by the same work on State Highway 31 Business and State Highway 19 Business in downtown Athens. A second crew is scheduled to perform edge repairs in various locations on Farm RoadM 2010 near Chandler. Daytime lane closures will be in effect in each location while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic.

ANDERSON COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to continue fog seal operations on Farm Road 1817 between U.S. Highway 287 and Farm Road 323, and on Farm Road 2330 between State Highway 19 and Farm Road 860. Daytime lane closures will be in effect in each location while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic. Fog seal operations require lengthy lane closures and can cause moderate delays to traffic. Motorists are encouraged to seek alternate routes if possible to avoid delays.

RUSK COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to perform base and pavement repairs in various locations on Farm Road 1251 east of Henderson, and of Farm Road 2658 on the west side of Martin Creek Lake. Daytime lane closures will be in effect in each location while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic.

VAN ZANDT COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to continue resurfacing operations in various locations on Farm Road 858 between State Highway 19 south of Canton and Farm Road 279 in Ben Wheeler. Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic.

WOOD COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to be at work on the following roadways in and around Wood County:
*FM 778 north of US 80;
*FM 857 near FM 1255; and
*FM 49 east of FM 14.
Daytime lane closures will be in effect in each location while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic in two-lane areas.

LINDALE — A one vehicle accident in northern Smith County has left three persons dead. The accident happened around 6:45 Sunday morning on County Road 4119 North of Lindale. Killed was the car’s driver, Braxton Boone, 25 of Lindale, who is pictured here, and his two passengers, Karrie Voyles and Jasmine Pruitt both 14 years of age from Lindale. State troopers believe their car was northbound at an unsafe speed when it veered of the roadway to the left striking several trees. According to the Department of Public Safety report, the driver and passengers were not wearing seat belts and there were indicators that alcohol may be a contributing factor that led to the crash.

TYLER — One person has died in a Tyler house fire. It was reported around 12:30 Sunday morning in the 1200 block of Charles Street. Upon entry to the residence, firemen found a woman’s body. The body has been sent to the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas for an autopsy. Identification of the victim is pending, awaiting autopsy results. The investigation into the fire and its cause is continuing.

TYLER — One person has been arrested in connection with a Tyler robbery. It was reported around 12:30 Sunday morning at the Varsity Place Apartments at 3400 Varsity. The victim told officers he had been robbed at gunpoint by a white male subject who fled the scene on foot toward the back of the complex. Officers quickly located the suspect, identified as Brandon Scott Birdsong, 19.

Officers recovered a silver colored BB gun pistol from Birdsong. When they searched an apartment at the complex they were able to recover the property taken in the robbery as well as stolen property from an auto burglary which had just occurred at the apartment complex. Birdsong was booked into the Smith County Jail for aggravated robbery, auto burglary, and public intoxication.

TYLER — A Tyler man has been arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Around 7:00 Saturday night officers responded to an aggravated assault near East Fifth Street and Loop 323. The victim followed the suspect to an address in the 1100 block of Skyline. The victim said during a road rage incident the suspect pointed a rifle at him. Following the investigation officers arrested Craig Colin Ashmore, 25, and booked him into the Smith County Jail.

TYLER (AP/STAFF) — The Humane Society of the United States provided information to the Smith County Sheriff’s Department that led to a cockfighting raid in Tyler. A news release issued Saturday says that authorities seized 44 roosters and detained about 20 people on Friday night. Many of the people were released without being charged because Texas is one of only six states where it’s legal to attend a cockfight, possess birds for cockfighting or possess cockfighting weapons.

John Goodwin, with the Humane Society of the United States says those who stage cockfights “take roosters, they tie knives to their legs, they give them adrenaline boosting drugs, and they have them fight to the death. Just so a bunch of people can sit around and gamble on which one’s gonna kill the other. It was just a bloody and cruel spectacle.” Of the 44 roosters seized, 6 were seriously injured and had to be put down.

The Humane Society says it supports a bill by state Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center, that would close loopholes in existing law. The organization offers rewards of up to $5,000 for information leading to arrest and conviction of anyone involved in illegal animal fighting.

FRUITVALE – A second accident in Van Zandt County has left one person dead and one injured. The wreck occurred Thursday morning around 10:30 on State Highway 19 just northeast of Fruitvale. Killed was Norma Dillard Baxley, 72, of Brownsboro. Injured was Jena Guill of Frisco. The Department of Public Safety says drifted into the path of the Gill vehicle. The report also said Baxley was not wearing her seat belt.

LONGVIEW (AP) — A newspaper report says that the U.S. Postal Service will close its processing and distribution center in Lufkin and consolidate those operations in Tyler. The Longview News-Journal reported Friday that Postal Service spokesman McKinney Boyd told a group of 21 residents in Easton that he planned to announce the consolidation to Lufkin officials next week. The post office in Easton faces possible closure.

Boyd said the Postal Service is losing $23 million a day, as Americans turn to texting, e-mail and social media sites to communicate rather than written mail. Lufkin Mayor Jack Gorden questioned the cost savings of closing the Lufkin plant, which employs about 40 people.

AUSTIN — Governor Rick Perry has named David Alders of Nacogdoches chair of the Texas Department of Rural Affairs for a term to expire at the pleasure of the governor. The department supports community development, educational and leadership opportunities, and healthcare for rural areas of Texas.

Alders is president of Carrizo Creek Corporation, and manager of Caddo Farms LP and Dagwood Timber LP. He is vice chair of the Nacogdoches Economic Development Corporation, board chairman of Heritage Land Bank, and a board member of the Nacogdoches County Chamber of Commerce, Heartbeat Crisis Pregnancy Center and Regents Academy in Nacogdoches. He is also a board member and past president of the Nacogdoches County Farm Bureau, vice president of Pineywoods Groundwater Conservation District, and a member of the East Texas Regional Water Planning Group Executive Committee.

Alders received a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University.

TYLER — Smith County is one of dozens of Texas counties included under an Emergency Disaster Proclamation issued by Governor Rick Perry due to the threat of wildfire in dry conditions. According to County Judge Joel Baker, who serves as the Emergency Management Director for the county, declaring the disaster proclamation is a precautionary step taken when conditions are dry to make sure each county will be eligible for assistance in the event of a severe wildfire.

Smith County is not currently under a burn ban; however, due to increasingly dry conditions, the Fire Marshal’s Office is encouraging Smith County to avoid outdoor burning whenever possible. The Fire Marshal’s Office is also reminding residents that outdoor burning is not permitted at all when wind conditions reach 22 miles per hour or above.

TYLER — Oilman and philanthropist R.W. Fair will be honored soon with a marker in the Half Mile of History in Downtown Tyler. A marker unveiling is set for Thursday, Feb. 24, at 11 a.m. at Gallery Main Street, 110 W. Erwin. The Half Mile of History is a City of Tyler program that honors significant people, places and events in Smith County History. Applications are vetted by the city’s Historic Preservation Board, which recommends nominees for inclusion to the Tyler City Council. Fair, who founded the R.W. Fair Foundation with his wife, Mattie, will join historic figures such as T.B. Butler, Shirley Simons, Lady Willie Lee Glass, Brookshire’s and others honored by the program.

Fair was born near Arp in 1886 and grew to become a successful pecan farmer, oilman, philanthropist and religious and civic leader. In 1923, he moved his family to Tyler, and by the 1930s he had established large peach and pecan plantations in Texas and Arkansas. One of his earliest ventures was the Texas Pecan Nursery located in Tyler, which was the largest paper shell pecan operation west of the Mississippi.

In 1931, Fair leased one of his peach orchards to a Dallas oilman who had drilled a successful oil producer on a farm just down the road. Although R.W. Fair had no experience in the oil business, his entrepreneurial instincts took over and shortly thereafter, he became the first individual to finance 100 percent working interest in a well drilled on his own property with 100 percent royalty interest. The rest is history, and Fair was in the petroleum business, successfully developing fields in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, Louisiana and Mississippi.

In 1934, Fair and his wife, Mattie, established the R.W. Fair Foundation. During his lifetime, Fair’s many accomplishments included funding over 1,000 college educations for theological students worldwide, serving on the Boards of Trustees of both SMU and Lon Morris College for 39 years, financing the production of several full length faith-based motion pictures translated into languages from around the globe, printing and distributing over 12 million copies of “A Better World Begins With Me” pamphlets worldwide, and serving as a long-time member of Marvin United Methodist Church, where he was Chairman of the Board of Stewards and taught men’s Bible study.

Until his death in 1965, Fair remained very active in the Tyler community. Activities included Chamber of Commerce officer, bank director, president of the Tyler Rotary Club, chairman of the Salvation Army, director of the East Texas Fair Association, president of the East Texas Boy Scout Council, TISD Board of Trustees and treasurer of the Texas College Advisory Committee. He was a founder and the first president of the East Texas Hospital Association (now ETMC) and a trustee of Houston Methodist Hospital. In 1941, he received the T.B. Butler award.

WHITE OAK — A White Oak woman faces felony insurance fraud charges. Angela Renee Baldridge, 36, told police and her husband their house had been burglarized. Investigators learned the woman allegedly filed false claims with her insurance and pawned some of the property reported stolen. It happened about six weeks before the couple split up.

LONGVIEW — Longview Fire Department officials are investigating a Wednesday evening fire that started in a vacant home that had no working utilities. Fire Marshal Johnny Zackary said firefighters responded to the fire in the 2200 block of Bates Street just before 8 p.m. Wednesday. He says it appears as though the fire started on the couch and that it was possibly ignited by someone who wasn’t authorized to be in the home. The house reportedly has a history of being broken into. Although an official cause of the fire has not been determined, Zackary said it was possible the fire was started by the improper use of some type of smoking material. Zackary said the home was under renovation, and estimated about $15,000 worth of damage.

TYLER — Tyler school board members got a budget update regarding planning for the 2011-2012 school district budget. School superintendent Dr. Randy Reid explained the current budget situation regarding state funding as well as the cuts in stimulus and grant funding. He explained that the current targeted reductions for Tyler ISD are $8 to $10 million and the district has a prioritized list of cuts as wells as worst case scenario contingencies.

Deputy Superintendent Cecil McDaniel explained the situation regarding the stimulus funding. He said the District has assessed staffing needs by campus and designed a reallocation plan for positions affected by stimulus funds, Title 1 and other funding sources. As it pertains to hiring, he said the District is looking at all vacancies on a case by case basis and currently making efforts to reassign people whose positions are no longer available as well as seeking ways to combine job responsibilities.

Executive Director of Financial Services Tosha Bjork discussed the current budget and shared reductions already identified, including Maintenance Tax Notes Payoff, New Electricity Contract Rates, 2010-11 ADA Growth, Reduction in Pay For Knowledge Offerings, and Library Allotments totaling $4.415 million. She also mentioned additional reduction considerations including:
*Early Resignation Incentive
*Staffing Consultant Suggestions
*Class Size Adjustment K-4
*Program Changes and Adjustments
*Department Budget Adjustments
*High School Scheduling Transition (block to traditional) for 2012-2013
*Furlough Days (if state approves)

Executive Director of Human Resources Sharon Roy also shared in the discussion a proposed salary range for teachers. It was discussed that this new system could possibly replace existing teacher salary schedule. It eliminates mandatory step increases and allows flexibility in hiring.

TYLER – Tyler school trustees have set the school board election for Saturday, May 14th. The election is for the purpose of electing trustees to fill the expired terms of single member District 2, currently held by Orenthia Mason, and single member District 4, currently held by Shirley Jordan.

The first day to file for a position on the ballot for TISD was Saturday, February 12th. The administration offices are no open on Saturday; therefore, the first day applications could be accepted was Monday, February 14th. On May 14th, the polls will open at 7:00am and close at 7:00pm.