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DALLAS — State officials take part in a fact-finding forum on credit card skimming, and Smith County is a key player. The small devices are attached to a gas pump, allowing thieves to steal the debit or credit card information of unsuspecting customers. It’s a $2 billion a year racket in the U.S. This week’s forum looked at ways to shut down skimming and at laws to punish the offenders. Officials heard from members of a task force that recovered more than 100 of the devices last year in Tyler and Smith County. They say the local zero-tolerance prosecution policy sends a powerful message. Not a single card skimmer has turned up in Tyler so far this year.

TYLER — The application for a Chinese development zoning change in the city of Tyler has been withdrawn, but the project continues. According to our news partner KETK, the request for the tract of land at Bellwood Lake and the Loop was withdrawn by the applicant, Xing Tan. But the plans continue under a different zoning plan. He says, “I believe this represents a ‘win-win’ for the city of Tyler. The city will receive all of the benefits of a major economic development project that, at the same time, will meet all of the current zoning allowances and restrictions.” He also said the project should bring more development to the area.

SMITH COUNTY — A Tyler woman wanted for murder has turned herself in. Alicia Radreaka Guthrie, 25, surrendered to the Smith County Jail just after midnight Thursday morning. Jeremy Taylor, 34, died Tuesday after being stabbed early Saturday evening. The stabbing occurred at a residence on Lenox Avenue. Investigators say he had been stabbed by his ex-girlfriend, Guthrie. She was previously arrested and charged with aggravated assault family violence with a weapon. She also had three outstanding city court warrants. Guthrie had been free on bond on the original complaint. Her bond has been set at $150,000.

KILGORE – Two members of the Kilgore College Board of Trustees have been sworn into office. It occurred Wednesday night at a regular board meeting. Janice Bagley, of Overton, will fill the unexpired term of Bob Heath for the South Zone, Voting Unit No. 1, Place No. 7. That term is scheduled to expire May of 2019. Jon Rowe, of Gladewater, will fill the unexpired term of James Walker for the North Zone, Voting Unit No. 2, Place No. 2. That term scheduled to expire May of 2021. The KC Board of Trustees appointed the two after an application process to fill the vacant seats. They were appointed with a 6-0 vote by the board of trustees June 18.

LONGVIEW – A Tyler man is arrested in Longview on drug violations. Arrested by the Gregg County Organized Drug Enforcement Unit was Michael Lewis Galyeon, 57. He was arrested Tuesday at a motel on North Access Road, during a narcotics investigation. The officers say they found heroin, a pistol, marijuana, and other drug paraphernalia. He has been charged with possession of a controlled substance and booked into the Gregg County Jail.

TYLER — The Tyler City Council has approved a measure that allows the city limits to extend to Interstate 20 for the first time in history. The council Wednesday approved the annexation of 11.59 acres of land adjacent to the present Tyler city limits, near Highway 69 and I-20. According to our news partner KETK, the property will be zoned for commercial use. The Planning and Zoning Commission had previously signed off on the move, passing it along to the council.

GREGG COUNTY — A Longview teen is behind bars in connection to an aggravated assault in Jefferson Tuesday. According to our news partner KETK, Deontra Tyre Lilly, 17, was arrested at an apartment complex on Hawkins Parkway around 7:00 p.m. Tuesday. Lilly was arrested by U.S. Marshal Violent Crimes Task Force agents while he was attempting to leave the scene in a car police believe was involved in an aggravated assault. Lilly was booked into the Gregg County Jail on an outstanding Marion County warrant for aggravated assault and reckless discharge of a firearm. Bond has not been set.

TYLER – A Troup man has been arrested for the sexual assault of a child. In the Smith County Jail under a $100,000 bond is Christopher Matthew Luna, 27. He is accused of sexually assaulting a 15 year old girl on six separate occasions over a 6 month period. The girl and her mother reported the assaults to the sheriff’s department late last week. The investigation led them to Luna. According to the sheriff’s department Face Book page, Luna confessed to the assaults to several different individuals and further stated that he knew that the victim was 14 years old at the time of the sexual assaults. He was arrested on Tuesday and booked into jail.

TYLER – A nurse accused of killing and injuring patients at a Tyler hospital has been indicted by the Smith County Grand Jury. The indictment was returned late last week against William George Davis, 34, of Hallsville. He was indicted on a charge of murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He is accused of the death of Christopher Greenaway, 47, a heart patient. He is also suspected of injuring at least six other patients, one of whom later died. Davis is a former nurse at CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital and the Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital. Hospital officials went to police in early February over their concerns about Davis. He was fired about a week later.

TYLER – A Tyler woman was booked into the Smith County jail just before 2:00 Tuesday morning, accused of chasing her ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend and ramming their car several times. The chase started on South Broadway, south of Grande Boulevard. It headed north to the Broadway Square Mall parking lot where the chase continued. The woman wouldn’t stop for police and the chase only ended when the couple’s car stopped. It was there that officers arrested Ravin Deforest Anderson, 25. She faces two charges of assault with a deadly weapon, evading arrest and resisting arrest. Her bonds total $90,000.

TYLER – The Greater Texas Foundation has awarded the University of Texas at Tyler an $865,963 grant. The school has also partnered with other state institutions to enhance math education in rural areas. A UT Tyler associate professor of mathematics, Dr. John Lamb, has partnered with professors at the University of Texas at Austin, Stephen F Austin State University and Sam Houston State University to create the Advancing Inquiry in Middle Mathematics for Rural East Texas program. It is a two year program designed to study math courses taught in middle and high school to help students better prepare for success in post secondary classes. Continue reading A Grant to Enhance Math Education in Rural Areas

LONGVIEW – LeTourneau University will launch a new online Bachelor of Science in cybersecurity degree this fall. The school says it is designed to meet a record demand in cybersecurity that is expected to open by next year. Students in the program will learn to protect critical information and defend against threats like industrial espionage, organized crime and terrorism. Students could also choose to take some classes in the classroom, making their fully online program a hybrid program including both online and on ground instruction.

AUSTIN – Governor Greg Abbott has announced $5 million in Texas Talent Connection grants to 13 workforce training and job placement programs across the state. Among the grants, $500,000 goes to Kilgore College for the East Texas Workforce Partnership project. This is a collaboration with Workforce Solutions East Texas centers to provide skills-upgrade training for dislocated oil and gas workers though short-term, go-to-work training programs. Continue reading Kilgore College Gets State Training Grant Funds

AUSTIN – Area unemployment has fallen slightly. The May unemployment report shows a slight drop in unemployment in Tyler and Longview. And it’s better than the state number. The Texas Workforce Commission reports Tyler’s unemployment rate for May was 3.5%. It was 3.7% in April and 3.8% a year ago. The Longview unemployment rate last month was 4%. It was 4.1% in April and 5% last year. Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.1% in May, unchanged from April’s figure.

LINDALE — TxDOT is holding a hearing Tuesday evening for the proposed improvements to Farm Road 16 from four miles west of Farm Road 849 (CR 481-E) east to U.S. Highway 69 in Lindale. Organizers say you will hear the latest information on the project, which, as proposed, would include the construction of a five-lane highway with two lanes in each direction and a continuous left-turn lane from US 69 to CR 436, and a three-lane highway, with one lane in each direction and a continuous left-turn lane from CR 436 to the western terminus, four miles west of FM 849 (CR 481-E). The hearing runs from 5:00 till 7:00 p.m., with the formal hearing starting at 6:00, all at the Lindale High School Cafetorium on E. Hubbard Street. For more information contact Kathi.White@txdot.gov or call 903-510-9267.

TYLER – A Tyler father is being accused of critically injuring his four month old daughter. In the Smith County Jail on a charge of injury to a child is Andres Guadalupe Ibarra, 19. His bond has been set at $500,000. He is also being held on an immigration detainer. He told sheriff’s department investigators that he hit the child in the ribs and abdomen with his fist. He hit her four or five times and then threw the child. He said after the Sunday night incident he went outside and smoked marijuana and then went to sleep. Ibarra said that when he woke up Monday morning, he, along with his girlfriend and child left the residence. When they noticed that the child was pale and not breathing normally, they took her to the hospital. She is currently in Children’s Hospital in Dallas where her condition is believed to be “extremely critical”.

LINDALE – Lindale police are asking the public to help in identifying a man wanted for credit card abuse. He is also said to be accused of credit card abuse in the Tyler area. If you know who this man is, you are asked to contact Detective Curtis Philpot by email at curtisp@lindaletx.gov or by calling 903-882-3313.

NATCHITOCHES PARISH La. – A Harrison County man has died in a one vehicle accident in Louisiana. It happened on Interstate Highway 49, north of Highway 147, around 10:30 on Saturday morning. The name of the 72 year old Marshall man has not been released. According to a state police report, the man was driving north when he lost control of his pickup and it left the road at hit a tree. The report said he was wearing his seat belt.

TYLER – A second person accused of injury to a child, in a Smith County case, has drawn a long prison sentence. Sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison was Taylor Nicole Skinner, 25, of Tyler. She was arrested last September in connection with the injuries received by her toddler a month earlier. The 15 month old child had been admitted to a Tyler hospital with severe injuries that were consistent with abuse. The child was later transferred to a Dallas hospital for surgery. Also charged in the case was Terral Deshon Carter, 27, of Tyler, the woman’s boyfriend. Back in March, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his part in the youngster’s injuries. Continue reading Prison Term for Injury to a Child

MARSHALL – A man wanted for aggravated assault has been arrested in Marshall. Officers had been looking for Oscar Lavelle Smith, 26, of Marshall. He had been named in a warrant for aggravated assault family violence stemming from a June 18th assault on Alexander Street. The victim suffered serious, but non-life threatening injuries. Last Saturday, Smith was arrested and booked into the Harrison County Jail. His bond has been set at $100,000.

MARSHALL — More details come out in the case of Kari Hunt Dunn, stabbed to death by her estranged husband in a Marshall hotel in 2013. Her then 9-year-old daughter Brianna tried to call 911 but couldn’t get a direct line. Dunn’s family won $41.5 million Friday in a lawsuit, to be paid by the former husband, who’s serving life, and the hotel chain, OM Lodging. According to family attorney Casey Carlisle, the hotel is 20% responsible, the husband the rest. Carlisle adds that it’s vindication for Brianna. He says when she asked hotel employees to help her, but they couldn’t speak English, the hotel should have come to her aid. Carlisle says the case will be appealed but the family expects to recover some of the money. The case led to Kari’s Law, mandating phones in businesses allow for direct 911 dialing.

TYLER – Here’s a look at work planned in the district during the week of June 4th. 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.

District wide seal coat operations are ongoing in the Tyler District. Motorists should expect lane closures and delays during this work to seal and protect roadways from water, and provide a longer life cycle. Because the time to complete work on each roadway is estimated, these schedules are subject to change. Continue reading TxDOT Area Roadwork Update

LONGVIEW – A two vehicle accident in Longview his killed one person and injured three, one critically. It happened just before 6:00 Saturday evening near the intersection of North Spur 63 and Springhill Road. The accident occurred when a car failed to stop at a stop sign and hit a car. A passenger in the second vehicle, Andrew Moore, 76, was transported to Longview Regional Medical Center where he died. The drivers of both vehicles were transported to Christus Good Shepherd Medical Center. A passenger in the first vehicle was not wearing her seat belt. She was transported to Longview Regional with life-threatening injuries and later transported to a Dallas hospital for further treatment. The accident remains under investigation.

ORE CITY – Funeral services are Monday for restaurateur David Beard. According to Reeder-Davis Funeral Home in Hughes Springs, Beard, who was 82, died on Friday. Known for his Catfish King and Catfish Village restaurants, Beard opened his first restaurant in 1969 near Ore City. Services are at 2:00pm following a noon-1:30 visitation, all at Ore City Church of Christ. Burial will be at Coffeeville Cemetery.

LONGVIEW – One person has been killed and three injured in a five vehicle accident in Longview. Killed was Etzel Nayeli Enriques, 21, of Henderson. The injured were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Longview police say Enriques was driving at an unsafe speed when she hit one vehicle, and then a second vehicle. Her car was then hit on the driver side door by the third vehicle. The fifth vehicle in the accident then hit the second vehicle that was involved in the crash. The accident occurred just before 6:00 Friday evening on Loop 281 between Enterprise and Cotton streets. Police say initial cause of the accident is unsafe speed but the investigation is still on-going and the final report will not be concluded for several weeks.

SMITH COUNTY – The Smith County Sheriff’s Office Friday offered new information as it continues to investigate an apparent murder/suicide. Sgt. Darrell Coslin identifies the two victims as 31-year-old Joshua Alexander Woodruff and 32-year-old Texas Colby Manning. A witness says the two got into a physical altercation that later appeared to be settled. The three then reportedly bought ammunition and went to shoot a firearm. Detectives believe Manning later shot Woodruff, then turned the gun on himself. The men’s bodies were found on Highway 31 East around 9:00 Wednesday night.

MARSHALL — The jury in a civil trial over the death of Kari Hunt Dunn has awarded her relatives $41.5 million. Our news partner KETK and the Marshall News-Messenger report the family had been seeking nearly $60 million. Dunn was fatally stabbed in December 2013 by her husband, Brad Dunn, at Marshall’s Baymont Inn as their 9-year-old daughter tried to dial 911. She couldn’t because she didn’t know she had to dial “9” first. State and national legislation named after Kari Dunn has since been passed to address such problems. The Longview News-Journal reported the defendants were OM Lodging LLC, the hotel’s then-owner, and Brad Dunn, who is serving a life sentence for Kari’s death. The suit, filed in 2015, claimed OM Lodging failed to adequately respond to an emergency, but the company denied responsibility.

TYLER — An East Texas man is taking home a brand new GMC truck after donating to the Tyler Cattle Barons’ Gala, the big annual fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. On Thursday the keys were handed over to the winner, Royce Fletcher. He bought $2700 worth of raffle tickets for the truck that was donated by Hall Buick GMC. The dealership chose the blue color in support of the Dallas Cowboys. Blue was also the theme of this year’s gala. Fletcher told our news partner KETK he didn’t expect to win the truck — and was actually more interested in helping out the American Cancer Society.

GILMER — After earlier pleading guilty, 59-year-old Mark Randall Beasley of Diana has received four life sentences and an additional 20 years in an Upshur County child sex case. Beasley was charged with four counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child. District Attorney Billy Byrd says the victim had been placed with Beasley and his wife following a history of sexual abuse at the hands of her mother and others, including some in Gregg County. Byrd says Beasley began abusing the child when she was just 8 years old and eventually molested her more than 20 times. The judge ordered the sentences to be served consecutively — meaning theoretically, Beasley would not be eligible for parole until 2148.