KTBB News, Weather, Talk

KILGORE – It is graduation time in East Texas for some firefighters. The Kilgore College Fire Academy No. 102 will held its graduation ceremony at this evening. It was held in the Bert E. Woodruff Adult Education Center Auditorium in Kilgore. The Fire Academy is recognized by the State of Texas as an Exemplary Program. It is also accredited by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection and the State Firefighters’ and Fire Marshals’ Association. Twenty two students were candidates for graduation. While many are from Texas, 5 are from Canada and one is from Alaska and one from Australia.

EAST TEXAS — A Mount Pleasant junior high coach and teacher was let go Monday as an investigation continues into inappropriate communication between him and multiple students within the district. According to KETK, the Mount Pleasant School Board voted to terminate Justin Choate’s employment agreement at Monday’s board meeting. Marshall added that a number of law enforcement agencies are currently investigating Choate including the TEA, CPS, and the Titus County District Attorney’s office. But Marshall says that the investigation has nothing to do with inappropriate touching. It’s all about inappropriate communication. Choate was a history teacher at Mount Pleasant Junior High, and the head coach of the 7th grade football team. He also coached pitchers and catchers for the baseball team.

LONGVIEW — A former Kilgore College student charged last year with sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking is back in jail after assaulting a man in Lake Jackson. According to the Longview News-Journal, Malik Antoine Brown, 19, of Richwood was indicted on the trafficking charges last November in the U.S. District Court in Galveston and held in the Gregg County Jail for more than two weeks on a U.S. Marshals Service detainer. He was released in December on $50,000 bond with the condition he remained in his home. A U.S. magistrate judge found Nov. 22 that Brown had broken the conditions of his bond, assaulting a man at a Motel 8 in Lake Jackson.

TYLER – If you have a Smith County jury summons asking you to report for duty on Wednesday, November 29, you may disregard it. Smith County Jury Coordinator Lisa Bennett says no new panels will be needed. So, if you were planning to report for jury duty Wednesday with your yellow card, don’t have to make the trip. Bennett said, however, if you have been asked to return for jury duty by a specific court, you must still report.

FRANKSTON – A man has died in an unusual accident in Anderson County. Killed in the accident just before 9:00 Tuesday morning was Ricky A. Casey, 58, of Frankston. The accident happened on Farm Road 837 near Frankston. The DPS reports he was heading east on the farm road when a falling tree landed on the cab of his pickup. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

MARSHALL – A former Hallsville coach has accepted a plea bargain in his case involving three counts of indecency with a child by exposure and improper student teacher relationship. Dean McDaniel pleaded guilty to 3 lesser counts of assault causing bodily injury. His August trial ended in a mistrial. Under Monday’s plea agreement, he was sentenced to four years probation. He must also surrender his teaching license. He was also ordered to undergo counseling, not contact the victims or their families and not go within 1,000 yards of a school or university. McDaniel is also barred from volunteering in children’s activities and must write a letter of apology to each victim. Continue reading Former Coach Takes Plea Agreement

A vehicle/pedestrian accident in Smith County has killed one person. It happened shortly after 1:45 Tuesday morning on Farm Road 14, about 2 1/2 miles north of Tyler. Pronounced dead at the scene was 55 year-old Michael Edward Jowers of Tyler. He was walking in the road when hit by a car driven by 33 year-old Danny Keith McMiller of Tyler. The accident remains under investigation.

TYLER – CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital has announced this year’s miracle child, who the community will meet Thursday evening. This year’s Miracle Child is 4 year old Jack Bryans. He will represent Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals throughout the coming year. And it all starts at Tyler’s Christmas Parade. Jack and his family will be on hand to celebrate and light the city’s Christmas tree after Thursday night’s parade. After noticing significant developmental delays, a battery of tests revealed lesions on the boy’s brain. These lesions were later diagnosed as Leigh’s Syndrome. This is a progressive, incurable metabolic disease that affects the entire body. Despite the limitations Jack’s condition causes, this happy boy’s disposition has earned him the nickname “Joyful Jack”.

TYLER — Tyler Police search for two men wanted in an aggravated robbery. Devonte Antoinne Black (pictured), 23, and Dikembi Spencer, 18, both of Tyler, are wanted following a November 14th armed robbery at Fox Run Apartments. Police said it happened between the hours of 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. The suspects reportedly stole a pound of marijuana along with a firearm. They are considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Tyler Police Department, at 903-531-1000, or Crimestoppers at 903-597-CUFF (903-597-2833). Crimestoppers will pay up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest and charges filed against the suspects in this case or any felony case.

SMITH COUNTY — DPS says the scene has been cleared after multiple agencies responded to a multi-vehicle wreck on Highway 110 near FM 849, just west of Toll 49. According to KETK, Highway 110 was shut down on both sides for a time. Two people were taken to a local hospital for treatment, but their injuries are deemed non-life threatening. Authorities said a garbage truck was stopped when a car ran into it. The other cars then followed, causing the pile-up. Five vehicles were involved, including the garbage truck.

TROUP – A burn ban has gone up in Troup. Troup Mayor Pro-tem Carol Wilson signed the proclamation on Monday. It was issued at the recommendation of the Troup Fire Chief Tim Mager. Occording to the proclamation, the burn ban will remain in effect until it is rescinded.

ATHENS – A Smith County man has been indicted for a Henderson County murder. The Henderson County District Attorney’s Office tells KETK that Dennis Odell Metcalf, 40, of Tyler, was indicted for the September murder of James Arthur Featherston, 24, of Murchison. The shooting occurred in a home on Easy Street in the Forest Grove subdivision of Chandler. Metcalf later surrendered to deputies without incident. He reportedly admitted to fatally shooting Featherston. In a news release following the shooting, Henderson County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse said there was no indication of an altercation between the two men and no immediate signs the two knew each other before the shooting.

TYLER – The Smith County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help in identifying three theft suspects. The three men committed the theft from a motor vehicle. It occurred on November 10th around 10:00pm. According to the department’s Facebook posting, the suspects left the establishment and stole the victim’s tailgate off of their Chevrolet pickup. They then drove away in a newer model Chevrolet Suburban. It is believed they are from the Jacksonville area. You can go to
https://www.facebook.com/SmithCountySheriffsOffice and see some pictures of the suspects.

TYLER – A Tyler fire has turned up a marijuana grow in the city. The fire was reported shortly after 7:15 Monday morning at a home on West 31st Street. The fire in the duplex was quickly extinguished with only light damage. Besides finding the fire started from candles near a bed, they also found around 100 marijuana plants. With the plants were special grow lights and items related to the operation. Tyler police investigators are looking into the ownership of the grow operation for future prosecution.

TYLER – It was a strong showing for University of Texas at Tyler students and faculty at this year’s Association of Technology, Management and Applied Engineering Conference. The ATMAE student chapter placed second in the robotics competition among the top 10 teams nationwide. In addition, senior mechanical engineering major Caleb Nehls of Tyler placed second among 32 students nationwide in the “Industrial Technology IQ” competition. Also at the conference, professor Dr. Mark Miller, chair of the Technology Department and interim chair of the Human Resource Development Department, received the prestigious Charles W. Keith Award. It recognizes exemplary accomplishments toward the significant development of ATMAE. This was the first year the UT Tyler student chapter had ever competed in these competitions. Continue reading UT Tyler Triumphant at Technology Meet

LONGVIEW – A Gregg County man is facing a variety of charges after fighting with, and trying to run away from, a Longview police officer. It started with a call about criminal trespass on Rainbow Drive. It ended with two fights, and two foot chases and the suspect, Jason Lee Jones, 37, of Gladewater, arrested on a variety of charges. Continue reading Gregg County Man Charged With Assault on a Peace Officer

LONGVIEW – Two Longview robbery suspects were arrested a short time after a convenience store was held up. The EZ Mart on South High Street was robbed shortly before 8:45 Sunday night. An off duty officer, who was driving in the area, saw two men running from the store. One hand a bandanna over his face. The officer detained Christopher Lawerence Williams, 25, of Kilgore and Corey Tremayne Lilly, 18, of Longview. When it was determined the men were the suspects in the holdup, they were arrested and booked into the Gregg County Jail on aggravated robbery charges and each placed under a $100,000 bond. Continue reading Two Longview Robbery Suspects in Jail

BRYAN (ABC/Staff) – We’re learning more about the background of Dabrett Black of Lindale. Black faces a capital murder charge in the shooting of Texas Trooper Damon Allen during a traffic stop on Thanksgiving Day. Black’s friends and parents describe a high school graduate who followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the Army. But after three tours of Iraq and a head injury from a bomb blast, the people around Black noticed memory loss, paranoia and violence. It all culminated on the side of a Freestone County freeway on Thanksgiving Day, when, police say, Black pulled a rifle on the state trooper who’d pulled him over and shot him to death. Allen will be buried Friday.

TYLER – An auto/pedestrian accident in Smith County has killed 44 year-old Jason Brandon Lyons of Tyler. The accident happened shortly before 8:45 Saturday night on State Highway 155, about 5 miles south of Tyler. The Department of Public Safety reports it started when a pickup towing a boat stopped in the road, blocking the southbound lanes. A car heading south hit the pickup which hit Lyons, who was standing beside it. The truck’s driver, Elizabeth Ann Arnold, 39, of Hillsboro, and the car’s driver, Terri Lynn Flusche, 49, of Palestine, are both in stable condition in a Tyler hospital. The accident remains under investigation.

HENDERSON COUNTY — An East Texas man has been charged with murder following a Sunday morning altercation in Payne Springs. Doyle Wayne Deason, 65, has been charged in the death of Bryan Rodgers, 43. Henderson County Sheriff Deputies were responding to a suspicious person call around 5:00 in the Cherokee Shores Subdivision when they found Deason, armed with a butcher knife. Rodgers was located nearby with a stab wound and taken to ETMC in Gun Barrel City. He was pronounced dead around 6:45. Deason suffered a minor gunshot wound. Officials said he confessed to stabbing Rodgers.

TYLER – Here’s a look at work planned in the district for the week of November 27. Weather conditions or other unforeseen issues could change these work schedules.

In Smith County, daily lane closures remain in effect on I-20 eastbound and westbound at Toll 49 as the contractor for the Lindale Relief Route conducts work to install deck panels and overhangs of the Toll 49 Mainlane Bridge. Closures on I-20 will begin with the westbound right lane, then the left lane, eastbound right lane, and then the left lane. Lane closures are planned for 9:00am to 4:00pm, Nov. 27 – 30, and from 9:00am to noon on December 1. Local law enforcement will be on site to assist with traffic control. Continue reading TxDOT Area Roadwork Update

LONGVIEW – Two Longview residents have been arrested after leading law officers on a two county chase. In the Gregg County Jail is Ethan Brett McKinney, 46 and Whitney Rene Hubbard, 24. White Oak police knew McKinney was a fugitive, and tried to stop his pickup Friday night on Highway 80 near Moody Boulevard. He didn’t stop and headed toward Gilmer on State Highway 300. After numerous turns and U-turns, the truck crashed into a ditch at the intersection of McCann Road and Farm Road 1844. Besides multiple warrants in Gregg County, McKinney is also charged with evading arrest. Hubbard is charged with possession of a controlled substance. Continue reading Two Arrested Following Lengthy Chase

AUSTIN – The state has started its winter stocking of pounds and lakes of rainbow trout. They are stocking 150 bodies of water with 300,000 rainbow trout through March. A total of 18 Neighborhood Fishing lakes and ponds located in Texas’ 11 most populated urban centers were the first of the season to offer rainbow trout fishing. Stockings start November 21 in most locations and continue every two weeks. Tyler State Park has received its first stocking of 3,430 rainbow trout. Tyler’s Faulkner Park Lake has been stocked with 1,900 fish and Woldert Park Pond has been stocked with 1,344 fish with other stockings scheduled. You can go to http://www.tpwd.texas.gov/troutstocking for the full list of public water bodies receiving rainbow trout this year, along with scheduled stocking dates and numbers of fish. You will need a license to fish if you are 17 or older. Kids fish for free and no license is needed at Texas State Parks.

MARSHALL – Former Harrison County District Clerk Mellinda Gayle Craig, 47, of Hallsville has been charged with driving while intoxicated. She was released on a $2,000 bond on Thanksgiving Day. She was arrested by a state trooper after she is said to have failed to stop for a Harrison County’s Sheriff’s deputy. She was said to have been driving at a high rate of speed on Farm Road 154 in Harrison County. According to the Marshall News Messenger, she was arrested in 2014 on charges of public intoxication. She was also arrested in 2014 by Texas Rangers and later indicted on three charges including misdemeanor assault causing bodily injury, misdemeanor deadly conduct and misdemeanor criminal trespass. According to the newspaper, Craig has not yet received a sentencing for those 2014 arrests.

TYLER – Tyler police are looking for the suspects who stole a banks ATM machine. It happened at the BTH Bank on the Old Jacksonville Highway around 2:00 Thursday morning. Someone had stolen a piece of heavy equipment, a skylift, from a nearby construction site. They drove it to the bank and forced the ATM from its concrete foundation and loaded into the back of a U-Haul box truck. After receiving the call, it took officers only six minutes to get to the bank, but the suspects had already left.

TYLER – An Art and Maker Gift Market has opened in downtown Tyler. The market features one-of-a-kind gift items, for purchase, made by area artists and artisans. The market opened Saturday at Gallery Main Street, 110 West Erwin Street. Artists, artisans and makers were encouraged to submit their work for a jury process to select pieces for the “micro” gift boutique. The opening coincided with downtown Tyler’s participation in Small Business Saturday. The market is a partnership between two City of Tyler programs: the Innovation Pipeline and Gallery Main Street.

For shoppers, Friday was black Friday and Monday is Cyber Monday. Sandwiched in between is Small Business Saturday. It was founded by American Express in 2010. According to the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, around 112 million consumers spent $15.4 billion on that day last year. Small businesses in the area have geared up for the event with specials for the shoppers. There are 2,600,000 small business operations in Texas. They employee about 45% of all employees in the state. They say, shopping with them provides a variety of benefits, among them, It helps create jobs in the community and the tax dollars stay local.

EAST TEXAS – The Christmas season is officially here. Shoppers are flocking to area stores. And several special Christmas tree exhibits are open. At Tyler’s Prestige Estates Assisted Living and Memory Care Center, it’s the annual Winter Wonderland of Christmas Trees. Along with the beautiful and unique Christmas trees is a big 12 foot tree where you can leave an unwrapped toy for the Tyler Firefighters Toy Drive. The toys will be picked up by the firefighters on December 10th. In Palestine, the Palestine Veterans Administration Clinic is hosting an Angel Tree to benefit area veterans in need. It’s inside the Palestine Mall. And In Lufkin, The Museum of East Texas is holding its annual Festival of Trees.

DALLAS (AP/STAFF) — The suspect in the shooting death of a state trooper during a Thanksgiving Day traffic stop in East Texas was charged Friday with capital murder of a law enforcement officer. Dabrett Black, 32, of Lindale, is being held in the Brazos County jail in Bryan. He is accused of fatally shooting Trooper Damon Allen on Thursday. The Texas Department of Public Safety said in social media posts late Thursday that Allen initiated a traffic stop shortly before 4:00pm on Interstate 45 near Fairfield. DPS said Black shot Allen with a rifle after the trooper walked back to his vehicle. Allen died at the scene, DPS officials said, adding that he had been with the department since 2002. An obituary posted Friday by the funeral home said Allen is survived by his wife Kasey, three daughters and a son. Continue reading Lindale Man Charged after State Trooper Fatally Shot

TYLER — A man has been arrested in a Thanksgiving Day assault that injured two people, one seriously. Tyler police responded around noon to a Kennedy Avenue location where the incident had just occurred. The first arriving officer saw the suspect about a block north, walking away from the scene. 51-year-old Leo Patrick Collins of Tyler was jailed after being charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Police say Collins had assaulted his 54-year-old neighbor Jacqueline Ewell and 45-year-old Bufford McGee by striking them both with a table leg. Both victims were transported to a local hospital by EMS for treatment. Ewell sustained a serious head injury, and McGee suffered a broken arm.