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KILGORE – Recently, some Kilgore residents had credit or debit card data compromised. Thursday, skimmers were recovered that had been placed on gas pumps at a store at South Henderson Boulevard and Leach. They were hidden deep inside the electronics of the machine, undetectable by customers or even gas station attendants. Only a trained pump technician might have located them. Kilgore police say, every store is vulnerable, and your card data can be compromised many different ways. If you are uneasy about paying with a card at the pumps then consider paying inside. Cash is always a good option as well. Also, be sure to stay on top of your bank account activity. The quicker you suspect fraud the quicker your bank and law enforcement can act.

LONGVIEW – Utility rates were one of the topics before the Longview city council Thursday. The Longview News Journal reports the council approved a rate decrease for AEP Southwestern Electric Power Co. For the typical customer, it amounts to about $3.66 a month. They also limited the proposed rate increase sought by Atmos Energy Corp. They had been asking for a rate hike of over 7%. At the advice of city attorneys, the council approved a 2% increase. If the company approves the lesser amount, the increase will take effect in a week. If they oppose it, they can appeal to the Texas Railroad Commission.

TYLER – The jury duty scam has resurfaced in Smith County. The sheriff’s department reports the scammer says you have missed jury duty and a warrant has been issued. The caller is using the names of current Smith County Sheriff’s Office employees to make the call seem official. They may even provide a warrant number. The caller then says you can pay a fine to avoid arrest. The call back number, if left in a message, is a 903 prefix, but you have to dial it as you would calling long distance. Sgt. Darrell Coslin says if an employee of the Smith County Sheriff’s Office contacts you, they will not demand payment by phone. They will also call you from a local number and will not require calling long distance, unless you live outside the Tyler calling area. The Sheriff’s office is investigating the scam.

TYLER – A Mineola man, who had been the object of a search, has been found in Dallas. Tyler police had looking for Jim Hirsch, 75. He was last seen in Tyler around 4:00 Thursday afternoon in the 600 block of South Broadway. He suffers from memory loss and is was feared he may have been unable to find his way home to Mineola.

TYLER – A state district court jury in Tyler has sentenced Jessica Lauren Vass, 36, of Lindale, to a probated sentence of ten years and fined her $10,000 for intoxicated manslaughter. Vass pleaded guilty to the charge on Monday. In April of last year, Vass was involved in a thee vehicle accident on Toll 49, just north of Highway 64. A car, driven by Annette Burkhart, 56, of Garland, was stopped southbound on the side of the roadway with a flat tire. A pickup truck, driven by Gary McCrary, 62, of Flint, was stopped behind the disabled car and McCrary was assisting Burkhart in changing the flat tire. The Vass venicle hit the back of the truck, which hit the other car. The vehicles then hit the victims.

TYLER – Tyler Junior College has received a $261,975 grant. The funds are part of 23 Texas Workforce Commission grants totaling almost $5 million recently awarded to colleges and school districts around the state. TJC will use the funds to to purchase and install equipment that will provide 487 students with high-tech training to enter the healthcare field.

CANTON – A Van Zandt county burglary suspect has been able to slip away from law officers. Eva Crutchfield, 36, of Edgewood, was arrested Wednesday night on Highway 19 in Canton. A sheriff’s deputy put her in handcuffs after determining she was a suspect in a home burglary. While the deputy was conducting an inventory of her vehicle, she was able to slip off the handcuffs and ran into nearby woods. Several law enforcement agencies searched for her, but she was not found. She now has two felony warrant out for her arrest, burglary of habitation and escape while arrested.

LONGVIEW – A police chase in Gregg County results in a Mississippi man going to prison. Jreymarcius Jreymaine Reason, 35, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for tampering with evidence and evading arrest. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was arrested by a state trooper last October after a chase of just over 10 miles. In his car officers found a .38 revolver that had been reported stolen out of his home town of Natchez, Mississippi.

TYLER – After 43 years in law enforcement, a Tyler police officer is retiring. Officer David Swain was hired by the department in April 1975. He is retiring on Sunday. He currently holds the most seniority as a patrol officer. He has served under the direction of six Tyler police chiefs. In 2007, he chose to be transferred to the Tyler Pounds Regional Airport as a Security Officer. This was a position created after 9/11 to assist the TSA officers with screening of passengers and securing the Airport terminal and grounds. Twice assisted the Secret Service with guarding former presidents Gerald Ford and George Herbert Walker Bush when they came to Tyler.

JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville police say a missing runaway teen has been found and safe. They had been looking for Kaden Bannister, 14. He was last seen around 9:00 Monday night at his home. He was not at school on Tuesday.

HENDERSON – Rusk County authorities are asking for the public’s help in locating a missing woman. She is Kimberly Flint, 51, of Reklaw. She was last seen around 3:00 Wednesday afternoon on Highway 84 east of Reklaw. She is described as a white female, who is five feet tall and weighs around 150 pounds. If you know where she can be found, you are asked to call the Rusk County Sheriff’s Department at 903-657-3581 SGT. Roy Cavazos lead Investigator.

GREGG COUNTY — A Gladewater man accused of scalding a 3-year-old child has been indicted by a Gregg County grand jury. According to our news partner KETK, Deion Marquis Sanders, 22, was arrested July 3 after Gladewater police were contacted by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Officials said the child had been seriously injured while in the custody of a caregiver. The 3-year-old was taken to a Longview hospital with severe burns, then later transferred to a medical center in Dallas. Sanders told officers he held the child under hot water to clean him up after he soiled his pants. Sanders also admitted to smoking marijuana.He was indicted for causing serious bodily injury to a child and remains in the Gregg County Jail on $100,000 bond.

MARSHALL – A Longview woman has pleaded guilty in the death of one of her twin sons. April Lynn Gibbons, 35, was sentenced to 17 years in prison in a Marshall courtroom Tuesday. She had been charged with murder. In a plea agreement, she pleaded guilty to manslaughter. She also pleaded guilty to endangering a child, in connection with boy’s twin brother. Her sentence on that charge was 24 months. As previously reported, in February of last year, she gave both boys adult doses of Melatonin, Dimetapp and Ibuprofen so they would go to sleep. When she awoke, 18 month old Aaron was found dead. Her parents, who were at home at the time, have also been indicted in the case. They have a pre-trial hearing early next month on charges of child endangerment.

HUNTSVILLE (Staff/AP) – A Tyler man has been executed at a state prison in Huntsville. Troy James Clark, 51, was put to death Wednesday evening for the May, 1998 slaying of Christina Muse, 20, of Tyler. Evidence showed Clark hit Muse with a stun gun, beat her, bound her and kept her in a closet before she was drowned at Clark’s home. He then stuffed her body into a barrel with cement and lime before dumping it in a ravine. Records indicate Clark, who was a 6th grade dropout, and a friend were using and selling methamphetamine and were worried she would snitch on them. The U.S. Supreme Court, last October, rejected his appeal. Clark had contended he had deficient legal help at his Smith County trial in 2000.

LONGVIEW – A Smith County man has been indicted in Gregg County on a charge of attempted capital murder of a police officer. Jason Alan Dillard, 42, of Winona, was arrested in Kilgore back in June. The arrest followed a chase by law officers in which Dillard is said to have shot at them. Other charges include charges of aggravated assault on a peace officer; deadly conduct; unlawful possession of a firearm by felon; and evading arrest. In May of 2015, Dillard was charged in connection with that deadly biker shootout at a restaurant in Waco. Those charges were later dropped. He remains in the Gregg County Jail under bonds totaling $1.145 million.

LINDALE – It looks like the portion of Toll Road 49 around Lindale will open soon than had been anticipated. Now, instead of a completion date in 2019, it looks like it could open near the end of next month. Our news partner KETK reports that what Chris Miller, executive director of the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority, told the Longview Rotary Club this week. The nearly 7 mile, $126.2 million project extends the northern end of Toll 49 from Interstate Highway 20 to U.S. Highway 69 north of Lindale. Miler also said they are pushing forward to extend the road into Gregg, Upshur and Harrison counties.

TYLER – The city and county will have a meeting in Tyler on having the two governments work together on city issues. The meeting is Thursday afternoon at 3:30 in the county commissioners courtroom at the Smith County Courthouse Annex Building. It is something they have been working on since the first of the year. There are two focal points. First, discussing downtown Tyler revitalization. The second is discussing how to improve services provided by both the city and county. The coalition will be co-chaired by County Judge Nathaniel Moran and City Manager, Ed Broussard.

DALLAS – Federal authorities have completed a 10 day action. It has resulted in the arrest of 98 criminal aliens and immigration violators in North Texas and Oklahoma. Twelve of the arrests were made in northeast Texas. The local arrests occurred in 7 area cities. They were Tyler, Longview, White Oak, Athens, Canton, Gilmer and Palestine. Most of the aliens targeted by deportation officers during the two state operation had prior criminal histories. This included homicide, alien smuggling, assault, burglary, dangerous drugs and various sex offenses. Twenty nine of those arrested had illegally re-entered the United States after having been previously deported. Also arrested were five confirmed and documented gang members.

ATHENS – An Athens landlord foiled a burglary in progress Tuesday, holding the suspect at gunpoint and calling deputies to take him to jail, according to Henderson County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse. Tommy Kirk, 55, of Malakoff was charged with burglary of a habitation and altering the vehicle registration windshield tag on the truck he drove to commit the crime on County Road 1408 just outside Athens. Tuesday morning, the homeowner at that address said he saw the suspect loading an air compressor and hose from the house into the bed of the pickup. Using his vehicle, he blocked Kirk’s escape route, held him at gunpoint, and called 911, according to Hillhouse. During the arrest, deputies said they noticed Kirk had illegally altered the windshield vehicle registration sticker using a black, permanent marker.

EAST TEXAS — The FCC will be voting today to propose rules implementing Kari’s Law. The law requires phone systems to let people dial 911 directly, without having to dial a prefix – like “nine” – to reach an outside line. It was named after Kari Hunt Dunn. She was murdered by her estranged husband in front of her children at a motel in East Texas. Her daughter tried to call 911 from the motel room phone four times, but the call wouldn’t go through because she needed to dial another number first. Governor Greg Abbott signed Kari’s Law in 2015. A national version of the law was signed by President Trump earlier this year.

TYLER – The Better Business Bureau of East Texas is warning about a Payroll Diversion Scam. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center has issued an urgent warning about an old scam which has come back with a new twist. It is a direct deposit phishing scam that targets the online payroll accounts of employees in a variety of industries. You are warned to be on the lookout for emails requesting personal information They may be from cybercriminals looking to access bank account information. Once they get the information, they can block the employee from accessing their account. This allows the scammer to reroute direct deposits to a prepaid card or other account which they control. If you get an email requesting log-in credentials or personal identifying information, don’t respond to it.

GLADEWATER – A Gladewater man remains in the Gregg County Jail following a weekend accident. Taylor Lane Guynn, 25, is charged with intoxication assault and accident involving serious bodily injury. The Longview News Journal reports he is accused of hitting another vehicle head-on. The Other driver was injured.

TYLER – The University of Texas at Tyler has announced the appointment of Dr. Neil Gray as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He has served as chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry for seven years and assistant chair for two years. Gray joined the UT Tyler faculty in 1998 as a professor of chemistry. He has received numerous awards, including Piper Professorship of Teaching Excellence, Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award and Chancellor’s Outstanding Teaching Award. Gray is a fellow of the UT System Academy of Distinguished Teachers, founding fellow of the UT Tyler Academy of Distinguished Teachers and immediate past president of the Texas Academy of Science.

HENDERSON — Police have arrested 28-year-old, Damian Faustino Paz-Santovenia, on allegations that he installed a skimmer at a gas station in Henderson. According to our news partner KETK, investigators said they were able to identify Paz-Santovenia using fingerprints that were lifted from the skimmer at the Exxon gas station on Kilgore Drive. Paz-Santovenia, who was born in Cuba and living in Houston, was caught on camera at a Henderson Wal-Mart where police said several victim’s credit card numbers were used. An arrest warrant was issued for Paz-Santovenia on August 24th. Paz-Santovenia was booked into the Rusk County jail on Saturday, charged with second-degree unlawful interception of an electronic communication. He is currently being held on a $250,000 bond.

TYLER – Tyler’s rainfall deficit has nearly disappeared. The National weather service shows the weekend rains, through 7:00 Monday night, had dropped 2.27 inches on Tyler. This brings our year to date rainfall total to 31.64 inches. Our normal rainfall total to date would be 32.32 inches. For the past 12 months, Tyler has recorded 43.43 inches. The normal total is 46.63 inches.

KILGORE – The East Texas Council of Governments has taken the first step in their planned housing services expansion. Until now, they have focused almost exclusively on minor home repairs for seniors. Now, they are launching a new housing program designed assist qualified individuals impacted by storms and other disasters in East Texas. ETCOG has been approved to administer TDHCA HOME Disaster Relief Program, a long-term housing program designed to serve income eligible households Leading and implementing the program will be ETCOG’s Director of Aging, Bettye Mitchell. Continue reading A New Housing Program for Disaster Victims

MINEOLA – The Mineola school district is in the process of creating a police department. School trustees, last week, approved hiring personnel and creating the department. Cody Castleberry will begin in the new role of Director of Safety until Texas Commission on Law Enforcement approval is completed and Mineola becomes a commissioned agency. Once testing and commissioning is complete, Castleberry will then assume the title of the Chief of Police for Mineola ISD. A second officer will also be hired for the department in the upcoming months. Castleberry is a Mineola native and attended Mineola ISD. He has over 6 years of experience in law enforcement, primarily at the Mineola Police Department, and has over 2,500 hours of training.

TYLER – The Terracon Foundation has given the University of Texas at Tyler a $10,000 grant. A news release from the school said the funds will be used to establish advanced geotechnical engineering research space and educational materials for civil engineering students. A subset of civil engineering, geotechnical engineering utilizes the disciplines of rock and soil mechanics to investigate subsurface conditions for the design and building of foundations, earth structures and pavement sub-grades. Terracon Tyler office manager, Clayton Carroll of Tyler, a UT Tyler civil engineering alumnus, submitted the approved grant application.

AUSTIN – There has been a slight drop in Tyler and Longview’s unemployment figure. Tyler’s unemployment rate fell to 3.7% in August. That’s better than Texas and the nation. It was 4% the month before and 4.1% in August of last year. Longview’s unemployment went from 4.3% in July to 4.2% in August. A year ago it was 5.1%. Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 3.9% percent in August, down slightly from 4.0% in July. The nation’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.9% last month.