KTBB News, Weather, Talk

TYLER — The United Way of Smith County Friday opened its new headquarters in the newly restored Tyler Woman’s Building for public tours. Door prizes, hors d’oeuvres, and other touches helped highlight the experience for visitors. The building at Dobbs and Broadway was donated to the United Way in late September 2016. It was constructed in 1932 and is currently listed on 3 historic registries. The United Way was formerly housed on South Park Drive in South Tyler.

MARSHALL – Law enforcement officers in Harrison county have completed a check of registers sex offenders in the county. The check of the 175 register sex offenders was to make sure all were in compliance with state regulations. The three phase operation, called “Operation Safe Summer,” was conducted over several weeks. Three persons were arrested and booked into the Harrison County Jail. Arrest warrants have also been issued for two additional offenders. Arrested were Kendall Bernard Gatson, 37, Robert Louis Price Jr., 47 and David Wayne Knighten, 19

TYLER — The United Way of Smith County opens its new headquarters in the newly restored Tyler Woman’s Building for public tours Friday. The open house kicked off at 10:00 a.m. and runs till 5:00 p.m. The historic building is located at Dobbs Street and South Broadway Avenue in Tyler. Parking and entrance to the building are located on Dobbs Street. Door prizes will be given away on the half hour through 4:30 p.m. The building was donated to the United Way in late September 2016. It was constructed in 1932 and is currently listed on 3 historic registries. The United Way was formerly housed on Southpark Drive in South Tyler.

HENDERSON – Rusk County is back under a burn ban. The ban, signed by the county judge and Rusk County Commissioners Thursday morning, is an unconditional burn ban that is in effect for a period not to exceed 90 days. Rusk County had earlier been under a burn ban, but it was lifted on July 9th. Other area counties currently under a burn ban are Henderson, Harrison and Franklin.

HENDERSON – A second person has been named in a Henderson robbery that occurred earlier this year. A warrant has been issued for Michael Danyl Hopkins, 30, of Dallas. He is being accused of taking part in the robbery of East Texas Professional Credit Union in Henderson on January 13th. Arrested late last week was Ashley Alexderia Page, 32, of Nacogdoches. She is said to have collected the money while Hopkins held everyone at gunpoint. Page was identified by her fingerprints on the bank’s counter. She was arrested earlier this month following a traffic stop in Dallas County. Hopkins is in jail in West Virginia on unrelated charges.

TYLER – A southeast Texas man is accused of using his cell phone to record women in a Smith County restroom. Carlos Garcia, 45, of Stafford, is said to have hid in an adjoining stall and tried to photograph women after they entered the restroom. Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Darrell Coslin said the incident happened at a store on Highway 271. A woman noticed what he was doing and confronted him. As he tried to leave the store, several male customers detained him until sheriff’s deputies arrived. He was booked into the Smith County Jail on a charge of invasive visual recording.

RUSK – A Cherokee County jury has found a Jacksonville man guilty of murder. Terry Woods was convicted Wednesday of the October, 2015 shooting death of 44 year old Michael Hatton of Frankston. The shooting followed an argument between the two men. The shooting occurred just after sunset on October 8th on Bethune Street. Woods was arrested the following morning when he voluntary surrendered at the Jacksonville Police Department. The punishment phase of the trial is scheduled to begin July 30th.

CHANDLER – A Smith County man has died in a two vehicle accident in Henderson County. Dead at the scene was Kerry Wayland Hicks, 51, of Lindale. The Department of Public Safety reports Hick’s motorcycle failed to negotiate a curve and hit a pickup driver by KC Scott Allen, 30, of Itasca. Hicks, who was not wearing a helmet, was thrown from the motorcycle. The accident happened shortly before 8:45 Wednesday morning on Farm Road 317, 5 miles northeast of Chandler.

KILGORE — The Kilgore College Rangerettes mourn the loss of a pioneer. 94-year-old Virginia Gay Culp appeared with the Rangerettes in their very first performance at a Kilgore College football game in 1940. Former Rangerette Mazie Jamison says it was women like Culp who made it possible for the Rangerettes to become the organization they are today. Jamison says, “I always saw a twinkle in her eye, like she was having more fun than anybody else in the whole world.” Since that first performance, the Rangerettes have performed in places like New York City, Tokyo, and Paris — and this week, they’re in Switzerland.

FLINT – A man has been injured in a tank explosion in Smith County. It happened just before 11:00 Wednesday morning on County Road 133, just north west of Flint. He was working on the well, which was on his property, when the explosion occurred. He was taken to a Tyler hospital for treatment. No word on his condition and his name has not been released. The Smith County Fire Marshal’s office is attempting to learn what caused the explosion.

GRESHAM – A toddler has been found walking in a Smith County road. Motorists found the youngster walking on the Old Jacksonville Highway shortly before 9:45 Wednesday morning. It turned out the youngster had walked away from the Gresham Learning Academy. The children had just been brought inside from recess when the youngster left the building through an unlocked door. The child’s parents were notified and Child Protective Services is investigating the incident.

TYLER – Smith County will be getting a new county extension agent. The Smith County Commissioners Court has named Claudann Jones to fill the position of Smith County Extension Agent for Family and Community Health. The position became vacant when longtime agent Patrice Dunigan retired. Jones has held the same position in Nacogdoches County since 2013. Prior to coming to Nacogdoches, she held the same position in Shelby County for nine years. She will assume her new duties in Smith County the first of next month.

KILGORE – A Kilgore business has been burglarized and numerous guns were taken. It happened around 4:15 Wednesday morning at Smitty’s Guns and Ammo on South Henderson Boulevard. The suspects used a stolen pickup to pull the front door off the business. The truck was found on Peterson Road in Rusk County. The store owner told our news partner KETK that 25 AR and AK firearms and four pistols were stolen. They are valued at $30,000. The investigation is continuing.

TYLER – A teenage runaway has been arrested on robbery and theft charges. It all began shortly after 5:00 Wednesday morning when police say the 14 year old boy stole a B-B gun at Wal-Mart on Highway 31. Around 6:30 he is said to have used the gun to rob the Donut Palace on East 5th Street. He is then said to have tried to rob a man in a nearby parking lot. He was found after police got a call from a resident who saw a juvenile jump over her fence at her residence in the area of the robbery. Investigators found the money taken in the robbery and the gun that he had discarded. The teen, who had run away from the Willow Bend Center on Highway 31 East, was booked into the Smith County Juvenile Attention Center.

TYLER — The Tyler Together Race Relations Forum introduces the community to one of its newer ventures, “Tyler Talking Together.” Our news partner KETK reports about 45 people showed up at Tyler Public Library Tuesday evening and were divided into diverse groups. They spent time getting to know one another and then they were asked to share what they learned. One of the organizers, Ellen O’Brien, says, “We all know how to be polite and keep our distance.” But she hopes the new project will help people “to really have the difficult conversations that come up in a community about school names, about policing, about education.” Go to http://www.tylertogether.org for more information about Tyler Together.

TYLER – The Smith County Commissioners Court has approved the Smith County Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Plan. The plan, which was approved at Tuesday’s meeting, has been worked on for over a year. The 393-page document has been approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, pending adoption by the Commissioners Court. The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 requires proactive, pre-disaster planning as a prerequisite for some funding, and encourages state and local authorities to work together on pre-disaster planning. Hazard mitigation is the use of long- and short-term strategies to reduce or alleviate the loss of life, personal injury and property damage that can result from a disaster. It involves strategies such as planning, policy changes, programs, projects and other activities that can lessen the impacts of hazards. Continue reading Hazard Mitigation Plan Approved by Smith County

TYLER – The Department of Education is investigating The University of Texas at Tyler for alleged Title IX violations. The department’s website says two cases were opened June 6th. One case is said to be denial of benefits and the other, retaliation, but details were not released. Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive Federal financial assistance. According to a statement from the school, “Our policy is that we do not comment on ongoing investigations, but our belief is that UT Tyler has not violated Title IX.”

TYLER – The School of Nursing & Health Sciences at Tyler Junior College has a new dean. He is Dr. Cliff Boucher, who is serving as Dean of TJC North. He assumes the additional duties on July 18. Dr. Boucher follows Paul Monagan, who will retire in August after serving TJC as dean for the School of Nursing & Health Sciences since July 2006. At TJC, Dr. Boucher also served as Chair and Professor for the Department of Life Sciences and President of the Faculty Senate. In addition to his work at TJC, he has taught at UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the University of Michigan, Harvard University Medical School and UT Tyler. A TJC alumnus, Dr. Boucher received his bachelor’s degree from Austin College in Sherman, his doctorate from the University of Michigan, and completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at Harvard Medical School.

TYLER – One person has died in a one vehicle accident in Smith County. Pronounced dead at the scene late Monday night was Earl Sidney Brooks, 63, of Arp. The Department of Public Safety report says Brooks, who was not wearing a seat belt, ran a stop sign and ran off the road and into an embankment. The accident occurred at the intersection of Farm Road 2015 and County Road 313, about 6 miles northeast of Tyler.

LONGVIEW – The East Texas Regional Airport in Gregg County is receiving two grants through the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program. The grants total $918,000. Our news partner, KETK, reports $810,000 is earmarked for a new taxiway. The remainder of the funds will pay for an airport study. U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao told KETK, “These Airport Improvement Program grants will ensure that a safer, more efficient East Texas Regional Airport remains an economic engine and vital infrastructure component for its community.”

GRAND SALINE – Van Zant County authorities have arrested a man in a March shooting death. Arrested Monday was Dwight Dean Rosamond, 44. He has been charged with murder in the death of Ricky White II. The shooting occurred at a residence on County Road 1216 outside of Grand Saline. The night of the shooting, Rosamond told investigators White was a prowler and he shot him in self defense. But, investigators feel the autopsy report and forensic evidence didn’t match the story and Rosamond was arrested.

TYLER – Funeral services are scheduled for a former Tyler police officer. Joseph Alfred Barron, 90, died on Monday. He joined the police department on May 22, 1957 and retired in 1989 with 32 years of service. Visitation will be on Thursday, July 19th from 4:00 to 7:00pm at Caudle Rutledge Funeral Home in Lindale. The funeral service will be on Friday, July 20th, at 10:00am at New Harmony Baptist Church.

TYLER – The trials of three men charged with a Smith County murder, have been rescheduled. All three appeared in state district court in Tyler Tuesday morning. The trial of Martin Wesley Reynolds Jr. was rescheduled for August 20th. The trial of Colton Wade Tate and Nathan Ryan Garcia, was rescheduled for September 24th. The three, all from Whitehouse, are charged in last November’s shooting death of Andrew Carpenter, 19. The shooting occurred at a residence on Deerwood Drive, southwest of Whitehouse. The shooting is said to have been the result of an argument between Reynolds and Carpenter.

HALLSVILLE – Hallsville school trustees have approved arming administrators starting in August of next year. The resolution was approved at Monday night school trustee’s meeting. The resolution is the first step in implementing the district’s school guardian program. Trustees also approved intervention counseling for “red card” students. These are students who exhibit behaviors of an active shooter. Assistant Superintendent John Martin told the Longview News Journal, the program enables the district to “approve and enforce policies that allow staff members to have access to and/or carry weapons as a possible means of defense in the event of a violent, deadly act.” Continue reading Some Hallsville School Administrators Will Be Armed

TYLER – A meeting scheduled in Tyler Tuesday will look at ways to improve the traffic flow along South Broadway. The public will get its first opportunity to provide input on the U.S. Highway 69 Tyler Feasibility Study that’s looking at ways to improve safety and mobility along the corridor from Amherst Street to Farm Road 2813. The City of Tyler, the Tyler Area MPO and TxDOT have partnered to conduct the study that explores improvements, including what is called innovative intersections along the corridor. The meeting will be held at the First Christian Church on South Broadway from 5:00 to 7:00pm. Continue reading Meeting on Improving South Broadway

TYLER — A Whitehouse woman has pleaded guilty to federal violations. Shelly Hunter, 47, pleaded guilty July 16 to interstate transport of stolen funds. According to information presented in court, from March 2005 until February 2017 Hunter was employed as the Business Office Manager for Peltier Chevrolet, Inc. in Tyler. Beginning March 2011, Hunter embezzled and stole funds belonging to the dealership. Hunter used the stolen funds to pay her personal credit cards. In some instances, she mailed checks to pay her accounts. She also directly wired funds from the dealership’s bank account to her credit card accounts. Continue reading Former Peltier Business Manager Guilty of Fraud

JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville police are encouraging residents and business to join them in a community camera program. The program allows persons to register the locations and capabilities of their security systems. Then, when a crime occurs, officers will know the locations of nearby video cameras to help them collect evidence in the case. They say this is one of the best methods to catch suspects and to convict them. You can get more information by clicking on the Community Camera program link on their web page.

HENDERSON – A woman is arrested in connection with a Henderson robbery earlier this year. Arrested late last week was Ashley Alexderia Page, 32, of Nacogdoches. She is charged with aggravated robbery in connection with the January robbery of the East Texas Professional Credit Union. Investigators used fingerprints found at the scene to lead them to Page. A man, also involved in the robbery, has also been identified. His name has not been released, but a warrant is out for his arrest.

KILGORE – The Kilgore school superintendent will soon announce she is stepping down. Cara Cooke has confirmed she plans to resign. She will be taking a job in a south Texas school district so she can be closer to her husband. Cooke was named the Kilgore school superintended in February, 2013.

TYLER – A Lindale teen pleads guilty in connection with the theft of a Lindale police car. Kelsey Nichole Wood, 18, entered the plea in state district court on Monday. Last November, she is said to have taken the vehicle, driving off at a high speed and injuring an officer. She was arrested after crashing the vehicle into a tree. She has pleaded guilty to aggravated assault against a public servant, felony escape and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Her sentencing will come at a later date.