KTBB News, Weather, Talk

WASHINGTON – Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn want to honor the Founders of Mercy Ships. The senators have introduced legislation to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Don and Deyon Stephens. They are the founders of the non-profit Mercy Ships of Garden Valley, west of Lindale. The medal is in recognition of their nearly 40 years of service. Mercy Ships transforms retired ocean liners and ferries into hospital ships that provide humanitarian aid across the world. Tyler congressman Louie Gohmert has introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

HENDERSON COUNTY — Six East Texans have been arrested following a drug sweep in Henderson County. According to Henderson County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse, several probable cause narcotics search warrants were issued Wednesday. Arrested on various charges were Jacoby Juarez (pictured), 27, Chandler, Rachel Hurst, 36, Tool, Ashley Kohlenberg, 38, Seven Points, Niki Allumbaugh, 32, Seven Points, Alexandria Hammack, 18, Seven Points, and Jason Byrne, 36, Kaufman. Juarez was arrested and booked into the Henderson County Jail for manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance. Kohlenberg and Byrne were arrested on scene for charges of manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana. Continue reading 6 Suspects Arrested following Drug Sweep

HENDERSON COUNTY — Two women have been arrested in connection with an arson investigation. According to the Henderson County Fire Marshal, around 11:15 a.m on March 30, two structure fires were reported on County Road 2502, in the Payne Springs area. Six fire departments responded to find both structures up in flames. According to KTBB’s news partner KETK, the Fire Marshal was called to the scene due to the suspicious nature of the fires. The fires at two separate mobile homes were determined to be arson. On April 11, one of the suspects believed to be responsible for the fire was identified as Brenda Sue Ivey, 50 (pictured). Continue reading Two Women Charged with Arson

ANDERSON COUNTY — A 17-year-old Elkhart girl has been killed in a crash early Wednesday morning. According to the DPS report, Anastasia Doka Giron was headed south on County Road 130 around 12:30 when she missed a curve in the roadway. Her vehicle left the road and went airborne across Manson Creek. The vehicle then struck a dirt embankment. Giron was pronounced dead at the scene. The report stated that she was traveling at an unsafe speed when the wreck occurred.

LONGVIEW – A Longview law firm has been retained by the widow and by a victim with permanent injuries in connection with a murder case against a former East Texas nurse. Our news partner KETK reports The Sloan, Hatcher, Perry, Runge, Robertson & Smith Law Firm has been hired by both the widow of Christopher Greenaway and the man identified by the Tyler Police Department as John Doe 4. They were said to have been killed or injured by former CHRISTUS Mother Frances and Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital nurse, William George Davis. He has been charged in the death of Christopher Greenaway. Tyler Police Jimmy Chief Toler has said Davis is being investigated in six other cases in which patients were injured. He likely will be charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault.

ELKHART – One person has died in a one vehicle accident in Anderson County. Dead at the scene was Bethany Anastasia Dakota Giron, 17, of Elkhart. The Department of Public Safety reports she was traveling at an unsafe speed, around 12:30 Wednesday morning, when her pickup left the road on a curve. The pickup became airborne across Manson Creek and struck a dirt embankment with its front end.

TYLER – The University of Texas at Tyler Texas Alpha Xi Chapter of Alpha Chi announces its successes at the national college honor society’s 2018 convention. Accounting major Kelsi Oldham of Flint received a $2,000 Alfred H. Nolle Scholarship – one of only 10 awarded – for her presentation, “Blockchains: How This Innovative Technology is Transforming the Ways of Business.” Graduate nursing education major Lori Acosta of El Paso received the Kathyrn Hoyle Bradley Prize in Health Sciences for her presentation, “Reductions in Surgical Site Infections (SSIs).” Continue reading UT Tyler Honor Society Successful at National Convention

JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville police are investigating two shootings. The first occurred shortly before 7:00 Monday evening on Palestine Street. One person received a minor injury and two vehicles were damaged. About seven and a half hours later another shooting was reported on the same street. Hit this time was a house and an unoccupied vehicle. Investigators feel the two cases are related. They have released no further information.

LONGVIEW – A man has been killed in Longview when his vehicle rolled over him. The accident happened Wednesday morning on East Marshall Avenue in front of Jennings Scrap & Salvage. Police investigators say the man got out of his 18-wheeler and the vehicle started rolling down the hill. Before he could get back into the vehicle, it ran over him. His name has not been released.

WILLS POINT — An East Texas man is behind bars after leading police on a high-speed chase. According to KTBB’s news partner KETK, around 5:20 Tuesday evening, the Wills Point Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a pickup truck believed to be stolen. The driver, Robert Bryan Quire, 39, initially pulled over, then drove off leading police on a miles long high speed chase. He eventually turned into the parking lot of Diamond L Vet Clinic, where he jumped out of the truck and began running. He was arrested a short time later. Continue reading East Texas Man Arrested after High-Speed Chase

LONGVIEW – A Longview man has plead guilty to two aggravated robbery charges and one engaging in organized criminal activity charge. Kaleb Bush, 19, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. In August, 2016, He and his uncle were accused of robbing people at a family barbecue. After bonding out of jail, Bush and four others are said to have robbed a man at the Tree House Apartments. Then, several days later, Bush and three men are said to have robbed a man in the parking lot of the Summer Brook Apartments.

LONGVIEW – A Longview man is free on a $25,000 bond following his arrest on drug charges. Daquayivious Dejuan Fowlkes, 23, was arrested after officers served a search warrant at a home on Hubbard Drive. In the home, officers found crack cocaine, ecstacy powder, ecstacy and hydrocodone pills, and a small amount of marijuana. Fowlkes was charged with manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance.

TYLER – The Alamo is on the road and you will be able to see it. The Alamo Roadshow will be in Tyler on Wednesday. The road show gives you a chance to learn about ongoing preservation work happening at the state’s most well-known historic site. They are also bringing several artifacts from the Alamo and General Land Office Archives that will someday appear in exhibits in the planned Alamo Museum and Visitor’s Center. The roadshow opens Wednesday evening at 6:00 at the TISD Career & Technology Center on Earl Campbell Parkway.

LINDEN – A former state trooper in east Texas has been indicted for sexual abuse of a child. The Longview News Journal reports Louis Paul Weems, 33, of Marshall, has been indicted by the Cass County grand jury. He is charged with the continuous sexual abuse of a child, indecency with a child by contact and indecency with a child by exposure. Weems, who was arrested last week, is currently free on a $450,000 bond. He was suspended by the DPS when the allegations surfaced last November. He was fired in January.

EAST TEXAS – Medical facilities in 19 east Texas counties, including Smith and Gregg counties, will be taking part in a mass exercise on Wednesday on moving a large number of patients across the region. They will be practicing handling a large group of patients following a hit by a tornado. The medical facilities will be simulating the actual process of receiving the patients, assessing their condition and treatment plans. They will also work on admitting the patient to their facility or to evacuate existing patients due to extensive damage. While hospitals and EMS agencies handle emergencies each day, there is a different process when they are moving several hundred patients at a time. Around 250 students will act as tornado victims for the exercise.

TYLER – Heritage Land Bank is reporting a possible security breach. In a news release, the bank says the breach involves the lockbox payment processing service, provided by third-party vendor, Frost Bank. Frost Bank has stopped the unauthorized access and secured its software. Heritage Land Bank is taking the necessary steps to transfer its lockbox payment services to another financial institution. Anyone who has mailed checks to the San Antonio address are encouraged to monitor their accounts for any unauthorized or suspect activity and report such activity to their bank. The FBI and U.S. Secret Service are leading the investigation.

COFFEE CITY – One person has been killed in a one vehicle accident in Henderson County. It happened Monday night around 8:45 on Farm Road 314, just over 6 miles southwest of Coffee City. Killed was 58 year old Caesar Samuel Smith, of LaRue. The Department of Public Safety says his pickup drifted off the road. The driver over steered and the pickup crossed the road, where it struck a tree and overturned. Smith later died at a Tyler hospital.

SMITH COUNTY – A fatal vehicle/pedestrian accident in Smith County remains under investigation. It happened around 9:45 Monday night on Farm road 2661 just south of County Road 1130. Killed was 39 year old Alan Cleaver of Flint. Had had parked in a private drive and waked across the farm road to get his mail. A northbound driver was unable to see him and hit hit him. Cleaver was taken to a Tyler hospital where he later died.

LONGVIEW — A Gregg County grand jury has indicted 36-year-old Jessie Clifford Brown in the 2015 murder of John Allen Franco. Brown was arrested in October at his Kilgore home, more than two years after 24-year-old Franco was fatally shot in his car on a county road in Liberty City. Brown was booked into the Gregg County Jail on $125,000 bond.

SMITH COUNTY — A suspended Smith County constable has been released from prison and has entered a halfway house. According to KTBB’s news partner KETK, Henry Phillip Jackson, 66, was placed in a halfway house, which is overseen by the Houston Residential Reentry Management field office. On May 16, 2017, Jackson pleaded guilty to four counts of willful failure to file federal income tax returns and was sentenced to six months in federal prison in September. Jackson was also ordered to pay $157,489 in restitution. Jackson has served as an elected constable since 1999. Continue reading Suspended Smith County Constable Released from Prison

LONGVIEW – In state district court in Longview Monday, Aaron Castile Bowling, 28, of Longview, pleaded guilty to the murder of his 2 year old daughter. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison by District Judge Alfonso Charles. Alanis Bowling was taken by her mother, Jamie Lee Nelson, 26, to the hospital in December, 2015. Because of the severity of her injuries, she was later flown to a Dallas hospital, where she died. As officers began to investigate the case, the parents provided a story that was not consistent with the child’s injuries. Her mother is charged with negligence and endangering a child. The case against her is still pending.

MARSHALL – The Marshall Police Department is now using a new radio system. The department is addressing some misunderstandings about the changeover. They stress that the changeover does not put the public at any risk in the event of a major incident. They still are able to communicate with the sheriff’s department.They can even use an analog channel that was once used by the Marshall Fire Department. That channel is monitored by both police and sheriff’s department dispatchers. And they added, since they switched to the new system, there has been no emergency situation that required direct communication with the sheriff’s department.

TYLER – The trial of Jessica Lauren Vass, who is charged with killing two persons in a traffic accident a year ago, has been rescheduled. In an appearance in state district court in Tyler Monday, the Lindale woman’s trial was rescheduled for May 21. She was indicted last September on two counts of intoxication manslaughter. The wreck Killed Gary McCrary, 62, of Flint and Annette Burkhart, 56, of Garland. McCrary was assisting Burkhart in changing a flat tire on her car when the Vass vehicle hit the back of his pickup, which then hit the Burkhart car. Her car then hit the couple as they stood on the shoulder of Loop 49 just north of Highway 64.

LONGVIEW – The cause of a weekend fire in Longview remains under investigation. A woman in the home when the fire started was taken to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation and minor burns. Several of her pets died in the fire. The fire was reported shortly before 2:30 Sunday morning on Sandlin Street, west of Willow Park.

TYLER – Here’s a look at work planned in the district during the week of April 16th. 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.

The Legacy Trails – Hike and Bike Trail Development:
The contractor continues sidewalk construction on the West Trail, which runs from Three Lakes Parkway to FM 2813. Sidewalk construction also continues along the Oncor easement between Dueling Oaks and Cumberland Road. No lane closures are planned. This project consists of constructing 4.4 miles of hike and bike trails in Southwest Tyler. It includes the construction of parking lots, driveways, landscaping, pedestrian ramps, crosswalks and drainage structures along the 10-foot wide hike and bike trails. The anticipated completion date is the spring of next year. Continue reading TxDOT Road Projects Update

HOUSTON (AP) – The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review an appeal from a Hopkins County man on death row for strangling his girlfriend 18 years ago. The high court decision, without comment, upholds a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling last year rejecting arguments that Daniel Acker, 46, was innocent of the March 2000 killing of Marquetta George, 32, of Sulphur Springs. Attorneys also contended Acker’s trial court erroneously excluded evidence of his innocence, that appeals he previously lost were based on false evidence and that he had poor legal help in earlier appeals. Prosecutors said Acker killed George and dumped her body on a Hopkins County road. Trial attorneys said she jumped from Acker’s truck and then was hit. Acker doesn’t yet have an execution date.

LONGVIEW — Spring Hill ISD has approved adding and paying off-duty Longview police officers for extra campus security. Our news partner KETK reports the move is in response to the February 14 Parkland school shooting. Longview officers make money doing off-duty work at various places. Since officers have various off days, the district says it could have up to nine officers around during the week. District officials say having more officers familiar with the campuses keeps students safe.

LAS VEGAS (ABC/Staff) — Lindale’s own Miranda Lambert scored big again at the 53rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards — and set an all-time record in the process. Lambert took home the Female Vocalist of the Year award — her ninth consecutive win in that category and her 30th ACM overall, making her the winningest artist in ACM history. During her acceptance speech Sunday night, she said she would never take the honor for granted. She told the Las Vegas audience, “I love country music. It is my entire life. I dedicate everything I have to it.”

SMITH COUNTY — A wreck on Highway 271 in Smith County has been cleared after stalling traffic for a time. DPS troopers say an 18-wheeler and SUV collided at the Brookshire’s warehouse entrance around 7:30 this morning. One driver was seriously injured.