KTBB News, Weather, Talk

RUSK COUNTY — 21-year-old Tyler J. Russell of Winona, Missouri, has been killed in a wreck on U.S. 259 ten miles north of Henderson. DPS says a preliminary investigation revealed that a truck-tractor driven by 34-year-old Fernando Gomez Gonzales of Gladewater was traveling north in the left lane around 3:15 Friday afternoon. A construction sweeper driven by Russell was traveling north in the outside lane, sweeping the roadway. Russell turned into the left lane in front of the truck-tractor, the vehicles collided, and Russell was ejected from the sweeper. He died at a Tyler hospital. The crash remains under investigation.

TYLER – 89-year-old Auzie Manning Campbell has been killed in a Smith County highway accident Friday night on State Highway 31 East near County Road 236. According to DPS, preliminary investigation shows Campbell may have been crossing the street to pick up her mail when she was struck by a minivan. Law officers had to divert traffic for a time onto County Road 236. DPS says further information will be released as it is verified.

TYLER – Smith County sheriff’s deputies have arrested two persons in connection with an injured toddler. Arrested this week were Terral Deshon Carter, 26, and Taylor Nicole Skinner, 24. The injured child is recovering following surgery at a Dallas hospital. On August 27th, the sheriff’s department received a call from Child Protective Services concerning a suspected child abuse case. A 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. After an investigation, Carter was arrested on a charge of for injury to a child/serious bodily injury. A day later, Skinner was arrested for Injury to a child by omission. Both remain in the Smith County Jail.

TYLER — Two people have been jailed in Smith County, accused in the severe injury of a child. Sheriff Larry Smith says Child Protective Services reported the incident shortly before midnight August 27. Deputies were told a 15-month-old had been admitted to a local hospital with severe injuries that were consistent with abuse. The child was later transferred to a Dallas hospital. Following an investigation, authorities this past week arrested 26-year-old Terral Deshon Carter for injury to a child/serious bodily injury, a first degree felony; and 24-year-old Taylor Nicole Skinner for injury to a child by omission, a state jail felony. Smith says the child is recovering in the hospital following surgery.

MARSHALL – With the start of the new school year, a record enrollment is being reported at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall. The school’s enrollment is placed at 1,533 students. That’s a 5% increase from the fall of last year. And with a freshman enrollment of 419 students, that’s the largest freshmen class in the history of the institution. The school was founded in 1912 as College of Marshall.

TYLER – It has been announced that Dr. Peter J. Plantes is stepping down on November 3rd as CHRISTUS Health’s Senior Vice President of Physician Enterprises and CEO of CHRISTUS Physician Group. He will be succeeded by Jason Markham, 43, (pictured) who will officially take over as Chief Administrative Officer of CHRISTUS Physician Enterprises. Last month, Markham was named Chief Administrative Officer of CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic, a role he will continue to hold in addition to his new position.

TYLER – It is time for the annual fall spruce up at Tyler’s Discovery Science Center. The children’s museum will close starting Monday for complete renovations and updates.The scheduled closing occurs each fall for updating exhibits and facilities and conducting deep cleaning and other maintenance tasks. It will reopen on Wednesday, September 27th. Continue reading The Discovery Science Place Temporarily Closing

TYLER – A Smith County man has man has pleaded guilty to arson and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. State District Judge Kerry Russell sentenced Matthew R. Dutton, 31, of Flint, to 20 years in prison. He was arrested in May for assaulting his girlfriend with a knife and setting his single wide mobile home on fire. The mobile home was destroyed by the fire, which started on a bed. His girlfriend told investigators Dutton was intoxicated when he cut her with a knife and wouldn’t let her leave the home. About three hours after being assaulted, she was able to sneak out of the house and call for help.

AUSTIN – Texas home sales increased in the first half of the year. The same was true in Tyler. According to the Real Estate Midyear Review Report, released Friday by the Texas Association of Realtors, home sales in the state jumped 5.5% compared to the first half of 2016. Over 166,000 homes were sold between January and the end of June. Texas home prices also continued to rise steadily in the first half of the year. The median sales price increased 7.7% from the previous year to $221,800. Tyler home sales increased 11.6% in the first half of 2017 to 1,439 single-family home sales. The median price in Tyler increased 4.9% to $183,000 during the same time frame. Continue reading Home Sales Strong in Texas and Tyler

TYLER – Though the Transition Hub is no longer active in Tyler, many online resources are available to Hurricane Harvey evacuees, including FEMA assistance. You can go to https://www.disasterassistance.gov/ to learn more about that. The city published a web page that centralizes information about available services for evacuees. City officials say the page — https://www.cityoftyler.org/Departments/Communications/HurricaneHarveyReliefInformation.aspx — will continue to be updated with relevant information for evacuees still in the area. Continue reading Tyler Still Offering Services to Hurricane Harvey Evacuees

TYLER – The campus police at Tyler Junior College are investigating a report of a man exposing himself to three women. A news release from the school said it happened around 4:30 Thursday afternoon outside the OHPE faculty parking lot F-8 on main campus. The incident happened as the three were sitting in a car. He was last seen leaving the campus in a tan four-door vehicle. The man is described as a white male, slim build, 6 feet tall, short hair and appeared to be in his 20s. He was last seen wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans. Following the incident campus police issued a campus wide alert and increased patrols of the campus and nearby areas.

LONGVIEW – The 68th annual Gregg County Fair starts Friday and runs through September 16th. There’s the carnival, exhibits, fair food, petting zoo and even pigs racing for an Oreo cookie. Then you add to that the music, contests and the Miss Gregg County Pageant, there is something for everyone. Activities get underway Friday evening at 6:00. Admission is $6 per person. It is free to children 3 and younger, seniors 60 and older, and military personnel with ID. You can go to http://greggcountyfair.com for a schedule of activities and more information.

TYLER – The East Texas Human Needs Network has a new online services directory to help people in need in Smith and Cherokee counties. With access to the internet, you have help in a variety of ways by completing an anonymous help form. Help is available in such areas as abuse and neglect, crisis hotlines and helplines, housing and shelter, legal matters and much more. And there is a tool that enables you to translate the material to your native language. The organization’s founder, Christina Fulsom says, when you need help or answers as quickly as possible, before a small issue becomes an overwhelming problem, help is just a click away on the internet at 903HELP.

TYLER – Tyler has recorded a record low temperature for September 7th. The National Weather Service recorded a low of 54 degrees shortly before 7:00am. The previous record low for the date was 55 degrees recorded in 2011.

PALESTINE – Palestine’s new municipal court judge is Alex Nemer. He was named to the post by the city council at a called meeting this week. Nemer, an attorney, is a long-time resident and served as municipal court judge from January 1974 to December 1976. He has also served as the Assistant County Attorney and later the County Attorney for Anderson County. He succeeds the current judge William Curley starting next month.

AUSTIN – Sales tax rebates from the state are going out. For Tyler and Longview, the numbers are up. The state is sending out $668.3 million in local sales tax allocations for September, 6.2% more than in September 2016. These allocations are based on sales made in July. Tyler’s check tops $3.2 million. That is over 7 1/2% more than July of last year. For the year to date, Tyler’s sales tax allocations total over $30 million. Longview’s September check is for over $2.3 million, or nearly 10% over last year’s check. For the year, Longview has received over $22 million from the state, up just over 1% from last year.

LONGVIEW — Two corporate-owned Jack in the Box restaurants in Longview and one in Kilgore closed last week due to a decline in business. According to the Longview News-Journal and KETK, corporate headquarters in San Diego said the Longview fast-food restaurants at West Marshall Avenue and Spur 63, North Access Road off Interstate 20, and on U.S. 259 North in Kilgore were “underperforming locations.” The company closed all three Aug. 28. The Access Road Jack in the Box opened in 1999, the Kilgore store followed in 2002 and the Marshall Avenue location began in 2003.

HENDERSON COUNTY — A 28-year-old man was arrested in Coffee City Wednesday night for possession of meth. Henderson County Sheriff Deputies were investigating a game room on Highway 155 when Aaron Sean Short made a mad dash from the building. He jumped into a van of startled, screaming people and was immediately arrested. Short was found to be in possession of a large amount of meth and admitted to being a drug dealer, according to deputies. He faces numerous charges, including manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance.

TYLER – Tyler Police are looking for a missing 9 year old Hispanic male. He is Natanael Laja Candelerio. He’s 4’09” and described as slightly chubby. There is no clothing description. He was last seen around 111 West Martin Luther King Boulevard. If you know where he can be found, you are asked to contact the Tyler Police Department.

LIBERTY CITY – A Kilgore teen is arrested on two charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. In the Gregg County Jail under bonds totaling $40,000 is Vangie Marie Weaver, 17. She is said to have cut one woman’s hand with a knife. The second woman’s hand was also cut by a knife and hit with a bamboo cane. Weaver was arrested after sheriff’s deputies were called to a home on Cain Lane in Liberty City around 12:45 Wednesday morning. No word on what caused the attack.

TYLER – Now parents of Tyler school students know where their child is after getting on a school bus. There is now an app for that. Introduced Wednesday, the app is called “Here Comes the School Bus.” Students scan on and off the bus with their student ID barcode. It’s a great safety feature and it makes sure your student never misses the bus. And if the weather is bad, the app will alert you when the bus is less then two miles away, so they don’t spend excess time in the rain. You get more information on the “Here Comes the School Bus” app on the TISD web site.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – A judge is awarding $16 million in a lawsuit filed by a woman married to her cousin at age 14 in a ceremony overseen by polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs (pictured). A lawyer for Elissa Wall said Wednesday the decision lets attorneys investigate bank accounts and property connected to the secretive group based along the Utah-Arizona border. Alan Mortensen says Wall plans to use the money to help people leaving the group, which also has a compound in South Dakota. Wall’s testimony helped convict Jeffs in Utah, though the verdict was overturned on a technicality and he’s now imprisoned at the Louis C. Powledge Unit near Palestine, Texas.

GUN BARREL CITY – Henderson County sheriff’s deputies, who were trying to serve a warrant, also made a drug bust. They were looking for Candice Renea Kirbie, 30, of Mabank. She wasn’t at a Gun Barrel City home. But they spotted her short time later in the passenger seat of a passing pickup. In her purse they found a a scale, a glass pipe and numerous plastic baggies, all commonly used in the sale and distribution of illegal drugs. They also found suspected methamphetamines. Kirbie was arrested for the outstanding felony warrant for the probation violation and charged with manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance.

LUFKIN — The body of a Lufkin DJ has been recovered from the floodwaters in southeast Texas. 31-year old Alonso Guillen was helping rescue hurricane survivors when he, and two others, were tossed into the waters. Their rescue boat slammed into an Interstate 45 frontage road bridge. One man was rescued after being found clinging to a tree. One man’s body was recovered Friday. Sunday afternoon, Guillen’s body floated past a sandy berm where family members had been keeping watch for days, and a relative pulled his body from the water.

CHEROKEE COUNTY — A Rusk man has died following a motorcycle wreck around 2:00 Tuesday afternoon. According to the DPS report, Danny Crouch, 68, was traveling south on CR 1910, about 10 miles south of Jacksonville, when he failed to negotiate a sharp curve. Crouch’s Harley left the roadway and crossed a grass median. He was ejected from the bike and pronounced dead at the scene.

TYLER – A grand jury has indicted a Lindale woman in the deaths of two persons just west of Tyler. Indicted on two counts of intoxication manslaughter is Jessica Lauren Vass, 35. She was involved in a wreck that 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. The crash occurred April 12th on Loop 49 just north of Highway 64.

TYLER – It is nearly East Texas State Fair time in Tyler and some new attractions are being announced. There will be a countryfest on each Saturday at the fair with live country music. There will also be Matt’s Family Jam, an interactive musical attraction for everyone. There will be pony rides, a live tiger show, a street artist painting murals using only spray paint and a slingshot to shoot you 150 feet into the air. Then there’s the usual carnival, exhibits and fair food waiting for you September 22nd through October 1st at Tyler’s East Texas State Fair.

WINONA – One person has been arrested and another is being sought in the burglary of a Smith County business. The burglary in progress was reported shortly before midnight on Monday. It was at Crystal Springs Spirts on South Main in Winona. While heading to the business, deputies spotted the suspect’s vehicle heading South on Highway 271. After a brief chase, the suspects vehicle left the road and traveled through a field and down several embankments. The vehicle was found abandoned near some woods. Items taken in the burglary was found in the vehicle.

TYLER — Six Smith County deputies headed to Houston Tuesday morning to help with Hurricane Harvey relief. Sheriff Larry Smith said they’ll be assisting in the Greater Houston Area for seven days. Smith says it’s likely that a second group of six will be deployed upon their return.