KTBB News, Weather, Talk

BULLARD — Officials in Bullard say a portion of Old Jacksonville Hwy, in front of City Hall, was blocked off for a time while crews cleared a downed power line laying across a vehicle. Bullard Police say a passing truck hit a downed line, forcing it onto a McCoy’s work truck following behind. The line then snagged on the McCoy’s work truck. Oncor headed to the scene to shut power off to the line so that crews could remove it from the truck.

LINDALE — Smith County Firefighters battle a house fire in Lindale. Officials say the call came in about 5:40 Thursday morning. The home is located in the 14000 block of County Road 496. Authorities say the fire was under control by later in the morning. No word on whether there was anyone home at the time of the fire.

LONGVIEW –- A cooling system malfunction was being blamed this morning for grounding an American Eagle flight Wednesday evening at East Texas Regional Airport. It was a scary landing for passengers aboard the American Eagle flight 4777. When the plane from Dallas landed shortly after 5:15, smoke was reported in the cabin. After the plane landed, the pilot taxied off the runway and all 47 passengers evacuated the plane safely. They’re still trying to determine what caused the smoke. –

TYLER – A Tyler jury begins the punishment phase of the trial of the man it convicted for robbing a pizza delivery man. The jury in state district court deliberated around ten hours before finding Victorino Betancourt, 26, guilty. He was accused of robbing and threatening to kill the victim.

MOUNT PLEASANT – The Occupational Safety Health Administration is investigating the death of a Pilgrim’s Pride employee. It happened around 1:00 Wednesday morning at the company’s protein conversion plant in Mount Pleasant. Pilgrim’s Pride spokesman Gary Rhodes said night supervisor Jimmy Bynum was pinned under the back wheels of a truck that was backing into the protein conversion bay. Bynum, a 25 year employee with Pilgrim’s Pride, was first rushed to Titus Regional Hospital. He was the flown to Tyler’s East Texas Medical Center, where he died.

TYLER — The Tyler City Council Wednesday received a presentation on the outcomes of the Spring 2011 Neighborhood Empowerment Works (NEW) Program. Officials say the NEW Program is designed to enhance the quality of life for residents through the concentrated delivery of services and programs provided by the City. Working in partnership with the neighborhoods, the City’s goal is to raise awareness of code and zoning ordinances, provide information on accessing City services and promote clean and safe neighborhoods.

During the 11th NEW Program, officials say, City of Tyler Departments came together and made many improvements to a neighborhood in City Council District Two. The boundaries of the neighborhood selected as the 11th NEW were Walton Road east to Walker Street, south to Foster Street, west to Barnes Street, southwest to Old Noonday Road, south to Luther Street, west to S.E. Palmer Highway (Highway 155) and northeast to Walton Road.

Officials say the NEW program enhances the quality of life for Tyler residents – one neighborhood at a time – by concentrating City services in a specific area for four weeks. Various City departments use information gathered from the neighborhood meeting, as well as an examination of the area, to identify services that could make an immediate impact on the neighborhood.

Outcomes from the 11th NEW program include:
· 24 junk vehicles were tagged for removal;
· 92 lots with high vegetation were mowed;
· 31 trashed lots were cleaned;
· 1,844 square feet of street base repairs were performed;
· Three and one-half miles of right-of-way were mowed;
· Six street signs were replaced;
· Five street lights were repaired;
· Three and one-half miles of streets were swept;
· 2,200 feet of sewer main were cleaned and inspected;
· The Tyler Police Department issued 35 written warnings and made eight arrests. They supplied a total of 92 man hours;
· The Solid Waste Department removed 738.5 yards of solid waste; and,
· Trees were trimmed and 194 cubic yards of waste removed.

“Since its inception, the NEW program has been an important tool to stop neighborhood decline in its tracks,” said City Council Member Donald Sanders. “By involving the neighbors and leveraging City services, the program has proven to be successful in encouraging reinvestment in Tyler’s older neighborhoods. Get rid of the grime…get rid of the crime.” The next NEW program will begin this spring and will be held in District Four.

KILGORE — Kilgore’s City Council votes down a controversial bill. According to KETK, it is still legal to text and drive there. The council voted Tuesday night not to place a ban on texting while driving in the city. Officials discussed a similar proposal earlier this year, but they wanted to see if the Texas Legislature would pass a statewide ban instead.

TYLER — In the Tyler City Council meeting Wednesday morning, officials passed the One-Half Cent Sales Tax proposal for the 2011-2012 budget year, which allows money for capital improvements to the city. The project will expand 220 projects over the next 10 years, including road and airport construction.

The council also passed a proposal awarding $1,711,000 to construct Fire Station 5 in Tyler. The station should be open by next summer. According to city press materials, “In September 2009, the City Council authorized the purchase of a parcel of land on Bennett Street from the Tyler Economic Development Council for the new Fire Station 5. Moving Station 5 from its current location at the corner of Frankston Highway and Walton Road will enhance the Tyler Fire Department’s access to surrounding areas and will result in more uniform response times.”

LUFKIN — Three women have been named as co-conspirators in a federal indictment against accused Moffett methamphetamine cook David Dunman, including a Lufkin woman who appeared on national talk shows four years ago to recount the details of the night her cousin was murdered and she was attacked.

The 66-count federal indictment for conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine names Dunman, along with Deanna Sunshine Turner, Crystal LeAnn Keisler and Jennifer Jon Holliday, who appeared on “The Montel Williams Show” and “I Survived” in 2007 to tell her survival story in the death of her cousin Ana Franklin. At the time of the attack, Holliday’s story drew national attention. Moved by accounts of an uninsured woman’s struggle to get medical care for her shattered arm in multiple newspaper articles, the president of Memorial Hermann Healthcare System provided Holliday with necessary care at no cost, according to a 2007 Houston Chronicle story.

The federal indictment claims Holliday and the three others conspired to purchase psuedoephedrine at East Texas area pharmacies from May 2007 to November 2010 with the intention of making meth. Narcotics investigators with the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office said in an interview last year that in the two years they had been watching Dunman, he had never sold directly to them or one of their informants. They believed Dunman had the multitude of women they observed coming in and out of his home moving the drug for him.

TYLER — It’s getting closer to the Aug. 2 deadline to increase the government’s debt limit, and plans pushed by a Republican and Democrat leader aren’t expected to get very far. Some Republicans say the $1 trillion in war-related savings in Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid’s plan are phony. And the same Republicans say the cuts in House Speaker John Boehner’s proposal don’t go far enough.

East Texas Congressman, Republican, Louie Gohmert spoke with KTBB Wednesday morning and said Congress has got to get more serious. He said the government spends around $10 billion, with $4 billion of that being borrowed. Gohmert says a real balanced budget amendment is needed that will prevent Congress from spending too much and make it live within it’s means the way every single state government is suppose to do. He said the bill that Harry Reid is proposing is even worse than the Boehner plan.

Gohmert added, “If the Senate could pass any bill, no matter what it is, the Reid Plan, the Gang of Six plan, anything, then the whole matter would be brought to a conference committee under house rules that has to meet publicly and we get a compromise worked out.”

The congressman insisted that there is not going to be any failure to pay Social Security. He said, “The money is there and there are Treasury notes to cover anything that does not.” Gohmert included the fact that Social Security is paid separately from all other indebtedness. He added that there is plenty of money to pay the debt as it comes due everyday, for some time.

TYLER – A contingent of law officers raided a Tyler body shop Tuesday morning and recovered close to $500,000 worth of suspected stolen property. The property was located in a warehouse district off WSW Loop 323, which had been under surveillance since investigators received information from several tipsters regarding suspicious activity in the area. The serial numbers and identifying information found on the suspected stolen items will be cross-referenced with those on police theft reports. At this time, there are several persons of interest identified and arrest warrants will be forthcoming.

The raid was the result of an ongoing, multi-agency investigation into a theft ring. Agents from the Texas Department of Public Safety, investigators from Smith, Anderson, Cherokee and Henderson Counties, the East Texas Auto Task Force and investigators from Arp, Whitehouse and Tyler Police Departments participated in the coordinated effort.

A property hearing to determine ownership of items recovered will be conducted in Smith County.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Losing money at the rate of $8 billion a year, the postal service is now considering closing more than one out of ten post offices, including a couple in East Texas. Over 3500 facilities are on the review list; those include the ones in Cuney, in Cherokee County, and Sacul, in Nacogdoches County. The government recently announced that the post office in Easton, which straddles the Gregg-Rusk County line, will be shutting its doors. The U.S. Mail has taken a huge hit financially as much of its first-class service has moved to the Internet. Along with closings, also being considered are doing away with Saturday deliveries and some method of reducing the $5.5 billion USPS puts into a retiree medical fund each year.

KILGORE — Nineteen students graduated Tuesday night from the Kilgore College Fire Academy No. 80. The evening marked the final class to graduate under the direction of Mike Earley, the originator of the KC Fire Academy in 1989. Earley, who has served 35 years with KC, will retire in August as Dean of Public Services – overseeing the Fire Academy, Police Academy, Workforce Development and Continuing Education divisions.

The KC Fire Academy is accredited by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection and the State Firemen and Fire Marshal’s Association and approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The academy offers certification schools for NFPA 1001 Basic Structural Firefighter I and II certification, the Texas Volunteer certification, Fire Inspector and Fire and Arson Investigation courses. It is also a designated institution by the Canadian Province of British Columbia.

The following candidates, listed by hometown, are part of KC Fire Academy No. 80:
Campbell River, B.C. Canada: Neil Blasky
Chandler: Brandon Walker
Gladewater: Joseph Bernard
Henderson: Matthew Morris
Longview: Coy Adams, Lance T. Harrod and Taylor Latus
Mineola: Jacob Ledkins and Logan Ledkins
Mt. Enterprise: Justin A. Royer
Mississauga Ontario, Canada: Ryan J.J. Rocha
Osoyoos B.C., Canada: Wyatt Thompson
Palestine: Michael Chance Wesson
Rothesay New Brunswick, Canada: Jonathan Stanley
Salmon Arm B.C., Canada: Brenden Bradley Ramsay
Surrey, B.C., Canada: Jeffery Kyle Allan
Vernon B.C., Canada: Colin Fitzgerald
Whitehouse: Alan D. Miller
Wills Point: Taelor Brewer

GREELEY, COLO. (AP) — A voluntary recall of thousands of pounds of ready-to-eat chicken has been expanded over concerns that the meat could be contaminated with bacteria that can cause food poisoning. Pilgrim’s Pride on Tuesday announced the recall now includes about 7,000 pounds of Pilgrim’s Pride Brand Fully Cooked Chicken Breast Nuggets that were shipped to dozens of Dollar General stores in the following states: West Virginia, Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

The recall began last week over fears that more than five tons of ready-to-eat chicken was potentially tainted by Listeria monocytogenes. The Center for Disease Control classifies listeriosis as a serious infection that primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns, and adults with weakened immune systems.

Pilgrim’s says it is not aware of any reported illnesses.

KILGORE — Authorities seek a suspect in a Gregg County aggravated robbery. On Tuesday at about 5:00 a.m., Gregg County Deputies responded to the EZ Mart, 4402 FM 349 outside Kilgore. The clerk reported that a man entered the store and demanded money. The suspect was described as a black male in his mid to late twenties, approximately 5’2” to 5’6”, 160 to 180 pounds. He was wearing a light color gray or blue ball cap, red t-shirt, long khaki cargo shorts, and black and white tennis shoes. The suspect displayed a small silver colored knife. There were no injuries, and an undisclosed amount of cash was taken. There is no vehicle information available at this time. Contact the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office at (903) 237-2506 with any information.

TYLER — East Texas lakes are taking on a whole new look from our ongoing drought. Lake levels are driving people away — ending a popular summer pastime for many. New sandbars and exposed stumps are potential hazards on the water now. East Texas stands 12 inches behind on rainfall this year. Most boaters can’t even get their craft in or out of the water at area lakes. Smith County game wardens tell KETK they’ve seen 90 percent less activity on area lakes. If the drought continues, some boat ramps into Lake Tyler will close. Boats that are 20 feet or larger are having the biggest difficulties. Anglers and boaters with smaller flat-bottom craft say they’re not having any problems.

TYLER — Smith County has received the Texas Association of Counties 2010 Safety Award for its record of involvement and commitment to safety in the workplace, as well as for controlling workers’ compensation claims. The Award was presented in Commissioners Court Tuesday, during a regular meeting. To qualify for the Texas Association of Counties Safety Awards, a county must have a safety program rated in the top 15 percent of approximately 300 governmental entities that collectively self-insure their workers’ compensation through the Association’s Risk Management Pool. Smith was one of only 23 counties honored with a 2010 award. “We are honored and excited to receive this award from the Texas Association of Counties,” County Judge Joel Baker said.

TYLER — Smith County Sheriff J.B. Smith says a man suspected of stealing copper from numerous churches in East Texas is now in custody. He says video from one of the churches showed a suspect’s car and Monday, Evergreen Memorial Cemetery called in a report of a suspect stealing bronze markers. Deputies arrested 25-year-old Bryson Jamar Anthony of Kilgore. Smith says Anthony eventually confessed to 13 thefts of air conditioning units to obtain copper. Anthony was booked into the Smith County Jail on numerous charges with bond set at $390,000. The sheriff says other counties where Anthony is suspected of copper theft will be given opportunities to question Anthony.

TYLER — Effective August 15, Tyler’s Social Security office will be open to the public Monday through Friday from 9:00 – 3:30, a reduction of 30 minutes each weekday. While agency employees will continue to work their regular hours, this shorter public window will allow them to complete face-to-face service with the visiting public without incurring the cost of overtime. Congress provided Social Security with nearly $1 billion less than the President requested for the budget this fiscal year, which makes it impossible for the agency to provide the amount of overtime needed to handle service to the public as we have in the past.

Most Social Security services do not require a visit to an office. For example, anyone wishing to apply for benefits, sign up for direct deposit, replace a Medicare card, obtain a proof of income letter or inform us of a change of address or telephone number may do so at http://www.socialsecurity.gov or by dialing our toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213. People who are deaf or hard of hearing may call our TTY number, 1-800-325-0778.

ANGELINA COUNTY — A federal grand jury indicted 13 Angelina County people for an alleged conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine since 2008. The indictment states the various coconspirators purchased pseudoephedrine from Sam’s Pharmacy, Walmart Pharmacy, Walgreen’s Pharmacy and CVS Pharmacy for the purpose of manufacturing a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of meth.

They would then rent motel rooms to manufacture the illegal substance and then transport it to Angelina County from Nacogdoches, Liberty, Smith, Dallas, Collin, Anderson, Jasper, Galveton, Kaufman, Walker, Polk, Cherokee, Tarrant, Denton, Orange, Jefferson, Hardin, Shelby, Newton, Tyler, Harris and Montgomery counties, according to the indictment.

The penalties could be up to 20 years in prison, a fine from $250,000 to $500,000, or both.

NACOGDOCHES — A man police said “ate” numerous narcotics and is accused of driving while intoxicated led police on a high-speed chase through several parts of the city and county Sunday. After a nearly 24-hour hospitalization, he was booked into the Nacogdoches County Jail. Johnny Stanley, 29, of Nacogdoches, was arrested shortly after 2:15 Sunday afternoon and charged with evading arrest and driving while intoxicated.

LINDEN – A Smith County man has been killed and two persons injured in a Cass County accident. It happened around 4:00 Friday afternoon on U.S. Highway 59. Killed was Loren Jay Larson, 61, of Bullard. He died about 2½ hours after the accident in a Longview hospital. Injured were Linda Larson, 61, and Elizabeth Larson, 82. According to the Department of Public Safety, Larson, whose pickup was towing a travel trailer, ran off the road and overturned. He was tossed from the pickup.

LONGVIEW – Longview police have arrested a Denison, Texas, man on a charge of online solicitation of a minor. In the Gregg County Jail under a $30,000 bond is Donnie Smith, 58. He spent his birthday in the jail Sunday following his arrest.

Longview police say Smith is accused of having an online communication for several months with a fictitious juvenile female. He is even accused of sending a webcam of his genitals in an attempt to set up a meeting. According to court records, he thought he was communicating with a 14 year old girl.

LONGVIEW –Longview Mayor Jay Dean is announcing a program designed to provide heat relief to area citizens in need. With triple-digit heat a norm this summer, Mayor Dean, along with partner agencies and private donors, is launching the “Mayor’s Beat the Heat Project.” This program is designed to provide window air conditioning units to residents around Longview who do not currently have air conditioning in their homes. “There are many residents out there that are suffering with this heat right now, and we just want to be able to help them get some relief,” says Mayor Jay Dean.

The Area Agency on Aging (AAA) will administer the in-take process. Residents in need should contact the Area Agency on Aging at 903-984-8641 or 800-442-8845. Preference will be given to elderly ages 60 and above and/or disabled residents that live in a Longview area zip code 75601, 75602, 75603, 75604, 75605, 75606, 75607 and 75608. As supply allows, other low income residents in the Longview area may also be considered. Only one unit will be given per household.

Several area agencies have partnered together to bring this project forward. The Hiway 80 Rescue Mission, the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, and AMBUCS will work together with other volunteer groups to help distribute and install the air conditioning units.

Funding for the Mayor’s Beat the Heat Project has been provided entirely through private donations. At this time, Mayor Dean has secured pledges in the amount of $25,000 from various Longview businesses, organizations, and citizens. The money raised will be used to purchase 200 air conditioning units rated at 5,000 BTU from local home improvement stores.

“I understand we are not going to be able to solve the problem of heat relief for every needy citizen with this program this year,” says Mayor Jay Dean. “My hope and my expectation is that, next year, this program will be administered by our partner agencies. My idea was to just get the ball rolling for the future. We want to do what we can this year to help, but then hopefully see the community put a program in place that makes sense going forward.”

BROWNSVILLE (AP/Staff) – Researchers in Tyler are trying to overcome a language barrier to teach safety to Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishermen in America’s deadliest commercial fishery. With Vietnamese and Spanish the dominant languages among some Gulf shrimp fleets, researchers at UT Health Science Center at Tyler are developing outreach programs in fishermen’s native languages. The government-backed researchers are designing safety signs based on universal symbols and preparing to release an interactive CD in three languages on how to make mayday calls. The UTHSCT researchers have found that many fishermen wouldn’t use their radios to call for help because they didn’t speak enough English. A federal study shows 55 Gulf shrimping deaths between 2000 and 2009. 29 of them were fishermen who fell overboard.

Despite the researchers’ efforts, funding for their work may be cut. The national program under which the researchers operate is targeted for elimination in the President’s 2012 budget proposal.

LUFKIN — Lufkin’s newest city council member, Sarah Murray, said she will introduce an ordinance to keep people from selling animals from the roadside. The proposed ordinance, drafted by the city’s attorney, specifically states: “It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, trade, barter, lease, rent, give away or display for a commercial purpose any live animal on a roadside, public right-of-way, commercial parking lot, or at an outdoor special sale, garage sale, swap meet, flea market, or similar event within the corporate limits of the City of Lufkin.” According to KETK and the Lufkin Daily News, the ordinance is restricted to domesticated animals, and does not include livestock.

Murray, a longtime animal rights activist, said she sees people selling animals in commercial parking lots and finds it appalling. “The animals that are brought to sell are from puppy mills,” said Murray, who represents Ward 6. “Sometimes these dogs are inbred. Another thing is they have no immunizations, no vaccinations, they are not spayed or neutered. I’m against euthanasia. My idea is if they’re not born, then they don’t have to die.”

Murray claims some of the dogs are selling for up to $500 and are not AKC (American Kennel Club) registered. Many of the animals could have diseases, such as parvo. “Parvo is deadly,” Murray said. “If it isn’t detected, the dog can give parvo to the rest of your animals, and they will all die.” Most importantly, she said the animals wait in inhumane conditions to be purchased. She said some don’t have enough shade or water to endure the East Texas heat or bitter cold temperatures of winter.

“It was freezing last year, and people had brought in birds in cages, and they were sitting out in the cold, cold weather,” Murray said. “To me it’s just unethical. These animals have no choice.” The side-of-the-road sale also encourages impulse buying, Murray said, which leads to more animals in the shelters, Humane Society or dumped in neighborhoods and on country roads.

LUFKIN — The man sentenced to 30 days in jail last week for resisting arrest in his Lufkin home was fighting police because he feared deportation to his native country of Honduras, according to a Lufkin Police offense report released Friday. That’s according to KETK and the Lufkin Daily News. Marco Sauceda, 30, who does not speak English, told a Spanish-speaking officer he stayed silent during the March 15, 2009, incident in spite of being pepper-sprayed and shot with a pepper ball gun because, as an illegal immigrant, he was afraid he would be deported. During the scuffle, Sauceda suffered a gash to the top of his head that required medical attention.

The jury of five men and one woman who found Sauceda guilty of resisting arrest Wednesday made its decision without knowledge of his immigration status due to a motion filed by Sauceda’s attorney, Ryan Deaton, and granted by County Court at Law No. 2 Judge Derek Flournoy on July 15, according to records from the trial. The motion, called a “motion in lemine,” claimed Sauceda’s alien status could have prejudiced the jury. “We could not go into that without the court’s permission at trial, whether he was legally in the country or not,” said Angelina County Attorney Ed Jones, who assisted in the prosecution of Sauceda’s case.

Attempts to reach Deaton for comment on his client’s immigration status Friday afternoon were not successful. With credit for time served, Sauceda is now a free man, as no immigration hold was placed on him Wednesday when he booked in and out of the Angelina County jail, according to jail records.

LONGVIEW — Bond was set at $100,000 Sunday for a Longview man authorities determined was wanted on a murder warrant in Europe after he was jailed in connection with an assault Saturday in Longview. Donald Adkins, 44, was arrested around 7:00 Saturday in Broughton Park on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Justice of the Peace Arthur Fort said Sunday that Adkins had given a false name during booking, but jail personnel were able to determine his identity and discover the foreign warrant. Fort said he was not certain which country issued the warrant, or details of that charge. The local charge stemmed from an attack that left another man with two knife wounds, one to the eye, the other in the chest.

WINONA – A one vehicle accident in northern Smith County has left one person dead. Killed in the crash shortly after 11:15 Friday night was George Douglas Nolan, 40, of Tyler, a former member of the Winona Volunteer Fire Department.. The Department of Public Safety says his car left the road and hit a tree and then burst into flames. The wreck occurred on County Road 334, a couple of miles north of Tyler. What caused the crash remains under investigation, however firemen on the scene said that Nolan had a cell phone in his hand.

LONGVIEW — East George Richey Road, located east of Gilmer Road, opened to traffic Monday. The 3,500 foot extension project was funded equally by Gregg County and the City of Longview. The total project cost was approximately $1.96 million. This project was constructed by Knife River of Bryan, Texas.