KTBB News, Weather, Talk

PALESTINE — One person has been killed and one injured in a one vehicle wreck in Anderson County. It happened a little after 3:30 Monday morning On U.S. Highway 287. Killed was the Hakeem Mohammed, 26, a passenger in a car driven by Adedap Afolabi Adekunle, 41, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Adekunle is hospitalized at Palestine’s Regional Medical Center. The department of Public Safety says the accident occurred when their car hit two horses in the roadway. The horses were killed.

GILMER – A fatal one vehicle accident near Gilmer remains under investigation. Killed in the wreck, which was reported just before 4:15 Sunday morning, was Karl Oney, 22. The Department of Public Safety says the wreck occurred on Bluebird Road. The report said Oney’s pickup was west bound when it left the road and overturned.

HAWKINS — An East Texas man who filed a federal lawsuit against Wood County over the practice of opening commissioners court meetings with prayer is anything but an atheist. According to KETK, Charles Frederick Scott III considers himself a godly man and studies the Bible religiously.

He has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, seeking removal of the motto “In God We Trust” from the Wood County commissioners’ courtroom and to forbid opening meetings with prayer. The lawsuit alleges the county is violating the U.S. Constitution. The crux of his legal argument is commissioners cannot display “In God We Trust” or pray before meetings if their motivation is religious.

Scott also believes it is a violation of the oath of any councilman or commissioner to protect and preserve the U.S. Constitution, if the person has made an oath to God. He sees these two oaths in direct conflict.

A hearing is set October 16 in Tyler federal court, where a judge will decide whether to approve or deny a motion for summary judgment filed by attorneys on behalf of the county on grounds the lawsuit is frivolous. In May, the Wood County commissioners agreed to retain services from the Alliance Defense Fund and Liberty Institute for representation in the lawsuit.

TYLER — The mother charged with the 2010 death of her 1-year-old, has avoided a murder charge. According to Smith County court documents, Judge Kerry L. Russell sentenced Emma Torres, 21, to two years in a state jail facility for child abandonment/endangering a child after she pleaded guilty. KETK reports, Torres was also facing a capital murder charge, but that was dropped Monday after the District Attorney’s Office filed a motion to dismiss it on August 20.

Torres and her boyfriend, Simon Lopez, 28, were indicted back in September 2011 for the death of Torres’ son, Jeremy Silva. An autopsy determined Silva died from blunt force trauma. Investigators say Lopez was watching the child in November 2010, when he called one of the mother’s relatives to say the boy wasn’t breathing. Tyler police say Lopez left the youngster with the relative and fled. In July, he was caught in Queretaro, Mexico. Lopez entered a not guilty plea on January 24. The charges against him remain in place.

NOONDAY — A home in Smith County is a total loss after an early morning fire, According to Smith County fire officials, Noonday, Dixie, and Flint-Gresham firefighters fought the blaze. It started at about 1:30 Monday morning in the 1600 block of County Road 1112, near Lake Palestine. No injuries were reported. The Smith County Fire Marshal’s office is investigating the cause of the fire.

RUSK COUNTY — Law Enforcement authorities in Henderson arrested Blake Everett on a Crimestoppers tip. Reed was arrested last Friday. According to Tyler police, Reed was wanted for a violation of protective order and has an extensive history of criminal activity in Wood County. Authorities said he should be considered very violent. Reed’s bond has been set at $1,100,000

VAN ZANDT COUNTY (AP/STAFF) — Authorities say four Texans have died in the crash of a small plane that went missing after departing from a regional airport near Roanoke. The crash site is just over the Kaufman County line In Van Zandt County. The plane was located off County Road 2702. Killed was the pilot, Leonard Ledet, 60, of Southlake, his sons, Paul Ledet, 16, and Mason Ledet, 13 and the pilot’s brother, Gregory Ledet, 62, of Keller.

Lynn Lunsford of the Federal Aviation Administration says Beechcraft Bonanza took off Saturday morning from the Northwest Regional Airport near Roanoke and disappeared about 25 miles southeast of Terrell. He says a search was begun after air traffic controllers lost radar and radio contact with the plane. Lunsford says a Texas Department of Safety helicopter that took part in the search found the plane Saturday evening.

AUSTIN – The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) announced a northeast Texas firm is one of the finalists for the 2012 Texas Workforce Solutions Employer of the Year Award. Among the finalists is Priefert Mfg. Co. Inc. of Mt. Pleasant.

The five finalists were chosen from 28 private-sector employers nominated for contributions to their community’s workforce through innovation and collaboration with the Texas workforce system. The nominated employers support TWC’s mission of ensuring that both employers and workers have the resources and skills needed to help the state of Texas remain competitive in the 21st century.

Other finalists are Champion Cooler Corporation of Denison, Mouser Electronics Inc. of Mansfield, Nabors of Midland and Walgreens Distribution Center in Waxahachie. The winner of this year’s award will be announced at the 16th Annual Texas Workforce Conference Employer Award Luncheon to be held at the Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center in Grapevine on Thursday, November 29.

TYLER (AP/STAFF) — The oldest junior college in Texas is seeking permission to sell a “substantial amount” of its East Texas property after filing for bankruptcy earlier this year. The school wants permission to sell all of its assets, including property and buildings in a cash only auction. Lon Morris College is a 158-year-old United Methodist School in Jacksonville but has suspended its fall semester amid deep financial troubles. The Tyler Morning Telegraph reported Sunday that the school filed an application September 28 in federal bankruptcy court seeking permission to sell much of its property. The application says Lon Morris has an estimated 112 acres of real estate with various buildings, including dorms, a library, a chapel, and admission buildings. The school is seeking to sell those to pay creditors as well as former employees. At a hearing scheduled for Oct. 31, a judge may decide on the college’s request.

LUFKIN (AP) — Patti Gammill was 10 years old when her family went to Wheel World in Lufkin in 1976 to buy her brother a bike for BMX racing. “My brother wanted a bike and we went to Mike Maberry’s shop, Wheel World, that was there in Angelina Mall, and we ended up with a $99 Mongoose,” Gammill said. “They were having BMX cheerleaders and Mike asked me to try out.” During Gammill’s first trip to the Lufkin BMX racetrack, it was her intention to try out to be a member of the Lufkin BMX Cheerleaders. She ended up racing instead.

Gammill raced until she was 14, then hung up her bike and starting doing what most East Texas teen girls usually do, driving cars and dating boys. Now a home health nurse and mother of four, the Diboll woman recently re-experienced a part of her childhood that she almost forgot about. She became the first female inducted in the Texas BMX Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Pearland in August.

TYLER — Tyler Police have located a teenage girl that was reported missing Saturday. Sasha Marie Moore, 15, was said to have been in need of medication. Authorities said she was found as is in good condition. They would only say she was not kidnapped, but released no other information.

UPSHUR COUNTY — UPSHUR COUNTY — An Upshur County Commissioner and his son have been freed on bond following their arrest for aggravated assault of a public servant. Officials will not confirm anything, but according to KETK, viewers told them a game warden was being held at gunpoint in Big Sandy. The Longview News Journal is reporting Upshur County Pct. 3 Commissioner Lloyd Allen Crabtree and his son, Todd Allen Crabtree, were arrested at the family’s property near the Sabine River in Big Sandy on Saturday. They were booked into the county jail about 6:30 Saturday evening, according to the jail website.

Lloyd Crabtree faced indictments a year ago when he, along with County Judge Dean Fowler and Sheriff Anthony Betterton, were charged with official oppression and abuse of official capacity. All charges against all three men were dismissed. Todd Crabtree was arrested in 2005 and charged with engaging in organized criminal activity.

WOOD COUNTY (AP) — Actress Daryl Hannah has been released from a Texas jail following her arrest as she protested an oil pipeline designed to bring crude from Canada to the Gulf Coast. Hannah was freed on a $2,500 bond Thursday night but faces criminal trespass charges. Her release came hours after Hannah was arrested in Winnsboro. Hannah and 78-year-old Eleanor Fairchild were arrested as they blocked heavy equipment in an attempt to halt construction of the Keystone XL pipeline through Fairchild’s land. Fairchild was released on a personal recognizance bond. Hannah also was arrested in August 2011 while protesting the pipeline in Washington. Her manager, Paul Bassis, said, “When people engage in civil disobedience, it’s a last resort.”

HARRISON COUNTY — Several hundreds of marijuana plants have been discovered, following a house fire just north of Longview. According to KETK, details are limited at this time. The Harrison County Sheriff and fire officials are still on scene investigating what exactly sparked the fire. Authorities said they are currently searching for the homeowners.

GLADEWATER — A woman remains hospitalized in Good Shepherd Medical Center in Longview after being hit by a car while trying to cross U.S. 80 in Gladewater. Hospitalized is Nancy Diane Beckworth, 62. According to the Longview News-Journal, Gladewater police were called to 904 East Broadway Avenue in front of Dollar General just before 8:45 8:40 Tuesday evening. Beckworth had been walking back to her home when she was hit by a Chevrolet Malibu driven by Tammy Phillips. Beckworth was walking north across Broadway Avenue and was in the center of the roadway, inside the eastbound lane of U.S. 80, police said. A vehicle was turning left in front of Phillips’ car, and Phillips did not see Beckworth, Alexander said. When the vehicle passed, Phillips’ car hit the woman.

TYLER — Smith County voters who received ballots by mail this week should expect to receive updated replacement ballots within a week’s time. Officials say only voters who requested and received a ballot by mail and who live within the Tyler city limits and within the boundaries of voting precincts 39 and 31 will be affected by the updated ballot replacement. According to a news release, voting precincts 39 and 31 may have received incomplete ballots which should be replaced by updated ballots. Officials say the updated ballot will be clearly identified on the envelope with a pink sticker. You’re asked to call the Smith County Elections Office for further details and inquiries at 903-590-4777. Voters are asked to use the updated ballot when returning their vote for the November 6, 2012 election.

SEVEN POINTS — Authorities in Henderson County say a murder-suicide apparently stemmed from a domestic dispute. According to Sheriff Ray Nutt, officials with the sheriff’s department and Seven Points Police Department responded to a call on Friday around 2:22 a.m. at 310 Wood St. in Seven Points. According to KETK, the call was reported as a shooting. Upon arrival, officers found three people who had been shot. They were identified as Kelsie “Shea” Maples, 21; Jerrod Chamberlain, mid 20s; and Jerry Wayne Foster, early 20s. All three were taken to a local hospital, where Chamberlain was pronounced dead. Maples and Foster were later flown to another East Texas hospital for further treatment.

Witnesses identified the alleged shooter as Nathan Benton, a man in his mid 20s. Authorities say Benton had left the scene of the shooting, so officers began searching the surrounding area for him. At 4:18 a.m., authorities located his vehicle at State Hwy. 274 and Jess Hinton Rd. in Seven Points. They say they tried to pull him over, but he didn’t stop. After a short chase, officers stopped the vehicle and found Benton inside with a gunshot wound to the head. He was flown to an East Texas hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The shooting is being investigated by the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office. Initial investigations indicated that the shooting happened during a domestic dispute.

LONGVIEW — Beginning Monday, October 8, Green Street in Longview will be closed from the north side of the Tyler Street intersection to the south side of the Cotton Street intersection to allow for construction projects. East/west traffic on Cotton Street will be reduced to one lane in each direction. North/south traffic on Green Street will be closed between Cotton and Tyler Streets. East/west traffic on Tyler Street will be closed at the Green Street intersection. Drivers are urged to drive cautiously in these areas for the safety of construction workers. It is anticipated that this partial closure will remain in effect until May 6, 2013.

This street closure is part of the Downtown Parking Streetscape Improvements project approved by voters in the 2011 Capital Improvements bond package. This project consists of improvements to Green Street in the downtown area, including improvements to paving, storm sewer system, sidewalks, streetscape, and landscaping. The project also includes increasing vehicular clearance under the train crossing at Green Street. For additional information, contact the City of Longview Public Works Engineering Department at 903-239-5504.

TYLER — Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics has issued a message about media reports regarding steroid injections. According to a TMF statement, there have been several cases of meningitis associated with epidural steroid injections. Thus far, the focus has been narrowed to compounded steroids manufactured by the New England Compounding Center. According to the TMF statement, this does not affect patients of The Trinity Clinic Center for Comprehensive Pain Medicine. TMF officials say they do not use compounded steroids for their epidural steroid injections, and that all of their steroids come directly from the manufacturer.

CHEROKEE COUNTY — A child was thrown from a vehicle in a wreck Friday morning in Cherokee County. KETK reports it happened just after 7:00 a.m. on Hwy. 69 between Alto and Rusk. There were three people in the vehicle at the time. According to Cherokee County DPS, a tire blew out on their vehicle and they ran off the road into trees. The boy was flown to a Tyler hospital. A man and woman who were also in the vehicle were taken to the hospital by ambulance. No word yet on the extent of their injuries.

LONGVIEW — A 43-year-old man is in the Gregg County Jail after police said he was spying on his estranged wife. Dean Jeff Johnson was arrested on an outstanding warrant that accused him of improper visual recording after his estranged wife, Melody Johnson, reported finding hidden cameras in her White Oak home. That’s according to KETK and the Longview News-Journal. Officers confiscated numerous tapes from Dean Johnson’s house containing recordings that were videotaped inside her house. An IT specialist with the White Oak Police Department is examining the tapes to see if any contain explicit material. The case remains under investigation. Johnson’s bond was set at $50,000.

GILMER — At least two people were ejected in two separate car wrecks in Upshur County on Thursday afternoon. Officials in Upshur County and the City of Gilmer were dispatched to the first wreck at 3:48 p.m. at the intersection of FM 2685 and Evergreen Rd., just south of Gilmer. Gilmer Fire officials tell KETK they arrived on scene in just enough time to assist with a landing zone for an emergency helicopter in the middle of FM 2685, and then were immediately called to another ejection accident within the city limits of Gilmer. That call came in at 4:09, only 20 minutes after the first wreck. It was on Cherokee Trace in Gilmer. At least one person was ejected in this wreck, but received minor injuries. The status of the people involved in the initial wreck on FM 2685 has not yet been released.

TYLER — Tyler Police have reported a fatality in an early Friday morning wreck. It happened around 12:35 in the 3200 block of Grande Boulevard. Witnesses told officers that the vehicle had driven off the roadway and flipped several times. The driver of the vehicle, Rocky Lee Padgett (pictured) 29, Malakoff, died at the scene. The passenger, Darrell Grayer, 25, Tyler, was taken to East Texas Medical Center Hospital for non-life threatening injuries. The crash is still under investigation by the Tyler Police Department.

WINNSBORO (AP/Staff) — Actress Daryl Hannah has been arrested along with a 78-year-old northeast Texas landowner while protesting construction of a pipeline designed to bring crude oil from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries. Hannah’s manager, Paul Bassis, says Hannah was arrested Thursday evening. Bassis says Hannah and landowner Eleanor Fairchild were standing in front of heavy equipment brought onto the woman’s property in Winnsboro. Both women were taken to the Wood County Jail. Hannah has since been released.

Hannah, who starred in “Splash” and “Kill Bill,” also was arrested in August 2011 while protesting the Keystone XL pipeline in Washington.

Several acres of Fairchild’s farm have been condemned by TransCanada. She says she opposes TransCanada’s plan to transport heavy tar-sands crude from Canada to the Gulf Coast. The proposed route of the pipeline takes it through eastern Smith County.

LONGVIEW — Pine Tree ISD broke ground for its new athletic stadium on Thursday morning. At 11:00, students and school representatives met at the site of the stadium, on West Loop 281, just east of the Enterprise and Pine Tree Parkway intersection. KETK reports the stadium’s construction is part of a bond package passed by voters in 2011. The bond was $29.9 million and included multiple projects.

TYLER — A 50-year-old Deberry man has been sentenced to federal prison for drug violations in East Texas. Jimmie Gaston Langston pleaded guilty on April 3 to possession of pseudoephedrine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine and the manufacture of methamphetamine on premises where children are present. He was sentenced in Tyler yesterday to 120 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Schneider.

According to federal prosecutors, Langston purchased cold pills containing pseudoephedrine at a CVS store in Marshall as well as additional purchases in Shreveport, Louisiana, with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine. The manufacturing of the methamphetamine took place at Langston’s residence where one or more young children were present at the time.

TYLER – Today, Tyler will be awarded the Community of the Year award from the American Association of Planners – Texas Chapter (APA) at their annual conference being held in Ft. Worth. The APA Texas Planning Awards Program recognizes individuals, organizations and communities for outstanding contributions to planning in Texas. The Community of the Year award is given to a town, city, or county for providing an outstanding contribution to planning. Tyler is receiving the award for the Industry Growth Initiative (IGI) plan launched in 2010.

According to a city news release, “In an unprecedented joint effort between the Tyler City Council and several community boards, the IGI was formally adopted as a shared vision for Tyler’s strategic economic growth in the next 20 years. Boards represented included the Tyler City Council, Smith County Commissioner’s Court, Tyler Independent School District Board of Trustees, Tyler Junior College Board of Trustees, the Tyler Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce.” Also represented at the meeting were members of the Leadership Roundtable, including the University of Texas – Tyler, UT Health Science Center, Texas College, East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare System, the Tyler Economic Development Council, Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics, and others.

“I don’t know of another time in Tyler’s history that so many of its elected boards held a joint meeting to adopt a single measure,” commented Mayor Barbara Bass. “This level of support demonstrated the need for the entire community to speak with one voice and work cooperatively for the sake of Tyler’s economic future.”

In early 2009, Mayor Barbara Bass and Senator Kevin Eltife brought together a group of community leaders to discuss shared issues facing the city and region. One of the first items that was raised by this Leadership Roundtable was the need to market Tyler and to determine the industries that made the most sense for Tyler to pursue given our unique assets.

Consequently, the Leadership Roundtable began the development of the IGI in mid-2009. The resulting report recommends 10 primary building blocks that Tyler should develop to foster an Innovation Economy and take the Tyler region into the next twenty years of economic prosperity and growth.

LONGVIEW — Election administrators in Gregg and surrounding counties reported Wednesday a stout increase in the number of voters registering in September. According to KETK, with the registration deadline less than a week away, election officials said they are preparing for a large East Texas turnout November 6th. October 9th is the deadline to register to vote in the general election, which includes a White House battle between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Paul Sadler also are vying for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison. Kathryn Nealy, Gregg County elections administrator, said her office at the Gregg County Courthouse has received about 100 registrations a day since September 24. Gregg County is seeing a traditional amount of people registering as first-time voters leading up to a presidential election, said Nealy, who has 23 years of experience in the county’s elections. Election officials for surrounding counties also reported seeing a large number of voters registering during the final days before the deadline.

BEAUMONT – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging a Lufkin man with attempting to rob an east Texas post office. Keith DeWayne Bailey, 29, is charged with attempting to rob the United States Post Office in Woodville, on October 1, 2012. If convicted, Bailey faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine not to exceed $250,000 or both.

ATHENS – Three men have been arrested at various place around Athens and charged with the weekend abduction of a man in Frankston. Charged with aggravated kidnapping was Al Gene Fulton, 29, pictured here, Lamontoe D. Rodriguez, 18 and Bryson Bowman, 17. They are said to have abducted a man and forced him to withdraw all his money from his bank account. The three are said to have then beaten the man, left him in west Athens and drove off in his car. Authorities used video surveillance at ATM machines to help identify the suspects.