KTBB News, Weather, Talk

LONGVIEW – A Longview burglary suspect was arrested after fighting with the car’s owner on Rosedale Street. The car’s owner was tying to recover what Ceylan Javar Bridges, 20, of Longview, had taken. When Bridges saw the police, he ran. They arrested him after he ran into a house. The items taken in the auto burglary were recovered along with marijuana they found on him. Bridges is in the Gregg County Jail, charged with robbery, theft of property, evading arrest with previous convictions, failure to identify as a fugitive and possession of marijuana. His bonds total $85,000.

GRAND SALINE – A two vehicle accident near Grand Saline over the weekend killed a Van Zandt County man. Ethan Landaverde, 27, of Van died at a Grand Saline Hospital after his motorcycle hit the rear of a homemade trailer that was turning into a private drive. The accident occurred on Farm Road 17. The Ben Wheeler man whose pickup was pulling the trailer, was not injured. The accident was reported shortly after 5:30 Sunday afternoon

MT. PLEASANT — For the first time since 2011, a homicide investigation is underway in Mount Pleasant after an innocent bystander was killed during a shooting overnight Saturday. KETK reports shots rang out just after midnight at two separate locations on Booker Avenue. Officers say two people at two different parties in a neighborhood began arguing. The argument escalated and the two people shot at each other. 38-year old Tammy Jordon was shot and killed. No arrests have been made.

HENDERSON COUNTY — A wanted felon is arrested after two deputies stop for gas. It happened around 2:00 Monday morning in Chandler. The Henderson County Deputies said they recognized Jeremiah McGregor, 40, of Wills Point, as a wanted felon. McGregor initially gave the deputies a bogus name, before admitting his true identity. A search of his motorcycle turned up a gun, more than 55 grams of meth, cash and drug paraphernalia. McGregor was charged with possession of contraband, possession of a firearm by a felon, failing to properly identify himself and a parole violation warrant.

TYLER – A proposed name change for Tyler’s Robert E Lee High School is expected to come up at tonight’s school board meeting. The White Nationalist rally in Charlottesville has sparked renewed attention to Confederate monuments and memorials across the country. Some Tyler ISD parents want to change the name of the school. DG Montalvo, who is behind the movement wanting change, told KETK, there is a lot of racial tension still in the city. Another parent who, would like to see the name changed, said Robert E. Lee himself was not a fan of statues honoring Civil War Generals. An online petition to keep the name of the school showed over 9,000 signatures. Supporters for a name change are planning to raise the issue at the school board meeting Monday evening at 7:00 at the Davidson Conference Room at the Jim Plyler instructional Complex located at 807 West Glenwood Boulevard. Continue reading Tyler School Board and Call for a School Name Change

TYLER – Smith County commissioners have called a meeting for Monday morning to discuss the capital improvement plan for roads and bridges. In several meetings over the past couple of weeks, the plan was discussed, including possibly undertaking the plan in stages. They have also discussed ways to fund it. The commissioners are considering a bond election to generate money for the improvements. If they decided to put the bond issue to a vote in November, the deadline to call the bond election is Monday. They have called a special meeting for Monday to discuss the issue. It will be at 10:30am in the commissioner’s court on East Ferguson Street.

TYLER – One of the biggest science events of the year, a solar eclipse, takes place today. While East Texas is not in the path of totality, we will see a partial eclipse, and there are a couple of events in connection with it. The Center for Earth & Space Science Education at TJC offers outdoor viewing and the showing of a 25-minute film about solar and lunar eclipses and how they occur. Those activities began at 10:00am. And the Tyler Public Library is hosting a special event that began at noon. They even have 200 free solar eclipse viewing glasses to hand out. You can get more information on these two activities on the calendar of events on our web site.

TYLER – Here’s a look at work planned in the district during the Week of August 2ist. These schedules are subject to change due to weather conditions, equipment failure or other unforeseen issues.

In Tyler, repairs have been completed on Donnybrook Ave. at Loop 323 at the Torchy’s Taco drive. On Monday, crews plan to perform ditch repairs on Loop 323 in front of Goodwill Industries. No lane closures are planned during this work but caution is advised.

You can go to http://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/media-center/local-news/tyler/044-2017.html for a complete rundown of Tyler District work for the next several days.

EAST TEXAS — A standoff on Interstate 20 between Longview and Hallsville ended when a man barricaded inside his vehicle shot and killed himself. Harrison County Sheriff’s Office Administrative Lt. Jay Webb told the Longview News Journal the driver killed himself at around 10:00 Saturday night. Department of Public Safety troopers began chasing the driver in Grand Prairie. The chase went through at least six counties before the standoff began involving Harrison County sheriff’s deputies and members of Longview Police Department’s SWAT team. The man’s name was not released. According to Webb, “There were two shots fired about 8:00pm into the floorboard of the vehicle, and police backed off. The Longview SWAT (team) was talking with him during this time, and he took his life with a single shot.”

TYLER – Three persons have been arrested in connection with the burglary of Tractor Supply on Highway 110 South. It was reported Friday morning around 2:30. Arrested walking east of the building was Ediel D. Jaramillo, 31 (pictured). He’s been charged with burglary of a building. Numerous items believed to have been taken in the burglary as well as drugs were found during a search of the suspect’s vehicle. The second suspect, whose mother said he was not home, was arrested climbing out a home on Haynie Avenue. Ronald Christopher Crank-Harris, 30. He was arrested after a brief foot chase. And his mother, Reina Melendez, 47, was arrested and charged with hindering apprehension.

ATHENS – A man convicted of murder in Louisiana has been arrested in Henderson County. The manhunt began with the arrest of one man but another man ran into a wooded area near loop 7 and Farm Road 59, south of Athens. About an hour later authorities arrested Rodney Wayne Baker, 47, (pictured) originally from Athens. He was taken to jail on a parole violation from a Louisiana homicide case. The other man, Richard Anthony Brown, 64, of Athens, was arrested for an outstanding warrant.

AUSTIN – The latest report out of Austin shows area unemployment continuing to fall. Tyler’s unemployment number is not only better than the state’s rate, it also easily beats the national jobless figure. Tyler’s July unemployment rate is 3.9%. This compares to June’s figure of 4.6%. In July of last year, Tyler’s figure was 4.9%. Longview’s unemployment rate went from 5.4% in June to 5.1% last month. A year ago, Longview’s unemployment rate was 7%. Both Texas and the nation had a 4.3% unemployment rate last month.

SMITH COUNTY — A portion of County Road 192 remains closed off. Heavy rain Thursday caused a washout of pavement in a section of the road, between Texas Highway 155 South and Crow Road (CR 159). Drivers will need to take an alternative route. Smith County Road and Bridge crews are working on repairs. Crews said exposed telephone and cable lines are causing delays. The road is expected to remain closed for several days.

TYLER — The White Nationalist rally in Charlottesville has sparked renewed attention to Confederate monuments and memorials across the country. KETK reports, some Tyler ISD parents are wanting to change the name of Robert E. Lee High School. DG Montalvo, who is behind the movement wanting change, said there is a lot of racial tension still in the city of Tyler. He has two children who went to the school and said this is the right thing to do. Another parent who would like to see the name changed said Robert E. Lee himself was not a fan of statues honoring Civil War Generals. An online petition to keep the name of the school showed close to 7,500 signatures. Continue reading Parents Push for Name Change at Robert E. Lee High School

TYLER – With just under two weeks left in the month, August 2017 is already the wettest August in Tyler since records started being kept in 1896. Through Thursday, The National Weather Service figures show Tyler has recorded 10.95 inches of rain. The previous August record was 10.25 inches in 1915. Three daily rainfall records have also been recorded this month. They are 2.99 inches on August 2nd, 2.54 inches on August 13th and 3.52 inches on August 17th.

TYLER – Smith County commissioners have called a meeting for Monday morning to discuss the capital improvement plan for roads and bridges. In several meetings over the past couple off weeks, the plan was discussed, including possibly undertaking the plan in stages. They have also discussed ways to fund it. The commissioners are considering a bond election to generate money for the improvements. If they decided to put the bond issue to a vote in November, the deadline to call the bond election is Monday. They have called a special meeting for Monday to discuss the issue. It will be at 10:30am in the commissioner’s court on East Ferguson Street.

CANTON – A man has been arrested in Tennessee after being accused of severely beating a woman in Van Zandt County. The U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force arrested Patrick Alan Bieber, 49. He is said to have put a 70 year old woman in her car in Terrell and beat her all the way back to Wills Point, where the two were living. When he found out she reported the incident to police, her took car, purse and rings and fled to Tennessee. He is charged with injury to the elderly and retaliation against a witness for threatening telephone and text messages he left on the victim’s phone.

DIANA – Upshur County authorities continue their efforts to find several bank robbers. Around 5:00 last Friday afternoon, the three men, one who was armed, took an undetermined amount of money from the Security State Bank in Diana. They then fled the bank on foot. No injuries were reported. Authorities have released a picture from a video that was made at a near by business. It shows two of the suspects just before the robbery and before they covered their faces. If you recognize them, you are asked to contact your local law enforcement agency.

MARSHALL – Marshall police detective Carlos Pacheo is promoted to sergeant. After three years in the U.S. Army, Pacheo became a sheriff’s deputy in Wilson County. He came to work in Marshall in 2007. Over the next ten years, he has worked in many areas. Besides currently being in the criminal investigations division, he is also a member of the department’s SWAT Team.

AUSTIN – The Texas Water Development Board has approved financial assistance totaling $12,605,000 for 4 water and wastewater systems in the state. Two of the systems are in East Texas. The TWDB approved $750,000 to the city of Chandler and $1.9 million to the D&M Water Supply Corporation in Nacogdoches County. Both will use the money to finance the planning, acquisition, design, and construction costs associated with water system improvements

WASHINGTON – Tyler Congressman Louie Gohmert stands behind President’s Trump’s comments about the violence that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia. It occurred during a white nationalist rally that saw one person killed and 19 injured. Gohmert says everything the president said was appropriate, there was hate on both sides, and it is to be condemned. Gohmert tells KTBB, there is an insidious part of America that wants this country in flames and wants to destroy our freedom. Gohmert says, “We can’t let them do it. We’ve got to call out hate where ever it is.”

TYLER — A Tylerite is on the host committee welcoming President Trump to Texas in September. The President’s trip to Dallas on September 27th would be his first visit to the area since his election. Fundraiser invitations went out Wednesday. Ticket prices range from $2,700 – $100,000. The event will raise money for the Republican National Committee and for the President’s 2020 re-election fund. The Dallas Morning News reports several Texas Republicans have confirmed the event although the White House has not yet listed the trip. The host committee includes Gaylord Hughey, of Tyler, and Dennis Nixon, from Laredo.

TYLER – Smith County has approved an application for an anti-hate rally in Tyler. The hour long “Don’t Participate in Hate Rally” is scheduled to start at Thursday night at 7:00 in downtown Tyler. There will be prayers for the people of Charlottesville, Virginia as well as prayers for more unity in Tyler. While a group of counter-protesters were demonstrating in Charlottesville last Saturday, a car plowed into the crowd, killing one person and injuring 19.

LONGVIEW – A shooting has sent a man to a Longview hospital. He was shot in the leg and the injury is said to be life threatening. It was reported around 4:15 Wednesday afternoon at the American Fidelity Apartments on Morrison Street. We will have more information when it becomes available.

TYLER – Tyler Municipal Court has appointed Amy McCullough as Presiding Judge of the Court. She has been serving as interim judge of the court since February. McCullough is a graduate of Tyler Junior College. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Mississippi and her masters from the University of Oklahoma. She then earned a law degree from South Texas College of Law. As an attorney, she practiced as an Assistant District Attorney in Harris County and in municipal government as the City Attorney of Pearland in the 1990s. She then went into private practice.

McKINNEY (AP/STAFF) – A North Texas man must serve life in prison without parole for the 2016 fatal shooting of his estranged wife and her twin sister. Investigators say Kelley Bigham, 51, of McKinney, was upset that his wife wanted a divorce. He shot the two in June of last year while stopping at the house to get some belongings. Both were shot in the head. The couple’s adult daughter fled unharmed with her young son and called police. A few minutes later he sent a text to his daughter saying, “I’m sorry.” Bigham was later arrested at his father’s home in Point, northwest of Emory, in Rains County.

QUITMAN – Because of an incident near Mineola a couple of years ago, an Arizona man received a lengthy prison sentence. A jury this week found John David Hill, of Tuscon, guilty of evading arrest with a vehicle. He was then sentenced to 99 years in prison. The lengthy sentence stems from his eight previous felony convictions. Two of them were for evading arrest. In October, 2015, a Wood County constable tried to stop Hill. After a while, after running red lights and speeding through a service station parking lot, he finally stopped only to run away. He was arrested after a brief foot chase.

TYLER — With the special legislative session now history, Tyler State Representative Matt Schaefer says, “We had some good, bad, and ugly.” Among the pluses, the District 6 Republican points to pro-life bills and health care funding for retired teachers. But Schaefer says, “We failed on spending limits, and we had a really ugly end on property tax reform when the House quit before we were supposed to.” As to where things go from here, Schaefer tells KTBB, “That’s up to the governor. There’s a lot of unfinished business for some conservative priorities, so it’s gonna be up to Governor Abbott to determine whether we can accomplish more.” Continue reading Schaefer: Special Session a Mixed Bag

HENDERSON – East Texas law enforcement is warning the public about a scheme leaving drivers empty handed and without a car. According to KETK, the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office reports a vehicle tailgated and flashed its lights at an off-duty deputy to pull over. Knowing this is part of a carjacking con, the deputy called 911 and the car quickly disappeared after he did not pull over. Officials say many times when the drivers pull over, their valuables and vehicle are taken by the person who tricked them. Law officers say if this happens to you, do not stop. Call 911 and drive to a police or sheriff’s department.