KTBB News, Weather, Talk

LONGVIEW — As an alternative to fluctuating gas prices, Longview Transit is joining with other public transportation systems nationwide to participate in the 8th annual National Dump the Pump Day today. The slogan of this year’s National Dump the Pump Day is “Dump the Pump. Save Money. Ride Transit.” On Dump the Pump Day, Longview Transit will offer free rides all day. Continue reading Free Rides Today on Longview Transit

KILGORE — Fourteen students have graduates from the Kilgore College Fire Academy No. 87. The Ceremony was held last night in the Bert E. Woodruff Adult Education Center Auditorium in Kilgore. 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. Continue reading Graduation Ceremony for Fire Academy 87

TEXARKANA (AP) — Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral service for an East Texas police officer who died after being hit by a vehicle during a disturbance at a park. The service for Texarkana police officer William Jason Sprague was held Wednesday in Texarkana and included a procession of emergency vehicles to First Baptist Church. Police officers and firefighters formed a long line extending from the church’s entrance. Continue reading Hundreds Attend Funeral Service for Texas officer

TYLER — A warrant has been issued for a suspect in the weekend murder of Scott Lester, 26 of Tyler. His body was found in room 218 of American Inn Motel, 1800 West Erwin, just before 7:00 Sunday morning. It is believed Lester was involved in the sale of narcotics in his motel room before he was killed. One of the suspects is identified as as Lawrence Charles Murphy, Jr., 20. (pictured) A warrant charging Murphy with murder has been signed by Judge Jack Skeen. Bond on the warrant is set at $1,000,000. Murphy is approximately 5’08” tall and weighs around 170. He has access to a 1989 Chevrolet Caprice bearing Texas license plate CX3G877. Since a firearm was used, Murphy Jr. is considered to be armed and extremely dangerous. Continue reading Suspect Named in Tyler Murder Case

LONGVIEW — A Longview man remains in the Gregg County Jail on child pornography charges. Justin Melton was arrested Tuesday by sheriff’s deputies. His bond was sent at $20,000. The Longview News-Journal reports Melton was indicted by the Gregg County grand jury on May 30th over an incident that occurred last December. He was indicted on two counts of possession and distribution of child pornography, including using a file-sharing network to distribute pornographic images of a child younger than 18 years old engaging in actual or simulated sexual intercourse.

KILGORE — Kilgore police have arrested two men on drug violations. Danny Ray Bentle, 50, of Kilgore (pictured) and Morris Leon Wilson, 52, of White Oak. The men were shopped after it was noticed they had just left a known drug house. Inside Bentle’s truck, officers found a beer can with “shards” of methamphetamines. And officers also discovered Bentle had an expired driver’s license.

LUFKIN — An Angelina County man will be going to prison for injuring a four month old baby. Jimmy Brent McClelland, 26, of Zavalla, has been sentenced By Judge Bob Inselmann to ten years in prison. He had been accused of abusing the infant, which had a broken leg and showed symptoms of shaken baby syndrome. The incident happened in August, 2011. McClelland pleaded guilty in April of this year. He was sentenced on Tuesday.

TYLER — Tyler’s bicycle club has been working furiously to meet a deadline. They’ve been in a race with the local regional mobility authority to raise money so they can ride on Tyler’s Loop 49. KETK reports they’ve reached their goal. The club’s raised $60,000 in order to ride on the toll road. They’ll hold a meeting this Friday morning at eight, at the Atkins office at 909 East Southeast Loop 323.

HENDERSON — Their doors were closed for an unexpectedly long period, but now, an East Texas DMV is back up and running. The Henderson driver’s license office shut down in early March for what was supposed to be only a couple of weeks. It was an effort to help other high demand offices in the area. But those two weeks turned into more than three months! Drivers in Henderson were having to drive to Longview, Jacksonville, or Nacogdoches. The office re-opened Friday.

LONGVIEW — A deal between Longview police and Pine Tree schools could bring a strong police presence in the district. KETK and the Longview News-Journal report the district is considering leasing the vacant administration building at the high school to the police department for a sub-station. If a deal is reached, it’ll house detectives and school resource officers.

HOUSTON — A skydiving jump turns fatal for an Angelina County man. KETK reports it happened at Skydive Spaceland near Houston over the weekend. Witnesses say 36-year-old Miguel Carrasco of Zavalla cut away from his main parachute about 1,000 feet above ground and then, for some reason, failed to deploy the backup chute. This isn’t the first time a skydiver has been killed at Skydive Spaceland. Four jumpers have died at the facility in the last few years — the most recent two years ago.

TYLER — A registered sex offender, who failed to return to his court session, has surrendered to authorities. Tyler police had been looking for Tracy Todd Smith, 45. Smith appeared on Wednesday, June 12th, in Judge Kerry Russell’s court for a hearing on a 2nd degree felony charge, “fail to comply with sex offender registration life/annually.” Court proceedings ended with testimony during the morning session. When court convened for the afternoon session, Smith failed to return to court The jury convicted Smith of the offense, and Russell issued a bond forfeiture warrant on Smith. Continue reading Registered Sex Offender Surrenders to Authorities

TYLER — An Eco-tourism guide, appearing in Tyler federal court, has pleaded guilty to smuggling live snakes. William Lamar, 63, pleaded guilty to an Information charging him with importing wildlife taken in violation of foreign law when he appeared Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge John D. Love. Lamar faces up to five years in federal prison at sentencing. A sentencing date has not been set. Continue reading Snake Smuggler Pleads Guilty in Tyler

LONGVIEW — A White Oak man is free on $25,000 bond after being charged with child pornography charges. The Longview New-Journal reports Tommy D. Simmons, 47, was indicted by the Gregg County grand jury on May 30th. He is accused of using a file-sharing network to distribute pornographic images of a child younger than 18 years old engaging in “deviant sexual intercourse.” He was arrested on the complaint on Monday.

LONGVIEW — Since the May 11th election in Longview, nearly 20 stores have applied with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission for permits to sell beer and wine in formerly dry areas of Longview. KETK reports stores including Sam’s Club, both North Longview Wal-Mart retail stores, Albertsons Market, Brookshire’s of Longview and Super 1 Foods north of Loop 281 have filed applications. The station reports Albertsons, Brookshire’s and Wal-Mart each donated $20,000 to the campaign in support of the passage of beer and wine sales.

EAST TEXAS — A medical group says enough is enough when it comes to old, polluting power plants. Dr. Robert Haley with the Texas Medical Association says there’s an effort to exempt the Big Brown, Monticello, and Martin Lake coal powered plants in East Texas from pollution controls. Haley says the plants dirty the air and are a major source of mercury in our lakes and streams. According to Haley, mercury can cause brain damage and is a suspect in the development of autism. He says the plants have been grandfathered from pollution controls for 40 years. Even though they may be sold, says Haley, the facilities were bought away from TXU several years ago and it’s time they were retrofitted.

KILGORE — A Kilgore man is dealing with the loss of hundreds of exotic birds in a Sunday afternoon fire in a building next door to his home. Tommy hayes has been keeping the birds there for 33 years. Hayes, his friends, and his son tried to rescue the birds and other animals but could only save a few. To Hayes, these were more than just pets. “This is not money here,” he says. “This is what we do because of what we love to do.” Hayes says he’s been getting phone calls from people outraged that he kept so many birds next to his house. But he showed KETK he’s licensed to raise the birds, along with inspection reports from the city. He says he’ll keep the birds that survived the fire.

TYLER — A traffic violation has turned into a money laundering case in Smith County. A state trooper stopped Glenn Richards. 68. of Florida on Interstate Highway 20. A search of his vehicle turned up $795, 506. He was booked into the Smith County Jail on a money laundering complaint. The Department of Public Safety Tells KETK there will be no further information released at this time since this is an ongoing investigation.

KILGORE — Kilgore College instructor Eddie Bernaldez has been named as one of the top fire instructors in the nation by the website FireScience.org. Bernaldez began working at Kilgore College in 1996 and has served as the Emergency Medical Technology program director and instructor at KC-Longview since 2000. Continue reading EMT Instructor Named one of The Tops in the Country

BEAUMONT — A Center, Texas, couple now living in Elgin, Texas, has been indicted and charged with health care fraud violations. Bill Harvill, 59, and his wife, Cathy Harvill, 56, were indicted by a federal grand jury on March 27, 2013, and charged with theft of government money. They were arrested on June 7, 2013, in Elgin, Texas, and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Zachary J. Hawthorn Monday for an initial appearance. According to the indictment, from January 2007 to June 2010, the Harvills submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid in order to receive more than $624,000 from the Department of Health and Human Services. If convicted, the Harvills each face up to 10 years in federal prison.

NACOGDOCHES — A man has died after exchanging gunfire with two Nacogdoches Sheriff’s deputies. Dead is John Stevens, 41. He died at Nacogdoches County Memorial Hospital following the shooting on County Road 2051 just before 1:00 Monday morning. KETK reports the deputies were dispatched to the area in reference to a disturbance. Continue reading Nacogdoches Deputies Kill Man Following Standoff

TYLER — Two Mexican nationals living in Tyler have been sentenced to federal prison for drug trafficking. Jose Ruben Vaca-Saucedo, 26, pleaded guilty on Mar. 4, 2013, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced to 80 months in federal prison Monday by U.S. District Judge Leonard E. Davis. The court also ordered the defendant to submit to forfeiture of $10,000. Vaca-Saucedo’s brother, Juan Carlos Vaca, 28, pleaded guilty on Mar. 4, 2013, to distribution of methamphetamine and was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison Monday by Judge Davis. Vaca was ordered to submit to forfeiture of $2,600. Federal Prosecutors say from May 2010 to January 2011, the brothers conspired to possess more than 182 grams of methamphetamine which they intended to deliver to others in the Tyler area. A federal grand jury returned an indictment on February 1, 2012, charging the brothers with drug trafficking violations.

TYLER — Investigators have identified the man found shot to death at a Tyler motel. He is Scott Lester, 26, of Tyler. He was found shot to death in room 218 of the American Inn Motel, 1800 West Erwin, just before 7:00 Sunday morning. Investigators believe that Lester was involved in the sale of narcotics in his motel room before he was killed by the suspects. Continue reading Weekend Tyler Murder Stems from Drug Deal

LONGVIEW — Two persons are in custody in connection with a Sunday shooting in Longview. Davian Leon Hopkins of Tatum (pictured) and Tre Lee Jackson of Easton, both 19, have been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Jackson is also charged, out of Marshall, with burglary of a habitation. The two are accused in the shooting around noon Sunday in the 600 block of Owings Avenue. The suspects were found hiding in the area. The victim, who was shot several times, is being treated at a Longview Hospital. His name has not been released.

CHEROKEE COUNTY — An East Texas man was killed in a wreck Saturday night in Cherokee County. KETK reports it happened just after 9:00 pm on FM 343, about six miles east of Rusk. William Walker, 48, of Rusk, was the victim. According to reports by the Department of Public Safety, Walker’s truck rolled and he was ejected from the vehicle. He was not wearing a seatbelt at the time. There were no other vehicles involved in the crash, and there were no passengers in the vehicle. Walker died on the scene.

LUFKIN — A one vehicle accident in Angelina County has left an elderly woman dead. Killed was a passenger in the vehicle, Mildred Hoch, 88, of Kennard. Four others in the car were injured. The accident happened just south of Lufkin at the intersection of U.S. Highway 69 and Farm Road 1818. Initial reports were group’s car blew a tire and rolled over several times.

TEXARKANA (AP) — A service will be held Wednesday for a Texas police officer who died after being hit by a truck during a disturbance at a park. Texarkana police say a suspect was being held Sunday over the death of Officer William Sprague. Sprague was hurt early Friday responding to a call of about fights that broke out as about 100 people were at Grady T. Wallace Park. Police later arrested a man on a charge of aggravated assault of a public servant. The charge could be upgraded due to Saturday’s death of Sprague. Visitation will be Tuesday from 5:00 to 8:00pm at First Baptist Church of Texarkana. Sprague’s funeral will be at 10:00am Wednesday at the same church. Burial will be at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Malvern, Arkansas.

HENDERSON — A two vehicle accident in Rusk County has killed one person. Killed in the wreck around 12:30 Sunday morning was Mario Aguilar, 22, of Henderson. The Department of Public Safety reports Aguilar was southbound when he veered into the northbound lane and hit a truck and trailer. The accident happened on U.S. Highway 79, about two miles south of Henderson.

TYLER — Here’s a quick look at other work planned in the Tyler District of the Texas Department of Transportation.

SMITH COUNTY – Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to continue edge work on Interstate Highway 20 between State Highway 155 and State Highway 271. A second crew is scheduled to perform ditch maintenance in various locations on Farm Road 346 between Farm Road 756 (Paluxy Drive) and U.S. Highway 69. Daytime lane closures will be in effect in each location while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic in two-lane areas. Continue reading TxDOT Project Updates

TYLER — A man and a woman, accused of trying to hit a Smith County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Sergeant with their vehicle, are in custody following a five mile, high-speed chase. Arrested was the driver, Alan Dale Crouch, 42, and his passenger, Amber Roxanne Johnson, 31. Continue reading Smith County Chase Leads to Two Arrests