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TYLER — Early voting in the May elections got underway today. One high-profile item is the Smith County jail bond. 384 beds would be added under the $35 million plan, which calls for expansion and renovation of the existing jail. Early voting continues through May 10, and Election Day is May 14.

TYLER — A high-speed chase that started in Longview made its way to Tyler Saturday evening. Authorities tell KETK the car being pursued made its way on down U.S. Highway 271 onto Loop 323 in Tyler. Smith County sheriff’s deputies picked up the chase on the Smith County line. After driving on the loop, police were able to stop the car south of Grande and highway 155 in Tyler. The suspect is currently in custody in the Smith County Jail. We’ll have more details as they’re made available.

TYLER — Over 6,000 people poured into the downtown Tyler Square on Saturday afternoon for the 4th Annual Cause For The Paws event — an event envisioned by award winning country artist Miranda Lambert, a native East Texan. The event was originally meant just to help the Humane Society of East Texas, but now it’s growing — while still including its original beneficiary. “Now that we’ve gotten the Humane Society of East Texas so built up, we wanted to start branching out and going across the United States, so we started the foundation (Lambert’s MuttNation Foundation) to sort of put all the money we raise in one pot and be able to help more than just our hometown…but spread it out,” Lambert told KETK Also at Saturday’s event, there were performances by Stoney Larue and Josh Kelley.

Lambert says Saturday’s show is actually the last show she’ll be performing for a while due to some other plans she has coming up. “Ready to get married, it’s been a year in planning so it kind of consumes everyone’s life for a year and so I’m ready to experience it and then move on,” Lambert said. Lambert’s people says they raised over $50,000 Saturday night in just the live auction alone. Lambert’s fiance is fellow country star Blake Shelton.

FORT WORTH (AP) – The Humane Society of North Texas just received some new tenants – 79 nonvenomous snakes. An East Texas judge granted custody of the snakes, all constrictors, to the nonprofit this week. Tammy Roberts of the agency says they include a rock python, anacondas and “a few things in between.” They are 2 to 14 feet long and weigh up to 70 pounds. The reptiles were seized by the Wood County sheriff last week from a snake dealer in a cruelty investigation. He has 10 days to appeal. The serpents are living in the Humane Society’s area for exotic animals, each in a 10- to 12-inch-high bin that is about 4 feet long and 2 feet wide. They will be fed thawed rats or rabbits by workers who use 4-foot tongs.

LINDALE — Local citizens and law officers are expressing dismay over the activities of a body shop owner. Smith County Constable Dennis Taylor says law officers have already taken three cars from Alvey’s Body Shop in Lindale this week for drivers who were tired of waiting for their cars to get fixed. “We’ve been getting complaints about cars not being worked on,” he says. According to KETK, Taylor says David Alvey, the owner, makes about $30,000 in insurance checks every month, but the cars aren’t getting fixed. “His electricity and water are shut off. The cars aren’t getting fixed. So where’s the money going?” Taylor says.

One driver says she took her truck to Alvey’s to get a new bumper. When she went to pick it up, she says it had no bumper and Alvey had messed up other parts on the truck. She also says her rims and tires were taken off of her truck and put on Alvey’s truck, so she called the Constable. Alvey was arrested for theft of property, but was released just a couple of hours later on a $4,000 bond. Since she gave Alvey her insurance check and he already cashed it, she says the $7,000 to fix the damage is coming from her pocket.

Several East Texans also say they went to Alvey’s and gave him money, but their cars never got fixed. Some people say just a couple of years ago, they took their cars to Alvey and he fixed them well. Now the Better Business Bureau rates Alvey’s Body Shop with an “F” after a customer filed a complaint that his mirror was replaced with a shiny piece of cardboard.

Constable Taylor says if anyone has a car at Alvey’s, he will go get it. Unfortunately, he says customers will probably not get their cars fixed or get their money back. The Constable also says they searched Alvey’s car, business, and home for drugs, but none were found.

TYLER – TJC’s board of trustees recently approved an across-the-board tuition increase. In addition to a higher tuition, officials say students can expect increases in other areas such as a higher general education fee, registration fee, and campus meal plans. According to KETK, officials say a full time student can expect a grand total 9% increase in tuition and fees starting in the fall.

FORT WORTH (AP) – A former Miss USA’s claims of being groped during a pat-down at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport could be a criminal matter under a bill sponsored by Republican Representative David Simpson of Longview. The measure’s gaining momentum in the Texas Legislature. If it becomes Texas law, it would be a felony for a security officer to intentionally touch someone’s private areas – even on top of clothing – unless they have probable cause. Susie Castillo says the pat down left her feeling molested and violated. Castillo, who was crowned in 2003, was in tears following the April 21st experience. She says a female Transportation Security Administration worker who checked her touched her crotch area several times.

EAST TEXAS — East Texas takes up the battle against prescription drug abuse. The Tyler Police Department and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) host a Prescription Drug Take Back Day today from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Super One Foods located at 3000 WNW Loop 323 in Tyler. Police say there will be “no questions asked.”

In Longview, The Region 4 Prevention Resource Center, a program of East Texas Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (ETCADA), conducts a similar effort — also today from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can drop off your prescription drugs at Louis Morgan Drug #4, located at 110 Johnston St. To find a site near you, simply visit the DEA website at http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov or by contacting Linda Moyer with ETCADA at (903) 247-9646.

According to authorities, the purpose of this National Take Back Day is to provide a venue for persons who want to dispose of unwanted and unused prescription drugs. Police say a prior take back effort was a huge success in removing potentially dangerous prescription drugs, particularly controlled substances, from the nation’s medicine cabinets. There were approximately 3,000 state and local law enforcement agencies throughout the nation that participated in the event. All told, the American Public turned in more than 121 tons of pills on the first National Take Back Day.

Due to what’s termed the overwhelming success of the first event, DEA has scheduled the second National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Police say it’s a great opportunity for those who missed the first event, or who have subsequently accumulated unwanted or unused prescription drugs, to safely dispose of them.

Police say the initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. More than seven million Americans currently abuse prescription drugs, according to the 2009 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Each day, approximately, 2,500 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the first time according to the Partnership for a Drug Free America. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including the home medicine cabinet.

MARSHALL — A 44-year-old Linden man has pleaded guilty to sexual assault-related charges in the Eastern District of Texas. Rodney Ray Hayes pleaded guilty to the transportation of minors with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity Friday in Marshall before U.S. District Judge T. John Ward.

According to information presented in court, Hayes, also known as the Texas Kid, had a professional rodeo act which was based out of Linden. As part of his rodeo act, Hayes had children under the age of eighteen years old performing and traveling with him. Hayes would travel with these children in interstate commerce to other states to perform their act at various rodeos. An investigation revealed that at various times between March 2005 and June 2008, Hayes engaged in illicit sexual contact with at least one minor. Hayes was indicted by a federal grand jury on Sep. 7, 2010.

In addition to facing federal prison time, Hayes will be required to register as a sex offender and is prohibited from having any contact with his victims. A sentencing date has not been set. The case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

EAST TEXAS — East Texans hit the road Friday morning in Red Cross emergency response vehicles to help out with the tornado devastation that hit nine states. Hundreds of Red Cross volunteers have either headed in that direction or are already on site — providing food, shelter, relief supplies, blood products and equipment. Sonya Meador is an experienced Red Cross volunteer who showed up Friday morning to be deployed. She told our news partner KETK, “All I can do is what I’ve been trained to do, is to be available — whether it’s staffing a shelter or feeding, running a vehicle through neighborhoods, helping people clean up, whatever — just to be available.” Forty Red Cross emergency vehicles are involved in the response effort. More than 1600 people already have taken advantage of Red Cross shelters following the tornadoes and flooding. This is believed to be the deadliest tornadio outbreak in more than 35 years.

HENDERSON – Three East Texas suspects were arrested Thursday for theft of livestock after allegedly stealing two head of cattle from a pasture near Reklaw. KETK reports John Frederick Hinds II, 26, Reklaw; his wife, Kellie Dawn Hinds, 22, Reklaw; and Bobby Addrian Askew, 24, Jacksonville, were admittedly high on methamphetamine at the time of the theft. The suspects hired a commercial hauler to transport the cattle to a livestock auction barn in East Texas. Livestock company employees immediately saw multiple signs of possible theft and reported it. The cattle were later identified as stolen and returned to the owners.

“These cattle were quickly identified and returned to their owners because employees at the livestock market stepped forward and voiced concerns they had about the sellers,” said Larry Hand, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) special ranger. “Thanks to the collaboration between TSCRA and sheriff deputies, we were able to track down the suspects and take them into custody.” Hand advises ranchers to brand their cattle and count them regularly, especially now that cattle prices are at record highs. Hand led the investigation in cooperation with deputies from the Panola and Rusk County sheriff’s departments, the Rusk County district attorney’s office, TSCRA Market Inspector Pat McGuigan and TSCRA Special Ranger Jimmy Dickson.

TYLER — A Tyler woman is sentenced to 8 years in prison for hurting her step-daughter. According to KETK, 43-year-old Martha Lorena Camargo pleaded guilty to cutting the eight-year-old with a butcher knife because she wasn’t eating a meal fast enough. Authorities maintain Camargo also jammed her fingers down the girl’s throat and pulled her hair.

TYLER — A 29-year-old Kilgore man has been sentenced to federal prison for drug violations in the Eastern District of Texas announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales Friday. Russell Eugene Shepherd pleaded guilty on Sep. 2, 2010, to possession of pseudoephedrine knowing it would be used to manufacture methamphetamine and was sentenced to 72 months in federal prison Tuesday in Tyler.

According to information presented in court, Shepherd admitted to purchasing cold pills containing pseudoephedrine at various stores in Longview, Kilgore and Henderson between March of 2009 and January of 2010. These pills were purchased in furtherance of a conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine utilizing these pills with other co-defendants. Shepherd was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 6.

RUSK COUNTY — A Henderson man was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday morning in connection with the aggravated robbery of a convenience store almost a year ago. Phillip Wayne Moss Jr., 19, was arrested July 2010 and charged with aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony and possession of marijuana. Officials said Moss pleaded guilty before District Judge Clay Gossett Thursday morning and took “full responsibility for his conduct.”

According to previous reports, Moss used an air pistol, which resembled a firearm, threatened the clerk and demanded money from the cash register. Police officials said Moss, and an accomplice who was identified as a minor, took money from the cash register and fled. Officials had said the minor’s case was being handled through the juvenile center.

LONGVIEW — LeTourneau University students and faculty will be in Kenya from May 5 through May 31 to work with disabled children and conduct research to assess how well the children’s wheelchairs work for them. LETU Assistant Professor of Biology Karen Rispin and two students, Taylor Geyman of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, and Sam Nemati of Altadena, California, will travel to partner with Bethany Kids at Joytown Special Primary School for the Disabled as part of the Wheels project at LETU. Wheels team members made a preliminary trip to Joytown in June of 2010 and have facilitated the donation and shipment of two types of pediatric wheelchairs to the school.

“What is really exciting is that our Wheels team’s research study has the potential to make a huge difference, not only to the children being fitted with these donated wheelchairs, but to children around the world using wheelchairs provided by the organizations with the same wheelchairs in this study,” Rispin said. David N’gan’ga, who is an administrator at Bethany Kids, said, “The one thing that most impressed me about the Wheels project was their commitment to follow up and do research to see if their donations work well for the children.”

While in Kenya, the Wheels team will collect data on maneuverability, ease of rolling and durability, as well as gain questionnaire input on how well each type of wheelchair worked for the kids as they played with friends and went to school. Kris Riseling, a physical therapist from Ontario, and Janet Welch, a wheelchair seating specialist from North Carolina, will accompany the Wheels team and will repair wheelchairs and ensure the chairs are fitted properly for the children. The organizations that manufacture the two types of wheelchairs are both eager for feedback that will inform their design and help them to provide more functional wheelchairs.