KTBB News, Weather, Talk

SEVEN POINTS – A one vehicle accident in Henderson County has killed one person. Dead at the scene was Phillip Rodnye Storey, 41, of Kemp. The Department of Public Safety reports his vehicle left the roadway and overturned. The report said Storey was not wearing his seat belt. The accident happened shortly before 11:00 Saturday night on Farm Road 85, just under 4½ miles west of Seven Points.

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

TYLER — Construction crews are scheduled to begin several weeks of nighttime work on Tyler’s WSW Loop 323 between State Highway 155 (Frankston Highway) and Bellwood Drive, which is just south of the railroad overpass near West Front Street. Crews are scheduled to work from 7:00pm to 5:00am through Thursday repairing and then resurfacing the roadway. Temporary lane-closures will be in effect while the work is in progress, and motorists should be prepared to reduce speed and merge in and around the work zone.

CHEROKEE COUNTY — The Texas Department of Transportation’s annual preventative maintenance program known as “District-Wide Seal Coat” is scheduled to continue work this week in Cherokee County, weather permitting. Crews are scheduled to apply a seal coat to U.S. Highway 69 between the north end of Farm Road 1911 near Alto and the Angelina County Line in Wells, and on U.S. Highway 84 between U.S. Highway 69 in Rusk and the Angelina River. 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. Loose gravel may be present for several days following a seal coat application. Motorists are encouraged to seek alternate routes if possible to avoid delays.

Also this week in Cherokee County, TxDOT maintenance crews this week are scheduled to begin edge work on Farm Road 855 between U.S. Highway 69 in Mount Selman and Farm Road 2137. Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic.

GREGG COUNTY – Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews are scheduled to continue several days of pavement repairs on Interstate Highway 20, both eastbound and westbound, between SH 135 and the Smith County Line. Daytime lane closures will be in effect in each location while the work is in progress. Motorists should be prepared to reduce speed and merge in and around the work zone. Loose gravel may be present for several days following a seal coat application.

HENDERSON — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews, in conjunction with the city of Henderson and Blacklands Railroad, is scheduled to make overnight repairs Tuesday night on the railroad crossing and approaches on SH 64 just west of the Henderson Star. Crews are scheduled to begin work at approximately 7:00pm on Tuesday and conclude the work around 5:00am on Wednesday. Lane closures allowing for one-lane traffic in each direction will be in effect while the work is in progress. Motorists are encouraged to seek alternate routes if possible to avoid delays.

Looking ahead, work related to TxDOT’s District Wide Seal Coat program is scheduled to begin in Rusk County within the next 10 days, weather permitting. Crews will be applying a seal coat to the following roadways:
● FM 1716 between FM 2011 and SH 43;
● FM 2496 between FM 1798 and US 259;
● SH 149 between the Gregg County Line and Tatum; and
● SH 322 between FM 2011 and FM 1249

WOOD COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to continue several days of pavement repairs on Farm Road 312 in Winnsboro between State Highway 11 and Farm Road 515. Once the work in Winnsboro is complete, crews are scheduled to begin resurfacing operations on Farm Road 16 on either side of 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.

CANTON — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to begin base and pavement repairs in various locations on Farm Road 47 between U.S. Highway 80 and Interstate Highway 20 in the Wills Point area. Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic in two-lane areas.

HENDERSON COUNTY — Texas Department of Transportation maintenance crews this week are scheduled to perform resurfacing operations on Farm Road 316 between U.S. Highway 175 and Ranch Road 2329. Once the work is complete, crews will stay on FM 316 to work on the shoulders and ditches. Daytime lane closures will be in effect while the work is in progress, and flaggers will control traffic.

RUSK — A man accused of shooting an elderly man in 2010 has been given two life sentences in prison. Ruben Rincon, 24, was charged with aggravated robbery and injury to an elderly. The crime occurred on December 4, 2010 on County Road 3303, just west of Jacksonville. Hugo Rincon, then 21, and Ruben Rincon, were breaking into storage units on the family property of David Thomason, then 74, when he interrupted the crime in progress. Thomason was blocking the gate and when he did not move, Ruben Rincon fired into the truck. The Jacksonville Daily Progress reports, Thomason was shot twice. The shooter pulled Mr. Thomason out of the truck, moved his truck out of the way and when they drove out, they ran over Mr. Thomason’s leg and left him for dead. A passerby stopped to render aid and called 911. Thomason was able to recall partial license plate number, identifying four characters from the plate. Hugo Rincon, this brother, has not been captured.

HENDERSON — The Office of Civil Rights found that the Henderson school district wrongly punished a student after she told school officials she was sexually assaulted by another student on campus a year and a half ago. Now, the student has chosen to go public with her story. She says now she finally feels some relief as she told KETK her side of the story, but she also says she will never be able to get her senior year of high school back December 6, 2010, a day Rachel Bradshaw says has changed her life forever

“I was sexually assaulted and I went to a faculty member about it and I was not, it wasn’t dealt with the right way,” Bradshaw tells KETK. But Bradshaw, that her and her alleged attacker were both punished, and both put in the same alternative program. “They evaluated my case within a day and that night they told me I had been um accused of consensual sex because I did not weep during my interview,” said Bradshaw. “When law enforcement don’t believe allegations of assault unless the victim cries and that’s a gender bias, that’s a gender stereotype to then impose upon her afterward and make her a victim all over again,” Stephanie Bauman from the ACLU of Texas.

Bradshaw’s family contacted the ACLU of Texas, and after a year and a half, Rachel’s punishment has been removed from her permanent record. But no matter what the case, she says this is something she still has to live with. “Emotionally it’s been horrible… because I haven’t been able to feel relief until a few days ago.” Among other requirements, Henderson ISD must provide mandatory sexual assault training for staff, designate an on-call official at each campus concerning assaults, and review campus records to see if there were any other violations. The school tells our newspaper partners, the Longview News-Journal, that they have revised investigation procedures, and are committed to providing a safe environment for their students.

TYLER — The Better Business Bureau Serving Central East Texas has received reports of a phone scam by a person or persons posing as an AT&T representative, asking for credit or debit card numbers for an immediate payment. In one instance, the scammer claimed to be calling for an outstanding balance for internet advertising. According to BBB officials, whereas phishing scams are generally associated with e-mail messages, vishing uses voice communications to do the same thing — to trick victims into divulging personal information by masquerading as a trusted source.

Officials say some “vishers” use automated dialing programs to cold call victims. The caller ID device may list a legitimate-looking local phone number, to inspire trust from the recipient. A prerecorded message or a live “employee” claims the victim’s account has been compromised or needs updating or verification. “Unfortunately, impostor scams are very common, with scammers impersonating officials from the IRS to trusted charitable organizations,” said Mechele Agbayani Mills, president and CEO of the BBB Serving Central East Texas. “They make a living by claiming to be affiliated with organizations people know and trust.”

BBB offers consumers the following tips to protect against these types of scams:
• Be wary of e-mails, text messages or phone calls that request personal information.
• Don’t give your personal information to anyone who contacts you. Give those details only when you initiate the contact.
• If you receive a vishing phone call, simply hang up. If you think the call is legitimate, call back using the business’ published number.
If you or someone you know is a victim of a phishing or vishing scam, please call the BBB Hotline: (903) 581-8373.

LONGVIEW — Longview police say they are honing in on suspects involved in a string of vandalism that occurred early last week. No arrests had been made, but a spokesman for the police department said investigators believe arrests are imminent. Vandals slashed the tires of more than 40 vehicles and scrawled profane graffiti through Pine Tree-area neighborhoods Monday through Wednesday nights. According to the Longview News-Journal, there were only a handful of incidents Monday and Tuesday night. Wednesday saw by far the largest number of incidents. The crimes have taken place south of Reel Road and east of Pine Tree Road. The vandals also struck in the Wildwood neighborhood as far as Fairmont and Gilmer.

LONGVIEW — Two people have been arrested after leading police on a chase across south Longview in a stolen plumbing truck. Police say a man and boy face evading arrest charges. Longview police spokeswoman Kristie Brian said on Friday, the adult drove the heisted truck down High, Cole, and Jewel, hitting at least two cars along the way. It finally crashed through a stop sign and scraped a house before coming to a stop in the 200 block of Jewel Drive. The boy tried to run away after the vehicle came to a stop but was quickly detained, Brian said. The suspects’ vehicle also struck a fire hydrant and two other vehicles during the chase.

LONGVIEW — A high-speed chase in Longview ended in a crash Friday afternoon, according to the Longview Police Department. According to KETK, officials say the wrecked truck had just been stolen. The driver hit a house and a car during the pursuit, then crashed the vehicle on Jewel Drive. Two people were arrested at the scene. No officers or bystanders were hurt during the chase. The conditions of the chase suspects are unknown.

LINDALE — A teenager lost control of his truck Thursday night, running straight through a house on Woodlands Drive in Lindale. The Lindale Police Department tells KETK the wreck happened just after 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. A woman who lives at the house was sitting on her couch when the truck came through the wall. It came within three feet of hitting her. No one was injured, and there had been no arrests made at last report. But charges may be pending against the 16-year-old driver, who was allegedly racing at the time of the accident.

MARSHALL — Harrison County Sheriff’s officials search for a 36-year-old man last seen Sunday. Authorities say, Jason Alan Dillard, a white male, 5’6″ and about 210 pounds, left a friend’s house Sunday en route to Lake o’ the Pines. His truck was found Tuesday, abandoned on private property.

BEAUMONT – A federal grand jury has indicted a Nacogdoches couple for alleged federal tax violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales Friday. Reggie Cotton, 52, and Deborah Cotton, 57, were indicted on June 20, 2012 and charged with conspiracy to make a false income tax return and two counts of making a false income tax return.

According to the indictment, it is alleged that beginning in 2002, the Cottons conspired to conceal income they received from their employment with D&R Cleaning Services in an attempt to avoid paying federal income tax due totaling $45,361.00 and $52,451.00 for 2004 and 2005. Additionally, it is alleged that the Cottons filed false income tax returns which did not include a Schedule C, Profit and Loss From Business for D&R Cleaning Services for 2004 and 2005. The defendants are scheduled for an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zachary Hawthorn on July 10, 2012. If convicted, the defendants each face up to 5 years in federal prison.

TYLER — The University of Texas at Tyler R. Don Cowan Fine and Performing Arts Center will open its 16th season with Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, Susan Thomae-Morphew, Cowan Center executive director, announced. The season, titled “Wrap Yourself in the Arts,” features a wide variety of performances from across the globe, and it concludes with the return of the last season’s megahit Blue Man Group. Other highlights include a performance of “Dreamgirls,” “Larry Hagman Confessions,” “Ed Asner as FDR,” and Distinguished Lectures from Ambassador Karen Hughes and Dr. John Carlos.

New season subscriptions are on sale now at the UT Tyler Cowan Center box office. Box office hours are 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can also subscribe online and get additional information at http://www.cowancenter.org or by calling 903.566.7424. The deadline to purchase season subscriptions is Friday, Aug. 5, 2012.

HOUSTON (AP/Staff) – A convicted sex offender with a record in East Texas has been sentenced to life in prison for molesting a 6-year-old boy in a Houston public library bathroom. A judge in Houston sentenced 23-year-old Michael Joseph Snowden. Snowden pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child. Investigators say the attack happened in November 2010 when a 6-year-old boy and his 8-year-old brother were disrobing to prepare for a swim lesson near the library. Their father had slipped out to the family’s vehicle to get the children’s bathing suits. Snowden pleaded guilty to molesting the younger boy in a stall. Snowden apologized in court Thursday and said he’s being treated for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Records show Snowden in 2005 was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a toddler in Upshur County.

GREGG COUNTY — A Longview man has been arrested after a woman told police he choked and beat her before she temporarily passed out. According to the Longview News-Journal, Domingo Garcia, 26, was arrested early Thursday after returning to the woman’s home, the location of the alleged assault. Garcia is charged with assault family violence impeding breathing/circulation with previous family violence conviction. According to the arrest report, Garcia on Wednesday pushed the victim onto a bed and began choking her. Garcia also jabbed the victim’s eye. Garcia returned early Thursday morning, and the victim contacted the police again. Garcia was being held in the Gregg County Jail on $10,000 in bonds.

HENDERSON (AP) — Federal officials say an East Texas school district failed to investigate a high school senior’s allegation that she’d been raped on campus in 2010.The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights also said the Henderson Independent School District punished the student improperly by placing her in a disciplinary program with the student she alleged had attacked her.

The officials had ordered district officials earlier this month to revise its discrimination and sexual harassment policies and clear the student’s disciplinary record. The district had punished the student and her alleged attacker for violating student rules after police concluded the incident was consensual.

American Civil Liberties Union attorney Ariela Migdal said Thursday the district was wrong for not doing its own investigation. District officials didn’t return a message seeking comment.

TYLER — Buy Local First! has completed collecting the required number of signatures on its petitions in an effort to place limited beer and wine sales on the November ballot, beating its deadline in the process. City of Tyler and Smith County officials now have 30 days to verify the signatures before the petitions must be presented at the next regular meeting of each. That would be July 25 for the Tyler City Council and July 24 for the Smith County Commissioners Court. If the required number of valid signatures has been reached, officials are required to put the local option on the November ballot.

In order to call an election, state law required the group to collect approximately 7,800 signatures of City of Tyler registered voters and 6,700 signatures of voters in Justice Precinct 2 which includes southwestern Tyler, Flint and Bullard. The valid signatures collected totaled approximately 9,100 for the City of Tyler and approximately 7,100 for JP-2. The group asked voters to sign petitions calling for an election to allow beer and wine sold in places like grocery and convenience stores and “the legal sale of mixed beverages in restaurants by food and beverage certificate holders only.”

A local group has filed paperwork with the Smith County Elections Office to oppose the Buy Local First! organization. According to KETK, “Stand Strong for Tyler” filed paperwork recently and is led by Dr. Michael Daniels, pastor of Landmark Baptist Church.

TYLER — The next court appearance for Tara McSwain is now scheduled for next week. McSwain’s drug possession case was on this week’s docket of Tyler’s 7th State District Court, but a district clerk’s spokesperson says the case been delayed again. The spokesperson says McSwain is currently set to appear at 9:00 Monday morning, but there’s no firm time or date for the case to proceed. If all goes smoothly, McSwain could go on trial next week. The spokesperson gave no reason for the delay. But following an earlier delay, an assistant DA explained that jailed defendants’ cases are given priority when scheduling trials. McSwain is currently out on bond.

McSwain, 38, is the former owner/manager of East Texas Billing and former manager of Apple Swim & Fitness Center. She faces nine counts of fraudulent possession of a controlled substance, a 3rd degree felony. Last June 16, an employee of Walgreens at 5415 South Broadway called police and said there was a woman in the drive-thru attempting to pick up a fraudulent prescription for hydrocodone. Patrol officers and vice investigators arrived on the scene and took McSwain into custody after further investigation.

Investigators say they found several pieces of paper with physicians’ and patients’ names on them in McSwain’s purse. Police say the materials were discovered during the search incident to arrest and were believed to be used in a fraudulent manner. Police say because of her billing service for physicians, McSwain had access to doctor and patient information.

After investigators contacted several physicians and former patients, they say they developed probable cause that on six different occasions in 2011, McSwain provided fraudulent information to obtain a controlled substance from pharmacies in Tyler. On June 23, investigators arrested McSwain on six warrants for fraudulent possession of a controlled substance. She was booked into Smith County Jail on a total bond of $120,000, set by Judge Randall Rogers.

TYLER – One of the state 10 most wanted sex offenders, Sean Michael Price, 27, has been captured by the Texas Department of Public Safety in Tyler. An investigation led DPS Criminal Investigations Division agents and Highway Patrol troopers to a Tyler residence where the suspect was arrested this week for failure to register as a sex offender and probation violation. Price’s last known residence was in Henderson County, and a failure to register as a sex offender warrant was issued by the Gun Barrel City Police Department in April. Price was originally convicted of rape of a child in the state of Washington in 2001.

TYLER — A Wednesday evening wreck on Broadway knocked out power to several businesses in Tyler. The wreck happened around 5 in front of the Broadstone Apartments. Police tell KETK a driver suffered a medical problem and hit a utility pole. Traffic was re-routed around the scene for a short period of time.

GREENWOOD, La. (AP) – The Caddo Parish, La., Sheriff’s Office says deputies have ticketed a trucker injured when his tractor-trailer rear-ended another, causing a wreck that killed Jim Harville, 56, of Waskom, Texas, the driver of a third big rig. Spokeswoman Cindy Chadwick says Larry D. Gatson II, 25, of Shreveport was cited for reckless driving and following too closely Wednesday on U.S Highway 79 near Greenwood. She says Gatson’s rig, in a northbound convoy hauling oilfield equipment for Frac Tech International Services, rear-ended the company truck ahead of him. Chadwick says that truck veered head-on into Harville’s southbound tractor-trailer. Chadwick said Wednesday that Gatson was treated for serious injuries and released. He was originally described from his driver’s license as from Spearsville; Chadwick says he told deputies he now lives in Shreveport.

HENDERSON — A Rusk County man has been arrested on allegations of sexually assaulting a mentally disabled woman. According to KETK, Eric Donnell Reese, 47, of Tatum is charged with second degree sexual assault. According to a report, Reese knew the victim suffered from a mental disease and was not capable of protecting herself. If convicted. he faces up to 20 years in prison.

PITTSBURG — A man authorities said is an illegal immigrant living in Pittsburg has been charged with the aggravated sexual assault of a 6-month-old child. Ignacio Saldano-Rivera, 32, was being held in the Camp County Jail under $103,000 in bonds. According to the Longview News-Journal, an investigation was continuing into the possibility another child also was assaulted. Authorities said a female victim alleged that she caught Saldana-Rivera sexually assaulting a baby.

Saldano-Rivera was charged Monday with the sexual assault, but had been in jail since his June 8 arrest on charges of causing bodily injury/family violence, and interfering with an emergency phone call. He was being held under a $100,000 bond for the aggravated assault charge and $1,500 each for the two misdemeanor charges. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold was in place, meaning he could not bond out of jail.

LONGVIEW (AP) – Long lost and now found, an East Texas Air Force fighter pilot was finally be laid to rest with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery. Funeral for Capt. Clyde William Campbell of Longview was held this morning in the post chapel of the Northern Virginian cemetery. Campbell had been missing in action for more than four decades after the 24-year-old pilot’s plane was shot down over Laos during the Vietnam War in 1969. Only in 1997 did a joint U.S.-Laotian team find the first human remains related with Campbell’s plane. His widow, Diane Campbell, finally brought his remains back to the United States in 2010.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, you can visit the DPMO website at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call 703-699-1420.

KILGORE — Eight students are set to graduate from the Kilgore College Fire Academy No. 83 tonight. The ceremony is set for 6:30 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.

The following is the list of candidates and their hometown.

Diana: Ryan Cobb, Brandon T. Miller and Luis Villalpando
Gilmer: Chris Burris
Kamloops, BC: Jordan Ewert
North Vancouver, BC: Rebecca Stewart and Mike Waugh
Surrey, BC: Cory Reppen

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Louie Gohmert of Tyler is joining with other Congressional Republicans in backing a contempt resolution against Attorney General Eric Holder. Gohmert released the following statement Wednesday after the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee approved a resolution holding Holder in contempt for his refusal to hand over requested Fast and Furious documents:

“After more than a year of trying to get the Justice Department to provide information on when and what the Justice Department officials knew about Fast and Furious, the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee has done the appropriate thing. This action comes after two of their official statements to Congress have been retracted as false.

“While the subpoenaed information only involved the documentation that brought about the withdrawal of the Justice Department’s false statements, the Attorney General’s conduct warranted such committee action. Previously, the White House had claimed they had no knowledge or involvement, so the current claim of Executive Privilege means someone at the White House apparently must have known prior to their previous admissions and possibly had more involvement than admitted.”

JACKSONVILLE — While Lon Morris College struggles, neighboring Jacksonville College is getting some major renovations. According to KETK, officials say that school is growing — and on track to reach its long-sought enrollment of 500 students per semester this fall. Among the upgrades: new lab equipment, renovations of dorms, and new property that’s been purchased or donated. The college is also looking into possibly building a cafeteria.

TYLER — Ensuring clear and effective communication for all patients is the goal behind the adoption of the NexTalk Video Remote Interpreting system throughout the East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare System. That’s according to hospital officials. NexTalk provides on-demand translation services for the deaf, hard of hearing, and those speaking limited English. Officials say it’s been installed, and team members have been trained, at all ETMC hospitals and ETMC First Physicians clinics throughout East Texas. The system allows patients and caregivers instant, face-to-face access to an interpreter through a secure Internet video link 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“Clear communication is essential in providing high quality healthcare,” said Mike Gray, vice president of human resources for ETMC. “NexTalk provides a needed tool so that we can ensure all our patients actively participate in their care through open, effective conversation with their care providers. Our goal is to remove any and all hindrances and provide all East Texans with the highest quality care possible.”

GREGG COUNTY — Gregg County sheriff’s officials say a man was seriously injured Wednesday afternoon in a Highway 31 wreck. According to KETK, it happened around 12:30 p.m. near the Smith-Gregg County line. Authorities say the driver hit a tree three miles east of FM 3053. It’s unclear how the crash happened. No other vehicles were involved. Two lanes of traffic were blocked for a short time as crews cleared the roadway. The man was taken to a local hospital. His current condition is unknown.

NOONDAY — An injunction has been granted against High Noon Gun Range in Noonday. The injunction prevents High Noon from operating until an August 6 trial determines the winner in a case that pits the gun range owners against nearby homeowners. The homeowners claim the gun range is a safety concern. Judge Jack Skeen signed the injunction on Monday. Owner Don Layton told KETK he has no comment on the injunction at this time. But gun range co-owner Karl Artmire earlier questioned the validity of residents’ concerns.

GILMER — An Upshur County jury has sentenced Glenn Wade Myers Jr., 55, of Big Sandy to 60 years in prison after convicting him of murder in the shooting death of his sister. Myers testified Tuesday morning that he did not kill Cindy Espinoza, 52, who was shot this past summer outside her rural Nutmeg Road home. According to KETK and the Longview News-Journal, testimony established she was shot through the mouth from close range with a shotgun. The six-man, six-woman jury deliberated more than four hours before finding Myers guilty, and less than 40 minutes in determining the sentence. Myers would have to serve half the 60-year term before becoming eligible for parole.