Today is
Tuesday November 26, 2024
TYLER – In separate cases, Smith County juries have sentenced two men to prison for sexual acts with children. Christopher Matthew Luna, 28, of Troup, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for sexual assault of a child. He was arrested last June. The victim was a family friend to the defendant, and testified to multiple offenses that took place over a two-week period when she was 14 years old. Read the rest of this entry »
BROWNSBORO – Because of illness, schools in Brownsboro will be closed on Monday. Over 475 students and staff members were out of school Friday, recovering from the flu and other health related illnesses. Because of the high number, district officials decided to close school on Monday and return from the weekend on Tuesday. All school-related activities that are scheduled to take place on Brownsboro campuses on Monday, including evening activities, will also be canceled. Bad weather days will not be used for this time off and the day will not have to be made up.
AUSTIN – Governor Greg Abbott has named a new district attorney for Wood County. The governor announced Friday he was appointing to the post, which is subject to senate confirmation, the county’s First Assistant DA, Angela Albers. The post became vacant late last year when Jim Wheeler stepped down during a Texas Rangers’ investigation of official oppression. Albers has been acting district attorney since Wheeler left. Her term will expire at the end of next year or until an election is held to name her successor.
LONGVIEW – A fugitive out of Virginia has been arrested in Longview. The arrest was made by a member of the United States Marshal’s East Texas Violent Crime Task Force. Arrested Thursday at a residence on Sabine Street was Antwain Maurice Jones, 34,of Reva, Virginia. He is being charged with assault and battery of a family member, obstruction of justice, contempt of court, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon involving a homicide. He remains in the Gregg County Jail awaiting extradition to Virginia.
PRICE – Because of a false threat that appeared in the social media, the Carlisle School District closed early Friday. The rumors were about an active shooter, which turned out to be false. Carlisle Superintendent Michael Payne told our news partner KETK the district beefed up security on campus and searched school facilities carefully for any weapons. None were found. Since mid week there have been many absences and the district has been contacted by numerous concerned parents. In the wake of all of this, they decided to close the schools early.
LOG CABIN – The Henderson County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help in locating a missing woman. She is Brenda Lizbeth Montanez, 25, who went missing Sunday, January 27. The case originated with the Addison Police Department. Their investigation led searchers to the Log Cabin area. Montanrez is about five feet tall and was last seen driving a maroon 2011, 4-door Mazda. It has a Texas license plate of CZW-4001. If you see this woman, you are asked to contact the nearest law enforcement agency.
TYLER – Union Pacific will be replacing rails and ties along the Tyler railroad system. The railroad will need to close intersecting roads to lay rail through the crossings and replace ties. The work started Friday and will run until next Friday. All closures will be from 11:00pm until 10:00am. There will be no through traffic. The following streets will be closed where they intersect with the Railroad: North Border Avenue, North Spring Avenue., North Palace Avenue., West Elm Street., West Houston Street and South Lyons Avenue. They will be focusing on North Spring Avenue and West Houston Street on Sunday to open the streets by 6:00am before church traffic begins. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – The Smith County Sheriff’s Office is requesting assistance in finding Dustin Dwayne Radney, 28, of Mineola. In late December, he is said to have forced his way into his ex-girlfriend’s home north of Lindale. He is said to have stolen a handgun and then physically assaulted the ex-girlfriend. He left in a black Ram pickup with black wheels and a black front grill. Warrants for his arrest charge him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, burglary with intent to commit assault and theft of a firearm. His last known addresses are in the Alba and Mineola areas. If you know where he can be found, you are asked to contact the Smith County Sheriff’s office or your local law enforcement agency.
ORE CITY – Ore City police had been looking for Jesus Dominguez, 18. He had a protective order in place against him on behalf of his ex-girlfriend, which authorities say he has reportedly violated. He is said to have told family members he is not going back to jail and will force law officers to shoot and kill him before this happens. Acting on a tip, he was arrested Thursday afternoon. They say he was unarmed. With the help of the Upshur County Sheriff’s Department, Dominguez was arrested without incident.
MARSHALL – Overall crime in Marshall dropped last year. A report released Thursday showed 2,256 crimes reported in 2018. That is a drop of 15% from 2017. There was a major drop in building burglaries. That went from 92 in 2017 to 35 last year. Auto burglaries dropped by 35%. One area that saw an increase was homicides. Only two were recorded last year. There was only 1 in 2017. Read the rest of this entry »
LONGVIEW – Charges against a former White Oak high school band director have been dropped. Jacovia Cartwright had been facing charges of indecency with a child/sexual contact. In 2016, White Oak officers found what they said were inappropriate pictures of children on his phone. One of the students in the pictures says Cartwright touched her inappropriately during a band trip. Messages retrieved from his Facebook messenger show messages from the student saying she “kind of lied” to the police. In her motion to dismiss the case, prosecutor Stacey Brownlee said they were unable to approve the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The Longview News Journal reports, as part of the dismissal, Cartwright permanently and voluntarily surrendered his state educator’s certification.
EAST TEXAS – Illness among students and faculty is causing some East Texas school districts to call off classes The flu and other illnesses are causing some school districts to close the doors and to thoroughly clean buildings. Closed Thursday, as well as Friday: Karnack, Mount Vernon, LaPoyner, Eustace, DeKalb, Linden-Kildare and Jefferson school districts. Gladewater schools, which were dismissed Thursday morning because of a power failure at two schools, will also be closed on Friday. East Texas currently ranks first in the country for the highest population percentage with the flu, with the Dallas-Fort Worth area in second place.
TYLER – Some Tyler Junior College students have received scholarships thanks to the school’s faculty and staff. Thirty-three TJC students have received $1,000 scholarships for the spring semester. The funds come from the annual TJC Employee Campaign. The scholarships were presented during a luncheon this week. In all, 501 TJC employees gave a total of $87,831. After the scholarship money was handed out, the remainder went to various sources. Some went to directly to Promises to Keep Scholarships for TJC students, while other funds went to the TJC Annual Fund, TJC programs and activities and the United Way of Smith County.
PALESTINE – A Boil water notice issued by the city of Palestine on Wednesday has been rescinded. The notice was for the Asian City restaurant and the Palestine Mall. City officials say no other residences or businesses were affected by the advisory. The action was taken because of water leak repair in the area. The city says the necessary corrective actions have been taken and the boil water notice was lifted.
TYLER – For the third day in a row a new temperature record has been recorded in Tyler. Wednesday morning’s 68 degrees was a record high minimum temperature for February 6th. The previous record high minimum temperature was 67, which was set in 1911. The 68 degree low temperature Wednesday morning is also the 2nd highest low minimum temperature ever recorded in Tyler in February. The current record is 69 degrees, which was set in 2017. Tyler’s weather records go all the way back to 1883.