Today is
Wednesday November 27, 2024
LONGVIEW – A Longview man has pleaded guilty in connection with a fatal Gregg County accident last year. In 124th District Court in Longview on Friday, Danny Clayton Lee, 63, pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle. A sentencing date has not been set. The accident occurred in July of last year on U.S. Highway 259. The Department of Public safety report says Lee was in the wrong lane of traffic when his pickup and a car collided head-on. The car’s driver, Benjamin Murphy of Diana, was pronounced dead at the scene.
ATHENS – It is now official. The Athens school district will go to a four day school week next year. The action was taken by school trustees during a called noon meeting on Friday. The new school week will start with the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year on August 5. The shorter school week would be launched as part of a three-year pilot program. Their action was made possible in Texas after lawmakers approved two statutes in 2015. One of the measures requires a certain number of instructional minutes rather than instructional days. In order to comply with this, the instructional day in Athens ISD will increase by 50 minutes in the new school year.
KILGORE – M. Roberts Media is expanding its holdings in East Texas. The company, which recently purchased the Tyler Morning Telegraph, is now buying the Kilgore News Herald. The company also owns the Longview News Journal and the Marshall News Messenger. The paper says it can trace its roots back to the early days of the East Texas oil boom and has changed hands several times. Terms of the deal between M. Roberts Media and News Herald owner Bluebonnet Publishing Company were not disclosed.
One person has died in a one vehicle accident in Harrison County. Dead at the scene was Steven D. Alexander, 38, of Marshall. The Department of Public Safety reports his car was traveling at a high rate of speed on Macedonia Road when the accident occurred. His vehicle left the road and hit a travel trailer. The accident, which remains under investigation, was reported shortly after 9:15 Thursday night, just under 5 miles northwest of Marshall.
MARSHALL – At Thursday’s meeting, the Marshall City Commission voted to appoint Mark Rohr as city manager. Support Services Director Jack Redmon has been serving as acting city manager since April. Rohr has 31 years of local government experience. That includes 29 years as a city manager. He most recently served as city manager of League City, Texas, from March 2014 to December 2016. Rohr will tentatively begin his duties in Marshall next month.
ATHENS – The Athens school board is scheduled to vote on going to a four day school week during a noon meeting on Friday. School district employees learned about it during a district wide meeting earlier this month. In order to comply with the state’s requirements for a minimum number of instructional minutes during a school year, the instructional day would increase by 50 minutes. They have been studying a possible change for the past six months. If approved, it would start next year and it would be launched as a three-year pilot program.
RUSK – A Cherokee County jury has found a Bullard man guilty possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. The jury sentenced John Michael Lydy, 46, who is a habituation offender and a registered sex offender, to life in prison. According to a news releases from the Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office, Lydy was distributing methamphetamine from his mobile home in the Shady Brooke subdivision near Bullard.
TROUP – There has been a change in the Troup Christmas Parade. It had been scheduled for 6:00 Thursday evening. But, because of the rain in the area, the parade has been rescheduled for next Tuesday evening.
TYLER – Friday will be graduation time at Tyler Junior College. U-T Tyler will hold graduation ceremonies on Friday and Saturday. TJC will hold two ceremonies on Friday. Both will be in Wagstaff Gym. They will be recognizing 639 candidates for graduation who are earning a total of 752 degrees and certificates. UT Tyler will have two ceremonies on Friday and two on Saturday, recognizing over 1,500 degree candidates. The ceremonies will all be held in the Cowan Center. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – Three Smith County road improvement projects have been completed while others are about to begin. That was the report Smith County Engineer Frank Davis presented to county commissioners this week. Completed last month was work on County Road 1113, Lake Placid Road; County Road 220, Old Henderson Road and the first section of County Road 223, Old Overton Road. Getting underway this month is work on County Road 2171, Willingham Road, County Road 1302 and the second segment of County Road 223. And, there is an additional nearly 6 miles worth of overlay projects currently out for bid. And, with weather permitting, they plan on 1 1/2 miles of asphalt paving this month.
TYLER – The Tyler city council has signed a memorandum with the Texas Music Office to begin the process in designating the city as a Music Friendly City. The next step in the process would be a community workshop, where the Texas Music Office would provide training for city officials, music industry professionals and local venues, and artists. The city would also need to demonstrate partnerships with the community’s music related nonprofits, music education programs and schools. According to the city, designating Tyler as a Music Friendly City would help promote the growth of the music industry within the community. Cities that have received this designation include Lindale, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Denton.
MARSHALL – A Marshall man is behind bars accused of indecency with a child. Arrested by Marshall detectives was Terry Lynn Jones, 27. The Tuesday arrest stems from a report filed late last month. Jones is accused of inappropriately touching a juvenile under the age of 14. He has been charged with indecency with a child sexual contact, He was booked into the Harrison County Jail under a $100,000 bond.
TYLER – The city council on Wednesday received a presentation on the results of a resident survey about Tyler. The survey shows most respondents have a positive perception of the city. Over 80% of those surveyed indicated that Tyler is a good place to live, raise children and retire. The survey was conducted during the summer by the ETC Institute. The six-page survey was originally mailed to a random sample of households in the city. A total of 406 residents completed the survey. Read the rest of this entry »
SMITH COUNTY – Smith County authorities say that Jhoel Hidalgo Sevilla, 33, was the man killed over the weekend. The shooting was reported shortly after 9:30 Sunday morning in an apartment on County Road 382 in the northeastern part of the county. He died from an apparent gunshot wound. There is no other information on the case as the investigation is continuing.
AUSTIN – Sales Tax rebates for Tyler and Longview continue to grow. The state comptrollers office is sending out sales tax allocations for December. They are based on sales made in October. Tyler’s check tops $3.6 million. This is an increase of over 16% from last December. So far this year, Tyler’s sales tax allocations top $43 million, for an increase of 7 1/2%. Longview’s December check is for over $2.6 million, a hike of over 19%. For the year, Longview’s checks exceed $32 million, for a 10% increase. The over all state figure for the month is $761 million, for an increase of 9 1/2%