Today is
Thursday November 28, 2024
OVERTON – A man is in the Rusk County Jail following an assault complaint at an Overton home. Placed in jail under bonds totaling $20,000 was Johnathan William Elkins, 36, of Overton. The Longview News Journal reports a woman complained that Elkins was intoxicated and started hitting her and a 5 year old with eggs. He is also said to have hit her with his knee below her left rib cage. He faces two charges of assault causing bodily injury, one of those out of Gregg County, and a charge of injury to a child. He is also being held on an Upshur County warrant for theft of property.
MARSHALL – City officials and residents have been awaiting the results of testing after a boil water notice was issued for Marshall. The Public Works Department issued the notice for customers just west of the intersection of Texas and Ida Streets due to a 10-inch water main break. Repairs to the water main have been completed, and water has been restored to customers. A water sample has been taken to a lab, and officials said the results should be back on Saturday, at which point they were hoping to rescind the notice.
TYLER – A state district court judge has rejected a plea from a former Arp school counselor who was convicted last month of sexual assault of a child. Barbara Orpineda was sentenced to 5 years in prison. She still faces one additional count and 2 counts of improper relationship between an educator and student. Judge Christi Kennedy rejected the plea Thursday during a pretrial hearing. She has given both the state and the defense 10 days to come to an agreement on how to proceed. Prior to becoming the Arp Elementary counselor, Orpineda taught seventh grade math for four years. When arrested, she denied the allegations. She also denied the allegations during the trial when she testified in her own defense.
TYLER – A memorial service has been scheduled for David Irwin, of Lindale. The managing partner for Tyler Ford died at his home Wednesday morning. He was 52. According to the Caudle-Rutledge Funeral Home in Lindale, a memorial service for Irwin will be held Saturday morning at 10:00 at Tyler’s Grace Community Church. Along with his business, Irwin was known for many years as a supporter of local nonprofits. Perhaps his highest-profile community endeavor was providing a vehicle for the yearly raffle held by the East Texas Crisis Center during its East Texas Auto and Cycle Show.
PALESTINE – A Palestine High School student has been injured during a woodshop class. According to a posting on the school district’s web site, the student received immediate medical attention from the instructor, who is a certified EMT. After evaluating the student’s injuries, medical personnel decided that he should be flown to Children’s Medical Center in Dallas for precautionary treatment and evaluation. We will have more information when it becomes available.
TYLER – No sooner had a Tyler robbery suspect been identified, he was arrested. On Wednesday it was announced that Thomas Mark Painter, 32, of Tyler was the suspect in the Tuesday morning robbery at the Fuel Plus Gas station on East Gentry Parkway. The U.S. Marshals Service arrested Painter around 11:00 Thursday morning. It’s believed Painter is the person who came up behind a man who had just purchased $40 worth of scratch off tickets. He approached the man from behind, hit him in the head with his fist, grabbed the lottery tickets, and then fled. He’s now in the Smith County Jail under bonds totaling $55,000.
HENDERSON – A man recently arrested on numerous charges in Rusk County will be spending a long time in prison. In state district court in Henderson on Thursday, James Paul Calvert, 47, was sentenced to life in prison. Calvert, who had evaded law officers for nearly a week, was arrested around 9:00 Sunday evening. He had been wanted for sexual assault of a child. On Facebook, District attorney Michael Jimerson said his office was grateful to the Henderson Police Department and Rusk County Sheriff’s Office for apprehending Calvert so he could be sentenced to life in state prison.
KILGORE – Kilgore police are reporting that the SWEPCO phone scam has surfaced again. The police department has received several reports about the scam. The caller tells their victim that they have a past due bill and are about to have their meter pulled. The caller will then demand the victim purchase Green Dot Debit Cards and provide the caller with the numbers. This scam first surfaced in 2014. SEPCO says they don’t call and threaten disconnection for past due bills. And they will never ask a customer to purchase untraceable debit or gift cards to pay their bills. If you get such a call, hang up and report it to your local police department.
LONGVIEW – A traffic stop in Longview has led to drug charges against a driver. The Longview News Journal reports Chad Reimon Howard, 36, of Longview, was stopped for running a stop sign and failing to signal a lane change at Marshall Avenue at Teague Street. In his vehicle, officers found cocaine, Xanax, Ecstasy, marijuana and and nearly $2,000. He is facing 3 charges of manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance. He is currently free on bonds totaling $104,500.
HENDERSON – All of the power may not be restored in Rusk County until sometime Friday. As many as 5,500 power outages were reported in the county. They were caused by the heavy thunderstorms that moved through the area on Wednesday. Rusk County Electric Cooperative said in a posting on Facebook, because of the storms packing winds up to 60mph, there was damage throughout their system, with southern Rusk County getting hit the hardest. They had crews out all night Wednesday clearing trees off the lines and restringing cable. Once the main lines have been restored, they will focus on the single outages.
VAN ZANDT COUNTY — Three people were killed, several others injured following a two vehicle wreck in Van Zandt County. It happened around 7:15 Tuesday night on State Highway19, one mile northwest of Edgewood. According to the Department of Public Safety, Jessie Michael Brown, 19, of Fruitvale was traveling south and was attempting to pass vehicles in a no passing zone. Connie McKinley Wells, 61, of Wills Point was traveling north when she was struck head-on by Brown. Wells was pronounced dead at the scene. Her passengers, Adam Thomas Tuma, 14, and Elijah William Gabriel Tuma, 11, both of Wills Point, were also pronounced dead at the scene. Read the rest of this entry »
AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Health Services reports that 16 cases of a rare spinal condition have been reported in the state this year. One of those cases was in Smith County. The condition is acute flaccid myelitis (AFM). It is a very rare condition that affects a person’s spinal cord marked by the sudden onset of weakness in the arms or legs. Less than one in a million people in the United States will get AFM each year. According to a news release from the state, there is no specific treatment for AFM, and the cause is unknown. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is to determine what causes the condition. Possible causes include viruses, environmental toxins and genetic disorders. AFM is not required to be reported, but DSHS is asking all healthcare providers to report suspected cases of AFM to their local health departments. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – As we close the weather books on the month of October, the month was slightly warmer and very much wetter than normal. The thirty-day outlook for October 2018, issued on September 20, had called for near normal temperatures and above normal precipitation. It was not changed with the September 30 revision. In fact, the month was the third wettest October on record, replacing October 2015 when 11.89 inches fell. The wettest October on record was 1985 when 14.82 inches fell. Compared with October 2017, the month was 0.9 degrees cooler and 10.12 inches wetter. The year-to-date rainfall was 0.39 inch greater in 2017 than in 2018. Read the rest of this entry »
RUSK – A Rusk High School student has been arrested for making a terroristic threat. Police were called to the high school on Tuesday after threats were made by a student. After investigation, the student was detained and removed from the school and charges were filed. The police said on Facebook, “at no time was the school placed in lock down.” The name of the student has not been released.
TYLER – Tyler police have identified a man who is accused of robbing a man of his lottery tickets. He is Thomas Mark Painter, 32, of Tyler. Painter, who is known to stay in north Tyler hotels, is driving 2008 Chevy Impala with Texas license plate KYG-7880. The robbery occurred shortly after 10:30 Tuesday morning at the Fuel Plus Gas station on East Gentry Parkway. Painter is said to be the suspect who came up behind a man who had just purchased $40 worth of scratch off tickets. He approached the man from behind, hit him in the head with his fist, grabbed the lottery tickets, and then fled. He remains at large.