Today is
Thursday November 28, 2024
ARP – An Arp volunteer fireman, injured in an August fire, is now back home. Chris Vannoy, 24, saw smoke coming from a shed behind a neighbor’s house. He called it in and then went to check on it. When he opened a door, the flames flashed around him. Vannoy, who is a Longview police officer and also an EMT, was airlifted to a Shreveport hospital with burns over 50% of his body. Our news partner KETK reports, Vannoy, who spent 53 days in the hospital, is now back home. The community has come together and helped raise over $20,000 for his medical expenses.
TYLER – Tyler has a new city librarian. Appointed to the post is Ashley Taylor. She is no stranger to the Tyler Public Library. For over 12 years she has served as the library’s Circulation Supervisor and Manager of the Library’s MakerSpace. And, since June, she has been servings as Interim City Librarian. She obtained her Master’s degree in Library Science from the University of North Texas and received a Bachelor’s degree from DeVry University. She says she is honored to be named to the post. And she reminds the community. the library is more than just books. She says they “circulate games, literacy kits, have STEM programming and so much more.”
FLINT – An argument about going to church has resulted in the death of a Smith County man and the arrest of his son. It occurred around 3:00 Sunday morning on County Road 1232 in Flint. Dead at the scene was Patrick Crowder, Sr., 46. Charged with his murder was Patrick Lerue Crowder Jr., 22. Witnesses say the two had been arguing about whether the son was going to church. The son is said to have gotten a knife from the kitchen and stabbed his dad. He is currently in the Smith County Jail under a $500,000 bond.
LONGVIEW – A missing Longview teen is back home. They had been looking for Destini Lacace Ann Davis. She was last seen on October 4th. They say she has returned home and is safe.
LINDALE – The Smith County Sheriff’s Department is looking for a woman accused of stealing from a business in the Lindale area. Ashley Stephens, 33, who also known as Ashley Boyd, is said to have stolen over $60,000. They say she is reported to be living in the Mineola area and has changed her appearance to avoid capture. She has dyed her hair black. If you have information regarding her whereabouts, you are asked to call the Smith County Sheriff’s Office at 903-566-6600.
TYLER – Tyler police have arrested three persons who are accused of robbing an individual. They are Christian James Nichols, 18, of Elkhart, Draven Ray Starr, 21, and Scottie Lee Smart, 18, both of Palestine. Shortly before 2:45 Friday afternoon, the victim told an officer he had just been beat to the ground, robbed of his belongings by three white male suspects who jumped him on the sidewalk in the 4400 block of South Broadway. Officers located one suspect on foot near Winchester Street and South Donnybrook. A witness to the incident told officers that the two other suspects had ducked into the Subway at Shelly Drive and South Broadway, where they were arrested. The 21 year old man from Tyler, who was robbed, had just got off work after his first day on the job and was walking home. He was transported to U.T. Health Center on Beckham by EMS with non-life threatening injuries.
LONGVIEW – Longview police are asking for the public’s help in locatin ga missing teenager. She is Destini Lacace Ann Davis. She was last seen on October 4th and it not know what she was wearing when she was last seen. She is described as a black female with black hair, brown eyes, about 5’4†tall, and weighs around 130 pounds. If you know where she can be found, you are asked to contact the Longview Police Department at 903-237-1199 or Detective Christopher Bethard 903-237-1161. Read the rest of this entry »
HENDERSON – One of the suspects arrested in the robbery of a Henderson bank has made a court appearance. The Longview News Journal reports Ashley Alexderia Page, 32, of Nacogdoches, appeared in court Thursday. She was indicted by the Rusk County grand jury last week. She is accused of taking part in the robbery of the Texas Professional Credit Union in Henderson on January 13th. She was identified by her fingerprints on the bank’s counter. Paige was arrested in July following a traffic stop in Dallas County. Also charged in the case is Michael Danyl Hopkins, 38, of Dallas. Hopkins is in jail in West Virginia on unrelated charges. He is said to have held everyone at gunpoint while Page collected the money.
HENDERSON – A reward has been issued in hopes of finding a missing Rusk County woman. Kimberly Flint, 51, of Reklaw, was reported missing June 26th. Her car was later found wrecked on the Highway 84 bridge over the Angelina River. The car had hit a guardrail. Several searches have turned up no trace of the woman. Her family and Crimestoppers are offering a $6,000 reward for leads to help find her. You can call the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office or Rusk County Crimestoppers with information.
TYLER – The University of Texas at Tyler police department is seeking the public’s help
in identifying a suspect. He is though to have been involved in an indecent exposure incident. It occurred on Monday in the Herrington Patriot Center. The man, who has a large tattoo on his left forearm, appears to be very familiar with the HPC building so they feel someone knows who he is. They are offering a $100 reward for anyone who can provide his identity him. You are asked to call 903-566-7300 with information.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate has approved the nomination of Jeremy Kernodle to fill a judicial vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Tyler. Kernodle is currently a partner at Haynes and Boone, LLP, where he founded and chairs the firm’s False Claims Act practice group and focuses on representing healthcare providers and government contractors in Federal courts throughout the country. He fills the seat vacated on January 7, 2016, by Judge Michael Schneider’s move to senior status. In February 2017, Kernodle applied for a judgeship with the Evaluation Committee set up by Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. He interviewed with the Committee on March 16, 2017. Kernodle then interviewed with Cornyn and Cruz in May 2017, after which his name was submitted to the White House. Read the rest of this entry »
EAST TEXAS – An East Texan is said to be one of the richest men in the country. According to the annual Forbes 400 list, tied for 136th on the list, with a net worth of $4.7 billion, is Kelcy Warren. Born in Gladewater, Warren graduated from White Oak High School. Warren is the chairman and largest shareholder of Energy Transfer Equity, a partnership with more than 83,000 miles of U.S. energy pipelines. The Dallas-based company owns most of Energy Transfer Partners and has terminal and storage facilities in 38 states. He’s also the majority owner of a power company in Roatan, Honduras.
TYLER – A student at the University of Texas at Tyler is one of 20 students selected nationwide for an internship with Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island, New York. Biology senior Alyssa Blanton of Whitehouse recently joined other science, technology, engineering and mathematics undergraduates in a three-week scientific computing skills internship. It is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation program, which is designed to prepare students from underrepresented populations for STEM careers. Participants were selected based on their performance on an analytical aptitude test, past involvement in LSAMP research and letters of recommendation.
TYLER – The 12th Court of Appeals in Tyler has upheld a murder conviction out of Henderson County. The panel affirmed the conviction of Danna Lynn Busby, 56, of Ben Wheeler. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison. In July of last year, after three days of testimony, jurors deliberated less than 20 minutes and found her guilty of the murder of Wendell Eric Harris, 54, of Brownsboro. He was shot to death at his home in March of 2016. Officers learned of the shooting when Busby went to the police station to report it. Busby has said she shot Harris because she feared for the life of her daughter.
TYLER – It took a Smith County jury under two hours to convict Barbara Lynn Orpineda, 32, of sexual assault of a child. The former counselor in the Arp school system was sentenced to five years in prison. She will also have to register as a sex offender. The mother of three was arrested last October. At the time she was charged with two counts of improper relationship between a student and educator and two counts of sexual assault of a child. 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.