CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital blesses therapy garden

TYLER – CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler blessed the Patrick R. Thomas, M.D., Therapy Garden on Thursday. According to our news partner KETK, the garden is intended to help patients get better by growing and caring for plants. This therapy is already being used to help patients recovering from strokes. “This garden provides patients the opportunity to get out of their rooms and participate in activities that promote healing, functional strength, restoration, and a return to independence,” said Sara Martin, occupational therapist. “Since functional activities are a vital part of therapy, what better way to highlight that than through gardening in our therapy garden.” The garden’s blessing started at 10 a.m. on Thursday and “Planting Day” was held all day. According to CHRISTUS, Micro Family Farms provided flowers to be planted in the garden.

Tyler to retime traffic signals at 18 intersections

TYLER — The City of Tyler plans to retime 18 intersections this year in an effort to improve traffic flow, approving a $121,085 contract at the council meeting on Wednesday. According to our news partner KETK, the contract is with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. for the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Master Plan. It’s year three of their intelligent transportation system master plan. Every year since 2020, the city of Tyler has retimed several lights. So far, they have completed 53 out of the 149 signal intersections. The city says they’ve received positive feedback from drivers since the project began. (more…)

Longview ISD to enhance campus protection

LONGVIEW — Longview ISD announced that the district will be taking additional measures to ensure the safety of their campuses thanks to the unanimous approval of up to $250,000 for glass reinforcement film on all campuses. According to our news partner KETK, the purchase of the materials for the glass reinforcement film is in line with the school safety standards that were put in place in November 2022, according to Scott Fisher, LISD Director of Safety and Magnet Grants. Purchasing the materials had to be approved by the school board since it was more than $50,000, per their policy, according to a release. (more…)

Man held on $1 million bond abuse of child arrest

TYLER – A Henderson man was arrested for sexual assault of a child and is in jail with bonds totaling $1 million. According to our news partner KETK, Russell Lewis Evans, 21, was arrested for continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and sexual assault of a child. According to his arrest warrant, Evans’ continuous abuse started when the victim was under the age of 10. His arrest warrant states that after each instance, Evans would threaten his victim if the victim ever told anyone of the abuse, one time even saying he would shoot the child in the head if they told anyone. His warrants were signed on April 5 and he was booked into Smith County Jail the following day. Continuous sexual abuse of a young child is a first-degree felony, punishable by 5-99 years in prison or a life sentence. Sexual assault of a child is a second-degree felony, punishable by 2-20 years in prison.

Man sentenced 30 years for injury to child

CHEROKEE COUNTY – On Monday, a man was convicted of injury to a child and sentenced to 30 years in prison. According to our news partner KETK, Mark Shuptrine was found guilty of assaulting his 12-year-old son in the 2nd Judicial District Court of Cherokee County after a 3 hour jury deliberation. In accordance with the jury’s verdict, Judge R. Chris Day, sentenced Shuptrine to 30 years for the offense of injury to a child. Shuptrine then waived his right to appeal and plead guilty to two other charges including continuous violence against family and failure to appear, the release stated. Shuptrine will serve his sentence in the Texas Department of Corrections.

Tyler murder suspect surrenders to police

TYLER – The third suspect wanted in connection to a double murder at the Royal Crest Apartment complex in Tyler has been arrested. Lakimbrick Horn, 19,  of Bullard, turned himself in on the capital murder warrant and has been booked into the Smith County Jail. His bond was set at $1,000,000 for the capital murder charge and $250,000 on a possession of marijuana charge. Two other suspects have also been arrested. Aaron Johnson, 20, who was reportedly shot during the incident, was arrested for capital murder with a $2 million bond. Nicholas Hudson, 18, was arrested for two counts of murder, each with a $1 million bond. (more…)

Upshur County man sentenced for sexual assault of minors

GILMER – An Upshur County man was sentenced to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a minor on Monday. Winston David Tackett, 73, was arrested after one of his victims reported the assaults to a teacher at her school. The teacher contacted Child Protective Services and the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office took over the case. “The defendant holds a position and respect in both the community and in his family and used that to hide his crime and keep his victim’s silenced,” Billy W. Byrd, criminal district attorney said. According to a press release, Tackett’s assaults go back to 2020 and each victim was assaulted multiple times. Officials said he will not be eligible for parole until he is 100-years-old. The family of the victims was in court to watch the plea, which required Tackett to waive his right to appeal and officials said the victim’s didn’t need to testify.

Woman rescued from submerged Jeep in Lake O’ the Pines, identified as missing person

MARION COUNTY – A woman was taken to a local hospital in Marion County Friday morning after being rescued from a submerged Jeep in Lake O’ the Pines. According to our news partner KETK, a fisherman called the sheriff’s office after he found the black Jeep submerged in the south side of the lake. The fisherman told dispatchers that the Jeep was about forty feet from the Woody’s Camp boat ramp. When deputies and a local wrecker crew arrived, officials said they started preparing to remove the Jeep from the lake as they discovered a person was still inside and moving. With the help of the fisherman, wrecker crew and Marion County deputies, officials said that a woman was rescued safely from the vehicle and EMS took her to a local hospital. It was determined that the woman who was rescued was listed as a missing person from the Longview Police Department. The investigation continues.

Marshall man pleads guilty, sentenced to 15 years for 2019 murder

MARSHALL – A Marshall man has pleaded guilty to the 2019 murder of 22-year-old Tyshun Darty, Harrison County judicial records show. Nathan DeWayne Irving, 24 of Marshall, has been sentenced to 15 years confinement which is running concurrently with a credit for time already served, according to judicial records. According to our news partner KETK, the shooting took place near the 1200 block of Elise Street around 11:30 p.m. on March 18, 2019. A nurse was performing CPR on Darty before he was transported to CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Medical Center where he later died.

East Texas man scammed by bogus attorney

HARRISON COUNTY — A man in Harrison County was allegedly scammed out of $29,000 after he received a call from someone claiming to be an attorney out of Georgia, according to our news partner KETK. The scammer said that the man’s grandson was in jail and facing some serious charges. He was told to gather clothes, wrap the money in them and mail it off. The sheriff’s office said the man sent the money and later realized his mistake. To prevent situations like this, the FTC recommends contacting the family member who the scammer said is in trouble on a phone number that you recognize. If you’re unable to get in contact with that person, check with another friend or family member if you’re unable to reach them, and never send cash by mail, gift card or wire money to someone who is demanding it. (more…)

UT Tyler hosts groundbreaking for $35 million nursing school expansion

TYLER – The University of Texas at Tyler held a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday for a $35 million expansion for their School of Nursing building. UT System Chairman Kevin Eltife was present, along with UT Tyler President Kirk Calhoun, UT Tyler Executive Vice President of Health Affairs Julie Philley and UT Tyler School of Nursing Dean Barbara Haas. Calling this expansion “critically important,” Calhoun said it will allow UT Tyler to expand the number of nurses and the various disciplines and expertise they bring to the table. According to our news partner KETK, the college of Nursing is the largest college on the UT Tyler campus with roughly 2,000 students, Calhoun explained. He expects the program to get even larger in the future. (more…)

Thrive Longview participating in East Texas Giving Day

GREGG COUNTY – Thrive Longview is one of more than 40 nonprofit organizations from Gregg County that are participating in East Texas Giving Day this year. According to our news partner KETK, the even it put on by the East Texas Communities Foundation and this year’s online donation event will be April 25. Thrive Longview works with middle schoolers to teach principles of community, stewardship and mentorship. They provide after-school programming from Monday through Thursday during the school year, an eight-week summer camp and leadership development programming on middle school campuses.

Tyler woman reappointed to state Dental Review Board

TYLER – Gov. Greg Abbott recently reappointed a Tyler woman to the state Dental Review Board. Amanda Richardson is a registered dental hygienist, professor and instructional designer at Tyler Junior College. According to our news partner KETK, she is a member of the American Dental Education Association, East Texas Dental Hygienists’ Association, Texas Dental Hygienists’ Association and the American Dental Hygienists’ Association. She got her associate degree in Applied Science in Dental Hygiene from Tyler Junior College, a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene from Texas Women’s University and a Master of Science in Human Resource Development from the University of Texas at Tyler. The Texas Dental Review Board serves on “informal settlement conference panels” to decide “whether an informal disposition of a contested case against a license holder is appropriate and make recommendations for the disposition of the complaint or allegation.”

Recreational fishing is an over $115 Million industry in East Texas district

TYLER – A 2023 report said that recreational fishing created $117.9 million in business for Texas’ first congressional district. According to our news partner KETK, this includes Texarkana, Longview and Tyler. The American Sportfishing Association’s 2023 Economic Contributions of Recreational Fishing: U.S. Congressional Districts report shows 110,100 district one anglers made $117.9 million in purchases support over 1,310 jobs throughout the district. Across Texas, 4,313,700 anglers spent $4.6 billion on fishing, supporting 51,380 Texas fishing jobs, meaning that Texas has the second largest recreational fishing industry in the United States, according to the American Sportfishing Association. ASA said the report’s data is based upon angler participation and spending from 2021 data.

Historic structure in downtown Tyler to be renovated into apartment building

TYLER – A groundbreaking ceremony will be held on March 30 at the site of a former bank in downtown Tyler. According to our news partner KETK, the building will be renovated into an apartment building. In April 2022, a New Orleans based tax-advantaged real estate company, NORF, purchased three buildings that they plan to reconstruct into rental units in Tyler. On March 1, NORF closed on financing and received the permits to start working on one of their previously purchased buildings known as The Wilcox on 230 South Broadway Avenue. NORF will be converting the former bank into 31 market-rate apartments that will highlight the building’s mid-century modern design and will include a green space along the former bank’s drive-thru. (more…)

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