Today is
Monday November 25, 2024
TYLER – A woman has been sentenced to two years in jail and five years of probation and community supervision in connection to a 2023 Tyler rent scam. According to our news partner KETK, police reports say Sedona Cheayann Francis stole $5,096 for rent payments from seven tenants at a Tyler apartment complex in summer of 2023. She was employed at NuRock property at the time of the theft. The report also states that Francis texted a tenant with a back-to-school half-off rent deal that the tenant then paid to Francis on CashApp. Six other cases with this similar method were reported involving tenants at the apartment complex on Frankston Highway near Earl Campbell Parkway. The tenants that fell for this scam faced eviction because they were not being able to pay rent. Francis was found guilty of theft of property between $2,500 and $30,000 and started her sentence on March 19, 2024.
TYLER – Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott appointed a University of Texas at Tyler student to serve on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board as a student representative. According to our news partner KETK, appointed by the governor is Luke Schwartz, a Tyler Junior College and Texas A&M University graduate. Luke is pursuing a doctor of medicine degree and an executive master of business administration in healthcare management degree from UT Tyler. He will serve on the board starting June 1.
QUITMAN– A Winnsboro man was sentenced to life in prison after a Wood County jury convicted him of sexual abuse of a young child over a long period of time. According to our news partner KETK, Justin Blaine Sicard was convicted and sentenced on Thursday and will serve a life sentence consecutively after a 15-year sentence he received in 2018 from Hopkins County authorities.
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TYLER — Chapel Hill Independent School District announced the that one of its students is being recognized at a national level. CCHS art student Everett Murrieta will have his art showcased at the Congressional Art Exhibition Reception breakfast in Washington, D.C. June 27. Congressman Nathaniel Moran will present Everett and his artwork to an audience that morning. Following the reception, Everett and his mother, Samantha Hembroughwill enjoy a private tour of the nation’s capital.
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VAN ZANDT COUNTY – TxDOT is warning drivers of puncturing spikes found on I-20 again. This time in Van Zandt County. According to our news partner KETK, 12 caltrops were found May 6 on I-20 westbound near mile marker 533 and eastbound at mile markers 518, 520, 528 and 529. Caltrops usually are four-pronged, heavy gauge steel puncturing spikes that can be thrown or linked together to cause immediate and irreparable failure of tires.
If you have with information on the incidents, your asked to call Lt. Bob Keltner with the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Department at 469-576-1274 or call Andrew Fagile with the Texas Department of Public Safety at 90-567-2011 ext. 10914.
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TYLER – UT Tyler announced that 15 mass communication students have won 34 awards at the 2024 Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Convention. TIPA is Texas’s largest college level mass communication organization and they regularly recognize students for their achievements in written journalism, photojournalism, broadcast journalism, videography, public relations and publication design.
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TYLER – The Tyler City Council voted on Wednesday to approve more than $3.2 million for improvements for asphalt and street repairs. According to our news partner KETK, contracted for these improvements is Reynolds and Kay LTD. Cost for the 2024 Asphalt Enhancement Project is $3,203,701. The project will reportedly have 16 “lane miles†of city streets, alley paving, replacing the Bois D’Arc Avenue storm sewer and street and the streets at Lake Tyler.
The city has provided a table of the streets included in the project. To view it, click here.
City officials say they expect the Asphalt Enhancement Project to begin later this month and to be finished in February 2025.
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(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Tuesday contacted the families of victims of two fatal Boeing 737 Max crashes as it nears a crucial decision over whether the company violated a 2021 deal that allowed it to escape criminal prosecution over the incidents, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.
The letter, sent by the department’s fraud section, invited families to attend a May 31 meeting where they will be informed of the DOJ’s decision as to whether the company breached the deferred prosecution agreement, or DPA.
If prosecutors believe they can make the case that Boeing violated the agreement’s terms — which demanded the company’s continued cooperation with the government, a requirement it disclose any allegations of fraud, and avoid committing any felony offenses — it would pave the way for a historic criminal prosecution of the aerospace giant that could have widespread impacts on the country’s aviation industry.
“The DOJ has been very nontransparent in disclosing to the families how they are going about making the determination of compliance or breach,” said Robert Clifford, a lawyer representing families of Max crash victims. “That has been a very disappointing feature of the department’s contact and communication with the families. But, in fairness to the department, prosecutors seldom discuss the details of their investigations, so this is not out of the ordinary.”
The meeting will be the fourth conferral session between the Justice Department and the families of passengers who died in the 2018 and 2019 crashes of two 737 Max airplanes who for years have accused the DOJ of cutting a “sweetheart deal” with Boeing that should be thrown out.
Attorneys for the victims have pointed to numerous allegations of potential wrongdoing since the deal was cut — such as claims from whistleblowers, which Boeing has denied — that the company flouted regulations and measures meant to protect its customers’ safety, as well as the January door plug incident on an Alaska Airlines flight that is now the subject of a federal criminal investigation.
“From a prosecutorial point of view, I believe they likely have enough evidence to prove Boeing violated the DPA,” said Mark Lindquist, an attorney representing a number of victims’ families. “In plain language, the main point of a deferred prosecution agreement is this: Don’t screw up again. Boeing screwed up again. The door plug blowout on the Max 9 is just one example.”
The letter from the DOJ on Tuesday states that families will meet with attorneys from the department’s fraud section over a period of seven hours on May 31, where they’ll be told of the DOJ’s decision “and potential next steps, and to hear your input and views on the same.”
ABC News has reached out to Boeing for comment.
A DOJ spokesperson did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on the letter.
“I firmly believe that entering into this resolution is the right thing for us to do — a step that appropriately acknowledges how we fell short of our values and expectations,” David Calhoun, Boeing president and CEO, said in a note to employees after the company was charged by the DOJ in 2021. “This resolution is a serious reminder to all of us of how critical our obligation of transparency to regulators is, and the consequences that our company can face if any one of us falls short of those expectations.”
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TYLER – Monday, workers from Tyler’s largest union, IUE-CWA 86782, held an informational picket at their union hall across from the Trane Technologies plant. According to our news partner KETK, the union stressed the informational picket is not a strike. It’s a membership drive and an opportunity for union members to use their own time to spread the word about what they want from the company without having to stop working.
IUE-CWA 86782 recording secretary Tierra Zhane provided the following list of demands they have for their union’s contract with Trane. Livable wages. Affordable insurance. The ability to use personal time without having to provide documentation. And, no unaffordable surcharges to insurance that “eat up†a proposed 45 cent pay increase.
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LONGVIEW – Authorities in Longview are investigating truck crashing into a house Tuesday morning. According to our news partner KETK, the Longview Fire Marshall said the accident happened around 10 a.m. with a report of a truck having crashed into a home on Mill Run Drive, near the Compassionate Hearts Alliance. The Fire Marshall said the driver had non life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
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TYLER – City of Tyler officials say their non-emergency offices and facilities will be closed Friday, May 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 6 through May 10 is Public Service Recognition Week. With the exception of emergency and essential services, the city will be doing their part in recognizing their employees Friday. Public Service Recognition Week has been celebrated since 1985. It’s goal is to honor the men and women who serve as federal, state, county and local government employees.