The story headline links to a better view of the story and share features.
News
Updated: At 10:13am, the National Weather Service in Shreveport issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Southwestern De Soto Parish in northwestern Louisiana... Southeastern Panola County in northeastern Texas... Southeastern Nacogdoches County in eastern Texas... Shelby County in eastern Texas... Northeastern Angelina County in eastern Texas... Northern San Augustine County in eastern Texas... and Northwestern Sabine County in eastern Texas.
The severe thunderstorm warning is until 11:00am.
At 10:12am, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 11 miles east of Carthage to near Tenaha to near Center to near Martinsville to 7 miles east of Melrose to Etoile, moving east at 55 mph.
Radar indicated 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
Locations impacted include Center, Mansfield, San Augustine, Logansport, Tenaha, Joaquin, Patroon, Bland Lake, Neuville, Rosevine, Macune, Etoile, Shelbyville, Chireno, Huxley, South Mansfield, Keachi, Grand Cane, Longstreet and Stanley.
March 30, 2022 - The National Weather Service in Shreveport has issued a severe Thunderstorm Warning for Southern Panola County in northeastern Texas... Southeastern Rusk County in northeastern Texas... Northeastern Nacogdoches County in eastern Texas... Western Shelby County in eastern Texas... and Northwestern San Augustine County in eastern Texas.
The severe thunderstorm warning is until 10:15am.
At 9:38am, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 8 miles southeast of Pinehill to Garrison to 10 miles southwest of Timpson to 7 miles northwest of Melrose to near Nacogdoches, moving east at 35 mph.
Radar indicated 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
Locations impacted include Nacogdoches, Carthage, Center, Tenaha, Timpson, Garrison, Melrose, Martinsville, Appleby, Gary City, Jericho, Stockman, Lawsonville, Arcadia, Dotson, Woods and Paxton.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 1pm CDT for eastern and northeastern Texas.
For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building.
A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 1pm CDT for eastern and northeastern Texas.
March 30, 2022 - National Weather Service has cancelled the tornado watch for Shelby County.
Tornado Watch 75 is in effect until 1pm CDT for the following locations.
Texas counties included are: Bowie, Camp, Cass, Franklin, Gregg, Harrison, Marion, Morris, Panola, Red River, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Titus, Upshur, and Wood.
March 28, 2022 - Over the week of March 21 to March 27 the Joaquin Volunteer Fire Department responded to two calls.
The first call came in on Thursday March 24 at 4:53pm. The Joaquin VFD received a dispatch of a pasture on fire on FM 139 near County Road 3565. Upon arriving on scene it was discovered that the fire was a control burn being monitored by the landowner. Before leaving the JVFD used a brush truck to wet down the edges of the fire to prevent any further spreading.
The next call came in on Sunday, March 27 at 7pm. It was dispatched as electrical wires on fire at the intersection of Highway 84 East and Preston Street. Responding units found a short stretch of power lines on fire due to a tree branch that had fallen on top of them. The Deep East Texas Electric Co-op had been notified and would have to arrive to cut the power before it could be put out. Once the power had been cut the JVFD extinguished the fire with a quick douse of water.
Fortunately, these calls were fairly mild and no one was harmed during either call. Nonetheless, the Joaquin Volunteer Fire Department wishes everyone a safe and fire-free week.
March 28, 2022 - As of 2:30am, power has been restored to many locations.
March 28, 2022 - Center Police Officers are investigating a crash that occurred sometime after 12-midnight March 28, 2022.
The vehicle appears to have been traveling westbound on Nacogdoches Street in Center when it first collided with a utility pole at the intersection with Wheeler Avenue, leaving the pole across the intersection.
After the initial collision, it appeared the vehicle continued at great speed colliding with yet another utility pole, and continuing into a yard beside a brick house at the corner of Nacogdoches Street and Sandel Street. There it appeared the vehicle became entangled in a guy wire beside another utility pole, which was snapped near its top during the incident.
Center Police Officers located the driver on the city square after abandoning the crash scene.
The Center Fire Department is assisting with traffic control and drivers are being redirected until the damage has been repaired. There is no reported restoration time as of 1:35am.
Resulting outages from the crash are known to have occurred on San Augustine Street, Shelbyville Street, Nacogdoches Street and Field Street.
Additional details will be updated as they’re made available.
March 24, 2022 - Hurst Street in Center was the scene of a three-vehicle crash Wednesday, March 23, 2022, in the vicinity of the Nacogdoches Street intersection.
While Center Police Department personnel assisted those involved and investigated the crash, Center Fire Department and Shelby County Sheriff's Department deputies assisted with traffic control.
According to Center Police Officer Brian Wright, at just before 2pm a grey 2017 Toyota Tundra driven by Shelby Holt, 26, of Joaquin with passenger Wendy Holt, 47, was exiting Brookshire Brothers parking lot attempting to turn left onto Hurst Street.
At that time a grey 2021 Dodge Durango driven by Mindy Chavez, 39, of Center was traveling northbound in the inside lane of Hurst Street when the Tundra failed to yield right of way to the Durango and struck the Durango in the right passenger side.
Subsequently, the Dodge continued forward motion into the southbound inside traffic lane where a white 2021 Ford F-250 driven by Lonnie Burns, 60, of Woodward, Ok. was unable to avoid colliding with the Durango and struck it on the front right quarter panel. Both vehicles came to rest in the outside southbound traffic lane.
Chavez was transported from the scene by ambulance to Nacogdoches Medical Center - Shelby Emergency Department for medical evaluation.
No citations were issued at the time of the crash.
March 24, 2022 - As a mark of respect for former Secretary of State Madeleine Korbel Albright and her life of service to our Nation, the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff until sunset on March 27, 2022.
March 24, 2022 - Officials with the National Forests and Grasslands in Texas, Angelina & Sabine National Forests, have advised 2 prescribed burn today location:
Sabine N. F. – Compartments 75, Located at the Milam Office, east of Milam Community, 898 acres, Block A & B, with Helicopter support. Winds are predicted from the west at 6-14 MPH.
Angelina N. F. – Compartment 78, Located near Ebenezer Park, west of TX-255, 430 acres, Blocks C & D only, Hand ignitions. Winds are predicted from the west at 6-14 MPH
Please drive with caution. Also, we advised long range drift SMOKE may affect some of the areas.
March 23, 2022 - The Commissioners approved Jimmy Lout, Commissioner Precinct 2, to close a part of CR 2794, which will be replaced by a property owner providing land for a new stretch of roadway at Old English Marina.
"A lady and her husband bought the old marina and the road comes right down beside their property," said Lout.
The roadway makes a large curve and the property owners are planning to build a house. Additionally, they purchased another four acres and would like to provide the new access with a 40-foot right of way.
"[They're] going to put a fence on each side and donate the land right of way for probably about 200 yards," said Lout.
The property owners will apply gravel, and Lout said that would be at no cost to the county, while also taking two very sharp curves out of the roadway.
Stevie Smith, Commissioner Precinct 3, confirmed with Lout the roadway would not close until the replacement roadway reaches completion.
Lout said the new road would intersect at County Roads 2793 and 2700.
A motion carried by the commissioners to approve repositioning CR 2794, and once the project is completed by the landowner the county can resume maintenance on the roadway.
Before moving forward with the installation if fiber optic equipment at the County Clerk's office Ann Blackwell, County Treasurer, sought approval from the court.
"[Tracy Collins] and I both estimate the bill will probably be between $500 and $600 a month," said Blackwell.
She explained it would remove the long-distance bill from the County Clerk's office and other services that won't be necessary any longer. She expects the bill to be $300 more to the County Clerk phone bill budget.
"We have U-verse, it's very slow and we have a lot of outages that affected us on the last day of early voting," said Jennifer Fountain, County Clerk. "It affects the elections, it effects issuing birth certificates, [processing] credit cards."
Blackwell said she believed fiber to the courthouse has only been down twice in the last five years. The fiber optic is expected to be installed within a few weeks.
A motion carried to get the fiber optic installed in the County Clerk's office.
The meeting then adjourned at 9:51am. Agenda items approved during the meeting include: 1. Minutes of February 2, 2022 Special meeting, February 9, 2022 Regular meeting, February 9, 2022 Grant Workshop, February 16, 2022 Special meeting of the Shelby County Commissioner’s Court. 2. Pay weekly expenses. 3. Officers reports from Ann Blackwell, County Treasurer. 4. Commissioner Pct. 2 to close a portion of CR 2794. 5. Record Racial Profiling Report for the Shelby County Constable Pct 4. 6. Run fiberoptic internet lines to the County Clerk’s office. 7. Adjourn at 9:51am.
March 23, 2022 - The intersection of Tenaha Street and Cass-Caid Drive was the scene of a three-vehicle crash Wednesday, March 16, 2022.
According to Center Police Officer Jerry Payne, at 8:50pm a white Jeep SUV driven by Leslie Ortega, 30, of Center was traveling northbound with passenger Victoria Ortega, 31, on Tenaha Street when she stopped to make a left turn onto Cass-Caid Drive.
At that time a white Dodge Ram pickup truck driven by Rafael Soto, 36, of Bronson was northbound on Tenaha Street when it failed to control speed and struck the Jeep in the rear, spinning it into the southbound lane where a blue Nissan driven by Hillary Ihlo, 29, of Center was traveling south and was unable to avoid impacting with the Jeep, striking it once again in the rear.
The Dodge came to rest in the shoulder of the northboud lane while the Jeep and the Nissan remained in the southbound lane blocking traffic.
A 5-year-old male passenger from the Jeep was transported by ambulance to Nacogdoches Medical Center - Shelby Emergency Department for medical evaluation, as was Soto.
Neither of the Ortega's or a 9-year-old female passenger from that vehicle were reported to have received injury. Ihlo was also not reported to have been injured. All vehicles were towed from the scene.
No citations were issued at the time of the incident.
March 23, 2022 - Tom Bellmyer, Commissioner Precinct 4, reports all roadways which were closed due to weather conditions have reopened except for County Road 4760 in Weaver bottom at the end of FM 1970 South in the Attoyac River bottom.
Updated 6:05pm: CR 4323, Risinger Creek and Flat Fork Creek, is closed due to flooding at the three bridges bottom. (Reopen)
Updated 2:27pm: CR 4777 has reopened to traffic.
March 22, 2022 - Tom Bellmyer, Commissioner Precinct 4, reports the closure of roadways in his precinct due to weather conditions. County Road 4777 is closed at the intersection with County Road 4775.
Also, County Road 4760 in Weaver bottom at the end of FM 1970 South in the Attoyac River bottom is closed.
These roadways are closed until further notice. Drivers are encouraged to make safe decisions and if they must travel to choose alternate roadways.
Pages
