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November 20, 2017 - FM 139 and the intersection of FM 2787 was the scene of a hit-and-run two-vehicle collision Sunday, November 19, 2017.
When emergency responders arrived at the scene, only one of the vehicles involved was at the location.
According to Texas Department of Public Safety State Trooper Keith Jones, at 2:35pm a white 2012 Ford F-150 driven by a 16-year-old driver of Joaquin arrived at the intersection of FM 2787 at FM 139 and came to a complete stop.
The 16-year-old then failed to yield right of way while turning left onto FM 139 when the Ford was struck by a green 2003 Chevrolet Silverado with an unidentified driver, due to the driver of the Chevrolet failing to remain at the scene.
The registered owner of the Chevrolet was a William Clayton of Laneville, Texas.
The 16-year-old driver and his passenger Justin Webster, 21, were not reported to have received injuries resulting from the crash.
A citation was issued to the 16-year-old driver of the Ford for failure to yield right of way. The other driver was still being sought at that time.
Trooper Jones was assisted at the scene by Troopers Richard Hill and Jimmy Faulkner as well as Sheriff's Deputies Adam Renfro and Jesse Travis.
November 20, 2017 - County Road 1005 was the location of a house fire at 2:16pm November 13, 2017 where two fire departments joined forces in attempts to save the residence.
When the Center Fire Department arrived at the residence of Darrell and Pam Sanford, smoke could be seen coming from the backside of the house.
As the West Shelby County Volunteer Fire Department arrived on scene flames could be seen escaping from the roof of the house.
While smoke clouded the area surrounding the house, the firemen from both departments worked to extinguish the flames and firemen gained further access to the fire in the attic of the house.
It was discovered the cause of the fire was a barbecue pit which vented into the attic of the residence.
November 20, 2017 - The Shelbyville Volunteer Fire Department responded to a house fire on State Highway 87 just south of County Road 2110 (Cannon Cemetery Road) November 12, 2017 at 10:01pm.
When firemen arrived, smoke was billowing from the back and front of the house. After searching around and within the home, flames could be seen underneath the structure at both the front and back.
The Center Fire Department was dispatched to the scene to assist in putting out the fire. Once the flames were extinguished at both locations the firemen gained further entry into the home with hoses and were able to extinguish any remaining hotspots inside.
It was discovered the origin of the fire was the heating and air conditioning unit.
The home was owned by Joe Bolton and the residents was Latoya Howard.
November 20, 2017 - The Center Fire Department was dispatched to a structure fire in the 500 block of CR 2230 (Neuville Road) on November 10, 2017 at 12:51pm.
When the firemen arrived, heavy amounts of smoke was emanating from the building. A nearby resident began spraying water on the fire using a garden hose previous to the arrival of fire fighters.
According to Center Fire Chief Keith Byndom, the fire was in a back bedroom and was able to be contained in that location.
The firemen prevented further spread of the fire and the cause was not determined at that time.
The owners of the building were determined to be Demetrius and Albert Smith. The resident was Kendrick Boyd.
November 20, 2017 - The Joaquin Volunteer Fire Department responded to a grass fire off of FM 139 south Saturday afternoon. The fire burned about two acres before it was contained. The JVFD would like to remind all Shelby County residents to use caution when burning, and to save burns for days with low winds. A 20 mph wind gust can easily blow burning leaves onto dry, dead grass, and sustained winds as low as 5 mph can spread a fire quickly. The JVFD would also like to tell residents not to hesitate to call 911 if you have something that you even think is an emergency. All seven Shelby County fire departments stand ready to respond when needed.
November 13, 2017 - DeSoto Parish Crime Stoppers Felon of the Week Program is asking for the public’s help in locating/identifying suspect(s) wanted from DeSoto Parish Area.
Dustin C. Weeks of Mansfield, La. Weeks is wanted for Simple Burglary (2 counts). Weeks is described as a white male, 6’1” tall and weighing 196lbs. Weeks is 32 years of age.
DeSoto Parish Crime Stoppers is offering a reward up to $1000.00 for information that results in the suspects arrest, anyone with information is asked to call the Crime Stoppers line at 1-800-505-STOP(7867) all calls are confidential or contact the Desoto Parish Sheriff’s Office at (318)872-3956. Capt. James Clements
November 10, 2017 - Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Troopers investigated this morning a two vehicle fatal crash on US 59, about two miles north of Timpson.
The preliminary crash investigation indicates at approximately 8:40 a.m., a 2006 Freightliner truck tractor semi-trailer was reportedly making a U-Turn on US 59 in an attempt to travel south. A 2009 Ford pickup, also traveling south, struck the side of the trailer being towed by the truck tractor.
The driver of the Kenworth is identified as Jose Luna, 32, from Houston, TX. Luna was not reported as being injured as a result of the crash.
The driver of the Ford is identified as Johnathon Martin Jr., 30, from Timpson. Martin was transported from the scene of the crash to a hospital in Center and was later pronounced deceased.
This crash remains under investigation. No additional information is available at this time.
November 9, 2017 - Residents at Southwood Apartments Center Housing Authority received a loud awakening Thursday, November 9, 2017 when a moving truck plowed into the main office of the facility.
Stacy Williams, who works at the facility, was inside the building as the truck collided with the structure and she said it felt and sounded like a freight train hit the building. She was able to see the truck as it rolled through a fence at the side of the building.
Von Hayes, who also works at the housing complex, had not made it in to work just yet when the crash occurred and her office was where the truck came to rest in the building.
Miguel Da Cruz works maintenance on the grounds and he had just walked out of the building to perform his duties before the truck hit.
"When I came out I saw him trying to get out of the door, but then I went to check my boss to see she was okay because she was still in the building. I guess a bystander came and by the time I got out here he was out with two other people. I was talking to him, making sure he's okay," said Da Cruz.
Emergency personnel with the Center Police Department, Center Fire Department, and Texas Department of Public Safety all responded to the location.
After the driver exited from the vehicle, ACE EMS transported him from the scene to Nacogdoches Medical Center - Shelby Emergency Department to check him for any injuries.
According to Center Police Officer Kenneth King and Center Police Sgt. Ricky King, at 7:18am a Toyota Hino 268 moving truck owned by Moving Guys For Rent and driven by Emil Kariem Walker, 39, of Bossier City, Louisiana was southbound on Southview Circle in Center.
For an unknown reason the Toyota traveled across the northbound traffic lane and left the roadway where it then traveled over a culvert. The truck then struck a dumpster in the parking lot of Here's The Deal where it collided with various other items in the parking lot.
The truck then traveled over several parking blocks in the parking lot and into San Augustine Street before rolling into Southwood Apartments where it collided with a bus stop structure. The truck traveled through a fence and into the side of the office building for the apartment complex causing major damage to the vehicle and building.
Walker was treated and released from the hospital. No citations have been issued at this time and the incident remains under investigation.
Hopkins Wrecker Service pulled the truck from the building and towed it from the scene.
November 8, 2017 - The Shelby County Commissioners met November 1, 2017 and collectively carried forward $1,339,330.70 in monies from their 2017 budgets.
Each of the commissioners had a cash balance remaining in their budgets at the end of the budget year and there are options on what can be done with that money.
Clint Porterfield, County Auditor, suggested to the commissioners they leave at least a portion of their remaining cash balance to help cover end of year expenses for the next year.
"I'm going to ask the court to take action to recognize the year end balances to begin with and then need to take action to decide of that amount, how much each precinct would like to budget as cash forward in their fiscal year 2018 budget," said Porterfield.
He explained that amount would then be budgeted in each commissioners' expenses and can be put into fixed assets, or material purposes at their discretion.
Porterfield let the commissioners know it was acceptable for the full amount to be budgeted; however, he wanted them to bear in mind at the end of next year they have the month of October before tax collections take place, and during that time the commissioners will have bills to still pay. He cautioned that if the full amount was budgeted, there would be future discussions to insure they don't spend the total amount.
Each of the commissioners expressed their wishes as follows:
Roscoe McSwain, Precinct 1 Commissioner, stated he was carrying over $479,330.70 and he chose to budget $429,000 to fixed assets leaving $59,330.70 of that amount un-budgeted.
Jimmy Lout, Precinct 2 Commissioner, stated he would budget $200,000 in fixed assets leaving $76,090.75 not budgeted.
Charles Barr, Precinct 3 Commissioner, chose to move $200,000 to fixed assets and according to financial records that leaves a remainder of $91,944.73.
Bradley Allen, Precinct 4 Commissioner, elected to maintain $460,000 in fixed assets and leave $56,185.22 not budgeted.
A motion carried to recognize the cash balance of the four precincts and to adjust the cash on hand as each commissioner indicated.
Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison informed the commissioners of a request made by Judge Melissa Crouch, Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace, for software to be installed on her computer. Her assistant already has the software on her computer; however, Judge Crouch would like to have the software as well, so she may perform tasks with it from her computer.
Judge Harbison said the cost for the additional Serenity Software is $1,409.20. Porterfield informed her there were funds available in the Justice of the Peace Technology fund.
A motion carried to approve the purchase of the software.
Next on the agenda was a resolution for the Indigent Defense Grant Program which Judge Harbison explained has to be considered every year as a formality to get the grant.
"While we spend over $200,000 on legal defense for indigents we usually only get back $20,000-$25,000," said Judge Harbison.
A motion carried to approve the resolution for the Indigent Defense Grant Program.
Ann Blackwell, County Treasurer, accompanied by Jason Fulbright with Intelligent Computer Concepts spoke about upgrading the courthouse internet from DSL and U-Verse to a fiber connection.
Judge Harbison explained there are difficulties with the internet at times. Some offices are on DSL and others are on U-Verse.
"DSL never goes down, but it's slow. U-Verse goes down quite often," said Judge Harbison.
Blackwell said she put together numbers because she was asked to figure out what the cost would be to make the change to fiber. She said she knows a lot of businesses in Center are changing over to fiber which she understands is a more reliable option.
The plan which has been proposed would drop the cost of each phone line to $13.30 each using voice over IP (VOIP). Blackwell said that is a great improvement over where she has already been able to decrease the cost.
In speaking with other individuals about the changeover it was recommended, and Blackwell suggested to Fulbright, the courthouse retain one analog phone line for each main office in the building as a backup in the event the fiber were to go down. Even still she says that will be a savings to the county.
The cost for the new lines would be $1,131 plus taxes and fees likely savings around $200 a month by switching to fiber. According to Blackwell, upgrades within the courthouse would cost around $2,500 and with the savings on the bill she said it wouldn't take long to recoup that expense.
Fulbright explained fiber is more of an enterprise internet solution.
"The U-Verse product, which predominantly a lot of people have, was originally rolled out as a consumer product. Simply because it did offer some higher speeds, businesses, public offices began to adopt it," said Fulbright. "The problem that we've seen with U-Verse is it has a tendency to go down quite often."
Fulbright continued to explain, when the system goes down they aren't sporadic outages, it's countywide and for a long period of time.
"[Fiber] does obviously cost more but they have what's called a service level agreement of 99.9% access and what it offers is speeds that you cannot get with U-Verse product," said Fulbright.
He also described the opportunity of future expansion that fiber paves the way for by having it available. Fulbright said with the increase of state agencies doing more online there's going to be a dependency on higher speeds.
"Everything is going to be more online," said Fulbright.
Fulbright detailed how many businesses locally as well as City of Center have already been using fiber.
A motion carried to go forward and upgrade the courthouse internet service to fiber for a 24-month contract.
Commissioner Barr presented a need to lease a maintainer. He expressed how it wasn't something he intended on having to do at this time; however, his precinct got down to one machine and he's had to use one on loan from precinct 1.
CASE and Caterpillar both brought in demo machines for him to consider.
The total cost for the Caterpillar was listed at $238,414.
A motion carried to lease the Caterpillar for three annual payments, arrears at $38,769.85 with 2,000 hour min run.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:12am.
November 8, 2017 - The Tenaha City Council held a meeting Monday, November 6, 2017 to consider applications for the position of police chief, and they have chosen a candidate.
Following closed session, the council returned to open session and made a motion they had chosen a candidate to be revealed at a later date.
Shelby County Today contacted Natalie Harris, Mayor Pro Tem, and she announced the candidate which they have chosen is Jeremy H. Pope.
No further action was reported to have been taken during the meeting, and Pope's first day on the job has not yet been announced.
Pope is a former Shelby County Sheriff's Deputy and has most recently been a Sabine County Sheriff's Deputy..
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