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August 28, 2017 - Shelby County Today reports that mail delivery may be delayed. The local Post Offices are serviced out of a Houston distribution center which has been impacted by Hurricane Harvey.
Mail delivered to the Center office this morning was extremely low on mail volume. Shelby County Today was advised that mail in Houston at the North Houston TX Processing and Distribution Center was unable to be dispatched and postal workers and volunteers are working on retrieving the mail from that facility.
New mail is being rerouted to Dallas and other areas for processing so there should not be any delays for new mail sent out.
SCT advised anyone who has mailed in an account payment around the end of last week when Hurricane Harvey arrived, they may want to contact the company to see if payment has been received. If not, then call the company to advise them of the possible mail delay and see if the company needs you to make payment arrangements to avoid late fees.
USPS Service Alerts - https://about.usps.com/news/service-alerts/
August 28, 2017 - Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative is currently and has been monitoring Tropical Storm Harvey for the past several days, as well as preparing for the storm’s possible movement across the DETEC Service Area.
DETEC linemen are currently responding to outages and contractors are ready to respond if needed.
With the current rainfall levels increasing and the continued forecasted rain over the next few days, please understand that restoration efforts may be slowed considerably to ensure the safety of our lineman and contractors.
We encourage you to also prepare now for the possibility of weather-related problems. We urge everyone to make necessary preparations including:
- If you or someone in your household is dependent upon life support, have an alternate power source available or identify a location you can move to that has an alternate power source.
- Check backup generators for proper operations and remember to carefully follow generator safety precautions including NOT operating a generator indoors.
- Monitor local weather conditions.
- Follow warnings from local authorities. If you must travel, check drivetexas.org, for road closures and hazard information.
- Above all, we want to ask you to be safe - STAY AWAY FROM ALL DOWNED LINES. Consider them all to be live and dangerous. Call DETEC at 1-800-392-5986 to report downed lines and outages.
Please report outages, by calling: 1-800-392-5986
August 27, 2017 - Shelby County Sheriff Willis Blackwell reports that on Sunday, August 27, 2017 Shelby County Sheriff's Communications Division received a call at approximately 6:42am of a body floating in the Sabine River. The call was transferred from DeSoto Parish and they had lost contact with the caller. SCSO Communications was able to regain contact with the caller. Responding from SCSO was Sheriff Willis Blackwell, Deputy Adam Renfro and Investigator Del Birdwell along with Constable Pct. 3 Roy Cheatwood. TPWD Game Warden Austin Cryer also responded.
Upon arrival of SCSO personnel, the victim had gotten in the current and was traveling downstream. The victim was originally located between the US 84 bridge and Lovick's Landing. Upon getting the victim to shore, the victim was only known as being a black female and no identification was located on her person.
Desoto Parish Fire/Rescue along with two Desoto Parish Deputies arrived on scene via water to provide assistance. Shortly after DeSoto Parish Sheriff Rodney Arbuckle and three investigators arrived as well. One of the deputies thought he recognized the victim as someone from Logansport. Sheriff Arbuckle took a picture of the victim and sent it for identification. The victim was later identified as Sophia Young Davis, 48 of Keatchie, Louisiana. It is believed she had been staying in the Logansport area recently.
The inquest was performed by Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 Margie Anderson. Davis was taken from the scene by Watson and Sons Funeral Home personnel for transport to East Texas Forensics in Tyler for an autopsy.
August 25, 2017 - The Center Police Department is facing allegations of excessive use of force by two of its officers during a traffic stop in January through a civil rights lawsuit filed in federal court August 18, 2017.
Allegations made in the 11-page complaint are Center Police officer Spencer Anderson, in his patrol car, "chased" Kenith Windham on January 21, 2017 to Brown Street where Windham did not pull over, but crashed.
It is further alleged Anderson pursued Windham on foot before wrapping his legs around, choking, and relentlessly striking Windham in the face multiple times causing several bones in his face to be fractured.
Sgt. Chris Knowlton is alleged after having placed handcuffs on Windham to have admonished him to stop squirming and spitting while Windham was on his knees, bleeding and handcuffed. In regards to this, Knowlton is also alleged to have threatened to release his K-9 to attack Windham. The complaint says at this time Windham was spitting blood because his mouth was filling with blood due to multiple injuries including a broken palate.
The fear of dog attack is explained to be the reason why Windham then attempted to flee the officers on foot in fear for his life.
This is when the complaint alleges both Anderson and Knowlton ran Windham down on foot and when the officers caught up to him Anderson began striking Windham again, while handcuffed, and threw him on the pavement. With his hands cuffed behind his back, Windham was unable to break his fall.
The complaint describes the resulting medical expenses of the incident incurred by Windham to be more than $120,000 and suggests he suffers loss of depth perception, impaired peripheral vision, impaired sense of smell and other nerve damage because of the alleged beatings.
According to the Center Police Department incident report obtained by Shelby County Today, Officer Anderson reported attempting to initiate a traffic stop on Windham when he alleges Windham failed to stop for a stop sign at the intersection of Daniels Street and Martin Luther King Drive. Officer Anderson reported chasing the vehicle down several streets and losing sight of the vehicle on two separate occasions.
Officer Anderson reported regaining sight of the vehicle once again on Loop 500 traveling toward State Highway 87 and the pursuit is alleged to have re-engaged at speeds of 100mph to 105mph. When the vehicle being pursued reached Brown Street, the report alleges the vehicle attempted to turn onto Brown Street at a high rate of speed and missed the roadway before coming to a complete stop after hitting a fire hydrant.
What the complaint and the incident report seem to corroborate is Windham received facial fractures.
This required Windham to have received a PR bond on the charge of driving while intoxicated - 2nd, at the emergency room to facilitate his transfer to a hospital in Tyler for more extensive treatment.
The Shelby County Attorney's office rejected the charge of resist arrest, search, or transportation, misdemeanor A. Court records do not indicate at this time if the charges of evading arrest or detention, felony 3; assault, felony 3; or escape, felony 3; will be pursued by the Shelby County District Attorney's office.
Windham was arrested March 7, 2017 on the resisting arrest and evading arrest with a vehicle charges.
August 25, 2017 - Shelby County Sheriff Willis Blackwell reports that on Thursday, August 24, 2017 a narcotics search warrant was issued for a residence located at 147 East Saddle Street in Joaquin which stemmed from an ongoing extensive narcotics investigation conducted by Chief Deputy D.J. Dickerson.
The search warrant was executed by Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Deputies and Investigators, along with Shelby County District Attorney Investigator Joey Haley and Constable Pct. 2 Jamie Hagler.
The search warrant yielded the recovery and seizure of over 10 grams of methamphetamine, along with ecstasy, hydrocodone, oxycodone, valium, and over three ounces of marijuana. During the search warrant, property also recovered was zip baggies for packaging narcotics, several digital scales, drug paraphernalia, and a firearm.
Suspects arrested at the residence were John Escobedo, 39 of Joaquin and Jessica Barber, 26 of Joaquin. Escobedo and Barber were charged with Manufacture/Delivery of a Controlled Substance in Penalty Group 1 >= 4g<200g, Felony 1; Delivery of Marijuana >=2oz<4oz, State Jail Felony; Possession of a Controlled Substance in Penalty Group 2 < 1g, State Jail Felony; Possession of a Controlled Substance in Penalty Group 3 < 28g, Misdemeanor A; and Possession of a Controlled Substance in Penalty Group 1 >=1g<4g, Felony 3. Escobedo also was arrested for a warrant for Failure to Appear on Credit Card / Debit Card Abuse, State Jail Felony.
Escobedo and Barber were both arraigned by Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 Melissa Crouch. Escobedo’s bond was set at $85,000 along with a no bond for the FTA warrant and Barber’s bond was set at $83,000.
So it begins…will you be next?
Submitted by Leah Chase, SCSO Media Relations
August 25, 2017 - Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison and Emergency Management Coordinator (EMC) Kerrie Shofner have been communicating with state agencies concerning Hurricane Harvey and advise they are monitoring the situation.
"Our area is still at a Level III, Increased Readiness. They stated they had no forecasts for after landfall because they couldn't predict where it was going to go. My EMC and I will be monitoring all weekend. We are a pass-thru county, therefore, I do not anticipate any shelters opening for evacuees," explained Judge Harbison.
According to the Texas Emergency Management guide, the levels of Emergency Operations begin at four and count down to one indicating an emergency condition. The levels are Level IV – Normal Conditions; Level III – Increased Readiness; Level II - Escalated Response Conditions; and Level I - Emergency Conditions.
Level III means a significant emergency has not yet occurred, but a higher than normal level of readiness is warranted because of increased vulnerability to a specific hazard. Advisory notifications are sent to the Emergency Management Council and appropriate officials and agency representatives are briefed on anticipated risk situations and potential impacts. Coordination activities may increase.
Typical Events for Level III are tropical weather system development, escalating or immediate risk to impact area. Typical notification would be made to TDEM (Texas Division of Emergency Management) staff, emergency management coordinators and directors, fire departments/EMS, law enforcement.
Judge Harbison would like to remind people that price gouging is illegal, if anyone feels they have been a victim of this, call the Attorney General at 800-621-0508 to report.
National Weather Service detailed forecast for Shelby County
- Rest Of Today - Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s. East winds 5 to 10 mph.
- Tonight - Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 70s. East winds 5 to 10 mph.
- Saturday (Aug 26) - Cloudy with chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 80s. East winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.
- Saturday Night - Mostly cloudy with chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s. East winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.
- Sunday (Aug 27) - Showers and thunderstorms likely. Cloudy. Highs in the upper 70s. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.
- Sunday Night - Cloudy with chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 60s. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.
- Monday (Aug 28) - Mostly cloudy. Showers and thunderstorms likely. Highs in the lower 80s. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.
- Monday Night - Mostly cloudy with chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 60s. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.
- Tuesday (Aug 29) - Mostly cloudy with chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 80s. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.
- Tuesday Night - Mostly cloudy. Showers and thunderstorms likely. Lows in the upper 60s. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.
- Wednesday (Aug 30) - Cloudy. Showers and thunderstorms likely. Highs in the lower 80s. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.
- Wednesday Night - Mostly cloudy with chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 60s. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.
- Thursday (Aug 31) - Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s.
August 24, 2017 - Shelby County Sheriff Willis Blackwell reports that on August 15, 2017 Deputy Adam Renfro was dispatched to a residence in Timpson in reference to a 15 year-old female runaway.
During the investigation, it was revealed through a neighbor’s video surveillance camera, that the female left her home at 11:47 p.m. on August 14, 2017.
Investigators with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office learned that Holly Elizabeth Brown of Garrison and her 15-year-old son picked the female up from her residence in Shelby County.
Brown and 15-year-old son took the female to their residence in Garrison and hid her when approached by law enforcement officers. Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Kevin Windham found the female runaway hiding underneath a bed at the Brown’s residence in the evening hours of August 15, 2017.
Holly Brown, Lorri Brown, Elma Paul Brown and the juvenile son of Holly Brown were present in the home when the runaway was located and all had knowledge the child was a runaway and failed to notify law enforcement or the child’s legal guardians of her location.
Warrants were issued for Holly Brown and Lorri Brown for Harboring a Runaway Child (M-A).
Holly Brown and Lorri Brown turned themselves into the SCSO on August 23, 2017. Each posted a $5,000 bond and were released the same day.
Leah Chase, SCSO Media Relations
Related Story:
15-Year-Old Timpson Girl Missing (Found)
August 24, 2017 - Center Police Officers were dispatched to a major crash on State Loop 500 Wednesday, August 23, 2017 involving a meat delivery truck and a passenger vehicle.
The Center Fire Department was also dispatched to the scene and used Jaws-of-Life to help extricate the driver from the vehicle. Hughes Wrecker Service was also on scene and helped to pull the truck away from the driver.
According to Center Police Officer Spencer Anderson, at approximately 1:55pm a Buick 4-door passenger vehicle driven by Gloria Harvey, 72, of Center was eastbound on State Loop 500 when she stopped to turn left on FM 2788. At that time a white Freightliner FL70 owned by Deans Meat Service and driven by Christopher Johnson, 38, of Huntington was traveling behind Harvey. Johnson failed to control speed, struck the right rear of the Buick and flipped over before coming to rest off the roadway to the right.
Harvey and Johnson were reported to have received minor injuries as a result of the crash. Johnson was transported by ACE EMS to Nacogdoches Medical Center - Center Emergency Department for treatment and Harvey was transported by private vehicle to a hospital.
No citations have been issued at this time.
Center ISD police officers assisted at the scene with traffic control. Officer Anderson was assisted with the investigation at the scene by Officer Kenneth King.
TxDOT was also on scene as some road signs were struck during the incident. JB Raymond provided a forklift at the scene to help lift the truck container and make it easier to remove.
August 23, 2017 - TxDOT advised at 7:10am Thursday, August 23, 2017, that FM 1279 in San Augustine County is open this morning following a train derailment on Monday. Rail road work continues. Use caution traveling through the area.
Related article: FM 1279 Scene of Train Derailment
August 22, 2017 - Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison informed the Shelby County Commissioners during their August 14, 2017 meeting she has been speaking with Douglas Stutzman with TxDOT regarding funds owed by Shelby County to TxDOT for the new Loop 500 highway construction. The agreement to pay 8.1% of the total compensation to landowners was made August 13, 2007 under Judge John Tomlin.
Total expenditure by TxDOT to accomplish the acquisition and utilities was $4,777,288.09 bringing Shelby County's 8.1% obligation to $386,960.34. In the past the county has made two payments of $50,000 and one for $4,860 leaving a remainder of $282,100.34.
According to Judge Harbison, Stutzman offered payment options to the county including paying the total over a 3-6 month time period, or if the county could offer another payment option it would be capable of meeting to outline that suggestion and present it to the state.
"This amount is about $100,000 more than what we thought it would be, so that is the reason that this is due 10 years later," said Judge Harbison.
"We've been discussing this back and forth and my personal opinion is I don't want to obligate the county to five years of making payments. I would rather take the money out of Right-of-Way and pay it and get it behind us, because otherwise we're obligating to have payment down the road," said Roscoe McSwain, Precinct 1 Commissioner.
A motion carried and was approved to take $200,000 out of the Right-of-Way account and $82,100.34 out of the Contingency account to pay the debt in full.
McSwain asked Judge Harbison to explain why the cost was so high.
Judge Harbison explained a statement was received on the total cost for the process of condemning the land.
"Several of the suits were quite large. We had one that was $26,500 was our estimate and after condemnation hearings, they were awarded $527,000 so that's quite a bit more than we budgeted for," said Judge Harbison.
She stated utilities came in higher than projected as well and several of the condemnations exceeded the expected cost. According to Judge Harbison the utility costs were beyond the county's control.
"We just need to let the public know that this was an agreement from 2007 and we're paying this and a lot of this is out of our control, well all of it's out of our control on how much we pay," said Judge Harbison.
McSwain clarified the county agrees to pay the percentage and the state handles everything else to do with negotiations, leaving the county to pay the resulting amount.
David Chandler and Dale Alexander, ACE EMS representatives, addressed the court about continuing the contract between ACE EMS ambulance service and Shelby County for another five years.
Chandler reports from January 1, 2017 to the date of the meeting the ambulance service has run 1,599 calls in Shelby County and out of that figure 1,081 of those were for 9-1-1 calls. The other calls cover non-emergency calls like for a nursing homes, lift assists and that sort of thing.
Three calls have been received for mutual aid during the year. To Nacogdoches Medical Center - Center Emergency Department there have been 758 people transported and from that point 321 have been transported to Nacogdoches.
"I know we did a 1-year contract last year, we've been in service five years this month," said Chandler.
McSwain asked Chandler and Alexander if there was a real difference for them having a five-year contract opposed to a three-year contract.
"It would stabilize what we set out to accomplish in the beginning, you know," said Alexander. "Our past history with ambulance services here, come and go, come and go, the market gets watered down so to speak and you lose your level of service. We feel like with a five-year contract it's easier for us to guarantee that level of service to the county for a long period of time."
McSwain remarked whatever the time frame on the contract is that it is very important the county has a very clear out at the discretion of the court. Alexander and Chandler agreed there is a 30 day clause in the contract already in place at the discretion of the court.
"The goal is for this county, not to expand to other counties. We're here for us, for Shelby County," said Alexander.
A motion carried to extend the contract with ACE EMS for five years with the contract to be presented to the court for final approval before November 1.
The commissioners approved a donation of pipe located in Frierson, La. from Nuverra to Shelby County. The pipe will be used by the commissioners.
"This pipe is 15"-18" in diameter, it's not the thick PVC like they donated in Haslam, it's a fiberglass wrapped in aluminum coating," said Charles Barr, Precinct 3 Commissioner.
According to Barr, the pipes are 30 to 40 feet in length, are very good, and can be used for roadways and driveways. The county will just have to drive to the location and pick up the pipe for use.
A motion carried to accept the donation.
Judy Thompson, a resident of Precinct 4 on CR 4378, addressed the court about road conditions and treatment she says she received from Bradley Allen, Commissioner Precinct 4.
Judge Harbison said she spoke with Commissioner Allen after initially being contacted by Thompson and he was not able to make the meeting due to illness; however, he had done some work on CR 4378.
"Since that time he has come out and drug the ditches and trimmed the bushes which have not been done in three years, that was my main concern," said Thompson.
Thompson said her reason for speaking to the commissioners was the way she claims Allen spoke to her, which she claimed was in a derogatory manner. She also claimed to have spoken with other individuals who said he had been rude to them.
Thompson asked why the road she lives on is the only one on the east side of U.S. 96.
"I feel like we get treated like step-children over there. I can leave my house at the end of my road and see his maintainers and everything over there by the Wildcat Cemetery, or Old Union Cemetery where they're turning around. I get home thinking I'm going to have something done to my road, no," said Thompson.
Judge Harbison told Thompson the county precincts are redistricted every 10 years in Austin.
"They take the number of people that live on a road and that's how it is divided," said Judge Harbison.
Judge Harbison also apologized on behalf of the court to Thompson for the way she had been spoken to and she said she hopes it will never happen again.
Roy Cheatwood, Precinct 3 Constable, presented his certificate of completion of the Basic Peace Officer course and the Reactivation of the Peace Officer's License for the acceptance and recording of the court.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:28am.
Officers' report
Fees collected per office for July:
Deborah Riley, Tax Assessor/Collector, office: Property: $79,682.97; Motor Vehicle: $38,746.73 for a total of $118,429.70
Jennifer Fountain, County Clerk: $37,172.77
Lori Oliver, District Clerk: $25,878.93
Melissa Crouch, Justice of the Peace Precinct 1: $9,259
Marla Denby, Justice of the Peace Precinct 2: $1,402.73
Margie Anderson, Justice of the Peace Precinct 3: $10,023
Jenny Hicks, Justice of the Peace Precinct 4: $5,364
Mike Crouch, Justice of the Peace Precinct 5: $2,452
Zach Warr, Constable Precinct 1: $270
James Hagler, Constable Precinct 2: $270
Roy Cheatwood, Constable Precinct 3: $90
Jake Metcalf, Constable Precinct 4: $180
Robert Hairgrove, Constable Precinct 5: $90
Grand total: $209,982.13
Money Market CD#1 generated $245.93 total market value of $427,697.48
Money Market CD#2 generated $245.51 total market value of $426,960.11
Money Market CD#3 generated $245.08 total market value of $426,224.01
Money Market CD#4 generated $279.36 total market value of $485,845.57
Shelby County Money Market generated $5.32 for a total value of $25,048.53
Total Interest earned on investments $1,015.88
Total investments of $1,791,775.70
Total Interest from Interest Bearing Checking Accounts: $815.31
Agenda items approved during the meeting include:
1. Minutes of the July 10, 2017 Regular Meeting, and the July 24, 2017 Special Meeting, of the Shelby County Commissioners’ Court.
2. Pay monthly expenses.
3. Officers’ Reports.
4. Donation of pipe from Nuverra to Shelby County.
5. Contract with Bryan & Bryan Asphalt, LLC.
6. Take $200,000 out of the Right-of-Way account and $82,100.34 out of the Contingency account to pay the debt in full for reimbursement for the utility adjustment and new highway construction costs for Loop 500 as per an Agreement to Contribute signed on August 13, 2007 between the County and the Texas Department of Transportation.
7. Bid from Jennifer Denise Gray $4,500 on Property ID 21747, located in the Jesse Amason Survey, City of Center which has been struck off the tax rolls.
8. Advertise for bids on janitorial services.
9. Take no action, discuss in budget hearing the purchase of a new vehicle for Constable Precinct 3.
10. Extend contract with ACE EMS for five years with the contract to be presented to the court for final approval before November 1.
11. Adjourn at 10:28am.
Tabled
1. Purchase of a new computer for Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 from the Justice Court Technology Fund.
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