Shelby County Today

July 1, 2019 - The intersection of Nacogdoches and Hurst Streets in Center was the scene of a two-vehicle crash Friday, June 28, 2019. 

Center Police Officers were first dispatched to the scene of the incident and when they arrived at 4:50pm a green Ford Mustang from Center and black Mercury from Missouri were left sitting in the middle of the roadway with apparent major damage to both.

Officers had the driver and passenger in the Mercury move the vehicle to a safe location out of the intersection and the officers then attempted to open the driver door of the Mustang to gain access to the driver; however, with no success.

EMS personnel were then arriving at the location just previous to Center Fire Department firemen being requested to utilize Jaws-of-Life to assist in extricating the driver of the Mustang.

Once the firemen pried the door free of the Mustang they assisted EMS in moving the driver to an ambulance to transport him to a hospital.

The cause of the incident is unknown; however, the Mustang appeared to have been traveling east on Nacogdcohes Street while the Mercury was northbound on Hurst Street when the collision occurred.

Center Police Officer Spencer Anderson was the officer investigating the crash at the time of the incident assisted by Sgt. Ricky King and officer Brian Wright and Robert Lee. Information on this incident remains pending at the time of this report.

July 1, 2019 - A 30-year-old Carthage, Texas man has been convicted of federal violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown today.

Winfred Earl Ware, Jr. was found guilty by a jury on June 28, 2019, of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, obstruction of justice and witness tampering following a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone.

According to information presented in court, from 2014 through 2017, Ware conspired with others to possess with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. The evidence presented in trial showed that pending trial for the drug conspiracy charge in August 2018, Ware created false Facebook entries purported to be from a government witness which would tend to exonerate the defendant. 

By submitting those false documents to the court to be used at trial, the government had to dismiss the pending drug charge against Ware to investigate these messages. Upon examination, the government determined that the Facebook entries were created by Ware in an effort to influence the testimony of several witnesses in the original trial and to corruptly influence the due administration of justice. Ware was then indicted in Dec. 2018, on the original drug conspiracy as well as the charges of obstruction of justice and witness tampering. 

Under federal statutes, Ware faces a minimum of 10 years in federal prison for the drug trafficking and tampering charges and up to 10 years in federal prison for the obstruction violation. The maximum statutory sentences prescribed by Congress is provided here for information purposes, as the sentence will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Panola County Sheriff’s Office. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren Gaston and Michelle S. Englade. 

Angelina and Shelby counties to see new construction

June 28, 2019 Lufkin – Texas Transportation Commissioners on Thursday approved more than $619 million for construction projects statewide that included more than $43 million in the Lufkin District.

Angelina County was approved for Phase III of a widening project on US 69 that will continue to widen the two-lane roadway to a four-lane divided highway from FM 1270 to the Jasper County line. Drewery Construction, Company, Inc., Nacogdoches, TX will serve as contractor for the $37.4 million project. No timeline for completion has been determined.

Phase I of this construction is an $11 million project that includes widening the roadway from the Huntington city limits to FM 844. Phase II is a $65 million construction project from FM 844 to FM 1270 in Zavalla. Both Phase I and Phase II are currently under construction.

Shelby County was also approved for a new construction project on FM 1645. The work will include rehabilitating and widening existing pavement and placing profile edge and centerline markings from US 59 to SH 87. Longview Bridge and Road, LTD., Longview, TX will serve as contractor for the $5.7 million project.

As these construction projects begin, motorists are urged to reduce speed through work zones, stay alert to workers and moving equipment and respect all traffic control in and near a work zone.

For more information, contact Rhonda.Oaks@txdot.gov or (936) 633-4395.

June 26, 2019 - The Shelby County Commissioners received and considered several bids for the remodeling of the Juvenile Probation building to accommodate the Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 office.

Although the bids were opened and considered, the conversation still continues as the agenda item was tabled for further consideration.

Roscoe McSwain, Commissioner Precinct 1, opened the bids with the first being from Mike Smith at a total of $50,055 without leveling of the building. The next bid was from E-Z Way Construction for a total of $48,450 also without leveling. A third bid was from Bolton Carpentry for $40,385 with the addition of building leveling and the concrete walkway to the ramp would be $4,950 extra bringing the total bid to $45,335.

Once the bids were read the commissioners discussed the potential of taking the project in a different direction.

"I think that we need to discuss before we decide to accept one of these bids or reject all of them," said Charles Barr, Precinct 3 Commissioner. "We need to decide if we want to put this much money, I mean what's the courts opinion on that, back into a house that we've already put, if I understand last time, it was about 60 plus the purchase price. I'm just bringing that up for discussion."

McSwain said he really doesn't want to spend the projected amount of money on an old structure, "So, I'm gonna ask Mr. Bellmyer has he had an opportunity to get us any metal construction building figures or any options that we might do different than this, like on some of the other county projects."

Tom Bellmyer, Commissioner Precinct 4, explained the specifications were gathered about Melissa Crouch, Justice of the Peace Precinct 1, office space to attempt and replicate that with another building and get an estimate on cost.

"What we requested, we wanted for a turnkey building and the only thing lacking was to connect the utilities which would be the water, sewer, and electrical would have to get hooked up and to have them placed on site," said Bellmyer.

Barr said the dimensions are just a little less than 1,000 square feet. Bellmyer stated the structure itself would be 60x16.

The proposals were sought from Campbell Portable Buildings and Spartan Structures. At this time they only have a cost estimate from Spartan Structures; however, Barr assumed the amount would be competitive.

Specifications on the structures include a wheelchair access, egress windows and air conditioning.

Bellmyer expressed a desire to have a clarification from the bidders on the specific nature of their quotes and what all they included since one included a bid for leveling and at least one other said that was something he could do. If the court were to decide to go the route of building a structure, he said there are several property options they have discussed as well as the school building.

"If you don't work on that building how long is the other part of the building going to last? If it's going to fall down in three or four years, five years y'all talking about a lot of it rotting and stuff. Then, I would say let's do the construction part," said Jimmy Lout, Commissioner Precinct 2.

Another concern Bellmyer mentioned would come up either way is the Juvenile Probation building is not currently wheelchair accessible, and to be compliant that would need to be added.

Barr had additional concerns of what might be found once construction began on the house.

"Everybody here knows that's ever done any kind of construction on an old house, you find other things once you start tearing out," said Barr. "I think they've been pretty thorough, but there's still a lot of things that you can't see."

McSwain said his opinion is he would rather spend $50,000 to $60,000 on a structure that would be around for another 30 years and could be added on to rather than invest that in a building that may not last 10 years.

With the bids now being public information as originally submitted, Clint Porterfield, County Auditor, cautioned the court about visiting with the bidders before approving because the bid could potentially be manipulated to entice a bid approval. If clarification were necessary, he advised first approving one then seeking that clarification.

A motion carried to table the remodeling until the next commissioners' court meeting.

The meeting was then adjourned at 10:03am.

Agenda items approved during the meeting include:
1. Pay weekly expenses.
2. Current payroll.
3. Adjourn.

Agenda items tabled during the meeting include:
1. Sealed bids for remodeling the Juvenile Probation building to accommodate JP. 1.