Shelby County Today

National Weather Service, Shreveport, LA
11:42am CST, Monday, March 7, 2016

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook for portions of South Central Arkansas, Southwest Arkansas, North Central Louisiana, Northwest Louisiana, East Texas and Northeast Texas.

Day One, Today and Tonight

Isolated showers and thunderstorms will be possible tonight. However, severe weather is not expected.

Days Two through Seven, Tuesday through Sunday

Showers and thunderstorms will be possible across the area Tuesday. However, the threat for flash flooding will increase Tuesday night through Thursday over the region as the intensity of rainfall picks up. Isolated severe thunderstorms will also be possible over East Texas and Western Louisiana Tuesday with the threat shifting eastward to encompass all of North Louisiana Wednesday. Damaging winds, large hail, and tornadoes will be possible with these storms but again the primary threat with this storm system will be flash flooding. Widespread rainfall amounts of four to eight inches with isolated higher amounts in excess of ten inches will be possible through Saturday.

March 7, 2016 - The mother of a child who perished in a house fire on February 17, 2016 has been arrested by the Shelby County Sheriff's Department on a charge of child endangerment relating to a surviving child. The charge stems from indications of drug interaction with the child and are not directly related to the fire.

Following the fire, the sibling of the child who perished, a 4-year-old was taken into custody by the Department of Family and Protective Services.

According to an arrest affidavit, on March 2, 2016 Sheriff's Investigator Chad Brown was advised by Texas Child Protective Services that the 4-year-old male child had been drug tested and the test returned a positive result for methamphetamine.

Investigator Brown was provided with the results which showed the child tested positive for methamphetamine in a 5-panel hair test (4,113 pg/mg).

An arrest warrant on the charge of endangering a child, state jail felony, for Raven Whitteck, 29, of Joaquin was issued by Shelby County Justice of the Peace for Precinct 1 Maxie Eaves. Whitteck was taken into custody on Friday, March 4, 2016. According to Shelby County Jail records, Whitteck bonded out on a $5,000 bond March 5, 2016. The arrest log also indicates there have been three different sets of arrests for endangering a child in the past month for different incidents including Elisha Remedies and Phillipe Falcon on February 29; Rileigh Windham on February 20 and Jarvis Taylor on February 11.

In a press release issued by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Willis Blackwell reports that two arrests have been made by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office in connection with a child being exposed to methamphetamine.

The Sheriff’s Office received information from the Child Protective Services division of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services that a four year-old child under investigation with the department had tested positive for methamphetamine.  

The father of the child, Jesse Whitteck Sr. was arrested on March 7, 2016, also being charged with Endangering a Child, State Jail Felony.  

As stated in the affidavits for the arrest warrants, both parents tested positive for methamphetamine as well.

Sheriff Blackwell advised that the arrests were not in connection to the tragic house fire that occurred at the Whitteck’s residence on February 17, 2016, an incident that is still under investigation.

March 3, 2016 (Republican, Democrat) - A shortfall of ballots seemed to be the trend for Republicans during the March 1st Primary election with voter turnout surpassing years past.

Shelby County Clerk Jennifer Fountain reported ordering extra ballots in preparation for this year's primary due to all local candidates running on the GOP party. However, Shelby County wasn't alone in its struggle with keeping up with the number of voters coming in the door. According to the Dallas Morning News, Dallas Republicans scramble for more ballots as GOP voter turnout ‘through the roof’.

For Shelby County, the unofficial numbers show over 2,000 more Republican ballots were cast this year than in the 2014 Primary while the Democratic ballots decreased by 143. Some Shelby County Democrats switched to vote on the Republican ticket this cycle because they were wanting to have a voice in who represented them locally.

Past Election's - Number of Voters for both parties.
2008 - Republicans (1748), Democrats (3799)
2010 - Republicans (2044), Democrats (908)
2012 - Republicans (3681), Democrats (711)
2014 - Republicans (3304), Democrats (593)
2016 - Republicans (5394), Democrats (450)

The turnover from Democrat to Republican still doesn't account for the large increase. Did the one vote difference in the Shelby County Judges race last election cycle (2014) make voters realize when it comes to county and precinct elections - every vote matters?

Regardless of the reason, precinct 3 (Sardis) had a 51% turnout of its registered voters with precinct 2 (Excelsior) not far behind with a 45% turnout. Below are the voter turnout numbers for each precinct.

• 3 Sardis has 285 registered voters and  144 voted for a  51% turnout for the precinct
• 2 Excelsior has 788 registered voters and  356 voted for a  45% turnout for the precinct
• 1SW Center has 1227 registered voters and  540 voted for a  44% turnout for the precinct
• 5 Joaquin has 2024 registered voters and  892 voted for a  44% turnout for the precinct
• 1N Center has 1355 registered voters and  535 voted for a  39% turnout for the precinct
• 1W Center has 393 registered voters and  153 voted for a  39% turnout for the precinct
• 6 Dreka has 510 registered voters and  200 voted for a  39% turnout for the precinct
• 8 Tenaha has 1119 registered voters and  421 voted for a  38% turnout for the precinct
• 4 Huxley has 750 registered voters and  269 voted for a  36% turnout for the precinct
• 9S Timpson has 1001 registered voters and  364 voted for a  36% turnout for the precinct
• 1S Center has 1695 registered voters and  588 voted for a  35% turnout for the precinct
• 9N Timpson has 1137 registered voters and  399 voted for a  35% turnout for the precinct
• 7 Shelbyville has 800 registered voters and  258 voted for a  32% turnout for the precinct
• 1SE Center has 1614 registered voters and  275 voted for a  17% turnout for the precinct

County Clerk Fountain was thankful for the large voter turnout even though it presented a challenge and felt appreciative for the extra help given by volunteers. She had received reports from clerks from other counties who didn't have election results until well into the morning.

March 2, 2016 - Riggs Street in Center was the scene of a single-vehicle crash on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. Center police officers were dispatched to the scene when it was reported a vehicle had struck a building at that location.

When the officers arrived at Double A Storage facility, one block from Shelbyville Street, a pickup truck was located inside of the facility where it had impacted with a building.

According to Center Police Officer Jake Gross, at 4pm Jerome Ratcliff, 24, of Center was driving west in a 1996 red Chevrolet pickup truck on the 200 block of Riggs Street when Ratcliff stated he attempted to avoid another pickup truck which was traveling in his direction on his side of the roadway. At that time, due to a door malfunction, Ratcliff was ejected from the vehicle onto the ground.

The truck, which was no longer occupied, continued off the roadway to the right and onto the Double A Storage property where it traveled through a chain link fence. The truck then struck two storage buildings before coming to a stop. Ratcliff received minor injuries as a result of the incident; however, he refused treatment at the scene.

No citations were issued at the time of the incident.

Officer Gross was assisted at the scene by CPD Sgt. Duane Gordon and CPD Officer Maegan Wright.