HCSO: Late Night Car Crashing Results In Arrest
A Cumby man’s unruly behavior, which reportedly included crashing at least one vehicle at his County Road 4737 property into another vehicle, resulted in the 35-year-old’s arrest around 12:30 a.m. Thursday for disorderly conduct.
Hopkins County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched earlier in the night to the residence, where his spouse expressed concern for the man, who was reported to be highly intoxicated. The wife, who was reportedly out of state, indicated to authorities she was concerned he would leave in one of their vehicles.
Upon arrival, deputies spoke with the man and determined no offense had occurred. One set of vehicle keys was located and turned over to the man’s friend, deputies reported. the Cumby man allegedly agreed to quit drinking and go to sleep, so deputies left.
Deputies were soon dispatched back to the location, where the man was reportedly making unreasonable noises by ramming one of his vehicles with another one of his vehicles, according to arrest reports.
Upon arrival, deputies reported seeing one vehicle backed into another one of the vehicles; the resident was not inside of either. He was, however, alleged to be making “unreasonable noise with his actions,” disturbing his neighbors, resulting in his arrest for disorderly conduct, deputies wrote in arrest reports.
Man Jailed On Felony DWI Charge
Justin Karl Roderick, 61, of Sulphur Springs was arrested at 6:02 p.m. on South Hillcrest Drive by Suphur Springs Police Officer Sean Hoffman for driving while intoxicated, third or more offense.
Hoffman was dispatched to the 1700 block of South Broaway Street, where a person was reportedly drinking alcohol while driving his vehicle on the road. Hoffman saw Roderick driving a Chevrolet Uplander on South Broadway Street at Wildcat Way and attempted a traffic stop, but was unable to do so.
Hoffman reported he did contact the man when he stopped at Pilot Travel Center. The officer said he told the man police had received a complaint he’d been drinking and driving, and asked him if he was drinking and driving. The man, identified in arrest reports as Justin Karl Roderick, allegedly admitted to having an open beer in the vehicle, and that he had several beers prior to the officer contacting him.
Roderick had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes, and exhibited six of six clues on horizontal gaze nystagmus tests, and showed him to be intoxicated on a breath test, Hoffman alleged in arrest reports.
Roderick remained in the county jail late Thursday morning, May 2. His bond was set at $10,000 on the felony DWI charge, according to jail reports.
Police: Woman Found Dead In College Street Drainage Ditch
A Sulphur Springs woman reported missing overnight was found Thursday morning dead in a drainage ditch on College Street, according to Sulphur Springs Police Capt. Jason Ricketson.
Police identified the deceased woman as Martha Patricia Torres-Regalado of Sulphur Springs.
According to police, a vehicle with two occupants in it ran off the road next to a drain near Easy Street Apartments and got stuck around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. One occupant went to a nearby residence to seek help in getting the vehicle out of the ditch, the other stayed in the car.
However, when the person seeking help returned to the car, the woman inside was gone, police said.
The woman’s family contacted police later in the night, concerned when she had not returned home. Police did not locate her overnight. She was found, however, around 7 a.m. Thursday in a drainage ditch in the 200 block of College Street. She was deceased, Ricketson said.
No foul play is expected, however, an autopsy has been ordered to determine cause of death as is standard procedure, and an investigation is ongoing by police, Ricketson said.
*Updated* Truck Fire Closes South Broadway Street Overpass
As of 10:30am Thursday morning, work continued on the cleanup of the tractor/trailer fire under the Broadway Street Overpass at I-30. Fuller’s Wrecker was on the scene with massive equipment to get the Interstate back to normal. One lane of traffic had reopened on Westbound I-30 but traffic was still backed up for miles in that direction. The Broadway crossing remained closed.
Motorists are urged to avoid the area of the South Broadway Street bridge and service roads Thursday morning. The overpass is closed due to a truck fire under the bridge earlier in the morning
An 18-wheeler reportedly caught fire and was fully engulfed in the westbound lane of Interstate 30 when it stopped under the South Broadway Street overpass Thursday morning, according to Sulphur Springs Police Capt. Jason Ricketson.
No injuries were reported to have resulted from the crash.
Motorists and residents reported seeing heavy plumes of smoke covering the area around 7:15-7:30 a.m. Thursday. The blaze was under control by about 8 a.m.
The South Broadway Street bridge remains closed indefinitely until Texas Department of Transportation officials can evaluate the integrity of the bridge, which may have been compromised by the heat of the blaze, according to Ricketson.
Westbound traffic on I-30 is being routed onto Industrial Drive prior to the bridge, and other traffic instead of crossing the Broadway bridge being routed down Shannon Road and Industrial Drive. Traffic was heavily congested in the area as people began driving to work and taking kids to school, backing up at times for more than a mile to the next exits.
Police are asking local motorists when possible to avoid the area service roads and area around the bridge, to find alternate routes of travel at this time to the traffic.
Precinct 3 Roads Being Cleared As Fast As Possible
Precinct 3 Commissioner Wade Bartley reports to KSST News that there are multiple trees down in his precinct due to the storm overnight. The entire crew, plus two inmate trustees, were out early to clear the roadways. If any resident in Precinct 3 is not able to travel down their roadway, they are encouraged to call the commissioner directly at (903)348-1878. Many roads are still flooded so drivers should take caution.
Kyle Petty Charity Ride Rolling Into East Texas May 8
Each year, Kyle Petty, a bunch of his family and friends, and motorcyclists from across the country gather for a cross-country ride to benefit charity.
This year marks the 25th year of the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America and the group’s longest trek yet, a 9-day ride starting May 3 in Seattle and ending in May 11 Key Largo, Florida. East Texans will have an opportunity this year to greet a few legends as they refuel their bikes in Mount Pleasant on day 6 of the 3,700 mile ride.
This year’s group of dignitaries, in addition to Kyle Petty, includes quite few names racing fans will appreciation: NASCAR Hall of Famer and seven-time champion Richard Petty; NASCAR legends Harry Gant, Hershel McGriff and Donnie Allison; current NASCAR driver David Ragan; former Formula 1, Champ Car and NASCAR driver Max Papis; and NBC Sports NASCAR personalities Krista Voda, Rutledge Wood and Rick Allen.
If that’s not enough to whet your appetite, the group also includes former NFL great and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker and Heisman Trophy winner and Super Bowl champion George Rogers.
“It’s just a bunch of good people who care about kids who want to give back. They spend 1 week of vacation to travel 500 miles every day. It’s a crazy vacation,” Petty said in a recent phone interview with KSST.
Even for those who are not NASCAR, football or even sports fans, the convoy will be quite a site, with 150 bikes, numerous accompanying support vehicles, plus authorities.
“We’ll be escorted in to six motor marshals and we work with sheriff, police and state patrols. We appreciate what law enforcement does for us. The Coke truck will be set up in the parking lot. We want people to come about and meet us,” Petty said.
The group will ride in around 4 p.m. May 8 to the Shell station at 2428 West Ferguson Road in Mt. Pleasant, before departing for the leg of the route toward Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana.
People are invited to meet these heroes, who will be providing autographs for donations to benefit Victory Junction, a camp dedicated to providing life-changing camping experiences for children with chronic or life-threatening illnesses.
“Come and say hello. I promise we’ll have fun,” Petty invites.
All donations are appreciated and accepted to help send kids from all 50 states to camp. Some of these kids, Petty said, go from hospital to camp. The North Carolina facility, co-founded by Kyle Petty and his family in honor of son Adam, has a medical team on hand to ensure the safety and well being of children ages six to 16 with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses as they enjoy the full summer and weekend camping in a safe and medically-sound environment.
As a non-for-profit organization, the camp operates solely through the support of individuals, foundations, organizations and corporations to provide this experience at no charge to children and their families.
Because of the Kyle Petty Ride for charity, 8,185 children have attended Victory Junction at no cost to their families. Last year alone, the Ride raised $1.3 million and sent 100 children to camp. Victory Junction has served as the Ride’s primary beneficiary since its establishment in 2004.
The full itinerary is available online, and fans can keep up with the ride on various social media accounts as well.
Chick-fil-A First 100 Campout 12-Hour Event Under Way
Chick-fil-A’s Sulphur Springs restaurant officially opens Thursday morning. To get kick off the celebration, local franchise owner and operator Bryson Billington invites residents to a First 100 Campout 12-hour event.
Community members are invited to camp overnight from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. with other Chick-fil-A enthusiasts. Up to 100 adults, who bring a government issued ID that’s within the eligible zipcodes and meet requirements will win a year’s worth of Chick-fil-A meals, 52 No. 1 combo meals, which can be used all at one time or in any quantity desired until all 52 are used through the next year.
Shortly after 6 p.m. 75 people were already in line ready to camp, enjoy games during the night and an evening meal. But, there are only 100 spots. Then, 10 more names will be taken for an alternate drop, to be awarded should up to 10 of the 100 drop out overnight.
Educational Legislative Update: May 1, 2019
The school finance reform bill made it one more round Wednesday, passing through the formal Senate Education Committee hearing. This bill addresses funding for basic allotments, full-day pre-kindergarten programs, teacher and librarian salary raises, school finance calculations and school and certain property tax rates.
As substituted in committee, the bill:
- Increases the basic allotment from $5,140 to $5,880. The House version raises it to $6,030.
- Creates an early education allotment for certain students in kindergarten through third grade to assist districts in funding full-day prekindergarten.
- Recognizes how poverty differently affects students by creating a sliding scale of weights in the compensatory education allotment that will reflect varying levels of poverty.
- Includes a $5,000 across-the-board salary increase for teachers and librarians.
- Creates outcomes-based funding programs for third-grade reading based on STAAR and college-, career-, and military-readiness in high school based on SAT, ACT, TSI and ASVAB.
- Establishes a dyslexia weight of 0.12.
- Increases the special education weight to 1.15.
- Provides dual-language weights for English language learners (0.15) and English speakers (0.05).
- Uses current-year values in school finance calculations.
- Creates a 0.1 weight for campuses implementing accelerated campus excellence (ACE) turnaround plans.
- Prohibits districts of innovation from starting prior to the third Monday in August.
- Requires districts to administer kindergarten reading assessments to determine kindergarten readiness.
- Requires state assessments to be administered electronically, in smaller chunks, and not on Mondays.
- As introduced in the Senate Education Committee, the bill compresses tier I school property tax rates by 8 cents in the first year and 15 cents in the second year (second year cut contingent upon passage of a sales tax increase) and, in the third year, caps school district property tax revenue growth at 2.5 percent. It was suggested during the hearing Wednesday that there were changes to the property tax reform section of the bill that would provide alleviation to the rollback rate in the event that inflation grew to certain levels.
- Creates a $40,000 homestead exemption, up from $25,000 in current law if the sales tax increase bill passes.
- Calls for a 60×30 progress report tracking the postsecondary outcomes of students enrolled in school districts or charters and by each high school.
- Requires districts to create plans on 60×30 goals and early childhood literacy plans.
- Requires that students complete a FASFA or TASFA before graduating.
- Creates a blended learning program grant managed by the commissioner of education.
Sen. Paul Bettencourt expressed his inability to vote in favor of the bill because of the lack of study surrounding the complex tax changes the bill was introducing. The committee passed the bill on an 8-0 vote with Sens. Bettencourt, Bob Hall (R-Edgewood), and Angela Paxton (R-McKinney) registering as present but not voting for the bill.
Committee Chairman Larry Taylor Taylor expects for the Senate to consider the bill on Friday.
To watch the committee proceedings, visit http://tlcsenate.granicus.com/M
Wildcats Baseball Team Comes From Behind to Defeat Hallsville, 3-2 in Bi-District Series Opener
Wildcats Baseball 3, Hallsville 2
The Wildcats’ baseball team got three clutch RBI singles in the top of the sixth inning to defeat Hallsville, 3-2 Wednesday in game one of their best two out of three bi-district series at Mike Carter Field in Tyler. Hallsville had scored the game’s first two runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 2-0 lead. The Bobcats utilized a single, a sacrifice bunt, a walk and two RBI singles in the inning. The Wildcats began their come from behind inning with one out walks to Kolson Hale and Jaxon Chaney. After a second out, the Wildcats got three straight RBI singles to go ahead 3-2. Austin Dodd’s single scored Hale to make it 2-1. Jase Thompson’s base hit scored Chaney with the tying run. Will Sims’ single put the Wildcats ahead 3-2 as Dodd scored. Sims shut the door on Hallsville over the last two innings to secure the pitching victory. Sims earned the pitching win going seven innings allowing only five hits and two runs while striking out five and walking only one. He constantly threw his big breaking curve ball for strikes. Kaden Argenbright went 2 for 4 for the Wildcats. Chaney hit a double. Kamren Harrison and Jake Davis also had base hits. The Wildcats won their sixth straight game and they improved their season record to 16-10. Game two in the series takes place Friday at 5:30 p.m. back at Mike Carter Field in Tyler.
Lady Cat Track Regional Meet Review
Lady Cats Track Coach Talks About Sadavia Porter and Other Lady Cats at Regional Track Meet
Lady Cats Track Coach Derek Tyson discussed Sadavia Porter’s incredible weekend at the Class 5A Region II Track Meet at UT Arlington. Porter finished second in the 100-meter dash to qualify for the State Track Meet in Austin. Coach Tyson said that feat fulfilled a statement Porter made when she signed with UTA months ago. She said she was going to qualify for the state meet. Coach Tyson said at the time he was glad he’d be going to Austin adding that Sadavia would be taking him there. In preliminaries for the 100-meter dash, Porter qualified for the final recording her personal best, an 11.88, the best time recorded all day in the event. In Saturday’s final, Porter ran a 12.02 to finish second. Coach Tyson said Savadia leaned at the finish line to get second. The third place girl was also timed at 12.02 but lost out by hundredths or thousandths of a second. Coach Tyson said if Porter runs a personal best at state she should earn a medal. Coach Tyson also predicted a bright future for freshman pole vaulter Clare Bybee who finished fourth at regional with a personal best of 11-feet. She already has set the school’s girls’ record for the pole vault. Coach Tyson said pole vault Coach Clark Cipoletta was masterful in getting athletes mentally prepared to compete. Coach Tyson told Bybee she would spend the next three years breaking her own record and added she well could be a state qualifier for the next three years. Coach Tyson said Abbi Baier ran in the finals of both the 100-meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles. She also competed in the 4×100-meter relay. He said she was really gassed at the end of all of the events. Coach Tyson said Baier finished somewhere from fifth to seventh in both hurdle events and the relay team was sixth. He called Baier one of the most accomplished track athletes ever at Sulphur Springs High School.
