News

By Kevin Jefferies

Commerce – The Commerce Police Department is investigating several cases of theft where residents have had checks intended to pay bills stolen from their mailboxes. The unknown suspects will take mail from mailboxes before it is picked up by mail carriers. Any checks in the outgoing mail are then washed and rewritten to be passed at other locations. Commerce Detective Sargeant Chris Vaughan said the group responsible could be operating outside of Commerce as well.

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By Kevin Jefferies/Brad Kellar

Lake Tawakoni – A two-month-old son of a Wills Point woman was killed in a car accident yesterday evening. 26-year-old Beta Ann Tatro was driving southbound along Farm Road 751 near Duck Cove Marina on Lake Tawakoni when witnesses say she suddenly swerved into the northbound lane and struck a guardrail. The car went over the embankment and into the water. Tatro and her 9-year-old daughter Chasity managed to free themselves, but two-month-old Xavier Alec Luna was buckled into a child safety seat and sunk with the car.

By Kevin Jefferies

Commerce – The City of Commerce has a new Fire Chief. Tommy Eaton has been named as head of the Commerce Fire Department. Eaton previously served the City of Richardson for 29 years, with ten years serving as Battalion Chief over three different fire stations. Assistant City Manager Mike Dunn said the hire was difficult with several very good candidates, but one factor weighed heavily in the decision-making process.

By Kevin Jefferies/Brad Kellar

By Kevin Jefferies

Commerce – Commerce Police are investigating a local scam targeting the elderly. The con involves the suspects calling elderly individuals and claiming to be Federal Agents. The suspects say they are investigating local banks and ask the victims to withdraw large sums of money to aid in their investigation. The victims are then instructed to purchase a Money Gram with the money and a female agent will come by and pick up the Money Gram.

Commerce Police offer some tips to help avoid falling victim to such a scam.

By Kevin Jefferies

Commerce –

The Commerce ISD School board approved the dress code for the upcoming school year at its regular meeting this week. The board had been considering policy that would prevent students from wearing hooded sweatshirts and t-shirts with slogans on them. The initial proposal of such measures was met with uncertainty by some board members and later opposition by some parents.

By Kevin Jefferies

Royse City – Several pounds of heroin and cocaine were seized along Interstate 30 earlier this week near Royse City by the Northeast Area Drug Interdiction Task Force. The car carrying 10 pounds of heroin and over 15 pounds of cocaine was pulled over for speeding in the eastbound lanes of I-30 just after midnight Wednesday morning. The street value of the drugs is estimated at almost $2 million.

By Kevin Jefferies

Commerce –
The Clean Commerce Campaign is targeting the east side of town in June as part of on-going clean-up efforts in Commerce. The successful campaign begun in 2001 allows residents the opportunity to dispose of unwanted bulk items and tree limbs several times per year.

By Kevin Jefferies

Commerce – Mosquito spraying in Commerce should end for this month tonight with the spraying of the south side of town. Spraying will likely continue on the third week of each month through August and possibly September. Spraying begins at 8:30pm each night. City officials are also considering additional spraying around Bi-Centennial Park just before the upcoming July 4th celebration.