Cook (Smith County Jail records)

Flint man sentenced to 16 years for child sex assault

A Flint man has been sentenced to 16 years in prison on an aggravated sexual assault of a child charge.

Grant Edward Cook, 55, pleaded guilty Monday in 241st District Court. His sentence began Monday.

He was arrested in 2017. An outcry was made to family members after an assault on July 4, 2017, which was reported to the Smith County Sheriff’s Office.

City of Tyler ends conversion

process for water system

The city of Tyler has completed the free-chlorine disinfection process after a monthlong conversion that began on Oct. 21.

The Lake Palestine Water Treatment Plant and the Golden Road Water Treatment Plant put ammonia back into the system, taking the disinfection process back to chloramines, a mixture of ammonia and free chlorine, according to a news release from the city.

The process was designed to improve and maintain the water quality standards, according to the city, and customers shouldn’t notice any difference unless the free chlorine was affecting the odor and taste of the water. Customers experiencing low pressure at their tap for extended periods of time should contact the Water Service Center at 903-531-1285 to report any issues.

3 black colleges get $1M

for faculty development

Three historically black colleges are each getting $1 million grants to aid faculty development. Atlanta’s all-male Morehouse College is getting $1 million from the Carnegie Corp. of New York, while neighboring all-female Spelman College is getting $500,000 from Carnegie and $500,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation. Prairie View A&M University in Texas is getting $1 million from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

competition for teachers from other universities.