Kingsport Times-News Latest Regional Roundup Feed http://www.timesnews.net/ GoTriCities gives you the best of Tennessee and Virginia in a personal entertainment index updated every day of the week. Tue, 9 Feb 2010 12:45:43 EST en-us Charges pending against Wise Co. teen in connection with street race death http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020479 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020479 Tue, 9 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST According to a Bristol Herald Courier report a 38-year-old Abingdon woman was killed Monday evening when her car was hit by one of two car engaged in what police are calling a street race.

Charges are pending against a Wise Co. teen in connection with the wreck and police are searching for the driver of the other car.

Bristol, Va. police say Melinda Woodward, 38, died immediately in the collision. She had just pulled from the back exit of the Bristol Mall at 6 p.m. and into the center of the Osborne Street intersection when caught in the middle of a southbound street race, police said.

Joseph D. Rose, 19, Wise Co. Va., and a passenger in his car were taken to a hospital after the wreck. Police say charges are pending against Rose.

Police are looking for a red Mustang - possibly a Cobra design - that did not stop after the collision.

Read the full report at Tricities.com .

]]> Teacher aide on leave over allegations of improper relationship with student; Teacher accused of having sex with student http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020478 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020478 Tue, 9 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST A Carter High School special-education teaching assistant is on administrative leave while authorities look into allegations that she had an inappropriate relationship with a student.

Heather A. Pratt, 29, has been on administrative leave with pay since Nov. 30, pending the outcome of an investigation, Russ Oaks, chief of staff to Knox County Schools Superintendent Jim McIntyre, said Monday.

Oaks added that the allegations were made to the Knox County Sheriff's Office. Authorities there notified the school system. Sheriff's spokeswoman Martha Dooley said Monday that "It's still under investigation, and we're working with the district attorney's office.

Read the full report at the Knoxville News Sentinel Web site.

Meanwhile, 27-year-old Megan Baumann is the object of an ongoing criminal investigation over allegations that she had sex with one of her students. The Clinton High School social studies teacher has been charged with improper conduct by school officials and suspended without pay from her $37,906-a-year-job.

Baumann, who is also a former Sunday School teacher, is a Powell resident, according to her personnel file. District Attorney Dave Clark has declined comment about the probes and when they could be wrapped up.

Rumors about the alleged sexual encounter have swirled through the community. Parents of the 1,100 students at Clinton High received a computer-generated phone message Sunday night about the investigation. They were alerted about a media release to be issued on the school system's Web site - www.acs.ac - on Monday morning.

Read the full report at the Knoxville News Sentinel Web site.

]]> UFOs come to ETSU http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020474 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020474 Tue, 9 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST There will be talk of UFOs at East Tennessee State University Tuesday night. Robert Hastings will present his 90-minute lecture and slide show concerning the U.S. government’s secret response to unidentified flying objects titled “UFOs: The Secret Story” at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the D.P. Culp University Center’s Ballroom at ETSU. It is free and open to the public.

“I’ll be discussing the classified documents that confirm a UFO presence at nuclear weapon sites going back to the 1940s,” Hastings said, adding his information comes from legally obtained public documents from various sources, including the Air Force and interviews with more than 120 former and retired Air Force personnel.

“They confirm that whatever we call UFOs, for whatever reason, have an interest in nuclear weapon sites not only at our sites but at other nations’ sites,” Hastings said. “In short, the documents and the witnesses I’ve interviewed confirm that while most of these incidents involve observation... a few of the incidents involve tampering with missiles.”

Read the full report at the Johnson City Press Web site.

]]> Nearly 20-year sentence given in Johnson City child porn case http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020473 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020473 Tue, 9 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST Bobby Howard Cook, 56, Johnson City, was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison Monday by Judge Ronnie Greer in the U.S. district court in Greeneville.

The 256-month sentence was handed down due to Cook’s plea Sept. 21 on charges that he received child pornography, a release from the court said. Cook’s indictment and subsequent conviction came as result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Cook was convicted of the same offense in 1997 and received a 33-month sentence for that conviction.

In addition, Cook has prior convictions in Hamblen County for aggravated sexual battery and sexual battery of a child as well as a conviction in Washington County for indecent exposure. He has remained in federal custody since his latest arrest July 9.

Read the full report at the Johnson City Press Web site.

]]> Installation of Johnson City red light cameras not speedy process http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020472 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020472 Tue, 9 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST Johnson City’s contract with Redflex Traffic Systems to install red light enforcement cameras specifically states that the first intersection would be “completed within 45 days of the full execution of this agreement ...”

It’s been 89 nine days since both parties signed the deal on Nov. 12, 2009. The city and company have been in contact. Data has and is being collected. Plans have been made. Officials say they are close, but nothing has been installed.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation, which must review plans and give its blessing to cities altering traffic signals on state public rights of way, just received the plans for the first intersection last week.

Read the full story on the Johnson City Press site.

]]> Holocaust survivor to speak at Milligan http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?uid=2625 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?uid=2625 Tue, 9 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST
"We have an eyewitness, and an articulate one, coming to share with us what life was like for Jewish people in Vienna under the Nazis," said Dr. Ted Thomas, associate professor of humanities, history and German at Milligan. "We still occasionally hear from Holocaust-deniers. As long as people like Mr. Traum can tell their stories, the ugly truth about Europe in the 1930s and 1940s remains incontestable."

Traum was born into a traditional Jewish family in Vienna, Austria in 1929. When Germany annexed Austria in 1938, the increasing violence forced Traum to flee the country on a Kindertransport to England. He and his sister were two of the 10,000 children who survived the Holocaust due to the willingness of families in England to open their homes to Jewish children.

After his family's murder in Vienna, Traum and his sister began a new life in Manchester, England, where they eventually gained English citizenship. Traum married another Holocaust survivor, Josiane. In 1963, the couple moved to the United States, where Traum recently retired from The Boeing Company.

The Traums regularly volunteer at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

For more information, visit www.milligan.edu/arts.
]]> Elizabethton police dog euthanized after being stabbed by boys http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020466 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020466 Mon, 8 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST ELIZABETHTON — A Saturday afternoon incident between five boys and an Elizabethton Police Department police dog led to the death of the dog on Sunday. Three boys were treated for dog bites at the Sycamore Shoals Hospital Emergency Room.

The dog, Yoris, was a Belgian malinois and was a two-year veteran of the Elizabethton Police Department. He was euthanized on Sunday after suffering numerous injuries, including knife stabbings.

Yoris was the partner of K-9 officer Shane Darling. Darling was in Florida over the weekend on family business when Yoris somehow got out of his kennel. The dog apparently wandered onto an open grassy field off Sunrise Drive that was part of the Elizabethton Municipal Airport property.

Read the full story on the Johnson City Press site.

]]> Student shot at Tennessee Methodist college http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020452 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020452 Mon, 8 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST PULASKI, Tenn. - Police in Pulaski say a student was wounded when a gunman started firing inside an apartment building on a college campus.

According to Pulaski Police Chief John Dickey, a man went inside a residential building at Martin Methodist College around 10 p.m. Sunday and shot one person in front of several witnesses.

Grant Vosburgh, spokesman for the college about 70 miles south of Nashville, said the student was treated at a local hospital and released. Classes resumed this morning.

Dickey said as of today they were still searching for the gunman and have not determined whether he is a student at the college.

Martin Methodist has 1,000 students and is affiliated with the Tennessee Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.

]]> Detective: Child pornographer more involved than he admits http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020450 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020450 Mon, 8 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST According to the Chattanooga Times Free-Press, a child pornographer set to be sentenced in federal court here was much more involved in those activities than he has admitted, a police detective testified this morning.

Detective Chris Lane with the Winchester, Tenn., Police Department, testified that Gary Salles, who described himself as a former IBM employee who started a pornography site to make extra money, wanted to set up a “slamming” party in which men are invited and must bring with them an “infant, boy or nephew” to gain entrance.

The U.S. District Court hearing before Judge Harry S. “Sandy” Mattice was postponed for a week after Mr. Salles’ defense attorney argued that she wanted the judge to hear taped telephone conversations between Mr. Salles and Mr. Lane.

For more details, read report at the Chattanooga Times Free-Press Web site.

]]> East Tennessee teacher suspended after allegations of student relationship http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020449 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020449 Mon, 8 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Anderson County Schools confirmed this morning that a Clinton High School teacher was suspended last week after allegations of improper conduct with a student were made.

The allegations against Megan Baumann, 27, were reported to the state Department of Children's Services, the Anderson County District Attorney General's Office and the Clinton Police Department, according to the school system.

District Attorney General Dave Clark asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Clinton police to do a joint investigation into allegations against "a female teacher at Clinton High School," TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm said Friday. She did not identify the teacher.

Read the full story on the Knoxville News Sentinel Web site.

]]> Recession, Congress using $2.5 trillion surplus for other programs pushes Social Security pushed to the brink http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020448 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020448 Mon, 8 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST USA Today is reporting that Social Security's annual surplus nearly evaporated in 2009 for the first time in 25 years as the recession led hundreds of thousands of workers to retire or claim disability.

The impact of the recession is likely to hit even harder this year and next. The Congressional Budget Office had projected it would operate in the red in 2010 and 2011, but a deeper economic slump could make those losses larger than anticipated.

"Things are a little bit worse than had been expected," says Stephen Goss, chief actuary for the Social Security Administration. "Clearly, we're going to be negative for a year or two."

Since 1984, Social Security has raked in more in payroll taxes than it has paid in benefits, accumulating a $2.5 trillion trust fund. But because the government uses the trust fund to pay for other programs, tax increases, spending cuts or new borrowing will be required to make up the difference between taxes collected and benefits owed.

Read the full report at the USA Today Web site.

]]> Bill seeks to outlaw Tenn. lawmakers from political 'horse trading' http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020447 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020447 Mon, 8 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST NASHVILLE -- If Sen. Dewayne Bunch, R-Cleveland, has his way, Tennessee legislators and other "public servants" could face misdemeanor bribery charges when they horse-trade votes for special budgetary treatment of their home districts.

Rep. Richard Floyd, R-Chattanooga, meanwhile, wants drivers of neighborhood ice cream or snowball trucks to serve up clean criminal records and clean bills of health to authorities before they are authorized to sell treats to children.

The two lawmakers' proposals are among dozens outlined in legislation filed this year by Southeast Tennessee lawmakers as they returned for this year's session of the 106th General Assembly.

Other local lawmakers' bills include a measure by Rep. Kevin Brooks, R-Cleveland, to punish "super speeders" with fines of $200. It would raise an estimated $3.76 million in state fines with the money directed toward hospital trauma centers, according to a legislative analysis. The bill would apply to motorists going 75 mph or greater on two-lane roads and 85 mph or more on other highways.

]]> Illegal Alien Employment Act nets few Tenn. violators http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020446 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020446 Mon, 8 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST -->

Proponents heralded passage of a state law to penalize employers of undocumented workers as the moment Tennessee's allure to illegal immigrants began to fade.

But two years after the Illegal Alien Employment Act went into effect, state officials have closed 12 complaints involving 19 companies, and only one business was formally charged. That tally is well under what the law's supporters say they expected.

State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, the act's sponsor, said he wants labor officials to explain to the legislative Fiscal Review Committee he chairs why they're not doing more to enforce the act.

"I'm very disappointed in that," he said. "The Department of Labor is not doing as the General Assembly instructed."

Read the full report at the Tennessean's Web site.

]]> Sarah Palin won't rule out '12 White House run http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020444 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020444 Mon, 8 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON — Sarah Palin said Sunday that she might run for president in 2012 if she decides it's good for her family and country.

Fresh from a speech to conservative activists at the Tea Party Convention in Nashville, the former Alaska governor said President Barack Obama could be defeated in 2012, that she is boning up on foreign and national policy and that she would run if it felt right.

"I would," she said on Fox News, where she's a paid contributor. "I would if I believed that that is the right thing to do for our country and for the Palin family. Certainly, I would do so."

Palin added: "I think that it would be absurd to not consider what it is that I can potentially do to help our country. I don't know if it's going to be ever seeking a title, though. It may be just doing a darn good job as a reporter or covering some of the current events."

Read the full report at the Tennessean's Web site.

]]> Nashville cops throw the (Face)book at 'em http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020442 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020442 Mon, 8 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Metro detective Dean Haney surveys about 400 photos hanging on a wall at the North Precinct, all taken from MySpace and Facebook profiles.

In the pictures, young men and women flash gang signs, some in groups, others alone. Some have machine guns, pistols, even an AK-47 assault rifle. Some are holding large amounts of cash. Some of the people in the pictures are now dead, the victims of homicide.

Metro police have started using social media sites such as MySpace, Facebook and YouTube as investigative tools, resources they say are becoming more and more useful in catching criminals and gathering evidence against them.

Haney, a 22-year police veteran, says the photo collection is just the tip of the iceberg. Thousands of photos like these sit in police computer files, he said.

Read the full report at the Tennessean's Web site.

]]> Sex abuse allegations plague Tenn. juvenile detention center http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020439 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020439 Mon, 8 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It took 15-year-old Charles Owens weeks before he finally opened up to his mom about a security guard at Woodland Hills Youth Development Center soliciting him for oral sex.

When she heard her mentally challenged son's account of the incident, Debra Smith burst into tears.

She immediately reported it to the state Department of Children's Services, which runs the facility, but the charges came back unsubstantiated. Against the wishes of DCS, Owens was released early from the facility by a Smith County juvenile court judge shortly after the alleged episode was reported.

The situation "has made me know how dirty the state custody is for the children," Smith said. "They say they're rehabilitating; they're not."

Read the full report at the Tennessean's Web site.

]]> Eastman facing sanction over spills http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020438 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020438 Mon, 8 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST KINGSPORT — A global economic crisis wasn’t the only thing that troubled Eastman Chemical Co. over the past 18 months: The manufacturing giant also faces a governmental “enforcement order” related to a series of spills into the South Fork of the Holston River.

The accidental discharges — which drew the most attention when they caused fish kills last summer and fall — are out of character for the company, at least with respect to recent years, and they’ve got the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation keeping close watch.

“The (TDEC) Division of Water Pollution Control continues to monitor the Eastman issues closely,” TDEC’s Meg Lockhart said. TDEC has drafted an enforcement order that, upon approval by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, will be issued to Eastman and likely involve monetary fines.

The head of Eastman’s environmental affairs department, Richard Strang, said the company has worked hard for decades to be a good environmental steward. The difficulties of the last couple years — and particularly three large discharges that occurred July 28, Aug. 12 and Oct. 26 last year — have carried a particular sting, as Eastman was receiving environmental accolades around the same time.

Read the full report at the Johnson City Press Web site.

]]> East Tennessee lawmakers oppose open gays in military http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020409 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020409 Sat, 6 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - The nation's top military brass may be ready to let gays and lesbians serve openly in the military, but East Tennesseans in Congress are not.

Half of the region's six federal lawmakers said this week they oppose efforts to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on military service, which allows gay men and women to serve only if they keep their sexuality private.

Other members of the congressional delegation indicated they are uneasy about lifting the controversial policy and stressed that nothing should be done until the military studies the impact that overturning it would have on troop readiness and morale.

See full story on The Knoxville News Sentinel .

]]> AG opinion on Hatch Act may affect Greene County election http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020408 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020408 Sat, 6 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST An opinion issued Jan. 25 by the Tennessee Attorney General's office has caused several deputy sheriffs in Northeast Tennessee counties to drop out of the May 4 primary election for county commission seats, and it could affect Greene County races.

In addition, an advisory opinion by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which administers the federal Hatch Act, appears to extend the reach of that law to other county employees who are running for the county commission, or plan to do so.

One Greene County candidate who had turned in his qualifying petition earlier to run for constable, Sonny Stanton, withdrew it on Thursday, effectively dropping out of the election.

CLICK HERE for the full report.

]]> Hatch Act was intended to deal with political patronage http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020407 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020407 Sat, 6 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST The Hatch Act, which was enacted in 1939, amended twice and twice upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, is administered by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.

Intended to curtail political patronage, the federal law broadly regulates political activity by federal employees, and also by state and local employees who work for agencies that receive federal funds.

According to the Office of Special Counsel's Web site, www.osc.gov, "The Hatch Act restricts the political activity of individuals principally employed by state or local executive agencies and who work in connection with programs financed in whole or in part by federal loans or grants."

CLICK HERE for the full report.

]]> Hatch Act opinion doesn't discourage Sullivan County mayoral candidate http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020406 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020406 Sat, 6 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST A Sullivan County mayoral candidate isn’t letting a 70-year-old federal statute – nor the agency responsible for enforcing it – push him around, at least not for now.

Sullivan County Commissioner Mark Vance of Bristol said Friday he will continue campaigning for the mayor’s seat despite a recent opinion that he might be violating the federal Hatch Act because of his job as the operations director for Sullivan County Emergency Medical Services. The county election is Aug. 5, with a May party primary.

“I’m not jumping at the first opinion that comes down from the special counsel,” Vance said, referring to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the Hatch Act.

CLICK HERE for the full report.

]]> Strong winds batter Unicoi County http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020401 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020401 Fri, 5 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST City and county crews had just gotten a handle on the brush and debris littering streets and roadways that was caused by the recent winter storms.

Then came the wind.

High winds ripped through Unicoi County on Friday, hitting Erwin particularly hard. According to Unicoi County Civil Defense Director Ed Herndon, gusts reached an excess of 100 miles per hour at times throughout the day.

Read the full story at the Johnson City Press site.

]]> Police: Man lies about being robbed of $5 to avoid fight with wife http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020390 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020390 Fri, 5 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST According to The Tennessean, Clarksville man was arrested Thursday after allegedly lying to police about being robbed when a police investigation uncovered that he'd given money away, and lied to avoid an argument with his spouse.

On Monday, Timothy Ray Sutton filed a police report claiming while unlocking his car in the parking lot of Veteran's Plaza a man pushed something hard against his back and demanded money, according to a news release from Officer Jim Knoll, spokesman for Clarksville Police.

Sutton told police he thought it was a gun, but never saw a gun, the release said.

Read the full report at The Tennessean's Web site.

]]> BAE Systems permanently closes Grainger County plant; 173 jobs lost http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020388 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020388 Fri, 5 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, defense contractor BAE Systems statement said today it is permanently closing its manufacturing plant in Grainger County, eliminating 173 jobs.

BAE's plant in Jefferson City will remain open.

“It is with great regret that I must announce the permanent closure of BAE Systems manufacturing facility in Grainger County, Tennessee, effective this Friday,” Joe Coltman Vice President, Personnel Protection Systems, said in a prepared statement.

Read the full story on the Knoxville News Sentinel Web site.

]]> Toyota with stuck accelerator slams into East Tennessee funeral home http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020387 http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9020387 Fri, 5 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST According to a report in the Greeneville Sun, Becky Anne Lane, 46, was taken to Baptist Hospital of Cocke County on Wednesday for possible injuries following an accident at Manes Funeral Home in her 2008 Toyota Camry LE that she blamed on a stuck accelerator.

Lane told The Newport Plain Talk that her accelerator got "hung" as she was headed east on East Main Street at Court Avenue, at about 2:30 p.m., on her way to the Food City East store.

Lane said she had stopped for the stop sign on East Main Street at Court Avenue when she stepped on the gas pedal and it got stuck to the floor.

Read the full report at the Greeneville Sun Web site.

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