Decatur News

A privately-owned landfill located off Highway 30 between Athens and Decatur has been approved by TDEC to store coal ash from the TVA's Kingston spill.

Meadow Branch Landfill is one of four East Tennessee landfills selected.

The announcement of four selected landfills stirred up significant local opposition in at least one community. Loudon residents, including Loudon County Mayor Doyle Arp, have protested the selection of Matlock Bend landfill in Loudon.

Loudon resident Wendy Baustian has widely circulated a letter to local officials and state legislators in which she wrote:

We have no idea of the lasting impact that the fly ash will impose upon the residents in terms of health....TVA tells people not to drink or play in the water near the spill because of the fly ash and it's unknown health hazards, yet we are going to bring it here."

Fireworks sales are still sizzling despite the weakened economy, says Mike Pollock, a volunteer selling fireworks for Calvary Tabernacle of God.

Knoxville News-Sentinel editorial, June 26, 2009:

Justice was not served when prosecutors in the Ninth Judicial District agreed to five years' probation for a Lenoir City man who shot his girlfriend to death.

John Kenneth Harvey, 26, was originally charged with second-degree murder in the February 2008 death of Savannah Cass McMahan, 21.

Harvey admits he was arguing with McMahan when he picked up a loaded .22 from a nearby table. The two argued often, according to McMahan's father, who said Harvey bullied his daughter, and "she said she was going to leave him several times before the shooting."

The gun was a single-action revolver, and the detective in the case said it had to be cocked before it could be fired. The powder burns he found showed McMahan was shot at close range.......

If prosecutors could not do better than a no-jail-time deal in that case, they should have gone to trial and let 12 citizens decide who had the best ballistics expert.

This plea bargain simply undermines faith in the judicial process.

(The full editorial is longer than Topix allows on the news board. To read it in its entirety, visit the accompanying link. The Ninth Judicial District includes Loudon, Roane, Morgan, and Meigs counties.)

The parents of a Lenoir City woman shot and killed by her boyfriend are speaking out against a plea bargain that sentenced their daughter's killer to five years on probation.

The plea-deal was granted by the office of Russell Johnson, District Attorney General for Roane, Loudon, Meigs, and Morgan counties.

"I want justice for my daughter," said Sarah Berry, mother of Savannah Cass McMahan, 21, who was shot by John Kenneth Harvey, 26, in February 2008.

Harvey was originally charged with second-degree murder, and admits he shot the woman during an argument but claims it was an accident. The charge was reduced to reckless homicide.

The victim’s mother, Sarah Berry, said she met several times with the district attorney general's office. She says the office wanted to avoid a trial from the beginning,

The victim's father, John McMahan, said he witnessed the couple's frequent arguments and what he called "bullying" by Harvey. McMahan says his daughter was going to leave Harvey. He says:

I know that's why he shot her, because she said she was going to leave"

Assistant Attorney General Bill Reedy says one critical factor in not pursuing a murder charge was a "dying declaration" made by the victim that the shooting was accidental. The witness was said to be Nathan Lane, who called the ambulance that night.

Lane says that he never heard a dying declaration and never agreed to testify to hearing such a thing:

By the time I saw her she was already going into convulsions. She didn't say a thing to me."

For more details, see the full story.

Native American artists have organized a festival of music, storytelling, food and crafts Saturday to benefit the new Cherokee Removal Memorial Park in Meigs County.

The park was dedicated in September 2008 at Blythe Ferry in Meigs County. Grants and matching state funds were used to build the park, but operating funds are now needed.

The park is in honor of those Cherokee who were forced from their homes on the Trail of Tears. Blythe Ferry was the removal point for more than 9,000 Cherokee and 500 Creeks.

Headlining the concert will be nationally-known fiddler Arvel Bird, 2007 Native American Music Awards ("Nammy") Artist of the year.

A Lenoir City man who admitted shooting and killing his girlfriend during an argument last year will receive five years' probation for the crime.

John Kenneth Harvey, 26, was arrested in February 2008 and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Savannah Kathy McMahan, 21.

Prosecutors said they reduced the charge to reckless homicide and agreed to five years' supervised probation after reviewing the evidence in the case.

A series of bad decisions led to a Decatur man's arrest on a variety of charges.

Motorists stopped for traffic violations in Tennessee could be fingerprinted if state lawmakers approve a bill pending in the legislature.

Currently, when drivers are cited during traffic stops police officers ask for the driver's signature on the ticket But the proposed bill would allow police departments to eliminate signatures and collect fingerprints.

Supporters say collecting fingerprints would save money and help police determine whether the driver is wanted for a criminal offense, but opponents worry that it allows the government to tread on individual privacy rights.

"The way I see it, if they take your fingerprint, they have access to your history and that's an invasion of privacy," said Martha Simms, 27, a mother of two who recently got a speeding ticket in Davidson County.

State Sen. Joe Haynes and State Rep. Mike Stewart co-sponsored the bill, which gives police departments the choice of collecting a signature or a fingerprint, or collecting a signature and a fingerprint. The bill has been approved by the state House of Representatives, and senators will vote on the measure Wednesday. The bill, if passed, will take effect on July 1. At that time, any police department within the state could require fingerprinting as a means of identification, said Haynes, a Goodlettsville Democrat. "It's their discretion," he said.

A Decatur alderman and former Meigs County High School football coach has been elected the town's new mayor.

Bill James was voted into office in the Decatur city election Saturday. He'll officially take over his new duties when the Decatur Mayor and Board of Aldermen holds its next meeting Tuesday, May 12.

James said:

I'd just like to thank the people of Decatur and the eligible voters of Meigs County for giving me the opportunity to serve as mayor, I promise, with the help of the Board of Aldermen, that we will strive to pass legislation for the good of the citizens and the city of Decatur."

The reference to "eligible voters of Meigs County" refers to county residents who are eligible to vote in the city election if they own property in Decatur.

James received 157 votes in defeating challenger Clyde "Butch" Terrell, who received 35 votes.

In addition to James' election, incumbents Mitch Vincent and Ray Melton, along with Becky Haney, were elected to the three aldermen seats available. The vote totals were 135 for Vincent, 128 for Melton and 113 for Haney.

Members of Congress are now required to make their "earmarks" available to the public by posting them on their congressional Web sites. The change is part of an effort to make the budget process more transparent in response to public outrage over wasteful spending. Members were to have their earmarks posted by April 4.

Watchdog groups say some House members appear to be deliberately trying to hide the information – and Zach Wamp is one of them.

Wamp is among those lawmakers whom they say have displayed their requests in a way that makes it hard for even computer-savvy Web surfers to ferret out the information.

"There are some lawmakers who are playing 'hide the ball' with these earmark requests," said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a government watchdog group.

Wamp is seeking $78 million for 18 projects. Critics say Wamp's spending requests are extremely difficult to find.

The Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan group that pushes for government transparency, said its researchers combed through all House members' Web sites but were unable to find the funding requests for 120 lawmakers, including Wamp.

Ellis said Taxpayers for Common Sense researchers eventually were able to hunt down Wamp's spending requests, but only after some serious digging. Ellis said it makes no sense to put the information in such an out-of-the-way place.

Locating Wamp's requests requires multiple clicks, starting with the "legislative information" section of his home page. When readers get to the right page, they then have to click on a series of different links to read a description of all of the projects.

Ellis said it was pretty clear that the intent of the new rule was to make the information transparent and available for public viewing. Hiding the requests behind layer after layer of Web links clearly goes against the spirit of the new rule, Ellis said.

Wamp’s $78 million in earmark requests represent an increase of 44.9 percent over his FY 2008-09 spending. According to the “Pig Book” posted online by Citizens Against Government Waste:

http://www.cagw.org/site/DocServer/House_-_alpha.pdf?docID=3021

Wamp spent $53.8 million on 30 projects the previous year.

The link accompanying this story will direct you to an online article on a website called Deep Green Perspective. This is apparently an environmental advocacy site.

In this article Mr. Russell Johnson, District Attorney General for Loudon, Meigs, Roane, and Morgan counties, is accused of helping TVA hide itself from public scrutiny on the matter of air quality.

Among other things, the following is alleged:

1. United Mountain Defense volunteer Matt Landon was arrested for trespassing on newly-purchased TVA land, even though the residents (and former owners) had given him permission to be there. Landon was on this land to check on air monitoring equipment that UMD had set up there, near the Kingston coal ash spill.

2. UMD had entered into a legal, contractual agreement with the landowner to monitor air quality.

3. In a truly Orwellian turn, TVA forbade the former landowner from informing Landon that TVA had purchased the property. In other words, TVA is accused of acting to entrap Mr. Landon.

4. DAG Russell Johnson threatened Landon with a year in jail for putting up an air monitor.

5. Landon demanded a pre-trial hearing. Russell Johnson’s office offered a plea bargain which Landon refused.

6. Johnson’s office then offered another plea bargain.

Without offering any opinion on my part, anyone interested in this case should follow the accompanying link to the full story.

Charges have been dismissed against a well-known basketball coach in Meigs County.

Sammy Perkinson was charged with DUI in February. A police report says the Meigs County High School coach had a blood alcohol content of .18

The legal limit is .08

Perkinson's case was dismissed after a preliminary hearing Thursday.

Judge Jayne Crowley agreed with the defense that coach Sammy Perkinson drank alcohol after he crashed his truck into a mailbox, but before taking an alcohol breath test.

Early voting begins Monday for the Decatur city election and will continue through April 20.

Tennessee's use of federal stimulus funds will help offset some of the cuts Meigs County's school system had been anticipating, Director of Schools Don Roberts said Tuesday.

No children were injured Wednesday in a collision Wednesday involving a McMinn County School bus and the driver of the second vehicle only suffered some "scrapes," according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

A shootout on Cottonport Road in Meigs County left a Decatur man dead and two deputies injured Saturday night. Investigators are now piecing together what happened.

Randy Crisp, 43, of Cottonport Road, died from gunshot wounds received during the shootout with Meigs County Sheriff's deputies.

Sheriff Walter Hickman said one officer was shot in the hand during the exchange. Another deputy injured his knee when he dove for cover while allegedly being fired upon.

Both officers were treated and released from an area hospital. Both officers are currently on administrative leave until the investigation into the shooting is concluded.

An internal investigation is now under way, along with an investigation from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Hickman said. According to news release issued by the Meigs County Sheriff's Department, deputies and firefighters were called to Crisp's Cottonport Road address on a report of a possible fire and gunshots being fired at around 11:30 Saturday night. The news release stated that when deputies arrived at the home gunshots were fired at them.

Four people went to jail after a McMinn County Sheriff's deputy tried to make a traffic stop and the occupants begin tossing meth components out of the car, according to the sheriff's department report.

A Meigs County Sheriff's Department cruiser and a Decatur police car were totaled as a result of an early-morning chase that started in the city and took city and county officers on a harrowing chase along Highway 58.

According to Meigs County Sheriff's Department Lt. Tim Erwin, a Decatur officer saw a man who he knew had warrants out for his arrest inside a car that was driving through town around 3:00 AM Wednesday morning. The officer turned on his blue lights, but the driver sped away down Highway 58 South.

Erwin said he was awakened by a phone call requesting he bring spike strips to Highway 58 shortly after the chase began. Erwin set up his spike strips across the highway about 10 miles outside of town. The driver ran over the spike strips, which slowly released air from the tires of the vehicle.

The chase continued for about a half-mile until the tires went flat. When the vehicle finally stopped, the sheriff's deputy who was driving directly behind him stopped as well. But the Decatur police car involved in the chase was unable to stop in time and slammed into the rear of the county vehicle. Erwin said both vehicles were totaled.

One man fled on foot while the driver of the car was taken into custody.

Meigs County High School's driver's education teacher and boys' basketball coach is on personal leave from the school following a weekend driving under the influence charge inside the Decatur city limits.

A Meigs County jail escapee has confessed to the shooting death of Athens businessman Jeff Beene, and a second suspect has also confessed to being an accomplice.

Daniel Lankey, 30, of Athens has admitted to the shooting, according to McMinn County Sheriff Steve Frisbie, after the escapee was captured earlier this week near Riceville.

Frisbie said a stolen gun was found that had been in Lankey's possession and that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation lab confirms it was the gun used to kill the businessman.

Also now in custody is Jeffrey Doyle Coleman, of Athens, whom authorities named as an accomplice in the shooting at the Plastic Industries building on Congress Parkway. He was being questioned Friday and admitted his involvement, according to McMinn County Sheriff's Detective Jerry Wilson.

Beene was shot Jan. 29 while camping out at the abandoned PI building to try and curtail a string of recent burglaries. He had captured a burglar in an earlier incident and turned him over to officers, but this time, there were two people inside the building and they overpowered Beene. Lankey is charged with first-degree murder and felony murder. He had escaped the Meigs County Jail on Dec. 19.