Category: News

A Tennessee electric company hopes to make investing in solar technology affordable to the ordinary investor. Duck River Electric Membership Cooperation in Shelbyville cut the ribbon on a new solar farm Wednesday afternoon. The solar farm has 108 solar panels, creating 216 investment opportunities. Investors can buy a half panel for $600. The solar farm is across the street from an elementary school, a middle school and a high school in Shelbyville. DREMC hopes teachers will bring their students to the farm to learn about the future of energy.

Tens of thousands of Elvis Presley fans are in Memphis to pay respects to the rock ‘n’ roll icon during a candlelight vigil at Graceland marking the 35th anniversary of his death.
Fans began lining up Wednesday afternoon at the entrance to Graceland, Presley’s longtime Memphis home.
Presley died on Aug. 16, 1977, at age 42.

The City of Manchester recently elected a new mayor and 3 new aldermen. Citizens expected changes, and some are taking place. Mayor-elect Lonnie Norman told WMSR News that current Safety Commissioner Ross Simmons has decided to retire on Aug 21. Norman said Simmons will be paid $120,000 for his vacation and sick-time that he earned and was not taken. Police Captain Wilma Thomas has also chosen to retire on the same date. The newly elected mayor said a new chief will be named soon for the police and fire departments.
Norman said there has been some confusion over the downtown cruise-ins. He stated the city would support an organization that would want to hold a cruise-in, but the city could not sponsor an event.
Norman went onto to tell WMSR News that the Program Coordinator job that is currently held by Jeff Burnett will be done away with. He added that grant writing will be done individual departments. The new mayor-elect said the Joy Ballard, who currently works in the finance department, will become the mayor’s secretary. Her position will not be filled in the finance department.

State Rep. Judd Matheny is mulling a challenge to House Speaker Beth Harwell for the top chamber’s top leadership position, the Tullahoma Republican confirmed in an interview with The Associated Press.
Matheny holds the title of House speaker pro tempore, the only post besides speaker elected by the entire lower chamber of the General Assembly.
The position wields little independent power, and Matheny complained in the interview of being marginalized by other Republican leaders, who he said worked to dilute his key legislative initiatives ranging from loosening gun laws to battling what he perceives as the spread of Islamic law in the United States.
Matheny, 42, said he holds no personal grudge against Harwell, whom he supported in a hard-fought speaker’s race in 2010. But Matheny said he wants the Legislature to exert more power within state government and to pursue what he called “our true constitutional principles.”
Matheny said he had been considering running for speaker even before the results of the Aug. 2 primary.
Matheny said he’s discussing his potential candidacy with current Republican members and candidates. He said he hasn’t made up his mind about whether a decision would come before or after the November election.-WSMV-

Four people were arrested, including the wife and daughter of the victim, in connection with a murder in rural Bedford County last week.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation arrested Sean Gearhardt, 20, and Jason Starrick, both of 5353 Cane Ridge Road, Antioch, on Friday. They were charged with murdering Larry Walls, 55, inside his Unionville, TN, area home.
The TBI also charged Susan Walls, 54, the victim’s wife, and Dawn Walls, 27, of 5353 Cane Ridge Road, Antioch, on Saturday with one count of criminal responsibility for the conduct of another to commit homicide.
All four are currently being held at the Bedford County Jail without bond. They are scheduled to appear in Bedford County General Sessions Court on Wednesday.
The investigation revealed that Sue and Dawn Walls paid Starrick and Gearhardt $400 to kill Larry Walls.

Potential students planning on attending Motlow College this fall must submit an application for admission or readmission by Friday, August 17; online applications are accepted until midnight. The application for admission must be complete and all requirements met before a student is eligible to enroll in classes.
Online applications may be accessed from the “Apply Now” button on the College website. Motlow personnel are also available at all locations to help students with the application process. Students visiting the Moore County campus are encouraged to visit the Student Success Center in the Crouch Center Building. Assistance is also offered at the main offices of all other Motlow locations.
An application for admission is required for all of Motlow’s programs of study and for both daytime and evening classes. Some programs, like nursing, have additional requirements that must be met before admission is granted into the program. Program requirements are posted on the website.
Students interested in earning high school and college credits for courses in the Dual Enrollment program and those enrolling in the Adult College Express program are also required to apply by August 17.
Directions to the main campus in Moore County and the centers in Fayetteville, Smyrna and McMinnville can be found on the website or by calling general information at 931-393-1500 or 800-654-4877.

Two people had to be flown to the hospital after a wreck in Cannon County on Monday afternoon.
The crash occurred just before 4:30 a.m. on State Route 53 near the intersection of State Route 281.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol said Janis Ann Smith and her passenger crashed into Redena Murdock’s car.
Murdock was trying to turn onto SR 281 and didn’t see the other car coming, said THP.
Smith and her passenger were taken by helicopter to the hospital. Paramedics took Murdock and a 14-year-old passenger by ambulance to Cannon County Hospital.

Investigators involved in the investigation of the murder of Tullahoma resident Megan Sharpton conducted a search Monday morning of a residence on Hwy 55.
Investigators would not say what they were looking for, but they were in the residence a couple of hours conducting their search. Before entering the residence, officers read a search warrant to two occupants of the house. Monday’s search followed a search last Friday by cadaver dogs in the area where the young nursing student’s burning body was found off of Awalt Road in northern Franklin County on July 2nd. When asked if the two cadaver dogs found anything that might be useful in their investigation, Franklin County investigators would only say that the dogs uncovered some “very interesting” evidence in the case. The dogs spent a couple of hours going over the area where the body was found. The investigators would only say that they found interesting evidence.

Health care experts say Tennessee’s nursing job market has grown more competitive in recent years. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that the state has added more than 10,000 registered nurses in the last half-decade.
According to the Tennessee Board of Nursing, there were more than 83,000 registered nurses in the state in 2011, and 21 new schools were added between 2000 and 2011. In the Chattanooga area alone, there are four nursing schools, and local hospitals say they have little trouble filling empty nursing spots.
Experts say one factor contributing to the more competitive market is the tough economy, which has prompted many nurses to decide against retirement.
Others have come back into the workforce or are working more hours.

U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais has rejected his Democratic opponent’s call to debate three times over the next month in the 4th Congressional District race.
Last week, Democratic State Sen. Eric Stewart of Belvedere challenged DesJarlais to a trio of debates and asked for a response by today.
DesJarlais emailed Stewart’s campaign Sunday, beating Stewart’s deadline with an unfriendly response. Stewart issued a news release this afternoon, saying he’s “shocked but not surprised” at DesJarlais’ decision.
Franklin County is in the 4th district, Coffee County moved to the 6th.