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Local News

  • Delay in exiting burning home may have cost man's life

    By DAMON LAWRENCE

    dlawrence@roanecounty.com

    A Roane County man died in a fire over the weekend. Blair Fire Chief Clarence Nelson said first responders were dispatched to 859 Skyline Drive a little after 7 a.m. on Saturday. Nelson said the initial report came in as a car fire, but when first responders arrived they found a mobile home on fire.

    Entry was made into the residence and the body of Richard Eddy was discovered inside. Nelson said he believes Eddy called 911 after he was awaken by a smoke detector  

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  • Man dies in accident related to fly ash spill

    By TERRI LIKENS

    tlikens@roanecounty.com

    An Iowa man has indirectly become the first fatality of the TVA fly ash disaster.

    According to TVA officials, 55-year-old Larry LaCroix died after an accident on the job at TVA's Kingston Fossil Plant Monday morning.

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  • County approves 9-cent property tax rate hike

    By DAMON LAWRENCE

    dlawrence@roanecounty.com

    Commissioner James Harmon continued to voice opposition to a property tax increase at Monday’s county commission meeting.

    His motion to send the 2009-10 fiscal budget back to committee for further discussion failed, however.

    “To send it back you need to have some suggestions on what to do with it,” Commissioner David Olsen said.

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  • County seeks to keep 'lucrative' fly ash

    By DAMON LAWRENCE

    dlawrence@roanecounty.com

    Somewhere along the road to recovery from the TVA fly ash disaster, people learned there could be some hefty profits in the coal combustion waste produced by the utility company.

    Roane County officials took a step toward cashing in on Monday.

    The county commission voted 11-2 on a resolution that calls for County Executive Mike Farmer and County Attorney Tom McFarland to negotiate with TVA about the possibility of storing future fly ash in a Midtown landfill.

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  • UPDATED: Controversy flares up over legal payment

    By TERRI LIKENS

    tlikens@roanecounty.com

    A feud — or a gray area?

    A clash between two Roane County elected officials has flared up again, this time over a legal payment.

    Roane County Attorney Tom McFarland, who has had several public clashes with Roane County Property Assessor Teresa Kirkham, called the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the district attorney general’s office to investigate a county payment to Kirkham’s private attorney.

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  • Electronic monitoring company says it is turning off Houston bracelets for nonpayment

    By DAMON LAWRENCE

    dlawrence@roanecounty.com

     

    Tracking Solutions LLC wants to be paid. Because brothers Rocky and Leon Houston haven't been doing so, the company plans to stop the electronic monitoring service it has been providing for the brothers since their release on bond back in March.

     

    “Due to the actions of the defendant, all electronic monitoring shall cease July 31, 2009, at midnight,” Tracking Solutions owner Kristen Zachary wrote in a letter to the Roane County Criminal Court.

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  • Time running out for Margrave bridge

    By CHERYL DUNCAN

    cduncan@roanecounty.com

    It looks like a bridge on Harriman’s Margrave Drive is destined for closure.

    “I don’t want to have the liability of closing it, and I don’t want to have the liability not to close it,” Mayor Chris Mason said. “But I will for safety.”

    A recent inspection by Norfolk Southern Railway recommends the bridge be closed to traffic.

    The railroad company owns the bridge which runs underneath and supports the mostly residential city street.

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  • Lawyer changes muddle Houston case further

    By DAMON LAWRENCE

    dlawrence@roanecounty.com

    Randy Rogers has made countless arguments on behalf of Rocky Houston over the last three years.

    On Thursday, he argued why he should no longer have to represent Houston.

    “I do not rise to toot my own horn,” Rogers said. “I rise to protect myself from the scurrilous allegations made by this man who I have spent many years now trying to help.”

    Rogers said his desire to withdraw from the case stems from an interview

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  • Two county firefighters on job

    By DAMON LAWRENCE

    dlawrence@roanecounty.com

    Clarence Nelson has no way to see into the future.

    That’s why Nelson, the chief of the Blair Volunteer Fire Department, is keeping his comments low key about two paid firefighters joining the county payroll.    

    “It’s a wait-and-see thing, really,” Nelson said. “We’ll just have to see how it works out.”

    The recently passed Roane County budget included funding for the firefighters.

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  • Prosecutors seek to revoke Rocky Houston's bond

    By DAMON LAWRENCE

    dlawrence@roanecounty.com

    Randy Rogers has made countless arguments on behalf of Rocky Houston over the last three years.

    On Thursday, he argued why he should no longer have to represent Houston.

    “I do not rise to toot my own horn,” Rogers said. “I rise to protect myself from the scurrilous allegations made by this man who I have spent many years now trying to help.”

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Copyright © 2013

The Roane County News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Roane County and Kingston, Tennessee, and the surrounding area.