Today's News

From staff reports

The Harriman Lions Club recently celebrated its 70th anniversary at the Roane Street Grill in Harriman.

The club’s charter was issued on Nov. 26, 1948. The charter formally recognized the club as part of Lions International, one of the world’s largest service organizations with over one million members in 207 countries. The club in Harriman was sponsored by the Kingston Lions Club, who had been chartered a year before.

Former President George H.W. Bush has been remembered fondly this week by many around the country, including Roane County Criminal Court Judge Jeff Wicks.

“He was a gracious man, and I really looked up to him,” Wicks said.

Bush, America’s 41st president, passed away on Nov. 30. He was 94.

Wicks protected Bush and members of the Bush family when he was a member of the U.S. Secret Service.

Wicks shared some of his firsthand experiences with the former president on Wednesday.

Residents of Kingston’s Dogwood Drive neighborhood pushed back on a proposed road improvement project under discussion by the City Council at a workshop Tuesday.

The $1.6 million project to improve access to a privately owned 45-acre commercial tract would be paid for by a 50 percent matching state grant that would require the city to borrow about $850,00.

“The city of Kingston should not fund this development,” Browder Williams said.

Williams was critical of the way the city has handled the property in the past

A Rockwood man is accused of huffing in front of a police officer.

Jonathan Isaiah Loaring, 23, is charged with DUI and inhalants in the incident.

According to the report, Rockwood Police Department Sgt. Dwayne Gray was leaving the Walmart parking lot at the traffic light on Nov. 30 when something caught his attention.

“While waiting to make the left hand turn onto Gateway Avenue, I could see the traffic light was green for vehicles to exit the parking lot, but traffic was not moving,” the report said.