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Today's News

  • Dredging begins on Emory River

    By DAMON LAWRENCE

    dlawrence@roanecounty.com

    TVA officials estimate 3 million yards of fly ash is in the Emory River.

    The process to remove it began Thursday with the start of dredging operations. The goal is to get the ash back on TVA land.

    Officials with the utility company are expressing confidence the plan will be a success.

    “We know that the dredging in the river will absolutely get it all out,” ash spill incident commander Tim Hope said.

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  • Marty Duncan retains lessons from his father as he heads Ford dealership

    By CINDY SIMPSON

    csimpson@roanecounty.com

    In a changing of the guard at a prominent Roane County business, Marty Duncan has taken the helm at Jerry Duncan Ford.

    The sale was complete on March 1, the anniversary of when Marty’s father, Jerry, bought the Harriman dealership in 1975.

    “It is a really good deal for both of us,” Marty said.

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  • Home builder, county attorney in spat over sign

    DAMON LAWRENCE

    dlawrence@roanecounty.com

    Editor's note: Watch video of a hallway spat at the end of the story,

    A rich and powerful bully or a hard-working taxpayer?

    Bob Markli insists he’s the latter.

    Roane County Attorney Tom McFarland disagrees.

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  • Builder wins in sign spat with county attorney

    By DAMON LAWRENCE

    dlawrence@roanecounty.com

    A sign at the center of a dispute between a Farragut home builder and Roane County Attorney Tom McFarland is coming down.

    Kingston building inspector Willie Gordon said the sign in question is within city limits and must be removed.

    The Blue Springs Pontoon Boat Co. sign stands at the intersection of Lawnville Road and Ladd Landing Way.

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  • Architect for school facilities may be hired

    By DAMON LAWRENCE

    dlawrence@roanecounty.com

    The Roane County Board of Education took a non-negotiable approach with its $47 million building proposal.

    The fact that no dirt was ever moved on a new school shows how that turned out. The county commission, the funding body for the school system, unanimously voted down the proposal.

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  • TVA in the midst of repaving roads

    By JENNIFER RAYMOND

    jraymond@roanecounty.com

    The paving of Swan Pond Road is on track and anticipated to be completed by mid-April, TVA officials revealed Monday during a open house to update residents on the cleanup progress of the Dec. 22, 2008, fly ash spill at Kingston Fossil Plant.

    The road will be reopened to the public when the paving is completed, TVA spokeswoman Barbara Martocci said during the open house in the gym of Roane State Community College’s main campus.

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  • Harriman man charged with defacing memorial to fallen police officers

    By CINDY SIMPSON

    csimpson@roanecounty.com

    Harriman police have apprehended a 61-year-old man suspected of vandalizing the Roane County Fallen Officer Memorial in Harriman Riverfront Park.

    Jerry M. Lemons of 176 Old Coalfield Road, Harriman, admitted vandalizing the memorial on several occasions after undercover detectives caught him spray-painting it on March 29, according to a Harriman Police Department press release.

    “It was just the memorial itself he had a problem with,” Harriman Police Chief Randy Heidle said.

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  • Harriman Walgreens robbed

    By CINDY SIMPSON

    csimpson@roanecounty.com

    Harriman police are looking for a man who robbed Walgreens at Hwy. 70 and South Pine Ridge Road Tuesday night.

    Harriman Police Capt. Kenny Humphrey said the department received a call around 9:50 p.m. that an armed robbery had occurred at the pharmacy.

    He said dispatch reports say a young male wearing a black ball cap took a brown backpack and gun into the store and stole OxyContin.

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  • County seeks portion of TVA cleanup money

    By DAMON LAWRENCE

    dlawrence@roanecounty.com

    Whatever the final tab is on TVA’s ash spill cleanup, the long-term recovery committee believes Roane County is entitled to 15 percent of the costs.

    The committee, formed to help the county rehab its image from the Dec. 22, 2008, disaster, voted to send TVA that reparations request.

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  • County official clocked at nearly 100 mph vexed about speeding ticket

    By DAMON LAWRENCE

    dlawrence@roanecounty.com

    Roane County Property Assessor Teresa Kirkham was ticketed for speeding on Interstate 40.

    Then she seemed irked that she was being given a ticket, according to a report by Roane County Sheriff’s Deputy Joshua Currier.

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