FROM THE RADIO NEWS DEPARTMENT

A Greeneville Woman Is Facing Charges After Authorities Said She Attempted To Bring Contraband Into A Local Jail. 45 Year Old Cindy Myers Is Charged With Introduction Of Drugs Into A Penal Facility. She’s Accused Of Trying To Bring Narcotics And Tobacco Into The Greene County Detention Center. The Packet Reportedly Contained Three Suboxone Packs, A Lighter, A Pack Of Rolling Paper, And A Bag Of Tobacco. Myers Is Free On A 10-Thousand Dollar Bond. She Will Appear In Court Soon.

The Uva-Wise Student Charged With Last Week’s Shooter On Campus Hoax Is Now Facing A Federal Charge. 20 Year Old Bryant Hairston Of Martinsville Is Additionally Charged With Knowingly Making False, Fictitous, And Fraudulent Statements And Representations. Hairston Admitted To Falsely Reporting A Gunman On The Campus, Which Prompted A Two-Hour Lockdown Of The Campus. At That Time He Was Charged With Falsely Summoning A Police Officer And Obstruction Of Justice.

A Mount Carmel Alderman Is Raising Questions Concerning An Order By Mayor Larry Frost To Have The Town Complete Drainage Repairs On Private Property. The Work Was Conducted On A 15-Foot Wide Sewer Easement Along A Natural Drainage At A Home On Nightingale Court. The 2-Thousand Dollars In Work Was Intended To Eliminate Flooding. Alderman Leann Debord Suggested The Repairs By Town Employees On Private Property Was Illegal. The Town Is Without An Attorney At This Time Due To Mayor Frost Dismissing Joe May. The Town Has Been Relying On Free Legal Advice From The University Of Tennessee Municipal Technical Advisory Service. Debord Has Contacted The Advisory Service With Her Concern And Is Awaiting A Reply.

Lamplight Theatre In Fall Branch Needs An Additional 45-Hundred Dollars Monthly In Order To Move Into The Strand Theater On Broad Street In Downtown Kingsport. Last Year, The Group Initially Tried To Move Into The Old State Theater, But The Cost To Purchase And Renovate The Building Was Too Steep. Founder Billy Arrington Said The Organization Would Need The Added Funding To Pay For The Mortgage, Utilities And Insurance At The Downtown Location. Donations Are Tax Deductible. For More Information, Contact The Lamplight Theatre By Phone Or Online.

Kingsport Leaders Have Approved The Next Step In Building A Connector Between Stone Drive And Netherland Inn Road At Ridgefields Road. That Step Is To Conduct An In-Depth Study That Aims To Identify Alternatives To Link The Two Roadways. Past Studies On Possible Connections Were Done In The 1970s And 2001. The Project Could Cost Around 4.8 Million Dollars.

A Lack Of State Funding Is Forcing A Proposed Highway 11-E Project To Be Stalled. The Improvement Work Would Start At The U.S. 25-E Intersection In Morristown And End At The Interstate-81 Interchange In Greene County. Officials Were Told By The Tennessee Department Of Transportation There’s No Funding Available At This Time To Begin Construction. A Substantial Amount Of Preliminary Work Has Already Been Completed. The Total Price Tag For The Work Is Expected To Ring In At About 110-Million Dollars.

School Officials Say A Greene County School Bus Driver Charged In An Alleged Pursuit Last Week Has Been Disciplined Previously. 44 Year Old Leslie Calvin Henry Of Midway Allegedly Used His Bus Last Week To Chase Down A Man Who Repossessed His Car. He’s Charged With A Felony Count Of Reckless Endangerment For The Latest Allegation. He Remains Suspended Without Pay. In 1998, He Received A Letter Of Reprimand For Crossing Railroad Tracks While A Train Was On The Tracks; He Was Suspended For Three Days In November 2010 For Verbal Disrespect Of Students And Received A Three-Day Suspension For Physically Putting A Child Back In His Seat. A Court Date Is Pending.

Gate City Town Manager Jeremy Keller Is Looking Elsewhere! The 31 Year Old Keller Has Announced That He Is Stepping Down From The Post To Pursue A New Career Opportunity. His New Job Will Be With The Federal Probation Service. He Worked As A State Probation Officer Prior To Be Hired By Gate City In January Of Last Year. His Last Day Will Be January 31st. The Town Council Will Decide On How It Will Go About Hiring A New Town Manager At Its Next Meeting February 16th.

Some Good News For Motorists. 2013 Has Started With Relative Price Stability At The Pump. The National Average Price For A Gallon Of Regular Unleaded Gas Rose Four Cents To $3.33 This Week. Windy Van Curen With AAA Mid-Atlantic Said Anticipated Prices At The Pump Should Remain Relatively Stable Through The Remaining Weeks Of Winter. This Ahead Of The Seasonal Spring Increase That We Tend To See In March And April. Overall, Gas Prices Are Projected To Drop During The First Half Of The Summer To The Low To Mid-$3.00 Range.

Candidates For Offices In Kingsport, Bristol And Bluff City Have Less Than Four Weeks To File For The May Municipal Elections In Sullivan County. February 21st Is The Deadline To Submit Petitions For Slots On The Boards Of Mayor And Alderman In Kingsport And Bluff City, The Kingsport And Bristol Boards Of Education And The Bristol Tennessee City Council.

East Tennessee Is One Of The Top Regions In The State For Meth Labs. According To A New Study, The Number Of Meth Labs Continues To Increase Across The State. State Numbers Show Carter County With The Most Meth Lab Busts In 2012 With 50 Reported. Tennessee Consistently Ranks In The Top Four States For The Highest Number Of Meth Labs Found By Law Enforcement.

Virginia Is Seeing A Drop In Gun Deaths And Injuries. Figures From The State’s Office Of The Chief Medical Examiner Show Firearms-Related Homicides Fell 3.2 Percent From 357 In 2005 To 242 In 2011. Virginia Department Of Health Figures Show Firearms-Related Injuries Requiring Hospitalization Declined 28 Percent, From 392 To 283, During The Same Period.

Gov. Bill Haslam is preparing to deliver his annual budget proposal to Tennessee lawmakers this evening. Haslam’s third State of the State address is also expected to outline the Republican governor’s legislative priorities for the year, including details about his proposal to introduce a school voucher program. Haslam has yet to announce whether he wants Tennessee to participate in the expansion of Medicaid under the new federal health care law. Under that plan, the federal government would pay 100 percent of cost increases in the first three years and 90 percent thereafter. But the measure would face a hard sell in the Republican-dominated Legislature. Haslam has also announced he wants to make changes to workers’ compensation rules this year.

No Foul Play Is Suspected In Connection With A Fire In Johnson City Over The Weekend That Claimed The Life Of A City Woman. 87 Year Old Francis Tipton Died In The Mobile Home At Davis Trailer Park On South Roan Street. Her Two Sons Were Not At Home At The Time Of The Blaze. The Fire Marshals Office Is Investigating The Cause Of The Fire. Tipton’s Body Has Been Taken To The Quillen College Of Medicine For An Autopsy To Determine The Cause Of Death.

A Kingsport Woman Accused Of Injuring Her Young Daughter Is Set To Be In Court This Morning. 28 Year Old Eva Ledford Is Charged With Aggravated Assault For Allegedly Striking Her Six Year Old Daughter, Causing A Puncture Wound Outside Her Mouth And Further Injury Inside. The Victim Had To Have Stitches. The Six Year Old And An Eight Month Old Child Were Removed From The Home. Police Said There Is Allegedly Evidence That This Is An Ongoing Problem In The Home. Ledford Is Being Held Without Bond Until She Can Be Evaluated And Custody Determined.

A Single Vehicle Crash In Buchanan County Virginia Has Resulted In The Death Of Two Vansant, Virginia Men. According To Virginia State Police, The Driver, 22 Year Old Nathan Gilbert And A Passenger 20 Year Old Christopher Gilbert Died At The Scene. The Crash Occurred On Route 80 In Council. Police Said The Car Ran Off The Road, Flipped And Hit A Tree. Two Other Passengers Were Hurt In The Crash. Authorities Said Alcohol Was A Factor In The Crash. The Investigation Is Ongoing.

Unicoi County Officials Are Looking At Several Options In Relation To A New Location For Sheriff’s Administrative Offices And The County’s Emergency Dispatch Center. They Are Looking At Two Storage Areas Attached To The Jail Annex That Could House The Administrative Offices And 911 Center. The County Commission Will Consider Today A Prior Recommendation To Hire Engineering Firm Tysinger, Hampton And Partners To Complete A Feasibility Study.

Skeptics of a proposal to allow wine to be sold in Tennessee supermarkets and convenience stores say any change in law should be deferred for several years to give liquor store owners time to adjust to the new competition. Republican Rep. Ryan Haynes of Knoxville says liquor store owners should be given three to five years to get out of existing leases or to change their business models if they no longer have the exclusive right to sell wine. Bristol Republican Rep. Jon Lundberg says the implementation of his bill would already be delayed enough by a requirement to hold a local referendum.