FROM THE RADIO NEWS DEPARTMENT

Wellmont Health System Officals Are Excited About The Recent Implementation Of A New And Enhanced Electronic Health Record System. The Health Care Provider Has Invested In A Multi-Million Dollar Project To Build And Electronic Health Record. Spokesman Jim Wozniak Says It Will Give Patients Greater Access To Their Health Information. The Innovative Project Will Build On Other Achievements In Electronic Medical Records That Have Bolstered Patient Safety And Enabled Wellmont To Meet The Requirerments Of Federal Health Care Reform.

Sullivan County Officials Are Due For An Automatic Pay Raise This July. This Comes During A Time When County Officials Are Already Scrambling To Develop A Spending Plan For The Fiscal Year That Begins July 1st. Now, They’ll Have To Seek Funding To Pay For Their Own Nearly 5 Percent Pay Hike That’s Mandated By State Law.

Kingsport Police Are Seeking Information From The Public Concerning A Pair Of Unsolved Kingsport Murders. They Believe The Same Man Is Suspected Of Killing Both Victims Inside Their Homes. On November 29th, 53 Year Old Gary Lavon Jones, Was Found Lying In A Pool Of Blood On The Floor Of His Lone Oak Drive Mobile Home. He’d Been Stabbed Multiple Times. On October 16th, 65 Year Old Betty Sue Short Was Found Bludgeoned To Death In Her Barnett Drive Apartment. Short Was Reportedly An Acquaintance Of The Same Man Suspected In Jones’ Homicide. Anyone With Information On The Cases Is Asked To Contact The Kingsport Police Department.

A report shows the number of prescriptions for painkillers in Tennessee is on the rise again, but state officials think they may be finally getting control of the epidemic. The report to the General Assembly shows that pharmacists dispensed nearly 18.3 million prescriptions in Tennessee last year for controlled substances such as OxyContin and hydrocodone. That’s a nearly 1.5 percent increase in painkiller prescriptions from the year before. The previous year showed a 23 percent increase. The report by the state Department of Health shows that hydrocodone is the No. 1 used painkiller in Tennessee. Tennessee has one of the highest prescription drug abuse rates in the nation.

A Blountville Based Institution Of Higher Learning Has Received Approval To Open Another Location In Bristol Tennessee. Northeast State Community College’s New Teaching Site Will Be Located At 620 State Street The Former Site Of The Old H.P. King Building. The Facility Will Be Known As City Central. Northeast State Will Lease Almost 16-Thousand Square Feet Of Third-Floor Space To House Classrooms And Offices.

The Model City Has Award-Winning Water. For The Fourth Consecutive Year, Kingsport’s Water Treatment Plant Has Earned The Epa Partnership For Safe Drinking Water’s Director Award. The Model City Facility Is One Of Only Three Water Treatment Plants To Receive The Award In Tennessee For 2012. The Award Recognizes A Continuous Commitment To Maintain The Highest Level Of Water Quality Through Ongoing Plant Optimization.

The City Of Kingsport Has Received A 120-Thousand Dollar Recreation Trails Program Grant From The State’s Department Of Environment And Transportation. The Funding, Which Requires A 30-Thousand Dollar Match From The City, Will Be Used To Help Pay For A Closed Loop Trail Branching Off From The Main Trunk Line Of The Greenbelt Behind East Stone Commons. Portions Of The Trail Will Be Paved While A Majority Of The Trailway Will Be Boardwalk In Nature. Construction Is Expected To Take Place This Year.

The Kingsport Housing And Redevelopment Authority Has Received 300-Thousand Dollars In Federal Funding To Help Redevelop And Revitalize Public Housing At Robert E. Lee Apartments And The Surrounding Neighborhoods. The Money Is Being Provided By The U.S. Department Of Housing And Urban Development’s Choice Neighborhood Initiative Program. The Housing Authority Has Until October 2014 To Complete A Plan It’s Developed With Urban College Of Lexington, Kentucky.

Two Johnson City Residents Are Behind Bars Facing Drug Charges. Jeremy Parks And Sarah Rose Are Charged With Felony Child Neglect And Unlawful Drug Paraphernalia. The Charges Stem From An Investigation After Officers Responded To A Disturbance Call On Wilson Avenue. Police Determined That Parks And Rose Were Under The Influence Of Methamphetamine. Children’s Protective Services Assumed Custody Of Two Small Children At The Home. Parks And Rose Are Being Held At The Washington County Detention Center On A 21-Thousand Dollar Bond. The Pair Will Be Arraigned On Tuesday In General Sessions Court.

After Rising For 36 Consecutive Days, The National Average Price For Gasoline Broke The Longest String Of Increases In Nearly Two Years. The National Average Price Of Regular Grade Gas Fell A Penny To $3.77 Cents Per Gallon. As For Where Gas Prices Are Headed, Martha Meade With AAA Mid-Atlantic Thinks That Remains To Be Seen.

The Erwin National Fish Hatchery Will Soon Have A New Manager. Norm Heil Will Be Transferred In April From The Warm Springs Fish Health Center In Warm Springs, Georgia To Take The Reins Of The Facility. Previous Manager, John Robinette, Retired In December.

Construction In Kingsport Saw A Growth Of More Than 18 Million Dollars. The Increase Is Being Attributed To The New Aquatic Center, Which Cost Over 21 Million To Construct. The Numbers Were Released By Kingsport’s Building Division. Other Building Permits For Large Businesses Include Lynn View Ridge Apartments, The Tri City Dodge Chrysler Jeep Dealership, The First Assist Urgent Care On Fort Henry Drive And The New Downtown Burger King.

Sullivan County Could Have A New Budget Director Soon. County Mayor Steve Godsey Is Expected To Announce His Choice This Evening At The Administrative Committee Meeting. Former Budget Director Larry Bailey Retired Nearly A Year Ago. There Has Been No Decision On What The New Budget Director Will Be Paid Because The State Does Not Set A Salary For The Position. It’s Expected To Be Around 85-Thousand Dollars.

A Tri Cities Manufacturing Company Is Lending Its Support To A Regional Food Bank. Employees At Bristol Compressors Have Donated More Than 700 Cans And Packages Of Food While The Company Pledged To Match The Value Of The Employee Donations To Feeding America Southwest Virginia. In Addition, Bristol Compressors Will Be Contributing 25-Hundred Dollars. Feeding America Serves More Than 400 Partner Feeding Programs In The Region To Provide Food To More Than 100-Thousand Hungry Men, Women, And Children Each Month.

A Mobile Home Fire In Castlewood Virginia Over The Weekend Has Claimed The Life Of One Person And Sent Another To A Burn Center In Atlanta Georgia. No Names Are Being Released At This Time In Connection With The Fire At A Home On Red Oak Ridge Road Saturday. The Victim Suffered Burns To His Chest, Face, Arms And Hands. It’s Unclear Whether The Home Had Working Smoke Detectors. The Virginia State Police Is Investigating The Cause Of The Fire But Is Suspected To Have Been The Result Of A Space Heater On The Other End Of The Mobile Home.

The Former Manager Of The Sneedville Tennessee Utility District Is Facing Theft Charges. Connie Renee Mitchell Is Charged With Theft Over A Thousand. This Follows An Investigation By The Tennessee Bureau Of Investigation. A 2011 Audit Of The Utility District Lead To The Discovery Of Missing Cash Funds And Personal Checks Written By Mitchell. Authorities Said Mitchell Later Admitted Taking The Money To Pay Personal Bills. She No Longer Works At The Utility.

A Tennessee state prisoner from the tri cities has been indicted for sending threatening letters that falsely claimed they contained anthrax to the governor, the secretary of state and the district attorney’s office in Nashville. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release 32-year-old Branden Frady, of Johnson City, was a prisoner at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville last September when he sent out six threatening letters. Four of the letters contained a white powder that he claimed was anthrax. The letters also made explicit death threats against the public officials.

The Commissioners Of The Tri-Cities Regional Airport Authority Are In The Process Of Hiring A Search Firm To Find A New Executive Director. The Authority Is In Contract Negotiations With ADK Executive Search Of Atlantic Beach, Florida. The Search Is Expected To Cost Upwards Of 30-Thousand Dollars And Take Up To Six Months.

A Two Vehicle Crash In Dickenson County Virginia Has Claimed The Life Of An Area Woman. According To Virginia State Police, 40 Year Old Myra Mullins Was Killed Friday Night While Riding In A Vehicle On Highway 83 Near State Route 774. Police Said The Driver Of The Vehicle Lost Control, And The Car Traveled Into Oncoming Traffic And Struck Another Vehicle. There Was No Information Released On The Condition Of The Driver Or The People In The Other Car. The Crash Is Still Under Investigation.