Oak Ridge Today

Mayor, sheriff reach agreement on salary suit, but war of words follows

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Anderson County Detention Facility Expansion

The salary dispute between the Anderson County mayor and sheriff focused on the spending to hire up to 36 new jailers to staff a 212-bed expansion that is still under construction at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton.

CLINTON—The Anderson County mayor and sheriff reached an agreement Friday that could end their five-month-old legal dispute over an annual salary agreement, possibly closing one expensive and contentious chapter in local government even as it opened a new war of words between top officials.

Knox County Circuit Court Judge Dale C. Workman could sign the agreement Monday morning.

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Sheriff Paul White said the agreement allows the sheriff to hire 15 full-time permanent deputies and additional temporary deputies when the sheriff deems appropriate as he prepares to open a 212-bed jail expansion. But the hiring must stay within the spending limit approved by the Anderson County Commission this year, and the temporary employees cannot work more than six months.

Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Frank and White announced the agreement in a one-page press release distributed Friday. The case had been scheduled to be heard in Knox County Circuit Court on Monday morning. [Read more…]

Legal fees add up as officials try to ‘stop the bleeding’ in dispute between mayor, sheriff

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Anderson County Detention Facility

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Sheriff Paul White are engaged in a legal fight over a two-page salary agreement that includes, among other things, six months’ worth of funding for 36 new employees at a new jail pod at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton. (Photo courtesy Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)

CLINTON—The legal fees might already exceed $20,000, and they could continue to mount in a bitter dispute between the mayor and sheriff over a $7.7 million salary agreement for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

Efforts to “stop the bleeding”—and avoid extra expenses for Anderson County residents—were unsuccessful after a lengthy, heated debate on Monday night. During that debate, Anderson County commissioners rejected several proposals to cover some legal fees of Mayor Terry Frank in her response to a salary suit filed in July by Sheriff Paul White. Among the rejected options were proposals to pay Frank’s fees so far but no more, capping them at $40,000, or covering all expenses until the matter is resolved.

Frank has refused to sign the salary agreement, saying it includes about $1 million more for salaries and overtime than was approved by commission in June. But the Sheriff’s Department has said the salary agreement is routine and was drafted according to state law, and actual spending will be closer to the $6.6 million approved by the commission as part of this year’s budget. [Read more…]

Anderson Commission unable to resolve salary dispute between sheriff, mayor

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Note: This story was updated at 1:45 a.m. July 16.

CLINTON—The Anderson County Commission on Monday was unable to resolve a dispute between the county mayor and the sheriff over an annual salary agreement, meaning a judge could be asked to intervene.

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank has refused to sign the proposed salary agreement for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department. She said it includes about $7.66 million for salaries, which is roughly $1 million more than the $6.63 million approved by commission in June as part of this year’s budget.

“I cannot do anything more than what was passed,” Frank told commissioners Monday morning. “The only way I can sign that is if you go ahead and approve that new $1 million.” [Read more…]

Lake City man dies, wife injured after Saturday motorcycle crash

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A Lake City motorcyclist died and his wife was injured after a Saturday morning collision with a sports utility vehicle on Lake City Highway, authorities said.

The crash happened at about 10:45 a.m. Saturday on Lake City Highway, also known as US 25W, at Old Lake City Highway between Clinton and Lake City. The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said William Ferrell, 71, of Old Lake City Highway in Clinton, was driving a Mercury Mountaineer SUV and turned into the path of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle operated by Gregory McNelley, 53, of Longfield Road in Lake City. His wife, Julie McNelley, 49, was a passenger on the motorcycle. [Read more…]

More than 300 pounds of unused medicine collected

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Information from WYSH Radio

Local law enforcement agencies teamed up to host Operation Medicine Cabinet at four locations across the county on Saturday, and more than 300 pounds of medicine were collected.

That amount far surpassed the weight from any previous event held in the county since law enforcement agencies began collecting and disposing medicine in 2010. In all, 314.6 pounds of medicine were collected at sites in Clinton, Oak Ridge, and Oliver Springs, said Stephanie Strutner, executive director for Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention. The medications were disposed by DEA. [Read more…]

Kentucky duo arrested after alleged burglary, homeowner confrontation, police chase

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Timothy Shane Petrey

Timothy Shane Petrey

Elizabeth Jane North

Elizabeth Jane North

A Kentucky man and woman were arrested after an alleged confrontation with a homeowner during a burglary on Andersonville Highway on Saturday morning and a short police chase, authorities said.

The alleged burglary at the Andersonville Highway home was discovered by the owner and a friend at about 11:30 a.m. Saturday, according to a press release from Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas.

“The homeowner confronted the male suspect as he was exiting her home after the female suspect, who was sitting in a truck in the driveway, sounded the horn and yelled to the male,” Lucas said. “The male suspect and the homeowner struggled over some items that were being taken, and then he and the female suspect fled in the truck.” [Read more…]

Man has possible life-threatening injury after Friday shooting

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A 28-year-old man was flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center with a potentially life-threatening wound after a Friday morning shooting on Johnson Gap Road in Anderson County, authorities said.

The condition of Jeffery Allen Lowe was not available, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said in a brief statement Friday afternoon.

The shooting occurred at about 10:42 a.m. Friday at 154 Johnson Gap Road, and Lowe was flown to the UT hospital by a Lifestar helicopter, Lucas said.

[Read more…]

School security ramped up in Anderson County, Clinton

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Information from WYSH Radio

In the wake of last week’s deadly school shootings in Connecticut, many people in the area have wondered what is being done to keep their children safe at school.

WYSH asked Clinton Police Chief Rick Scarbrough how often officers conduct walk-throughs at the city’s three elementary schools. Scarbrough said every school in the city, including the three county schools within the city limits, are visited by officers two to three times per day in unscheduled, random, drop-in visits.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said there are eight full-time school resource officers, or SROs, who rotate between the county’s 17 schools. That number includes SROs who are assigned to just one school, namely the two county high schools.

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Burglary, interrrupted: Armed son confronts man in parents’ home

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Note: This story was updated at 10:23 p.m.

After spotting a strange vehicle in his parents’ driveway Thursday, the son of an Andersonville Highway couple armed himself with his father’s shotgun and confronted and detained a burglar inside the home, authorities said Friday.

The son detained the suspect until deputies arrived, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said in a Friday news release.

[Read more…]

Authorities identify man killed in Marlow shooting Saturday

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Randall Kyle Wilcox

Randall Kyle Wilcox

Note: This story was last updated at 11:16 a.m. Oct. 15.

State authorities have identified the person shot and killed during a struggle with a deputy in Marlow on Saturday as Randall Kyle Wilcox, 30, of Clinton.

However, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is providing no new details about the shooting, including the type of weapon involved and the nature of the injuries to an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputy.

“I am unable to provide any more details at this stage of the investigation,” said Kristin Helm, TBI public information officer.

Wilcox was shot by the Anderson County deputy near 602 Pine Ridge Road on Saturday morning after he reportedly fled on foot from a traffic stop and then tried to take the deputy’s weapon during a confrontation, authorities said Saturday.

Anderson County Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said the Sheriff’s Department is not naming the deputy. He was injured and taken by ambulance to Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge, where he was treated and released.

The injuries were not believed to be serious, Helm said.

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Suspect shot, killed during struggle over deputy’s weapon in Marlow

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An unidentified person was shot and killed by an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputy in Marlow on Saturday morning after the suspect fled on foot from a traffic stop and then tried to take the deputy’s weapon during a struggle on Pine Ridge Road, authorities said.

Authorities aren’t releasing the name of the suspect or the deputy, who was injured and taken by ambulance to Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge, where he was treated and released.

The deputy had stopped the suspect’s car at about 10:22 a.m. Saturday, Anderson County Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said in a statement.

“The driver pulled into a driveway, jumped from the car, and fled on foot,” Lucas said. “The deputy gave chase and a short distance later was confronted by the suspect, where a struggle ensued with the suspect trying to take the deputy’s duty weapon. The suspect was shot and killed.”

Lucas said the deputy and “all other personnel involved in the incident will receive critical incident debriefings over the next few days.”

[Read more…]

‘Scam artist’ poses as Claxton firefighter, asks for money

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Someone posing as a member of the Claxton Volunteer Fire Department has attempted to fraudulently obtain money from two different homeowners in Claxton, Anderson County Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said Wednesday.

“The scam artist apparently went door-to-door on Old Edgemoor Road soliciting money from residents, telling them if they do not pay the fire department will not respond if there is a fire,” Lucas said.

[Read more…]