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AC man charged with murder

Posted at 9:36 pm November 3, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Calvin Humphrey

A 32-year-old Anderson County man has been charged with second-degree murder and three counts of aggravated assault that seriously injured two people, including the person who died, according to indictments filed in October.

Calvin Brandon Humphrey, of Hickory Valley Road, in Heiskell, east of Norris, killed Jasper Baysinger on January 25, the four-count indictment alleged.

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Filed Under: Anderson County, Anderson County, Courts, Front Page News, Police and Fire, Premium Content, Top Stories Tagged With: aggravated assault, Anderson County Criminal Court, Anderson County grand jury, Calvin Brandon Humphrey, Jasper Baysinger, Julia Baysinger, second-degree murder

Man sentenced to 8 years in drug death

Posted at 6:44 pm October 25, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A 36-year-old Anderson County man was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison for delivering fentanyl and heroin to a 33-year-old Campbell County man who died about three years ago. The sentence was part of a plea agreement that led to the dismissal of a second-degree murder charge filed against Timothy Wayne Altum, who has a Rocky Top address.

In a plea agreement approved Wednesday, Altum also received two 12-year sentences on drug charges. One was for possessing more than 0.5 grams of methamphetamine for sale, and the other was for having heroin for sale.

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Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Front Page News, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Criminal Court, drug death, fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, Nathan Eric Westray, reckless homicide, second-degree murder, Timothy Wayne Altum

Governor appoints new chancellor in Anderson County

Posted at 12:30 pm April 23, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has appointed Wartburg attorney Jamie Brooks as chancellor for the Seventh Judicial District in Anderson County.

The vacancy was created when former Chancellor M. Nichole “Nicki” Cantrell, the county’s first female chancellor, resigned in January.

“Jamie is a highly qualified attorney who will bring significant legal experience to the Seventh Judicial District,” Lee said in a press release last week. “I appreciate his leadership and am confident he will serve Tennesseans with integrity.”

Brooks is currently a solo practitioner at Wilson and Brooks, and he has more than 37 years of varied legal expertise, including real property law, family law, wills and estates, and criminal defense, the press release said. His law firm page said he has has also practiced divorce, personal injury, elder, appellate, and real estate law.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Front Page News, Government, State, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County, Bill Lee, chancellor, Jamie Brooks, Nichole Cantrell, Nicki Cantrell

Chancellor Cantrell resigning

Posted at 7:15 pm January 21, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

M. Nichole “Nicki” Cantrell

Anderson County Chancellor M. Nichole “Nicki” Cantrell, the county’s first female chancellor, is resigning at the end of the month.

It wasn’t immediately clear on Saturday why Cantrell is resigning. A Republican, she ran unopposed in the 2022 elections and was re-elected to a second eight-year term in the county general election in August.

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Filed Under: 2022 Election, Anderson County, Courts, Front Page News, Premium Content, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County chancellor, Anderson County Chancery Court, M. Nichole "Nicki" Cantrell, Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts, Trial Court Vacancy Commission

State asks to revoke or raise bond for robbery suspect

Posted at 8:09 pm January 20, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A prosecutor has asked an Anderson County judge to revoke or raise bond for a man charged with a robbery in Oak Ridge six years ago after he allegedly assaulted two deputies at the Anderson County jail in December.

Prosecutors have offered reasons for the delay in the robbery case, including the COVID-19 pandemic, several changes in attorneys, and a failure to appear.

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Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Premium Content Tagged With: aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, Anderson County Criminal Court, Anderson County Sheriff's Office, Ann Coria, Charles Braden, COVID-19, Dominique Leshawn Gordon, Don Elledge, Nicholas Davis, robbery, Sarah Keith, Thomas Slaughter, Timothy Perry, Tony Craighead

CTF: Drugs for sale, cash, gun found in home with young children

Posted at 4:26 pm January 16, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

More than 100 pills and about 100 grams of marijuana along with $9,000 in cash and a Glock 26 9 mm pistol were found in a home with three children younger than eight this month, law enforcement officers said.

The Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force searched the home on Utica Circle with a narcotics warrant on January 10.

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Filed Under: Anderson County, Anderson County, Courts, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Premium Content, Top Stories Tagged With: Bucky Hart, Buprenorphine, child abuse, CTF, Haley Hart, marijuana, pills, Roxicodone, Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force, Suboxone, Tim Buckner

Fentanyl, meth allegedly found during narcotics search

Posted at 3:38 pm January 16, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Fentanyl, methamphetamine, other suspected drugs, and a gun were found during a narcotics search of an Oak Ridge home this month, according to law enforcement officers.

The Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County searched the home on Jasper Lane on Monday, January 9.

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Filed Under: Anderson County, Anderson County, Courts, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Premium Content, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County General Sessions Court, Danielle Brown, fentanyl, Jegarian Cobb, meth, methamphetamine, narcotics search, Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force, Tim Buckner

Lawsuit seeks 2020 election audit, voting machine restriction

Posted at 10:38 am January 16, 2023
By John Huotari 2 Comments

The Howard H. Baker Jr. United States Courthouse is pictured above in Knoxville on Jan. 19, 2020. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

An unconventional 483-page lawsuit filed in Anderson County Circuit Court seeks an audit of the 2020 election, asks for the results to be re-counted and possibly decertified, accuses federal legislators of treason, and demands a restraining order against electronic voting machines.

Two of the three plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit are Oak Ridge residents. One of those plaintiffs has also unsuccessfully filed federal lawsuits in Washington, D.C., against the president and vice president, chief justice, a former acting attorney general, and many members of Congress, according to court records.

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Filed Under: 2020 Election, 2022 Election, Anderson County, Anderson County, Courts, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Premium Content, State, Tennessee, United States Tagged With: 2020 election, Anderson County Circuit Court, Anderson County Elections, Betty Jane Ayers, David Russell Ayers, election lawsuit, Jay Yeager, lawsuit, Mark Stephens, presidential election, Sarah Walker Bruun, Terpeshore "Tore" Maras, U.S. District Court, voting machines

Man received 3-year sentence for assault on officer

Posted at 10:41 pm January 13, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A man who had been accused of fighting with Oak Ridge police officers and significantly injuring one of them was sentenced to three years in prison when he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and reckless endangerment against one of the officers.

That officer had been taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville with a significant arm injury, and two other officers had been taken to Methodist Medical Center to have their injuries evaluated, the City of Oak Ridge said at the time. One had been hit with a taser taken by the defendant, according to affidavits filed at the time.

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Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Premium Content, Top Stories Tagged With: aggravated assault, Anderson County Criminal Court, Christina Askren, Joe Gibson, Lauren Gray, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Police Department, ORPD, plea agreement, reckless endangerment, Toravanno Ramsey Dewerff, Zach Gauthier

Lead trial court prosecutor retires

Posted at 5:48 pm January 9, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Pictured above are Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark, left, and Deputy District Attorney General Anthony Craighead. (Photo courtesy Dave Clark)

Anthony Craighead, deputy district attorney general in Anderson County, has retired.

“This week marks the well-deserved but bittersweet retirement of my friend and crime fighting partner, Deputy District Attorney General Tony Craighead,” Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said on Saturday. “Tony has been fighting for justice and victims for 30 years in Tennessee, and for the last eight years, he has been our leading trial court prosecutor here in Anderson County.

“The job of being a chief law enforcement officer for a portion of our state is a great privilege and an awesome responsibility. The pressure, emotional, physical and psychological burden of the responsibility for resolving the homicides, child abuse, home burglaries and child pornography cases collectively wear on one’s soul. Tony has carried that load for all of us for a long time.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County, Anthony Craighead, Dave Clark, deputy district attorney general, Sarah Keith, Seventh Judicial District, Tony Craighead, trial court prosecutor

After guilty plea in fatal hit-and-run, man faces separate traffic charges

Posted at 11:49 am December 31, 2022
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Dannon Cole pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident involving a death or injury in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, Dec. 12, 2022.

After pleading guilty to a fatal hit-and-run crash, a 51-year-old man is facing separate criminal charges after he was allegedly found passed out behind the wheel with an open bottle of whiskey and a bag of a white powdery substance believed to be cocaine.

This alleged case of driving under the influence (third offense) occurred in downtown Clinton on Halloween day 2021, just three weeks before the fatal hit-and-run crash in south Clinton.

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Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Front Page News, Premium Content, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Criminal Court, Anderson County General Sessions Court, Clinton Police Department, driving under the influence, DUI, Ethan Thompson, fatal hit-and-run, hit-and-run, Jordan Pitts, manufacturing selling or delivering cocaine

Evaluation ordered for teen who allegedly shot mom over cell phone

Posted at 8:31 pm December 28, 2022
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Shawn Willis

An evaluation was scheduled Wednesday for an Anderson County teenager who allegedly shot and killed his mother while she was sleeping after she punished him by taking away his cell phone, according to court records.

The evaluation for Shawn Tyler Willis, 19, of Rocky Top, had previously been ordered by Anderson County Criminal Court Judge Ryan Spitzer at the request of defense attorney Brennan Lenihan.

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Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Front Page News, Premium Content, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Criminal Court, Anderson County Juvenile Court, Anderson County Sheriff's Department, Brennan Lenihan, Don Scuglia, Emily Faye Abbott, evaluation, first-degree murder, Ryan Spitzer, Sandy K. Willis, Shawn Willis

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