Area News
Executive Director of Tennessee Soybean Festival announces retirement
Story by Shannon Taylor Senior Investigative Reporter At the City of Martin’s informal board meeting on Tuesday Feb. 7, Mayor Randy Brundige announced that David Belote is retiring as Executive Director of the Tennessee Soybean Festival. Brundige said, “It’s with a sad note that I announce this.” Belote’s time with the festival included winning numerous…
Read MoreEditorial: You should care about public notices
by Shannon Taylor Senior Investigative Reporter City and County governments are required to keep the citizens informed regarding their actions. Public notices are a way to accomplish that. Public notices inform citizens of the governments activities that may cause citizens to take action, therefore, these notices are required to be distributed in newspapers. They are…
Read MoreEditorial: The Importance of Investigative Reporting
by Shannon Taylor Senior Investigative Reporter Many people look at investigative reporting and see it as “causing chaos and controversy” within their community, but while it may initially look that way, that is not the case. Investigative reporting uncovers topics that are hidden either intentionally or unintentionally and exposing that information to the public. There…
Read More34-year-old man arrested for the rape of an 8-year-old child
Story by Shannon Taylor Senior Investigative Reporter On Jan. 9 Investigator Kerry Workman with the Weakley County Sheriff’s Department was informed of female child sexual assault allegations made against 34-year-old Andrew Daniel Webster of Palmersville. During the investigation it was disclosed by an 8-year-old female juvenile that Webster penetrated her vagina using a sex toy,…
Read MoreLawsuit Filed in Collision that Claimed Two Lives
Story by Shannon Taylor Senior Investigative Reporter On Feb. 7 a wrongful death lawsuit was filed by a Martin resident, Kristy Sawyers, as surviving spouse and next of kin for her husband, Steven Sawyers, deceased, and on behalf of beneficiaries (two children). Sawyer’s named defendants Bruce Conley, the administrator ad Litem for the estate of…
Read MoreSharon woman arrested on meth charges
On Feb. 6 at 10:24 p.m. Deputy Gary Eddings with the Weakley County Sheriff’s Department was on patrol and drove up on a vehicle in the ditch with the rear wheels off the ground. Eddings came into contact with the driver, 51-year-old Tina Forrester, and asked her what happened. Forrester stated that she went to…
Read MoreFormer WCLTRG member and survivor ‘washes his hands’ of the group
Story by Shannon Taylor Senior Investigative Reporter Former ex-officio member and survivor advocacy committee chair Mike Carroll requested a meeting with Weakley County Long Term Recovery Group to discuss reopening his case. Carroll lost his childhood home in the Dec. 2021 tornado that swept through Dresden. Carroll has been an advocate for survivor’s ever since…
Read MoreSearch for Weakley County School director approved
Story by Shannon Taylor Senior Investigative Reporter The Director search plan was approved after much discussion and the search for a director to replace the current Director of Weakley County Schools Randy Frazier, moves forward. The application for the director had some changes and some questions were removed, and those questions removed plan to be…
Read MoreVietnam veterans reconnect after 52 years
Story by Shannon Taylor Senior Investigative Reporter 52 years after meeting in Vietnam, two men who were stationed together were reconnected. Gleason resident, George Crawford and Minnesota resident Tom Roesch were stationed together in Vietnam 52 years ago. They served together in E Company, 4th Battalion, 3rd Infantry in 1970. In their squad was about…
Read MoreSharon man charged with vandalism and disorderly conduct
On Feb. 2 Weakley County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to Martin Avenue in Sharon regarding a house window that was busted out. The homeowners stated that 19-year-old Nathan King punched out the bedroom window. The bedroom window was found to be broken from inside the house, with broken glass found on the grass outside. King…
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