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Area News

Domestic Violence May Be more than you expect

Domestic Violence May Be more than you expect The Scott County Family Justice Center (and others) are there to help By Shane Gilreath [email protected] When we hear the words ‘domestic violence,’ it often conjures an image of aggressive temperaments and physicality, but domestic violence – often identified as “intimate partner violence” – is as broad…

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Highland Announces Dial Changes

Highland Announces Dial Changes By Shane Gilreath [email protected] Changes are coming for Highland Connection customers.  Starting on Tuesday, August 5th, Highland telephone customers will be mandated to dial a 10-digit in all local calls in all Tennessee exchanges.  To complete a call, those calls must include an area code before the phone number.  As an…

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Scott-McCreary Coalition Faces Public

 Scott-McCreary Coalition Faces Public Cumberland Clear Questions Scott County Solid Waste Board Response By Shane Gilreath [email protected]  In what amounted to a relatively quick public meeting, the Scott-McCreary Environmental Coalition (SMEC), which has been looking into environmental and legal challenges to the controversial proposed landfill, met on Thursday at Oneida City Hall.  The meeting, chaired…

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Scott County Raises Awareness of Human Trafficking

Scott County Raises Awareness of Human Trafficking By Shane Gilreath [email protected] With Senator Ken Yager saying that human trafficking was happening in Scott County at last month’s Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Scott County marked the Red Sand Project on Wednesday, an annual event that draws attention to the global human trafficking epidemic. The Red Sand Project uses sidewalk…

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Assistant District Attorneys And Local Law Enforcement Attend Specialized BUI Training

Assistant District Attorneys And Local Law  Enforcement Attend Specialized BUI Training Assistant District Attorneys General Ron Laffitte, Blake Mullins, and Graham Wilson participated in the “Navigating the Waters of a BUI Prosecution” training on July 16, 2025 in Lexington, KY. The course was a collaborative effort between the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators…

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Bullying Legislation gets attention

Bullying Legislation gets attention New law takes away driving privileges from minors guilty of bullying By Shane Gilreath [email protected] A Tennessee law that passed last year is getting a lot of national attention as students across the country prepare to return to the classroom.  House Bill 1025, which addresses bullying among teenagers, went into effect…

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Landfill Demonstrators take to street

Landfill Demonstrators take to street Controversy still swirls at Local Meetings By Shane Gilreath [email protected] A group of demonstrators from Scott and McCreary Counties held signs outside the Scott County Chamber of Commerce meeting on Thursday, making their feelings on the proposed Winfield landfill known, as Sen. Ken Yager entered the Senior Citizen Center on…

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County, Keeton support Corrections Officer Incentive

County, Keeton support Corrections Officer Incentive By Shane Gilreath [email protected] When the Scott County Commission met on Monday, a resolution for an in-service incentive for Scott County Corrections Officers was before the commissioners.  The plan presented was to reward officers for competing in service training.  The proposal suggested a $400 bonus for each corrections officer…

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Second Citizen Organization forms

Second Citizen Organization forms By Shane Gilreath [email protected] With Cumberland Clear officially formed and hosting public meetings – they’ll form committees in a meeting on July 28th –  a second organization has sprung to life to oppose the second proposed landfill.  That group – a grassroots project called the Transparent Bridge Initiative  – is composed…

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Rails to Trails Gets on Track

Rails to Trails Gets on Track By Shane Gilreath [email protected] Supporters for the Rails-to-Trails initiative have gotten back on track by advocating the project to a Knoxville-based adventure company.  “Smoky Mountain Wheelmen” hosted the trail’s proponents last Monday, as plans for the controversial 41-mile proposal looks to gain momentum, both locally and across the region.…

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