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A monument to Confederate soldiers stands atop a pillar in Cumberland Square Park in Bristol, Va. City Manager Randy Eads says no one has complained about the monument, but with violence in other parts of the country surrounding Confederate monuments, he plans to ask the city council for advice on how to address it.
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Confederate monuments

Local leaders seeking guidance for Confederate monuments, while state lawmakers, governor hopefuls oppose their removal

Local and state leaders are wrestling with their responses to the deadly events in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend, where white supremacists violently clashed with counter protesters over the city’s plans to remove a statue of Confederate commander Robert E. Lee.

Updated Today at 6:59 AM
Police Chief Mark Sirois said he wants to discontinue escorting funeral processions in Johnson City. Like many, he believes they have been causing traffic hazards throughout the growing town.
zvance
City of Johnson City

Johnson City Commission approves discontinuing funeral escorts

The times are changing, and so do some long-standing traditions, including the Johnson City Police Department’s participation in funeral processions.

Yesterday at 10:39 PM
A monument to Confederate soldiers stands atop a pillar in Cumberland Square Park in Bristol, Va. City Manager Randy Eads says no one has complained about the monument, but with violence in other parts of the country surrounding Confederate monuments, he plans to ask the city council for advice on how to address it.
nbaker
Confederate monuments

Should Confederate monuments stay?

As municipalities across the country consider plans of action for Confederate monuments, those advocating removing them say they glorify traitors who fought for a white supremacist cause, while those fighting to keep them say they mark an important era in the nation’s development.

Updated Yesterday at 10:37 PM
Dozens gathered at Greater Love Church Thursday night for a night of prayer and peace that Pastor Mike Cummings said was organized with the goal of fostering solidarity rather than anger in the wake of the tragedy of Charlottesville.
bpaykamian
Charlottesville

Greater Love Church holds peace gathering in the wake of Charlottesville tragedy

After Saturday’s violent clashes between white nationalists and counter-protestors in Charlottesville left 32-year-old anti-racist activist Heather Heyer dead, there is a strong sense of polarization throughout the country. Because of this strong sense of divide, local Pastor Mike Cummings held a night of prayer at Greater Love Church Thursday evening.

Updated Yesterday at 10:23 PM
Oaks
JCP
Carter County Criminal Court

Oaks found guilty of vehicular homicide

ELIZABETHTON — After a two-day trial, a Carter County jury found Jerry Ray Thomas Oaks guilty of vehicular homicide (intoxication) after two hours of deliberation on Wednesday.

Yesterday at 9:34 PM
Jon Whitson ran to the burning house and got resident Richard Slagle safely out.
jthompson
Elizabethton Fire Department

Resident rescued from house fire calls barbers his heroes

ELIZABETHTON — Barber shops are not normally the scene of heroic actions and life-saving drama, but as Richard Slagle sat in the empty Whitson Barber Shop on Thursday afternoon he praised barbers Jon Whitson and Arnold Lane.

Updated Yesterday at 8:51 PM
AssociatedPress
Charlottesville

Some Confederate leaders' descendants want monuments pulled down

A descendant of Jefferson Davis, the only president of the Confederate States of America, said he supports moving the statues to appropriate settings, such as museums.

Updated Yesterday at 8:38 PM
Injured people are treated in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017 after a white van jumped the sidewalk in the historic Las Ramblas district, crashing into a summer crowd of residents and tourists and injuring several people, police said. (AP Photo/Oriol Duran)
AssociatedPress
Terrorism

Terror in Spain: Attacker rams van into Barcelona crowd, 13 dead and 100 hurt

Victims were left sprawled in the street, spattered with blood or writhing in pain from broken limbs. Others fled in panic through Las Ramblas, screaming or carrying young children in their arms.

Updated Yesterday at 8:37 PM
A Confederate battle flag hangs from a pickup truck in the parking lot of David Crockett High School. One parent is concerned allowing the flags sends the wrong message to student after new violence from hate groups who have adopted the flag for their cause. School officials say they must carefully balance students' freedom of speech and have not received any complaints.
nbaker
education

Washington County parent complains Confederate flags on student vehicles teaches wrong lessons

The parent of a Washington County student says allowing students at David Crockett High School to fly Confederate battle flags from their vehicles sends the wrong message to the county’s children.

Yesterday at 6:05 PM
Elizabethton firefighters douse a house fire Thursday afternoon in a brick home on West Elk Avenue. According to dispatchers, everyone in the home escaped unharmed.
JCP
fire

Big house fire shuts down West Elk in Elizabethton

Firefighters have been battling the fire near Sycamore Shoals State Park at West Elk and Parkway Boulevard since about 4:15 p.m.

Updated Yesterday at 5:51 PM
Lamont D. Fortune
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Crack cocaine

Johnson City man sentenced to 22 years in prison for crack conspiracy

Lamont Darnell Fortune, was sentenced to serve 272 months (22 years, eight months).

Updated Yesterday at 5:29 PM
Ricina Patrick, wearing an orange jail jump suit, listens with her attorney, Mitch Manuel, as Assistant District Attorney General Todd Hull asks questions of Erwin Police Chief Regan Tilson. Patrick is charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Ricky Price.
bcampbell
murder

Erwin woman headed to criminal court in stabbing murder after preliminary hearing

A Unicoi County woman charged in the stabbing death of a man she lived with was found competent to stand trial and assist her attorney with her defense, and the case was bound over to a grand jury following a preliminary hearing Thursday.

Updated Yesterday at 4:59 PM
In this Aug. 15, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump points to members of the media as he answers questions in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York. Republican leaders on Wednesday tiptoed around Trump's extraordinary comments on white supremacists. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
AssociatedPress
Donald Trump

Trump decries monument removals, 'history ripped apart'

He also tore into fellow Republicans who have criticized his statements on race and politics, fanning the controversy toward a full-fledged national conflagration.

Yesterday at 11:03 AM
University of Virginia students, faculty and residents attend a candle light march across grounds in Charlottesville, Va., Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Hundreds gathered on the campus for a candlelight vigil against hate and violence days after Charlottesville erupted in chaos during a white nationalist rally. (Andrew Shurtleff/The Daily Progress via AP)
AssociatedPress
Charlottesville

Murdered Charlottesville woman's family: Fight injustice like she did

Family members of the young woman mowed down while protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville used her funeral as a rallying cry, telling mourners the best way to honor Heather Heyer is to continue her fight against injustice.

Yesterday at 11:02 AM
Dr. Keith Johnson, chair of the ETSU Department of Engineering, Engineering Technology and Surveying, said the new renovations and additions to the department and its building will allow the university to produce more graduates in the field of engineering.
bpaykamian
engineering

ETSU Department of Engineering looks to expand

ETSU’s new general engineering program will soon receive new classroom technology and facility renovations with the help of donations provided by the Eastman Credit Union, who gave $250,000 for the classrooms in Wilson-Wallis Hall. The program, which will offer a joint bachelor degree with Tennessee Technical University, will not only bolster the engineering department at ETSU, it will also have economic benefits, according to Keith Johnson, chair of the department.

Yesterday at 11:14 AM