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Fun family ideas for a new Christmas tradition

Merry Christmas, Macon County!

Chances are you’re already hanging stockings or going caroling this year, but you can add some of these and modify as they fit for your family.

1. Feed the wildlife. During the cold days of winter, birds and small animals that don’t hibernate may find it difficult to forage for food. By trimming an outdoor pine tree in edible snacks you’ll have a beautiful tree and one that benefits the wildlife as well. String peanuts and other nuts for the squirrels. Make little ornaments out of suet and string for the birds. Berries and corn can be enjoyed by all. Be sure to choose a tree that is far enough away from the home, so you don’t have too many scavengers hunting and pecking around the house.

2. Create a photo Advent calendar. Make your own Advent calendar that has small doors that open up to photos of different family members. Or use a collection of children’s pictures that showcase how they’ve changed as they’ve grown older.

3. “Adopt” a child for holiday gifts. Each year you can bring a smile to a child in need by purchasing a present for an underprivileged kid. Some post offices sponsor “Letters from Santa” events where participants can respond to one of the thousands of letters mailed to The North Pole. Or work with a local charity that organizes events to bring gifts to children in hospitals or in foster care.

4. Holiday story countdown. Every night in December watch a movie or read a story that tells an uplifting holiday tale. Use this as a method of counting down until Christmas. On the night prior, reading “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” should suffice.

5. Remember someone who has passed on.The holiday season is one made beautiful by lit candles and twinkling lights. Remember a loved one or a friend who has passed away by lighting a remembrance candle in his or her honor. It’s a way this person can still be part of the festivities.

6. Have a holiday sing-a-long. Sure it may be tradition to go around the neighborhood singing carols, but it’s just as fun indoors. Have a singing party where guests are given lyrics to popular tunes they can sing around the piano or karaoke machine.

7. Bring some joy to a public servant. Police officers, firefighters, military personnel … many of these workers do not get off for the holidays. There are a certain number of public servants who must remain on call in the event of an emergency. Treat these people to something enjoyable when they may be missing their own festivities. Cook or cater a meal for a fire house, deliver cookies to the police station or put together care packages for people living on a military base.

8. Banish the holiday blues. When the holidays are set to go for another year, many people find they become a little down. After all, a home that was once filled with merry trinkets may now go back to the bare essentials. Create a tradition where everyone in the family receives one more gift — a personalized ornament that can be packed away for use next year — that’s given in January before the decorations are packed away. It’s another opportunity to open a present, and it symbolizes looking forward to the joy of next year.

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Lafayette sex offender arrested for violation of terms
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 19, 2013 | 162 views | 0 0 comments | 17 17 recommendations | email to a friend | print
D. Coram
D. Coram
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A Lafayette resident was arrested by TBI on June 11 and charged with violating the terms of his status as a registered sex offender.

Coram, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in Wisconsin, was charged with one count of violation of residential restrictions, three counts of violation: offender registration-reg. forms, and one count failure to report-sex offender.

The affidavit states that on June 11, 2013, it was noticed by electronic monitoring that Coram had spent several hours per day at 101 Walton Avenue in Lafayette, for five days in a row. Coram’s registered place of residence is 605 John Street in Lafayette.

Sex offenders are required by law to give notice when they change residences. According to the Tennessee Sex Offender registry, a secondary residence is a place where an offender regularly abides for at least four days in a row.

It was then discovered that Coram had purchased this new residence at Walton Avenue, and he was seen working in the yard there by several law enforcement officers.

During a search, it was found that Coram had created two email addresses, anthony64tn@gmail.com and silvertoungedevil21@gmail.com, which had not been placed on the TN Sex Offender Registry as required by law.

Coram was held without bond for a June 12 General Sessions court appearance.

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download June 18, 2013
Hwy 10 project fully funded
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 18, 2013 | 1765 views | 0 0 comments | 19 19 recommendations | email to a friend | print

The Macon County Mayor’s Office received a letter on Friday stating that the Highway 10 construction project has received full funding and is formally scheduled for bid opening in spring of 2014.

The letter, sent from TN Commissioner of Transportation John Schroer to all local representatives at the state and county level, states that funding for the project has been officially allocated from a state safety program.

The letter cites a public meeting held on May 23 at the Macon County Chamber of Commerce, during which TDOT’s Paul Degges gave an update on where the project stood.

“I understand that Mr. Degges… discussed that the right-of-way acquisition is underway,” writes Schroer, “and that from a schedule perspective, the project will be ready for a bid opening in the spring of 2014, should the funding be available.

“The department has been monitoring crash reports occurring on SR-10 in this vicinity and working with the local Division Office of the Federal Highway Administration, and I am pleased to report that we have been able to identify funding under one of our safety programs to deliver the project.

“I can certainly appreciate your position and share your goals in wanting to provide the safest roads possible for all Tennesseans. I have directed my staff to accelerate the schedule from the fall of 2014 and ready this project for construction in a spring 2014 bid opening.”

County Mayor Shelvy Linville had written TDOT urgently in May complaining that the Hwy 10 project had been put on a backburner, because it did not appear on a three-year budget plan released by TDOT in April.

More recently, Linville said he cut out a front page article from the Macon County Times (June 13 edition) about an accident involving a mother and three minors on Hwy 10, and sent it to TDOT.

“I highlighted ‘mom’, ‘3 children’, and ‘Hwy 10’, and I wrote underneath, ‘This time we were lucky’ and I sent it to them,” said Linville.

Ironically enough, Degges reports that this recent accident contributed to the final numbers necessary to qualify a project for the safety funds that Hwy 10 just received.

“I hate to say it that way… but it’s true,” said Degges. “That this project just barely qualified for safety funds, by the numbers. I know it can seem like this road is the most dangerous stretch in TN, but it simply is not.”

Linville, who admitted after the public meeting that he may have misunderstood the meaning of the three-year plan, stated that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the project moving forward on the schedule that Degges had outlined. Now, he says, “this is good news. That 4th paragraph [in Schroer’s letter] is a sure commitment… I feel good about it now.”

Linville said that he believes the saying ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ and added, “I regret not being squeakier earlier.”

Linville also prepared a written statement, thanking the Commissioner and Governor for their commitment to the project: “I believe the commissioner realizes the danger that the highway 10 hill poses, and has found a way to help us sooner rather than later… I certainly look forward to seeing orange barrels and bulldozers on that hill.”

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Lafayette sex offender arrested for violation of terms
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 19, 2013 | 162 views | 0 0 comments | 17 17 recommendations | email to a friend | print
D. Coram
D. Coram
slideshow

A Lafayette resident was arrested by TBI on June 11 and charged with violating the terms of his status as a registered sex offender.

Coram, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in Wisconsin, was charged with one count of violation of residential restrictions, three counts of violation: offender registration-reg. forms, and one count failure to report-sex offender.

The affidavit states that on June 11, 2013, it was noticed by electronic monitoring that Coram had spent several hours per day at 101 Walton Avenue in Lafayette, for five days in a row. Coram’s registered place of residence is 605 John Street in Lafayette.

Sex offenders are required by law to give notice when they change residences. According to the Tennessee Sex Offender registry, a secondary residence is a place where an offender regularly abides for at least four days in a row.

It was then discovered that Coram had purchased this new residence at Walton Avenue, and he was seen working in the yard there by several law enforcement officers.

During a search, it was found that Coram had created two email addresses, anthony64tn@gmail.com and silvertoungedevil21@gmail.com, which had not been placed on the TN Sex Offender Registry as required by law.

Coram was held without bond for a June 12 General Sessions court appearance.

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download June 18, 2013
Hwy 10 project fully funded
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 18, 2013 | 1765 views | 0 0 comments | 19 19 recommendations | email to a friend | print

The Macon County Mayor’s Office received a letter on Friday stating that the Highway 10 construction project has received full funding and is formally scheduled for bid opening in spring of 2014.

The letter, sent from TN Commissioner of Transportation John Schroer to all local representatives at the state and county level, states that funding for the project has been officially allocated from a state safety program.

The letter cites a public meeting held on May 23 at the Macon County Chamber of Commerce, during which TDOT’s Paul Degges gave an update on where the project stood.

“I understand that Mr. Degges… discussed that the right-of-way acquisition is underway,” writes Schroer, “and that from a schedule perspective, the project will be ready for a bid opening in the spring of 2014, should the funding be available.

“The department has been monitoring crash reports occurring on SR-10 in this vicinity and working with the local Division Office of the Federal Highway Administration, and I am pleased to report that we have been able to identify funding under one of our safety programs to deliver the project.

“I can certainly appreciate your position and share your goals in wanting to provide the safest roads possible for all Tennesseans. I have directed my staff to accelerate the schedule from the fall of 2014 and ready this project for construction in a spring 2014 bid opening.”

County Mayor Shelvy Linville had written TDOT urgently in May complaining that the Hwy 10 project had been put on a backburner, because it did not appear on a three-year budget plan released by TDOT in April.

More recently, Linville said he cut out a front page article from the Macon County Times (June 13 edition) about an accident involving a mother and three minors on Hwy 10, and sent it to TDOT.

“I highlighted ‘mom’, ‘3 children’, and ‘Hwy 10’, and I wrote underneath, ‘This time we were lucky’ and I sent it to them,” said Linville.

Ironically enough, Degges reports that this recent accident contributed to the final numbers necessary to qualify a project for the safety funds that Hwy 10 just received.

“I hate to say it that way… but it’s true,” said Degges. “That this project just barely qualified for safety funds, by the numbers. I know it can seem like this road is the most dangerous stretch in TN, but it simply is not.”

Linville, who admitted after the public meeting that he may have misunderstood the meaning of the three-year plan, stated that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the project moving forward on the schedule that Degges had outlined. Now, he says, “this is good news. That 4th paragraph [in Schroer’s letter] is a sure commitment… I feel good about it now.”

Linville said that he believes the saying ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ and added, “I regret not being squeakier earlier.”

Linville also prepared a written statement, thanking the Commissioner and Governor for their commitment to the project: “I believe the commissioner realizes the danger that the highway 10 hill poses, and has found a way to help us sooner rather than later… I certainly look forward to seeing orange barrels and bulldozers on that hill.”

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by Tilly Dillehay
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Jun 19, 2013 | 162 views | 0 0 comments | 17 17 recommendations | email to a friend | print
D. Coram
D. Coram
slideshow

A Lafayette resident was arrested by TBI on June 11 and charged with violating the terms of his status as a registered sex offender.

Coram, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in Wisconsin, was charged with one count of violation of residential restrictions, three counts of violation: offender registration-reg. forms, and one count failure to report-sex offender.

The affidavit states that on June 11, 2013, it was noticed by electronic monitoring that Coram had spent several hours per day at 101 Walton Avenue in Lafayette, for five days in a row. Coram’s registered place of residence is 605 John Street in Lafayette.

Sex offenders are required by law to give notice when they change residences. According to the Tennessee Sex Offender registry, a secondary residence is a place where an offender regularly abides for at least four days in a row.

It was then discovered that Coram had purchased this new residence at Walton Avenue, and he was seen working in the yard there by several law enforcement officers.

During a search, it was found that Coram had created two email addresses, anthony64tn@gmail.com and silvertoungedevil21@gmail.com, which had not been placed on the TN Sex Offender Registry as required by law.

Coram was held without bond for a June 12 General Sessions court appearance.

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download June 18, 2013
Hwy 10 project fully funded
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 18, 2013 | 1765 views | 0 0 comments | 19 19 recommendations | email to a friend | print

The Macon County Mayor’s Office received a letter on Friday stating that the Highway 10 construction project has received full funding and is formally scheduled for bid opening in spring of 2014.

The letter, sent from TN Commissioner of Transportation John Schroer to all local representatives at the state and county level, states that funding for the project has been officially allocated from a state safety program.

The letter cites a public meeting held on May 23 at the Macon County Chamber of Commerce, during which TDOT’s Paul Degges gave an update on where the project stood.

“I understand that Mr. Degges… discussed that the right-of-way acquisition is underway,” writes Schroer, “and that from a schedule perspective, the project will be ready for a bid opening in the spring of 2014, should the funding be available.

“The department has been monitoring crash reports occurring on SR-10 in this vicinity and working with the local Division Office of the Federal Highway Administration, and I am pleased to report that we have been able to identify funding under one of our safety programs to deliver the project.

“I can certainly appreciate your position and share your goals in wanting to provide the safest roads possible for all Tennesseans. I have directed my staff to accelerate the schedule from the fall of 2014 and ready this project for construction in a spring 2014 bid opening.”

County Mayor Shelvy Linville had written TDOT urgently in May complaining that the Hwy 10 project had been put on a backburner, because it did not appear on a three-year budget plan released by TDOT in April.

More recently, Linville said he cut out a front page article from the Macon County Times (June 13 edition) about an accident involving a mother and three minors on Hwy 10, and sent it to TDOT.

“I highlighted ‘mom’, ‘3 children’, and ‘Hwy 10’, and I wrote underneath, ‘This time we were lucky’ and I sent it to them,” said Linville.

Ironically enough, Degges reports that this recent accident contributed to the final numbers necessary to qualify a project for the safety funds that Hwy 10 just received.

“I hate to say it that way… but it’s true,” said Degges. “That this project just barely qualified for safety funds, by the numbers. I know it can seem like this road is the most dangerous stretch in TN, but it simply is not.”

Linville, who admitted after the public meeting that he may have misunderstood the meaning of the three-year plan, stated that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the project moving forward on the schedule that Degges had outlined. Now, he says, “this is good news. That 4th paragraph [in Schroer’s letter] is a sure commitment… I feel good about it now.”

Linville said that he believes the saying ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ and added, “I regret not being squeakier earlier.”

Linville also prepared a written statement, thanking the Commissioner and Governor for their commitment to the project: “I believe the commissioner realizes the danger that the highway 10 hill poses, and has found a way to help us sooner rather than later… I certainly look forward to seeing orange barrels and bulldozers on that hill.”

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by Tilly Dillehay
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Jun 19, 2013 | 162 views | 0 0 comments | 17 17 recommendations | email to a friend | print
D. Coram
D. Coram
slideshow

A Lafayette resident was arrested by TBI on June 11 and charged with violating the terms of his status as a registered sex offender.

Coram, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in Wisconsin, was charged with one count of violation of residential restrictions, three counts of violation: offender registration-reg. forms, and one count failure to report-sex offender.

The affidavit states that on June 11, 2013, it was noticed by electronic monitoring that Coram had spent several hours per day at 101 Walton Avenue in Lafayette, for five days in a row. Coram’s registered place of residence is 605 John Street in Lafayette.

Sex offenders are required by law to give notice when they change residences. According to the Tennessee Sex Offender registry, a secondary residence is a place where an offender regularly abides for at least four days in a row.

It was then discovered that Coram had purchased this new residence at Walton Avenue, and he was seen working in the yard there by several law enforcement officers.

During a search, it was found that Coram had created two email addresses, anthony64tn@gmail.com and silvertoungedevil21@gmail.com, which had not been placed on the TN Sex Offender Registry as required by law.

Coram was held without bond for a June 12 General Sessions court appearance.

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download June 18, 2013
Hwy 10 project fully funded
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 18, 2013 | 1765 views | 0 0 comments | 19 19 recommendations | email to a friend | print

The Macon County Mayor’s Office received a letter on Friday stating that the Highway 10 construction project has received full funding and is formally scheduled for bid opening in spring of 2014.

The letter, sent from TN Commissioner of Transportation John Schroer to all local representatives at the state and county level, states that funding for the project has been officially allocated from a state safety program.

The letter cites a public meeting held on May 23 at the Macon County Chamber of Commerce, during which TDOT’s Paul Degges gave an update on where the project stood.

“I understand that Mr. Degges… discussed that the right-of-way acquisition is underway,” writes Schroer, “and that from a schedule perspective, the project will be ready for a bid opening in the spring of 2014, should the funding be available.

“The department has been monitoring crash reports occurring on SR-10 in this vicinity and working with the local Division Office of the Federal Highway Administration, and I am pleased to report that we have been able to identify funding under one of our safety programs to deliver the project.

“I can certainly appreciate your position and share your goals in wanting to provide the safest roads possible for all Tennesseans. I have directed my staff to accelerate the schedule from the fall of 2014 and ready this project for construction in a spring 2014 bid opening.”

County Mayor Shelvy Linville had written TDOT urgently in May complaining that the Hwy 10 project had been put on a backburner, because it did not appear on a three-year budget plan released by TDOT in April.

More recently, Linville said he cut out a front page article from the Macon County Times (June 13 edition) about an accident involving a mother and three minors on Hwy 10, and sent it to TDOT.

“I highlighted ‘mom’, ‘3 children’, and ‘Hwy 10’, and I wrote underneath, ‘This time we were lucky’ and I sent it to them,” said Linville.

Ironically enough, Degges reports that this recent accident contributed to the final numbers necessary to qualify a project for the safety funds that Hwy 10 just received.

“I hate to say it that way… but it’s true,” said Degges. “That this project just barely qualified for safety funds, by the numbers. I know it can seem like this road is the most dangerous stretch in TN, but it simply is not.”

Linville, who admitted after the public meeting that he may have misunderstood the meaning of the three-year plan, stated that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the project moving forward on the schedule that Degges had outlined. Now, he says, “this is good news. That 4th paragraph [in Schroer’s letter] is a sure commitment… I feel good about it now.”

Linville said that he believes the saying ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ and added, “I regret not being squeakier earlier.”

Linville also prepared a written statement, thanking the Commissioner and Governor for their commitment to the project: “I believe the commissioner realizes the danger that the highway 10 hill poses, and has found a way to help us sooner rather than later… I certainly look forward to seeing orange barrels and bulldozers on that hill.”

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Lafayette sex offender arrested for violation of terms
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 19, 2013 | 162 views | 0 0 comments | 17 17 recommendations | email to a friend | print
D. Coram
D. Coram
slideshow

A Lafayette resident was arrested by TBI on June 11 and charged with violating the terms of his status as a registered sex offender.

Coram, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in Wisconsin, was charged with one count of violation of residential restrictions, three counts of violation: offender registration-reg. forms, and one count failure to report-sex offender.

The affidavit states that on June 11, 2013, it was noticed by electronic monitoring that Coram had spent several hours per day at 101 Walton Avenue in Lafayette, for five days in a row. Coram’s registered place of residence is 605 John Street in Lafayette.

Sex offenders are required by law to give notice when they change residences. According to the Tennessee Sex Offender registry, a secondary residence is a place where an offender regularly abides for at least four days in a row.

It was then discovered that Coram had purchased this new residence at Walton Avenue, and he was seen working in the yard there by several law enforcement officers.

During a search, it was found that Coram had created two email addresses, anthony64tn@gmail.com and silvertoungedevil21@gmail.com, which had not been placed on the TN Sex Offender Registry as required by law.

Coram was held without bond for a June 12 General Sessions court appearance.

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download June 18, 2013
Hwy 10 project fully funded
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 18, 2013 | 1765 views | 0 0 comments | 19 19 recommendations | email to a friend | print

The Macon County Mayor’s Office received a letter on Friday stating that the Highway 10 construction project has received full funding and is formally scheduled for bid opening in spring of 2014.

The letter, sent from TN Commissioner of Transportation John Schroer to all local representatives at the state and county level, states that funding for the project has been officially allocated from a state safety program.

The letter cites a public meeting held on May 23 at the Macon County Chamber of Commerce, during which TDOT’s Paul Degges gave an update on where the project stood.

“I understand that Mr. Degges… discussed that the right-of-way acquisition is underway,” writes Schroer, “and that from a schedule perspective, the project will be ready for a bid opening in the spring of 2014, should the funding be available.

“The department has been monitoring crash reports occurring on SR-10 in this vicinity and working with the local Division Office of the Federal Highway Administration, and I am pleased to report that we have been able to identify funding under one of our safety programs to deliver the project.

“I can certainly appreciate your position and share your goals in wanting to provide the safest roads possible for all Tennesseans. I have directed my staff to accelerate the schedule from the fall of 2014 and ready this project for construction in a spring 2014 bid opening.”

County Mayor Shelvy Linville had written TDOT urgently in May complaining that the Hwy 10 project had been put on a backburner, because it did not appear on a three-year budget plan released by TDOT in April.

More recently, Linville said he cut out a front page article from the Macon County Times (June 13 edition) about an accident involving a mother and three minors on Hwy 10, and sent it to TDOT.

“I highlighted ‘mom’, ‘3 children’, and ‘Hwy 10’, and I wrote underneath, ‘This time we were lucky’ and I sent it to them,” said Linville.

Ironically enough, Degges reports that this recent accident contributed to the final numbers necessary to qualify a project for the safety funds that Hwy 10 just received.

“I hate to say it that way… but it’s true,” said Degges. “That this project just barely qualified for safety funds, by the numbers. I know it can seem like this road is the most dangerous stretch in TN, but it simply is not.”

Linville, who admitted after the public meeting that he may have misunderstood the meaning of the three-year plan, stated that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the project moving forward on the schedule that Degges had outlined. Now, he says, “this is good news. That 4th paragraph [in Schroer’s letter] is a sure commitment… I feel good about it now.”

Linville said that he believes the saying ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ and added, “I regret not being squeakier earlier.”

Linville also prepared a written statement, thanking the Commissioner and Governor for their commitment to the project: “I believe the commissioner realizes the danger that the highway 10 hill poses, and has found a way to help us sooner rather than later… I certainly look forward to seeing orange barrels and bulldozers on that hill.”

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Lafayette sex offender arrested for violation of terms
by Tilly Dillehay
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Jun 19, 2013 | 162 views | 0 0 comments | 17 17 recommendations | email to a friend | print
D. Coram
D. Coram
slideshow

A Lafayette resident was arrested by TBI on June 11 and charged with violating the terms of his status as a registered sex offender.

Coram, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in Wisconsin, was charged with one count of violation of residential restrictions, three counts of violation: offender registration-reg. forms, and one count failure to report-sex offender.

The affidavit states that on June 11, 2013, it was noticed by electronic monitoring that Coram had spent several hours per day at 101 Walton Avenue in Lafayette, for five days in a row. Coram’s registered place of residence is 605 John Street in Lafayette.

Sex offenders are required by law to give notice when they change residences. According to the Tennessee Sex Offender registry, a secondary residence is a place where an offender regularly abides for at least four days in a row.

It was then discovered that Coram had purchased this new residence at Walton Avenue, and he was seen working in the yard there by several law enforcement officers.

During a search, it was found that Coram had created two email addresses, anthony64tn@gmail.com and silvertoungedevil21@gmail.com, which had not been placed on the TN Sex Offender Registry as required by law.

Coram was held without bond for a June 12 General Sessions court appearance.

Comments
(0)
Comments-icon Post a Comment
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download June 18, 2013
Hwy 10 project fully funded
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 18, 2013 | 1765 views | 0 0 comments | 19 19 recommendations | email to a friend | print

The Macon County Mayor’s Office received a letter on Friday stating that the Highway 10 construction project has received full funding and is formally scheduled for bid opening in spring of 2014.

The letter, sent from TN Commissioner of Transportation John Schroer to all local representatives at the state and county level, states that funding for the project has been officially allocated from a state safety program.

The letter cites a public meeting held on May 23 at the Macon County Chamber of Commerce, during which TDOT’s Paul Degges gave an update on where the project stood.

“I understand that Mr. Degges… discussed that the right-of-way acquisition is underway,” writes Schroer, “and that from a schedule perspective, the project will be ready for a bid opening in the spring of 2014, should the funding be available.

“The department has been monitoring crash reports occurring on SR-10 in this vicinity and working with the local Division Office of the Federal Highway Administration, and I am pleased to report that we have been able to identify funding under one of our safety programs to deliver the project.

“I can certainly appreciate your position and share your goals in wanting to provide the safest roads possible for all Tennesseans. I have directed my staff to accelerate the schedule from the fall of 2014 and ready this project for construction in a spring 2014 bid opening.”

County Mayor Shelvy Linville had written TDOT urgently in May complaining that the Hwy 10 project had been put on a backburner, because it did not appear on a three-year budget plan released by TDOT in April.

More recently, Linville said he cut out a front page article from the Macon County Times (June 13 edition) about an accident involving a mother and three minors on Hwy 10, and sent it to TDOT.

“I highlighted ‘mom’, ‘3 children’, and ‘Hwy 10’, and I wrote underneath, ‘This time we were lucky’ and I sent it to them,” said Linville.

Ironically enough, Degges reports that this recent accident contributed to the final numbers necessary to qualify a project for the safety funds that Hwy 10 just received.

“I hate to say it that way… but it’s true,” said Degges. “That this project just barely qualified for safety funds, by the numbers. I know it can seem like this road is the most dangerous stretch in TN, but it simply is not.”

Linville, who admitted after the public meeting that he may have misunderstood the meaning of the three-year plan, stated that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the project moving forward on the schedule that Degges had outlined. Now, he says, “this is good news. That 4th paragraph [in Schroer’s letter] is a sure commitment… I feel good about it now.”

Linville said that he believes the saying ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ and added, “I regret not being squeakier earlier.”

Linville also prepared a written statement, thanking the Commissioner and Governor for their commitment to the project: “I believe the commissioner realizes the danger that the highway 10 hill poses, and has found a way to help us sooner rather than later… I certainly look forward to seeing orange barrels and bulldozers on that hill.”

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Willie Don Barrett
Willie Don Barrett
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D. Coram
D. Coram
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Lafayette sex offender arrested for violation of terms
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 19, 2013 | 162 views | 0 0 comments | 17 17 recommendations | email to a friend | print
D. Coram
D. Coram
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A Lafayette resident was arrested by TBI on June 11 and charged with violating the terms of his status as a registered sex offender.

Coram, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in Wisconsin, was charged with one count of violation of residential restrictions, three counts of violation: offender registration-reg. forms, and one count failure to report-sex offender.

The affidavit states that on June 11, 2013, it was noticed by electronic monitoring that Coram had spent several hours per day at 101 Walton Avenue in Lafayette, for five days in a row. Coram’s registered place of residence is 605 John Street in Lafayette.

Sex offenders are required by law to give notice when they change residences. According to the Tennessee Sex Offender registry, a secondary residence is a place where an offender regularly abides for at least four days in a row.

It was then discovered that Coram had purchased this new residence at Walton Avenue, and he was seen working in the yard there by several law enforcement officers.

During a search, it was found that Coram had created two email addresses, anthony64tn@gmail.com and silvertoungedevil21@gmail.com, which had not been placed on the TN Sex Offender Registry as required by law.

Coram was held without bond for a June 12 General Sessions court appearance.

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download June 18, 2013
Hwy 10 project fully funded
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 18, 2013 | 1765 views | 0 0 comments | 19 19 recommendations | email to a friend | print

The Macon County Mayor’s Office received a letter on Friday stating that the Highway 10 construction project has received full funding and is formally scheduled for bid opening in spring of 2014.

The letter, sent from TN Commissioner of Transportation John Schroer to all local representatives at the state and county level, states that funding for the project has been officially allocated from a state safety program.

The letter cites a public meeting held on May 23 at the Macon County Chamber of Commerce, during which TDOT’s Paul Degges gave an update on where the project stood.

“I understand that Mr. Degges… discussed that the right-of-way acquisition is underway,” writes Schroer, “and that from a schedule perspective, the project will be ready for a bid opening in the spring of 2014, should the funding be available.

“The department has been monitoring crash reports occurring on SR-10 in this vicinity and working with the local Division Office of the Federal Highway Administration, and I am pleased to report that we have been able to identify funding under one of our safety programs to deliver the project.

“I can certainly appreciate your position and share your goals in wanting to provide the safest roads possible for all Tennesseans. I have directed my staff to accelerate the schedule from the fall of 2014 and ready this project for construction in a spring 2014 bid opening.”

County Mayor Shelvy Linville had written TDOT urgently in May complaining that the Hwy 10 project had been put on a backburner, because it did not appear on a three-year budget plan released by TDOT in April.

More recently, Linville said he cut out a front page article from the Macon County Times (June 13 edition) about an accident involving a mother and three minors on Hwy 10, and sent it to TDOT.

“I highlighted ‘mom’, ‘3 children’, and ‘Hwy 10’, and I wrote underneath, ‘This time we were lucky’ and I sent it to them,” said Linville.

Ironically enough, Degges reports that this recent accident contributed to the final numbers necessary to qualify a project for the safety funds that Hwy 10 just received.

“I hate to say it that way… but it’s true,” said Degges. “That this project just barely qualified for safety funds, by the numbers. I know it can seem like this road is the most dangerous stretch in TN, but it simply is not.”

Linville, who admitted after the public meeting that he may have misunderstood the meaning of the three-year plan, stated that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the project moving forward on the schedule that Degges had outlined. Now, he says, “this is good news. That 4th paragraph [in Schroer’s letter] is a sure commitment… I feel good about it now.”

Linville said that he believes the saying ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ and added, “I regret not being squeakier earlier.”

Linville also prepared a written statement, thanking the Commissioner and Governor for their commitment to the project: “I believe the commissioner realizes the danger that the highway 10 hill poses, and has found a way to help us sooner rather than later… I certainly look forward to seeing orange barrels and bulldozers on that hill.”

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Willie Don Barrett
Willie Don Barrett
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