6—Cleveland Daily Banner—Sunday, January 3, 2016
www.clevelandbanner.com
County
From Page 1
and financing — a new Lake
Forest Middle School became a
topic for serious discussion.
o President Barack Obama
visited Knoxville to announce a
national version based on the
“Tennessee Promise” program.
That program was derived in
part from the “Bradley Achieves”
program founded with the help
of local businessman Allan
Jones.
o The subject of adopting new
building codes brought strong
voices on both sides of the issue.
o The Healthy Community
Initiative Committee found its
reserves dwindling and suggested doing “micro grants.”
o
Tennessee
Christian
Preparatory School students
used Martin Luther King Jr. Day
as one to do service in the community.
o The Commission Finance
committee began the process to
raise the county’s hotel/motel
tax as a way to finance a new
Lake Forest school building.
o Cleveland native Jerry Gay
received the Bronze Star.
o The Cleveland/Bradley
County Chamber of Commerce
presented the M.C. Headrick
Award to J&S Restaurants’ CEO
Mark Johnson and President
Jula Johnson Scoggins. The
Varnell Leadership Award went
to Pat Lawson Fuller, owner of
the Orange Blossom Boutique.
o Robert Bradney began his
year as the new chairman of the
Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of
Commerce.
o TCPS began its campaign to
build a new campus.
FEBRUARY
o A debate over whether the
county road department or the
Bradley County Sheriff’s Office
should get the state litter grant
began over the use of inmates by
the road department. The BCSO
eventually got the nod from the
County Commission.
o SkyRidge Medical Center
unveiled its new Orthopedic and
Spine Center.
o Area resident Doug Mizell
said talks were serious concerning a major motion picture
about the Trail of Tears being
filmed in Bradley County.
o County officials began discussions on digitizing old documents, specifically to save
papers that are stored at the old
Waterville school.
o Commissioners heard proposals from the Cleveland State
Foundation and the Community
Foundation of Cleveland and
Bradley County concerning their
plans for potential investment of
HCI funds.
o The Bradley County Fire
Board recommended raises in
the $8,000 a year range for
county fire/rescue workers.
MARCH
o Six residents of the 6th
District were interviewed by
their commissioners, Robert
Rominger and Dan Rawls, to fill
the school board vacancy
caused by the resignation of
Christy Critchfield from the
school board. Critchfield had
resigned in protest of the buyout
of then-Director of Schools
Johnny McDaniel’s contract.
Amanda Lee, whose children
attend Black Fox Elementary,
was nominated and approved by
the full Commission.
o Raises for the BCFR were
approved by the Commission.
o The idea of HCI funds
investment was “indefinitely
tabled” by Commission.
o Authorization was given for
the construction of a workhouse
facility to be joined with the
Bradley County Justice Center.
o Adam Cotton was named
SPCA of Bradley County’s director of operations.
o The Household Hazardous
Waste Collection Day event collected items from 363 households.
o State Sen. Mike Bell
declined to proceed with a vote
on the proposed increase in the
hotel/motel tax during a session
of the state legislature. He cited
the “unprecedented” nature of
specifically using those funds
for education.
o Cleveland pharmacist Robin
Terrero voluntarily surrendered
her license to practice and operate
The
Wellness
Store
Compounding Pharmacy after
being cited by the state “for
unprofessional, dishonorable or
unethical conduct.”
o Wendy Armenta won the
Rotary Interact speech contest.
o Troy Scot Carter, a former
employee of the Church of God,
was charged with interstate
transportation of securities
taken by fraud in the amount of
$100,000 from the church.
APRIL
o Troy Scot Carter and the
U.S. District Attorney reached a
plea agreement in the case
against him, and details showed
the fraud was as much as
$900,000.
o “Dustin’s Law” made another appearance in Nashville. The
law, named after DUI victim
Dustin Ledford, has been trying
for several years to get passed to
make sentences tougher on DUI
convictions. Legislators delayed
the issue until 2016.
o
McDonald
physician
Raymond Scot Brown entered a
plea deal in U.S. federal court
that will bring him jail time for
defrauding Medicare.
o The County Commission
honored the wrestlers from both
Cleveland High School and
Bradley Central High School.
Cleveland won the state championship, while BCHS brought in
the runner-up trophy. Blue
Raider Chris DeBien was also
honored for winning the national championship.
o County Commissioner
Thomas Crye caused a stir when
he proposed a 7-cent property
tax hike. Part of his rationale
was to help finance the new
Lake Forest Middle School.
o Trustee Mike Smith proposed
an idea for the county to be able to
borrow $16 million from itself for a
20-year period “to finance the
school projects.” However, it would
require state approval.
o
County
government
changed its Internet domain
name to “bradleycountytn.gov.”
o
Doug
Berry,
the
Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of
Commerce’s vice president for
economic development, reported
to the Industrial Development
Board Action on the actual
physical preparation for Spring
Branch Industrial Park is close
to beginning.
o A county committee proposed that, for $300,000 per
year, the county would be
responsible for all pickup and
sheltering of animals for the
entire county.
‘Game of Thrones’ author blogs
that he missed book deadline
NEW YORK (AP) — For fans of
George R.R. Martin, winter is
not coming — at least not right
away.
The “Game of Thrones” author
says he missed a Dec. 31 deadline to finish “The Winds of
Winter,” the sixth book in his
popular fantasy series. That
means the next HBO season
based on the novel will start airing in April, before the book is
published.
The words “you won’t like it”
appeared Saturday on Martin’s
blog, reporting that “the book’s
not done. ... I tried, I promise
you. I failed.”
Martin says he is working
with HBO to ensure the show
reflects the next i