The Cleveland Daily Banner | Page 6

6—Cleveland Daily Banner—Monday, January 4, 2016 www.clevelandbanner.com Budgets From Page 1 with 105 new jobs. - SPCA requested a $40,000 increase in its annual revenue from Bradley County. - Sarah Coleman began her term as the new clerk and master. - Another proposal to raise county property taxes, this time by 10 cents, fell one vote short in the County Commission. - Bill Ledford, the longestserving commissioner in Bradley County history, died at the age of 79. - The Rotary Club of Cleveland relocated its meetings back to the downtown area for the first time in 35 years. Members now meet weekly at the Museum Center at Five Points. - The County Clerk’s Office issued the county’s first samesex marriage certificate hours after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling saying those couple have the constitutional right to be married. July - Bill George was honored as Rotarian of the Year by the Rotary Club of Cleveland. - The first proposal for a county budget was described as “lean” at $35.1 million. - The County Commission approved a budget with no tax The governor popped into town for a collegial visit and the subject of dogs, which had been silent for awhile, began barking once again. hike. - Katie Breland was named the 2016 Distinguished Woman of the Year. - Emergency responders mourned the death of veteran BCFR Capt. Wallace Varnell, who was killed in a traffic accident in his personal vehicle. - State Speaker of the House Beth Harwell named Lou Patten, chairman of the Cleveland Municipal Airport Authority which governs the regional Jetport, and Gary Farlow, president and CEO of the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce to a task force studying the funding mechanisms of airport facilities. - Six Cleveland Daily Banner writers and editors earned seven awards, including two first-place honors during the recent awards banquet of the 2015 Tennessee Press Association newspaper contest. August - Troy Scot Carter was sentenced to 34 months in a federal prison after pleading guilty to fraudulent billing the Church of God in a scheme which officials said totalled $900,000. - Debra Norton Jenkins lost both of her legs after an unmanned 2004 Ford F350 Crew Cab with a dump truck bed rolled backward from the garage area of the county road department into a raised-bed garden in which she and another employee, Ted Dobbs, were working. - County Trustee Mike Smith reported the county’s finances are “in excellent shape.” - A debate continued on the city and county’s role concerning animal pickup. - Commissioner Milan Blake began the discussion on finding more efficient ways through tec