Today's News

After almost four years, Travis Burris must now begin serving two years of probation and 45 days behind bars.

This comes after the state court of criminal appeals upheld his 2005 sexual battery conviction following a trial.

Burris had appealed the jury’s verdict claiming there was not sufficient evidence to support he had committed the crime for his own gratification.

However, the presiding judge, Joseph M. Tipton held a different view.

The rumors were swirling last week.  But like most rumors, the one involving Mayor William Baird’s veto of the commission’s $300,000 donation to the House of Hope was fueled by a few facts mixed with a whole lot of speculation.

In his absence last week the mayor’s office fielded a barrage of calls concerning the status of the resolution passed last month to help fund a new location for Community Health of East Tennessee’s (CHET) domestic violence center.

Georgea Green runs a tight ship.  

To outsiders she is often labeled as the tough teacher with high expectations.  And while both of these descriptions are accurate there is a little more to the story than meets the eye.

With more than 30 years of teaching experience under her belt, Green has learned that keeping her standards high is one of the most effective ways to encourage her students to rise to their potential.

After a veto by County Mayor William Baird in late 2008, talks about a proposed justice center were silenced.  

That is until Monday when the jail committee resurrected the notion of expanding the current jail facility.

Plagued with fires and other structural problems the kitchen and laundry facility, located in what is known as the “old jail,” has long been discussed as a liability rather than asset for the county.