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News Headlines
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
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Paper
processing company to begin operations in Quebecor building;
100 new jobs to be created |
Last Wednesday,
Dresden Mayor Danny Forrester announced that a paper
products manufacturing company would be moving into the
Quebecor building in Dresden. This is the same building that
previously housed World Color, Ringier America and W.F.
Printing.
Forrester stated
that the California based company, Calpaco Papers, Inc.,
which is in the business of cutting and converting large
rolls of paper to be used in the print industry, could be
expected to hire up to 100 people initially and as many as
300 within the next three to five years.
Forrester stated
that it was an exciting day for Dresden and an example of
what he and his administration have been working toward for
the past four years. This is a strong indication that the
city is moving in the right direction.
As the meeting
opened at Dresden City Hall, Mayor Forrester said, “It’s
good to have everyone with us this morning. As everyone
knows, for the last several months, the Weakley County
Economic Development Cooperation and the Dresden Industrial
Board, have been working (with us) on finding a tenant for
the World Color building.” He then introduced Andy Quillen,
general manager of Calpaco Papers, Inc. for the states of
Tennessee and Virginia, who made the announcement of his
company coming to Dresden.
“We have a site in
upper East Tennessee, and our goal is to find another
facility closer to Memphis, near the barge site that you
gentlemen are getting ready to put in (referring to the new
deepwater port set to be built on the Mississippi River in
Lake County),” Quillen said. “What we do, we’re known in the
paper industry as converters. We take large rolls of paper,
and we cut them down into smaller rolls and sheets. Our
end-users are customers in the printing industry. We also do
a wide variety of products that are used in the industrial
industry.
“We started about
six months ago looking at sites in this region,” Quillen
said. “This site is primarily tied to the rail system. This
was one of the more attractive sites for us. My job was to
come down and analyze this site. We have the letter of
intent with Quebecor for purchasing it. And we have an
agreement as to the purchase price. We are in the final
stages now of finalizing that agreement and actually trying
to get a set of keys to the place. My job was to analyze the
community and decide if there was anything that might be a
stumbling block. I can tell you we are very impressed with
the business leaders here. I want to personally thank two
gentlemen who have been with us through this whole process –
Danny Forrester and Ronnie Price. This is probably my third
time here and they were here at the door every time I came.
They introduced me to a lot of the business leaders in the
area.
“Steve Peckman is
our maintenance manager,” Quillen said. “His job was to go
around and start setting up vendors and introducing
ourselves. We have a lot of renovation work at this site
that needs to be done. His report back to me was
‘everybody’s wonderful, very cordial, and everybody is ready
to go with this project.’
“Our goal is to
finalize the paperwork, and then start renovation work and
get the plant back up to standard and back up to code –
modernize it with internet technology – IT technology,
revamp the rail service there, and clean the plant up, do
some power and air changes to it, put some machinery in
there, and put people back to work.
(Read the rest of the story in the
October 25th print edition of the
Dresden Enterprise!)
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WCSO arrests
three in meth lab bust |
Members of the Weakley County Sheriff’s
Department arrested three individuals last week after
deputies serving an arrest warrant discovered a
methamphetamine lab.
According to Sheriff’s Investigator Randall
McGowan, deputies arrested three people late last Wednesday
evening on Old Bethel Road in northeast Weakley County.
Inv. McGowan states that deputies went to the
residence of Chris Jones to serve a fugitive from justice
warrant. Jones had an active violation of parole in Kentucky
stemming from a prior conviction there on drug charges.
While the deputies were attempting to serve
the warrant, they located a methamphetamine lab at the
residence. Although Jones allegedly flushed some of the
evidence down the toilet, two Baggies of meth were found in
the house, along with other chemicals and ingredients used
to make meth.
Those arrested were as follows:
• Christopher W. Jones, 35, 301 Old Bethel
Road, was arrested for: being a fugitive from justice;
manufacture of Schedule II (meth); and tampering with
evidence.
• Christine L. Harris, 39, 923 State Route
129, Fulton, Kentucky was charged with: manufacture of
Schedule II (meth); and possession of Schedule II (meth).
• Greg R. Martin, 28, (no known address), was
arrested for: failure to appear (in Lauderdale County);
manufacture of Schedule II (meth); and possession of
Schedule II (meth).
Inv. McGowan states that this is the seventh meth lab or
meth lab dumpsite found by deputies in Weakley County this
year.
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Charges
filed in Tom Britt hit-and-run case |
Madison County Sheriff David Woolfork
announced Thursday afternoon that charges had been filed
against the man believed to have been responsible for the
October 5 hit and run accident that killed Martha Britt, 53,
who was the principal at Isaac Lane Technology Magnet
Elementary School, and seriously injured her husband, Tom
Britt, 55, a news anchor at WBBJ-TV, as well as the voice of
the UT Martin Skyhawks.
Members of the Britt
family stated that they were very pleased and relieved after
being notified Thursday morning that that a suspect had been
identified and arrested in the case.
Dannie Gateley, Jr.,
30, of Beech Bluff, Tennessee, has been formerly charged
with leaving the scene of an accident, two counts of failure
to stop and render aid, as well as with destruction and
tampering of evidence. All of these charges are felonies.
The Britts were hit
while on their regular early morning walk near their home in
the 100 block of White Fern Road in Beech Bluff. Martha
Britt was pronounced dead at the scene. Tom Britt was
airlifted to Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, where
he spent several days in the hospital before being released.
According to the
Sheriff’s Department, a preliminary investigation
indicates that the Britts were walking south and facing
oncoming traffic when they were hit from behind.
Police say that, during an interview with
investigators late Wednesday night, Gateley admitted to
driving the red Chevy Lumina that killed Martha Britt and
seriously injured her husband, Tom Britt.
During a Thursday
afternoon press conference, Sheriff Woolfork stated that the
preliminary investigation suggests that it was not an
intentional incident. Gateley reportedly told police that he
was driving southbound on Beech Bluff Road on his way to
work when he hit a dip in the road, which caused his car to
swerve to the left, and that’s when he hit the Britts. He
then panicked and fled the scene.
(Read the rest of this story, plus many more in this
week's edition of the Dresden Enterprise!)
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