A Dresden man was hospitalized and two Gibson County women killed in a two-vehicle accident last Tuesday that took place inside the city limits of Kenton, Tennessee.

     The crash reportedly occurred at approximately 12:40 p.m. along U.S. Hwy. 45 West, just south of Alphin Road.

     Wanaleicha Myers, 38, and her niece, Earnestine Bragg, 31, who was a passenger in her vehicle, were traveling south, when a southbound SUV driven by Brian Washburn, 28, struck the rear of Myers’s vehicle. The impact caused Myers’s car to go off the left (east) side of the road, collide with a tree and overturn. Washburn’s vehicle traveled off the right (west) side of the road, stuck an embankment and overturned.

     Washburn was transported from the scene by air ambulance to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, where he was placed in the trauma unit and was listed in stable condition.

     Bragg and Myers died from injuries as a result of the crash. Both women were Certified Practical Nurses employed at the Douglass Nursing Home in Milan.

(Read the rest of this story in the August 15th print edition of the Dresden Enterprise.)

By David Fisher Staff Reporter

   

     Tennessee is suffering from one of the worst droughts in years, with no relief in sight. This issue is being addressed at the state and local levels by legislators who recognize the problem and seek to get area farmers the help they need to survive one of the worst years on record.

 

Weakley County In Critical Stage

 

     University of Tennessee Extension County Director of Weakley County Jeff Lannom states that the region is in a critical stage of an ongoing drought situation that has stunted the crops of farmers all across Weakley and adjoining counties.

     Describing the crop crisis, Lannom said, “Corn has dried down prematurely, due to the dry weather and extreme heat.

     “Our soybean crop is suffering tremendously – both early-planted soybeans and the soybeans planted after wheat. They’re struggling to get any height at all. Occasionally, you’ll see a field where the beans are not taller than the wheat stubble. That’s not countywide, but you’ll see fields like that occasionally. There are spots in fields where beans are going to start dropping leaves, if they haven’t already.

     “Pasture conditions are very, very poor,” Lannom said. “There’s no grazing. Farmers are having to feed hay. We had a late frost, and that knocked their hay production way down. And, now that it’s turned dryer, the hay production has suffered even more. So, farmers are looking for alternative methods to feed their cattle, like baling corn stalks, or whatever they can do to come up with forage.”

(Read the rest of this story in this week's print edition of the Dresden Enterprise.)

By David Fisher Staff Reporter

   

     Thanks to the quick response of the Dresden and Palmersville volunteer fire departments, along with assistance from the Tennessee Forestry Division, two homes were spared from fire damage this past Saturday.

     According to a report filed by Lt. Patrick Dilday of the Dresden Fire Department, a 911 call was received at approximately 2:41 p.m., stating that there was a grass and brush fire in the yard of Dan and Joyce Gatewood located at 2972 Palmersville Hwy. 89, which is approximately five miles from Dresden.

     Mrs. Gatewood, who placed the call, said that the fire was spreading into the woods between their home and the residence of Darin and Kim Bradberry.

     The Gatewoods said that they were not home at the time the fire began and were not certain how the fire started. They stated when they returned home and saw the fire, they tried to put it out by throwing five gallon buckets of water on the blaze, but they soon realized the fire was gaining on them. That’s when they called 911.

     Due to the extremely dry conditions, it didn’t take long for the fire to quickly spread from the Gatewoods’ yard to the woods and then the field, owned by David Parham.

(Read the rest of this story in the August 15th print edition of the Dresden Enterprise.)