ARCHIVES
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News Headlines
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
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Dresden board votes to hire
new fire chief |
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By David
Fisher
Staff
Reporter |
Several important
items were up for discussion during the regular monthly
meeting of the Dresden Board and Mayor of Aldermen on
Monday, November 3, including the hiring of a new part-time
fire chief, a sewer ordinance, earthquake insurance,
updating the city’s mitigation plan to cope with major
disasters and other emergencies, city boundary survey bids,
and other matters. The board was also presented with the
Governor’s Three-Star Award during the meeting.
Fire Chief
Mayor Danny Forrester stated, due to Fire Chief Dickie Hart
submitting his resignation, effective Monday, December 1,
2008, the board needs to install a new part-time fire chief.
When asked by Alderman Donnie Essary why he was resigning,
Chief Hart said, “Because of budget constraints, it’s time
for me to move on. I’m in pursuit of a job, and it’s hard
for me to work in a part-time position and pursue something
full-time and do the correct job that needs to be done. I do
appreciate everything everyone has given me. I just
appreciate everybody.”
“I’d like to thank Chief Hart, as I’ve told him privately,”
Mayor Forrester said. “I appreciate the good work he has
done for the Dresden Fire Department.”
In response to Chief Hart’s resignation, Mayor Forrester
stated members of the Dresden Fire Department nominated
three members of the department to fill the position of fire
chief during the Dresden Fire Department Advisory Board
meeting Thursday, October 30. After the board considered
these nominations Paul Hutcherson was recommended for the
position.
Mayor Forrester stated, if the job is filled by promoting
within the ranks of the Dresden Fire Department, there would
be no need to advertise to find a new fire chief. But if no
one were to be approved, the city would have to authorize
advertising and to begin accepting applications to fill the
vacancy. Forrester said since the city has a volunteer fire
department, he recommends promoting from within, and
recommends Hutcherson for the position. He noted Hutcherson
works in the city of Dresden, while some of the other
nominees work outside of Dresden. And some of the other
nominees’ people skills were not considered by the advisory
board to be as good as Hutcherson’s.
“When they looked at their skills, this is the person that
100 percent of the advisory board felt was the best person
for the job,” Forrester said.
Forrester stated the members of the Fire Department Advisory
Board wished to change the salary of the new fire chief from
$500 per month no matter how many or few fire calls he goes
on, to $200 per month for the administrative part of the
job, and additionally, pay the new chief for each meeting
and fire call on a per call basis. However, the advisory
board recommended the fire chief receiving more per call
than other firefighters. Forrester stated he hopes to get
enough money in the budget to implement these changes as
soon as possible, if this is the will of the board.
The board approved
Hutcherson’s appointment as new fire chief by a vote of 5 to
1, with Alderman Donnie Essary casting the only dissenting
vote.
(Check out the rest of this story in this
week's print edition of the Dresden Enterprise!) |
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County Commission accepts Doster's
resignation; appoints interim trustee |
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By David
Fisher
Staff
Reporter |
During a called meeting of the Weakley County Commission
Tuesday, October 28, members accepted the resignation of
County Trustee Donald Doster and appointed Marci Floyd as
interim trustee.
The first item on the agenda was to accept Doster’s
resignation, who is retiring October 31, 2008, after serving
18 years as trustee.
The next order of business was to appoint a replacement
until the next election in 2010. Chairman Richard Phebus
called for nominations for someone to fill the vacancy.
Commissioner Roger Stewart nominated Marci Floyd, who is as
first deputy in the Weakley County Finance Office;
Commissioner Eric Owen nominated Linda Pettit, who is first
deputy in the Weakley County Trustee’s Office; and
Commissioner Kevin McAlpin nominated Patsy Mangum, who works
at a local bank.
Although Pettit received the endorsement of Doster to serve
as trustee following his retirement, she did not have
sufficient support on the county commission to be appointed
to the position.
Prior to deciding who was to serve as interim trustee,
commissioners heard presentations from the three individuals
seeking the post.
Chairman Phebus called the candidates forward in
alphabetical order to give a presentation of their
qualifications, while the other two candidates remained
outside of the room until it was their turn to speak.
The first nominee to address the commission was Marci Floyd.
“I would just like all of you to know that this is something
I have sought out for many years,” Floyd said. “This is not
a rash decision. As most of you know, I have been working
with the director of finance for eight and a half years.
During my interview, I stated, one day, I’d like to run for
trustee. I have thought about this for many years. I have
many ideas for the county.”
Chairman Phebus asked Floyd to elaborate on some of the
ideas she has for the office.
“My goal as the trustee in the next two years and beyond is
to implement the trustee’s office into the 21st
Century by using technology we haven’t used before in the
trustee’s office,” Floyd said.
“I hope to encourage citizens to register online for
printable tax notices. This would help the county save a
considerable amount of postage, and they would have
real-time data available to them.
“I would also like to
streamline some of our revenues, so Weakley County can have
funds available sooner. I know the state of Tennessee has
done this with their sales tax, and I think this is
something we could do with additional revenue.” She noted
this would allow the county to use those funds faster.
(Read the rest of this story in the November 5th print edition of the Dresden Enterprise.) |
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Martin man charged with auto burglary |
A 49-year-old Martin man was arrested on an auto burglary
charge Wednesday, October 29, after being caught inside of a
local resident’s vehicle.
Arrested is Jerome Arne Shanklin of 113 St. Charles Street
#5 on the charge of burglary of a motor vehicle.
According to an incident report filed by Lt. Jason W. Arant
of the Martin Police Department, at approximately 10:44 p.m.
October 29, 2008, the Martin Police Department received a
call reporting a vehicle burglary at 120 Hannings Lane.
The victim, Keith K. Smith, stated he observed an individual
enter his vehicle, and described the person as an older
black male who appeared to be in his 40’s, wearing a dark
jacket and a light colored hat.
At 10:47 p.m. Lt. Arant observed Shanklin, walking east on
Lee Street in front of the KA house and stopped the suspect,
to inquire why he was around the vehicle.
Shanklin told the officer he was looking for the priest’s
house to talk to him about getting some assistance and got
confused and went to the wrong house, but insisted he did
not get inside the vehicle. Shanklin also stated he spoke to
the owner of the vehicle.
While Ptl. Rhodes was at the scene speaking with the victim,
Lt. Arant instructed him to bring Smith to his location, to
see if he could identify the offender. Smith then identified
the offender as being the person he caught inside his
vehicle.
(Read the rest of this story in the November 5th print edition of the Dresden Enterprise.) |
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Weakley County suspects arrested by Paris police on drug
charges |
Two Weakley County men face drug-related charges after being
arrested by officers of the Paris Police Department
Saturday, October 25.
According to a police report, 29-year-old John C. Rawls of
Dresden and 32-year-old Thomas Emerson Palmer of Sharon were
taken into custody after allegedly purchasing ingredients to
manufacture methamphetamine. Both are charged with promotion
of methamphetamine manufacturing.
An employee at a Paris business notified police after the
pair allegedly purchased two cans of starter fluid, and the
employee was concerned the men would use the substance to
produce meth.
When the men were questioned by Cpl. Ean J. Reed of the
Paris Police Department as to why they needed a large amount
of starter fluid in fair weather, the men stated they needed
the fluid for their farm in Weakley County.
However, a search of the men’s vehicle revealed five cell
phones in the door panels and an extra cell phone battery,
all of which had lithium ion batteries, which can be
utilized in producing meth.
A search of a jacket found in the back seat of the vehicle
uncovered two boxes of pseudoephedrine, as well as receipts
from two different stores on the same date.
(Read the rest of this story in the November 5th print edition of the Dresden Enterprise.) |
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