Look Who it Was Random video

Chattanooga Update - August 12, 2013

158 views · Published 12 August 2013 · 4:25 · Indexed 28 October 2026

Channel: chattanooga times free press · 2013 · News & Politics

Watch on YouTube

Cleveland police say they're investigating a homicide this morning near an elementary school.

Police say it happened at a house on Greenwood Avenue, just three blocks from Mayfield Elementary School.

And the homicide happened just one block from where a Lee University student was found dead in his car last week. We'll have updates on this breaking story throughout the day at timesfreepress.com
_____
A rape suspect in East Tennessee is giving up the Twilight series in exchange for bond.

23-year-old Dezayas Smith has vowed to give up his obsession with the Twilight books and movies and to refrain from reading or watching any vampire fiction and 50 shades of Grey.

Smith was willing to give all that up in exchange for a bond reduction in a kidnapping and rape case that involved sadomasochism, bondage, neck-biting and blood-sucking, according to authorities.
In return, a Konx County criminal court judge agreed to cut Smith's bond from 100 thousand to 50 thousand dollars.
____
With robbers now willing to kill for pain medicine, more pharmacists are defending themselves, including one in Rossville.

A shotgun hangs behind the counter for all to see at Longley's pharmacy.

Pharmacist Jerry Grimmitt says hold-ups didn't concern him when he started in 1966, but that changed about 10 years ago.

Now drugstores around the country are facing an onslaught of robberies from addicts craving a fix and drug dealers who can make huge profits selling stolen pills.
Take for instance a single OxyContin pill that retails for $6 dollars - it can cost up to $80 dollars on the street.
Armed robberies at pharmacies have increased more than 80 percent in the last six years.
And Tennessee is a hotspot. We rank in the top 10 states for for pharmacy robberies.

In May a man in northeast Tennessee killed a pharmacist and a pharmacy technician to get drugs.

And on July 19 pharmacist Tom Rawls used a metal pipe to subdue a gunman who demanded pills from the CVS on Hixson Pike.

Robberies do tend to be more of a problem at chain pharmacies though. Officials say installing bullet proof glass would make those stores feel less friendly, and policies often prevent employees from being armed.
_____

Hamilton County school teachers are poised to get raises after months of negotiation.

In June, the school board asked Superintendent Rick Smith to explore a 3 to 5 percent raise for teachers. That would cost between $6 million and $10 million dollars annually.
Now negotiations with teachers appear to be winding down, and Smith says he plans to talk to the school board in a closed session before the regular meeting this Thursday.
_______
An East Tennessee judge has ordered the parents of a 6-month-old boy to change his first name from Messiah.

The boy's mom and dad were at a child support hearing in Newport last week because they couldn't agree on a last name for the boy.

But they were surprised to hear a Child Support judge order that the boy's first name be changed. 

Judge Lu Ann Ballew said the word Messiah is a title that's been earned by only one person -- Jesus Christ.

The judge said the decision is best for the child, especially while growing up in a county with a large Christian population.

Now the mom is appealing the court's decision.
_____

If you have anything left in your online shopping cart, now's the time to click buy.

Amazon.com will begin collecting sales taxes in Georgia on September first.

The change will help collect an additional $16 million dollars in state taxes.

Amazon will begin collecting sales taxes in Tennessee, in January.

____
Finally, the Broadway tour of Beauty and the Beast is coming to Chattanooga in September.

The Disney musical will put on two shows at the Tivoli - at noon on saturday, September 21 and 2 p.m. on Sunday, september 22.

More from this channel