Brownsville Radio News Archives
Delta Heritage Center welcomes Billy King for book signing
The West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center, in Brownsville, Tenn., will host its annual Holiday Open House Sunday, December 4, from 1-4 p.m. The Center also welcomes Historian Billy King for a special program and book signing of his new release Big Black Creek, Vol. 1.
King is president of the Big Black Creek Historical Association (BBCHS) and recently published his first book about the history and people of the Big Black Creek area. The book takes you on a journey from 1000 AD to the present day with both historical facts and witty observances.
Open House attendees will be treated to a short talk by King beginning at 2 p.m., after which he will autograph copies of his book. Proceeds from the sale of the book will go to further the association's preservation work.
The Big Black Creek is a waterway that figured prominently in the early settlement of the area around Denmark, Tenn. King, along with 28 other community members, formed the BBCHA in 2006 to identify, preserve and promote historical sites within a ten mile radius of the creek. This area includes the communities of Denmark, Mercer, Leighton and Woodland, all in west Madison and east Haywood Counties. It also includes Britton Lane and a good portion of the book touches on the effect the Civil War had on these communities. For more information, visit the Big Black Creek website at www.bigblackcreekhistorical.com.
The West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center is a tourist information center and regional museum located off of Interstate 40 at Exit 56 in Brownsville, Tenn. For more information, call 731-779-9000 or visit www.westtnheritage.com.
26th annual Brownsville Radio Christmas project is Friday
November 25, 2011
Raising nearly $30,000 on its silver anniversary last year, Brownsville Radio listeners are getting set to start the Radiothon's next 25 years Friday, December 2.
Then morning radio host Paul Jackson and station manager Carlton Veirs founded the event in 1986. They asked the Brownsville Jaycees to help spend the money provided by listeners and help distribute the food and toys. Franklin Smith was the Jaycee's front man and, since then, has become the Radiothon’s co-sponsor and, perhaps, hardest worker.
This year organizers hope Radiothon contributions will top the $20,000 mark funding Christmas for between 250 and 300 families.
The broadcast starts Friday morning at 7:15 a.m.
Megasite water rights still up in the air
County/BEA wrangle over water rights
November 22, 2011
Last week we reported that a deal had been struck, at the urging of the governor’s office, between county government and the Brownsville Energy Authority for water rights at the megasite.
But at Tuesday night’s county commission meeting Mayor Franklin Smith says hold on — that deal isn’t a deal.
And, at this week’s meeting, the county commission became involved in the negotiations.
Background
Last week Mayor Smith told the commission's
budget committee he’d negotiated a deal with Brownsville Energy Authority.
The most important part of the deal involves money.
The Haywood County Utility District, in the Smith proposal, would receive 9% of water revenues generated from BEA’s sale of water to a megasite tenant.
County leaders have long wanted the county’s utility district to retain all of the water rights. But at the urging of Governor Haslam’s office to let Brownsville Energy Authority sell the water, Smith said last week he had agreed to the 9% deal.
Forward to Monday night’s meeting
At the County Commission meeting Monday night, Mayor Smith told Commissioners he was notified last Thursday that the deal he thought he had — wasn’t a deal at all.
The mayor said negotations would resume Tuesday during a meeting called at the Banks Law Firm. Michael Banks represents the county. Larry Banks represents the BEA.
At Tuesday’s commission meeting it was clear the Mayor wasn’t happy. He told commissioners this was the second time he had negotiated a deal with Brownsville Energy Authority in good faith only to be told later there was no agreement.
What now?
The County Commission controls the county’s Utility District, which manages the rural water system. Smith says the Utility District would have to convey water rights for Brownsville Energy Authority to legally sell water to the megasite.
After hearing Mayor Smith’s assessment, county commissioners passed a resolution in support of the mayor’s plan.
If implemented the royalty is expected to produce about $100,000 annually for the County Utility District.
The State is expected to provide over $20 million in water production and disposal infrastructure for the megasite. As things currently stand, according to Mayor Smith, the state intends for that infrastructure to be owned by Brownsville Energy Authority.
Inmate healthcare to be reevaluated
November 22, 2011
Chris Lea, chairman of the County Commission Jail Committee, reported last night that his committee is evaluating alternatives to local inmate healthcare currently provided by Conmed at a contract price of $30,000 per month. That contract expires December 31, and the jail committee plans to consider presentations by up to four health care service providers, including Conmed, prior to making recommendations to the Commission next year.
Janice to replace Janice
November 22, 2011
In October, Haywood County Commissioner Janice King resigned her position in District 1 and recommended as her replacement Janice Rogers.
Last night Janice Rogers and Roy Maclin Bridgewater were nominated to fill the position. And on a 12 to 7 vote Janice Rogers was elected by Commissioners to serve District 1.
Woman arrested –man sought in connection with rural burglary
November 22, 2011
The blue Mazda pickup truck parked in the driveway of a Dr. Hess Road home looked suspicious to passersby. They called the man that was moving into the house and the drama started.
Sheriff Melvin Bond says a woman has been arrested and a man is being sought in connection with what turned out to be a burglary in progress.
Taylor Outlaw was in the process of moving into the house but wasn’t there. A friend who saw the truck in the driveway called Outlaw and he arrived shortly and talked to a woman sitting in the truck. She claimed to be lost but when she didn’t leave he became suspicious.
Turns out she was apparently waiting on a man that was likely inside that home while she and Outlaw were talking. Subsequent investigation found a back window open and, eventually, muddy footprints disappearing into nearby woods.
When the woman finally did leave, Outlaw followed and called law enforcement. Sheriff Melvin Bond said Crockett County authorities eventually stopped the truck. The sheriff said his investigators and Crockett deputies questioned the woman who told them she had dropped a man off.
Bethany April Kennon, 32, has been charged in connection with the burglary. The sheriff says authorities are looking for Ricky Dale Lumley for questioning,
Traveling Exhibit Commemorates 50th Anniversary of Tennessee Sit-Ins
The landmark events that helped shape the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s are the focus of a traveling exhibition opening at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center on December 9, 2011.
The exhibit, entitled We Shall Not Be Moved: The 50th Anniversary of Tennessee’s Civil Rights Sit-Ins continues through January 22, 2012, and is free to the public.
During the 1950s and 1960s, African Americans began mobilizing in a massive movement against segregation. This included non-violent, direct action campaigns, which culminated in sit-in demonstrations, economic boycotts, and marches.
Fifty years ago, a handful of Nashville college students from Fisk University, Tennessee A&I (later Tennessee State), and American Baptist Theological Seminary along with religious leaders Kelly Miller Smith and James Lawson, began a sit-in campaign targeting downtown lunch counters. These actions sparked the formation of a mass sit-in movement, which became the model used across Tennessee and the rest of the South.
These actions will be examined in this special exhibition, organized by the curatorial staff at the Tennessee State Museum. The exhibit also looks at segregation in the state and how significant resistance developed in African American communities.
Although the sit-ins were organized as a non-violent action, occasionally students were met with violence from white bystanders, however it was usually the protesting students who were arrested and taken to jail. The exhibit examines why these students were willing to face possible violence and endure incarceration, and how their parents reacted.
The exhibit covers similar events which occurred in Chattanooga, Memphis and Knoxville and other locales.
Along with period photographs of these events, the exhibit includes such artifacts as signage, which has been preserved to show examples of segregation during this time. Other important artifacts include a letter from a sit-in participant describing a protest and other items related to the sit-ins.
We Shall Not Be Moved: The 50th Anniversary of Tennessee’s Civil Rights Sit-Ins will be on view December 9 through January 22, in the center’s Special Exhibits area. Located at 121 Sunny Hill Cove in Brownsville, Tenn., the museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday and is free to the public. Visit www.westtnheritage.com for more information.
Student protesters sit-in at Walgreens on Fifth Avenue in Nashville, February 20, 1960.
Photo by Jimmy Ellis, courtesy of The Tennessean.
Tent City family evicted after trying to register to vote in Fayette County, about 1960.
Courtesy of The University of Memphis Special Collections.
About the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center:
In 1999, the City of Brownsville created a Tourist Information Center and regional heritage center consisting of three museums. The West Tennessee Cotton Museum depicts the history of cotton in one of the richest cotton producing counties in the state. The West Tennessee Music Museum highlights the many talented musicians who called this region home and who have left their mark on the music industry. The Hatchie River Museum features three aquariums and tells the story of the last “wild” river in the lower Mississippi system and its unique eco-system. The West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center is located at 121 Sunny Hill Cove in Brownsville, Tenn., right off of Interstate 40 at Exit 56. www.westtnheritage.com
Public hearing Monday night will help decide new county districts
November 18, 2011
Monday night (November 21) at 6:30 p.m. County Mayor Franklin Smith will host a public hearing to accept comment and discuss a county redistricting plan. The November meeting of the county commission will immediately follow.
The last census, completed in 2010, reports that Haywood County lost about 1000 residents, but it also reveals there was some shift in where people live. The change in population means the boundaries of the county’s legislative districts must be changed.
Most of the proposed changes are fairly minor but, under the plan, some people will be moved from one district to another to make sure elected county officials, from county commissioners to constables, equally represent them.
Haywood County presently has ten districts with two county commissioners elected from each district.
Based on the last redistricting accomplished about ten years ago each commissioner represents approximately 939 people. A district has twice that number - 1879.
The 2010 census reports that Haywood County now has four districts that are out of the allowed plus or minus 5% population tolerance.
- District 1 is too small with 262 people to few (-13.93%).
- District 9 is too small with 384 too few residents (-13.02%)
- District 2 is too large with 169 too many people (+9.01%)
- District 7 contains 384 people over the limit (+20.46%)
Presently six of the county districts contain majority black residents and four majority white.
The county’s redistricting has voted unamiously to adopt a plan that will keep the 6/4 racial make-up but change some lines to accommodate the population goals.
CTAS’s plan proposes to make six changes to balance the representation. Boundaries would be redrawn in six of the ten districts including districts, two, three, four, five, seven, and nine.
The county commission must submit their plan to the state before December 31.
Click here to see a map of the proposed new districts.
Note: Very large file (25MB), may take several minutes to download and open.
FBI recovers stolen load of electronics
November 18, 2011
Somehow, they got it back.
The trailer loaded with $990,000 worth of Microsoft X-Box video games has been recovered. The 18-wheeler trailer was stolen in Haywood County last weekend. Sheriff Melvin Bond says early indications are that none of the video games is missing from the trailer.
The load was recovered Thursday in New Jersey. The sheriff doesn’t have a lot of details yet, but he explained that the FBI made the discovery.
“The FBI had been looking into a number of similar heists,” the sheriff said. Apparently information the federal investigators had led them to a “warehouse in New Jersey” where they discovered the trailer and the video games. Sheriff Bond said officers were inventorying the trailer, but thought all of the electronics were likely onboard. The sheriff said it was unclear of arrests were made but sources told him it appeared a crime ring was involved.
The trailer was stolen from where it was parked on an Exit 47 truck stop parking lot in Haywood County. En route from Memphis to Ohio, the Haywood County trucker dropped the trailer at the truck stop Saturday night with intentions of picking it back up Sunday. When he checked Sunday about noon it was gone.
Local unemployment numbers likely next week
November 18, 2011
We’ll know probably one day late next
