MORRISTOWN (WATE) – The Morristown Police Department is looking for whoever caused around $9,300 in damage to the Morristown Utility System building.
Officers say the suspect or suspects shot the building’s windows out early Monday morning between 2 and 3 a.m. Some of the incident was captured on surveillance camera.
Anyone in the area during that time or with information on the incident should call Cpl. Bob Ellis at (423) 585-4630 or the anonymous tips hotline at (423) 585-1833.
TALBOTT (WATE) – The Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s office is warning swimmers and boaters on Cherokee Reservoir to be cautious as they try to figure out what led to four different electrical shocks this week at private docks in Talbott near the Morristown area.
Darlene Gillispie spends a lot of time with her family on the Cherokee Reservoir. She’s lived there for eight years and the news that some of her neighbors felt an electric shock was a big surprise to her.
“Well I was worried because we had just had grandchildren here visiting for three weeks and we had spent quite a bit of time in the water. So, of course, that was concerning,” said Gillispie.
The fire marshal’s office is coordinating with Tennessee Valley Authority engineers and Appalachian Electric Cooperative to determine the cause of the shocks. No serious injuries were reported, but SFMO is still urging caution until the cause can be determined.
Tests Thursday showed the voltage was not enough to cause bodily injury, but could lead to discomfort.
A TVA representative told state officials they were called by a homeowner who said three different people felt the shocks, which she described as “like touching an electric fence.”
Electricians checked the caller’s and two other people’s service and even cut off electric service to the dock, but that didn’t stop the problem.
Neighbors like Gillispie are waiting to hear what’s causing the shocks before getting back in the water.
“I don’t think I’ll get into the water until I hear a little bit more about what’s going on,” said Gillispie.
Investigators are meeting with engineers from TVA and Appalachian Electric Cooperative on Thursday.
To report an electrical shock, call the SFMO’s Nashville office at (615) 741-7170.
MORRISTOWN (WATE) – A group calling itself “Tennessee III Percent” is one of many taking a stand to protect military recruitment centers after the shootings in Chattanooga. However, WATE 6 On Your Side learned that some in the organization don’t have handgun carry permits.
Two members of the militia group were standing Friday outside a Morristown military recruitment center near College Square Mall. Henry Doll was armed with a 9mm pistol and Bobby Hickson had a sniper rifle.
Related coverage: Chattanooga shooting
The “Tennessee III Percent” militia name dates back to the Revolutionary War when 3 percent of people stood up against England. They’re now fighting a new battle coming out of the Chattanooga shootings.
Members say they will stand outside of the Morristown recruitment center until servicemen and women are allowed to arm themselves. They want to protect service members, even though both said they don’t have handgun carry permits. Both are working to get them and say most people in the Tennessee III Percent have them.
Web Extra: Tennessee Handgun Carry Permit Laws
“We’re here to protect them so they can protect us,” said Bobby Hickson, a member of the group.
Doll and Hickson said they got permission from the property owner, Principle Investment, to stand guard over the recruitment center as long as they stayed on a patch of grass considered private property. Manager Regina Gibson confirmed that information and said she was glad they were there.
When asked if it was legal for the two men to be there without carry permits, Morristown police said they knew “members with carry permits would be there” and that so far no complaints had been filed.
Doll says he’s willing to do what it takes to guard the recruitment center.
“I will fire it in defense of my family, my freedom, my flag, and my servicemen,” said Doll, the organizer of the local chapter of the militia.
The group and the property manager said that the Tennessee III Percent militia would assume all responsibility if something were to happen like another shooting. Even though where they’re set up is private property, Morristown police said they do have the jurisdiction to investigative property if there’s a complaint within the city limits.
Hamblen County Sheriff Esco Jarnigan said he appreciates what the group is doing, but doesn’t think it’s their responsibility to stand guard. He believes all service members should be armed in military facilities.
Pentagon officials issued a statement Friday saying they are asking individuals to not stand guard at recruitment centers:
We take the safety of our service members, our DoD civilians, and the families who support them very seriously, and Secretary of Defense Ash Carter is currently reviewing recommendations from the services for making our installations and facilities safer – including our recruiting stations. While we greatly appreciate the outpouring of support for our recruiters from the American public, we ask that individuals not stand guard at recruiting offices as it could adversely impact our mission, and potentially create unintended security risks. We continue to partner with and rely on first responders for the safety of the communities where our service members live and work.
MORRISTOWN (WATE) – A Morristown couple has been arrested and charged after a hit and run crash that killed a special needs girl and left her mother with serious injuries.
Lex Dienst, 40, and Kristi Dienst, 29, were both arrested in Claiborne County on Thursday. Lex Dienst was later charged with vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident. He is being held on $500,000 bond.
Kristi Dienst is charged with filing a false police report and criminal contempt accessory after the fact and is being held on $250,000 bond. Her mother Trina Seals and her aunt Donna Potter are both also charged with criminal contempt for accessory after the fact for allegedly helping the couple avoid police. Each are being held on $100,000 bond.
Lex Dienst is believed to have been driving a blue Nissa Versa that struck pedestrians Amy Cupp, 16, and Christal Cupp, 37 as they were walking along Joe Hall Road Tuesday morning around 8:00.
Amy Cupp died from her injuries. Family members said Christal Cupp was in the intensive care unit at UT Medical Center on Tuesday night.
Police allege after fleeing the scene of the crash, Lex Dienst called his wife Kristi, to whom the car is registered, and told her to file a report with police that the car had been stolen.
“They’ve left somebody without their daughter and a community without a friend,” said Bunny Plummer, a family friend.
Plummer taught Amy and Christal Cupp in her special education class and coached them in the Special Olympics. She was devastated when she heard what happened.
“It’s upsetting, but you can’t be angry. You have to forgive and that’s hard,” said Plummer.
Family friends said Cupp and her mother didn’t own a car. They would walk to get where they needed to go.
To raise money for funeral expenses, Amy’s co-workers at Popeye’s set up a collection jar.
“She had an impact on my heart,” said Tiffany Witt, the general manager of the store.
She organized the idea.
“If I can’t do anything else, I just want to help. At least give her that much because she deserves it,” said Witt.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help with funeral and other expenses. Donations are also being accepted at the Popeye’s restaurant in Morristown, 127 East Morris Boulevard, where Amy Cupp worked.
MORRISTOWN (WATE) – Hundreds of people were out on the streets of Morristown Friday to watch the unveiling of a restored Coca-Cola mural.
The soda company painted murals like the one in Morristown more than 125 years ago in thousands of communities across the country, but as time went on, many of them faded.
The CEO of the country’s largest Coke bottling company was there to see the repainted wall himself. He says Coke’s brand is about much more than just a can of soda.
“Something as simple and powerful as revitalizing this sign has just brought people out,” said Frank Harrison, CEO of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated. “People just have incredible memories with this incredible brand that’s been around for so long.”
The Morristown mural was originally painted in the 1940s. The bottling company has restored more than two dozen of these signs in just the last few years.
MORRISTOWN (WATE) – After receiving over a dozen calls from parents saying Hamblen County Schools banned all flag clothing, WATE 6 On Your Side reached out to the school system for answers.
Teresa Ayers, a spokesperson with the Hamblen County Department of Education, said school officials did have an assembly where they talked about flag etiquette Thursday. She says students school officials asked students to not have a confederate battle flag on vehicles, because it has caused disruptions in the past, but they were not told anything about a ban on the American flag.
When it comes to wearing any other flags, Ayers said school staff do not want anything that will hinder the learning process.
It is the goal of the Hamblen County Board of Education to provide a quality education for its students, in an atmosphere that is conducive to learning. It is the board’s belief that a learning atmosphere is maintained when students wear clothing that is neat, modest, moderate, and decent, and that does not draw attention to the individual rather than the learning environment. In matters of opinion, the judgment of principals, exercised in a reasonable manner, will prevail.
*Students who are not appropriately dressed, or students who are not following dress code, will be required to obtain a change of clothing that meets dress code standards.
**Students with facial jewelry, not including the ear, will be required to remove the jewelry and give it to a teacher or administrator to be held until it can be picked up by a parent/guardian
MORRISTOWN (WATE) – A Hamblen County man was taken into custody after he crashed a stolen vehicle and in a store on Monday night, according to police.
Leonard Phillips was charged with burglary over $500 and vandalism for the damage at Cherokee By-Lo Market.
A Morristown police officer responded to an audible alarm at the store. They saw Phillips walking away from the store near a broken front window. Sever cartons of cigarettes were missing, according to officers.
Phillips left the scene in a black pickup truck in an apparent attempt to elude police and crashed on Buffalo Trail at Davis Street, officials said.
At the crash scene, officers discovered the pickup truck Phillips was driving was reported stolen on Monday morning by K and J Auto Sales on South Cumberland Street.
Phillips has also been charged in connection with the stolen vehicle.
MORRISTOWN (WATE) – A 15-year-old boy has been charged after posting a comment on Facebook on Wednesday night saying he had feelings of wanting to kill someone.
The Morristown Police Department said they were notified early Thursday morning by a family member of a local high school student after they discovered the post on social media.
“Our department takes seriously any threats made to harm someone,” said MPD Chief Roger Overholt in a press release. “Posts made to social media can indicate someone’s intent and they will be investigated and taken seriously. We thank the individuals who reported this posting to our department.”
Officers and investigators were later able to identify and locate the teen.
After interviewing the teen and consulting with the local district attorney’s office, charges are being placed for harassment and disorderly conduct.
He has been placed in a juvenile holding facility.
MORRISTOWN (WATE) – East High School was placed on lockdown Thursday morning after Morristown Police lead an investigation of a possible threat to school safety.
A student reported she overheard another student make a claim of bringing a gun to school, according to officers.
School officials followed safety protocol by placing the school on lockdown as a precaution while officers and detectives investigated.
A preliminary investigation showed no evidence to support the student’s claim.
Classes have resumed, officers said.
Detectives are interviewing the student who made this initial report. No other information has been released by officials.
WATE 6 On Your Side will update this story as more information is released.
MORRISTOWN (WATE) – Hamblen County Sheriff Esco Jarnagin is filing a “Salary Suit” asking for more money for the sheriff’s department employees.
Sheriff Jarnagin said his attempts to work with the Hamblen County governing body have failed to produce an acceptable living wage for sheriff’s office employees. “For many years the Hamblen County Sheriff’s Department employees have been grossly underpaid and dangerously understaffed,” said Jarnagin. “It is time to properly address this concern.”
Jailers make $10 per hour and risk their life according to Jarnagin. In public forum, he said some commissioners have stated “the Sheriff’s Office employees do not need more money” or “If you are not satisfied with your job, find another one.”
“It is our duty to serve and protect by putting our lives on the line. We do so with graciousness and a since of duty to our community,” said Jarnigan. He says it is time for his employees to make enough to be able to support their families.
The sheriff has received hundreds of comments from supports of the lawsuit, saying they are thankful the sheriff is fighting for his employees. Many said they had to get two jobs in order to support their families.
“It does not matter what capacity an officer of the law fills, the profession still puts them in potential harms way and demands a decent salary instead of almost minimum wage,” said supporter Patricia Bible. “We need well qualified people in these positions with a salary that meets the demands of the work performed.”
MORRISTOWN (WATE) – A Morristown mother spoke publicly for the first time since her daughter with special needs was killed in a hit-and-run in July. Christal Cupp and her daughter, Amy, were walking along Joe Hall Road.
So far, four people have been charged in connection with this.
Cupp said it’s painful knowing that she’ll never see her 16-year-old daughter again. She doesn’t remember much from the hit-and-run, aside from getting ready to cross the road before a car crashed into both of them. From there, all she recalls is waking up in the hospital and asking where Amy was.
Previous story: Suspects charged in deadly Morristown hit and run crash
“It wasn’t my daughter’s time to go. How could somebody just leave me and my daughter there to die? That’s cruel,” said Cupp.
Her daughter didn’t make it out alive.
Cupp has spent the last month at UT Medical Center recovering from her injuries. She’s now at her mother’s home getting physical therapy and trying to walk again while trying to cope with her daughter’s death.
“It’s hard on me. I wish God took me with my daughter, but he didn’t. He kept me here for a reason and that reason is to speak up on my daughter’s behalf,” said Cupp.
Cupp has a lot of questions about what happened. The biggest one is why. She said she can’t bring herself to forgive.
“They’re going to pay for what they did. I’m sorry I can’t forgive somebody for what they done to me and my daughter,” said Cupp.
Pictures of Cupp’s daughter by her bed along with her cell phone comfort her. She said she’ll never let her daughter be forgotten.
“I miss her. I wish she was still here, but she’s here in my heart and she’s here with me right now,” said Cupp.
Cupp said the community’s blessings and prayers have helped heal some of the pain. As for her, she’s got a long road to recovery. She’s using both a wheelchair and walker to get around.
As for the four people who were arrested, Lex Dienst was charged with vehicular homicide along with leaving the scene of an accident. His wife, Kristi Dienst, was charged with filing a false police report and accessory after the fact. Her mother and aunt face similar charges.
MORRISTOWN (WATE) – The Morristown-Hamblen Humane Society said someone impersonating an animal control officer is stealing dogs.
Pam Velder, the shelter director said calls have been coming in almost daily for the past few months with reports of dogs taken from throughout the county. They are warning pet owners to be on the lookout.
“Just make sure you keep the dogs up. If they’re outside using the bathroom, stay out there and keep your eye on the dog,” said Animal Control Officer Jose Rojas.
The shelter is also reminding people that animal control will never show up in an unmarked vehicle or without a uniform. “Usually when I go on a call I don’t just go straight to a backyard and pull a dog,” said Rojas.
The shelter said their animal control trucks are white with a red logo and their officers are always in uniform and willing to show their ID. If in doubt, Velder said feel free to call the shelter at (423) 581-1494.
One person impersonating an animal control officer was seen on St. Clair Road and Alan Spencer Hal road picking up dogs. Velder said at least two dogs were picked up by the impersonator.
“People have called in here saying hey animal control took my dog yesterday or the day before or whatever. We don’t have their dog,” said Velder.
The reports vary a little. Sometimes people saw a white truck, other times a dark truck. Each time they seem to be targeting puppies and pure breed dogs.
“If you see someone at your neighbor’s house and they’re taking an animal and it’s not a marked vehicle, call 911 immediately and report that,” said Velder.
Melissa Holcomb said she caught someone trying to steal her neighbor’s dog, Bella.
“I puppy sit for them and I went over to get her, like I do every morning, out of her kennel,” Holcomb said . “As I was going to get her, he had her.” She said a man who called himself Larry, in an unmarked white truck, took Bella out of the backyard kennel claiming he was with animal control.
Holcomb was lucky to catch the man before he got away with Bella. She says the man who tried to take Bella was about 5’8” with a heavy build and he was balding.
“Bella’s just a puppy, and you just never know what somebody’s going to do with them,” Holcomb said. “I cannot imagine somebody taking one of my babies. I just can’t imagine. I would be devastated.”
She filed a police report, and the humane society is encouraging anyone who sees activity like this or whose pet has been taken to also file a report.
MORRISTOWN (WATE) – Morristown West High School’s student section was decked out like Superman Friday night in honor of a classmate and former football player who died earlier this week of cancer.
Jonathan Fluker, 17, passed away Monday. He had been diagnosed in 2009 and while he was declared cancer free later that year, it returned in 2013.
Before the game started, there wasn’t a score on the school’s jumbotron. Onstead it was Morristown-Hamblen High School’s superman, Jonathan Fluker.
“He was like the hero of our school. He was always just so nice and he brightened everyone’s day,” said student Emily Campbell.
His jersey and his number 76 were still on the field Friday night.
“He plays a big role in our team and a lot of people will be playing for him tonight,” added Campbell.
The stands cheered for Fluker too. Everyone dressed as Superman, remembering their young friend and classmate.
“I think that’s really cool,” said student Ashley Martin.
Many thought back to the time he lived up to his nickname.
“Last year he wore to the prom, under his tuxedo, he wore a superman shirt,” added Martin.
A big banner honored Fluker and a fight song, the superhero theme, at Friday night’s game was orchestrated by students.
“I’m just thankful to have known him,” said the school’s assistant principal Tim Landefeld.
Everyone in the football stadium remembered a young man whose smile could light up a room.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that he is here with us because he would not miss a Friday night football game,” said his best friend Lyric McCarroll.
The Fluker family will be receiving friends Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. at Arrowhead Church in Morristown. A service will then follow.
MORRISTOWN (WATE) – One of the first things you see as you approach downtown Morristown is a broken, murky water fountain, but some residents don’t mind.
“It’s part of Morristown,” said Anna White while standing next to her husband Dennis.
Both of them have lived in Morristown their entire lives and they would love to see the fountain working again.
“It’s just a landmark that you watched for and you grow accustomed to, we miss it,” said Dennis White.
There’s talk right now about possibly getting rid of it.
While that possibility wasn’t on Tuesday’s city council agenda, one person did speak up about it during the public comments portion.
“It’s about something we can’t explain,” said Marie Cunningham. “They’ve had a memory there. For whatever reason, it’s a symbol of home if they moved out of town. It means something different to every person and we can’t discount that.”
The city mayor of Morristown said the fountain hasn’t worked in about nine years, and it’ll cost the city a pretty penny to fix it. He said when it was working, they had some other problems.
“Vagrants who were often around it and using it for various reasons that weren’t suitable for city operations and you go through the winter with busted pipes, leaks and things and pranksters and vandals,” said Morristown Mayor Gary Chesney.
At this point, no decision either way has been made as for what to do with the broken fountain, but the thought of losing it has a lot of people taking to Facebook, liking the page “Save Morristown Fountain” while sharing heartfelt stories about when it was working.
This will be talked about again, informally, at the “Farm to Table Dinner” event being held September 13 at the “Morristown Farmer’s Market Pavilion” from 12:30 to 2 p.m.
MORRISTOWN (WATE) – Two Hamblen County women were arrested Tuesday morning after officers spotted what appeared to be a drug deal in a west Morristown parking lot.
Sherry Holland, 48, is charged with sale and delivery of a controlled substance. Joy Jean Rosenbalm, 46, is charged with Schedule II drug violations.
The Morristown Police Department says officers received an anonymous tip and were able to follow Holland after the allegedly picked up a prescription at a pharmacy and drove it to the parking lot to meet the alleged buyer waiting in a Chevy pickup truck.
After agents watched the two sit in Holland’s white Lincoln, both left in their separate vehicles.
Officers stopped both vehicles and found Rosenbalm, the driver of the Chevy truck, to be in possession of 78 hydrocodone pills for which she did not have a prescription.
Both women were held in the Hamblen County Jail.
ADVANCE, N.C. (WATE/AP) – Two brothers were killed when their small aircraft crashed, catching on fire.
Allen Funeral Home confirms David Stubblefield of Morristown and his brother, William G. Stubblefield, of Knoxville, both died in the crash. Davie County Fire Marshal Jerry Myers said the plane crashed about 2:30 p.m Wednesday in Davie County, near Twin Lakes Airport.
The two Stubblefield brothers were the only people on board the plane. Myers also said a small fire at the site was extinguished before rescuers arrived. Hazardous material crews contained the aviation fuel spill with absorbent booms.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transit Safety Board are on the site investigating.
MAHLE Motorsports in Russelville confirmed that David Stubblefield, who was retired, was a long time executive at the company. Allen Funeral Home will handle funeral arrangements for David Stubblefield’s funeral.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Six counties have been selected to participate in the Select Tennessee Property Evaluation Program.
Launched earlier this year, the program’s goal is to improve the inventory of industrial sites and buildings in Tennessee by evaluating potential properties and advising counties on where investment may be most beneficial and what steps are needed to address issues.
According to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, the counties selected are Carroll, Cumberland, Hamblen, Overton, Shelby and Sumner.
Officials say selection is based on the ability to demonstrate local need and market demand for industrial properties and also on the county’s ability to assemble viable properties with market potential.
MORRISTOWN (WATE) – West Andrew Johnson Highway in Morristown has reopened after a gas leak reported Tuesday morning.
The Hamblen County dispatch confirms the gas leak occurred in the area near Lakeway Auto Sales, 3017 W. Andrew Johnson Highway. A small area near the field was evacuated and Andrew Johnson Highway was temporarily closed, according to dispatch. The highway reopened just after 11:00 a.m.
Crews were sent to investigate the cause of the reported leak. No other information is available at this time.
MORRISTOWN (WATE) – A Morristown woman says her dog disappeared from her home. The yellow lab named Marly was discovered 12 days later dead in a homemade trap in the woods. The TWRA and Morristown-Hamblen Humane Society now investigating the case.
“It sickens me to think of not just Marly, but of anything, suffering in a trap. It was hot. I mean, it’s cruel,” said Patricia Dean.
She got the yellow lab six years ago and says he got her through some rough periods in her life.
“He was a joy,” Dean said.
She says that’s what makes the way Marly died, deep in the woods near her house, even tougher for her to bear.
“I just think these traps are inhumane,” she said.
When her pet originally disappeared for so long, it was unusual.
“We made posters, hung them everywhere, and showed them to people,” Dean explained.
Twelve days later, the family did a massive search of the woods near her house. Deep inside, they found a trap.
“The box was huge. You could tell it was a trap. I thought it was a bear trap. It was made out of things you would see in an air conditioning unit. It had a wooden door,” she said.
Marly was buried in Dean’s backyard. The Morristown-Hamblen Humane Society says this is an ongoing investigation, only releasing that it involved a neighbor and an illegal trap.
“No animal, I don’t even care if it’s a coyote, deserves to suffer like that. He suffered,” Dean said.
MORRISTOWN (WATE) – A Tennova Healthcare hospital was number 31 on a list of United States hospitals with the highest markup prices over their actual costs.
Tennova Healthcare’s Lakeway Regional Hospital in Morristown had markups that were more than 10 times the costs allowed by Medicare according to The Washington Post. The ranking was based on a study by Health Affairs, a peer reviewed healthcare journal.
“These are the hospitals that have the highest markup of all 5,000 hospitals in the United States. This means when it costs the hospital $100, they are going to charge you, on average, $1,000,” said Gerard Anderson, the co-author of the study and a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Lakeway Regional Hospital’s mark-ups were marked-up 960 percent. By comparison, The Washington Post said a typical U.S. hospital charges 3.4 times the cost of patient care.
Officials representing the 50 hospitals disputed the findings, saying that they provide significant discounts to uninsured and underinsured patients.
The study recommends that federal and state governments may want to consider limits hospitals can charge on the actual cost of treatment and regulate hospital markups.
