ETOWAH, Tenn.

Schools share Safe Routes grant

Etowah is receiving $89,591 in Safe Routes to Schools funding for sidewalk construction, crosswalks and signs at Etowah and Mountain Views schools, Gov. Bill Haslam and TDOT Commissioner John Schroer announced Monday.

The money also will be used to provide safety programs and activities encouraging walking and biking as safe and healthy, a news release states.

The grant is made through a federally funded program that is administered by the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

TULLAHOMA, Tenn.

Trailer stolen; driver arrested

A Miami man is being held in Coffee County on a $506,000 bond after troopers learned a tractor-trailer he was driving had been stolen.

According to Tennessee Highway Patrol reports cited in The Tullahoma News, the tractor-trailer was stopped at the Interstate 75 scales in Manchester on Friday morning when a state trooper asked for the log book.

Driver Oreste Jose Garcia instead fled on foot into the woods. He was arrested about a mile down the road.

The trailer contained 18 pallets of cellphones. It had been reported stolen in Jeffersonville, Ind., and the estimated value was approximately $200,000, authorities said.

The highway patrol seized the trailer and is investigating.

Garcia is charged with theft, refusing a drug inspection and evading arrest. He is a federal parolee from Florida.

ATLANTA

Leaders eye more days for pre-k

Georgia education leaders are hoping to return the state's pre-kindergarten program to a 180-day school year.

The schedule was cut to 160 days last year as part of a push by Gov. Nathan Deal to ensure its long-term viability.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Deal is planning to push to resume pre-k as a 180-day program.

If lawmakers agree with Deal's plan, pre-k will be back to 180 days for the school year that starts in August.

BRISTOL, Tenn.

Man charged with sign thefts

A Bristol man is free on bond after police found 30 stolen street signs, two traffic barrels and two traffic cones in his house.

The Kingsport Times-News reported police spotted street signs nailed to the walls of Daniel Cross' home when they responded to a call about a domestic incident Saturday morning.

According to the arrest report, police saw an orange traffic barrel and traffic cone in a corner and found more signs under a bed.

Cross told officers the signs were given to him by a friend. He said he was going to decorate with them.

Cross was charged with receiving or concealing stolen property.