Man arrested after standoff and other news from areas around Chattanooga

Man arrested after standoff

KIMBALL, Tenn. - A Kimball, Tenn., man was arrested Thursday night after a two-hour standoff with a SWAT team, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff Ronnie "Bo" Burnett said the Kimball police department responded to a local trailer park after neighbors complained that 26-year-old Dustin Jackson was drunk and yelling at people. When officers arrived, Jackson refused to come outside, the sheriff said.

Burnett said Jackson had been arrested in 2013 for assault on an officer, so around 6:30 p.m. CST local police requested help from the eight-man SWAT team, which consists of members of the sheriff's office and the police departments in Kimball, South Pittsburg and Whitwell.

When the team arrived, Burnett said, Jackson and 37-year-old Patricia Ann Phillips still refused to come out. After two hours, the SWAT team tossed pepper spray inside, and Jackson and Phillips ran out.

Police charged Jackson with contempt of court and aggravated criminal trespassing. The officers charged Phillips with disorderly conduct.


Volunteers sought to analyze howls

KNOXVILLE - The University of Tennessee needs volunteers to listen to howling dogs, wolves and coyotes.

Researcher Arik Kershenbaum told the Knoxville News Sentinel that canid species have different ways of communicating, despite being closely related. Volunteers are needed to help differentiate these howls.

Volunteers will log into howlcoder.appspot.com and follow the links. The website includes an in-depth tutorial.

Volunteers also are needed to submit recordings of domestic dogs howling, which can be done on the same website.

The Canid Howl Project aims to get hundreds of volunteer scientists to help out. Kershenbaum said having many people involved not only saves time, but it should limit the impact of mistakes.


Prehistoric items found at work site

NASHVILLE - Archaeologists digging at the construction site for Nashville's new minor league baseball stadium have unearthed prehistoric deposits that could go back as far as 1150 AD.

State archaeologist Mike Moore told The Tennessean that fire pits and broken pieces of ceramic pans were uncovered at Sulphur Dell. They suggest that the area once held a large workshop where mineral water was boiled to collect salt, a valuable trading commodity.

The new Nashville Sounds ballpark will be built over the archaeological site, but not in a way that will damage any remaining artifacts, officials said.


Litter removal coming to highways

ATLANTA - Department of Transportation officials are gearing up to fight grime along highways.

GDOT officials said in a statement that the annual Litter Pick Up Week is scheduled for Monday through Friday.

Southwest Georgia District Maintenance Engineer Stacy Aultman said the agency conducts litter pickup a week before mowing grass to avoid hitting garbage and scattering it along roads.

The agency spent more than $12.8 million removing litter from roads statewide in 2013. GDOT officials said the department collected more than 151,000 bags of garbage from state highways last year.

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