Saturday, January 25, 2014
MONTEAGLE, Tenn. - Accountant Lenda Sherrell, of Monteagle, has announced she will run for the Democratic nomination in Tennessee's 4th Congressional District.
Sherrell said her campaign will focus on the economy, growing the middle class and expanding access to health care.
Sherrell has two adult children. Her husband, Jim, is a retired physician.
Embattled incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais is being challenged by state Rep. Jim Tracy, of Shelbyville, for the Republican nomination. Tracy had a wide fundraising advantage through the most recent reporting period.
DesJarlais, a Jasper physician, was re-elected in 2012 despite disclosures that he had affairs with patients and once urged one of them to seek an abortion.
MARIETTA, Ga. - The Atlanta Braves were expected to close Friday on land to build a new stadium in the city's northwest suburbs.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the team was expected to close on the Cobb County land Friday.
The newspaper reports the Braves would pay about $34.2 million -- $600,000 per acre -- for a 57.1-acre parcel of property near Cumberland Mall. The team would buy the land from Bethesda, Md.-based real-estate firm B.F. Saul Co.
In November 2013, the Cobb County Commission approved a new $672 million stadium, which officials hope to open for the 2017 season.
The project is set to take the team out of downtown Atlanta for the first time since it moved to Georgia from Milwaukee in 1966.
SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. - Bedford County's former veterans' service officer has pleaded guilty to stealing from the United Veterans Council and the American Legion.
The Shelbyville Times-Gazette reports Gordon Warren was given six years' probation Thursday after pleading guilty to theft charges.
Assistant District Attorney Richard Cawley told the paper that Warren stole more than $49,000 from the United Veterans Council between 2006 and 2013. He took another $5,500 from the American Legion over that same time frame. He stole much of the money by writing checks to himself.
After pleading guilty, Warren made restitution to the two groups of more than $55,000.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The 6-year-old Alabama boy held hostage in an underground bunker last year is reportedly doing well and showing few effects from the ordeal.
Camren Kirkland, the older brother of Ethan Gilman, spoke with reporters in Montgomery on Friday as the one-year anniversary of the standoff approaches.
Kirkland said Ethan has only spoken of the ordeal a few times since, and he isn't showing signs of lingering problems or stress. And Kirkland said his brother is doing better in school now than beforehand.
A man identified as Jimmy Lee Dykes held Ethan hostage for six days after killing the boy's school bus driver and dragging Ethan into the bunker.
Officers rescued the child unharmed after storming the bunker and killing Dykes.