Morristown Police Chief Roger Overholt is one of 10 Tennesseans tasked by Gov. Phil Bredesen to find solutions to the state's burgeoning methamphetamine problem. Bredesen announced Thursday Overholt will serve as a member of the Governor's Task Force for Methamphetamine Abuse. The task force represents a broad cross-section of expertise, including legislators, law enforcement executives, education officials and human-resource specialists. The police chief, who serves as chairman of the Upper East Tennessee Law Enforcement Executive Council and as a board member of Southeast Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force Board of Directors, said this morning he appreciates the governor's confidence in appointing him to the first-of-its-kind task force. [continues 301 words]
A former Morristown city recorder's office employee fired for allegedly violating the city's drug policy wants a judge to review her termination. The former employee, Rebecca A. Long, maintains she never smoked or possessed marijuana, as alleged by three current or former city employees. She passed a drug test after being placed on administrative leave. In a type of lawsuit called a petition for writ of certiorari, Long asks a Hamblen County Circuit Court judge to hear the evidence that resulted in her firing and grant her unspecified legal relief. [continues 286 words]
The illicit drug trade has been a growing problem for the Lakeway Area. The Citizen Tribune's pages have been full of stories about meth-lab raids, marijuana busts and statistics from local law-enforcement agencies pointing to the growing epidemic. We realize that for every raid and arrest, there probably are many more people in our community willing to risk stiff prison sentences to provide their poison to our citizens. That's why it's heartening to see that a federal jury in Greeneville recently convicted three Bybee men for their part in a conspiracy that supplied cocaine and marijuana to residents of Cocke, Hamblen and Jefferson counties. [continues 148 words]
Paying attention in class really does pay off. Just ask 11-year old Neenah Williams of Morristown, the county wide winner of the D.A.R.E. essay contest. During this past school year, Neenah, a Manley Elementary School fifth-grader, was one of the many county-wide students who took part in D.A.R.E. (drug abuse resistance education) classes. Taught by qualified members of the Morristown Police Department, Officers Ricky Witt and Jacqueline Kyle, D.A.R.E. is a 17-week course designed to teach children the consequences of drugs, alcohol, and violence. Upon completion of the course each students writes an essay on what they have learned and what D.A.R.E. means to them. [continues 335 words]
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - In the world of high-grade marijuana, sticks, seeds and stems are not welcome ingredients. Medical marijuana researchers said they found such cannabis chaff among pot from a government farm, and say their patients deserve kinder buds. The government-grown marijuana is being provided to San Mateo County for the first publicly funded analysis of HIV patients smoking the drug at home. But some of the patients and medical marijuana advocacy groups say the Mississippi-grown weed is weak. [continues 184 words]
Police Sgt. Daniel Cliff's crime-fighting partner, Ricco, is faster than the speediest criminal, strong enough to tackle a burly-armed bandit and able to leap a police cruiser in a single bound. But what separates the 2 1/2-year-old Belgian Malinois from other dogs is not speed or tenacity; it's his award-winning nose. And while Cliff may be Ricco's best friend, the police dog can be the worst enemy of those who carry drugs in their vehicles or try to flee from a crime scene. [continues 294 words]
