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Mother and children injured in 250 ft ravine drop
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Rescuers use a rope and pulley system to bring up two of the injured parties on basket stretchers.
Rescuers use a rope and pulley system to bring up two of the injured parties on basket stretchers.
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A glimpse of the vehicle can be seen through the trees.
A glimpse of the vehicle can be seen through the trees.
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A mother and her three children were hospitalized Tuesday after driving off the edge of the Hwy 10 hill and falling 250-300 feet to the bottom of the ravine.

Rebecca Likens, age 29, was driving a 2002 Chevy Trailblazer south on Hwy 10 when the accident occurred. Three of her children, ages 1, 9, and 10, were passengers in the vehicle.

THP Trooper Danny Fisher said that as she was driving south on the hill, she encountered another vehicle driving north that was partially in her lane. She pulled right to avoid the vehicle, and dropped off the right side of the roadway, then over corrected. The Trailblazer “slingshotted” across the roadway, went over the guardrail on the other side, and fell 250-300 feet, coming to rest in the middle of the creek bed.

Fisher said that the vehicle’s position and thick tree cover made it very hard to see from Hwy 10. Eventually, it was the screams for help that allowed responding units to locate them.

“She was able to get a call out on her cell phone,” said Fisher. “She called 911, or called her husband and he called 911, I’m still not sure… but somehow she got a call out on her cell phone and notified them of the accident.

“Then we kept looking for her and couldn’t find her. When I started driving back up the hill, I went with my windows down, because me and the ambulance had gone all the way to the bottom of the [Hwy 10] hill and couldn’t see anything. Then I came back up with my windows down, and I could hear them screaming.”

The driver’s husband, Donald Likens, was among the first to arrive on the scene, about the same time that Fisher arrived. He and a young man who was with him were the first to climb down into the ravine after his family.

About a dozen others from the rescue squad, fire department, and EMS followed them down. “They carried the two youngest children up in their arms, and then they had to use a rope and basket system for the oldest child and the mother, due to their injuries,” said Fisher.

Rebecca and the oldest daughter remained in stable condition at Vanderbilt, as of Wednesday afternoon. The oldest child had a broken arm and leg, according to Fisher, and the mother is being treated for a possible spinal injury. The two youngest children were treated and released.

Lafayette Constable Tom Dallas, among the first to climb down into the ravine, said they were apparently all wearing seatbelts. “Lucky… the kids were strapped in, if they hadn’t been they would have been flying all over the place; that’s what kept them in the vehicle till it reached the bottom.”

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Lafayette sex offender arrested for violation of terms
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 19, 2013 | 162 views | 0 0 comments | 17 17 recommendations | email to a friend | print
D. Coram
D. Coram
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A Lafayette resident was arrested by TBI on June 11 and charged with violating the terms of his status as a registered sex offender.

Coram, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in Wisconsin, was charged with one count of violation of residential restrictions, three counts of violation: offender registration-reg. forms, and one count failure to report-sex offender.

The affidavit states that on June 11, 2013, it was noticed by electronic monitoring that Coram had spent several hours per day at 101 Walton Avenue in Lafayette, for five days in a row. Coram’s registered place of residence is 605 John Street in Lafayette.

Sex offenders are required by law to give notice when they change residences. According to the Tennessee Sex Offender registry, a secondary residence is a place where an offender regularly abides for at least four days in a row.

It was then discovered that Coram had purchased this new residence at Walton Avenue, and he was seen working in the yard there by several law enforcement officers.

During a search, it was found that Coram had created two email addresses, anthony64tn@gmail.com and silvertoungedevil21@gmail.com, which had not been placed on the TN Sex Offender Registry as required by law.

Coram was held without bond for a June 12 General Sessions court appearance.

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download June 18, 2013
Hwy 10 project fully funded
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 18, 2013 | 1765 views | 0 0 comments | 19 19 recommendations | email to a friend | print

The Macon County Mayor’s Office received a letter on Friday stating that the Highway 10 construction project has received full funding and is formally scheduled for bid opening in spring of 2014.

The letter, sent from TN Commissioner of Transportation John Schroer to all local representatives at the state and county level, states that funding for the project has been officially allocated from a state safety program.

The letter cites a public meeting held on May 23 at the Macon County Chamber of Commerce, during which TDOT’s Paul Degges gave an update on where the project stood.

“I understand that Mr. Degges… discussed that the right-of-way acquisition is underway,” writes Schroer, “and that from a schedule perspective, the project will be ready for a bid opening in the spring of 2014, should the funding be available.

“The department has been monitoring crash reports occurring on SR-10 in this vicinity and working with the local Division Office of the Federal Highway Administration, and I am pleased to report that we have been able to identify funding under one of our safety programs to deliver the project.

“I can certainly appreciate your position and share your goals in wanting to provide the safest roads possible for all Tennesseans. I have directed my staff to accelerate the schedule from the fall of 2014 and ready this project for construction in a spring 2014 bid opening.”

County Mayor Shelvy Linville had written TDOT urgently in May complaining that the Hwy 10 project had been put on a backburner, because it did not appear on a three-year budget plan released by TDOT in April.

More recently, Linville said he cut out a front page article from the Macon County Times (June 13 edition) about an accident involving a mother and three minors on Hwy 10, and sent it to TDOT.

“I highlighted ‘mom’, ‘3 children’, and ‘Hwy 10’, and I wrote underneath, ‘This time we were lucky’ and I sent it to them,” said Linville.

Ironically enough, Degges reports that this recent accident contributed to the final numbers necessary to qualify a project for the safety funds that Hwy 10 just received.

“I hate to say it that way… but it’s true,” said Degges. “That this project just barely qualified for safety funds, by the numbers. I know it can seem like this road is the most dangerous stretch in TN, but it simply is not.”

Linville, who admitted after the public meeting that he may have misunderstood the meaning of the three-year plan, stated that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the project moving forward on the schedule that Degges had outlined. Now, he says, “this is good news. That 4th paragraph [in Schroer’s letter] is a sure commitment… I feel good about it now.”

Linville said that he believes the saying ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ and added, “I regret not being squeakier earlier.”

Linville also prepared a written statement, thanking the Commissioner and Governor for their commitment to the project: “I believe the commissioner realizes the danger that the highway 10 hill poses, and has found a way to help us sooner rather than later… I certainly look forward to seeing orange barrels and bulldozers on that hill.”

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Lafayette sex offender arrested for violation of terms
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 19, 2013 | 162 views | 0 0 comments | 17 17 recommendations | email to a friend | print
D. Coram
D. Coram
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A Lafayette resident was arrested by TBI on June 11 and charged with violating the terms of his status as a registered sex offender.

Coram, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in Wisconsin, was charged with one count of violation of residential restrictions, three counts of violation: offender registration-reg. forms, and one count failure to report-sex offender.

The affidavit states that on June 11, 2013, it was noticed by electronic monitoring that Coram had spent several hours per day at 101 Walton Avenue in Lafayette, for five days in a row. Coram’s registered place of residence is 605 John Street in Lafayette.

Sex offenders are required by law to give notice when they change residences. According to the Tennessee Sex Offender registry, a secondary residence is a place where an offender regularly abides for at least four days in a row.

It was then discovered that Coram had purchased this new residence at Walton Avenue, and he was seen working in the yard there by several law enforcement officers.

During a search, it was found that Coram had created two email addresses, anthony64tn@gmail.com and silvertoungedevil21@gmail.com, which had not been placed on the TN Sex Offender Registry as required by law.

Coram was held without bond for a June 12 General Sessions court appearance.

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download June 18, 2013
Hwy 10 project fully funded
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 18, 2013 | 1765 views | 0 0 comments | 19 19 recommendations | email to a friend | print

The Macon County Mayor’s Office received a letter on Friday stating that the Highway 10 construction project has received full funding and is formally scheduled for bid opening in spring of 2014.

The letter, sent from TN Commissioner of Transportation John Schroer to all local representatives at the state and county level, states that funding for the project has been officially allocated from a state safety program.

The letter cites a public meeting held on May 23 at the Macon County Chamber of Commerce, during which TDOT’s Paul Degges gave an update on where the project stood.

“I understand that Mr. Degges… discussed that the right-of-way acquisition is underway,” writes Schroer, “and that from a schedule perspective, the project will be ready for a bid opening in the spring of 2014, should the funding be available.

“The department has been monitoring crash reports occurring on SR-10 in this vicinity and working with the local Division Office of the Federal Highway Administration, and I am pleased to report that we have been able to identify funding under one of our safety programs to deliver the project.

“I can certainly appreciate your position and share your goals in wanting to provide the safest roads possible for all Tennesseans. I have directed my staff to accelerate the schedule from the fall of 2014 and ready this project for construction in a spring 2014 bid opening.”

County Mayor Shelvy Linville had written TDOT urgently in May complaining that the Hwy 10 project had been put on a backburner, because it did not appear on a three-year budget plan released by TDOT in April.

More recently, Linville said he cut out a front page article from the Macon County Times (June 13 edition) about an accident involving a mother and three minors on Hwy 10, and sent it to TDOT.

“I highlighted ‘mom’, ‘3 children’, and ‘Hwy 10’, and I wrote underneath, ‘This time we were lucky’ and I sent it to them,” said Linville.

Ironically enough, Degges reports that this recent accident contributed to the final numbers necessary to qualify a project for the safety funds that Hwy 10 just received.

“I hate to say it that way… but it’s true,” said Degges. “That this project just barely qualified for safety funds, by the numbers. I know it can seem like this road is the most dangerous stretch in TN, but it simply is not.”

Linville, who admitted after the public meeting that he may have misunderstood the meaning of the three-year plan, stated that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the project moving forward on the schedule that Degges had outlined. Now, he says, “this is good news. That 4th paragraph [in Schroer’s letter] is a sure commitment… I feel good about it now.”

Linville said that he believes the saying ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ and added, “I regret not being squeakier earlier.”

Linville also prepared a written statement, thanking the Commissioner and Governor for their commitment to the project: “I believe the commissioner realizes the danger that the highway 10 hill poses, and has found a way to help us sooner rather than later… I certainly look forward to seeing orange barrels and bulldozers on that hill.”

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Lafayette sex offender arrested for violation of terms
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 19, 2013 | 162 views | 0 0 comments | 17 17 recommendations | email to a friend | print
D. Coram
D. Coram
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A Lafayette resident was arrested by TBI on June 11 and charged with violating the terms of his status as a registered sex offender.

Coram, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in Wisconsin, was charged with one count of violation of residential restrictions, three counts of violation: offender registration-reg. forms, and one count failure to report-sex offender.

The affidavit states that on June 11, 2013, it was noticed by electronic monitoring that Coram had spent several hours per day at 101 Walton Avenue in Lafayette, for five days in a row. Coram’s registered place of residence is 605 John Street in Lafayette.

Sex offenders are required by law to give notice when they change residences. According to the Tennessee Sex Offender registry, a secondary residence is a place where an offender regularly abides for at least four days in a row.

It was then discovered that Coram had purchased this new residence at Walton Avenue, and he was seen working in the yard there by several law enforcement officers.

During a search, it was found that Coram had created two email addresses, anthony64tn@gmail.com and silvertoungedevil21@gmail.com, which had not been placed on the TN Sex Offender Registry as required by law.

Coram was held without bond for a June 12 General Sessions court appearance.

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download June 18, 2013
Hwy 10 project fully funded
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 18, 2013 | 1765 views | 0 0 comments | 19 19 recommendations | email to a friend | print

The Macon County Mayor’s Office received a letter on Friday stating that the Highway 10 construction project has received full funding and is formally scheduled for bid opening in spring of 2014.

The letter, sent from TN Commissioner of Transportation John Schroer to all local representatives at the state and county level, states that funding for the project has been officially allocated from a state safety program.

The letter cites a public meeting held on May 23 at the Macon County Chamber of Commerce, during which TDOT’s Paul Degges gave an update on where the project stood.

“I understand that Mr. Degges… discussed that the right-of-way acquisition is underway,” writes Schroer, “and that from a schedule perspective, the project will be ready for a bid opening in the spring of 2014, should the funding be available.

“The department has been monitoring crash reports occurring on SR-10 in this vicinity and working with the local Division Office of the Federal Highway Administration, and I am pleased to report that we have been able to identify funding under one of our safety programs to deliver the project.

“I can certainly appreciate your position and share your goals in wanting to provide the safest roads possible for all Tennesseans. I have directed my staff to accelerate the schedule from the fall of 2014 and ready this project for construction in a spring 2014 bid opening.”

County Mayor Shelvy Linville had written TDOT urgently in May complaining that the Hwy 10 project had been put on a backburner, because it did not appear on a three-year budget plan released by TDOT in April.

More recently, Linville said he cut out a front page article from the Macon County Times (June 13 edition) about an accident involving a mother and three minors on Hwy 10, and sent it to TDOT.

“I highlighted ‘mom’, ‘3 children’, and ‘Hwy 10’, and I wrote underneath, ‘This time we were lucky’ and I sent it to them,” said Linville.

Ironically enough, Degges reports that this recent accident contributed to the final numbers necessary to qualify a project for the safety funds that Hwy 10 just received.

“I hate to say it that way… but it’s true,” said Degges. “That this project just barely qualified for safety funds, by the numbers. I know it can seem like this road is the most dangerous stretch in TN, but it simply is not.”

Linville, who admitted after the public meeting that he may have misunderstood the meaning of the three-year plan, stated that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the project moving forward on the schedule that Degges had outlined. Now, he says, “this is good news. That 4th paragraph [in Schroer’s letter] is a sure commitment… I feel good about it now.”

Linville said that he believes the saying ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ and added, “I regret not being squeakier earlier.”

Linville also prepared a written statement, thanking the Commissioner and Governor for their commitment to the project: “I believe the commissioner realizes the danger that the highway 10 hill poses, and has found a way to help us sooner rather than later… I certainly look forward to seeing orange barrels and bulldozers on that hill.”

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Jun 19, 2013 | 162 views | 0 0 comments | 17 17 recommendations | email to a friend | print
D. Coram
D. Coram
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A Lafayette resident was arrested by TBI on June 11 and charged with violating the terms of his status as a registered sex offender.

Coram, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in Wisconsin, was charged with one count of violation of residential restrictions, three counts of violation: offender registration-reg. forms, and one count failure to report-sex offender.

The affidavit states that on June 11, 2013, it was noticed by electronic monitoring that Coram had spent several hours per day at 101 Walton Avenue in Lafayette, for five days in a row. Coram’s registered place of residence is 605 John Street in Lafayette.

Sex offenders are required by law to give notice when they change residences. According to the Tennessee Sex Offender registry, a secondary residence is a place where an offender regularly abides for at least four days in a row.

It was then discovered that Coram had purchased this new residence at Walton Avenue, and he was seen working in the yard there by several law enforcement officers.

During a search, it was found that Coram had created two email addresses, anthony64tn@gmail.com and silvertoungedevil21@gmail.com, which had not been placed on the TN Sex Offender Registry as required by law.

Coram was held without bond for a June 12 General Sessions court appearance.

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download June 18, 2013
Hwy 10 project fully funded
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 18, 2013 | 1765 views | 0 0 comments | 19 19 recommendations | email to a friend | print

The Macon County Mayor’s Office received a letter on Friday stating that the Highway 10 construction project has received full funding and is formally scheduled for bid opening in spring of 2014.

The letter, sent from TN Commissioner of Transportation John Schroer to all local representatives at the state and county level, states that funding for the project has been officially allocated from a state safety program.

The letter cites a public meeting held on May 23 at the Macon County Chamber of Commerce, during which TDOT’s Paul Degges gave an update on where the project stood.

“I understand that Mr. Degges… discussed that the right-of-way acquisition is underway,” writes Schroer, “and that from a schedule perspective, the project will be ready for a bid opening in the spring of 2014, should the funding be available.

“The department has been monitoring crash reports occurring on SR-10 in this vicinity and working with the local Division Office of the Federal Highway Administration, and I am pleased to report that we have been able to identify funding under one of our safety programs to deliver the project.

“I can certainly appreciate your position and share your goals in wanting to provide the safest roads possible for all Tennesseans. I have directed my staff to accelerate the schedule from the fall of 2014 and ready this project for construction in a spring 2014 bid opening.”

County Mayor Shelvy Linville had written TDOT urgently in May complaining that the Hwy 10 project had been put on a backburner, because it did not appear on a three-year budget plan released by TDOT in April.

More recently, Linville said he cut out a front page article from the Macon County Times (June 13 edition) about an accident involving a mother and three minors on Hwy 10, and sent it to TDOT.

“I highlighted ‘mom’, ‘3 children’, and ‘Hwy 10’, and I wrote underneath, ‘This time we were lucky’ and I sent it to them,” said Linville.

Ironically enough, Degges reports that this recent accident contributed to the final numbers necessary to qualify a project for the safety funds that Hwy 10 just received.

“I hate to say it that way… but it’s true,” said Degges. “That this project just barely qualified for safety funds, by the numbers. I know it can seem like this road is the most dangerous stretch in TN, but it simply is not.”

Linville, who admitted after the public meeting that he may have misunderstood the meaning of the three-year plan, stated that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the project moving forward on the schedule that Degges had outlined. Now, he says, “this is good news. That 4th paragraph [in Schroer’s letter] is a sure commitment… I feel good about it now.”

Linville said that he believes the saying ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ and added, “I regret not being squeakier earlier.”

Linville also prepared a written statement, thanking the Commissioner and Governor for their commitment to the project: “I believe the commissioner realizes the danger that the highway 10 hill poses, and has found a way to help us sooner rather than later… I certainly look forward to seeing orange barrels and bulldozers on that hill.”

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Lafayette sex offender arrested for violation of terms
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 19, 2013 | 162 views | 0 0 comments | 17 17 recommendations | email to a friend | print
D. Coram
D. Coram
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A Lafayette resident was arrested by TBI on June 11 and charged with violating the terms of his status as a registered sex offender.

Coram, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in Wisconsin, was charged with one count of violation of residential restrictions, three counts of violation: offender registration-reg. forms, and one count failure to report-sex offender.

The affidavit states that on June 11, 2013, it was noticed by electronic monitoring that Coram had spent several hours per day at 101 Walton Avenue in Lafayette, for five days in a row. Coram’s registered place of residence is 605 John Street in Lafayette.

Sex offenders are required by law to give notice when they change residences. According to the Tennessee Sex Offender registry, a secondary residence is a place where an offender regularly abides for at least four days in a row.

It was then discovered that Coram had purchased this new residence at Walton Avenue, and he was seen working in the yard there by several law enforcement officers.

During a search, it was found that Coram had created two email addresses, anthony64tn@gmail.com and silvertoungedevil21@gmail.com, which had not been placed on the TN Sex Offender Registry as required by law.

Coram was held without bond for a June 12 General Sessions court appearance.

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download June 18, 2013
Hwy 10 project fully funded
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 18, 2013 | 1765 views | 0 0 comments | 19 19 recommendations | email to a friend | print

The Macon County Mayor’s Office received a letter on Friday stating that the Highway 10 construction project has received full funding and is formally scheduled for bid opening in spring of 2014.

The letter, sent from TN Commissioner of Transportation John Schroer to all local representatives at the state and county level, states that funding for the project has been officially allocated from a state safety program.

The letter cites a public meeting held on May 23 at the Macon County Chamber of Commerce, during which TDOT’s Paul Degges gave an update on where the project stood.

“I understand that Mr. Degges… discussed that the right-of-way acquisition is underway,” writes Schroer, “and that from a schedule perspective, the project will be ready for a bid opening in the spring of 2014, should the funding be available.

“The department has been monitoring crash reports occurring on SR-10 in this vicinity and working with the local Division Office of the Federal Highway Administration, and I am pleased to report that we have been able to identify funding under one of our safety programs to deliver the project.

“I can certainly appreciate your position and share your goals in wanting to provide the safest roads possible for all Tennesseans. I have directed my staff to accelerate the schedule from the fall of 2014 and ready this project for construction in a spring 2014 bid opening.”

County Mayor Shelvy Linville had written TDOT urgently in May complaining that the Hwy 10 project had been put on a backburner, because it did not appear on a three-year budget plan released by TDOT in April.

More recently, Linville said he cut out a front page article from the Macon County Times (June 13 edition) about an accident involving a mother and three minors on Hwy 10, and sent it to TDOT.

“I highlighted ‘mom’, ‘3 children’, and ‘Hwy 10’, and I wrote underneath, ‘This time we were lucky’ and I sent it to them,” said Linville.

Ironically enough, Degges reports that this recent accident contributed to the final numbers necessary to qualify a project for the safety funds that Hwy 10 just received.

“I hate to say it that way… but it’s true,” said Degges. “That this project just barely qualified for safety funds, by the numbers. I know it can seem like this road is the most dangerous stretch in TN, but it simply is not.”

Linville, who admitted after the public meeting that he may have misunderstood the meaning of the three-year plan, stated that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the project moving forward on the schedule that Degges had outlined. Now, he says, “this is good news. That 4th paragraph [in Schroer’s letter] is a sure commitment… I feel good about it now.”

Linville said that he believes the saying ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ and added, “I regret not being squeakier earlier.”

Linville also prepared a written statement, thanking the Commissioner and Governor for their commitment to the project: “I believe the commissioner realizes the danger that the highway 10 hill poses, and has found a way to help us sooner rather than later… I certainly look forward to seeing orange barrels and bulldozers on that hill.”

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by Tilly Dillehay
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Jun 19, 2013 | 162 views | 0 0 comments | 17 17 recommendations | email to a friend | print
D. Coram
D. Coram
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A Lafayette resident was arrested by TBI on June 11 and charged with violating the terms of his status as a registered sex offender.

Coram, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in Wisconsin, was charged with one count of violation of residential restrictions, three counts of violation: offender registration-reg. forms, and one count failure to report-sex offender.

The affidavit states that on June 11, 2013, it was noticed by electronic monitoring that Coram had spent several hours per day at 101 Walton Avenue in Lafayette, for five days in a row. Coram’s registered place of residence is 605 John Street in Lafayette.

Sex offenders are required by law to give notice when they change residences. According to the Tennessee Sex Offender registry, a secondary residence is a place where an offender regularly abides for at least four days in a row.

It was then discovered that Coram had purchased this new residence at Walton Avenue, and he was seen working in the yard there by several law enforcement officers.

During a search, it was found that Coram had created two email addresses, anthony64tn@gmail.com and silvertoungedevil21@gmail.com, which had not been placed on the TN Sex Offender Registry as required by law.

Coram was held without bond for a June 12 General Sessions court appearance.

Comments
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download June 18, 2013
Hwy 10 project fully funded
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 18, 2013 | 1765 views | 0 0 comments | 19 19 recommendations | email to a friend | print

The Macon County Mayor’s Office received a letter on Friday stating that the Highway 10 construction project has received full funding and is formally scheduled for bid opening in spring of 2014.

The letter, sent from TN Commissioner of Transportation John Schroer to all local representatives at the state and county level, states that funding for the project has been officially allocated from a state safety program.

The letter cites a public meeting held on May 23 at the Macon County Chamber of Commerce, during which TDOT’s Paul Degges gave an update on where the project stood.

“I understand that Mr. Degges… discussed that the right-of-way acquisition is underway,” writes Schroer, “and that from a schedule perspective, the project will be ready for a bid opening in the spring of 2014, should the funding be available.

“The department has been monitoring crash reports occurring on SR-10 in this vicinity and working with the local Division Office of the Federal Highway Administration, and I am pleased to report that we have been able to identify funding under one of our safety programs to deliver the project.

“I can certainly appreciate your position and share your goals in wanting to provide the safest roads possible for all Tennesseans. I have directed my staff to accelerate the schedule from the fall of 2014 and ready this project for construction in a spring 2014 bid opening.”

County Mayor Shelvy Linville had written TDOT urgently in May complaining that the Hwy 10 project had been put on a backburner, because it did not appear on a three-year budget plan released by TDOT in April.

More recently, Linville said he cut out a front page article from the Macon County Times (June 13 edition) about an accident involving a mother and three minors on Hwy 10, and sent it to TDOT.

“I highlighted ‘mom’, ‘3 children’, and ‘Hwy 10’, and I wrote underneath, ‘This time we were lucky’ and I sent it to them,” said Linville.

Ironically enough, Degges reports that this recent accident contributed to the final numbers necessary to qualify a project for the safety funds that Hwy 10 just received.

“I hate to say it that way… but it’s true,” said Degges. “That this project just barely qualified for safety funds, by the numbers. I know it can seem like this road is the most dangerous stretch in TN, but it simply is not.”

Linville, who admitted after the public meeting that he may have misunderstood the meaning of the three-year plan, stated that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the project moving forward on the schedule that Degges had outlined. Now, he says, “this is good news. That 4th paragraph [in Schroer’s letter] is a sure commitment… I feel good about it now.”

Linville said that he believes the saying ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ and added, “I regret not being squeakier earlier.”

Linville also prepared a written statement, thanking the Commissioner and Governor for their commitment to the project: “I believe the commissioner realizes the danger that the highway 10 hill poses, and has found a way to help us sooner rather than later… I certainly look forward to seeing orange barrels and bulldozers on that hill.”

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Willie Don Barrett
Willie Don Barrett
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D. Coram
D. Coram
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Lafayette sex offender arrested for violation of terms
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 19, 2013 | 162 views | 0 0 comments | 17 17 recommendations | email to a friend | print
D. Coram
D. Coram
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A Lafayette resident was arrested by TBI on June 11 and charged with violating the terms of his status as a registered sex offender.

Coram, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in Wisconsin, was charged with one count of violation of residential restrictions, three counts of violation: offender registration-reg. forms, and one count failure to report-sex offender.

The affidavit states that on June 11, 2013, it was noticed by electronic monitoring that Coram had spent several hours per day at 101 Walton Avenue in Lafayette, for five days in a row. Coram’s registered place of residence is 605 John Street in Lafayette.

Sex offenders are required by law to give notice when they change residences. According to the Tennessee Sex Offender registry, a secondary residence is a place where an offender regularly abides for at least four days in a row.

It was then discovered that Coram had purchased this new residence at Walton Avenue, and he was seen working in the yard there by several law enforcement officers.

During a search, it was found that Coram had created two email addresses, anthony64tn@gmail.com and silvertoungedevil21@gmail.com, which had not been placed on the TN Sex Offender Registry as required by law.

Coram was held without bond for a June 12 General Sessions court appearance.

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download June 18, 2013
Hwy 10 project fully funded
by Tilly Dillehay
Editor
Jun 18, 2013 | 1765 views | 0 0 comments | 19 19 recommendations | email to a friend | print

The Macon County Mayor’s Office received a letter on Friday stating that the Highway 10 construction project has received full funding and is formally scheduled for bid opening in spring of 2014.

The letter, sent from TN Commissioner of Transportation John Schroer to all local representatives at the state and county level, states that funding for the project has been officially allocated from a state safety program.

The letter cites a public meeting held on May 23 at the Macon County Chamber of Commerce, during which TDOT’s Paul Degges gave an update on where the project stood.

“I understand that Mr. Degges… discussed that the right-of-way acquisition is underway,” writes Schroer, “and that from a schedule perspective, the project will be ready for a bid opening in the spring of 2014, should the funding be available.

“The department has been monitoring crash reports occurring on SR-10 in this vicinity and working with the local Division Office of the Federal Highway Administration, and I am pleased to report that we have been able to identify funding under one of our safety programs to deliver the project.

“I can certainly appreciate your position and share your goals in wanting to provide the safest roads possible for all Tennesseans. I have directed my staff to accelerate the schedule from the fall of 2014 and ready this project for construction in a spring 2014 bid opening.”

County Mayor Shelvy Linville had written TDOT urgently in May complaining that the Hwy 10 project had been put on a backburner, because it did not appear on a three-year budget plan released by TDOT in April.

More recently, Linville said he cut out a front page article from the Macon County Times (June 13 edition) about an accident involving a mother and three minors on Hwy 10, and sent it to TDOT.

“I highlighted ‘mom’, ‘3 children’, and ‘Hwy 10’, and I wrote underneath, ‘This time we were lucky’ and I sent it to them,” said Linville.

Ironically enough, Degges reports that this recent accident contributed to the final numbers necessary to qualify a project for the safety funds that Hwy 10 just received.

“I hate to say it that way… but it’s true,” said Degges. “That this project just barely qualified for safety funds, by the numbers. I know it can seem like this road is the most dangerous stretch in TN, but it simply is not.”

Linville, who admitted after the public meeting that he may have misunderstood the meaning of the three-year plan, stated that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the project moving forward on the schedule that Degges had outlined. Now, he says, “this is good news. That 4th paragraph [in Schroer’s letter] is a sure commitment… I feel good about it now.”

Linville said that he believes the saying ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ and added, “I regret not being squeakier earlier.”

Linville also prepared a written statement, thanking the Commissioner and Governor for their commitment to the project: “I believe the commissioner realizes the danger that the highway 10 hill poses, and has found a way to help us sooner rather than later… I certainly look forward to seeing orange barrels and bulldozers on that hill.”

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Willie Don Barrett
Willie Don Barrett
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