Monday, January 30th

From the Tennova Healthcare Cleveland News Desk, here are your news headlines for Monday, January 30th, on Mix 104-1 and Talk 101-3 The Buzz.

Our top story…

Investigators from the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office, Bradley County Fire & Rescue, Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance Fire Investigations, and Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (A.T.F.) have deemed the structure fire of Christian Outreach Church located at 225 Rabbit Valley Rd. as “Arson”.

Sunday morning at approximately 2:31 a.m. 911 call was received regarding a church burglary in progress at 225 Rabbit Valley Rd. When arriving on the scene, patrol deputies immediately requested Bradley County Fire & Rescue respond to the scene after observing massive amounts of smoke inside the building. Once fire department personnel arrived, over half of the structure was engulfed in flames. Witnesses at the scene advised a person was seen running away from the church towards wooded area adjacent to the church before patrol deputies’ arrival.

Upon further investigation, photos were recovered from a surveillance system that captured an individual inside the church before it caught fire, who is now being considered a person of interest. Investigators are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the person captured in the photographs.

The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance is offering a cash award of up to $5,000 (five-thousand dollars) for any information leading to the capture of the person(s) responsible for the arsonist act. Anybody with information should call the Tennessee Arson Hotline at 1-800-762-3017.

Also in the news today…

Bradley County Sheriff’s Office is partnering with the Tennessee Highway Safety Office (T.H.S.O.) to enhance impaired-driving enforcement during the Super Bowl weekend. The T.H.S.O.’s Booze It & Lose It campaign is a statewide mobilization to prevent impaired-driving crashes, injuries, and fatalities.

The Public Safety Unit along with our patrol deputies will target drivers who are driving impaired. Additionally, there will be no tolerance for those who engage in reckless and distracted driving. We encourage everyone to enjoy the Super Bowl festivities that weekend, but to do it responsibly.

From the Chattanooga Times Free Press…

Republican Gov. Bill Haslam’s State of the State address today will lay out an ambitious agenda that includes selling skeptics in his own party on his push to boost fuel taxes to pay for better roads.

Haslam also will highlight his accompanying plan to offset the boost by cutting several other taxes supporting government responsibilities, such as public education, because of huge revenue surpluses.

The State of the State gives Tennessee governors a high-profile stage where they can make the case for their priorities to the 33 senators and 99 representatives and state residents.

The governor’s press secretary, Jennifer Donnals, said he will “promote several initiatives including his comprehensive and strategic plan to cut taxes on food and manufacturing while updating how the state provides Tennesseans the safe and reliable transportation network needed to support future job growth.”

The governor “will also talk about a responsible path to improve access to broadband for rural Tennesseans,” Donnals said. “And, as he has shown throughout his administration, education will remain a top priority.”

In other news…

Cleveland Mayor Tom Rowland has been reelected to a seventh  two-year term as Vice Chairman of the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations(TACIR).

The elections came during the quarterly meeting held last week in Nashville. TACIR meets at the state Capitol in the Legislative Plaza for two days four times a year.

The commission has a talented  research staff of approximately 18 members who provide input to assist the commissioners in decision making.Two current issues include broad band and 911 funding, both are important to Cleveland and Bradley County.