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Monday, November 23rd

The Cleveland Daily Banner reports- Three accidents on a Bradley?County stretch of Interstate 75 Saturday left two people dead and traffic confusion

The Cleveland Daily Banner reports- Three accidents on a Bradley?County stretch of Interstate 75 Saturday left two people dead and traffic confusion for several hours. A single-vehicle crash killed one person and injured two others early Saturday morning. Billy McBee, a 26-year-old man from Sevierville, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a preliminary report by Trooper Philip Reagan of the Tennessee Highway Patrol. McBee and two passengers were reportedly traveling southbound near Mile Marker 33 when he “lost control” of the Nissan Sentra he was driving. The car then veered off the left side of the road and hit a tree in the median. A passenger in the back seat was ejected from the vehicle, while McBee and a passenger in the front seat were trapped inside. Both passengers, 25-year-old Ricky Trouten of Newport and 33-year-old Regina Collins of Gatlinburg, were said to have survived with injuries. The exact conditions of the passengers were unknown as of press time.?However, the report did say everyone’s next of kin had been notified. The accident was reported at 12:03 a.m. Saturday, and investigation into the cause is still ongoing. Tests have been ordered for McBee to see if drugs or alcohol may have been a factor. Later, at 3 a.m. Saturday, the interstate saw another accident which caused traffic backups well into the afternoon hours. According to information provided by the THP’s Lt. John Harmon, an accident involving two tractor trailers led to one going up in flames near Mile Marker 18 in Bradley County. While the exact cause of the accident was unknown, it left one tractor trailer hauling a load of plastic bottles “fully engulfed”?and blocking the roadway. The other vehicle, a tractor which did not have a trailer attached, came to a rest on the left shoulder of the road. Information about the drivers involved was also unavailable as of press time. However, what is known is that it took many hours to clear the road of all the debris. After the first two accidents, tragedy would again strike on the southbound lanes of Interstate 75 in Bradley County Saturday. Shortly after it occurred, the Tennessee Department of Transportation reported there had been an accident at 3:05 p.m. near Mile Marker 34. Harmon later said the THP?had responded to a fatal crash at that mile marker, just one mile away from where someone else had passed away less than 24 hours before. “I have very little information at this time, and notification of the deceased [person’s] family has not been made yet,”?Harmon said. Times Free Press- A federal appeals court on Friday sided with a Chattanooga U.S. District Court judge who said a civil rights case involving a former Bradley County deputy should go forward. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Judge Harry S. Mattice’s ruling that former deputy Dustin Patrick wasn’t entitled to summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity. Friday’s ruling means the case will go to trial, but no trial date has been set. Patrick shot Armetta Foster on May 21, 2011, after he came upon her and her two children walking in the median of Interstate 75. Patrick said when he questioned her, she slashed at him with a knife and drove off in his patrol car. He fired his weapon and hit her eight times, but she drove 2 1/2 miles north on I-75 before crashing through a barbed wire fence. She died from the gunshot wounds at Erlanger hospital. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation handled the investigation and worked with the district attorney’s office, which elected not to press criminal charges against Patrick. However, Foster’s father, Leonard Foster, filed a federal civil lawsuit claiming that Patrick used excessive force, violating his daughter’s Fourth and Fourteenth amendment rights. The Times Free Press reports Toxicology results revealed Foster had methamphetamine and three types of painkillers in her system at the time. Patrick was fired that fall for unrelated reasons. Cleveland Daily Banner- Sheriff Eric Watson’s program he calls “Coats for the Cold,” has collected and distributed more than 10,000 coats to children in need. This annual event began 15 years ago when Watson was a deputy with the Bradley County?Sheriff’s Office. At 7 a.m. Monday, this year’s “Coats for the Cold” program will kick off at the Town House Bakery. Local residents will have the opportunity to donate new or gently-used coats for children and adults who will be needing them over the winter months. It is coinciding with the first big blast of cold weather in the area, with lows on Sunday night expected to be in the 20s. Watson said he truly believes providing a warm coat during the upcoming months will positively impact the self-esteem and self-worth, and especially the health, of those in need. “We are taught to care for those in need — especially children,” the sheriff said. “The ‘Coats for the Cold’ program is a great way for our community to come together for a great cause. While the program kicks off on Monday at the bakery, there will be other sites to drop off warm winter coats. These sites include: Any Bradley County BB&T Banking location; The United Way of Bradley County at 85 Ocoee St., S.E.; The Village Tire Center at 232 Third St., S.W.; Bradley County Trustee Mike Smith’s office, on the first floor of the Bradley County Courthouse; Family Tire at 215 W. Inman St.; and Logan-Thompson law offices at 30 Second St., N.W. Coats can also be dropped off at the lobby of the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office at 2290 Blythe Ave. To get your company or industry involved and learn more about the “Coats for the Cold” program, contact the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office at 423-728-7301.