Thursday, April 20th

From the Tennova Healthcare Cleveland News Desk, here is your news for Thursday, April 20th.

From WRCB Channel 3…

As the search continues for a McCallie student and his step-grandmother, the Merrell Shoe Company and the families are providing additional support in the search.

The families of 14-year-old Jackson Standefer and LouAnn Merrell released a statement Tuesday evening.

Merrell is providing volunteers to aid in the search and the Standefer family is sending a specialist with Chattanooga-based Skytec Aerial Data Specialists to deploy a Sky Ranger military-grade drone equipped with extra capabilities to aid in the search.

The full statement reads:

We would like to thank everyone from around the world who have offered encouragement, support and prayers during this difficult time as we continue to search for Jackson Standefer and LouAnn Merrell. The search for Jackson and LouAnn continues, and the overwhelming support has helped us remain positive throughout this process.

The National Park Service has been working around the clock on rescue efforts since the beginning of this ordeal, and the Standefer and Merrell families are grateful for their tireless dedication, hard work and support.

In an effort to bolster the existing search efforts, the Merrell shoe company has been working over the past several hours to provide climbers and rescuers to continue the search. These volunteers will help speed the search efforts, and we are grateful for their assistance.

In addition, the Standefer family is flying in specialists from Chattanooga-based Skytec Aerial Data Specialists with a Sky Ranger military-grade drone equipped with extra capabilities to aid in the search. We remain hopeful that these efforts will help us find Jackson Standefer and LouAnn Merrell very soon.

Thank you as always for respecting the family’s need for privacy as we work through this difficult time. Your continued love, prayer and support are greatly appreciated.

From the Chattanoogan…

The first Tennessee gas hike since 1989, proposed by Governor Bill Haslam, passed the Tennessee House and the Senate on Wednesday.

The vote in the Tennessee House was 60 to 37.  The vote in the Senate was 25 to 6.

Governor Haslam will need to now finalize the proposal.

The tax will fund almost 1,000 road projects and increase the cost of unleaded gas by seven cents.

At the same time, there will be a drop in the tax on food.

Proponents said it would be a net tax decrease.

From the Cleveland Daily Banner…

Three bids for the Cleveland Middle School re-roofing project were ready and waiting to be opened at 2 p.m. at the Administrative Office Building Tuesday.

Bids were turned in by C.M. Henley Company out of Knoxville, LLC, Dixie Roofing Inc. of LaFollette, and J.D.H. Company, which operates out of Chattanooga.

Bids included the base bid, which was for the 30-year warranty roofing at CMS, the addition of alternate No. 1, which was a partial roof replacement at Blythe-Bower Elementary School with a 20-year warranty, or alternate No. 2 which upped that to the 30-year warranty roofing.

Director of Maintenance and Transportation and project manager Hal Taylor added that the 30-year roofing is not just for insurance purposes, it is actually a thicker, membrane-type roof.

It was C.M. Henley Company who proved to be the low bidder, with a total of $922,904. That total included a base bid of $656,719, an add alternate No. 1 of $231,327 and add alternate No. 2 of $35,858.

All of the bids came in lower than Upland Design architect and Taylor were expecting.

The bids will be presented to the Cleveland Board of Education at the next board meeting on May 1, at 5:30 p.m.

This has been your local and state news. You can get news anytime by visiting our website, mymix1041.com, powered by Pioneer Credit. From the Tennova Healthcare Cleveland News Desk, this is Jeremy Gault reporting.