Tuesday, May 16th

From the Tennova Healthcare Cleveland News Desk, here is your news for Tuesday, May 16th, on Mix 104-1 and Talk 101-3 The Buzz.

Our top story, from WRCB Channel 3…

Those living in Hamilton County will not sit on the jury to decide Johnthony Walker’s fate.

He’s facing charges in the Woodmore bus crash that killed six elementary students last November.

Too many people in Hamilton County know who Walker is, that’s why his attorney believes those who decide his fate should come from another community.

A Hamilton County judge agreed, granting the defense’s motion to pick a jury from outside Hamilton County and bring them to Chattanooga for the trial.

Walker’s attorney Amanda Dunn wouldn’t say where specifically she would like the jury to come from but she did say where she would not. Dunn and prosecutors will have to agree on a place by July 20th and get final approval by the judge. Dunn says it will cost a little more to bring a jury in, but to her, the cost is worth it in terms of fairness.

From the Cleveland Daily Banner…

Two power outages Saturday in Cleveland that originated at the same substation have led Cleveland Utilities to bring in a testing company yesterday to see why the incidents occurred.

Details of the first outage were published in Sunday’s edition of the Cleveland Daily Banner, but a second blackout took place hours later on Saturday night, past press deadlines.

The first outage was reported at 5:12 a.m. Saturday, with eventually approximately 13,800 CU customers affected, said Cleveland Utilities President and CEO Tim Henderson. He said that the power was restored to customers around 6:37 a.m.

He explained that two breakers at the East Substation on Hardeman Lane off Old Tasso Road N.E. were locked out at the same time, an unusual occurrence.

The same kind of incident occurred later on Saturday, when the two relays were found locked out, noted Bart Borden, CU vice president of the Electric Division.

Borden said that while the bulk of the power supply had been moved to the South Cleveland Substation, located on Stone Lake Road off APD 40, the incident still hit 5,749 customers Saturday night. He said that rerouting the power to the south substation allowed for fewer customers to be affected.

In fact, he said that all power has been rerouted from the East Cleveland Substation to the South Substation until the reason for the outage is discovered.

The second power outage occurred Saturday around 7:16 p.m., and service was restored by 8:44 p.m. Many of the same customers who experienced the electrical loss that morning were also affected by the evening outage.

Also from The Banner…

The Cleveland Bradley County Public Library was recently awarded yet another technology grant, this time to the tune of $9,418 to be used for technology training — but, the future of such grants could be threatened by federal budget cuts, as currently proposed.

Local funds will match 10 percent of this most recent grant, which means the library will actually receive a little over $10,300.

The library will be using the funds to purchase laptops to aid in its training lab.

Library Director Andrew Hunt also added that the library would be able to bring in some paid instructors for various skills classes.

Over the past few months, the library has received a number of grants, including a $6,256 one that was used to improve the facility’s wireless internet capabilities and a $4,100 grant to purchase a new digital microfilm scanner.

Hunt has reason to worry about the future of things such as the technology grants, though, as proposed federal budget cuts could affect funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The IMLS Grants to States Program provides funds to State Library Administrative Agencies using a population-based formula that is set by the law.

The loss of IMLS funding could result in the loss of technology grants.

The funding of the Tennessee Electronic Library, the Regional EBook and Audiobook Download System (Tennessee READS), Library Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped and Library Technology Support could all be affected.

Those worried about the impact the loss of IMLS funds could have on the local library can help by contacting their government representatives.

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.