Area News

By Eddie West Staff Writer One person will have a little more cash to spend this Christmas as one winning Tennessee Education Lottery ticket was sold in Carthage over the weekend. The lottery is reporting one player won $150,000 after purchasing a ticket at the Murphy USA (111 Myer Street/at Walmart)  in Carthage. The winner…

By Eddie West Staff Writer A man facing an “act of terrorism” and ten other charges following a random shooting incident at a Gordonsville convenience market has been indicted by the county’s grand jury. Allen Jeffrey Martinez Jr., 33, Howe, Texas, went on a shooting spree in September at the Exxon Convenience Market located on…

(The following was released from Fifteenth Judicial Distirct Attorney Jason Lawson’s office.) A Smith County Middle School coach has pleaded guilty to multiple sex crimes involving minors.  Jamal Carter was arrested in March of 2022 after allegations surfaced of inappropriate communications with minors.  Carter was a basketball coach and PE teacher at Smith County Middle…

By Eddie West Staff Writer A temporary restraining order hearing related to the board of education’s chancery court lawsuit filed against the county took place on December 1 before Judge C.K. Smith in Trousdale County. The board of education lawsuit was filed in November in connection with the county’s adoption of the Financial Management System…

(The following press release was issued on Tuesday, December 5 by District Attorney General Jason L. Lawson.) A Gordonsville woman has pleaded guilty to the 2021 murder of a South Carthage man. Tara Greene, 36, pleaded guilty to the offense of second degree murder in the death of Wendell Bennett occurring on February 26, 2021.…

By Eddie West Staff Writer A date has been set in connection with the school board’s chancery court lawsuit involving passage of the County Financial Management System of 1981. Also, the county’s Financial Management Committee, established to set rules and regulations and oversee the county’s newly formed Department of Finance and hiring of a county…

By Eddie West Staff Writer Hundreds of workers in Smith County have been laid off as Nyrstar’s Middle Tennessee Mines’ (zinc mine) “temporarily pause in production operations” is underway. According to the latest from a Nyrstar spokesperson, the company employed approximately 340 workers at mines within the county when the “temporary pause” began Thursday (November…

By Eddie West Staff Writer Establishment of the county’s newly formed Department of Finance has resulted in a lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the county’s school board which is at odds with county commissioners over the October approval of the Financial Management Act of 1981 which establishes a county Department of Finance…

By Eddie West Staff Writer He doesn’t bring presents like Santa Claus, but a Difficult resident’s goal is the same as the “jolly old man” from the North Pole—spreading Christmas cheer. And it may still be November, but Thomas Taylor is already out and about spreading Christmas joy in an unusual way. When Taylor cranks…

By Eddie West Staff Writer A man who pled guilty to charges connected to an April, 2019, South Carthage murder case is back in jail. In October of 2021, James Michael Burns, 48, Cross Plains, pled guilty to aggravated burglary and accessory after the fact, according to court records. Burns received a six-year sentence for…