Area News

By Eddie West Staff Writer In the midst of January 2021’s winter chill, a stranger from up North arrived at a specified address in South Carthage. Neighbors had never seen the gentleman prior to his arrival and, at the time, he knew no Smith County resident. When the stranger opened the door to the house…

Funeral services were held Tuesday (April 5) for a former Carthage City Councilman and longtime fireman. Randy Dennis, 67, Carthage, passed away Saturday at Smith County Health and Rehab. A 1974 graduate of Smith County High School, Dennis served on both the Carthage Fire Department and Central District Fire Department. Dennis was a longtime employee…

By Eddie West Staff Writer What’s important for residents to know about the county’s first ever Democratic and Republican primary elections is two of the county’s top offices will be decided on May 3 and not the August County General Election as has always been tradition. May’s Democratic and Republican primary elections essentially divides the…

By Eddie West Staff Writer The James E. Fisher Bridge, located on Highway 70/Lebanon Highway in the Rome community,  was damaged during an accident, Wednesday afternoon. The bridge’s truss was reportedly struck by a county highway department dump truck with its bed raised. The driver of the dump truck had just dumped dirt at a…

By Eddie West Staff Writer Two people were airlifted to a Nashville hospital with serious injuries from a wreck which occurred on Highway 53/Gordonsville Highway in South Carthage, Wednesday afternoon. Two vehicles collided on Highway 53/Gordonsville Highway around 3 p.m. near Crump Paris Park. According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), the wreck involved a…

By Eddie West Staff Writer A male subject is expected to face charges following a police pursuit and road rage incident which occurred on Interstate 40 in Smith County, Friday afternoon. Sheriff’s department officers were dispatched to Interstate 40 when a caller reported a male subject had stopped his vehicle on the interstate and was…

ONE FACING CHARGES IN 3 COUNTIES AFTER K-9 UNIT PROBE A woman faces charges in three counties, including Smith, following an investigation conducted by a sheriff’s K-9 unit. K-9 officer Sgt. Ridge Long stopped a vehicle on Interstate 40 for an improper display of a license plate. The driver of the vehicle was identified as…

SCHOOL BOARD TO DISCUSS DIRECTOR CONTRACT AT NEXT MEETING The school board’s contract with Director of Schools Barry Smith is up for negotiations. During their April meeting, school board members voted to have the director’s contract be placed on the agenda for next month’s meeting. At this month’s meeting, School Board Attorney Jamie Winkler explained…

I-40 ACCIDENT CLAIMS 2 LIVES Two people were killed and one person injured in a four-vehicle wreck on Interstate 40, Wednesday afternoon. The wreck occurred just east of the Gordonsville Exit where traffic had stalled due to a jack-knifed tractor-trailer tanker truck a few miles east of the deadly accident. The jack-knifed tractor-trailer truck accident,…

COACH/P.E. TEACHER CHARGED WITH 15 COUNTS OF EXPLOITATION OF MINOR A Pleasant Shade man, employed as a Smith County Middle School coach/PE teacher, faces multiple sexual exploitation of a minor charges. Jamal Carter, 26, was charged with 15 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, following a sheriff’s department investigation. The investigation, labeled as ongoing,…