TIM CASTELLAW AUTOMOTIVE ,(&"'-*"'*%%
lll#ignjhXVgh#Xdb
THE LEADER
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 ▪ VO L . 1 2 9 , N O. 3 5 ▪ T H E VO I C E O F TIPTON COUNTY S I N C E 1 8 8 6 ▪
$1
RACE FOR MAYOR PUBLIC SAFETY
TCSO arrests 10 in Labor Day effort
Covington's mayoral candidates, Justin Hanson and incumbent David Gordon, field questions from We the People moderator Jeff Phillips during a forum hosted by the group Tuesday night. Photo by Echo Day
Crime concern for candidates By ECHO DAY eday@covingtonleader.com During the candidate forum hosted by the We the People organization Tuesday night, it was clear the issue crime is a divisive issue in Covington. Challenger Justin Hanson, a 34-yearold lifelong Covington resident who last month quit his job as a reporter with WMC-TV Action News 5 in order to run for office, was critical of the city's police force and told the crowd citizens are sharing with him feelings of mistrust. "It's been said that crime's down 29 percent, and whether or not that's the case, a lot of people I talk to here in Covington don't feel that's the case," Hanson said in his opening comments. "They tell me they don't feel safe in certain parts of the community in certain parts of the day." According to Hanson, the high rate of turnover at the department, not only in officers but in the administration as well, has made residents feel as if the department is unstable. "Four chiefs in the past nine years and a constant turnaround with of-
ficers, (residents are) telling me they're concerned about that," he said. "They were telling me as a journalist and they're telling me that now as a candidate." Further, Hanson told the crowd residents have said they've stopped reporting crime because they don't believe officers take their concerns seriously. The harsh criticism of the police department offended some of those in the audience and it was discussed during the question-and-answer portion. "You've known the current police chief for a long time," Paul Rose said. "Are you not satisfied with him?" Hanson told Rose the police chief wasn't necessarily the problem, but that he'd like to get officers out of their cars and back onto the streets to become more visible. Incumbent mayor David Gordon, 61, who's lived in Covington since the third grade, however, did not criticize the department and was better received by the audience. He dismissed Hanson's report that Covington had the same per capita crime rate as Memphis.
"Compared to other county seats in this area, we have a lower crime rate than both Brownsville and Ripley," Gordon said. Business owner Rob Witherington questioned Gordon on the ability, and literacy, of one of the city's officers and asked if there was a plan to make any changes within the department. "We're continuing to train, we're continuing to look at our staff, we want to provide the best officers that we can," Gordon said, also telling the audience that the high rate of turnover when it comes to police chiefs was due to health reasons. "I think Chief Lewis is making an impact and making some positive changes. If given some time, I think this police department will be where it needs to be." Lack of experience During the forum, Hanson drew criticism for his lack of experience. A graduate of both Tipton-Rosemark Academy and Christian Brothers University, Hanson has been a journalist since 2003 in addition to working parttime as an organist for several local churches, among other things. SEE FORUM, PAGE A3
CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS
Ziegler, 14, thriving after battle with Hodgkin’s By FRANCE GASQUET fgasquet@covingtonleader.com Roman Ziegler was six when he was diagnosed. He’d had the growth on his neck for a while, but it wasn’t until the family was in the process of moving to Japan, to join his father Scott, who is in the military, that his mother Heather started a full-on push with doctors to find out what the growth was.
It started in January 2005, when Roman developed a swollen gland on his neck. Heather says she worked through a range of emotions when she noticed the lump on her youngest child, her only son. “You panic, you don’t panic, you decide what to do, so after a certain period of time, I decided let’s get this kid checked and I took him in and they were like, ‘Oh, it’s an infection, so they
gave him antibiotics,’” said Heather. Over the next few months, the infections happened several times and Heather would take Roman in to the doctor. “The antibiotics wouldn’t work or would stop and we’d go back again,” she said. As the months continued, the doctor suggested Heather take Roman to an Otolaryngologist, also known as an ear, nose and
throat doctor or ENT. The ENT said it may or may not be cancer, and to Heather, he seemed to downplay that this was something to really be concerned about. As her son had always been really healthy, she didn’t think too much about it. Clearly, if cancer were a concern, the doctor would be more aggressive. The tumor continued to grow. The doctor would SEE CANCER, PAGE A6
CARDS WIN
Cards beat Chargers; MHS, TRA fall too. A19
www.patriot-bank.com Like us on
Reader's Guide Opinion A4 Obituaries A6 Classifieds A11 Legals A12 Puzzles A10
Education Sports Community Correspondence Faith
A20 A15 A7 A17 A8
Patriot Bank and Patriot Mortgage Premier Sponsors of Celebrate Munford Downtown Munford, September 20
Over the Labor Day weekend, the Tipton County Sheriff’s Office conducted several traffic enforcement operations throughout the county. Operations were held from Friday afternoon through Sunday evening, during peak travel times. The enforcement operations were in conjunction with the Governor’s Highway Safety Office “Click It or Ticket” campaign throughout the state of Tennessee. By placing additional patrol units on the roadways it increases visibility and hopefully decreases the odds of speeding, DUI drivers and the number of motor vehicle crashes. This year’s efforts were somewhat dampened by the rain, which seemed to slow down the heavy traffic flow usually associated with the “last” summer holiday of the year. During the operations, law enforcement officers issued 92 tickets and warnings. These citations were issued for violations including: speeding, child restraint law, no seatbelt, texting while driving, vehicle registration, driver’s license violations and equipment violations. Ten arrests were made during the operations for narcotics possession, dui, evading arrest, child neglect and driving on revoked/suspended driver’s license. Arrested during the operations were: ▪ Rodney L. Mitchell (49) 551 Junior Drv. Covington; DUI 3rd offense, three counts of child neglect, child restraint, driving on revoked drivers license ▪ Bobby L. Hamblin (56) 100 Canterbury Circle, Covington; driving on revoked drivers license, misuse of registration, unregistered vehicle, no insurance ▪ Reggie Dowell (29) 915 N. Central, Humbolt; disorderly conduct ▪ Jerimiah Nelson (37) 1326 Monasco Rd. Millington; driving on revoked/suspended drivers license, disregard stop sign ▪ Demarius Mitchell (29) 15 Country Side Drv. Mason; driving on revoked/suspended drivers license, speeding ▪ Pierre L. Polk (22) 555 Sadrivers licenseer School Rd, Brighton; possession of sch ii drug with intent, driving on revoked/suspended drivers license, evading arrest, speeding, light law violation ▪ Mark Allen (35) 781 Maple Drv., Atoka; driving on revoked/suspended drivers license, disregard stop sign ▪ Roy Grant (43) 79 Peeler St., Covington; public intoxication ▪ Waylon O’Connor (29) 1182-A Tony Keating Batesville, Miss.; driving on revoked/suspended drivers license, speeding ▪ Riva Hill (27) 101 Eastlawn Apt.#1 Dyersburg; driving on revoked/suspended drivers license, move over law “Labor Day is the last “summer” holiday of each year when people get SEE GHSO, PAGE A2
CRESTVIEW'S LEADERS Crestview Middle inducts NJHS. A15
www.patriotbankmortgage.com