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MCHS STOMPS HARDIN CO. Bobcats ballers on prowl, prepare for classic PAGE 1B
Independent Appeal Making McNairy County headlines for more than 100 years
Merry Christmas
2 SECTION CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
Children’s artwork, letters, and holiday surprises. 20 Full pages of holiday fun inside this issue.
Volume 107, Number 31, Wednesday, December 21, 2011
SECTIONS C & D www.independentappeal.com 50¢
Burglars hit gravel pit, make off with $15-20K in equipment By Jeff Whitten Head News Writer
Be on the look out for anyone trying to sell copious amounts of used tools. Burglars made off with $15-$20,000 worth of equipment from Tennessee Material Corporation at Stantonville Plant manager Kerry Stevens said the burglary occurred sometime between 6:30 p.m. last Saturday night and 6 a.m. Sunday morning. “They cut a lock on our back gate…they came in and used our own cutting torches from our service truck, cut the welders off and our compressors and broke into the shop, stole all of our pressure washers, anything that was worth any money…the battery chargers a roll around tool boxes…all our air impact wrenches, acetylene torches,” Srevens said. The thieves used the front end loader
from the business to load their haul into their truck. “We’re still running…we’re still borrowing welders and cutting torches…every time something breaks, we’ll have to go borrow from Danny over here at Elam Trucking. We’re still running and getting stuff repaired, but it’s still on a day to day basis,” Stevens said. The business which employs a total of 20 people and has been there for 12 years and under the present ownership for two years, is not planning layoffs. The original name of the business was Adamsville Sand and Gravel. Charles Smith, the present owner has owned the business for the past two years, with Martin Marietta owning it between the two. Tennessee Material is not the only business that has been targeted by thieves. Owl Staff Photo by Jeff Whitten
See PIT HEIST, 3A
Work continues at Tennessee Material Corporation after a burglary over the weekend
Highway bandit robs, assaults woman By Jeff Whitten Head News Writer
An Adamsville woman was allegedly robbed and assaulted by a man in a vehicle blocking the road on Dec. 2, according to a report provided by McNairy County Sheriff’s Deputy Jonathan Kellum. The woman, whom the Independent Appeal has chosen not to identify, told Kellum that she was driving on Highway 117, when she saw a Black Ford Ranger parked in the road. She thought it was her neighbor, so she stopped. She said a white male walked up to her car and asked if she needed any help. The male then grabbed her shirt and punched her in her face twice and grabbed her purse. She then drove off and went home. Credit cards, checkbook, her wallet and its contents,
her purse and eight gold one dollar coins were taken. A bank bag with $638 from her job was also in her purse. The victim of the crime described her assailant as about six foot tall, 160 pounds, in his 20s, clean shaven with black, shaggy hair and was wearing a dark coat and blue jeans. She said she had never seen the man before. The Independent Appeal has also received an unconfirmed report of a second incident at that location based on anonymous tips of a woman who was assaulted by a man fitting that the description of the suspect in this incident. However, when contacted, officials at the McNairy County Sheriff’s office said that they had not received information relating to the second attack. The incident is currently under investigation, but there are no suspects at this time.
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Area of operation for a suspected highway bandit in Southeast McNairy County
Possible black panther sighting in Selmer By Megan Smith Staff writer
Last Friday, a reliable source in McNairy County reportedly saw a creature resembling a black panther in the woods outside of Selmer. The sighting occurred near McNairy Central High School. This report, while coming from an eyewitness account from a reliable citizen, is still considered unconfirmed evidence. Many reports of black panthers in West Tennessee have been made, though officials have not confirmed any of these sightings. The last confirmed report of these large predators making West Tennessee their home came from a documented case in 1972. Sighting reports can be found on multiple websites. Union University’s website has a page where residents of West Tennessee can report any panther sightings. McNairy County Game Warden Sam Bedwell said that a black panther sighting was possible, but not likely. “Tennessee Wildlife Resources gets 1000 calls a year on black panthers and cougars, but there has not been a documented case since 1972, so it is very unlikely, but anything is possible,” Bedwell said. Dr. Paul Avenel of Selmer saw a large black animal Dec. 11 at around 2 p.m. he was 6575 feet away from the animal. He was in the bathroom of his house when he saw the ani-
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mal, which was solid black and around 2 feet high. “There was no chance that this was a household pet,” he said. His property consists of 12 acres, half of which is in the city limits and half outside. It is on Highway 64 on the way to Adamsville. “It is not an isolated area,” he said. He said this time of the year, he can see two or three houses from his this time of the year. There is about 12 acres of woods
beyond which there is not a house for miles. Part of this area is wooded and part is farmland. Avenel saw the animal moving away and did not think it had the movement of a dog, because of the way it swung its shoulder, he thought it moved like a cat. He said it had a tail around two feet long and was too big to be a household cat. He said he never got a full head to toe look at the animal because it was moving through the grass.
5 nabbed in Adamsville meth bust By Christen Coulon Editor
Last Saturday, McNairy County Drug Task Force Investigators busted a meth lab and arrested five individuals suspected of drug related crimes. Investigators Jamie Lowrance, Lynn Ingle, and James Frazier went to 251 Arendall Street in Adamsville to speak with Terry Jones about the possibility of methamphetamine being manufactured at her residence. While speaking with her Lowrance said that he and Frazier both detected an odor coming from inside the residence that they know through their experience and training to be the odor produced from methamphetamine being manufactured. Jones was taken into custody at this time. “I knocked on the door again and Talmadge Webb answered the door,” Lowrance said. “Webb had recently been convicted of a charge involving meth and we were aware of this.” When Web opened the door the odor was detected again and Lowrance said he could see that there was a white female inside the residence. Webb was taken out of the residence without incident and held along with Ashley Sweat, who was found outside the residence. Due to the exigent circumstances of a meth lab likely being in the residence the officers went inside to make the people in the residence come out. According to Lowrance, this was done for the safety of the persons in the house and to ensure that any evidence inside was not destroyed. Upon entering the house the officers said they found an emp-
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ty house with a chemical odor inside the residence that was overwhelming. Lowrance said that he went to the trailers behind the residence and found the white female he had seen sitting on the steps of another house. Also, another white female was hiding in the shadows next to the same porch. At that time, the two women, Lindsay Lawrence and Patricia Kincer were taken into custody by the officers. Once the search warrant was served, an active meth lab was discovered inside the residence along with a small amount of marijuana and various items of drug paraphernalia. Officers said that among the items found inside the house were three "one pot" meth cook bottles, one bottle with pseudoephedrine soaking in it, cold packs that had the ammonium ni-
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trate taken out, coleman fuel, an empty lithium battery pack, two soda bottle tops with hoses mounted in them, coffee filters, and a pipe cutting tool to strip the lithium batteries of their lithium. The five persons arrested at the scene, were charged with initiation of a process intended to result in the manufacture of methamphetamine, promotion of methamphetamine manufacture, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Further investigation led to an additional count of promotion of methamphetamine manufacture for Kincer and Webb due to their purchasing products containing pseudoephedrine exceeding the amount allowed within 30 days. All five are held at the McNairy County Jail on $75,000 bond. The residence was quarantined due to the contamination from the meth lab.
z Opinion 8A z Obituaries 9A z Events 10A z Lifestyles 10A z Courtroom 11A z Sports 1B z Campus 7B z Classifieds 8B Wed - 52/42 Mostly Cloudy
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Fri - 53/39 Partlt Cloudy
Sat - 47/29 Few Showers
JONES
Merry Christmas - 46/26 Sunny
THE INDEPENDENT APPEAL OFFICES WILL BE CLOSED DEC. 23 IN CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY