A tractor-trailer driver in Loudon County faces a DUI charge after crashing and overturning his vehicle, according to the Lenoir City Police Department (Courtesy: TDOT)
Loudon County, TN (WOKI) A tractor-trailer driver in Loudon County is now facing a DUI charge after crashing and overturning his vehicle.
Lenoir City Police Department officials say 49 year-old Said Warsame of Texas was reportedly exiting from I-75 onto 321 just before midnight Wednesday, August, 16 when he went onto the shoulder of the exit.
Officials report “the driver overcorrected, and the vehicle flipped over onto it’s left side.”
Warsame was charged with driving under the influence.
Law enforcement officials add that Warsame’s truck was carrying beauty supplies.
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) A man wanted for attempted first-degree murder in a shooting at Bebo’s Cafe is arrested.
Twenty-two year-old Jaheim Houston was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshals Service Wednesday night at an address on Watauga Avenue. He was wanted on two counts of attempted first-degree murder, among other charges, stemming from the May 15, 2023 shooting in the parking lot of Bebo’s Cafe.
Twenty-four year-old Destiny Jones was shot and died following a car accident near Alcoa Highway subsequent to that shooting.
Knoxville police say it is believed that Jones was hit by shots fired in Bebo’s Cafe. Medical examiners ruled that she died as a result of the blunt force trauma sustained in the crash.
At the halfway mark (seven days of fourteen) of early voting for the 2023 City of Knoxville Primary Election, a total of 2,831 early votes have been cast, with an additional 590 votes cast by absentee ballot.
STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN AT THE HALFWAY POINT
EARLY VOTES CAST AT THE MIDWAY POINT COMPARED TO OTHER MAYORAL CITY ELECTIONS
August 2023 – 2,831 (total votes cast – TBD)
August 2019 – 3,428 (total votes cast – 19,304)
August 2015 – 813 (total votes cast – 4,748)
August 2011 – 4,402 (total votes cast – 22,609 – this included a State Senate election on the ballot)
August 2007 – 1,015 (total votes cast – 6,682)
August 2003 – 4,815 (total votes cast – 29,883)
EARLY VOTES CAST IN THIS ELECTION BY AGE (Totals include absentee ballots)
Age 18 to 34209
Age 35 to 54 497
Age 55 + 2,715
EARLY VOTES CAST IN THIS ELECTION BY CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT
District 1 411
District 2 1,019
District 3 437
District 4 766
District 5 335
District 6 453
Of the 64,585 currently registered voters in the City of Knoxville that voted in the 2020 Presidential Election, only 3,072 have voted in this election.
ABSENTEE BALLOT DEADLINE FAST APPROACHING
The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Tuesday, August 22nd. Anyone wishing to vote absentee can call the Election Commission at 865-215-2480 or can download an absentee request athttp://www.knoxvotes.org.
RISE AND SHINE ON SATURDAY WITH THE ELECTION COMMISSION
If 10 AM is too late for you, early voting at the City County Building in downtown Knoxville opens at 8 AM on Saturday, August 19 – early birds (as long as they are registered voters and City of Knoxville residents) can take advantage of early hours!
PRE-PRIMARY CAMPAIGN FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES
All candidates on the ballot have a Pre-Primary Campaign Financial Disclosure due on Tuesday, August 22, 2023. It will cover the period from July 1 to August 19, 2023.
POLLS OPEN UNTIL 7 PM ON THE LAST TWO DAYS OF EARLY VOTING
All six early voting locations will be open until 7 PM on the last two days of early voting – Wednesday and Thursday, August 23 and 24 – except for Meridian Baptist in south Knoxville, which will close at 5 PM on Wednesday, August 23.
KNOX COUNTY ELECTIONS 101 SEMINAR TO BE HELD ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7 – DEADLINE TO APPLY IS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
The Knox County Election Commission will conduct a seminar for individuals wishing to learn more about how elections are conducted in Knox County and many of the details associated with preparing for an election.
The seminar will be on Saturday, October 7th from 9 am until 12:30 pm and will be held at the Election Commission’s Downtown West Early Voting/Training facility, 1645 Downtown West Blvd.
There is no cost to attend, but attendees must pre-register. Attendees must be a registered voter in Knox County. The deadline to apply is Friday, September 1st.
The Knoxville Fire Department is investigating an early morning fatal East Knoxville house fire.
Crews responding to the 2000 block of Dodson Avenue and found the home engulfed in flames. Once firefighters could search the home, they found one person and dog dead inside. The home is a total loss.
KFD says there were no working smoke alarms inside the home.
A juvenile whose skeletal remains were found in the early 1980s in Cheatham County has been identified, and special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are asking for the public’s help to determine who killed her.
On October 21, 1981, skeletal remains were discovered at what was then the county’s old landfill, on Highway 249 in Ashland City. TBI agents began working alongside the Cheatham County Sheriff’s Office in investigating the death. Forensic anthropologists at the University of Tennessee determined that the skeletal remains were those of a young, white female, originally estimated to be between 14 and 17 years old. According to the UT Anthropology Department, the girl was estimated to have been deceased for three to nine months prior to the discovery of her remains. After exhausting all leads, investigators could not determine the victim’s identity, and she was classified as a Jane Doe. It would be many years later before DNA technology would catch up and aid in providing information in this case.
In 2007, the UT Forensic Anthropology Center submitted a sample of the woman’s remains to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification (UNTCHI). A DNA profile was developed and entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System in hopes that the girl would eventually be identified.
In December of 2022, as part of the Unidentified Human Remains DNA Initiative, TBI agents submitted a sample of the girl’s remains to Othram Inc., a private lab based in Texas, for forensic genetic genealogical DNA testing. Scientists provided information about possible relatives connected to the girl. A TBI intelligence analyst used that information to locate potential family members in Middle Tennessee and Florida. Agents made contact with several of those family members and confirmed they had a family member they had not heard from in more than four decades. Agents were able to obtain a DNA standard from family members to be compared against the victim’s DNA, utilizing Forensic Genetic Genealogy.
This month, Othram, Inc. positively identified the woman as Linda Sue Karnes (DOB: 8/10/65). Linda was originally from Cleveland, Ohio, but grew up in Cunningham, Tennessee. Prior to her death, she spent time in the Montgomery County Girls Home in Clarksville. TBI special agents are hoping the public can help provide information that may help solve the murder of Linda Sue Karnes. If you have information about this homicide, specifically any knowledge about individuals Linda may have been with before her death, please call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
The hiker was airlifted to UT Medical Center after suffering a severe illness in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Courtesy: TNARNG)
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) The Tennessee Army National Guard is called into action Monday afternoon, August 15, to rescue a hiker in a remote area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
National Guard officials say a flight crew was assembled from McGhee-Tyson Air National Guard Base to rescue the hiker, who was suffering a severe illness, in a remote area of the park about a mile and a half west of Clingmans Dome.
The air crew located the hiker, and park rangers administered first aid.
Officials add that the hiker was then airlifted to UT Medical Center where medical personnel rushed the individual into the emergency room.
An investigation by special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has resulted in the indictment of a Hawkins County attorney.
On May 12th, at the request of 3rd Judicial District Attorney General Dan Armstrong, TBI agents began investigating allegations of forgery and bribery involving Daniel Boyd (DOB: 5/13/76), an attorney and Juvenile Court Judge in Hawkins County. On May 17th, General Armstrong requested a pro tempore district attorney assume the case and 2nd Judicial District Attorney General Barry Staubus was appointed. During the course of the investigation, agents learned that Boyd, while working as an attorney, provided a client with a default judgment declaring her divorce to be finalized. The document appeared to be signed by the Chancellor of the 3rd Judicial District. Further investigation revealed that no document existed with the Clerk and Master’s Office and that the case was never presented to the Chancellor. Additionally, the investigation revealed that when Boyd’s client filed a complaint, he offered her money if she would withdraw the complaint.
On Monday, the Hawkins County Grand Jury returned indictments charging Boyd with three counts of Forgery, one count of Criminal Simulation, and one count of Bribery. Yesterday, he turned himself in and was booked into the Hawkins County Jail on a $25,000 bond.
Clinton High School is briefly placed on lockdown after a possible threat.
Officials with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office say the threat was reported on the sheriff’s office’s app, prompting a soft lockdown and an investigation.
Authorities say the threat was reportedly shared on social media by a former student but following investigation, it was determined that there was no actual threat made to any school or students.
Rural Metro Fire is investigating a fire in Mascot which leaves a presumed family pet dead.
Crews called to the home in the 8900 block of C Drive last night and found heavy fire and smoke. The residents weren’t home but an animal was found dead, no other injuries were reported.
James Allen, 36. (Courtesy: Knox County Court Records)
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) A Knoxville man is sentenced to life for a 2019 double murder at Rocky Top Apartments.
Officials with the Knox County District Attorney’s Office report 36 year-old James Allen was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder in the December 29, 2019 shooting which left brothers, 19 year-old Joshua Haley and 20 year-old Christian Haley, dead.
Allen was sentenced to life on those counts.
Officials say Allen was also convicted on two counts of especially aggravated robbery and one count of evading arrest. His sentencing for those charges is scheduled for September 21.
