Ex-Parent Teacher Organization Head in Gibson County, Tennessee Indicted for Stealing Association Funds

Spring Hill School

Kacey Criswell, formerly the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) president and treasurer at Gibson County’s Spring Hill School, allegedly stole at least $17,586 from the organization from July 2015 and November 2019, the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office stated Tuesday.

After officials of the elementary school reported that the PTO was missing funds, a county grand jury was empaneled and investigatory findings were presented to District 28 Attorney General Frederick Hardy Agee on July 12th supporting an indictment for theft of property over $10,000. 

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Love’s Travel Stops Expected to Receive Corporate Welfare in Tennessee

  Tennessee officials are expected to bestow an unspecified amount of corporate welfare upon Love’s Travel Stops, which wants to open a tire retread and distribution facility in Gibson County. Specifically, Love’s officials want to set up in the city of Milan, in west Tennessee. But Love’s won’t build unless they get state and local incentives, according to a recent article in Businessfacilities.com. Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development spokesman Scott Harrison did not give exact amounts to The Tennessee Star in an email Wednesday. “We anticipate the company will qualify for grant funding through ECD’s FastTrack program,” Harrison said. “Info should be available on our public dashboards by the end of the week.” Officials at the City of Milan did not return The Star’s repeated requests for comment Wednesday. Neither did anyone at Love’s corporate office, based out of Oklahoma City. Love’s Travel Stops will invest $8.8 million into the proposed facility and create up to 80 jobs, according to Businessfacilities.com. “The new facility will be the largest of its kind for Love’s, totaling 200,000 square feet,” the website reported. TNECD has supported nine economic development projects in Gibson County since 2015, the website went on to say.…

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Davidson and Gibson County Residents Busted for Allegedly Stealing from TennCare

  State officials have arrested three more people for alleged TennCare fraud, according to new press releases from the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration. The people arrested are from Davidson and Gibson counties, the press releases said. Authorities charged the Davidson County resident, Robert Lee Nesbitt, Jr. 54, with TennCare fraud for allegedly posing as the spouse of a TennCare enrollee in order to pick up her prescription for the painkiller Oxycodone. Authorities said he went to a pharmacy and claimed he was the enrollee’s spouse so he could obtain the painkillers.  They charged Nesbitt with one count of TennCare fraud for making a false statement and receiving benefits he was not entitled to receive, according to the press release. Meanwhile, authorities charged two Gibson County residents with using the identity and TennCare benefits of each other’s minor children in nearby Madison County, a press release said. The Office of Inspector General, with the assistance of the Gibson and Madison County Sheriffs’ Offices, arrested Bertha Campos, 30 and Maria Vega, 42 both of Trenton. Authorities charged them with two counts of TennCare fraud and two counts of identity theft. “Authorities say that initially, Ms. Campos’ child broke an arm and then used the TennCare benefits…

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Haywood County Uneasy About Effects From Chicken Manure

chicken farm

There’s a big stink brewing in northwest Tennessee. Whether that stink is an unpleasant odor or whether the stink is a figure of speech depends upon whom you ask. Residents of Haywood County recently assembled to discuss how chicken farms could pose health hazards to their community. These chicken farms are not in Haywood. They are, however, likely coming to the adjacent Gibson County. Haywood residents say chicken farmers in Gibson will sign contracts with Tyson Foods. Tyson already has plans to open a processing plant in Gibson. People in Haywood County told The Tennessee Star they suspect either Tyson or the chicken farmers eventually will want to set up shop on their home turf. If allowed, they say that will degrade their quality of life. “Gibson County gets the jobs and we get the manure,” said Haywood County Mayor-elect David Livingston, adding the indecent smell will waft its way down into his territory. “It’s true that these concentrated feed lots are not Tyson-owned. This is where the liability is. Every one of these (chicken) houses produces a tremendous tonnage of manure.” Haywood County residents, he went on, have protested and made it clear they want neither Tyson nor the…

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Humboldt’s Tyson Plant Breaks Ground Without Permits From State Dept. of Environment & Conservation

Tyson meat processing

Despite lacking mandatory permits from the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation (TDEC), Tyson Foods went ahead and broke ground yesterday for its new chicken processing plant in Humboldt. After reviewing Tyson’s application for a permit to discharge storm water from the Humboldt plant construction site, a letter dated May 18, 2018, from the TDEC Division of Water Resources informed Tyson that the company’s “Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) “was deficient so no permit could be issued. TDEC’s letter cautioned Tyson’s Senior Project Engineer Larry Jackson, that “[n]o discharges of stormwater associated with construction activity are authorized by the general permit until the completed NOI [Notice of Intent] is submitted and Notice of Coverage issued by the division.” The NOI submitted by Tyson Farms, Inc., as referenced in the May 18 TDEC letter was “submitted to obtain coverage under a General National Pollution Discharge Elimination System Permit for Storm Water Discharges Associated with Construction Activity.” Jackson was also directed to review “the enclosed checklist for deficiencies in the SWPPP that must be addressed before permit coverage can be issued.” You can read the May 18, 2018 letter from the TDEC to Tyson’s Jackson here: [pdf-embedder url=”https://tennesseestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/DWR-TNR122070-Notice-of-Deficiency-18-MAY-18-2366.pdf” title=”DWR-TNR122070-Notice of Deficiency-18-MAY-18-2366″]  …

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Democrat Mayor Who Endorsed Randy Boyd & Is Open to Bringing Immigrants to Gibson County Runs as Independent in Next Election

After publicly endorsing GOP gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd and welcoming Muslims and immigrants to take jobs in Gibson County, Mayor Tom Witherspoon, twice elected as a Democrat, will run for re-election as an Independent. Witherspoon credits Randy Boyd for helping “Gibson County stay in the race to land the Tyson Foods plant” and on several occasions, has suggested that his vote for Boyd is payback for that assistance saying, “[t]hat man kept his word with me and I’ll keep my word with him.” Witherspoon also says that like Boyd, he welcomes Muslims and immigrants to come work in Gibson County: Randy, like me, isn’t afraid of a Muslim coming to the county and maybe seeking a job, or a legal immigrant coming to the county. He’s not afraid of that; neither am I. If somebody wants to come here legally, and seek employment and be productive and work hard, God knows we need more of that, not less of it. Meat processing and packaging companies, including Tyson Foods, employ a steady stream of arriving refugees in plants across the country. In the case of the Tyson Foods plant in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the company justified bringing Burmese refugee workers to supplement…

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No Transparency in ECD Deal to Give Tyson Foods $18 Million FastTrack Grant

Noted in the Governor’s 2018-2019 Budget is an $18 million dollar FastTrack grant for Tyson Foods that may be part of a deal to bring a chicken processing plant to Humboldt, Tennessee after plans for a similarly described project in Kansas met with “staggering” opposition from citizen activists. This year’s money for Tyson Foods is not currently listed in the FastTrack project database maintained on the Department of Economic & Community Development (ECD) website. As part of Governor Haslam’s “Transparent Tennessee” initiative, ECD launched an interactive online platform called “Open ECD,” intended to provide a “comprehensive look at TNECD’s initiatives,” including, FastTrack, community and rural development grants. Haslam’s “Transparent Tennessee” was intended to help create a “customer-focused, efficient and effective state government.” This initiative was supposed to provide greater transparency and accountability in how the state government operates by enabling taxpayers to see how different departments are performing as well as how taxpayer funds are spent. The only reference to date for the $18 million dollar FastTrack grant for Tyson Foods is on page xix of the Governor’s 2018-2019 Budget released with a cover letter dated January 29, 2018: General fund supplemental appropriations in the current 2017-2018 fiscal year total $46 million, $38 million of…

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Secrecy and Withholding of Information Characterize Move of Tyson Foods Plant into Humboldt, Tennessee

Gibson County Mayor Tom “Welcoming” Witherspoon and Humboldt Mayor Marvin Sikes claim that only positive impacts will result from the arrival of the Tyson Foods chicken plant, first rejected in Tonganoxie, Kansas, but now being relocated to Humboldt, Tennessee. The plan to put the plant in Tonganoxie was defeated by citizen-led opposition because of concerns of Tyson’s history of environmental violations, impact on infrastructure and potential to attract refugee workers. Opposition to the Kansas plant also focused on the secrecy surrounding the plan for Tonganoxie and withholding of information from public scrutiny. Twilight Greenaway, reporting at Moyers & Company, the website operated by far left journalist Bill Moyers, described the citizen-led opposition in Tonganoxie as “staggering” and fueled in part by the secrecy in which the deal was arranged between Tyson executives and local officials until information was finally made public. As Greenaway reported: The Tyson plant was also a long-kept secret with the code name Project Sunset. Local lawmakers were asked to sign nondisclosure agreements when considering welcoming it to town, and the company is said to have worked through intermediaries when negotiating with the landowner over the 300-acre lot it would occupy. But once the deal was done and…

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Gibson County Mayor ‘Welcoming Witherspoon’ Defends Tyson Foods Plant Using Rhetoric From Open Immigration Organizations

The announcement in November that Humboldt, Tennessee is getting the Tyson Foods plant that was rejected by citizens in Tonganoxie, Kansas, raises legitimate questions about whether the new plant will attract refugee workers to the area. In their press release, Tyson Foods said the company had “accepted the invitation of city, county and state leaders to build a new chicken production complex in the City of Humboldt, which is part of Gibson County in western Tennessee,” and included words of praise from Humboldt Mayor Mavin Sikes, Gibson County Mayor Tom Witherspoon, a Democrat who has endorsed Knoxville businessman Randy Boyd in the Republican gubernatorial primary, and Gov. Bill Haslam: “This is an historic day for Humboldt, Gibson County and West Tennessee,” Humboldt Mayor Marvin Sikes said. “I want to thank Tyson Foods for their commitment to our community and region. The significant job creation and capital investment that will result from this project will have a positive impact on our community that will last for many years, and I could not be more excited about the future of Humboldt and Gibson County.” “Many years of dedicated work from countless Gibson County citizens and volunteers have laid the foundation for the…

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Tyson Plant Rejected by Kansas Citizens, But Welcomed by Gibson County Mayor

The decision by Tyson Foods to open a meat-packing plant in Humboldt, Tennessee, welcomed recently by Gibson County Mayor Tom Witherspoon, came only after the facility was rejected by citizens in Tonganoxie, Kansas. The “big meat” company would have created approximately the same 1,500 jobs there that it says it will bring to rural Gibson County. Witherspoon, elected as a Democrat in 2010 and 2014, is one of 45 county mayors who have endorsed GOP gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd, the Knoxville businessman and former commissioner of the Tennessee Economic and Community Development Department. Reuters reported in November 2017 that the decision by Tyson Foods to switch over to Humboldt came only after “the No Tyson in Tongie” citizen-led opposition defeated a proposed Tyson plant in Tonganoxie, Kansas, a town not much smaller than Humboldt. Several Kansas state legislators also committed to opposing the proposed Tyson plant. Citizen opposition in the “Tongie” area was described as “staggering,” Twilight Greenaway reported at Moyers & Company, the website operated by far left journalist Bill Moyers. That opposition was fueled in part by the secrecy in which the deal was arranged between Tyson executives and local officials until it was finally made public in September, Greenaway reported:…

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Boyd-Endorsing Mayor May Help Humboldt, Tennessee Become a New Refugee Resettlement Site

Tysons Foods recently announced the building of a chicken processing plant in Humboldt, bringing with it, 1,500 jobs to Gibson County’s largest city.  While GOP gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd was Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development (ECD), business development money began flowing to Gibson County, an investment that has paid off for Boyd with it’s mayor supporting his run for governor. Tom Witherspoon, mayor of Gibson County was included on Boyd’s July list of county mayor endorsements. Locating a food processing plant in Gibson County may also continue a trend of transforming small rural towns by becoming a magnet for federal refugee resettlement contractors looking to place low-skill workers who don’t have to speak English. Tysons Foods has a demonstrated commitment to employing refugees; its Human Resources Manager, Gary Denton served on the board of the Nashville-based Center for Refugees and Immigrants of Tennessee. Representing the State of Tennessee Economic & Community Development, Lamar Alexander’s son, Will, while serving as Chief of Staff for Haslam’s ECD, served as Treasurer for the resettlement contractor, the Nashville International Center for Empowerment. The federal resettlement program allows refugee contractors to place refugees within 100 miles of the resettlement contractor’s office and that, “[re]gardless of their…

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Tyson Foods to Open New Facility in Humboldt in West Tennessee

Tyson Foods will open a new facility in Humboldt in West Tennessee, creating more than 1,500 jobs, Gov. Bill Haslam announced last week. Haslam made the announcement along with economic development commissioner Bob Rolfe. “The new facility will be Tyson’s fifth location in Tennessee and it means a great deal that a company of this magnitude continues to grow its footprint in our state,” Haslam said in a press release. The facility will produce pre-packaged trays of fresh chicken for grocery stores across the country, according to a Tyson Foods press release. The chicken production complex will include a processing plant, hatchery, feed mill and related operations. The company will contract with local farmers to raise chickens. Tyson Foods’ investment of more than $300 million in Humboldt is the company’s biggest in Tennessee and the single largest investment in Gibson County’s history. Headquartered in Arkansas, the food processing giant sells various chicken, beef and pork products under the brands Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Sara Lee, Ball Park, Wright, Aidells and State Fair. Tyson Foods has been producing chicken in Tennessee for more than 45 years. The new facility marks the second major project the company has started in the…

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