Glen Casada and Bill Ketron Are Under Investigation for Campaign Finance Violations

  Former Tennessee Speaker of the House Glen Casada and current Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron are both being investigated for allegedly misspending campaign money, according to NewsChannel 5. The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance unanimously voted Wednesday to look into both politicians’ campaign and political action committee accounts. Registry Board Member Tom Lawless told Channel 5 he wanted two things: transparency and integrity. “It’s not something I’m thrilled to ask for by any stretch of the imagination but I think we have to,” he said. “It’s of sufficient import to the folks that put us here and to the taxpayers and to the people elected that we do this.” The state’s election finance registry has had a hard time collecting fines for violating campaign and ethics rules. As The Tennessee Star previously reported, the registry has $1.5 million in outstanding unpaid fines, including fines against Ketron, who already owes $50,000 to the state. Casada, upon learning about the upcoming investigation, issued a statement to The Tennessean. “I am confident that an independent review of my PAC and campaign finances by the registry will make it clear that I have not used any funds inappropriately, and I urge them to…

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Tennessee Officials Charge Even More People with TennCare Fraud

  The number of people state officials have charged with TennCare fraud continues to grow, meaning state taxpayers still subsidize alleged waste, fraud, and abuse out of the program. This, according to two press releases the Tennessee Office of Inspector General released this week. Authorities charged a Wilson County woman with TennCare fraud in both Wilson and Davidson counties because of the woman’s alleged doctor shopping for controlled substances. OIG officials said that woman, Datha Kimberly Robertson, 26, of Lebanon, used TennCare to doctor shop for the painkiller Oxycodone. A Wilson County indictment accuses her of three counts of fraudulently using TennCare to doctor shop. “Upon posting bond, Robertson was arrested for the second time in Davidson County, where she faced an indictment charging her with two counts of TennCare fraud for doctor shopping for the painkiller Hydrocodone; and, one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud,” according to the press release. “Authorities say that during a six-week period, Robertson had five visits to a hospital emergency room, doctor’s offices and urgent care.  In each of the incidents, she used TennCare to obtain controlled substances, while failing to disclose that she’d received previous similar drugs.  The charges in both…

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Movies to Watch This Weekend

Twelve-year-old best friends Max (Jacob Tremblay), Lucas (Keith L. Williams) and Thor (Brady Noon) are getting ready to participate in their first “kissing party,” but the problem is that none of them know how to kiss girls. When they can’t find a way to learn, Max decides to use his father’s drone to spy on teenage girls next door. However, plans don’t go according to plan when he loses the drone. Thus, the group of friends come up with an idea to get the drone back.

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