McMinn County Sheriff Warns Residents of New Phone Scam Circulating

McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy is warning residents of a scam call that was recently reported to the sheriff’s office. The caller targeting McMinn County residents alleges he or she is from the McMinn County Sheriff’s Office Warrant Department and demands money in order to “avoid jail time.”

Scammers use this type of technique to target local residents as a phishing scam to extort money.

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Lithium-Based Company Announces $582 Million Investment in Southeast Tennessee

Piedmont Lithium officials announced Thursday that the company would invest $582 million to establish a lithium hydroxide processing, refining, and manufacturing facility in Etowah.

The new facility will be located at the North Etowah Industrial Park, creating 117 new jobs in McMinn County. According to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD), the facility will be America’s largest “lithium hydroxide processing” facility.

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Emails Reveal McMinn County, Tennessee Principal Lobbied Teachers Against School Vouchers

  A McMinn County public school principal warned legislators and her teachers that school vouchers are bad and irresponsible parents are the reason public schools are in such bad shape. This, according to a series of emails Principal Angela Miller of Mountain View School in Etowah sent out last month. In so doing, Miller may have violated state law. The Tennessee Star obtained these emails through an open records request. In her emails, Miller traced public schools’ woes back to one source. “It is the downfall of parents not being involved in children’s lives. We have a societal issue with rampant drugs, misuse of government subsidies, and incarceration of parents. Parent engagement needs to be addressed rather than taking funds from public schools,” Miller wrote. “K-12 education plays a powerful role in overcoming terrorism, immigration, economy, and the opioid crisis. Public education is necessary in ensuring an educated people to vote for key political positions.” Miller did not return The Star’s request for comment Wednesday. Specifically, we wanted her to expand upon what she said about parents and to clarify whether she meant to say it’s a public school’s job to indoctrinate kids into taking certain political positions when they…

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Tennessee Officials Who Fight School Vouchers Can’t Use Proper Grammar in Written Communications

Public school officials in Tennessee who protest school vouchers insist public schools are by far the best option for children, especially versus charter schools or private schools. Yet in their written communications some of them can’t seem to put a proper sentence together. Take Etowah City School Principal Brian Trammell, for instance. Trammell’s email to his teachers and other staff members this month begging them to lobby against school vouchers contained almost a dozen grammatical errors. Examples, with The Tennessee Star’s corrections in parenthesis: • “Yesterday Senate Bill 795(,) the Education Savings Account Bill (the alternative name for Vouchers to make the general public feel good about the Bill) (,) passed the Senate Education Sub-Committee.” • “The response from our Senators and Representatives will be that it will not effect (affect) McMinn County/Etowah City School students and families, but it will.” • “Once (a) pandoras (Pandora’s) box is open, parent groups, such as, (no comma needed) Homeschool parents start suing (comma needed) wanting the same “benefit” in every district in the state.” • “What is being communicated is ‘the folks in favor of this Bill are out numbering (outnumbering) the opposition.” • “If you have time(,) please email Representative Mark Cochran…

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Etowah Principal May Have Violated Tennessee Law By Urging Teachers to Fight School Vouchers

Etowah City School Principal Brian Trammell recently emailed his teachers and staff and urged them to lobby against the school vouchers’ bill up for consideration in the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Star confirmed the information Thursday after filing open records requests for school officials’ emails from several school districts in the state. Trammell possibly violated Tennessee’s Little Hatch Act by sending this email. The law prohibits state employees from engaging in political activity on the job. An email Trammell sent to his staff members on April 11 — a Thursday at 11:13 a.m. — was a call to action. “The response from our Senators and Representatives will be that it will not effect McMinn County/Etowah City School students and families, but it will. Once pandoras box is open, parent groups, such as Homeschool parents start suing wanting the same ‘benefit’ in every district in the State. The courts will see this as discrimination and open it up in every district,” Trammell wrote. “Please read the following and email the following concerns about this Bill. I implore you to email Senator Mike Bell (who, by the way, voted for this Bill yesterday) and Governor Lee and tell them you are…

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