Tag: Kingsport

Bullied, Targeted, and Harassed: A Turning Point USA Student Shares Her Story of Oppression at East Tennessee State University

Matthew Giffin
Lakie Derrick

Lakie Derrick, now 21, first traveled less than 30 miles to attend East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in the fall of 2020. She had always known her hometown of Kingsport, Tennessee, to be a relatively conservative city.

In 2016, the two counties that contain Kingsport overwhelmingly voted to elect Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. Washington County, where ETSU is located, did the same that year and supported Trump again in 2020. Only two Tennessee counties held blue through the 2022 gubernatorial election.

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Advanced Call Center Technologies Expected to Create 650 New Jobs with Expansion in Sullivan County

Kaitlin Housler

Advanced Call Center Technologies (ACT) announced Monday it will establish new operations in Bristol and Kingsport, creating 650 new jobs in Sullivan County. ACT’s expansion in the region will create 350 new jobs at its Kingsport facility and 300 jobs in Bristol, according to a press release by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD).

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Tennessee Restaurant Saved by Barstool Sports Mogul’s COVID-19 Relief Fund

Peter D'Abrosca

A restaurant in Tennessee is rejoicing after a sports mogul stepped in to help it stay in business its time of need. 

Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports has raised more than $33 million for small businesses impacted by COVID-19 restrictions through “The Barstool Fund.” He is using that money keep small businesses afloat. Small businesses of all kinds have been encouraged to submit videos explaining why they need relief, and if selected, Barstool has promised to give the support to remain open until after the COVID-19 pandemic ends. 

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TBI: Kingsport Woman Indicted, Accused of Falsely Reporting Sexual Assault

Chris Butler

  Authorities have indicted a Kingsport woman on charges of falsely reporting a sexual assault incident, according to a press release. In January, at the request of Second District Attorney General Barry Staubus, TBI special agents began investigating an allegation of sexual assault against a corrections officer, the press release said. Shauna Jones, 30 reported that the officer sexually assaulted her in April 2018, while she was an inmate at the Sullivan County Jail, the press release said. The investigation revealed that the incident did not occur. “Last week, the Sullivan County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging Jones with one count of False Reporting,” according to the press release. On Wednesday, she was arrested and booked into the Sullivan County Jail on a $10,000 bond. According to an American Spectator column last fall, the mantra that women never lie about sexual abuse is false. The column referenced the #MeToo movement and the “Believe Women” battle cry. “The left found this slogan useful in serving its latest political purpose: an attempted takedown of Brett Kavanaugh,” said columnist Paul Kengor. “According to the new mantra, women never lie about sexual abuse, and thus anything and everything that Christine Blasey Ford alleged of Brett Kavanaugh was, ipso facto, accurate. Every charge she…

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Tennessee Audit: School Cafeteria Manager Stole from Little Kids

Chris Butler
School Lunch

A school cafeteria manager in Sullivan County stole ice cream money from kindergartners and spent it on herself, according to an audit Tennessee Comptrollers released Friday. This woman, Deborah Beckman, did other things she wasn’t supposed to do, the audit said. Beckman, the cafeteria manager at Ketron Elementary School in Kingsport, took at least $758 someone donated to the school to pass out ice cream to the tiny tots at no charge, state auditors said. “Ms. Beckman stated that she used these funds to purchase personal groceries and pay a personal utility bill. Ms. Beckman also admitted that she made false entries in cafeteria records to understate the amounts donated,” Comptrollers wrote. Beckman committed other offenses, the audit said. “Although Ms. Beckman told investigators that she counted and reconciled collections and prepared a cafeteria deposit each day, she did not make daily deposits. The timing of cafeteria collections and Ms. Beckman’s deposits were consistent with a lapping scheme.” To do this, Comptrollers said Beckman diverted cash collections for her personal benefit and then concealed it by putting in its place either cafeteria cash collected on the next day or cash from personal or other unknown sources. “Cafeteria records were insufficient…

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