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Carter County voters given wrong ballot, potentially impacting tight Johnson City race 2024
Carter County election officials admit they gave dozens of people the wrong ballot in the November 5 election, allowing them to vote in Johnson City despite not being Johnson City residents. After a tight city commission race, it could have impacted who won.
Documents obtained by News 5 reveal 44 Carter County voters were given Johnson City ballots despite not living in the city limits.
Administrator of elections Tracy Harris wrote on the document, "Heather Ln. was accidentally put in the City of J.C. after three voters claimed to pay J.C. taxes."
Docs: Carter County has up-to-date emergency plan despite mayor's claim 2024-2025
News 5 has confirmed through a public records request that Carter County Mayor Patty Woodby's claim local emergency management officials had no emergency plan when Helene hit is false.
“I had to push that EMA director out of the way, and I had to run that EOC (emergency operations center), and a lot of you don't even realize that happened,” Woodby told commissioners Monday night.
Documents obtained by News 5 from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency show the state most-recently approved Carter County's Basic Emergency Operations Plan in 2021 and Hazard Mitigation Plan in 2023. The plans expire in 2026 and 2029 respectively, according to a state dashboard.
The county's Basic Emergency Operations Plan includes a letter signed by Mayor Woodby approving and executing the plan.
City manager explains proposal that defines ‘downtown district’ to include all bars 2025
Johnson City's proposal to move last call from 3 a.m. to 1 a.m. is being expanded to cover not just downtown but all businesses that serve alcohol in the city. It's raising concerns about trust from business owners, while city officials said it's about rising crime.
The new boundary map encompasses every property where alcohol can be served, but city manager Cathy Ball said the rule change does not cover the whole city.
“How is that substantively different from the whole city? Because it's not like there's anywhere outside of here that would be selling alcohol until 3 a.m. Right?” News 5’s Caleb Perhne asked.
“Not by zoning, but it's just not the whole city,” Ball said. “It's not the entire city because it's not allowed anywhere else.”
Lawmakers push ETSU to ban kneeling during anthem, ACLU calls it unconstitutional 2021
State lawmakers are pushing for ETSU to prohibit players from kneeling during the national anthem, but banning kneeling could trample on the First Amendment. Meanwhile, the team is getting more support from on campus.
ETSU President Brian Noland was set to present his budget requests to the Tennessee Senate Education Committee Wednesday, but his presentation was moved to next week due to time. Both Sens. Rusty Crowe and Jon Lundberg, who are on the committee, said they plan to ask Noland how he's going to address kneeling during the anthem.
The meeting comes after all 27 Republican state senators signed a letter asking universities to ban players from kneeling. Lundberg said he doesn't plan to use funding to threaten ETSU to comply.
StampedeTV investigation finds mold growing on cafeteria soda fountain 2016
Mold was growing around a soda fountain in the cafeteria. The fountain was cleaned as soon as we contacted Mark Henry, director of food services.
Lab test results identified the mold as cladisporium.
Krista Adair first noticed the mold last fall. She alerted Seth Veenbaas, who was then a member of the Student Government Association.