Eighteen thousand, five hundred and sixty-three Bradley County voters voiced their preferences in the August 2010 State Primary and County General Elections — 10,861 early votes and another 7,702 turning out on election day. All those voices … that’s what James Buchanan called “the noise of democracy.”

In the Governor’s Primary election, Bradley voters picked Zach Wamp over Bill Haslam by a margin of 57 to 38 percent. However, the rest of the state didn’t follow suit and Bill Haslam took the win with 342,499 votes statewide. He will face off against Democrat Mike McWherter in November to see who Tennessee’s next governor will be. Which we will go ahead and tell you now will be Haslam.

Likewise, in the 3rd District Congressional race, Tim Gobble won the majority of votes in Bradley County, but failed to carry the rest of the district. In fact, with only 18 percent of the vote, the H’allo Policeman ended up a distant third behind Robin Smith (28 percent) and winner Chuck Fleischmann (30 percent). Huckabee’s boy Chuck will face off against Democrat John Wolfe in November. At least John won’t be trying to smell Chuck’s hair.

State Representatives Eric Watson and Kevin D. Brooks both pulled in over 99 percent of the Bradley County vote in their races. And County Trustee Mike Smith topped out at 99.74 percent. Of course, none of them had an opponent, but still.

No surprise to anyone that incumbent mayors D. Gary Davis (Bradley County) and Tom Rowland (Cleveland City) breezed by their opponents to hold onto their titles; Davis with 80 percent of the vote, Rowland with 78 percent.

Long-time local GOP blister, John Stanbery, lost his 9th District State Executive Committeeman position to former Fox affiliate talking head Dan Howell (57 percent to 43 percent). After Lisa Stanbery’s defeat in the May primary, it’s painfully clear the Stanbery brand has lost it’s gild.

The only other race of interest was the Bradley County Sheriff’s race. The voters rejected Democrat Steve Lawson’s Green Machine for the third time, handing the job of Bradley County’s top cop to veteran BCSO lawman, Capt. Jim Ruth (53 percent to 47 percent). Lawson spent over a  hundred grand trying to convince people that there was no difference between a Democrat and a Republican, but he just ended up proving that there is. Strike three, Steve. You’re out.

EXCLUSIVE!

HTC’s J.Michael Leonard conducts an exclusive one-on-one interview with sheriff’s candidate, Democrat Steve Lawson! Listen as J.M. confronts Steve Lawson with the tough, hard-hitting questions only HE can ask! You wanted it ~ you got it!

Body of Monroe County election official found in trunk of vehicle

Sweetwater, TN (WATE) – The body of a Monroe County election official was found in the trunk of a burnt vehicle Saturday night, the family of the victim and a law enforcement source said.

Official confirmation of the death of Jim Miller, chairman of the Monroe County Election Commission and first district chairman of the Monroe County Republican Party, will come after an autopsy has been conducted.

Miller was also the president of Jim Miller Excavating Company.

“It’s possible I was the last person that actually spoke to him,” said James Brown, Miller’s longtime friend and colleague. “Anytime you call Jim, day or night, he was there. He was a top fellow. He was like that with anybody.”

In a statement released Sunday evening, Miller’s wife Vickie and her family said they “wish to thank all those who have expressed their condolences and offered their comfort and sympathy” regarding Jim Miller’s death.

The statement goes on to say that “Jim was always the first to answer the call of any city, organization, or member of the community in need. He will be sorely missed.”

A sheriff’s deputy reported seeing the vehicle fire on Sands Road at about 8 p.m. while on patrol.

The vehicle was fully engulfed when the deputy arrived.

Firefighters from the Christianburg Fire Department responded to the scene and extinguished the fire.

While putting out the flames human remains were found in the trunk of the vehicle.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is working in conjunction with the TBI and the Tennessee State Bomb and Arson division on the investigation.

Hold on, whoa-up!  Time for a break in my usual line of articles about things of the past.  I must interject some current events in  this thing I do.  Yep, time for me to write something in the line of politics.

Wait a minute — don’t be running off to read something that JML guy might have written — stay with me, because I have something to say about the current political campaign of the two main persons running for the office of Sheriff.

First off, I better admit that my only interest in the Sheriff’s race is one centered on my past profession of being a law enforcement officer for 41 years.  Twenty-four in the military and 17 as a police chief in a one-horse Texas town.  Yep, I actually worked for a living when I was younger and foolish yet.  I say foolish because being a peace officer is not the wisest thing a person can do.  It might be the bravest, most selfless, most dedicated and worthy thing a person can do, but it is not the smartest.  Anyway, I did it and thus consider myself to be qualified to talk about law enforcement.

Last week I attended a news conference that Steve Lawson, the democrat candidate for the sheriff’s job, tossed in the legal offices near the courthouse.  I thought that the conference would be about Lawson’s ideas for improving the Sheriff’s department, so was disappointed to hear that he only wanted to complain about someone calling him an Obama Democrat.  Huh? Continue Reading

(In order to confirm or deny the claim by “A REAL Conservative” that Democrat Steve Lawson is using the word “Republican” on his campaign signs in an attempt to confuse voters, we went out to do some snooping. Form your own conclusion. — HTC Staffer)

Click Photo To Enlarge

UPDATE: April 27, 2010, 2:00 p.m. — Bob Deuel, the VFW post commander who was relieved of duties after a bogus Lisa Stanbery political ad that appeared in Sunday’s Cleveland Daily Banner claimed he and other veterans endorsed her bid for county mayor, was furious when he went to the paper this morning to meet with publisher Stephen Crass. By lunchtime, Deuel still had not gotten in to see Crass, so he left to get a bite to eat.

Meanwhile, Lisa Stanbery and her campaign manager, Michelle Michaud, parked outside the Banner offices, determined to head Deuel off and avert a political disaster. At some point during that time, Michaud confronted Crass in the lobby of the Banner over the ad. According to witnesses, a shouting match ensued which could be heard throughout the offices as the two exchanged charges and attempted to place blame for the fiasco on the other.

Crass would not accept responsibility for the ad because it is not the paper’s place to check the veracity of endorsement ads submitted by political candidates. When Crass asked Michaud, “Did you approve this ad with the gentlemen in the ad before you brought it to the paper?” She replied, “Yes, I sent them an email. I can’t help it if they’re not literate enough to get their emails.”

L-R: Lisa Stanbery (seated in vehicle), Bob Deuel and Michelle Michaud (Stanbery campaign manager) in the Cleveland Daily Banner parking lot, today, April 27, 2010 @ 12:14pm ET

The ad itself, which gave the impression that the VFW supported Stanbery’s campaign, has veterans locally and across the state up in arms, as they claim they NEVER endorsed her campaign and were outraged that she would attempt to fool voters into thinking they had. VFW Post Commander Deuel was fired because of the ad, which included a photo of a smiling Lisa Stanbery standing with Deuel and three other VFW members under the headline: “Veterans Vote Lisa Stanbery.”

Stanbery has also come under fire in recent weeks for falsely claiming that the popular Tea Party movement had endorsed her candidacy.

After her confrontation with Crass, Michaud rejoined Stanbery in the parking lot and continued to await Deuel’s return from lunch. When Deuel returned to the Banner offices, he engaged in an extended discussion with Stanbery and Michaud in the parking lot. We have no idea what was said, but after a time, they all left together.

It is reported that the Banner will print a retraction, possibly in today’s paper. Whether that is true or not, we cannot say. However, the fault for the ad does not lie with the Banner — it lies, once again, with Lisa Stanbery’s underhanded attempts to create a false and undeserved impression that she is receiving endorsements when she is not.

But there are still many unanswered questions. What did Stanbery say to Deuel to stop him from going in to talk to Crass? Did she offer him something in exchange for his silence? Will Deuel be silent? Did Stanbery smooth talk him into compliance or is he still hopping mad over being fired because she claimed an endorsement when there was none? How will the Stanbery campaign spin this latest scandal, less than a week before the election and only a month after the Tea Party scandal? How will veterans react to being called illiterate by the Stanbery campaign? Are voters even aware of the unethical behavior of the Lisa Stanbery machine? As far as we know, HTC is the only news source reporting on it.

Again, this story is still unfolding. We will report further as further facts become known.

If this were the wild west and if political candidate Adam Lowe’s election signs were cattle, it looks like County Commissioner Jim Smith would be a’hanging from a tall oak tree right now, because that is what they did to cattle rustlers in the wild west.

Good thing for ole Jim Smith this isn’t the wild west. This is Bradley’s great Land of Cleve and no one has ever been strung up for sign rustlin’ as far as we know. But that doesn’t mean the practice isn’t frowned upon.

That is why, when Adam Lowe — who is running against incumbent Jim Smith for a 4th District County Commission seat — got a call on Saturday, March 13, reporting that someone was stealing his political signs from the yard of a private residence on Bates Pike, he hurried over there with his video camera in time to catch the thief, identified as Jamie Martin, in the act.

When Lowe confronted Martin and asked why he was taking the Adam Lowe political signs down, Martin told him that Adam Lowe told him to. Lowe then told Martin that he was Adam Lowe and he had never done any such thing. At that point, Martin came clean and said incumbent County Commissioner Jim Smith had told him to take the signs.

However, when Lowe called the police to report the sign theft, Martin took off in a green pick-up truck. Lowe took down the Tennessee license plate number of the truck. After a Bradley County deputy had arrived, viewed Lowe’s video of the encounter and was taking the report, Martin returned to the scene. In the bed of his green pick-up were a number of large and small Lowe campaign signs, as well as a half dozen Stacy Hayes campaign signs. It is unclear at this time, but there may have been quite a few more political signs from other candidates also in Martin’s truck. Martin told the deputy that Jim Smith had told him to take the signs down because the owner of the Bates Pike property had requested they be taken down (no explanation as to why he took all the other signs). What Martin didn’t realize is that Lowe had already spoken with the property owner and the property owner said he had given Lowe permission to put the signs in his yard and had never requested that Jim Smith have them removed.

Martin produced a note Continue Reading

The buzz around our home town is that the County Mayor’s race is going to be the one to watch. Forget that Congressional fight between Turkey Boy and Robinella DeVille — the District of Columbia is just too far away. We are a simple people here in Bradley’s great Land of Cleve:  We like our drama up close and personal.

And it doesn’t get any closer or more personal than the County Mayor’s race, with County Commissioner Lisa “I (heart) Botulinum Toxin” Stanbery challenging the incumbent, D. Gary “Gobble Monster” Davis.

The latest chapter: Bradley County Sheriff’s Deputy Nathan Headrick came out with guns blazing after the County Mayor’s office insulted him during an investigation back in February.

It’s a tangled web, but in this town we love our webs tangled, don’t we?

On February 18th of this year, Deputy Headrick was investigating reports that employees in the County Mayor’s office had been receiving nuisance phone calls. While he was at the Mayor’s office gathering information, the County’s Human Resources manager, Rena Samples, called him a “traitor” because, according to her, Headrick had his picture posted at Lisa Stanbery’s website. Headrick didn’t like the remark. He sued, claiming “unwarranted workplace harassment, defamation of character and a personal attack.”

But you know there’s more to the story than that, don’t you?

Last year, Rena Samples shorted Deputy Headrick’s paycheck to make up for another time when she overpaid him (there’s that well-oiled county machine in operation). Headrick did not like it even one little bit. It is said that he’s been holding a grudge ever since and Samples’s “traitor” crack was just the opening he needed to get even with her. Maybe, maybe not — who can read Headrick’s mind? But the deputy has cooled off and last Friday he announced he was dropping the lawsuit in the best interests of the County.

But you know there’s more to the story than that, don’t you?

According to County Attorney Joe Byrd, on February 19th of this year — the day after the “traitor” dust-up in D. Gary Davis’s office — someone named Michelle Michaud made an Open Records request for a copy of the incident report. It’s interesting because Michelle Michaud works for Lisa Stanbery’s campaign. And it makes perfect sense when you consider Lisa’s past modus operandi: Entice the disenfranchised to her side, win their trust and then run them for public office so the Stanbery brand will live on.  Just look at the County Commission.

But now, as Paul Harvey used to say, it’s time for the rest of the story.

Deputy Headrick is now a candidate for political office. Look for his name on the ballot next to “Bradley County Board of Education, 6th District.”