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Around Tennessee: Adult, child killed in stabbing




Adult, child killed in stabbing; 3 others injured

MEMPHIS — An adult and a child were killed and three others were injured in a stabbing at a home in Memphis, police said.

First responders found the victims early Saturday and pronounced one adult dead at the scene, Memphis Police tweeted. A child was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead there, police said. Three other victims were taken to a hospital in critical condition, police told news outlets.

The victims identified their attacker as Leaudre Isabell, WMC-TV reported, citing a police affidavit.

Isabell, 23, was arrested and charged with two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder in the case, police said. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had an attorney. — Associated Press

Williamson County gets permission

to remove Confederate flag from seal

FRANKLIN — Two years after voting to remove the Confederate flag from its seal, a Tennessee county finally has the go-ahead to do so.

The Williamson County Commission voted in 2020 to request permission from the Tennessee Historical Commission to remove the flag from the upper-left quadrant of its 1960s-era seal. That decision came after months of discussion and the appointment of a task force that unanimously recommended removal.

The county had to go through the Historical Commission because the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act limits the removal or changing of historical memorials. On Friday, the county shifted tactics, asking the Historical Commission to declare that the law does not apply to the seal, The Tennessean reported.

“Williamson County now brings this petition for a declaratory order asking the Tennessee Historical Commission to hold that … the seal is not a ‘memorial’ as defined in the act,” County Attorney Jeff Moseley wrote in the petition. Even if it was a memorial, the petition continued, “it was not erected for, named, or dedicated on public property in honor of any historic conflict, historic entity, historic event, historic figure or historic organization.”

The Historical Commission unanimously accepted the county’s argument. — Associated Press

2 finalists chosen in search

for college president

ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. — Two finalists have been chosen to participate in interviews to become the next president of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology Elizabethton.

A search committee chose the finalists, who are David J. Hicks, superintendent of Bremen City Schools in Bremen, Georgia, and adjunct professor at Piedmont University in Demorest, Georgia; and Daniel Ray O’Quinn, vice president of TCAT Elizabethton.

The finalists’ resumes and information about the search are available online.

The interviews are open to the public and will be held May 3 at the college’s main campus. The interviews will also be recorded and posted online.

The new president will succeed President Dean Blevins, who is retiring in June. — Associated Press

Tennessee Aquarium celebrates

30 years, touts $4.9B impact

CHATTANOOGA — Chattanooga’s Tennessee Aquarium, the city’s biggest tourist draw, is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

When the $45 million privately funded riverfront attraction opened as the world’s largest freshwater aquarium, backers projected that it would attract about 600,000 visitors a year to an area of town that had been in decline, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.

In its first year, the aquarium more than doubled that projection, drawing 1.5 million visitors to quickly emerge as the region’s biggest tourism draw. The aquarium’s success has since spurred the addition of other riverfront attractions, restaurants, hotels and housing developments. A new economic study estimates the aquarium has pumped nearly $4.9 billion into Chattanooga’s economy since 1992.

Barry White, president of the Chattanooga Tourism Co., said the aquarium has helped propel Hamilton County’s tourism industry and improve life for local residents.

“The level of impact the aquarium has on conservation efforts, educational reach, revitalization of our downtown and ongoing economic impact is incredible,” White said in a report on the aquarium’s 30th anniversary.

— Associated Press

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