Morristown man charged with conspiracy, Schedule II possession
A warrant served Friday resulted in the arrest of a Morristown man who had 53.1 grams of heroin, 16.7 grams of cocaine and 87 fentanyl pills.
Rasshan Hughintis Johnson, 43, was charged with criminal conspiracy and possession of Schedule II drugs for resale.
Friday, deputies with the Hamblen County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit went to Weigel’s on West Andrew Johnson Highway to serve the warrant on Johnson. During a search of Johnson, he was found to have a large amount of cash in his pocket. A search on Johnson’s vehicle led to recovery of 53.1 grams of heroin, 16.7 grams of cocaine and 87 fentanyl pills. Johnson is currently out on bond.
Talbott family plans reunion
The Talbott Family Reunion will be held Saturday, Aug. 13 at 11 a.m. at Horner-Dougherty Pavilion at Cherokee Park in Morristown.
Guests are asked to bring food, non-alcoholic drinks, picture and Talbott family artifacts.
Tennessee sues Walgreens over opioid prescription onslaught
Tennessee’s attorney general said Wednesday he has sued Walgreens, accusing the drugstore chain of contributing to the state’s opioid crisis by failing to maintain effective controls against the abuse of prescription pain pills.
The lawsuit seeking unspecified civil penalties was filed in Knox County Circuit Court by Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III and alleges violations of Tennessee’s Consumer Protection Act.
The lawsuit said that between 2006 and 2020, Walgreens retail stores in Tennessee dispensed more than 1.1 billion oxycodone and hydrocodone pills. One pharmacy alone in Jamestown dispensed enough opioids over that period to supply each resident with 2,104 pills.
“Walgreens did not flood the State of Tennessee with opioids by accident,” Slatery said in a statement. “Rather, the fuel that Walgreens added to the fire of the opioid epidemic was the result of knowing — or willfully ignorant — corporate decisions. Walgreens ignored numerous red flags and failed to detect and prevent the abuse and diversion of dangerous narcotics.”
In a statement Wednesday night, Walgreens said it “never manufactured or marketed opioids, nor did we distribute them to the pain clinics and ‘pill mills’ that fueled this crisis.
“We will continue to defend against the unjustified attacks on the professionalism of our pharmacists, dedicated healthcare professionals who live in the communities they serve.”
The suit said Walgreens created a public nuisance and for years failed to perform due diligence or train its pharmacists on how to recognize suspicious activity for opioid abuse and diversion. The suit said Tennessee Walgreens pharmacies dispensed opioids to patients from at least 31 different states.
Biden nominates utility’s ex-board chair to rejoin panel
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — President Joe Biden has nominated the former board chairman of the nation’s largest public utility to rejoin the panel.
Huntsville, Alabama attorney Joe Ritch is Biden’s pick to return to the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Ritch left the federal utility’s board in 2017 after a Republican-controlled Senate failed the previous year to confirm former President Barack Obama’s reappointment of Ritch and two others. Obama nominated Ritch to the board in 2012. The Senate confirmed him in 2013 and the board voted to make him chairman in 2014.
The nine-member board currently has four vacancies, not counting two sitting members who are still serving after their terms expired in May. The seats come with five-year terms, but when a board member’s term expires, that person can keep serving until end of the current congressional session, typically in December, or until their successors take office, whatever comes first.
Ritch would fill a vacant seat with a term expiring in May 2025.
Annual Hummingbird Festival set at Land Between the Lakes
GOLDEN POND, Ky. (AP) — It’s that time of year when hummingbirds begin to move south, and the Friends of Land Between the Lake is hosting its annual Hummingbird Festival this weekend.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Woodlands Nature Station.
Programs include hummingbird banding and release demonstrations, seminars on attracting the birds and others, photo contest winners, crafts and games for children and other attractions.
Food options at the site are limited, but visitors can bring a picnic lunch if desired, the organization said.
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