FRIDAY 161st YEAR • NO. 258 FEBRUARY 26, 2016 CLEVELAND, TN 22 PAGES • 50¢ City school board launches search for new director; July 1 is the goal By LARRY C. BOWERS Tennessee School Boards Association in its work,” she said in her opening discussions. Banner Staff Writer search. “We work to find the best candidate for the TSBA Executive Secretary Dr. Tammy job, and we will help you get a great person to The Cleveland Board of Education is mov- Grissom came to Cleveland on Thursday to lead this school district,” she added. ing swiftly to find a new director of schools. assist the school board in getting the search She also praised the Cleveland board, hav- The city school board is benefited by the under way. She brought along a copy of the ing worked with them before. fact it has retained selection criteria from five board’s selection criteria, and helped the “You have a great, great school system,” years ago when Dr. Martin Ringstaff was board to establish a timeline for the search. she said. hired for the position. Much of this criteria School board members, headed by Chair She emphasized several Tennessee school was compiled at community meetings. Dawn Robinson, made some slight changes, systems are seeking new superintendents. Ringstaff was fired recently for conduct additions and tweaks to the criteria prior to TSBA consultants are working with three of deemed unbecoming of a school system Banner photo, LARRY C. BOWERS approval. They did the same to the timeline. those districts, in addition to Cleveland. TENNESSEE SCHOOL BOARDS Association Executive Director employee. Grissom assured the board her organiza- Three metro systems, Davidson County, The Board of Education has once again tion will quickly move forward. “When you Dr. Tammy Grissom, left, shares a laugh with Cleveland Board of decided to utilize the services of the hire us, we work for you and do your leg- See DIRECTOR, Page 10 Education Chair Dawn Robinson prior to a meeting Thursday. Inside Today Hassan Banner photo, SARALYN NORKUS NEARLY A MONTH Earlier after surgery, 7-year-old Carli Oliver and her toy Najjar bear paid a visit to the Cleveland Daily Banner office, right photo. Oliver’s power playful demeanor has resigns remained unchanged despite going through her 13th cranial surgery. In outage the photo below, brother museum Hunter Oliver, from left, father Daniel Oliver and mother Beth Oliver pose cause with Carli at her pre- position surgery party at Black Fox Elementary. Director accepts is ID’d post in Colorado Transformer should Region roundball By LARRY C. BOWERS Five county prep hoops teams Banner Staff Writer have lasted longer are heading into Region 3-AAA play tonight and tomorrow. The Cleveland’s Museum Center at By RICK NORTON TCPS girls captured another con- Five Points is losing its top official. Associate Editor ference championship. Lee’s Hassan Najjar, the executive A midnight electrical outage roundballers came up “Short” in director of the museum, has that left 1,247 Cleveland Utilities their contest in Georgia. The UT informed the board of trustees he customers in an even darker athletic director stands by the will be resigning effective March dark, and most without heat, in school’s embattled football coach. 4. the wee morning hours of Feb. 11, See Sports, Pages 13-15. Najjar joined the museum three years ago, during challenging has been blamed on a power times. At the transformer’s Justice Scalia time, the muse- premature fail- um was strug- ure. will be missed gling to meet its The blackout Supreme Court Justice Antonin mission and Praying for Carli a little over two Scalia will be long remembered and cement its weeks ago forever missed because of a pio- identity as a occurred at destination for 12:11 a.m. and neering spirit and for offering views power was that weren’t always popular. At history, arts ‘Last resort’ surgery No. 13 brings and culture restored by least, this is the perspective of one within the e m e r g e n c y writer who had the chance to meet Najjar region. good news for Black Fox student crews to Payne Borden him. See the guest “Viewpoint” on Najjar has Gap area resi- Page 16 of today’s edition. been widely credited for his trans- By SARALYN NORKUS dents by 1:57 a.m., according to a formational leadership of the Banner Staff Writer report by Bart Borden, vice presi- dent of CU’s Electric Division. Forecast Museum Center, the realignment One month ago, 7-year-old of its mission and being an advo- Mechanical malfunctions are a Carli Oliver was preparing to part of life, but Borden told cate for the museum in the com- undergo what was referred to as munity and nationwide. Cleveland Board of Public Utilities a “last resort” surgery — her members during a formal session Notable accomplishments 13th cranial surgery to date. under Najjar’s direction include Thursday the unexpected shut- After five excruciating hours in down came on a 22-year-old the creation of three new exhibit a waiting room at T.C. spaces, a consistent and upgrad- transformer whose life expectancy Thompson Children’s Hospital, should be at least 50 years. ed schedule of exhibits, a new the Oliver family received the slate of mission-focused program- “It caught us very much by sur- best news possible: surgery No. prise,” Borden acknowledged. He Today looks to be mostly sunny, ming, housing the permanent col- 13, which was performed by with a high near 48 degrees. lection, receiving Smithsonian later added, “We were not expect- Walter E. Boehm Birth Defect ing it.” Tonight’s forecast calls for partly accreditation, an overhaul of Center Neurosurgeon Dr. Peter heating and air conditioning, and That’s because routine mainte- cloudy skies, with a low around 30. Boehm Jr. and Craniofacial and nance testing performed in the recent facelift of the Museum Pediatric Plastic Surgeon Dr. Saturday should be mostly sunny store and lobby. August 2015 showed the trans- and somewhat warmer, with a high Devan Griner, had proven to be former to be operating properly, “Hassan’s leadership and vision lucky indeed. near 56. Saturday night calls for reshaped the Museum Center into and well within required guide- clear skies and a low around 35. “It went so much better than I lines. a true community asset,” said ever imagined,” said Carli’s mom, Mike Griffin, board president. On the night of the outage, CU Beth. “It took about five hours crews performed exploratory test- Index “He’s the type of guy that rolls and everything went as planned, up his sleeves and gets the job ing and as the Payne Gap substa- Church........................................8-9 done, and that’s the example he tion was being powered up, it Classified................................20-21 See CARLI Page 12 Comics.........................................17 See MUSEUM, Page 10 See OUTAGE, Page 10 Editorials......................................16 Horoscope....................................17 Obituaries.......................................2 Traffic attack suspects Stocks............................................4 County schools mourn Sports......................................13-15 ‘dangerous criminals’ TV Schedule...........................18-19 Weather........................................11 By ALLEN MINCEY lent crime as this is no different death of John Mehling Banner Staff Writer than using a firearm or any other Around Town weapon. We consider the sus- By CHRISTY ARMSTRONG A person or persons throwing pects to be dangerous criminals Banner Staff Writer objects at oncoming traffic could Madison Scoggins enjoying her who will be treated as such,” said face serious charges, according Gibson. For the third time this school year, a Bradley County school day off with her mom ... Angie to law enforcement officials. They is faced with mourning the loss of a teacher. Burnette being told she doesn’t sing Watson said the two law warned such actions could cause enforcement agencies are looking John Mehling, a reading intervention specialist and ACT prep well enough to be in 4-year-old serious accidents resulting in for the identity of a suspect teacher at Walker Valley High School, died Feb. 18 at the age of granddaughter Mackenly’s band ... injuries or even fatalities. described as a white male who 54. He will be honored with a funeral this weekend. Gary Williamson sporting around in a Both Bradley County Sheriff was observed throwing objects Walker Valley Principal Nat Akiona said Mehling will be new SUV ... Jenny Garner-Davis Eric Watson and Cleveland Police from the back of a dark-colored missed, and his contributions to the school were great. having her sights set on the big pic- Chief Mark Gibson are asking for pickup truck at approaching “He was a good example of a lifelong learner and an excellent example for students,” Akiona said. ture ... Teakoah Doss and Brooke the public’s help in identifying vehicles. He did say that they do As someone who helped students improve their math, sci- Taylor doing some modeling at the the person or persons responsi- not appear to be related to inci- ble for these acts, which report- ence and English skills for the ACT exam, he also said Mehling Old Woolen Mill ... Lois Myers talking dents of vandalism from earlier helped raise the school’s average ACT composite score. That about how much she enjoyed her edly occurred on the evening of this month, for which five juve- Feb. 19 through the morning of average currently sits at 25 — higher than both the state and recent trip to Hollywood Beach, Fla. niles and one adult were arrest- national averages. Feb. 20, and were not confined to ed. any one section of the county or “Someone knows who these city.