Tuesday Herald-Citizen The Daily Newspaper of the Upper Cumberland 114th Year — No. 63 Cookeville, Tennessee, March 15, 2016 12 Pages — 1 Section • 50¢ Weather Tonight Tomorrow Sports complex expansion proposed By LINDSAY McREYNOLDS of tournaments they’re able to host annu- Conservation Local Parks and Recreation Road, opened in 2004 after it was con- HERALD-CITIZEN Staff ally, creating a significant economic im- Fund grant in the amount of $748,298 to structed by the City of Cookeville. pact for the county. expand the six-field sports complex that It has been maintained by Putnam PUTNAM COUNTY — A proposed Commissioners on the county’s fiscal sits just north of Cookeville High School. County Parks and Recreation since then. grant project would double the size of the review committee last night recom- The complex, which sits on a portion of “The sports complex with soccer and 55º 70º Putnam County Sports Complex, and of- mended applying for a Tennessee De- county-owned 86 acres at North Wash- ficials say that could increase the number partment of Environment and ington Avenue and Whiteaker Springs See SPORTS, Page 2 Complete forecast, Page 2 Sports Labeled Egg stuffing drug scales lead to arrest By TRACEY HACKETT HERALD-CITIZEN Staff COOKEVILLE — He must have gone to summer camp as a Opener child. Cookeville soccer wins But a Smithville man who la- season opener /A7 beled an item of drug parapher- nalia with his name was arrested here Saturday evening for sell- ing and distributing marijuana. Evan Brady Cripps, of Pine Grove Road in Smithville, was charged in connection with the Living incident. According to a report by Cookeville Police Officer Kyle Farley, he originally stopped the vehicle Cripps was in because of a tail light violation and an ex- pired registration. “I immediately noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from about the vehicle,” the officer reports. The officer asked if there was marijuana present in the vehicle, and it was discovered that the Trumpet solo smell was coming from a back- Ty Kernea | Herald-Citizen pack belonging to Cripps, who Trumpet professor Student ambassadors with the Power of Putnam anti-drug coalition volunteer their time to stuff eggs for the March was riding as a passenger in that planning recital 20 Easter egg hunt put on by local radio stations Lite Rock, Kicks Country, Rock and News Talk. From left are vehicle. at TTU /A6 Matthew Davis, ambassador; Jennifer Matthews, POP assistant director; Felisha Torres and Maria Valerio, ambas- “I asked Mr. Cripps to exit the sadors; and Morgan Matthews, volunteer. The free hunt begins at 3 p.m. at Cookeville’s Cane Creek Sportsplex. vehicle, and I asked if it [the Photos with the Easter Bunny to benefit CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) begin at 1:30 p.m. An backpack] was his, and he said EGGstravaganza of free bouncies, games, contests, crafts and more begins at 2 p.m. yes,” Officer Farley reports. The officer said he asked the Nation man if he could search the bag, and the man reportedly con- sented. Reckless driving report leads to drug arrests A glass jar containing a bag of marijuana was inside the back- By TRACEY HACKETT vance of an off-duty deputy led to an ar- Georgie Ray Buck, 44, of Cookeville, pack, as well as a roll of plastic HERALD-CITIZEN Staff rest on drug charges for a Cookeville and Teresa Lenore Shirley, 42, of baggies typically used in illegal man and Gainesboro woman on Friday PUTNAM COUNTY — The obser- afternoon. See RECKLESS, Page 2 See DRUGS, Page 2 Sales drop More volunteers needed for Great American Cleanup Retail sales fall thanks to low gas prices /A5 By MEGAN TROTTER HERALD-CITIZEN Staff PUTNAM COUNTY — Now that spring is almost here, litter that accumulated on the Index roadsides during the winter is becoming more Abby............................A6 noticeable. The Keep Putnam County Beauti- ful Clean Commission is participating in the Calendar......................A3 Great American Cleanup to help get the county Crossword .................A11 looking good again. Living ..........................A6 “It’s a program sponsored by Keep America Beautiful that runs from March 1 through May Obituaries ...................A5 31,” said Shannon Reese, Clean Commission Norma Mitchell executive coordinator. Deborah Swallows So far, volunteers with Adopt-A-Road groups have signed on to clean roads in Algood, Bax- Robbie Reagan ter, Cookeville and Monterey. However, there Sarah Knight is always a need for more volunteers. Archie Kellow “We have bags, grabbers, vests that people can use,” Reese said. “We want people to con- Opinion.......................A4 tact us and let us know the roads they are Sports..........................A7 cleaning up. People can also let us know what roads are dirty so we can get people out there Sudoku ......................A11 to clean them.” Weather ......................A2 People can sign up for a cleanup or report a dirty road by calling the Clean Commission at 931-537-3278 or emailing cleancommis- Ty Kernea | Herald-Citizen [email protected]. Keep Putnam County Beautiful Clean Commission board members and volunteers gather to pick up litter So far, cleanups have been scheduled by in the county. In front, from left, are Shannon Reese, executive coordinator, and Dennis Driller, board member; in back: Bob Himell, treasurer; Lindsay Mills, board member; Becky Gunnels, president; Tara See CLEAN, Page 2 Wohlgemuth, board member; John Ludwig, vice president; and Santos Pedraza, volunteer. A-2 — HERALD-CITIZEN, Cookeville, Tenn. — www.herald-citizen.com — Tuesday, March 15, 2016 LOCAL READER Police aim to increase seat belt use through SAFE campaign SERVICES By AMY DAVIS Brown said observation surveys taken munities. Participating agencies are eligi- belted,” Brown said. HERALD-CITIZEN Staff before and after the SAFE campaign have ble to win one of two fully-equipped po- “That percentage increases to nearly 60 shown an increase in local seat belt use. lice vehicles at the Tennessee Law when nighttime crashes are examined.” Contact us: COOKEVILLE — Seat belt use is on the “In 2014 our local usage rate went from Enforcement Challenge ceremony in Sep- He noted that Tennessee is a primary seat Address: rise locally. 68.64 percent to 87.24 percent, and in tember. belt law state, meaning officers can pull But Cookeville Police Department offi- 2015 it went from 84 percent to 86 per- “The Cookeville Police Department is over vehicles for a driver or front seat pas- 1300 Neal St. cials would like to see the numbers go up cent,” he said. working extra doing saturation patrols and senger not wearing a seat belt without any Cookeville, Tenn. even more — that’s why they’re once As for the rest of the state, the rate in paying special attention to seat belt and other traffic offense taking place. again partnering with the Tennessee Gov- 2014 was 87.7 percent, up 2.9 percent child restraint violations during this cam- Drivers and passengers may be ticketed, Mailing Address: ernor’s Highway Safety Office through its over 2013. paign in an effort to make our citizens and this year marked the start of a higher Seatbelts Are For Everyone, or SAFE, In 2015, it fell slightly to 86.2 percent. safer while traveling on our roadways,” he seat belt fine in Tennessee — from $10 P.O. Box 2729 campaign. Nationally, seat belt use reached 88.5 per- said. and $20 for a first and second offense, re- Cookeville TN 38502 “This is the third year we have partici- cent in 2015, up from 86.7 percent in This year, agencies are paying special at- spectively, to $25 and $50. pated,” CPD Lt. Randy Brown said, not- 2014. tention to nighttime seat belt enforcement This is the third year the Governor’s ing that the purpose of the SAFE Brown said law enforcement agencies since Tennessee has seen a disproportion- Highway Safety Office has sponsored the Phone: 931-526-9715 campaign is to increase seat belt and child take part in the SAFE campaign, which ate percentage of unrestrained fatalities SAFE campaign. Last year’s efforts re- Fax: 931-526-1209 passenger safety restraint usage in Ten- began in February and continues through between 6 p.m. and 5:59 a.m. sulted in 2,470 child restraint violations, nessee. “We think it is successful in in- Aug. 1, by planning and implementing oc- “Historically, approximately 50 percent 33,879 seat belt citations and 671 other Email: creasing the safety of motorists.” cupant protection initiatives in their com- of Tennessee’s traffic fatalities are un- seat belt enforcement activities. News [email protected] Sports [email protected] Advertising RECKLESS: [email protected] Living Driving [email protected] Circulation complaint leads [email protected] Business News to drug arrest [email protected] Church News [email protected] From Page 1 School News [email protected] Gainesboro, were charged in Classified Ads connection with the incident. [email protected] According to a report by Sgt. Jeremy Nash, the arrests came after he was contacted by an Letter Guidelines off-duty deputy regarding a reckless driver in the Neal All letters to the editor must Street and East Spring Street be signed and include the area. writer’s name, address and “I responded to the area and phone number. Letters are made contact with the vehicle subject to editing and/or re- [on] Neal Street,” Sgt. Nash re- jection. A strict 400-word limit will be enforced. Send letters ports. to the mailing address listed The deputy identified the oc- above, or email to cupants as Buck and Shirley, [email protected]. and he said he observed while speaking with them, that they appeared to be under the influ- Order a Photo ence of an intoxicant.