Latest news with #MeganBoswell
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Yahoo
THP: Woman killed in crash near Rogersville
ROGERSVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — One person was killed in a crash Monday evening near Rogersville, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The crash happened around 3:39 p.m. on State Route 66 at Forest Hills Road. Megan Boswell sent to women's prison in Nashville According to a preliminary crash report, a Dodge Ram 1500 was traveling south when it crossed into the northbound lane and collided with a northbound Ford F-150. A Jeep Cherokee that was also traveling north then hit the Ford. The driver of the Ford, identified as Norma Frazier, 53, of Tennessee, was killed, according to the report. She was reportedly not wearing a seatbelt. The other two drivers were injured. Charges against the driver of the Dodge are pending the outcome of the investigation, according to the report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Johnson City Salvation Army seeks support after gas leak
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — The Salvation Army Johnson City Corps is asking for community support for volunteer, financial and meal needs after a gas leak caused a shelter evacuation on Feb. 21. Guests who had been at the shelter were evacuated to the Salvation Army's administrative building. The organization announced in a news release Monday that repairs are in progress at the shelter, but the administrative building does not have all the facilities needed, such as a commercial kitchen and showers. The Salvation Army has continued providing emergency cold-weather shelter through its White Flag program. Due to the evacuation, all registered guests were housed at overflow locations operated by community partners. Megan Boswell sent to women's prison in Nashville Daily meal donations and volunteer support are needed. Those interested are asked to call (423) 926-2101 or email for more information. Donations can also be made online here. The organization thanked East Tennessee State University (ETSU), First United Methodist Church, Fox's Pizza, Ming's Asian Cuisine and The Firehouse for their support. 'We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support from our community,' Major Maureen Diffley, Corps Officer of The Salvation Army, said in the news release. 'Thanks to generous donors, all of our guests have received hot meals and showers, and we've been able to provide cots for sleeping, thanks to loans from the Red Cross and American Legion. The assistance from the Washington County Emergency Management Agency and other community partners has been instrumental in helping us navigate this crisis.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
JC Commission asks for state legislation that would allow alcohol sale hours change
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Despite opposition from business owners, the Johnson City Commission passed a resolution Thursday night supporting state legislation that could limit the hours alcohol is sold in city limits. The resolution supported 'Tennessee Legislation authorizing Johnson City to regulate hours of sales for alcoholic beverages,' according to the commission's agenda. The resolution does not grant the commission the ability to regulate alcohol sale hours; instead, it voices support for a law to be passed on the state level that would allow the city to do so. Jury hands Megan Boswell life sentence after guilty verdict Commissioners unanimously passed the resolution. Johnson City Vice Mayor Greg Cox emphasized Thursday night that he voted in favor of it with the idea of engaging in more public discussion on the matter and having the option available but not necessarily put to use. 'Just for clarification for discussion, I think it's important to look at all the tools in the toolbox we could have,' Cox said on Thursday. 'I've gotten a lot of feedback from the city on both perspectives.' Several members of the public spoke at the start of the meeting to voice their disapproval of the resolution, including Capone's owner Thomas Breese. He said as the owner of a downtown Johnson City bar, he was concerned about the resolution 'that seemingly popped out of nowhere.' 'Although it does not explicitly state this, it is my understanding that the ultimate goal is to limit on-premise alcohol sales to 1 a.m. This path can, as I see it, go two directions, neither of which is good.' Breese said if alcohol sale times were capped at 1 a.m., it could cause the hours of bars and entertainment venues to shift their hours and upset the balance of different crowds downtown. He said parking would become more of an issue if the dinner crowds and late-night crowds overlapped with less time until alcohol sales stopped. According to Breese, the second option he foresaw was worse than the former. 'The late-night business could dry up and wither altogether,' Breese said. 'Downtown hosts thousands of guests every weekend, much more than the stated 2% of Johnson City residents referenced in the resolution. These guests do spend money downtown, but more than that, they spend all over Johnson City, and many of them travel here from surrounding areas just for the nightlife.' When the commission reached its discussion of the resolution, Johnson City City Manager Cathy Ball said she hoped to clarify some information that may have been misunderstood. Using a presentation, Ball first read Tennessee's current state law that allows beer sales until 12 a.m. and allows sales of liquor by the drink until 3 a.m. A business with a liquor-by-the-drink permit can sell beer at any time that it can sell liquor. Tennessee law does not allow municipalities, such as Johnson City, to be more restrictive than what is allowed by the state. 'What we're asking is consideration of our General Assembly to allow the City of Johnson City to regulate the hours of alcohol sales within the City of Johnson City,' Ball said. 'So all that we're saying to them is we would like the ability for the city commission to be able to establish the hours that alcohol is sold within the City of Johnson City.' Ball told the commission that research and data are available and said the resolution was proposed with the public's safety in mind. 'The biggest reason is it's based on safety and the wellbeing of the community,' she said. A slide from Ball's presentation showed the time at which police responded to incidents in the downtown area broken down by hour. According to the slide, which used data from January 2019 through September 2024, the hours that saw the most reports of violent crimes, weapon and drug offenses and DUIs were 1-4 a.m. Ball also showed a heat map of where police responded to incidents during those hours. The map showed that most of the activity occurred in the bar area downtown. A comparison of the downtown district to North Roan Street, which Ball noted also has bars, showed a much smaller number of incidents between 1-4 a.m. A slide of the presentation stated that the downtown district is home to 2.3% of the city's population and represents 1.4% of the total acreage of the land within the city limits. Ball told the commission that on an average Saturday, 58% of on-duty police officers are assigned to the downtown district. 'What this demonstrates to us is we're not distributing our resources of police officers across the whole city and to all of our community in an even way,' Ball said. 'So if there is a crime that happens in Gray, if there's a crime that happens in South Johnson City, then we're not able to respond as quickly as we would like to.' Regarding the cost, Ball said providing such police resources downtown on the weekends is significant. In answer to a question from Johnson City Vice Mayor Greg Cox, Ball said a busy weekend could cost the city $7,000-$8,000 to patrol with police properly. Ball reiterated that passing the resolution would not make it law or cause any immediate change. 'There are a lot of other steps that have to happen in order for this to become a law and a lot of other opportunities, that I think Commissioner [Jenny] Brock brought out, for there to be community input on this,' Ball said. Ball also stated that the resolution does not target a specific geographic area, as it would impact all businesses serving alcohol – not just those downtown. The resolution also does not require businesses to close at a different time. She closed her presentation on Thursday night by saying that the ultimate goal of the resolution and any potential legislation that could follow is to create a safe and thriving community. Ball answered Commissioner Jenny Brock's question of whether the resolution would be sent to legislators in Nashville by saying yes and that a bill had already been filed. According to Ball, lawmakers were waiting to see if the commission supported the bill before moving forward. Johnson City Mayor John Hunter said that, in his opinion, Tennessee has a 'fairly liberal last call of 3 a.m.' compared to surrounding states with a cutoff of 2 a.m., midnight or 11:45 p.m. Hunter asked Ball if she had an economic impact report available to inform city leaders what changing the alcohol sale hours would mean. Ball told him she did not have that information at the time, but the city would be required to evaluate the impact if the legislation were passed. Ball confirmed to Hunter that if the legislation were passed, the commission would not be required to restrict the alcohol sale hours, but it would be available as a tool. The resolution does not specify a time that Johnson City would consider halting alcohol sales. Ball guessed that the assumption of 1 a.m. by members of the public came from the data included in the presentation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Yahoo
Agencies that searched for Evelyn Boswell pleased with mother's guilty verdict
SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Megan Boswell was found guilty Thursday on all 19 charges she faced in the death of her baby daughter Evelyn. Jury hands Megan Boswell life sentence after guilty verdict When Evelyn was reported missing in February 2020, an AMBER Alert was issued. The Sullivan County Sheriff's Office (SCSO), Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and multiple other agencies dedicated personnel and manpower to finding the child. Searches were conducted in multiple states while investigators worked around the clock to bring Evelyn home, but she was later found dead in a trash can on a family member's property on March 6, 2020. Heated police interviews show decline in investigators' faith in Megan Boswell Almost five years later, Megan Boswell was found guilty on three first-degree murder counts and 16 other related charges. Both Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy and TBI Director David Rausch shared their approval of the verdict over social media statements Thursday. 'In February 2020, baby Evelyn Boswell captured our hearts and became one of our own. Sullivan County Sheriff's Office detectives along with our state and federal partners worked tirelessly to find her and build a case against the person responsible for her death. I want to express my sincere appreciation to all who worked on this case. Thanks to their thorough investigation and to the hard work of our District Attorney's Office, Megan Boswell was found guilty of all 19 charges against her, including the First Degree Murder of her daughter. Today, justice was served for our Baby Evelyn.' Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy 'Five years ago, we began working alongside the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office, the FBI, and the Office of the 2nd Judicial District Attorney General to pursue justice for Baby Evelyn. Today, justice was finally single person who worked on this case should be commended. It was both challenging and heartbreaking, but they never wavered from their mission to ensure the person responsible for Evelyn's death was held accountable.' TBI Director David Rausch Investigators from both agencies testified in Megan Boswell's trial, which lasted more than a week and called more than 30 witnesses to the stand. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Yahoo
Watch the closing arguments in the Megan Boswell trial
SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — The jury has begun deliberations in the Megan Boswell trial after the prosecution and defenses rested their cases and delivered closing arguments on Wednesday. Closing arguments wrapped up around 3 p.m. after the week-long trial saw more than 30 witnesses testify and hundreds of pieces of evidence submitted. Jury sent to deliberate after closing arguments in Megan Boswell trial Judge Jim Goodwin gave instructions to the jury on how to deliberate and reach a verdict before the attorneys gave their closing arguments. Boswell faces 19 total charges in the death of her baby Evelyn, who was found dead on a family member's property on March 6, 2020 after an AMBER Alert sparked a massive search. The charges are as follows: First-degree murder Felony murder in the perpetration of aggravated child abuse Felony murder in the perpetration of aggravated child neglect Aggravated child abuse Aggravated child neglect Tampering with evidence 11 counts of false report Abuse of a corpse Failure to report a death under suspicious, unusual or unnatural circumstances The three closing arguments (two from prosecutors and one from the defense) took nearly two hours collectively. Complete Coverage of the Megan Boswell Trial Each of the closing arguments can be watched below. The court is in recess until the jury reaches a verdict. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
