Yeah, I’m still on my Crockett kick.

For those unfamiliar with my droning monologue about the Crockett family, research reveals that the Crockett family owned land grants near Bandy Creek in western Scott County. But was it the parents of Davy Crockett, the King of the Wild Frontier? Or was it the uncles of Davy Crockett, who moved from upper East Tennessee to the Wolf River Valley of Fentress County after their parents were killed in separate Indian massacres in the late 1700s?

There really is no mention of Davy Crockett ever living around here. He was born in upper East Tennessee, and doesn’t mention Scott County in his memoirs (he was friends with Coonrad Pile, who founded the Pall Mall community, so he did visit the Upper Cumberlands region during his travels). H. Clay Smith’s book, Dusty Bits of the Forgotten Past, mentions the Crockett land grants here, but doesn’t get more specific than that. But history isn’t clear on a period of time between when Davy’s uncles moved to Fentress County and when he was born. Could his parents have moved here, then moved back?

Browsing through a Fentress County history book — History of Fentress County, Tennessee, Vol. I (1987) — there is a mention of Davy Crockett’s sister, Emaline Crockett. She is the grandmother of Martha Paralee Guffy, who married Benjamin Anderson Creer in 1895. The Creers built the house that is now Jennings Funeral Home on U.S. Hwy. 127. Emaline Crockett married James Reed.

So what was Davy Crockett’s sister doing here (well, in Fentress County, anyway) if his parents never lived here? Maybe that’s another avenue to explore.

Oneida coach Tony Lambert accepted the coaching vacancy at Anderson County yesterday afternoon.

It comes as no surprise that Lambert is going back to the school where he got his start in coaching. He was defensive coordinator at Anderson County for several seasons under Larry Kerr, who retired earlier this month.

Lambert was always considered the top pick to replace Kerr whenever the long-time coach decided to retire. Two years ago, just before he accepted the head coaching job at Oneida, he considered an offer to become essentially a head coach in waiting at Anderson County.

Oneida will sorely miss Lambert. In just two seasons as head coach (and two more before that as defensive coordinator), he helped bring the program back into the limelight. After a decade without hosting a playoff game, Oneida hosted playoff games both years Lambert was head coach, and won their first Region 2-A championship in the 2000s last season en route to an appearance in the state semifinals.

But no one can blame Lambert for accepting the position at Anderson County. I have said it before and firmly believe that Lambert could coach defense at the collegiate level if he so desired. I have no idea if he so desires, but going to a Class 3A program — especially one like Anderson County — is obviously a big step up.

No word yet on who will replace Lambert at Oneida. Sources say that one of the current staff is likely to be promoted. The staff includes offensive coordinator Robert Wright, who has previous head coaching experience, offensive line coach John Brewster, who was a defensive coordinator at White County prior to coming to Oneida, and strength coach Jim Burchfield, who has twice been head coach at Oneida and was head coach for two years prior to Lambert assuming those duties.

Apple makes quite a chunk of change off me.

I was just getting settled down and blogging about the severe weather events happening around the state Saturday evening when the power adapter to my PowerBook G4 broke. Yes, broke. I don’t know how it happens, but that’s the fourth time it’s happened. Apple makes the best operating system and worst power adapters on the planet. Not to mention the most expensive. They’re $85 apiece for the factory version, and this will be the 5th replacement I’ve purchased (I’m not brave enough to try the aftermarket version).

So, no computer at home for me for a while. (Yes, these posts are being made at 10:30 p.m. That’s because I’m still at the office. Contrary to what some people believe, I burn the midnight oil from time to time.)

It would appear that I am an uncle again.

That makes five nieces and nephews. Wow, I must be getting old. After all, I turn 30 in a few days.

It’s time for some cousins to get hitched and start playing catch-up (that’s a note for you, CBG).

The victim of an industrial accident at the Great Dane Trailers plant in Huntsville died over the weekend.

Joshua Botts, 25, of Annadale, died Saturday afternoon when life support was turned off. Neurosurgeons were unable to successfully complete surgery Friday evening.

Botts reportedly stepped between a truck and a trailer as the truck was attempting to back up to connect to the trailer. He was pinned between the vehicles, resulting in massive head trauma. He was airlifted to UT Medical Center in Knoxville immediately following the accident.

More details in this week’s Independent Herald, and right now on WBNT Radio.

Want to hunt elk in Scott County?

You might have your chance this fall. If you’re lucky.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency will hold a very limited elk hunt this October on Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area. Of the 20,000 or so hunters expected to apply for the hunt, 4 lucky applicants will be selected during a random computer drawing.

More information in this week’s Independent Herald, or at TnWildlife.Org.

The Scott County Sheriff’s Department is the subject of an $18 million lawsuit filed by a former inmate of the jail, who claims she was denied medication while she was incarcerated. More details in this week’s Independent Herald and right now on WBNT Radio.

Convicted murderer Charles Ray Harvey has filed a petition seeking to have his 2005 first degree murder conviction overturned.

The Robbins man is serving a life sentence for killing his daughter’s husband, Armando G. Loredo, in the summer of 2003. He was convicted by a jury two years later, after just three hours of deliberations, and was sentenced to life without parole.

But his new attorney, Knoxville’s Bruce Poston, says that Harvey’s constitutional rights were violated at that 2005 murder trial because his legal team was incompetent (not in so many words, but basically).

In an appeal that has been filed in Scott County Criminal Court, Poston said the evidence against Harvey was overwhelming, and argued: “Any attorney with a basic understanding of criminal law, procedure and, as importantly, jury trials, would have known Mr. Harvey had no chance in a jury trial.”

Poston said that Harvey was offered a plea agreement by prosecutors prior to the trial. That agreement would have seen Harvey sentenced to 20 years if he pled guilty to a lesser charge. And, he argues, it was a no-brainer for Harvey to accept it. Except that his trio of attorneys told him he had a “50-50″ chance of winning at trial and thus convinced him to go ahead with his defense.

Deputy District Attorney General John Galloway says nonsense; Harvey was offered an opportunity to plead guilty, he rejected that opportunity, and he was adequately represented at trial.

During Harvey’s trial, his daughter — Vanessa Loredo — testified that her father had killed her husband by shooting him in the head at close range while the three were on an overnight camping trip on New River, due to the fact that Loredo was abusive towards her. Five days later, Loredo’s body was discovered by fishermen submerged in New River, nearly a mile above U.S. Hwy. 27, weighted down with chains and rocks.

Harvey’s live-in girlfriend, Donna Gail LaBoy, testified that Harvey had admitted to her that he killed Loredo, and prosecutors submitted evidence that included Harvey’s fingerprints on a shoulder holster and the murder weapon, which was recovered from his back yard. The state also presented letters said to have been written by Harvey, in which he sought funds to hire a hit man to kill his daughter and LaBoy.

Harvey never denied that Loredo was killed while the three were camping along New River, but claimed that it was Vanessa Loredo, not himself, who pulled the trigger.

Poston writes that Harvey wasn’t properly advised by his attorneys that even if the jury had bought into his argument, they still could have found him guilty of first degree murder, based on state statute.

Judge Shayne Sexton will hear the matter and render judgment on Harvey’s petition later this summer.

8:36 p.m. — Though some sporadic reports like the one from Huntland continue to roll in, radar indicates a pronounced weakening trend with the line of storms, which are now nearing Smithville. We still appear on track to see these storms around 10 p.m. or thereafter.

8:30 p.m. — Media reports indicate that a police department near Winchester in Franklin County (the town of Huntland) has reported a tornado on the ground, with damage inflicted.

8:20 p.m. — Thunderstorm damage has been reported in downtown Murfreesboro. According to NWS Nashville, several trees are down in the downtown area. The NWS is now reporting one house destroyed, one moderately damaged and 2 more slightly damaged in the Ashland City tornado in Cheatham County.

8:15 p.m. — A possible tornado has been confirmed by the National Weather Service in Ashland City, just west of Nashville. Nashville television is reporting a home destroyed in that area. This is the first tornado report from Middle Tennessee, though 2 funnel clouds were reported near Clarksville. A tractor-trailer truck was reported to have been tossed from Interstate 24 north of Nashville. So even if these storms quickly dissipate, there will be more tornadoes reported in Tennessee today than in Alabama, which I did not expect.

7:30 p.m. — A line of supercells — really more of a glorified squall line — has developed just ahead of a cold front that is pushing through Middle Tennessee. Numerous severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings have been posted in the greater Nashville area as the activity progresses eastward. A tornado watch was issued for parts of Middle Tennessee earlier today. In the last little while, the tornado watch has been expanded eastward to include Pickett and Fentress counties to our immediate west.

There is a lot of rotation with these storms. At one point, a tornado or severe thunderstorm warning was posted in a line including every Tennessee county from Kentucky to Alabama. The line of storms is starting to weaken now, and only a few severe thunderstorm warnings are currently in effect. Earlier, a couple of funnel clouds were spotted in Montgomery County, near Clarksville.

These storms have just cleared the Nashville area, but they’re moving northeast, and more north than east, so it’ll be some time before they reach here. And they should weak somewhat before they get here, in a window from 10:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., most likely.

In 14 years of turkey hunting, I can count the number of times I’ve hooked up with a hot, workable bird on opening day of the hunting season on one hand.

Today was one of those times, more or less. But it ended with me rushing a shot and chasing the only two birds I heard plumb onto the next property. Besides a stupid shot at a running deer with my muzzleloader about four years ago, this was just the second shot I’ve missed at a big game animal (with a firearm . . . I’ve missed plenty with a bow) in almost 14 years. The last time I missed was a turkey at 10 yards on a Sunday afternoon hunt in 1997.

I didn’t expect to get on a bird this morning. All reports indicated that they’re slow getting started in Scott County this spring. Plus, I’ve found little sign in the areas I traditionally hunt. Couple that with the weather we had this morning — very foggy and light rain — and I didn’t expect too much. I almost talked myself into sleeping in, but with it being opening day, I couldn’t do it.

I went to my traditional listening post — a spot at the edge of a ridge above a large creek, where I can hear a turkey gobbling from the entire property — and heard one gobble once at daybreak. I knew from past experience that he would be roosted in a stand of white pines on the edge of a ridge about 500 yards away, and set off in that direction. I stopped twice and owl hooted, to try and pinpoint his location. I wanted to get as close as possible without giving my location away.

I slipped to within 75 yards and set up. He was gobbling good after daylight, but wasn’t interested in flying down. I tried a lot, but he wouldn’t budge. So I decided to switch locations (in case I had spooked him by calling too much), and eased back away from him and cut around a hill, coming back onto the ridge on his far side. There, I figured I would wait him out. When he came off the roost, he would come onto the ridge where I was at. Then, if he wouldn’t come to my call, I’d just wait on him to come into the old road beside me to strut. One way or another, it would just be a matter of time, and I had nothing but time to waste.

Until the rain set in. At 8:30 a.m., it began to rain. And did it rain. I was quickly drenched. I had already had trouble with my calls sounding like I wanted them to sound, because I use primarily friction calls and the dampness of the air due to the high humidity was hindering their ability. Once the rain began, my calls were soaked. I would have to resort to a wingbone yelper. And when the rain started, fog began to roll in again. I decided to take advantage of the wind, the rain and the fog to cut the distance between me and the bird in half. I belly-crawled on up the ridge, and nearly bumped the biggest bearded hen I’ve ever seen. She was sitting on a tree limb 20 yards in front of her male companion. Bearded hens aren’t uncommon, but I’ve never seen one with a beard as thick as this one. She would’ve put many toms to shame.

The birds stayed on the roost until nearly 11 a.m. By then, I was drenched, cold, miserable, and past ready to go home. I decided to try and force their hand, and that’s the worst thing you can do in turkey hunting. But it almost worked . . . until I rushed my shot.