Agents with the TBI arrested Fentress County Road Supt. Fred R. “Butch” Blevins yesterday, according to a news release.

Blevins, 56, was indicted by a Fentress County grand jury on several charges, including theft over $1,000 and official misconduct. An investigation by the TBI alleges that Blevins pocketed funds from the sale of scrap metal that belonged to Fentress County, between the months of December 2007 and February 2008.

Blevins was booked at the Fentress County Jail on a $10,000 bond.

Convicted murderer Charles R. Harvey was in court today in Huntsville.

Harvey is serving a life sentence for the 2003 murder of his estranged son-in-law, Armando Loredo.

The 54-year-old Robbins man was offered a plea deal by the state for voluntary manslaughter, one that could have seen him given a 25-year sentence and eligible for release as soon as 2012. However, he rejected that deal to take his chances at trial.

Harvey petitioned for post-conviction relief earlier this year, saying his attorneys led him to believe he would be acquitted at trial and didn’t properly explain his plea options to him.

Judge Shayne Sexton rejected that motion, saying Harvey’s argument “is not credible.”

More details in next week’s Independent Herald.

The verdict is being read now.

A member of the Scott County Board of Education was arrested early Saturday morning and charged with DUI.

Bradford A. Zachary, of Robbins, was charged with driving under the influence, 2nd offense, according to an arrest warrant filed by Sheriff’s Department Deputy Kris Lewallen. Lewallen allegedly noticed Zachary driving erratically and stopped him as he was pulling into the driveway of his home.

Zachary was elected to the 2nd District school board seat being vacated by Sam Wright in August 2008.

The National Park Service has released a statement about Friday’s deadly canoe accident at Angel Falls (the victim, by the way, was identified as Tony Evans, 61, of Knoxville).

In part:

“All four men were washed through the rapid. They established voice contact and verified that all four had emerged. Two members of the group saw Mr. Evans swimming toward them approximately 100 yards away. Mr. Evans suddenly appeared to experience difficulties. They swam to Mr. Evans, who was unresponsive when they reached him. The two men pulled Mr. Evans to the river bank and attempted to revive him. They were unsuccessful. Mr. Evans was not wearing a personal flotation device (PFD) at the time of the incident.”

A 60-year-old paddler died in the Big South Fork this evening.

The Scott County Rescue Squad and National Park Service personnel responded to Leatherwood Ford just before 6 p.m. this evening, and reportedly retrieved the body of a 60-year-old Knoxville man from near the Angel Falls Hiking Trail.

Multiple reports indicated that the man and some companions were in single-occupancy canoes and attempting Angel Falls, a class IV-V rapid approximately two miles downstream from Leatherwood Ford. Reportedly, the canoes capsized, and all the paddlers were able to swim to shore, but one paddler then became unresponsive. A companion then hiked back upstream to Leatherwood Ford to summon help.

It’s hard to believe, but if this is indeed confirmed by the National Park Service to be a paddling-related, it will be the first such death in the 30-year history of the BSF National River & Recreation Area. A number of people have drowned while swimming or slipping into the water — including a 17-year-old swimmer just upstream from Angel Falls last summer — but Chief Ranger Frank Graham said last summer that no person has drowned from a boat since the Big South Fork was established in the 1970s.

Angel Falls is one of two rapids along the Big South Fork River — the other being Devil’s Jump further downstream near Stearns, Ky. — where portage is recommended by even experienced paddlers.

UPDATE: The latest reports indicate that there were four paddlers — not two, as originally reported — and that the deceased man was responsive until he reached the shore. The NPS hasn’t released a statement, and may not until Monday.

UPDATE II: Updated again to change title and wording to better reflect what is believed to have happened.

The annual Boys & Girls Club Jim Barna Memorial golf tournament has been scheduled for June 5 and 6 at the Town of Oneida’s golf course at Ponderosa.

Proceeds benefit the youth programs at the Boys & Girls Club. To sign up a team or for more information, contact Boys & Girls Club CEO George Johnson at 286-9500.

This year’s tournament falls on the fifth anniversary of the untimely death of the Oneida businessman, who died of a heart attack on June 5, 2004. At the time of his death, Jim Barna Log Systems was the world’s largest manufacturer of log homes.

The Board of Education in Oneida last week formally adopted a plan that has been on the table for over a month — offering a retirement incentive for teachers eligible to retire from the profession.

As previously discussed, the plan will offer a $10,000 bonus to teachers eligible for retirement who opt to do so after the current school year. The offer will be capped at the first 5 teachers who agree to it by April 15.

Director of Schools Henry Baggett last night said that he and his staff continue to look at ways to cut the budget in light of a revenue shortfall. He said “one or two” tenured teachers could be impacted. Any tenured teachers who won’t be rehired must be informed of that decision by April 15. State law provides for tenured teachers to be fired if the program they teach is cut from the curriculum, and they must then be placed on a waiting list to be the rehired if a position for which they are certified becomes available.

So far, the only staff members who have been informed that they will be working next year are administrators, but they haven’t told whether they’ll return to their administrative positions or to a classroom position. The tenured teachers will be informed of their placement by April 15. Non-tenured teachers do not have to be informed of whether they’ll be retained until the start of the school year. There are currently about 8 non-tenured teachers in the system.

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.

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.