Almost a Tragedy: Gas Station Roof Collapse Linked to Incompetence and Cost-Cutting

Update 12/14/2016: the 'debris' of the roof canopy collapse was removed and business is back to normal. 

The "culprit" behind the original installation of the gas pumps and roof canopy has been identified as Danny Baker of Baker Oil Company in Lenoir City, TN--during a phone interview, they admitted to hiring and paying a sub-contractor to do  the work.

The cause of many construction disasters is often negligence, incompetence, and the total disregard for public safety... in this mishap there are two obvious clues: In nearby Athens TN where EF-2 winds wreaked havoc, many buildings next to or near gas pumps were destroyed, but none of the gas station canopies collapsed--in this roof collapse, there is no visible damage to the building--only the single post holding the canopy above the gas pumps failed.
Pastor Williams recently bought the business from Gary Davis, who owned the building since it was built back in 2001.
The heavy steel-frame canopy was attached by a single steel post, which sheared off it's ground level tack-weld mount--on 11/28/2016.

Moscow on the Nantahala

Foreign agents could be, and most likely have been scouting rural routes to and from large urban areas. According to the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, there are over 100 Russian spies operating in the U.S.

The road shown in the video is not just secluded, it's 'beyond secluded'--some residents who have lived in the area over 20 years have never driven past the 'no outlet' sign.

An elderly gentleman who lives about ten miles from the nearest paved road said foreign diplomats were recently spotted wandering in the area, supposedly looking for a short-cut through the woods...go figure.

When you consider that over half of all foreign diplomats also serve as 'intelligence gatherers' or 'spies', it's a reasonable cause for concern. 
The 'no outlet' sign at the entrance of this rural road is merely to discourage traffic: there are two (logging trail) routes available to continue back to urban areas--used mainly by hikers and off-road vehicles.

The operators the local resident refers to that he encountered, may have had prior mapping and knowledge of the area, and understood the value of a secluded area for meetings, dead-drops, and cell-phone towers' inability to 'ping' the location of cell phones...if one assumes that, oh!...no way it's not possible--that's exactly the mindset that potential foreign adversaries would like you to have.

Former MCSD deputy Eddie "hands" Manning fails to sway jurors

Former MCSD's "Predator with a Badge" was "fired" by the new Administration, caught on video planting evidence

U.S.Federal Court 9/23/2016--jury rules in favor of 2 former MCSD deputies who were fired by the new administration.

In the federal job discrimination lawsuit filed last year (2015), by three former MCSD deputies, Manning was the only one who received "0" compensation--Doug Brannon was awarded 50K, and "Crowbar" Miller just under 7K.

Doug Brannon, along with his former partner James Patrick Henry, made national headlines in the Dawson vs Monroe County Sheriff lawsuit--see the U.S. District Court in Knoxville Case 3:13­cv­00240--Judge James Curwood Witt had earlier described their actions as "egregious, illegal, and abhorrent." 

The last *contact I had with former deputy Manning was in mid-summer 2014, during a visit to the Coker Creek Davis Store, (now called Williams Mountain Market). 

After pumping gas and entering the store, I noticed a lively round-table discussion in the dining area--it centered around who was going to win the 2014 Sheriff's race, Randy White or incumbent Sheriff Bill Bivens.

My prediction, which was meant to be clearly heard, was that "Randy White was going to Win." There was a MCSD Sheriff's deputy present who heard this--the nameplate on his shirt was,  E Manning. 

Soon after getting back on the road,  the Sheriff's Dept. SUV which had been parked outside the store was now just inches from the rear of my vehicle. For the next 4 miles, the SUV kept "riding" my rear bumper.  The "slow chase" continued until I turned into my driveway.  Needless to say, this is a tactic which is often used as a "road rage" ploy, and can lead to a serious and dangerous situation.

* Former chief deputy Bryan Graves had been advised of at least one other similar incident. A call placed to Graves on 8/26/2013 alerted him to an incident which had a carbon-copy type M.O. (modus operandi)--which started in Tellico Plains, and lasted for 8 miles.

If "hands" Manning would chase a motorist for merely exercising their first amendment right of  (free-speech, voicing an opinion), and was fired in-part for planting evidence,  it's possible that he was 'at times' acting in violation under "color of law" while employed by the MCSD. 

Section 242 of Title 18 makes it a crime for a person acting under color of law to willfully deprive a person of a right or privilege protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.

The new Jones/White administration should take a firm stand against police officer misconduct--posing as fake attorneys, planting evidence,  selling schedule  class III narcotics,  use of a firearm during the commission of a felony,  civil rights violations,  and other by-gone era tactics should be strictly prohibited.

by MP

Drug Trafficking is the Most Virulent Form of Domestic Terrorism

How the Sheriff in a nearby county became the number 1 drug kingpin, money launderer, drug addict, and embezzler of public funds

Prescription drug abuse has become an epidemic in America.  Few places have been hit harder than Tennessee and Kentucky--both are states that have been ravaged by addiction to methamphetamine, oxycodone, and prescription pain pills.

Case-in-point, Whitley County, Kentucky: a place where the similarities to Monroe County, TN are an almost daily reminder posted in the local tabloid--in which over half of the daily content covers drug-busts, scams, and disintegration of the social fabric--directly related to aberrant lifestyles…

In Whitley County, matters were made worse when the man suspected of being at the center of the drug trade was the county's top law enforcement officer, Sheriff Lawrence Hodge—who by all accounts had become “untouchable”… 

Both the FBI and the state police had tried building a case, but Hodge had become very insulated,  and they couldn't penetrate his inner circle of drug-dealers, crooked attorneys and politicians...there was fear of what Hodge might do if anyone co-operated with federal authorities or the state police.

Hodge had been elected with the promise he would 'clean things up' – but early in his tenure there were rumors that “the Sheriff had gone bad.”  ATF special agent Todd E. Tremaine recalls that Hodge began taking pay-offs from drug-dealers and extorting money from defendants. He also developed a serious drug habit.  Authorities were able to bring charges against Hodge from an undercover investigation by two reporters from the local newspaper, who suspected Hodge may have an incriminating "paper trail," which led them to the sheriff's office evidence log.

Hodge was finally snared by the long arm of the law, click on video, "When Cops Go Bad" --he eventually pleaded guilty in federal court to extortion, distributing drugs, and money laundering—he was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison...and in 2013, state charges added another 17 years which included multiple counts of abuse of the public trust and 3 counts of tampering with evidence.

Hodge will be eligible for parole on November 8, 2024