This Hour: Latest Tennessee news, sports, business and entertainment - WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & Sports

This Hour: Latest Tennessee news, sports, business and entertainment

Posted: Updated:

HASLAMS-INVESTIGATION

3 more plead guilty in probe of Pilot Flying J

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Three more employees of the truck stop chain owned by the Cleveland Browns' owner and Tennessee's governor have pleaded guilty in what authorities call a scheme to cheat trucking firms out of rebates.

Regional sales manager Kevin Clark pleaded guilty to mail fraud in federal court in Knoxville on Tuesday.

Knoxville media report that Holly Radford, an account manager, and salesman Jay Stinnett entered similar pleas later in the day.

Prosecutors allege that the sales team of Pilot Flying J, the country's largest diesel retailer, short-changed trucking companies to boost profits and commissions.

Pilot is run by Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, the brother of Gov. Bill Haslam. Jimmy Haslam has denied any personal wrongdoing.

Two other Pilot employees pleaded guilty last month.

BABY SHOT

1-year-old's skull fractured by bullet in Jackson

JACKSON, Tenn. (AP) - Jackson police say a bullet came through a wall at an apartment complex and fractured a 1-year-old's skull. Authorities have taken one suspect into custody and are searching for a second.

According to The Jackson Sun, police said an altercation took place at the complex Monday night, resulting in shots fired.

One bullet grazed the infant boy in the head, but did not strike his brain. Police said the shot came from outside the building.

The child was taken to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, where he was in critical but stable condition Tuesday.

Witnesses told police the shooter was in a small red car, which was found abandoned on Tuesday.

Police took Justin O'Neal Byrd into custody Tuesday. They are still searching for his brother, identified as Antonio "Tony" Demont Byrd.

WORKERS' COMP

Workers' compensation changes focus of conference

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Changes to the state's workers' compensation system will be the focus of the Tennessee Workers' Compensation Educational Conference this week.

The 3-day conference begins on Wednesday at the Nashville Airport Marriot.

The conference includes specific sessions on getting ahead of the prescription drug abuse issue, how to reduce costs with safety and health programs, and navigating pain management.

Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Janice Holder will participate in a panel discussion on attorney and mediator ethics.

The keynote speaker is Margaret Spence, an expert on return-to-work strategies.

More information is available on the Department of Labor and Workforce Development website at http://www.tn.gov/labor-wfd under the "workers' comp" tab.

SMOKIES VISITS-MAY

Best May ever for Smokies visits

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) - The mountains were a popular destination last month.

The National Park Service said the Great Smoky Mountains National Park had nearly 886,000 visitors in May - the most ever in any May. The number was up by 10.5%, or more than 86,000 people, from May 2012.

Year-to-date visitation is down by 5.5% from the 5-year average, however. For the first five months of 2013, the park recorded just more than 2,506,000 visitors. That was 273,000 fewer than in the first five months of 2012.

FRONTIER FLIGHT ARREST

FBI: Airline passenger said there was a bomb

DENVER (AP) - A preliminary hearing is scheduled Thursday for a Colorado man accused of telling a flight attendant there was a bomb in his backpack on a flight from Knoxville, Tenn., to Denver.

Federal prosecutors say Mark Michael Bote, of Thornton, was arrested Friday after the Frontier Airlines flight landed. He made his initial court appearance Tuesday on a charge of giving a false report. He will be assigned an attorney.

An FBI agent says in court documents that Bote was returning from a church mission trip. A woman with his group indicated he had a mental disability and can become disoriented without enough sleep.

Bote allegedly told investigators he thought someone was stalking him and feared that the person had put a bomb in his bag.

FUNGAL MENINGITIS-SUBPOENA

Records sought in fungal meningitis outbreak

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Three Tennessee clinics have received subpoenas for documents related to drugs from a Massachusetts specialty pharmacy linked to a fungal meningitis outbreak last year.

The subpoenas were sent to St. Thomas Outpatient Neurological Center in Nashville, Specialty Surgery Center in Crossville and the PCA Pain Care Center in Oak Ridge. They were issued by attorneys representing patients in a consolidated federal lawsuit against New England Compounding Pharmacy Inc. in Framingham, Mass.

The attorneys are asking the clinics to produce records between the clinics and the pharmacy, including purchases, quantities, pricing and dates, involving methylprednisolone acetate, as well as other compounded medicines produced by the pharmacy.

The fungal meningitis outbreak killed 58 people and sickened more than 740 others.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.