BOSTON (AP) — In May of 2011, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, then a senior at a prestigious high school, was awarded a $2,500 scholarship from the city of Cambridge, Mass., to pursue higher education. Now, Tsarnaev is on the run, described as "armed and dangerous" and suspected of the Boston Marathon bombing.

Two brothers, one now dead, one alive and at large. After hours of only grainy images of two men in baseball caps to go on, a portrait gradually started emerging Friday of the men suspected in the attack.

Tsarnaev, 19, and his older brother, Tamerlan, who was killed during a violent night in Cambridge, had been living together on Norfolk Street in Cambridge. An uncle, Ruslan Tsarni of Montgomery Village, Md., told The Associated Press that the men lived together near Boston and have been in the United States for about a decade. They came from the Russian region near Chechnya, which has been plagued by an Islamic insurgency stemming from separatist wars.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's page on the Russian social networking site Vkontakte says he attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, graduating in 2011, the year he won the scholarship, which was celebrated with a reception at City Hall, according to a news release issued at the time. Before moving to the United States, he attended School No. 1 in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim republic in Russia's North Caucasus that has become an epicenter of the Islamic insurgency that spilled over from Chechnya. On the site, he describes himself as speaking Chechen as well as English and Russian. His world view is described as "Islam" and he says his personal goal is "career and money."

Tsarnaev appeared in the video released by authorities on Thursday, identified as Suspect Number 2, striding down a sidewalk, unnoticed by spectators who were absorbed in the race. He followed Tamerlan by about 10 feet. He wore what appeared to be a gray hoodie under a dark jacket and pants, and a white baseball cap facing backward and pulled down haphazardly.

Tamerlan was stockier, in khaki pants, a light T-shirt, and a dark jacket. The brim of his baseball cap faced forward, and he may have been wearing sunglasses.

According to the website spotcrime.com, Tamerlan was arrested for domestic violence in July 2009, after assaulting his girlfriend.

He was an amateur boxer, listed as a competitor in a National Golden Gloves competition in 2009.

_____

Noveck reported from New York

Police have charged a man with stealing a Bobcat utility vehicle from the construction site of the Kingsport Aquatic Center.

The equipment, valued at $8,000, has been recovered by investigators, who say the suspect sold it to another individual for $1,000.

Johnny R. Linebaugh, 29, of 2624 Princeton Road, Kingsport, was arrested Thursday at his residence without incident. Kingsport Police Department Sgt. Chris Tincher says a supervisor at the construction site originally alerted police to the alleged theft on April 8.

Investigators say they later received a tip that Linebaugh was responsible for the theft, and had since sold the Bobcat to another man. Tincher says detectives located the equipment and the buyer, with that individual being treated as a witness in the case.

Linebaugh was arrested and charged with theft over $1,000, a felony, and booked into the city jail.

Update: 3 p.m.

Police have identifed the driver of the truck as Gary L. Lawson, 56, of Surgoinsville.

Update: 1:36 p.m.

Kingsport police say the overturned dump truck that closed Moreland Drive should be cleared from the scene by approximately 3 p.m., while the driver is in serious but stable condition at a local hospital.

The single vehicle crash occurred shortly before 12:30 p.m. Friday near the underpass at John B. Dennis Highway.

KPD Officer Dustin Jackson said the Vic Davis Construction vehicle was transporting coal ash when the driver lost control on a downhill grade and exited the right side of the roadway. It then struck a guardrail and overturned, closing both lanes of traffic.

The driver was transported to Holston Valley Medical Center by Sullivan County EMS. Officer Jackson said an investigation is continuing with charges pending.

_________

Shortly after noon a dump truck overturned on Moreland Drive, closing both lanes of traffic near the underpass at John B. Dennis Highway.

Kingsport police at the scene warn that cleanup could take a considerable amount of time.

Motorists in the area are urged to take alternate routes.

An ongoing feud between several people — alleged to include phone harassment and threats of physical harm — reportedly spilled onto Stone Drive in Kingsport on Thursday, when a motorist intentionally hit another vehicle.

William A. Marshall, 61, of 1175 Goshen Valley Road, Church Hill, Tenn., was arrested in the incident, charged with two counts of aggravated assault and leaving the scene of an accident.

According to Kingsport police records, shortly before 7 p.m. an officer was dispatched to a convenience store on West Stone Drive. They meet with two occupants of a Chevrolet Lumina, who claimed to be traveling West Stone Drive when their car was "pushed" from behind by a maroon SUV.

The driver of the Lumina reportedly said he received a phone call shortly after the incident, from a man who he's recently had verbal confrontations. The caller allegedly told him, "That ass bump was from Bill, telling you to bring your ass to Campbell Street."

An incident report says the alleged victim claimed not to know 'Bill.' But he relayed a series of recent taunts and threats from the individual who had contacted him by phone — including 22 calls trying to bait him into coming to a residence on Campbell Street.

The alleged victim provided no specific reason for the feud, according to a police report, saying only that it began when someone visited his home with a mutual friend.

While police were speaking with the occupants of the car, and observing damage to the rear of their vehicle, the driver reportedly received another call regarding "Bill." The caller is alleged to have urged him to come to 904 Campbell Street, then went on to describe how he was going to be assaulted by "Bill" when he arrived.

A police report says officers then visited the Campbell Street residence, where a maroon Chevrolet Equinox with scuff marks on the front bumper was sitting outside. An individual present at the home, William "Bill" Marshall, reportedly admitted to owning the vehicle, along with driving it to run an errand on West Stone Drive.

He reportedly denied hitting the other car, while a resident of the Campbell Street home allegedly told police he had earlier admitted to bumping it.

Marshall was arrested at the scene and transported to the city jail.

A look back at the most viewed crime stories generated by the Times-News staff from April 12 through April 19.

1) Eastman reports child porn on computer, employee arrested

Child pornography allegedly discovered on the computer of an Eastman Chemical Company employee has prompted the indictment and arrest of a Kingsport man.

2) Parents facing charges after 3-year-old apparently overdoses on pills

The mother of a 3-year-old boy who nearly died after apparently overdosing on her medication last month was formally charged Friday with child neglect/endangerment.

3) Former Pratt's employee charged with embezzling nearly $140,000

A former office manager at Pratt's BBQ in Kingsport has been charged with embezzling nearly $140,000 from the business, allegedly using the stolen funds to pay off credit card debt.

4) Students arrested in drug bust at Gate City High

The Scott County Sheriff’s Office and the Scott County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office confirmed Friday afternoon that all three students were charged with distribution of Schedule III drugs, distribution of Schedule IV drugs and distribution of marijuana.

5) Alleged love triangle results in assault charges

A Hawkins County man was allegedly beaten with a baseball bat after catching his estranged wife with another man early Tuesday morning.

6) Shoplifting suspect allegedly hits Walmart with car, leaves wallet behind

A Kingsport man has been arrested following an early Friday morning incident at Walmart, where he allegedly cursed employees and stole garden figurines - then hit a corner of the building with a car during his getaway.

7) Kingsport man arrested on poaching charges; police say he was seen shooting turkeys from his car

A Kingsport man who previously served jail time for unlawfully killing wildlife is facing a variety of new poaching-related charges, with police saying this time he was observed shooting turkeys from his car on a road in Scott County, Va.

8) Former Mount Carmel alderman charged with animal cruelty

Former Mount Carmel alderman and planning commission chairman Henry Bailey was cited on five counts of animal cruelty Friday evening after one dead horse and four malnourished horses were allegedly found on his Hammond Avenue property.

9) Drugs allegedly found on woman wanted on child support warrant

Kingsport woman wanted in Hawkins County for failure to pay child support reportedly required a burst of pepper spray to subdue Thursday afternoon in Church Hill.

10) Teenage daughter ruled competent for trial in father's murder

A teenage girl who allegedly helped her mother murder her father last year at their Scott County home was ruled competent to stand trial during a brief appearance in court Wednesday.

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Organizers for the three-day Remote Area Medical clinic in May at Bristol Motor Speedway are seeking more volunteers to provide dental and vision services to attendees.

The RAM clinic, which is designed to meet the needs of thousands of medically underserved patients in the Tri-Cities region, will be held May 3-5.

Now in its third year, the event relies on volunteers to serve patients throughout the weekend.

Organizers said on of the more critical needs for this year’s clinic is for additional dental and vision professionals.

Dentists are particularly important, organizers said, because dental care is the service in greatest demand at the clinic. Of the nearly 1,600 people receiving care at the 2012 Bristol event, 95 percent sought dental care, resulting in 2,107 tooth extractions, 376 fillings and 128 cleanings.

Healing Hands Health Center - Bristol Executive Director Helen Scott, who also serves as chairwoman of the community host group for the Tri-Cities RAM clinic, said the number of volunteers directly impacts the amount of services that can be rendered at the clinic.

“The number of patients we can serve is directly in proportion to the number of volunteer dentists we have,” Scott said. “To date, we have only 24 dental chairs staffed for the clinic. Last year we had 32, but we could run as many as 75 chairs if we had the dentists to staff them. Every year, we turn away patients needing dental care; the more volunteer dentists we have, the fewer patients we will have to turn away.”

Vision was the second most popular service at the 2012 clinic, with patients receiving 587 pairs of glasses, nearly all of which were made at the track in RAM’s mobile vision unit.

Due to the high level of need for those services, organizers of the 2013 clinic are urging professionals who have not pledged to participate to take the opportunity to assist those who need it.

“The RAM clinic has received tremendous support from dental and vision providers since it began in 2010,” Scott said. “The need remains great for these two services, and we need more professionals in these areas to respond by volunteering in this worthwhile endeavor. This is a tremendous opportunity to enhance our region’s quality of life and health status by providing the care people need that will ultimately improve their lives.”

To volunteer for the clinic, or to obtain more information, please visit www.ramusa.org or call Scott at 423-360-5192.

Updated at 3:35 p.m.

BOSTON (AP) — Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev lay hospitalized in serious condition under heavy guard Saturday as people around the city breathed easier and investigators tried to piece together the who and why of the deadly plot.

Tsarnaev, 19, was reported to be in no condition to be interrogated the morning after he was pulled, wounded and bloody, from a boat parked in a Watertown backyard. The capture came at the end of a tense day that began with his older brother, Tamerlan, dying in a desperate getaway attempt.

President Barack Obama said there are many unanswered questions about the Boston bombing, including whether the Tsarnaev brothers — ethnic Chechens from southern Russia who had been in the U.S. for about a decade and lived in the Boston area — had help from others. The president urged people not to rush judgment about their motivations.

There was no immediate word on when Tsarnaev might be charged and what those charges would be.

U.S. officials said a special interrogation team for high-value suspects would question Tsarnaev without reading him his Miranda rights, invoking a rare public-safety exception that exists in cases of immediate danger.

The American Civil Liberties Union expressed concern about that possibility. Executive Director Anthony Romero said the exception applies only when there is a continued threat to public safety and is "not an open-ended exception" to the Miranda rule, which guarantees the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney.

The federal public defender's office in Massachusetts said it has agreed to represent Tsarnaev once he is charged. Miriam Conrad, public defender for Massachusetts, said he should have a lawyer appointed as soon as possible because there are "serious issues regarding possible interrogation."

The all-day manhunt Friday brought the Boston area to a near standstill and put people on edge across the metropolitan area.

The break came around nightfall when a homeowner in Watertown saw blood on his boat, pulled back the tarp and saw a bloody Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding inside, police said. After an exchange of gunfire, he was seized and taken away in an ambulance.

Raucous celebrations erupted in and around Boston, with chants of "USA! USA!" Residents flooded the streets in relief four days after the twin explosions ripped through the marathon crowd at the finish line, killing three people and wounding more than 180.

Michael Spellman said he bought tickets to Saturday's Red Sox game at Fenway Park to help send a message to the bombers.

"They're not going to stop us from doing things we love to do," he said, sitting a few rows behind home plate. "We're not going to live in fear."

During the long night of violence leading up to the capture, the Tsarnaev brothers killed an MIT police officer, severely wounded another lawman and took part in a furious gun battle and car chase in which they hurled explosives at police from a large homemade arsenal, authorities said.

Chechnya, where the Tsarnaev family has roots, has been the scene of two wars between Russian forces and separatists since 1994. That spawned an Islamic insurgency that has carried out deadly bombings in Russia and the region, although not in the West.

Investigators have not offered a motive for the Boston attack. But in interviews with officials and relatives and acquaintances of the Tsarnaev brothers, a picture has emerged of the older brother as someone embittered toward the U.S. and increasingly vehement in his Muslim faith.

The Russian FSB intelligence security service told the FBI in 2011 about information that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a follower of radical Islam, two law enforcement officials said Saturday.

According to an FBI news release, a foreign government said that Tamerlan Tsarnaev appeared to be strong believer and that he had changed drastically since 2010 as he prepared to leave the U.S. for travel to the Russian region to join unspecified underground groups.

The FBI did not name the foreign government, but the two officials said it was Russia. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the matter publicly.

The FBI said that in response, it interviewed Tamerlan Tsarnaev and relatives, and did not find any domestic or foreign terrorism activity. The bureau said it looked into such things as his telephone and online activity, his travels and his associations with others.

An uncle of the Tsarnaev brothers said he had a falling-out with Tamerlan over the man's increased commitment to Islam.

Ruslan Tsarni of Montgomery Village, Md., said Tamerlan told him in a 2009 phone conversation that he had chosen "God's business" over work or school. Tsarni said he then contacted a family friend who told him Tsarnaev had been influenced by a recent convert to Islam.

Tsarni said the two hadn't spoken since that call.

As for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, "he's been absolutely wasted by his older brother. I mean, he used him. He used him for whatever he's done," Tsarni said.

Albrecht Ammon, a downstairs-apartment neighbor of Tamerlan Tsarnaev in Cambridge, said in an interview that the older brother had strong political views about the United States. Ammon quoted Tsarnaev as saying that the U.S. uses the Bible as "an excuse for invading other countries."

Tamerlan Tsarnaev had studied accounting as a part-time student at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston for three semesters from 2006 to 2008, the school said. He was married with a young daughter.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Students said he was on campus this week after the Boston Marathon bombing.

As of Saturday, more than 50 victims of the bombing remained hospitalized, three in critical condition.

Updated at 11:35 p.m.

WATERTOWN, Mass. — Lifting days of anxiety for a city and a nation on edge, police captured the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect, found bloodied in a backyard boat Friday night less than 24 hours after a wild car chase and gun battle that left his older brother dead and Boston and its suburbs sealed in an extraordinary dragnet.

“We got him,” Boston Mayor Tom Menino tweeted. A cheer erupted from a crowd gathered near the scene.

“CAPTURED!!!” police added later. “The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody.”

During a long night of violence Thursday and into Friday, brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev killed an MIT police officer, severely wounded another lawman and hurled explosives at police in a desperate getaway attempt, authorities said.

Late Friday, less than an hour after authorities said the search for Dzhokhar had proved fruitless, they tracked down the 19-year-old college student holed up in the boat, weakened by a gunshot wound after fleeing on foot from the overnight shootout with police that left 200 spent rounds behind.

He was hospitalized in serious condition, unable to be questioned about his motives.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died in the shootout early in the day. At one point, he was run over by his younger brother in a car as he lay wounded, according to investigators.

The violent endgame unfolded four days after the bombing and just a day after the FBI released surveillance-camera images of two young men suspected of planting the pressure-cooker explosives that ripped through the crowd at the marathon finish line, killing three people and wounding more than 180.

The two men were identified by authorities and relatives as ethnic Chechens from southern Russia who had been in the U.S. for about a decade and were believed to be living in Cambridge, Mass. But investigators gave no details on the motive for the attack.

President Barack Obama said the nation owes a debt of gratitude to law enforcement officials and the people of Boston for their help in the search. But he said there are many unanswered questions about the Boston bombings, including whether the two men had help from others. He urged people not to rush judgment about their motivations.

The breakthrough came when a man in a Watertown neighborhood saw blood on a boat parked in a yard and pulled back the tarp to see a man covered in blood, authorities said. The resident called 911 and when police arrived, they tried to talk the suspect into getting out of the boat, said Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis.

“He was not communicative,” Davis said.

Instead, he said, there was an exchange of gunfire — the final volley of one of the biggest manhunts in American history.

Watertown residents who had been told in the morning to stay inside behind locked doors poured out of their homes and lined the streets to cheer police vehicles as they rolled away from the scene.

Celebratory bells rang from a church tower. Teenagers waved American flags. Drivers honked. Every time an emergency vehicle went by, people cheered loudly.

“They finally caught the jerk,” said nurse Cindy Boyle. “It was scary. It was tense.”

Police said three other people were taken into custody for questioning at an off-campus housing complex at the University of the Massachusetts at Dartmouth where the younger man may have lived.

“Tonight, our family applauds the entire law enforcement community for a job well done, and trust that our justice system will now do its job,” said the family of 8-year-old Martin Richard, who died in the bombing.

The FBI was swamped with tips — 300,000 per minute — after the release of the surveillance-camera photos, but what role those played in the overnight clash was unclear. State Police spokesman Dave Procopio said police realized they were dealing with the bombing suspects based on what the two men told a carjacking victim during their night of crime.

The search by thousands of law enforcement officers all but paralyzed the Boston area for much of the day. Officials shut down all mass transit, including Amtrak trains to New York, advised businesses not to open, and warned close to 1 million people in the entire city and some of its suburbs to unlock their doors only for uniformed police.

Around midday, the suspects’ uncle, Ruslan Tsarni of Montgomery Village, Md., pleaded on television: “Dzhokhar, if you are alive, turn yourself in and ask for forgiveness.”

Until the younger man’s capture, it was looking like a grim day for police. As night fell, they announced that they were scaling back the hunt and lifting the stay-indoors order across Boston and some of its suburbs because they had come up empty-handed.

But then the break came and within a couple of hours, the four-day ordeal was over. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured about a mile from the site of the shootout that killed his brother.

Chechnya has been the scene of two wars between Russian forces and separatists since 1994, in which tens of thousands were killed in heavy Russian bombing. That spawned an Islamic insurgency that has carried out deadly bombings in Russia and the region, although not in the West.

The older brother had strong political views about the United States, said Albrecht Ammon, 18, a downstairs-apartment neighbor in Cambridge. Ammon quoted Tsarnaev as saying that the U.S. uses the Bible as “an excuse for invading other countries.”

Also, the FBI interviewed the older brother at the request of a foreign government in 2011, and nothing derogatory was found, according to a federal law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official did not identify the foreign country or say why it made the request.

Authorities said the man dubbed Suspect No. 1 — the one in sunglasses and a dark baseball cap in the surveillance-camera pictures — was Tamerlan Tsarnaev, while Suspect No. 2, the one in a white baseball cap worn backward, was his younger brother.

Exactly how the long night of crime began was unclear. But police said the brothers carjacked a man in a Mercedes-Benz in Cambridge, just across the Charles River from Boston, then released him unharmed at a gas station.

They also shot to death a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer, 26-year-old Sean Collier, while he was responding to a report of a disturbance, investigators said.

The search for the Mercedes led to a chase that ended in Watertown, where authorities said the suspects threw explosive devices from the car and exchanged gunfire with police. A transit police officer, 33-year-old Richard Donohue, was shot and critically wounded, authorities said.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev somehow slipped away. He ran over his already wounded brother as he fled, according to two law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation. At some point, he abandoned his car and ran away.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev died at a Boston hospital after suffering what doctors said were multiple gunshot wounds and a possible blast injury.

The brothers had built an arsenal of pipe bombs, grenades and improvised explosive devices and used some of the weapons in trying to make their getaway, said Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

Watertown resident Kayla Dipaolo said she was woken up overnight by gunfire and a large explosion that sounded “like it was right next to my head ... and shook the whole house.”

She said she was looking at the front door when a bullet came through the side paneling. SWAT team officers were running all over her yard, she said.

“It was very scary,” she said. “There are two bullet holes in the side of my house, and by the front door there is another.”

Tamerlan Tsarnaev had studied accounting as a part-time student at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston for three semesters from 2006 to 2008, the school said.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was registered as a student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Students said he was on campus this week after the Boston Marathon bombing. The campus closed down Friday along with colleges around the Boston area.

The men’s father, Anzor Tsarnaev, said in a telephone interview with AP from the Russian city of Makhachkala that his younger son, Dzhokhar, is “a true angel.” He said his son was studying medicine.

“He is such an intelligent boy,” the father said. “We expected him to come on holidays here.”

The city of Cambridge announced two years ago that it had awarded a $2,500 scholarship to him. At the time, he was a senior at Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, a highly regarded public school whose alumni include Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and NBA Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing.

Tsarni, the men’s uncle, said the brothers traveled here together from Russia. He called his nephews “losers” and said they had struggled to settle in the U.S. and ended up “thereby just hating everyone.”

GATE CITY — The Gate City Police Department is turning to the public for help in identifying at least two suspects they believe are behind a series of vending machine burglaries that have occurred recently in the area.

The most recent incident happened at about 11:30 p.m. on April 13 at the Wilderness Road Market-Patriot Gas located on U.S. Route 23 in Gate City.

According to police, two men could be seen on store surveillance footage breaking into a pair of vending machines and making off with approximately $40 in dollars and change.

The suspects also allegedly caused about $800 in damage to both machines at the store, police said.

One of the men seen in the footage was wearing what authorities believe was a camouflaged toboggan on his head.

The suspect also appeared to have brown facial hair in the style of a goatee.

The second suspect seen in the video had what authorities said was reddish-colored hair with a scar, or part, in the middle.

Police described the scar, or part, on the second suspect’s head as a “distinct” identifying mark.

Both men were seen getting into what appeared to be a dark-colored Ford Taurus, police said.

Police believe a third suspect could be involved since the men were seen getting into the driver’s side and rear passenger side door of the vehicle.

The burglary at the Gate City convenience store was the latest in a series of break-ins involving soft drink and snack vending machines in Scott County, police said. Other vending machine burglaries were reported at the Food City in Weber City and at a laundromat in Weber City.

Gate City police said they believe the suspects being sought are responsible for the break-ins in Gate City and Weber City.

Police said the burglaries also match the profile of similar incidents involving vending machines that have taken place recently in Lee County and in Hawkins County in Tennessee.

Anyone with information on the alleged suspects’ identity or the vending machine break-ins is asked to contact Scott County Central Dispatch at (276) 386-9111 and ask to have the Gate City Police Department paged.

Tips can also be mailed to police at mtaylor@gatecitypolice.com.

GATE CITY — The Health Wagon announced Friday that it will increase its efforts to battle diabetes in Appalachia with the help of a $200,000 grant it received from the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation.

The grant will be used to support the Health Wagon’s “Decreasing the Prevalence of Diabetes in Southwest Virginia” program.

That initiative is designed to help manage diabetes, decrease risk factors, and support screening initiatives to identify and treat new diabetics.

Health Wagon Executive Director Teresa Gardner said the grant funding will improve the delivery of health care for patients in Southwest Virginia who need it.

“The Health Wagon is honored to receive support from the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation to support our diabetes program. This donation promotes and enhances access to health care delivery for citizens of Southwest Virginia,” Gardner said. “The donation supports the Health Wagon to continue valuable and needed services.”

Diabetes has become an epidemic in Southwest Virginia, Gardner said, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality rates for its residents.

Gardner said the Health Wagon hopes to change the course of debilitating disease with the assistance of the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation grant.

In addition to allowing the Health Wagon to screen over 3,000 patients for diabetes, Gardner said the grant will also assist in providing care for the current diabetes population.

Diabetics will also be able to receive educational services on therapeutic lifestyle changes, and the grant funds will also provide chronic care management utilizing evidenced-based chronic care models.

HAMPTON — Fire Chief Johnny Isaacs of the Hampton-Valley Forge Volunteer Fire Department suffered burns to his neck and back Thursday afternoon when part of the ceiling and insulation fell on him while he was fighting an apartment fire at 830 Deerfield Lane.

“We had to go inside the building to get to the fire,” Isaacs said Friday. As soon as he entered, pieces hit him and he felt the burn, but he continued to battle the blaze.

Investigator Larry Vaughn with the Carter County Sheriff’s Department said the fire was reported shortly after 2 p.m. When he arrived, he said smoke and flames were visible from the top rear and left side of the apartment house. Vaughn said there were firefighters and equipment from several volunteer fire departments fighting the fire.

Read more at Johnsoncitypress.com

Stephen Woodward of Kingsport is pursuing his dream of selling his screenplay in California this summer, thanks to winning a contest and his nearly lifelong interest in writing and music.

Woodward, an adjunct college instructor, recently won the WriteMovies International Screenwriting Competition No. 31 with his screenplay “Crush,” which he adapted from a novel he wrote for his master’s degree.

The competition, sponsored by WriteMovies.com  , received 1,000 entries worldwide. On top of a cash prize and guaranteed agency representation , WriteMovies will help Woodward development his script further and see that it is pitched for him to the appropriate studios.

“It’s quite an honor,” said Woodward, who began writing screenplays in graduate school. Woodward teaches composition at Northeast State Community College and in the Jumpstart program, a dual enrollment program, this school year at Sullivan Central High School in Blountville.

He teaches composition I and II to Central students, who — if they successfully complete the course — get high school and college credit. Some Central students helped him by reading over his scripts.

“They noticed things a lot of my grad school readers hadn’t notice,” Woodward said, adding that he hopes his quest and career path show students “you can really be a writer. You can be a screenplay writer.”

However, not all of his favorite movies are the same as theirs, he found out this semester.

“ ‘Citizen Kane’ (the movie directorial debut of Orson Welles, who also starred in it) is one of my favorite movies, and I showed it to my Jumpstart classes as part of their film evaluation paper,” Woodward said. “They almost universally hated it. In fact, it’s become a running joke in class that my taste in movies is pretty bad and that nothing could be worse than sitting through ‘Citizen Kane’ again. Oh well, sometimes they don’t always share my interests.”

Woodward also teaches composition classes at Northeast, although not this semester. In the fall, he is to return as an adjunct faculty member at Northeast — likely at another high school for Jumpstart — and also be an adjunct faculty member for King U n i v e r s i t y.

“I often feel like I’m writing in a vacuum, so to be recognized like this is surprising. I love movies, so my process is as simple as trying to write something I would like to see on screen — something both funny and heartfelt,” Woodward said.

Woodward is a graduate of Emory & Henry College and obtained his master of fine arts degree in fiction from Spalding University in Louisville, Ky. He also was a free lance writer for the Knoxville News-Sentinel and worked two years at the Middleboro Daily News and did public relations for a year for Lincoln Memorial University.

Stemming from his love of music , Woodward said “Crush” is about a blues guitar player named Wallace Crush who’s at the end of his rope after his tour gets canceled.

“I’m a huge move fan, and I’m also a huge music fan,” Woodward said.

He said the Crush character is sort of a combination of blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn, blues and rock guitarist Eric Clapton and blues and pop musician John Mayer. He also said he drew some from his time as a guitar player in a band when he attended Lee High School in Lee County, Va., where he grew up after being born in Kingsport.

“After he (Crush) meets a young songstress playing on the streets of Nashville, Crush is inspired to write a pop song that propels them both into international superstardom,” Woodward wrote in describing the screenplay. “Their paths now intertwined, Crush is consumed by both fame and jealousy of her burgeoning success, leading him to a crucial decision: choose fame, or the woman he loves?”

He said the plot line is similar to “A Star is Born” and “The Artist,” with an old school artist falling in popularity while the new guard artist is on the rise.

Woodward plans to travel to California next month to pitch “Crush,” as well as other projects, at the Great American PitchFest, which Hollywood producers attend to seek new material.

He said WriteMovies.com  , which does contests twice a year and began in 1999, already has sent him 13 pages of notes on the “Crush” screenplay and either will find him an agent or will represent him as an agent in California.

He said he will drive out from Northeast Tennessee in four to five days, staying at hostels or with friends.

Woodward, who turned 27 on April 6, is single and said this is the time for him to pursue his dream.

“It’s a great time for me to go to LA” and seek a sale of the screenplay, Woodward said. “If I don’t do it, I’ll definitely regret it.”

(Editor's note-Be sure and pick up a copy of tomorrow's paper for a follow up story on this subject.)

KINGSPORT — The city school system’s potential 2013-14 budget proposal has $3.2 million more in expenditures than revenues.

To be exact, total estimated revenues for the coming fiscal year starting July 1 are $65,271,650 or $1,509,096 more than the current 2013-14 budget.

But the total proposed expenditures are $68,535.155, making for a $3,263,505 shortfall — and a budget that if funded in full also would be $4,772,601 more than the current year’s budget.

“This isn’t a budget proposal at this point. It is simply a point in time,” Superintendent Lyle Ailshie said of the document presented to the Board of Education by Finance Director David Frye at a work session Thursday night. “What’s included in this may change.”

BOE member Carrie Upshaw said the majority of budget additions, recommended by the Budget Committee, are needed to keep the school system moving forward, meeting mandates, getting ready for the Common Core for math and English in 2014-15 and handling additional enrollment.

“This is already trimmed tremendously from what was presented at the budget session,” Upshaw said, estimating that all the requests considered would have cost nearly 10 times as much as the current shortfall.

“We’re talking $30 million over budget,” Upshaw said. “This has already been trimmed tenfold to this point.”

She said some of the items are “inevitable,” including funding for the joint STEM school, Innovation Academy, and additional teachers driven by increased enrollment.

The document lists last year’s city appropriation of $9,001,400 for the general purpose budget. Combined with debt service, which varies year to year and is projected to increase by $29,500 over this year’s $4,537,050, the city’s contribution would total $13,567,950.

By state law, the city can’t reduce its $9,001,400 contribution unless the system loses enrollment.

The BOE is to vote on the budget May 2 so it can be presented to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen in a May 6 work session.

New personnel expenditures and positions renewed after being eliminated in past years added up to $1.943 million in proposed new spending, while new initiatives were listed at $722,550.

In addition, employee pay raises would be $1,432,500, non-personnel costs for increased academics would be $197,550, and continuation expenses would be $817,000 for things like $233,000 in additional health insurance costs, although Frye said the 7.5 percent increase calculated is just an estimate.

BOE member Andy King asked if Ailshie and the staff could come up with some potential items they feel are cuttable and non-cuttable.

“I don’t see anything on this I would want to propose we eliminate right off the bat,” King said.

Ailshie during the meeting said he has already had some conversations with staff along those lines but said he couldn’t say how the plan presented to the BOE on May 2 might differ from Thursday and whether the Budget Committee would meet again. He also serves on the committee.

The board also got an update on Common Core from Assistant Superintendent Dory Creech and a financial update that showed local option sales tax collections across Sullivan County are down slightly.

KINGSPORT — You can’t be Patti Lawrence. But you can train your brain to look at the world more like she does.

That is the contention of the prolific Kingsport artist, who’ll be teaching a course in creativity enhancement at Star Trails Downtown in Kingsport this June.

“I’m a highly creative person. I’ve realized over the years that it’s not that I was born this way. I had ways to nurture my creativity in ways that most people don’t know how to. Or don’t give themselves time to,” said Lawrence, whose grant-winning polymer sculpture, “Birds of a Feather,” can be seen in the stairwell atrium of Kingsport’s Higher Education Center.

“I would hope that visual artists would be interested in this class. Some of the assignments will be visual problem-solving activities. But anyone should be able to expand their creativity by participating,” she said.

At first glance, catching up with Lawrence’s creativity would seem to be a pretty tall order. Her highly recognizable work can be seen in various locations in Kingsport.

Several of her sculptures and paintings are on display at the old Freels building on Broad Street as part of “Project Storefront,” which is co-sponsored by Urban Synergy and KingsportARTS! One of her larger metal sculptures — titled “Work Horse” — is currently on the front lawn of her home in Fair Acres.

“It’s made of rusty farm implements. Nobody has complained. Everybody has positive things to say. People slow down to see what it is and bring their kids to have a closer look,” said the New Jersey native, who moved to Kingsport in 1995 with her engineer husband, Eddie, and now-teenaged son, Alex.

Like most trained professional artists, Lawrence knows how to produce conventional compositions, both representational and abstract. In recent years, however, she has taken great pleasure in seeing pieces emerge as she explores the limitations — and surprising possibilities — of eclectic materials, both old and n e w.

“Birds of a Feather,” a semiabstract mobile which depicts a flock of birds in flight, was made from multicolored PET bottles. The work was intended to connote the environmental theme of recycling. At the Gallery of Local Artists, which she operated on Broad Street from 2007 to 2010, she sold a series of sculpture lamps composed of clusters of colorful, translucent plastic water pistols.

“It dawned on me how pretty the light would be, shining through them,” Lawrence said. “I really had to hunt around to find enough of them to make the lamps.”

Lawrence holds a master’s degree in art education, but she gave up full-time teaching years ago because it didn’t leave her enough time to make her own art.

She hasn’t entirely abandoned pedagogy but only practices it on her own terms. She recently gave a weekend workshop on memory jugs and trinket boxes at the Renaissance Center through the Kingsport Art Guild.

The June creativity class is one of her pet projects.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to teach for a long time, ” she said. “I want to teach people how to use their brains in a different way than is usually called for in everyday thinking. It’s for people to add more creativity to whatever kind of work they do.”

Most people are habituated to solve problems according to stepby-step logic, where one or more lines of inquiry converge upon a final “correct” (or at least, optimal) solution.

“Creative thinking isn’t linear. It’s more like a spiral. And it isn’t convergent. It’s divergent. There can be more than one answer and there is no wrong answer,” she said.

Not that some creative solutions to a given problem don’t have advantages over the others. A more flexible mind is usually able to recognize the more elegant solutions when they present themselves.

“It’s a lot of fun, but being creative is also a lot of work,” Lawrence cautioned. “Sometimes I get on a really creative roll and I’m jotting down idea after idea. I get so exhausted, I have to lie down and take a nap.”

The classes will be held every Thursday evening in June, from 6:30 through 8 p.m. Cost is $100, covering all four sessions and must be paid in full at registration. For more information, contact Star Trails Downtown or contact Lawrence at (423) 245-5422.

Seven local residents have been nominated for the Tennessee Outstanding Senior Volunteer honor.

The nominees are listed at www.salutetoseniorservice.com and votes can be cast through April 30. Tennessee nominees can be found by selecting “Tennessee” at the top of the voting page.

The recognition is part of the Salute to Senior Service program, sponsored by Home Instead Inc., the franchisor of the Home Instead Senior Care network. The program honors the contributions of adults 65 and older who give at least 15 hours a month of volunteer service to their favorite causes. Each state winner will be considered by a panel of senior care experts to the national Salute to Senior Service honoree.

Home Instead Inc. will donate $500 to each of the state winners’ favorite nonprofit organizations and their stories will be posted on the Salute to Senior Service Wall of Fame. In addition, $5,000 will be donated to the national winner’s nonprofit charity of choice.

Nominees from Sullivan and Hawkins counties are:

• Bonnie B. of Kingsport. She has volunteered for Girls Inc. of Kingsport for 40-plus hours per month for 15 years. She was nominated by Lisa A. Siegler.

• Ruth N. of Kingsport. She has volunteered for Girls Inc. of Kingsport for 40-plus hours per month for 15 years. She also has volunteered for Morrison City Christian Church 30 hours per month for 50 years. She was nominated by Lisa A. Siegler.

• Joe P. of Mount Carmel. He has volunteered for the Church Hill Public Library 40-plus hours per month for five years. He was nominated by Maureen McDaniel.

• Rachel S. of Kingsport. She has volunteered for the Joyful Stitchers for 40-plus hours per month for four years. She was nominated by Shirley Sullivan, treasurer of Joyful Stitchers.

• Reggie M. of Kingsport. He has volunteered for Engage Kingsport for 40-plus hours per month for four years. He was nominated by Valecia Fillnow.

• Jean H. of Church Hill. She has volunteered for Smoky Mountain Home Health & Hospice for 15 hours per month for eight years, and for the Alzheimer’s Association for 15 hours per month for five years. She was nominated by Donna Baker.

• Mildred Y. of Kingsport. She has volunteered for the Kingsport Senior Center for 20 hours per month for five years. She was nominated by Mary McNabb.

A former preacher from Greeneville who’s accused of sending sexually suggestive text messages to a 15-year-old teen now has a trial date set on his charges.

Roger Glen Ball, 42, 350 Hillcrest St., is charged with two counts of solicitation of a minor. He knew the girl he allegedly sent messages to from being her basketball coach and a teacher in her homeschool co-op. The girl was also friends with Ball’s daughter, according to prosecutors. Ball is scheduled for a trial in his case Aug. 8 in Washington County Criminal Court. He appeared in court Friday before Judge Robert Cupp.

Other cases set Friday that saw no action included first-degree murder charges against four people accused of luring a Greeneville man to a remote location where one of them shot him. Justin “Puff” Stratton, Ginger Holtsclaw, Ashley Harold and Anthony Phillips are all charged in the shooting of Gary Couch. The case was reset for May 14.

Read the full story on the Johnson City Press website.

BLOUNTVILLE — Sullivan County’s school board got a crash course in budget revenues 101 during a half-day work session Saturday morning.

But the class project and end-of-course testing will begin next month at a May 11 meeting, where the board is to start wrangling with the expenditures in the 2013-14 budget while staying inside revenue constraints.

Officials said it might include not just elimination of teaching positions where employees are reassigned but some layoffs, as well as moving many instruction aides from full-time to part-time status.

The federally funded instructional aides will be affected by federal sequestration, Director of Schools Jubal Yennie said, as will ROTC or reserve officer training corps funding eventually.

At the same time, however, Board of Education members and Yennie said they didn’t want to lose curriculum along the way and are looking to expand career technical education offerings.

“The low-hanging fruit is not on the ground and we’re shimmying up the tree,” Yennie said of potential cost savings. He has recommended school closings and consolidations to help cut costs, but the board has delayed action on his idea.

Finance Director Leslie Bonner said the “big three” revenue streams for the county’s budget are projected to fall $1,206,455 from 2012-13 to 2013-14. The three make up 87 percent of the system’s revenue stream and are dependent on either student enrollment or attendance.

“So we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us,” Bonner said.

The three are the Basic Education Program, Tennessee funding based on average daily membership, county property taxes and local option sales tax, both funding streams based on average daily attendance.

For 2013-14, BEP revenues are projected to fall $666,000 to $38.468 million, property tax revenue to go down by $243,391 to $23.965 million and local option sales tax to fall $297,064 to $11.894 million.

From 1995-96 to 2011-12, Sullivan County’s enrollment has dropped from 16,529 or 59.79 percent of the students in Sullivan County to 12,769 or 50.94 percent of the students, while Kingsport and Bristol have grown. Current county enrollment is about 10,400 for K-12 and 10,600 for pre-K-12, Yennie said. The number of students in all three systems during that period fell from 27,645 to 25,114, a drop of 2,531.

“That’s why we’re trying to find a long-term solution not a short-term fix,” BOE member Robyn Ivester said.

Since the system borrowed $2.3 million from its unrestricted reserves for the current budget and is projecting a $1.2 million revenue reduction, Yennie and Bonner said that could be a beginning shortfall of $4.5 million not accounting for employee raises, expected increases in health insurance costs Jan. 1, 2014, the effects of the federal Affordable Healthcare program that will require employees working the equivalent of six hours a day to receive health coverage or employers face a penalty and the employees be forced to a federal insurance program.

On top of that, Bonner said the Jan. 1, 2012, health insurance increase adds $430,000 to the 2013-14 budget right off the bat.

On the plus side, Bonner said it looks like the system may end the fiscal year June 30 with $800,000 that can go back into reserves, which the state recommends remain at least 3 percent of the total budget, which for 2013-14 as amended is $87.2 million. Bonner gave no estimate for 2013-14 because the “other” category that was almost $11.7 million or 14 percent of the budget in 2012-13 was not listed for 2013-14.

Potential answers to avoid or minimize layoffs or curriculum cuts include teachers serving two high schools, getting a stipend for planning time after school, as well as two part-time teachers without benefits filling one full-time slot, Yennie and BOE members said.

But especially at the high school level, Yennie said, layoffs may be coming.

BOE member Randall Jones said a retirement incentive for high school teachers might be an answer.

Chairman Dan Wells said the board must look at more closely aligning the high schools to more equitable student-teacher ratios.

“We’re talking ones to fives, not 10s to 20s,” Yennie said of teacher layoffs.

As county school system enrollment begins to stabilize into a slower loss pattern, BOE Vice Chairman Jack Bales said he’s afraid such cuts are inevitable since about 80 percent of the budget is personnel.

“This is on our doorstep,” Bales said.

Ivester suggested online courses could replace smaller traditional classes.

To boost enrollment and thus revenue, BOE member Todd Broughton suggested beefing up career technical offering, especially in areas such as welding and masonry and through dual enrolment and articulation programs with Northeast State Community College.

“You can only cut so far and then you cut into the quick,” Broughton said.

Yennie said this could be an opportune time for CTE expansion and collaboration with Northeast since interest for borrowing money for capital projects is low.

“Sullivan County’s DNA is manufacturing,” Yennie said.

BOE member Jerry Greene said the system should look at Wise County, Va.’s, consolidated CTE program. BOE member Todd Broughton said he agreed that CTE consolidation was a good idea but said he opposes Yennie’s proposed consolidation of Sullivan North and South high schools into one school, with the other building to serve as a middle school and South zone middle schools to close.

The board has put off a vote on that until at least October.

Yennie said that Sullivan Central’s new emergency medical technician program has proven popular and is being emulated by other area school systems seeking start-up federal grant money.

Jones asked for a list of all professional employees not assigned students, including instructional or academic coaches who help teachers and some interventionists. Yennie said principals believe the coaches have helped in improving standardized test scores.

Jones also asked for consideration of contracting out cleaning, mowing and landscaping services, although he added, “I’m not looking to take somebody’s job.”

He also asked for a list of employees and programs not required and not classroom oriented, including the voluntary driver’s education program that has two teachers to serve four high schools.

Yennie said he’s looking at cuts “furthest away from the classroom.”

Broughton also asked for Innovation Academy of Northeast Tennessee’s budget numbers. The grades 6-7 schools, expanding to 6-8 this fall, is a joint effort of the county and Kingsport school systems partly funded by a two-year grant that runs out at the end of next school year.

UNICOI — The town of Unicoi continues to experience growth, and it’s because of this growth that Mayor Johnny Lynch said town officials must look at the possibility of providing additional police protection to the town’s residents.

Lynch said the town of Unicoi Board of Mayor and Aldermen has had discussions and intends to have future discussions regarding the possibility of the town starting its own police force. The matter was briefly discussed at Monday’s meeting of the Unicoi Board of Mayor and Aldermen. No action on the matter was taken.

The town has an agreement in place in which it pays $90,000 a year for Unicoi County Sheriff’s Department coverage. Lynch said the town’s discussions of starting its own police force is not a reflection of the sheriff’s department, but would enhance the protection already in place.

Read more at JohnsonCitypress.com

Fossils and Earth Day are not usually categorized together, but visitors at the East Tennessee State University and General Shale Brick Natural History Museum Visitor Center at the Gray Fossil Site on Saturday had plenty of activities and discussions to learn about the pair’s similarities.

Doors opened at the fossil site at 9 a.m., and throughout the afternoon a steady stream of people filtered in and out of the museum’s rooms and Earth Day activities.

“We’re trying to sort of educate people in how does paleontology relate to protecting the environment or conservation,” said Steven Wallace, museum curator and site manager for the Gray Fossil Site. “Understanding how animals have reacted to past changes is going to help us figure out how they’re going to react to current changes. That’s part of ... how we justify what we do.”

Read more at JohnsonCitypress.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Surveillance video from the Boston Marathon attack shows one suspect dropping his backpack and calmly walking away from it before the bomb inside it exploded, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said Sunday.

The video clearly puts 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev at the scene of the attack, Patrick said on NBC.

"It does seem to be pretty clear that this suspect took the backpack off, put it down, did not react when the first explosion went off and then moved away from the backpack in time for the second explosion," Patrick said. "It's pretty clear about his involvement and pretty chilling, frankly."

He added, however, that he hasn't viewed all the tapes but had been briefed by law enforcement about them.

Investigators have determined the bombs were fashioned from pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails and ball bearings and hidden in black backpacks. Three people were killed and more than 180 injured when the two bombs exploded Monday about four hours into the race.

Tsarnaev was captured Friday after being pulled bloody and wounded from a tarp-covered boat in a suburban Boston backyard. He is being guarded by armed officers while he recovers at a Boston hospital. He is in serious condition and hasn't been able to communicate with investigators.

His 26-year-old brother and alleged accomplice, Tamerlan, died earlier Friday after a gunbattle with police.

The brothers are also suspected of killing an MIT police officer Thursday and severely injuring a transit officer.

Patrick said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" that law enforcement officials believe the immediate threat ended when police killed Tamerlan Tsarnaev and captured Dzhokhar.

The governor said he has no idea why someone would deliberately harm "innocent men, women and children in the way that these two fellows did."

On Saturday, Patrick appeared on the field at Fenway Park with dozens of local and state police before the Boston Red Sox's first home game since the bombings.

KINGSPORT — The Board of Mayor and Aldermen wants to see more accountability for employees who fail to follow property safety procedures -or common sense for that matter — when it comes to performing certain tasks while on the job.

In other words, don’t be standing on desks and pay attention when walking through recently mopped areas.

The issue of safety on the job has been on the radar screen for a couple of members of the BMA in recent months, particularly when the BMA was briefed on the matter earlier this year and was told the city had nearly $1.2 million in worker’s compensation claims in 2012.

As a result, the BMA now receives monthly reports on the number of worker’s compensation claims filed each month, which department the employee works in and a brief description of the claim.

Kingsport has a self-funded worker’s compensation program that covers the approximately 1,640 full-time and 450 part-time employees of the city, including the school system.

City officials blame many of the injuries on employees hurrying to accomplish a task or not paying enough attention and during a January meeting City Manager John Campbell and Risk Manager Terri Evans said the city is putting a greater emphasis on safety, through audits and inspections of facilities, mandatory safety training and claim investigations.

However, some BMA members believe school system employees need to be better educated on work place safety and be reminded to keep safety in the forefront of their minds while on the job. BMA members have noted the culture of safety is more prevalent in the police, fire and public safety departments.

Kingsport City Schools had the most worker’s compensation expenditures in 2012 with 41 percent of the claims classified as slips, trips and falls.

Minor accidents reported over the past four months include a number of slips and falls, injured shoulders, a possible hernia, a couple of popped knees and a severe reaction to poison ivy. One employee walked through a signed recently mopped area, slipped and fell and fractured an ankle.

No claims were reported in February and less than half of the claims filed in the last four months have resulted in restricted duty or lost time. But what drew the attention of the BMA last week was the March report which showed four injuries in the school system — two involved employees standing on desks and hitting their head while another while another suffered a torn tendon in their shoulder after breaking up a fight between two girls.

“Three or four (of these claims) should never have happened,” said Alderman Mike McIntire. “We’re spending $1.25 million a year on worker’s comp claims and it’s just a matter of people having the right mind-set. You’ve got to work at it.”

Campbell said the recently injured employees have been counseled on their actions.

Alderman Tom Segelhorst, the human resources director at Domtar, said there needs to be some accountability in these instances.

Mayor Dennis Phillips suggested there should be a penalty for those employees who don’t follow proper safety protocols, maybe a two- or three-day suspension. A short time later, however, he said a penalty probably should not be incurred the first time an accident happens.