Johnson City Press from Johnson City, Tennessee • 1

Retiring again Good Morning! Thu Februa ACM nominations Brad Paisley leads the way with six nominations for the Academy of Country Music Awards5B Brett Favre who briefly retired last year before joining the New Jets calls it quits againlC e-beze ni 3tiiahsvn 3HN3AV H1N3A3S COb S3AIHDHV Ayvaail 31VLS 33SS3NN31 wwwjohnsoncitypresscom Tri-Cities Tennessee Volume 89-Number 183 briefing Williams briefly exits House due to illness I High 57 Low 33 spending time with his mother in the intensive care unit the speaker also planned to spend time with his father at home during the visit Williams was asked whether all the recent criticism about his character made by GOP Chairwoman Robin Smith and See WILLIAMS Page 8A doctors will just fix what was wrong and she will be back on her Williams said his mother has been under a lot of stress because of his father poor health The health of the World War II veteran of the 101st Airborne Division has been declining for several years has his good days and he has his bad Williams said In addition to of Representatives has returned to Elizabethton to be with his mother June after she suffered a heart attack have been worried this might Williams said Wednesday afternoon had open heart surgery about two years ago and they expect her to recover as well as she did spirits are good She told me the By John Thompson Elizabethton Bureau Chief jthompsoniohnsoncitypresscom ELIZABETHTON It has not been a good week for Kent Williams Just days after he was ousted from the Republican Party the speaker of the Tennessee House Windy forecast Page 3A News not Abe honest Deal done3A The Democratic-con-trolled Congress and the White House agree on a compromise $790B economic stimulus bill Bruce Shawver who portrays the 16th president bears a striking resemblance Lee TalberlJohnson City Press Firefighters battle a house and outbuilding fire at 210 Slate Hill Road Brush structure fires keep area firefighters busy High winds make situations worse Severe weather4A Rescuers search for more victims of a series of deadly Oklahoma twisters At least eight bodies have been By Jim Wozniak Erwin Bureau Chief jwozniakjohnsoncitypresscom ERWIN The Civil War has raged for years and President Abraham Lincoln has come to give his fellow countrymen in this Union-leaning area an update great to be Lincoln also known as retired minister Bruce Shawver told a crowd assembled here this week want to thank the folks here in East Tennessee for your support for our efforts in the war I want to try to apologize for it (because) dragged on this long I believe when the skirmishes started that there would be more than about two or three skirmishes we would defeat the Southern states the Southern Army and they would relinquish their quest for secession and they would come back into the He detailed a battle in Blountville on Sept 22 1863 in which the Union defeated the Confederates But he also discussed a loss in December 1863 in Bean Station in which the Southern Army had Sports 74 from an outbuilding behind the house The wind was blowing so hard that the smoke was pushing toward the house just a few yards away he said thought it was too warm for someone to have a fire so I turned around and came back The house was on fire at that Sutton said Neighbors were already outside and Sutton asked if they knew of anyone inside the house About that time Sutton said a young man came out a side door The man was apparently the grandson of the homeowner officials said later Incident commander firefighter BJ McKay a Limestone Volunteer firefighter said when units first arrived the house was too far gone to save to the heavy winds experiencing today the structure See FIRES Page 5A By Becky Campbell Press Staff Writer bcampbelljohnsoncitypress com Brush and structure fires kept area volunteer fire departments on the run Wednesday and a strong storm system that swept across Washington County was no help Wind was not friendly to firefighters at a brush fire on Oak Grove Road but it did more damage at a farm house fire at 210 Slate Hill Road The day stop there for firefighters a bam fire on Buncombe Road near Greenwood and Cherokee roads a little after 8 pm sent them back out The Slate Hill Road fire was called in around 2 pm after Chester Sutton a Washington CountyJohnson City EMS medic who was on a medical call in the area said he saw smoke coming Easy win 1C Tennessee rolls by Georgia in a SEC contest in Knoxville Also Inside Nation 4A Weather3A World3A Union soldiers surrounded on three sides still quite confident that going to succeed in this that we will gain the Lincoln said The crowd was actually the Erwin Kiwanis Club to which Shawver spoke Thesday He was playing his alter ego as the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the 16th president approached bicentennial birthday is today Shawver who is originally from California and lived in Oregon before moving to the region to be a student at Emmanuel School of Religion is a well-known Lincoln impersonator who recently donned his garb to appear at the Johnson City Public Library for the broadcast of President Barack inauguration Shawver noted he voted for John McCain but said he believes Lincoln would be proud Obama had become president He said in a subsequent interview that the 2008 election showed that men are becoming more The Lincoln-style beard is real and he has had it since 1973 He began playing Lincoln in 1975 after a boy told his mother that he looked like the president It has opened doors See ABE Page 8A News Briefs3B LocalIB Lottery2A Snorts Baseball5C Colfootball4C ColbasK3C On Air2C RacinglC Scores2C Elsewhere JMolloylD Movies5B OutdoorsID Puzzles6C Tempo7A TV listing6C Abby6C Astrology6C Bridge6C Business4B Comics7C Classified3D Jim Wozniak Johnson City Press Bruce Shawver as Abe Lincoln Lee Talbert Johnson City Press A Washington County deputy sheriff helps three school children get to their home through the smoke after the fire Area man accused of abusing hound Citizens voice concerns over proposed park Peaths2A JOHNSON CITY Soule Bowyer Wilburn Goodman Janie Widen ELIZABETHTON Wyona Cole Evelyn Hardin Jane Harrah Jimmie Mann KEY WEST Fla Charles Wilson Front Page DesignDon Armstrong By James Brooks Press Outdoors Writer jbrooksjohnsoncltypresscom where she was taken after being picked up by a Knoxville-based dog rescue group Randall Treadway 586 Browning Road Ttelford was charged with cruelty and neglect of an animal by animal control officers with the Washington County Animal Shelter Annie was being kept at the nearby home of mother in what Leanne Potts of Belly Rubs Basset Rescue described as outside pen See HOUND Page 8A regarding the possible purchase and development of the Keefauver farm property About 75 residents showed up for the meeting to voice their concerns about the possible development of See PARK Page 5A By Brad Hicks Press Staff Writer bhicksjohnsoncitypresscom The Commission Chambers at City Hall were filled Wednesday evening as city staff members listened to public input in a sometimes heated meeting Annie the basset hound may finally catch a break but she almost make it to a veterinarian in time to have an embedded harness removed from around her body The wound caused by the harness is described as and and will require multiple surgeries over the next week at Unicoi Animal Hospital PhotoContributea Annie has a long way to go in her recovery 14236 33050.