Tagged: rutherford county

MURFREESBORO, Tenn (AP) — Murfreesboro Police Officer Kristy Inglish has testified that the former Middle Tennessee State University student accused of killing her roommate during a fight never complained of any injury.

Shanterrica Madden has claimed self-defense, saying she was being beaten up when she stabbed Tina Stewart with a knife that she found on Stewart's bed.

The Daily News Journal reports Inglish drove Madden to the police station on the night of the stabbing, March 2, 2011.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — The Tennessee House has passed Gov. Bill Haslam's bill to require mandatory jail time for people with repeat domestic violence convictions.

The chamber voted 98-1 to approve the bill. The lone vote against the measure came from Democratic Rep. Eddie Bass of Prospect.  Bass says the bill shouldn’t be passed until the state agrees to pay local governments the entire increased costs of putting more abusers in jail.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  Online retail giant Amazon.com held the official ground breaking Thursday for a new fulfillment center in Murfreesboro.

Construction is already well underway on the million square foot warehouse on Joe B. Jackson Parkway.  Amazon says the facility will eventually employ 1300 people.

In comments during the ceremony, Amazon spokesman Mark Mazano promised the online retailer will eventually invest a total of 350 million dollars in Tennessee and employ about 3500 people.  

NASHVILLE, Tenn (AP/WMOT) — An exit poll of voters in Tennessee's presidential primary showed Rick Santorum beat Mitt Romney thanks to strong support among born-again Christians — about three-quarters of those who went to the polls on Tuesday.

Santorum also led Romney 3 to 1 among those who said it mattered a "great deal" that a candidate shared their religious beliefs.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn.  (WMOT)  --  Fire Departments throughout Tennessee are having trouble finding and keeping volunteers, and that may impact what you pay for home-owners insurance, or even put your family at increased risk.

Kevin Lauer is a fire management consultant with the University of Tennessee’s County Technical Assistance Service. He says fire fighting is a difficult and dangerous job that requires a significant time commitment and volunteers are getting harder to come by.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  The Tennessee Department of Labor has released its county-by-county look at unemployment for December.

Middle Tennessee’s overall jobless rate fell to 6.9 percent in December, down three-tenths from the November rate and down a full percentage point from December 2010.

Williamson County has the region’s lowest unemployment rate at 5.4 percent in December. Hickman County has the worst joblessness at 9.8 percent. Hickman and Trousdale were the only counties in the mid-state to see unemployment rise between November and December.