Three arrested on drug charges and other news from areas around Chattanooga

Friday, January 1, 1904

Three arrested on drug charges

DeKALB COUNTY, Ala. - DeKalb County, Ala., Sheriff Jimmy Harris on Thursday announced the arrest of three Fort Payne residents in Pine Ridge.

A DeKalb County deputy had noticed what he thought was suspicious activity at a closed business Wednesday morning, according to a news release. A search led to what officers said was drug paraphernalia and methamphetamine as well as a bag of alleged marijuana.

Jimmy Lee Swindal, 41; Shannon Lee Spears, 38; and Joshua James Driskell, 32, each were charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of marijuana second and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

The suspects were taken to the DeKalb County Detention Center.


Radio field days coming Saturday

DADE COUNTY, Ga. - The Dade County Amateur Radio Emergency Service will hold a radio field day at Cloudland Canyon State Park starting at 2 p.m. Saturday and continuing until 2 p.m Sunday.

Amateur radio operators, known as "hams," will set up radio equipment at the mountaintop park to communicate with fellow hams across the nation and around the world around the clock over the weekend, organizers said. Unusual and unique equipment will be on display, and the event is open to the public.

Cloudland Canyon State Park is off Georgia Highway 136 on Lookout Mountain between Trenton and LaFayette. Signs leading to the event site will be posted near the park entrance.

Elsewhere in Georgia, the Amateur Radio Relay League will host its annual field day Saturday at Smith Chapel United Methodist Church, 1721 Smith Chapel Road in Tunnel Hill.

That event is sponsored by the Dalton Amateur Radio Club.

For more information, call 706-259-8980.

"We were the first social media," radio relay league spokesman Allen Pitts said in a news release on the Dade County event. "Ham radio has had a three-year growth spurt in the number of new licensees, now with almost 700,000 in the U.S."


Nurse undergoes liver transplant

MEMPHIS - A retired nurse from Crossville, Tenn., has undergone a life-saving liver transplant at a Memphis hospital.

Beverly Loyd previously was turned down because of insurance complications and had been referred to hospice care providers until Methodist University Hospital agreed to perform the surgery at no cost.

Jane Beasley, a paralegal with the Tennessee Justice Center, which had been working to obtain a transplant for Loyd, said the family messaged her Thursday morning that Loyd was awake and stable after the surgery.

Loyd's liver had been ravaged by hepatitis-C, which she contracted during a blood transfusion. She has insurance, but it did not cover the cost of a transplant and her savings precluded her from getting government-funded medical care.