News Flash: School board votes to delay

school construction, $800,000 land purchase

Nearly all the successful bidders in a planned $36.9 million school renovation, construction and consolidation project have agreed to extend their bids for up to 45 days, according to the Hardin County Board of Education.

Reconvening a special called meeting at noon Thursday, board Chairman David Long said, “We’ve got a little bit of a breather...but it won’t be long before we have to be pushing hard” on the work schedule.

School officials approved the delay in starting the project because of a nearly $7 million funding shortfall from the Hardin County Commission, which authorized only $30 million earlier this week.

Long and Hardin County Mayor Kevin Davis hope to persuade the Savannah City Commission to make up the balance and prevent a reduction in the scope of the project. It calls for building two new 550-student schools, upgrading five existing schools and closing five aging schools.

Indications are that negotiations will be difficult, but Savannah City Manager Garry Welch says the city is willing to explore the possibility.

In addition Thursday, Hardin County schools Director John Thomas said Mark Roach has advised he will also extend his offer to sell 20 acres behind Walmart to the school system for $800,000 as a site for one of the new schools.

Anticipating that perhaps neither the city or county will be willing to come up with the extra cash, the school board’s Building Committee is meeting Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. to begin discussions on what to slash to remain within the $30 million now allocated.

BREAKING NEWS: Bank robber arrested

A suspect has been arrested in connection with a bank robbery in Counce which occurred last spring, Hardin County Sheriff Sammy Davidson said Tuesday.

Kirk T. Schumann, 25, of 245 Mabry Circle, Savannah, was arrested Sunday on a charge of aggravated robbery for a March 25 armed robbery of The Hardin County Bank branch at 7115 Tenn. 57. Bond was set at $250,000, he said.

Davidson said the alleged perpetrator had been jailed three days earlier and posted a $20,000 bond on a charge of theft in the taking of $3,100 from a vehicle parked at R&B Barbecue near the bank several weeks ago.

According to the sheriff, Schumann is believed to be a military veteran and told investigators he is a criminal justice student enrolled at the Selmer campus of the University of Tennessee at Martin.

Authorities are also looking to see if Schumann is linked to a similar robbery at the same bank which occurred on Dec. 16, 2008, Davidson said.

In both instances, a masked, camouflage-garbed gunman entered the bank, demanded cash from the tellers, left the scene and disappeared in just minutes.

BREAKING NEWS: Officials check out suspicious object on bridge

An unusual object found this morning (Monday) on the Tennessee River bridge at Savannah by a state highway department worker was not a pipe bomb, said Hardin County Fire Chief Melvin Martin.

“It did look suspicious so he called 911,” the chief said.

Traffic in one of the westbound lanes was closed for about 30 minutes while local authorities investigated. Martin said the object “appeared to be a Gatorade bottle duct taped to a brick. It has a small hole in the cap and little burn marks on it. The side of the Gatorade bottle was blown.

“They tried to make a homemade firecracker, I guess.”