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SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Sept. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ Global Select: SWBI), one of the nation's oldest firearms manufacturers, announced today that it is moving its headquarters and significant elements of its operations to Maryville, Tennessee in 2023. Smith & Wesson has been based in Springfield, Massachusetts since the company was incorporated in 1852.Mark Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, said "This has been an extremely difficult and emotional decision for us, but after an exhaustive and thorough analysis, for the continued health and strength of our iconic company, we feel that we have been left...

In the latest fraud-related news, two women in Tennessee were caught trying to pay for items using a fake $1 million bill earlier this month. According to WREG Memphis, the incident occurred at a Dollar General store in Maryville, a suburb of Knoxville. The two women reportedly tried using the bill to pay for numerous gift cards, and, when confronted, they claimed they not to have known the bill was fraudulent.

On August 1, 2018, The Daily Times in Blount County, Tennessee headlined: “Mysterious loud booms reported in Maryville. Police said several loud booms reported in the Sandy Springs and Pearson Springs area Monday night (July 30, 2018) remain unexplained. Maryville Police Chief Tony Crisp said several reports of the phenomenon, mostly described as four loud booms or explosions, came in around 9:30 PM Monday night. There was no weather and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) showed no recent earthquakes in the area.” “We checked and did not find anything and could never establish the cause of that boom. It’s just...

MARYVILLE, Mo. (AP) — Conflicting stories, the fog of underage intoxication and the disappearance of cellphone video of an alleged Missouri sexual assault two years ago led a special prosecutor to reach the same conclusion as the initial prosecutor in the case: There simply wasn't enough evidence to gain a felony conviction. Appointed in October to re-examine high school student Daisy Coleman's claim that an older schoolmate raped her in January 2012 when she was 14, Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker charged Matthew Barnett with one misdemeanor count of child endangerment Thursday. The charge stemmed from Barnett, a 17-year-old...

The whole world is watching Maryville, Missouri. The Daisy Coleman case is international news.  It's a story of a girl assaulted and discarded by a privileged boy, only to be attacked by a town that rallies around a powerful, corrupt politician. But as this story unfolded, there were cracks that many weren't really talking about, either from the raw emotional response to the story or because they just didn't dare question the narrative out of fear. While they don't disprove Daisy's story and it's possible what she claims is the truth, these cracks need to be discussed, as an entire...

In the October 12 article, "Nightmare in Maryville: Teens’ sexual encounter ignites a firestorm against family," Kansas City Star reporter Dugan Arnett told the story of Melinda Coleman. According to the article, Coleman's daughter Daisy was raped at the hands of Matt Barnett, grandson of Rex Barnett, an influential Republican and former state legislator. Allegedly, because of that political power, not only were the charges against Barnett dropped, but the Colemans were targeted and harassed. The article also suggests Melinda was fired from her job at Southpaws Vet Clinic because she dared to cross the Barnetts. However, according to Dr....

A northwest Missouri prosecutor announced Wednesday that he's asking for a special prosecutor to look at the case of a 14-year-old girl who says she was plied with alcohol and raped by a 17-year-old acquaintance. Melinda Coleman, the mother of 14-year-old Daisy Coleman, claims justice was denied when Nodaway County prosecutor Robert Rice dropped felony charges against the 17-year-old boy last March, two months after Coleman found her daughter passed out on the family's front porch in below-freezing temperatures. The county sheriff and Rice have insisted their investigation collapsed after the Colemans became uncooperative with investigators and refused to answer...

The first thing Daisy Coleman remembers is her surprise that she was still alive. “I was just like, I thought I was dead at first,” she said. An incoherent Coleman, then 14, crawled to the front door of her family’s home in Maryville, Mo. It was a Sunday morning, Jan. 8, 2012, 5 a.m. Her younger brother, Tristin, and mother, Melinda, heard a thumping and at first thought it was their dogs trying to come in. Daisy Coleman had been outside about three hours, unconscious, in 30-degree temperatures. She wore no socks or shoes, just a T-shirt and sweatpants. Her...

State Sen. Doug Overbey, a Maryville lawyer, has pocketed a passel of endorsements in the 2nd District Republican primary. Newspapers, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Tennessee Education Association endorsed Overbey, along with Republican heavyweights Gov. Bill Haslam and, a bit surprisingly, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, a tea party favorite. Given his opponent, Overbey needs all the help he can get. Scott Hughes, chief financial officer for a Knoxville church and former pro-life executive, is challenging Overbey at every turn, in every way. Though Overbey maintains an enormous financial advantage, Hughes has loquaciously roughed up Overbey in debates.

Couple to read biblical story of Christmas at Pistol Creek Station in MaryvilleBy Melanie Tucker Last modified: December 11. 2009 10:04PM A Blount County couple has obtained a demonstration permit to read the biblical Christmas story in a Maryville park Monday night. Several Blount County churches, including New Hope Independent Baptist Church in Maryville, are expected to join the demonstration. The reading amounts to a protest of the Maryville mayor's decision to cancel the reading of the Christmas story at its annual tree lighting ceremony, which was held Monday night. James Raucci and his wife Heather will read from the...

The Rev. Al Meredith was more than 700 miles away when a gunman walked into a Maryville church and gunned down its preacher in front of his horrified congregation. But the tragedy hit the Texas preacher hard, and he's coming to help. A decade ago, another gunman fired a hail of bullets and tossed a pipe bomb down the aisle at Meredith's church in Fort Worth, killing seven people and wounding seven others, then calmly sat in a back pew and shot himself in the head. On Sunday, services are scheduled to resume at First Baptist Church in this...

MARYVILLE, Ill. (AP) — The widow of a pastor killed in mid-sermon urged mourners to reject hate and to take comfort in their faith at his funeral Friday, in the church where he was gunned down five days earlier. "On Sunday, my husband didn't die. He simply got a promotion," Cindy Winters said. She raised a hand to the sky as the "Movin' on Up" theme from "The Jeffersons" blared from the loudspeakers and the standing-room-only crowd rose to its feet at First Baptist Church in this St. Louis suburb. Fred Winters was eulogized as a coupon-clipping brainiac who never...

MARYVILLE, Ill. - A pastor shot and killed during his Sunday sermon deflected the first of the gunman's four rounds with a Bible, sending a confetti-like spray of paper into the air in a horrifying scene that congregants initially thought was a skit, police said. The gunman strode down the aisle of the sprawling First Baptist Church shortly after 8 a.m. and briefly spoke with The Rev. Fred Winters, then pulled out a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol and began firing until it jammed, Illinois State Police Director Larry Trent said. Churchgoers wrestled the gunman to the ground as he waved a...

Church shooting suspect has mental illness from Lyme disease By Joel Currier, Jeremy Kohler and Nicholas J.C. Pistor ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 03/09/2009 MARYVILLE — A man suspected of killing the Rev. Fred Winters during a church service in Maryville on Sunday morning had developed mental illness from a tick bite, his family has said. Police did not release the name of the suspect, who was seriously injured in a struggle with members of the congregation after the shooting of Winters at the First Baptist Church. But a source close to the case confirmed late Sunday that it is Terry Joe...

(CNN) -- Five people, including a church pastor, were shot inside the First Baptist Church of Maryville, Illinois, a police dispatcher told CNN on Sunday. The shooting occurred during a church service, the dispatcher said. The suspect was stabbed by parishioners who wrestled him to the ground.

A shooting during a morning church service outside St. Louis has left one person dead -- the church's pastor -- and several others wounded, officials said. The Rev. Fred Winters was at the pulpit at the First Baptist Church in Maryville, Ill., at 8:15 a.m. local time today when a man wearing dark clothing approached the pulpit and fired four shots, the first of which hit the pastor's Bible, Illinois State Police Director Larry Trent said at a news conference late today. One of the shots from the gunman's .45 caliber pistol hit Winters in the chest, killing him, before...

Above is a video report on the shooting today at the First Baptist Church in Maryville, Illinois, where a gunman entered the sanctuary during a morning service and shot the pastor, Rev. Fred Winters, to death. Several other members were also injured before the gunman could be subdued. The gunman was reportedly not known by the congregation, and no motive has been established. Here is more reaction from a Sherrif's official and some members who were there . . . . . . (Watch Videos)

MARYVILLE, Ill. – Illinois state police say a man has shot a pastor to death and injured others at an church during a service in the community of Maryville. Illinois Master Trooper Ralph Timmins says the man walked down the aisle during the early Sunday service at First Baptist Church in Maryville. He said the man exchanged words with pastor Fred Winters and then pulled out a .45-caliber handgun. Timmins said the man fatally shot Winters once before the gun jammed, then pulled out a knife and wounded himself. Churchgoers tried to subdue the attacker and two of them suffered...

After months of trying to resolve a million-dollar lawsuit involving a severely broken arm allegedly injured at the Blount County Jail, Jamey Southerland made a decision to go public with his story Thursday. His decision comes, he said, after a mediation that day with defendants from the county turned out to be a failure. Resolving the issue without going to trial does not seem to be a possibility now, he said Friday. Southerland, 34, Morristown, filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Knoxville earlier this year, naming Blount County, Blount County Sheriff James Berrong, the Blount County Sheriff’s...

The Maryville Board of Education voted on second reading Thursday night to ban flags, including the long-standing Rebel flag, from school-sponsored events. About 75 people attended the meeting with 10 audience members speaking both for and against the policy. The event safety policy bans ``noisemakers, flags, laser-pointers (lights), sirens, whistles, portable stereos (e.g. CD players and tape players), banners, horns, handheld signs and implements (e.g. poles, sticks and wires to support flags, banners or other such items at any school sponsored activity.'' The policy addresses other areas including abusive language, harassment/intimidation and taunting. ``Any action or speech that might reasonably...