A glance at the week's top local stories on JohnsonCityPress.com:• Count ongoing to find area's homeless The annual 24-hour count of Northeast Tennessee’s homeless population is under way.
• Gore-trained ‘climate change reality leader’ to speak at site When it comes to extreme weather patterns –– such as the most recent polar vortex, flooding, fires caused by drought and the increasing amount of hurricanes over the past few years –– Dr. Audrey M. Depelteau believes there is a definite connection between the extreme weather and global warming.
• Why no hemp in Tennessee? Group wants state to legalize farming, manufacturing The Hemp Industries Association announced last week the establishment of the Tennessee Hemp Industries Association, the national organization’s first state chapter.
• ‘Erwin Nine’ member receives awards after 70 years Decorated World War II veteran and “Erwin Nine” member George Hatcher was surrounded by friends, family and fellow military veterans on Friday as he marked the end of a nearly two-year battle.
• Pork & Worms: Boones Creek family gets wiggly surprise for dinner A Boones Creek woman opened a can of worms this week when she and her two boys sat down for dinner.
• Elizabethton cop resigns in wake of crash A policeman who was involved in a three-vehicle crash on West Elk Avenue earlier this month has submitted his letter of resignation to the Elizabethton Police Department.
• Jonesborough woman earns ticket to Hollywood as a contestant on "American Idol" Hannah Saults admits singing in front of the likes of Harry Connick Jr., Keith Urban and Jennifer Lopez was a bit overwhelming as she auditioned late last year to be a contestant on “American Idol.” But the 23-year-old Jonesborough resident says it was also a relief.
• UPDATE: Autopsy results show Stewart Peppers misused steroids Washington County Sheriff Ed Graybeal and District Attorney General Tony Clark announced Friday that autopsy results showed Stewart Peppers, an inmate who died in the custody of the county’s Detention Center in April, died from “excited delirium” resulting from drug use.
• Ukrainian ETSU student feels safe in U.S. as riots hit homeland Vladyslav Antonov, 23, can passionately give a play-by-play rundown of protest-related videos he carries around with him on a flash drive, in this case while in the East Tennessee State University library. He shows what he calls clear cases of corruption and institutionalized brutality in his country of birth.
• Backers hoping to breathe new life into wine measure With the highly anticipated wine in grocery stores bill reaching the same state House committee this week where it shriveled on the vine last session, lobbyists and lawmakers are toiling behind the scenes to exact agreeable wording, while local business owners are watching closely for its passage.