The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • B1

By BONNA de la CRUZ StaffWriter Former state Sen. John Ford is planning a trip to Washington, D.C., to attend a black conference to drum up business for his private consulting business, according to court papers. The Memphis Democrat, who is under house arrest on federal bribery and intimidation charges, got a permission to travel to the Annual Legislature Conference for Black Leaders and In his request, he said his to conduct his business on a national basis is necessary to offset the difficulties which have arisen locally due to negative No listing for the Annual Legislature Conference for Black Leaders and could be found, but the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference is in its 35th year and is being held Sept. 21-24 in Washington. Ford was indicted in May along with three other sitting lawmakers, a former senator and two bagmen in Operation Tennessee Waltz on bribery and corruption charges.

Ford was further accused of threatening and intimidating potential witnesses. At the time, he was still a state senator, but stepped down from his post two days after his indictment. He was released on bail after his arrest but was subject to certain conditions, including a curfew, a requirement that he wear an electronic monitoring device, and a prohibition from traveling outside the Memphis area. In court papers filed earlier this month, Ford asked U.S. District Judge Daniel Breen if he could attend the conference from Sept.

21-26, saying it is an essential aspect in his ability foster continued and new business Ford said he had attended the conference in past years, and his attendance had helped his consulting business. Federal prosecutors in Memphis did not object to the motion, spokeswoman Leigh Anne Jordan from the Memphis U.S. Office said. The judge granted the request last Thursday. Taxpayers will not be footing the bill, however, because Ford is no longer a member of the General Assembly.

His attorney, Michael Scholl of Memphis, said he was not at liberty to discuss how Ford is covering expenses associated with the conference. private consulting work while he was an elected official came under public scrutiny during the legislative session earlier this year. In two cases, consulting work was linked to companies doing business with TennCare, the health insurance program for the poor and disabled. At the same time, he was chairman of the Senate General Welfare Committee and was a member of two other committees that oversaw TennCare. Ford also has been a licensed funeral director and insurance agent.

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference touts itself on its Web site as the By MITCHELL KLINE StaffWriter FRANKLIN A Williamson County deputy has been accused of slapping a 73-year-old woman in the face while he was off duty. Sheriff Ricky Headley said he believes Deputy Alan Thomas King been falsely and be acquitted of the King, 36, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case, which is scheduled to be presented before a Marshall County judge on Sept. 20. King lives on Forrest Fields Drive in Chapel Hill. He is accused of slapping his next-door neighbor, Irene Borg, while engaged in an argument.

Borg got a warrant charging King with assault. She said King continually drove into her yard, and she confronted him about it on Thursday. She said he called her several profane names and then slapped her. knocked the stuffings out of Borg said yesterday in a phone interview. mean, never been hit so hard in my Borg said the blow caused both of her eyes to blacken, chipped a tooth and dislodged a gold filling.

She filed a complaint with the Chapel Hill Police Department before taking out a warrant against King at the Marshall County Sher- Department. saw her and I see any visible marks on Chapel Hill Officer Jon Leverette said. were no witnesses or other neighbors. The judge will have to decide. not going to take sides.

I sign the warrant. She Headley stated that King went to the Marshall County office once he learned that the war- rant was obtained. King was not arrested. King has been with the Williamson County office since April 2002. He is a patrol officer assigned to the midnight shift.

Headley said King has never been reprimanded or had any complaints filed against him. believe in this Headley said. no-nonsense. If they cross the line, I get rid of CYANMAGYELBLK TennesseanBroadsheet Master TennesseanBroadsheet Master 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 5 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 5 TennesseanBroadsheet Master TennesseanBroadsheet Master 5 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 5 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1B LOCALNEWS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2005 www.tennessean.com INSIDE Midstate Obituaries Weather EACH WEEK Monday: Classroom Wednesday: Friday: Road construction update Saturday: Faith TO REACH OUR NEWSROOM Phone: 259-8095 Fax: 259-8093 E-mail: Laurie E. Holloway, Deputy Managing Editor Phone: 726-5944 E-mail: tennessean.com Ricky Young, City Editor Phone: 259-8068 E-mail: BILLY KINGSLEY STAFF The stretch of State Route 840 from Lewisburg Pike to Columbia Avenue has opened.

More work on the state highway will require closing of one lane. Deputy slapped her during row, says neighbor, 73 Williamson sheriffsays confident accusation false Witness says ex-boyfriend admitted to slaying Suspect 1 of2 charged in pregnant death By SHEILA BURKE StaffWriter One of two men accused in the fatal shooting of a pregnant woman admitted to the killing, his ex-girlfriend told a stunned courtroom on the opening day of his trial yesterday. not clear whether even prosecutors anticipated the testimony of Anna Haley. Only minutes earlier, a prosecutor had told jurors to expect testimony from a detective about how someone else had shot the victim. What did emerge from testimony is that two young men accused in the Jan.

5, 2004, slaying of Tracy Renee Owen plan to point the finger at one another. In opening statements to the jury, both the defense and the prosecution predicted that jurors would hear testimony that Eliseo Quintero the 24-year-old defendant being tried this week aided and abetted the killing. Police said that Quintero and the other suspect killed Owen, a pregnant woman walking along Plus Park Boulevard, because they feared they would get into trouble after they mistakenly thought they had hit her with a truck. Owen was expected to have Court agrees to let Ford leave state on business Ex-senator to seek consulting work at black Commuters quick to steer onto 840 addition Stretch linking U.S. highways 31, 431 opened in Williamson County By SUE McCLURE StaffWriter STATION It took years, but a 2.3-mile stretch of State Route 840 is open, connecting U.S.

31 to U.S. 431 and easing traffic for northbound commuters in Spring Hill and Station. morning rush hour proved a good test for the new stretch, as traffic was backed up on Interstate 65 to the S.R. 840 exit. Seeing the clogged traffic, commuters bound for Franklin, Cool Springs or Nashville could bypass the logjam by hopping onto 840 and exiting onto U.S.

31. very excited about said Trish Conrad, who lives in College Grove. will knock a lot of time off my driving Conrad usually takes 431 to Mack Hatcher Boulevard to reach Franklin, not she said. (840) will be a straight shot, no more Tim Neal of Station agreed. going to take a whole lot of the morning traffic off Critz Lane and Pantall Road and some of the cross Neal said.

be nice going into While the new leg of 840 is officially open to traffic, not quite finished, TDOT spokeswoman Kim Keelor said. still have grading to do on the bridge deck, but very special equipment was needed to do that and only a few companies have she said. we decided to go on and open, with the understanding that we would come back and smooth it out later. will require a lane closure but not both During construction of this stretch of 840, crews moved nearly 3.3 million yards of mate- FORD Police set up more security at shelters for evacuees By CHRISTIAN BOTTORFF StaffWriter Metro police yesterday began deploying off-duty officers around the clock at two Nashville-area shelters in an effort to maintain a security presence for the Hurricane Katrina evacuees there, department officials said. Officials at the American Red Cross requested the stepped-up security because of the many evacuees and others who have inundated their facilities.

have a very small staff here at the Nashville-area Red Cross, and we feel like important for security to have adequate security said Amy Hall, spokeswoman for the relief agency. Hall said there have been no reports of fights or crime problems at Nashville shelters among evacuees, although the Red Cross called police yesterday to help with disarray caused by long lines that began forming among the displaced and those who were showing up to help. Police decided yesterday that a sergeant and three officers will be Please see FORD, 4B RUTHERFORD DAVIDSON SUMNER WILLIAMSON Nashville WILSON Dickson Lebanon Franklin 40 65 24 40 24 65 CHEATHAM Spring Hill 840 Under construction Portion completed STAFF From Goose Creek Bypass to Franklin city limits From just north of I-65 to Franklin city limits From Goose Creek Bypass to Franklin city limits A 31 431 65 A Long Ln. Peytonsville Rd. 840 431 31 65 Goose Creek Bypass Mile 10 S.R.

840 open to here 4,422 3,214 26,257 1985 5,487 3,969 35,110 1990 6,639 5,042 48,733 1995 9,236 7,796 63,394 2000 11,036 6,376 79,669 2005 A new stretch of State Route 840 should alleviate traffic for commuters heading north to Franklin from the Spring Station area. The number of automobiles traveling between Maury and Williamson counties has tripled along some routes since 1985. Thinning out traffic concerns Average daily vehicles (weekdays) SOURCE: Tennessee Department of Transportation Please see HIGHWAY, 4B On Page 2B staying in Memphis have become frequent crime targets and police say a Memphis woman has been charged with forgery and attempted theft after trying to collect more than $1,500 in Hurricane Katrina relief money. Please see SECURITY, 4B Please see TRIAL, 4B Mileage by county Williamson County is home to the longest section of State Route 840. Following is the mileage for various sections of the arc: Wilson County ..........13 miles Rutherford County ..20 miles Williamson County ..39 miles Hickman miles Dickson miles SOURCE: TDOT.