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Mother jailed for excessive spanking
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ROGERSVILLE (AP) — A Kingsport woman will serve 60 days in jail for what authorities said was the excessive spanking of her toddler son in a Church Hill city park.The sentence is the result of a plea bargain under which 28-year-old Allison Marie Blevins no longer faces felony abuse charges. The settlement, however, requires she serve all 60 days of the misdemeanor sentence, according to the Kingsport Times-News.Prosecutor Kevin Keeton told the court a 19-month-old boy and his 2-year-old sibling will remain in their grandparents’ custody at the discretion of the Department of Children’s Services.Police said Blevins paddled her son three separate times July 13, leaving bruises on his buttocks.• • • • •NASHVILLE (AP) — A group representing brick-and-mortar stores says forgone tax collections from online sales are costing Tennessee more than 6,000 jobs.The Alliance for Main Street Fairness has been a vocal opponent of the state’s agreement to waive the requirement for online retailer Amazon.com to collect sales taxes on items sold through distributions centers being built in Tennessee.A University of Tennessee study has projected the state loses $411 million in sales taxes from items sold online. Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that every million dollars spent by state and local governments supports about 15 jobs.Monday’s report multiplies those two figures to conclude that collecting the sales tax on online sales would result in at least 6,200 jobs, earning a total of $260 million in annual wages.• • • • •NASHVILLE (AP) — A medical company is expanding its corporate headquarters in Franklin, Tenn., to create more than 260 jobs over three years.State officials announced that MedSolutions will invest $16 million for the expansion.