Crowdfunding is one way to support a project you believe in and get rewards for that support. But the project you’re backing is only as good as the people behind it. Some dishonest people can take your money but produce nothing – no product, no project, and no reward.
Here’s how crowdfunding works: People called “creators” ask for small amounts of money from lots of people to fund projects through websites like Kickstarter or Indiegogo. In exchange, creators offer rewards to contributors, like a product that the creators are trying to make. Sounds great…unless the creators don’t create anything but profit for themselves.
In its lawsuit against iBackPack, the FTC says people shelled out over $800,000 via crowdfunding campaigns. The company said those funds would help it provide consumers with backpacks and shoulder bags with built-in batteries for charging mobile devices. But, according to the FTC, iBackPack’s claims that bags would soon be going out to consumers were lies. What’s more, the FTC’s investigation found that the money the creators took in from their campaigns generally didn’t go toward what they said it would. Instead, the FTC says, iBackPack’s CEO pocketed a large part of the funds for his own personal use. And when people began to complain, the CEO allegedly threatened some of them – adding that he knew their addresses and other personal information.
If you’re thinking about contributing to a crowdfunding campaign, take a minute to research the creator’s background and reviews before you pay. For example, has the creator engaged in previous campaigns? How did those campaigns turn out?
If you learn about a crowdfunding scam:
• Report it to the Federal Trade Commission.
• Report it to your state Attorney General.
• Warn other people by commenting on the creator’s profile on the crowdfunding site.

With fires burning hotter and faster than ever before, every second counts when escaping a home fire. To commemorate the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Home Fire Sprinkler Week (May 19-25), the Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office (SFMO) is raising awareness of the life-saving capabilities of residential fire sprinkler systems.
Home fire sprinklers can provide valuable peace of mind to homeowners residing in newly constructed or renovated homes that were constructed with modern building materials, which can burn faster and hotter than “legacy” building materials. According to the NFPA, the civilian death rate is 81% lower in a home with fire sprinklers than in homes without them.
To help consumers understand the life- and property-saving capabilities of home fire sprinklers, the SFMO shares the following facts:
• Sprinklers are activated by the high temperature of fire–typically between 135°F – 165°F. Cooking fumes or signaling smoke alarms cannot activate sprinklers.
• Home fire sprinklers activate individually. Only the sprinkler head closest to a fire activates.
• Home fire sprinklers can contain a fire with a fraction of the water that would be used by fire department hoses.
• Home fire sprinkler systems can be installed in new or existing homes.
• Working smoke alarms and home fire sprinklers are a winning combo in saving lives.
If you have a home sprinkler system, the SFMO offers these tips to ensure your system is properly maintained:
• Conduct a monthly visual inspection of all sprinkler heads to make sure nothing is blocking or hanging from them.
• Do a bi-annual water flow test on the sprinkler system to ensure all water flow devices are working properly.
• Keep home fire sprinklers clear and free of objects that can interfere with their proper use.
• If your sprinkler system has a tank, do a monthly check to ensure it is full.
• If you have a pump-powered sprinkler system, start it each month to ensure it works and does not trip any circuit breakers.
• Do not paint over your fire sprinkler heads. This can inhibit them from working properly.

Motorcycle riders in Coffee County are warning people about the consequences of grass clippings left on roadways.
Those patches of loose grass clippings can cause riders to lose their traction on the road. The clippings are often blown or left in the road and can lead to serious injuries or even death for those that ride.
But leaving clippings by the curb isn’t just dangerous for bikers, it’s illegal. THP troopers say it’s the same as leaving garbage or anything else in the road.
If you do leave any significant amount in the road, please use some type of blower or broom to remove grass clippings from the road.

A Facebook post has Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott answering questions. The DA’s comments were brought to light by the online news site TNHoller. Northcott responded to a post made by Tullahoma Alderman candidate Daniel Berry, asking about accepting stereotypes for an entire group. Some of what Northcott said claimed was that Islam is evil, violent and against God’s truth” and that being Muslim is no different than “being part of the KKK, Aryan Nation, etc.” He also wrote, “there are no Constitutional rights. There are God-given rights protected by the Constitution. If you don’t believe in the one true God, there is nothing to protect.”

Now, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is asking for Northcott to resign.
Northcott told WMSR News when asked if he would resign, he simply said no, and he will continue to do his job:

He emailed us a longer response over the entire issue. Read below:
As to the Facebook issue, the point that I was expressing was simply any ideology by whatever name that promotes hate, killing/harming of those who don’t believe in that ideology and/or killing/harming someone due to their physical/genetic characteristic is evil. The wonderful thing about this Country is that our Constitution protects everyone’s God-given right to believe whatever they wish and even to express their beliefs through oral and written word. However, if someone acts on their beliefs in a way that violates the criminal laws of Tennessee, they will be held accountable for those actions through our criminal justice system that affords everyone the equal protection of the law and due process. I have always believed this and will always believe this. Professionally, this means that I judge each situation based upon its own merits and facts but not on the belief system of the one who committed those acts. I then pursue justice based upon the laws of Tennessee and the actions of the defendant. I have done this in each and every case that I have ever handled as District Attorney and will continue to do so as long as I maintain this job.
As to CAIR’s asking for my resignation, simply put, that IS NOT going to happen. I have no reason to do so. I will continue to serve this community to the best of my ability so long as the Lord and the citizens of the 14th Judicial District provide me with that opportunity.
WMSR News also asked D.A. Northcott if he had any remorse about his Facebook post and if he wanted to apologize or take back anything he stated? Northcott said he doesn’t have anything to apologize about:

WMSR News will continue to follow this story and report any updates.

Jackie Wayne Bean of Soddy-Daisy has pleaded guilty to felony reckless endangerment and was sentenced to probation for his part in a deadly 2017 police chase in Grundy County, Tennessee.
Now, the District Attorney’s Office says he may testify in another Grundy County murder case.
Bean was driving with 20-year-old Shelby Comer in the car when Grundy County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Holmes tried to make a traffic stop. Officials said Bean failed to stop and led a chase onto B Mine Road, where he spun the car around. The TBI report said Holmes fired on the vehicle several times as Bean drove past, and one bullet hit and killed Comer. Bean was later captured and charged with attempted first-degree murder, evading arrest, three counts of reckless endangerment, DUI, and violation of implied consent.
Bean pleaded guilty on May 13 to the felony reckless endangerment charge, and received a 6-year sentence, with credit given for the time he’s spent behind bars since December 2017. District Attorney Mike Taylor says Bean will serve the remainder of his sentence on probation.
In November 2018 the grand jury indicted Deputy Holmes on a voluntary manslaughter charge in Comer’s death. No court date has been set at this time.
Bean has agreed to testify, if necessary, in the state’s murder case against Daniel Chandler. Sheriff Clint Shrum says Chandler and Bean were cellmates for a brief time while Bean was incarcerated in the Grundy County Jail.
Chandler was arrested in 2017 and charged in the murder of his estranged wife, Samantha Kathleen Chandler.
In 2016, the 26-year-old woman’s body was found in the Ross Creek area of Gruetli-Laager, and the TBI began investigating it as a homicide.
Daniel Chandler was indicted by the grand jury with first-degree murder in Samantha’s death. (WTVC-TV)

For the third consecutive month, Tennessee’s preliminary statewide unemployment rate for April remains at the all-time low of 3.2 percent. That’s according to data from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Tennessee first set its all-time low unemployment rate in February and it has remained at 3.2 percent each month since establishing the record. Over the last twelve months, unemployment across the state dropped by four-tenths of a percentage point when compared to numbers from April of 2018.
Tennessee employers added 5,000 new nonfarm jobs between March and April.
The national unemployment rate for April was 3.6 percent, which is slightly lower than the March rate.