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$250 Fee to the TBI for DUI Convictions Ruled Unconstitutional.
An appeals court has ruled that a state law that gives a $250 fee to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for each DUI conviction obtained using a blood or breath test is unconstitutional.
Tuesday’s ruling by the Court of Criminal Appeals in Knoxville says the system violates due process and calls into question the trustworthiness of TBI forensic scientists’ test results. It says the system creates a monetary interest for forensic scientists through continued employment, salaries, equipment and training.
State lawmakers passed a TBI-backed proposal in 2010 to raise the fee from $100 to $250.
The ruling says the fees total about $3 million annually.
It’s unclear if prosecutors will appeal to the state Supreme Court.
The case involves more than 20 defendants who provided blood or breath samples.
H&R Block Student of the Week
Congratulations to Student of the Week -Kaylynn Waterman!!! Kaylynn, the daughter of Matt Waterman and Tiffany Bush, is a seventh grader at Westwood Middle school.
Kaylynn was nominated by her teacher, Heather Sulkowski, because “she always has a great attitude, even if I ask her to do something that she doesn’t want to do. She pays attention in class. She is kind to other students and offers to help them when they need it”, says Mrs. Sulkowski. Kaylynn is a cheerleader for the Westwood Rockets. When Kaylynn is not at school, she likes to hunt and fish. When Kaylynn grows up she wants to be a nurse and help deliver babies. Rosalyn Partin, owner of the Manchester H&R Block, has been inspired to recognize great kids in our community all through hockey season. What does hockey season have to do with our local students? Well, H&R Block gives each Student of the Week a set of Nashville Predators Hockey tickets, a commemorative plaque, as well as a special letter of recognition.
Pictured with Kaylynn is Rosalyn Partin of H & R Block and Julie Green, Principal at WMS
.
Thunder Radio Announces Broadcast Schedule for Spring Sports
2018 Thunder Radio Spring Sports Schedule
Thunder Radio takes seriously our commitment to being your hometown radio station. With that in mind, we are pleased to announce a tentative lineup for exclusive coverage of Coffee County Central High School baseball and softball broadcasts. 2018 marks the 20th year that Thunder Radio has been your eyes and ears for spring sports.
Thunder Radio’s unrivaled coverage will bring you at least 20 regular season games, plus selected postseason games for the Raiders and Lady Raiders. Lucky Knott, the voice of the Raiders and Lady Raiders for most of the past 20 years, will again lend his talents and passion to Thunder Radio’s exclusive broadcasts. Also, the Thunder Radio sports staff will keep you updated with daily reports on all spring sports all season long as part of our daily sports updates online and in our sports broadcasts.
Our broadcasts will begin on Monday, March 12th with Coffee County softball at home vs. Franklin County. And, as always is the case with spring sports, when weather forces cancellations and postponements, Thunder Radio will keep you updated on that as well. For more than complete prep sports coverage, remember, nobody does sports like Thunder Radio!
Preds Rally to Force OT, Topped in Shootout
They came back to salvage a point, but the Nashville Predators ultimately fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2, in a shootout on Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre. The result snaps Nashville’s three-game win streak but still gives them points in 12 of their last 13 games.
It’s also the second consecutive game that has seen Nashville come back from multi-goal deficit to record at least a point, an impressive showing of resilience, but they simply ended up on the wrong side of the shootout in Toronto.
Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen starred on the night, making 44 saves in total (and six more in the shootout) to give his team the win.
“Their goalie played really well,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “I thought we got going in the second period and third period and had lots of looks, lots of opportunities, but their goalie played really well tonight. You have to give him credit, but it’s tough. You battle back in a game like that and goes to a shootout and you lose, so it’s not that you’re completely disappointed with the way you played, but you hate the result at the end of the night.”
“We created a lot of chances and Andersen played a really strong game and gave them a chance,” Preds goaltender Pekka Rinne said. “We’ll take that point, but anytime you play a good game like that, it’s disappointing to lose.”
James van Riemsdyk gave Toronto a 1-0 lead after one period of play, and Kasperi Kapanen extended the lead to two when he beat Rinne for a shorthanded marker in the second stanza. But before the middle period was out, Colton Sissons capitalized to sneak one past Andersen to get the Preds on the board and give them life heading into the third.
In fact, it took just 25 seconds into the final frame for Viktor Arvidsson to wire home his team-leading 18th of the season, and the Preds continued to pellet pucks at Andersen, but he continued to turn the Preds aside through the rest of regulation and overtime.
Ryan Ellis scored for the Preds in the seven-round shootout, but Andersen ended it when he stopped Arvidsson to finish the night.
From here, the Predators head to Ottawa to face the Senators on Thursday night in the second half of the back-to-back set in Ontario, with Kyle Turris set to make his return to the Canadian capital.
And while the Preds will hope to have a lead heading into the third period this time around, recent events have shown they might just find a way no matter what happens.
“We’re sticking to our game plan and not trying to change too much,” Rinne said. “We kept playing like we were playing and that worked for us. Even after that tying goal we had a few really good chances and just couldn’t bury them.”
Notes:
Predators forward Calle Jarnkrok skated in his 300th career game on Wednesday in Toronto.
Ryan Ellis recorded a helper on Colton Sissons’s goal and is now one assist away from 100 in his NHL career.
Nashville’s eastern Canada swing continues on Thursday when Kyle Turris returns to Ottawa to face his former club for the first time (at 6:30 p.m. CT). The Preds then wrap things up on Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
Pete Weber’s Postgame Report
2/7/18 — Birthdays
Birthdays:
Lyndsey Phillips, 33 — Pizza Winner!
Beverly Thompson
Thomas Walker, 11
Jane Cardwell
Sherry Barrett, 47
Caitlyn Haley, 16
Anniversaries:
Roger & Brenda Shelton, 40
The Latest Information on the Flu in Tennessee
The Tennessee Department of Health reported that seven people have died from the flu in the state.
During the last week of January, the South-Central region, which includes Coffee County, had 224 confirmed flu cases and around the state there were 10,591 reported cases.
According to state data, Tennessee has reported 6 influenza-related deaths in children under 18 years and one influenza-related death of a pregnant woman.
The health department is still urging people to get the flu vaccination this season. Health department clinics across the state are providing vaccines at no charge.
In order to prevent the spread of the flu, the health department says to wash your hands thoroughly or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer, cover your nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing, avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth, and stay home if you’re sick.
What is the Flu?
Influenza is a viral infection of the nose, throat, bronchial tubes and lungs. There are two main types of virus: influenza A and influenza B. Each type includes many different strains, which tend to change each year. Seasonal influenza sometimes causes severe illness or complications, but the great majority of people recover fully without any medical treatment.
Coffee County Election Commission Meeting Feb 15
The Coffee County Election Commission will meet on Thursday, February 15, 2018 at 4:00 PM in the Election Commission office, Administrative Plaza, 1329 McArthur Street, Suite 6 in Manchester.
The purpose of the meeting will be to approve candidate petitions for the May 1, 2018 Republican and Democratic County primaries. A tentative copy of the 2018 – 2019 budget will be distributed to Commissioners.
A representative for Election Systems and Software will be here that day, also, to demonstrate the newest version of their voting machine.
A Silver Lining to Winter Weather for TN Forests
The fuzzy white specks on the needles are the larvae of Wooly agelgid, which can kill mature hemlock trees. (Kerry Wixted/flickr)
Forestry experts are in a race against time to preserve the plant species. Nathan Hoover, forest health specialist with the state Division of Forestry, said his department and other conservation groups are working to preserve what they can.
“It’s something we’re going to deal with for perpetuity. It’s going to be forever. We’re losing trees rapidly,” Hoover said. “We have to treat them to save them to keep them on the land, preserve the genetics, preserve the actual hemlock forest, and then focus on that long-term control objective. It’s just about creating that equilibrium.”
As the hemlocks die, they are commonly referred to as “gray ghosts” in the forests because of their appearance.
The invasive insect arrived in the U.S. from Japan in the 1950s, and once it reached the northern Appalachian Forest, it spread rapidly to the Southeast. Hemlocks provide valuable ecosystem services in Appalachian forests, including cover for wildlife and cooling shade along waterways.
Josh Kelly, public lands biologist with Mountain True, said if you haven’t heard of the problem, there is a dismal reason for that.
“I think the reason it’s not in our radar anymore is because most of them have already died,” Kelly said. “Once it was in the Appalachian range where there are a lot of hemlocks, it spread really rapidly north and south, and first arrived in our area in 2001 and was pretty much everywhere by 2007.”
Hoover said while it’s an uphill battle, there are things Tennessee citizens can do to preserve what is left.
“Private land owners can inventory their property, find the hemlock trees on their property and then put together a treatment plan for those trees in order to protect them,” Hoover said. “You can inform other people about it. You can contact the Tennessee Division of Forestry for that information.”
Kelly and Hoover say the origin of the deadly insect – a non-native bug – is a reminder of the importance for the public and private sector to exercise caution when importing plants and trees from other countries. According to the Center for Invasive Species Protection, since European settlement began in North America, nearly 500 non-native tree-feeding insects and disease-causing pathogens have been introduced into the United States. About 80 of these have caused notable damage to our trees.
Motlow to Feature Middle Tennessee Native Carolyn Ford Art
The picture is an example of Ford’s work titled Go to Oregon.
Eoff Hall Gallery hours are 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. There will be an opening reception and artist talk on Feb. 14, from 10 a.m. – noon. The public is invited and encouraged to attend the reception and meet the artist.
Ford received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in ceramics, drawing, and painting from Middle Tennessee State University. She received her Master of Fine Arts in ceramics and drawing from Washington State University, and she has studied abroad and exhibited in Italy.
For additional information about the reception or exhibition, please contact Bobbie Underwood at 931-393-1700 or bunderwood@mscc.edu. For Carolyn Ford’s website go to carolynfordart.com.
Coffee County Basketball Gets Two for Tuesday Against Franklin County
Garrett Booth of CHS basketball[Photo by Demarco Moore – Manchester Times]
In a physical girls’ game, Coffee County was able to limit the turnovers in the 2nd half to build a 7 point halftime lead into 20 points in the 4th quarter. The Lady Raiders guaranteed a berth in the region tournament with the win over the Rebelettes.
Bella Vinson led Coffee County in scoring with 19 points while Jacey Vaughn added 18 points. Alliiyah Williams finished with 8 points and 6 blocked shots to be named the Crazy Daisies player of the game. The Lady Raiders improved to 22 and 2 overall and 9 and 1 in district play.
After averaging just 38 points a game in their 4 game district losing streak, the Red Raiders finally got their offense on track on Tuesday. Racing out to a 9 to 0 lead before Franklin County could score, the Raiders carried a 14 to 3 lead into the 2nd period. Franklin County was not able to carve the deficit below 10 points the rest of the night as the Raiders improved to 14 and 8 on the year and 6 and 4 in district play.
Garrett Booth led the Raiders in scoring with 21 points including five 3 pointers to earn the Crazy Daisies player of the game honor. Darius Rozier chipped in 11 points while brother De’Aaron Rozier finished with 7. Grey Riddle had 6 points as 10 Red Raiders scored on the night.
Coffee County returns home on Friday night when they welcome Shelbyville to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM. Friday night will also be Senior Night as it will be the final home game of the year for Coffee County. Thunder Radio begins live coverage with the Powers Storage Pregame Show at 5:50.
Download the broadcast of the games at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/