Josh Peterson

By Nadia Ramlagan, TN Public News Service

Tennessee ranks 48th in the nation for the health of its youngest residents, according to 2018 data released this week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Richard Kennedy, executive director of the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, says while the state has made strides in other areas, such as education, red-flag health indicators — including low birth-weight among newborns, and child and teen deaths — have increased.

Chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, also are on the rise among young people. Kennedy says the Kentucky Department of Health is working to develop a childhood obesity task force, among other efforts.

“And we know that childhood obesity, and obesity in general, continues to be a problem in the state,” he added.

According to the Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Book, 38% of children ages 10-17 in Tennessee are overweight or obese, compared with 31% nationwide.

Kennedy says access to health coverage continues to be a barrier for many families. Around 83,000 Tennessee children currently lack health insurance, mostly kids of color. He says that’s contributing to worse health outcomes among Black and Hispanic kids.

“Health disparities, I know that continues to be a focus with the Tennessee Department of Health, and it continues to be a priority with us at the Commission on Children and Youth,” he said.

Research shows children who are covered under a health plan are more likely to receive preventive care and developmental screenings.

Kennedy adds that examining state agency data by race is critical for fleshing out hidden health disparities among certain populations.

For the first time since 2001, there will be no Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival held in Manchester.

The Bonnaroo festival for 2020 has been cancelled, organizers announced on Thursday.

The festival, which was originally scheduled for June but was moved to Sept. 24-27 due to COVID-19 pandemic will now not take place at all.

Organizers say the festival will return next year, June 17-20 at Great Stage Park in Manchester for a 20^th year anniversary celebration.

Bonnaroo officials said that ticket holders will be able to roll their tickets to next year, or get a refund.

According to Coffee County Mayor Gary Cordell, with a soldout crowd expected for this year’s festival, the county had budgeted for upward of $800,000-$900,000 of a sales tax windfall for the event. Without this revenue, the county’s budget is tightened even further. 

“This certainly doesn’t help us,” said Cordell. “We are getting some new revenues through the out-of-state online tax that is new this year and I hope we can offset some of these losses with that. Otherwise, we may have to make amendments as we go. This has certainly been a challenging budget year.”

New claims for unemployment in Tennessee trended up last week, after 10 straight weeks of decline. According to numbers released by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce, there were 21,155 new unemployment claims filed for the week ending June 20. This was up from 19,925 the prior week and was the first week that numbers went up after peaking at 116,141 the first week of April.

Since March 15, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, there have been 643,799 new claims of unemployment filed in Tennessee.

The continued claims did fall last week, down to 266,596, which is down from 280,593 the previous week.

In Coffee County, there were 113 initial claims last week and 2,577 continued claims for unemployment benefits. Coffee County’s May unemployment rate was 14.2%.

Active cases of COVID-19 virus in Coffee County remain steady at 20 – the same as the previous day. There have been 102 total cases in Coffee County since testing began, with 82 recoveries.

Meanwhile, across the state there are approximately 12,473 active cases. There have been 540 confirmed deaths and 2,431 hospitalizations.

This summer, AAA forecasts Americans will take 700 million trips based on economic indicators and state re-openings. That number is down nearly 15% compared to last July through September and is the first decline in summer travel since 2009. AAA booking trends show Americans are making travel plans, though cautiously and more spur of the moment.
“Americans will get out and explore this summer though they’re taking a ‘wait and see approach’ when it comes to booking and are likely to book more long weekend getaways than extended vacations,” said Megan Cooper, spokesperson, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “When they do venture out, travelers will take to the road with 683 million car trips to satisfy their wanderlust.”

Car trips reign supreme accounting for 97% of the favored mode of transportation. Car trips will also see the smallest decrease in travel volume of just 3% year-over-year. Air travel will be off by about 74%, while rail, cruise ship and bus travel will slide by 86%. Were it not for the pandemic, AAA would be projecting 857 million trips during the third quarter, a 3.6% increase over last year. By this analysis, the pandemic wiped out nearly 150 million person-trips this summer.

AAA travel experts have begun to see positive trends in travel, noting that hotel and rental car bookings have been gradually increasing since April. Air travel has been slower to rebound. The share of travelers making plans 48 hours to 7 days before departure – a sign that people are arranging last-minute trips – is significantly higher than normal.

Tennessee Summer Travel Outlook

New research from AAA shows the coronavirus has impacted 2020 travel plans for 72 percent of Tennesseans, according to the AAA Consumer Pulse™ travel survey conducted in late May.

Last year, 61 percent of Tennesseans took a summer vacation, which did not include the Memorial and Labor Day holidays. During the same period this year, nearly half as many (33%) Tennesseans have summer travel plans.

While about 39 percent of Tennessee travelers had to reschedule at least one trip this year, 31 percent say they cancelled a trip with no plans to reschedule.

What needs to happen for Tennesseans to feel comfortable traveling?
• When a vaccine is available for COVID-19 (41%)
• Once COVID-19 virus cases start to decrease (37%)
• When the CDC or World Health Organizatioon say it’s safe to travel (31%)
• When stay-at-home orders are lifted (23%)
• When the U.S. lifts travel advisories for area(s) I want to travel (23%)

The Tennessee Board of Parole voted Wednesday that governor Bill Lee exonerate Adam Braseel – a Grundy County man who spent 12 years in prison for a killing that he says he did not commit.

Braseel was freed from prison last August after new evidence brought to light Braseel’s innocence. The unanimous vote from the parole board clears the way for Lee to potentially completely exonerate Braseel of the charges. He entered an Alford plea upon his August release, a plea that does not admit guilt but admits that there may be enough evidence for a conviction.

We are a week away from the City of Manchester’s annual Independence Day celebration.

Although COVID-19 has forced this year’s celebration to look a little different with no live music or entertainment at Rotary Park, the city will still be shooting fireworks on Saturday, July 4, beginning at 9 p.m. Fireworks will be launched from the Manchester Recreation Center grounds.

With other cities in the area cancelling or postponing their shows, Manchester’s show will go on and citizens and visitors from other areas are encouraged to find a suitable viewing area and remain socially distanced. Wherever you choose to watch from – whether it be in a park, in your car or a random parking lot, you will be able to hear synchronized, patriotic music to the fireworks on Thunder Radio – 107.9 FM and 1320 AM. Radio programming will begin at approximately 8:53 p.m. on July 4, with fireworks to begin at 9 p.m.

Coffee County School System has a parent survey available online to gather input to begin the 2020-2021 school year amid COVID-19 concerns.

The school system states that the goal is to open school as normal as possible. The schools state that health and safety protocols will include, but are not limited to the following:

*Nurses will remain on staff at all school locations.

*Students exhibiting symptoms will be evaluated by the school nurse. Parents will be informed to pick up their
child, if necessary.

*Masks will be optional for students and school personnel.

*Regular temperature checks will be in place.

*Proper handwashing will be taught and expected throughout the day.

*Increased cleaning and disinfecting will occur on frequently touched surfaces.

*Social distancing will be encouraged, when feasible.

Parents of students in Coffee County School System can take the survey by clicking here. 

Wednesday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released its 2019 ‘Crime in Tennessee’ publication, which details the volume and nature of crime, as reported by the state’s law enforcement agencies.

The report compiles data submitted to TBI’s Tennessee Incident-Based Reporting System (TIBRS). Among the report’s findings:

 The number of Group A offenses, generally considered the most serious criminal incidents, totaled 529,524 in 2019, a decrease of 5% from 2018.
 Reported incidents of murder, rape, and weapons law violations all decreased in 2019.
 Reported cases of kidnapping increased by 7.2% year-to-year.
 The number of crimes reported as having a domestic violence nexus decreased 4% from 2018 to 2019.
 The number of reported drug violations decreased by 5.6%. However, the number of drug offenses identified as methamphetamine-related increased to 18,086 in 2019, a 32.1% increase in the span of three years.
 The number of both juvenile victims of crime and juvenile arrestees decreased year-to-year.

“The TIBRS program continues to serve as a model for the nation and remains successful because of the continued cooperation by Tennessee’s law enforcement community,” said TBI Director David Rausch. “TBI remains committed to this effort and will continue to provide the training and technical assistance necessary to collect the most accurate and comprehensive crime statistics for Tennessee and its citizens.”

See the full report by clicking here. 

The number of active cases of COVID-19 in Coffee County remain at 20 – the same as the prior day.

Since testing for the virus began in March, there have been 102 confirmed cases of the virus in Coffee County. With 82 people classified as recovered, this leaves approximately 20 active cases.

Meanwhile, across the state there are approximately 12,276 active cases. Since testing began there have been 36,969 confirmed cases of the virus across the state. Paired with 24,693 recoveries, that leaves a little over 12,000 active cases.

There have been 535 confirmed deaths and 2,386 hospitalizations.

All numbers provided by the Tennessee Department of Health.