Category: News

Tennessee House Bill 1233, the “Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act” will be considered by the House Education Administration Committee this week.

The bill guarantees reasonable accommodations for all children in Tennessee’s public schools while also protecting every child’s right to privacy. It removes the uncertainty about making accommodations for all children from teachers, administrators, parents and students. The goal of House Bill 1233 is to be inclusive and respectful of all children in public schools.

As the bill reads, “Reasonable accommodation” includes, but is not limited to: access to a
single-occupancy restroom or changing facility, or use of an employee restroom or
changing facility. A reasonable accommodation does not include access to a restroom
or changing facility that is designated for use by members of the opposite sex while
persons of the opposite sex are present or could be present;”

Read the complete bill by clicking here.  

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe announced Ben Lomand Connect as a recipient of a $179,695.56 grant for underserved areas of Coffee and Warren Counties.

This is a matching grant with Ben Lomand contributing an additional $189,695.56 for a total investment of $369,391.12 for the county. The grant area is in northeastern Coffee County and includes 22 locations (12 residences and 10 businesses). It runs along State Highway 55 from southwestern Warren County into Coffee County. Funding will be available in April of 2021, allowing for infrastructure to be built and a two-year completion date.

Greg Smartt, General Manager and CEO for Ben Lomand Connect, commented, “Ben Lomand Connect is honored to receive this grant award. It is the fourth grant we have received for Coffee County, which has included two in Pocahontas and one in Normandy. This speaks to the tremendous need for high speed connections in Coffee County and throughout the state. This grant will fill a large gap where fiber service is not available. Access to high-speed broadband will provide economic, healthcare, public safety, and educational opportunities that residents currently do not have access to and contribute to a better quality of life. ”

A total of $14.9 million in broadband accessibility grants were awarded in 15 rural counties that will expand service to support 17,800 unserved Tennesseans in nearly 7,120 households and businesses. The 15 grant recipients, including Ben Lomand Connect, demonstrated a high need for grant funding as well as the ability to implement and sustain the projects in the long-term with strong community support.

“As many of us have transitioned to a lifestyle of working, telecommuting, and learning from home, we have seen how much we rely on broadband, and those who do not have access are placed at a significant disadvantage,” Commissioner Bob Rolfe said. “With the support of Governor Lee and the General Assembly, we will be able to connect more than 7,000 previously unserved homes and businesses to broadband service, positioning rural Tennessee for future success.”

Ben Lomand Connect was incorporated on October 2, 1952, to provide local telephone service to rural middle Tennessee. Ben Lomand began its diversification in 1993 by forming BLC, a wholly-owned long distance subsidiary. It was the first competitive local exchange carrier in the state of Tennessee. Combined, the two have over 25,000 access lines covering 3,200 square miles of territory. Ben Lomand Connect also offers many other services, including broadband, video, security, hosted IP solutions, and managed IT services

The Tennessee Department of Health is working with partners across the state to ensure continued equitable and efficient distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the community.

Vaccination appointments are currently available at county health departments in every grand division of the state. Protecting Tennesseans Most At Risk Tennesseans in Phases 1a1, 1a2, 1b and 1c of Tennessee’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan and those aged 65 and older are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccination.

Tennessee continues making great progress in protecting those most at risk for serious illness and death from COVID-19:

More than 1.3 million Tennesseans have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine

17.5 percent of Tennessee’s population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Tennessee is ranked 12th in the nation for the percentage of second doses completed

In Coffee County, 9.74 percent of the population is fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, another  8.51 percent of the population has received the first dose of a two-dose vaccine.  

Many rural Tennessee county health departments are seeing only a fraction of their daily COVID-19 vaccination appointments filled. West Tennessee counties have only about 20 percent of their daily appointments booked. East Tennessee has about 50 percent availability, and Middle Tennessee has 80 percent of their daily appointments filled.
TDH is developing a strategy to accelerate through phases of the vaccination plan while balancing vaccine supply and demand.

Book Your Vaccination Appointment Tennesseans may find vaccination providers in their area by visiting VaccineFinder.org. Book an appointment for COVID-19 vaccination through your county health department at COVID19.tn.gov.

A message from Elk River Public Utility District: 

Elk River Public Utility District of Franklin and Coffee Counties looks forward to recognizing National Gas Utility Workers’ Day on March 18, 2021. This day of recognition is a time when communities such as ours can remember the employees who provide one of their most valuable assets—their natural gas utility.

Safety is Our Number One Priority and this annual nationwide event is intended to build public awareness about the hard work done by the employees of natural gas utilities. Our customers recognize the need for Safe, Clean, Reliable natural gas energy and they depend on the service of natural gas utility employees to meet that need.

ERPUD has been Your Hometown Natural Gas Energy Provider since 1955 and we are proud to have the opportunity to serve our customers throughout our service area of Franklin and Coffee counties. The District has approximately 17,000 Residential, Commercial and Industrial Customers annually. The District maintains and operates over 800 miles of natural gas mains.

We hope you join us in supporting natural gas as a premier energy source for our Country. Safe, Clean, Efficient, Dependable, Domestically Produced Natural Gas can help our Nation achieve energy security, reduce emissions and build a more competitive economy.

If you would like to learn more about the many benefits of natural gas and how your natural gas system works, please give us a call, drop by any of our three conveniently located offices or visit our Website at www.erpud.com

A man who was wanted for multiple vehicle thefts in Coffee County and surrounding counties has been apprehended.

Jeffery Michael Hodges was wanted by multiple law enforcement agencies – including Coffee and Warren counties. He was taken into custody in the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 16 by the Warren County Sheriff’s Department. Hodges faces charges of violation of parole, theft of property, burglary and unlawful possession of a weapon. He remains in the Warren County Jail.

Also arrested was a female who was charged with accessory after the fact for aiding Hodges in his attempt to avoid apprehension. The female has been identified as Tiffany Jones, age 34.

Volunteer Firefighters would benefit by several proposals under consideration in the Tennessee General Assembly this year.

House Bill 612 proposes to incentivize volunteer firefighter recruitment by establishing a retirement system called a Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP). The legislation authorizes the State Treasurer to inquire with local governments and the volunteer fire departments about establishing a LOSAP plan for volunteers providing firefighting and prevention services, emergency medical services, and ambulance services.

The majority of Tennessee’s firefighters are volunteers. The State Fire Marshal’s Office reported 22,065 active firefighters in Tennessee in 2020. Of that, 14,218 (64 percent) are volunteers and 7,847 (35.6 percent) are career firefighters.

LOSAPs may be defined contribution plans, similar to 401k, or defined benefit plans, like a pension. Such a program is funded by contributions from the local government or nonprofit entities that utilize the services of eligible volunteers. To be eligible to receive benefits from the LOSAP, an individual must be a bona fide volunteer who receives no compensation for the services and instead receives only reimbursement for reasonable expenses or benefits and nominal fees customarily paid to them. House Bill 612 is scheduled for consideration in the Local Government Committee this week. 

After five straight weeks of increases, the Tennessee gas price average continues to climb. The Tennessee Gas Price average is now $2.68 which is 40 cents more than one month ago and 63 cents more than one year ago.
The National Average is $2.86, which is about 18 cents higher than the state average. The average price in Coffee County is $2.64, which is 4 cents below the state average and 22 cents below the national average.

“Over the last five weeks, Tennessee gas prices have risen a total of 45 cents, on average,” said Megan Cooper, spokesperson, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “With increased demand and tighter gasoline supplies, we are looking at more expensive pump prices with little relief in the weeks ahead.”

Quick Facts

· 81% of Tennessee gas stations have prices below $2.75
· The lowest 10% of pump prices are $2.48 for regular unleaded
· The highest 10% of pump prices are $2.92 for regular unleaded

National Gas Prices

Following last month’s winter storm in Texas, the national gas price average has jumped nearly 40 cents to $2.86. Prices will continue to increase this week, especially following the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest weekly reports showing a second week of major decline in gasoline stocks and a substantial increase in U.S. demand.

For the week ending March 5, the EIA reports gas stocks decreased by nearly 12 million bbl to 231.6 million bbl, as demand increased from 8.15 million b/d to 8.73 million b/d last week. That demand measurement is the highest since the end of November 2020, which coincidentally was the same month we saw stocks as low as they are today.

Amid tightening supply and increasing demand, the good news is that the price of crude, which accounts for more than half of the price at the pump, showed signs of stability on the week fluctuating between $64–$66/bbl. If crude sustains at this level, especially as refinery utilization increases, the jumps at the pump are likely not to be so substantial by April.

On the week, the national average is nine cents more expensive with 20 states seeing double-digit jumps.

National Oil Market Dynamics

At the close of Friday’s formal trading session, WTI decreased by 41 cents to settle at $65.61. Although the price of crude decreased on Friday, due to a stronger dollar, crude prices rose earlier in the week to $66/bbl with market optimism about crude demand recovery. Crude prices increased despite EIA’s latest weekly report revealing that crude inventories increased by 13.8 million bbl to 498.4 million bbl. For this week, crude prices are likely to continue moving higher if optimism grows.

By Nadia Ramligan, TN Public News Service

Tennessee kids have lost months of learning to the pandemic, and their advocates are now trying to make up for lost time.

A new report from the nonprofit group Save the Children finds more than half of all families say their children are spending less time on learning activities compared to a typical school day before COVID-19.

Experts say dropout rates will likely increase, and could result in one million more people not earning high-school diplomas.

Chapple Osborne-Arnold, Tennessee deputy director for Save the Children, said she initially thought online learning would help rural kids, but quickly realized that wasn’t the case.

“Then we were faced with the reality that that wasn’t going to happen, they didn’t even have access to internet or devices, or any of those tools,” Osborne-Arnold explained. “And so, we were able to put together a lot of really high-quality learning kits. We delivered these, hand-delivered ’em, to all of the families and children in the area.”

She added very young children had even fewer options, as high-quality child care, pre-K and Head Start programs were already in short supply statewide.

The report said last year, child-care providers face crippling revenue shortages from low enrollment and new safety requirements. By April 2020, 60% of child-care providers across the nation had closed their doors.

Osborne-Arnold emphasized Save the Children is also trying to combat the learning loss by focusing on summer programs.

“We’re really trying to double up our efforts this year and do our Kindergarten readiness programs this summer,” Osborne-Arnold noted. “We’ve almost tripled the amount of programs that we did from last summer to this summer. We’re going to try to hold those in person and really get those kids in there that have struggled the most.”

The report also highlights child COVID-19 cases, ranking Tennessee in the top three states, along with North Dakota and South Dakota, for the number of children who have contracted the virus.

Osborne-Arnold pointed out child infections have created obstacles, for both schools and families.

“We’ve seen the COVID cases hit in waves, and kids being quarantined, which makes it so difficult on parents and the school system,” Osborne-Arnold concluded.

Tennessee Republican leaders last week advanced legislation aimed at further protecting first responders through the Criminal Justice Committee on Wednesday. House Bill 511 was amended to add new language under the current definition of terrorism that creates new protections for law enforcement, paramedics, firefighters, correctional officers, department of corrections employees, and other emergency medical rescue workers.

The bill raises the offense of murdering an on-duty first responder for their profession to an act of terrorism. If convicted, the perpetrator would receive life without parole or the death penalty. Once signed into law, House Bill 511 would be among the nation’s strongest legislation protecting first responders. House Bill 511 now heads to the Calendar and Rules Committee.

The First Responder Safety Act, House Bill 585, aims to protect first responders by enhancing penalties against those who harass, threaten, or intimidate first responders. Currently, those who take negative action against a first responder can be charged with either harassment or with terrorism. The bill would enhance the harassment charge since negative action against a first responder impacts the ability to recruit and retain first responders. House Bill 585 will be considered in the Criminal Justice Committee on March 17.