Category: News

 Researchers have found a correlation between exposure to air pollution and aggressive behavior or violent crime.

The health effects of air pollution might be noticeable to most Tennesseans, especially those suffering from asthma or other respiratory conditions, but the study’s lead author Jesse Burkhardt, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at Colorado State University, said the correlation between poor air quality and violent crime would be difficult to suss out on an individual or community level.

“Again, the effects are small,” Burkhardt said. “But, if you aggregate them across the entire U.S. or across the counties in our sample, at least, the costs end up being somewhat large.”

Results of the study, which merged FBI crime statistics with a map of air pollution in counties across the U.S., will be published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management.

The state Division of Air Pollution Control is responsible for air monitoring in all of Tennessee’s 91 counties. Several counties, including Davidson, Hamilton, Knox and Shelby have established their own local air pollution control programs.

Burkhardt said this type of data could be useful for policymakers trying to improve the quality of life in their communities.

“This study basically adds a little more to that benefit side, saying that if you reduce pollution, you might see a reduction in crime as well,” he said.

He also pointed out that when it’s not feasible to perform a controlled experiment, scientists often rely on identifying connections in aggregate data sets.

“As follow-up research, we try to explore the mechanisms that we think might be underlying these relationships,” Burkhardt said. “So, as an example, one of our next papers is we’re going to look for a relationship between online test performance and pollution exposure.”

According to the American Lung Association, the Knoxville metro region ranks 25th in the nation for year-round particle pollution, while Nashville and Memphis fare slightly better, showing improvements in cleaning up both ozone and particle pollution.

Nadia Ramlagan, Public News Service – TN produced this report

There appears to be an issue with the recently completed outdoor event venue completed by Public Building Authority behind the Manchester-Coffee County Conference Center. The parcel of land where the venue was built is jointly owned by the PBA and a private individual (Wayne Lance), and is not 100% owned by the PBA.

The venue was recently completed and a ribbon cutting with the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce was held on September 26. However, at a Friday (Oct. 18) PBA board meeting, PBA member Greg Sandlin brought out the apparent fact that the property where the building is placed is on land owned by Wayne Lance and PBA, and PBA did not have written agreement from Lance to make the improvements to the property. Elena Cawley with the Manchester Times reports that Sandlin asked conference center general manager Rebecca French if any documents were obtained prior to building the venue to show that Lance agreed to the project. French reportedly stated that she spoke with Lance about the construction and he approved the project, but there are no supporting documents to confirm that account.

PBA reportedly owns 66% of the land where the building was placed.

According to reports, Coffee County Attorney Robert Huskey has reached out to Lance an is waiting for a response. 

The PBA does not plan to hold any events at the newly constructed venue before the matter is resolved. PBA members say they hope to have the matter solved as soon as possible.

4:26 p.m. Oct. 21: This story has been corrected. A previous version stated that a portion of the building was on property owned solely by Lance.

Monday, Oct. 21 from 2-4 p.m. there will be a public open house at Tullahoma City Hall to review plans for construction of a new Tullahoma Police Department. Construction is set to begin early in 2020. The open house is upstairs at city hall, 201 W. Grundy St. in Tullahoma. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend.

If you own a horse, be aware that a horse in West Tennessee has tested positive for eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), a virus that can be fatal for horses and humans. The Tennessee departments of Agriculture and Health (TDA and TDH) are advising citizens to take precautions to protect themselves and their livestock.

The horse in Gibson County showed signs of illness. Testing confirmed it was suffering from EEE, and the horse was euthanized.

Mosquitoes transmit EEE. An infected horse cannot directly transmit the virus to other horses or humans through contact. However, mosquito-borne diseases do pose a public health risk. Tennessee had the first documented human case of EEE in a resident of Hamilton County earlier this summer. This recent equine case serves as a reminder that mosquito season is not over yet.

-WGNS Radio contributed to this story.

The Manchester Police Department has announced the hiring of two new patrol officers and the promotion of two other officers to the investigation division of the department. 

Newly hired are Leah Carrick and Jeremiah Kirk, both have been deputies with the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department. Manchester Police Chief Mark Yother said he expects the two officers to start within the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, Manchester Police Department officers Jamie Norris and Benjamin Sneed have been promoted to be investigators. The move to investigations beginning December 1. 

“I’m really excited about it,” said Yother. “I think they are both extremely hard workers. They have proven that since day one. They follow up their cases now on patrol.”

Norris has been with the department for four and a half years and Snead for a year and a half. Both brought experience with them to the department.

The Tennessee Department of Health has reported one death in a patient with serious respiratory disease associated with use of electronic cigarettes or other vaping devices. This is the first such death reported in Tennessee.

Gov. Bill Lee has yet to respond to medical professionals calling for a statewide emergency ban on flavored vaping products, popular among young people.

Dr. Elise Denneny, president of the Tennessee Medical Association, says her colleagues have sent a letter urging the governor to join at least five other states that have already restricted or banned the sale or marketing of flavored vaping products.

“The younger consumers, including adolescents, seem to be drawn to the flavored products,” she points out. “The medical community is advocating for just a temporary ban, just so we have time to try to figure out some of the data.”

So far, there are reports of 49 cases of serious lung injury among Tennesseans who have used electronic cigarettes or other vaping devices, according to the state Department of Health.

But Lee cites a “lack of data” as his reason for not approving a ban.

Denneny points out public health officials remain in the dark about what’s causing the lung injury, but notes it isn’t linked to any specific brand or flavor.

“Vaping lung injury is very different than smoking lung injury,” she points out. “We really don’t know, we don’t have enough data to know, but we do know that we’re seeing lung injury caused by vaping.”

This week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention named the mysterious illness EVALI, which stands for E-cigarette Vaping Product use Associated Lung Injury.

Denneny says that’s an important step.

“So now, we have a name, and hopefully not far behind that there will be an ICD code, so that we can track the data – because right now, there’s not even a code,” she states. “That makes it very difficult to track the data.”

Denneny also advises that because EVALI can mimic flu symptoms, it’s critical that people share their vaping history with their health care provider as flu season approaches.

You may have noticed large equipment in the Manchester Sports Park soccer fields over the past week.

The Manchester Water and Sewer Department is conducting rehab and repairs to the sewer lines that run in the soccer park and along the Little Duck River Greenway in that area. The soccer park is now closed for use for the next week due to these repairs.

If you are looking for some fun Friday night (Oct. 18) – the Manchester Rec Department will have Hay Fever Harvest from 6-9 p.m. at the rec center. There will be a hay maze, pumpkin smashing, cornhole and Gaga and, best of all, it’s all free.

The rec center is located at 557 N. Woodland St.