Category: News

Along with chocolates and flowers, decorative candles are often given by sweethearts at Valentine’s Day (Thursday, Feb. 14). While candles are fragrant home décor, the Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office (SFMO) reminds consumers that candles must be used properly to avoid the potential loss of life, injury, and property damage from an accidental fire.
Though candles might make a house feel more like a home, they can also cause tragedy if they aren’t used correctly. In 2018, Tennessee fire departments responded to 71 residential structure fires that were started by candles. These fires caused two civilian fatalities, four civilian injuries, two firefighter injuries and $1,836,316 in property damage.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), 23 home candle fires are reported each day. More than one-third (37%) of home candle fires started in bedrooms. Over half (60%) of home candle fires happened because a combustible material, like furniture or fabric, was too close to the candle.
The SFMO offers the following tips to help keep Tennesseans safe from candle fires:
• Consider using battery-operated flameless candles, which can look, smell, and feel like real candles.
• When using candles, place them in sturdy, safe candleholders that will not burn or tip over.
• Protect candle flames with glass chimneys/containers.
• Keep candles at least 12 inches from anything that can burn.
• Never leave a burning candle unattended. Extinguish candles when you leave a room or the home or go to bed.
• Avoid using candles in bedrooms and sleeping areas.
• Keep children and pets away from burning candles. Never leave a child unattended in a room with a candle.
• Never use a candle where medical oxygen is being used. The two can combine to create a large, unexpected fire. Medical oxygen can cause materials to ignite more easily and burn at a faster rate than normal. It can make an existing fire burn faster and hotter.
• Always use a flashlight—not a candle—for emergency lighting.
• Use only battery-powered lights in tents, trailers, motor homes, and boats.
• Lit candles should not be placed in windows, where blinds and curtains can close over them, causing a fire.
For more information on staying fire safe, visit tn.gov/fire.

State parks in Tennessee are looking for volunteers to help fight invasive plant species.
Tennessee State Parks said in a news release that the so-called “Weed Wrangle” is set for March 2.
The event is part of a nationwide effort to remove trees, vines and flowering plants that encroach on native plant species.
At Old Stone Fort State Park in Manchester, work will take place on the Garrison Road trail to clear the area of privet and any other overgrowth.
Please come prepared for this event by wearing old clothes you do not mind getting wet or dirty, closed toed shoes, and a reusable water bottle. Old Stone Fort will be providing water and gloves for all volunteers. Tools will also be provided by the park. If you would like to bring your own tools that would also be acceptable.
Meet up with Rangers at the Check-in Station/ Campground. Weed Wrangle at Old Stone runs from 1pm-4pm.

 

The Winchester Airport Authority announced that it has been awarded a $1.87 million grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics Economic Development Fund.
The money will be put toward the development and construction of a hangar with classroom space that will house an Aviation Maintenance Technology program to be located at the Winchester Municipal Airport.
The facility will be operated as a secondary campus in Franklin County by the Tennessee College of Applied Technology.

State Sen. Richard Briggs and State Rep. Matthew Hill announced legislation this week that would require certain prescription drugs, such as opioids and stimulants, to be dispensed in lockable containers.
The “Pilfering Prevention Act” refers to the act of “pilfering,” or stealing a few pills at a time. At a news conference Monday, the two lawmakers, along with a statewide coalition called “STOP – Secure Tennessee’s Opioid Prescriptions,” explained that pilfering is the number one source of teenage drug abuse nationally and Tennessee. They said statistics show 80 percent of heroin users started with a prescription opioid, and 90 percent of them started as teenagers.

About 1-in-10 teens who have been on a date have also been physically abused by a boyfriend or girlfriend in the last year according to the Department of Health and Human Services. With Tennessee seeing a growing number of suicides among children ages 10-17, advocates say it’s important to focus on the positive aspects of adolescent relationships during Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month.
Rikki Harris, CEO of Tennessee Voices for Children, said teens can be hard to read from one day to the next. But values such as mutual respect, respect for individuality, respecting boundaries and positive communication should be reinforced by the adults in their lives.
“Parents can not only cultivate that kind of expectation from a relationship in their children, they can model it as well,” Harris said.
She said parents are key to cultivating positive relationship expectations and should look for warning signs that a teen is in a relationship with a partner or friends who may be too controlling.
Amy Dolinky, East Tennessee regional director with the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network, said the dynamics of power and control are different for every couple. But, she said, it’s important to leave the door open for teens to talk to a trusted adult.
One-in-3 teenagers will experience partner abuse of some kind, whether physical or emotional. But only a third of those victims will try to get help. Dolinky said warning signs that someone is caught in an abusive relationship can include isolation, changes in grades, loss of interest in hobbies, or even suicide attempts.
“I think it just really requires that conversation and being present,” Dolinky said; “and really listening and validating that and not tying into, ‘When I was your age, this was my experience,’ or, you know, ‘don’t worry about that break-up, there’s other people out there,’ or, ‘you’re still young.'”
Teens who feel unsafe can start the conversation by texting the crisis line at TN741741 or calling the national domestic violence hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE.

Throughout this past fall, Coffee County High School Future Business Leaders (FBLA) members, officers, and advisors, along with special volunteers spent many hours organizing the “Team Up to Tackle Breast Cancer” event. FBLA members sold t-shirts and Otis Spunkmeyer breast cancer cookies and hosted a “pink out” game where the football team wore pink jerseys and all other participants at the game sported pink. Funds raised from these activities totaled $6,500. The donation was presented to the Tennessee Breast Cancer Coalition with all funds set to benefit breast cancer patients in Coffee County.
FBLA would like to thank everyone who participated in the various activities and donated so that one day a cure may be found!

Medical marijuana talk is growing in Tennessee and now it will be up for legislative debate.
Republican Senator Janice Bowling of Tullahoma has filed the first legislation of the year. It’s considered the most comprehensive form of medical marijuana legislation the state has seen. And every form of pot is on the table, from the seeds to what you smoke.
If a doctor diagnoses a patient with one of several conditions, the patient would be allowed to use the drug. The bill lists around 20 ailments which would qualify.
It also states individual city governments would have the right to outlaw the sale, or cultivation of cannabis by a two-thirds vote.
The legislation sets a target date for July 2020, but this type of bill failed last year in the state legislature. Governor Bill Lee has voiced uncertainty and right now the bill has no sponsor in the Tennessee House of Representatives. Lawmakers have concerns about enforcing pro-pot laws if they contradict federal law.
Qualifying medical conditions:
• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• Epilepsy
• HIV/AIDS
• Crohn’s Disease
• Muscular sclerosis
• Opioid addiction
• Renal failure
• Severe nausea or chronic pain
• Any medical condition producing cachexia, persistent muscle spasm or seizure
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Chronic radiculopathy
• Severe psoriasis
• Post-laminectomy syndrome
• Psoriatic arthritis
• Complex pain syndrome, including trigeminal neuralgia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s disease
• End-of-life pain management or palliative care
• All “terminal” conditions, and any conditions approved by the commission pursuant to rule-making
• For patients under 18 years old, the following conditions also apply:
• Cerebral palsy
• Cystic fibrosis
• Osteogenesis imperfecta
• Muscular dystrophy