Category: News

The 26th annual Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is on Saturday, May 12, 2018. The food drive, sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers, is the world’s largest one-day food drive, taking place in more than 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia.
Participating in the food drive couldn’t be easier. Before your regular mail pick-up on Saturday, May 12, postal customers are asked to leave bags of non-perishable food items by their mailboxes. Letter carriers will pick up the bags and—with help from retired letter carriers, other postal employees and countless volunteers—deliver the bags to local food agencies.
In its 25 years, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive has collected more than 1.5 billion pounds of food; last year’s drive collected approximately 75 million pounds.
Food collected locally will go to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee.
1 in 8 Middle Tennesseans, including 1 in 5 children struggle with hunger.
In Coffee County, 12.4 percent of individuals, including 2,620 children are considered food insecure.

There’s one last hope for Tennesseans who might benefit from a state-of-the-art cancer treatment.
Republican Gov. Bill Haslam vetoed the Cancer Patient Choice Act late last week, but there’s talk of a possible special session to override his veto.
The legislation would mandate that the state employee insurance program cover proton therapy at the same rate it currently pays for traditional radiation.
Retired school teacher Elizabeth Clarke contracted a rare case of tongue cancer last year and had to pay $72,000 for proton therapy out of her own pocket.
She was able to preserve her ability to eat normally by choosing the therapy, which targets a very specific area and limits radiation’s exposure to healthy parts of the body.
“The side effects from the cancer that I have are so terrible,” Clarke states. “I don’t understand what his thinking is, because there’s so much research on what it does.”
In a statement, Haslam specifically opposed the mandate language in the bill and said in a statement that the “state plan currently covers many forms of radiation treatment.”
Several private insurers cover at least part of the cost of proton therapy, as does Medicaid and Medicare.
Tom Welch, president of Provision CARES Proton Therapy Center in Knoxville, says the mandate would come at no additional cost to the state or taxpayers, since centers such as his say they would accept the agreed upon rate for traditional radiation.
“I have only concluded that he has bowed to the wills of the insurance lobby,” Welch says. “The Speaker of the House and Lt. Gov. (Randy) McNally could call a special veto override session, to have a vote to override the governor’s veto.”
State Rep. Bob Ramsey (R) of Blount County – one of the sponsors of the legislation – says the plan is to wait to see what other bills the governor may veto before calling a special session.
Regardless, it is too late for Clarke and her husband, who feel lucky they had the savings to spend on her health.
“Our thoughts are with our savings,” she says. “What are you saving it for if you have no quality of life?
“If you can’t eat, you don’t have any saliva, what good does the money do? And so, we decided that my quality was more important than having money in the bank.”
Clarke says her concern lies with people who don’t have coverage for proton therapy, or the savings to pay for it, since it would be impossible to secure a bank loan to pay for such treatment.

Come join the Dusty Elam Foundation for its 14th annual fundraiser this Saturday, May 12th. The day will be a fun filled day including a delicious BBQ meal, live auction, games, face painting, music, raffle and more to support our amazing foundation that helps our local families in need! A special music performance by country music artist Adam Craig, plus local singer Sarah Pearson. Gates open at noon, live auction at 2pm, grand prize drawing of $5,000 at 6:30pm. Musical entertainment begins at 7pm. Tickets are available from Melinda Ashburn at 728-3381 or Chris Elam at 273-3419. The event is being held at the Elam Farm on Hwy 53 (Woodbury Hwy). Funds go to help underprivileged children in our community.

Officials say the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 28, 2018 collected more than 63,000 pounds of unused medicines in the Louisville Field Division’s three-state area of Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.
2,400 pounds of unused medicines were collected in Coffee County. The Coffee County Anti-Drug Coalition worked in conjunction with the Manchester and Tullahoma police and the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department during the collection process.
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is now in its ninth year.
The initiative allows people to safely get rid of unused medicines, which officials say are highly prone to misuse and abuse.
According to a 2015 national survey, more than 6 million Americans abused controlled prescription drugs.

A man who authorities believe was driving a stolen car and led officers on a pursuit Friday has been taken into custody. 40 year-old Howard Eugene Brown was located at a home near Centertown. The stolen car he had driven had been painted.
Brown was said to be driving the Honda Accord Friday when officers tried to pull him over. Instead of stopping, he led them on a pursuit from the Centertown area on Nashville Highway into McMinnville. Authorities say that during the chase, Brown tried to hit a deputy who was on foot. Officers broke off the pursuit when the Accord entered the city, which was full of afternoon traffic. Brown passed cars on High Street and went around a school bus which had stopped. He drove through two front yards before getting back on High Street going south.
Brown faces numerous charges. His bond was set at $220,000. Also arrested was 34 year-old Jodi Louise Lewis, who was charged with being an accessory. Brown was located at her home.

Former Shelbyville Municipal Planning Commission member Wanda Woodlee pleaded no contest to a felony theft charge in Franklin County last month.
Woodlee worked as office manager at the Winchester funeral home at the time of the alleged offense, which court documents state happened between January 2016 and July 2016. The no contest plea means Woodlee did not admit guilt but still accepts punishment for the crime in question.
As part of a deferred sentence, Woodlee will serve two years of state-supervised probation for theft.
If she successfully completes her probation period, the indictment will be wiped from her record.
Woodlee has also been ordered to make monthly restitution payments in the amount of $833.33 to Watson-North Funeral Home owner Thomas North Jr. until $20,000 has been paid. (Shelbyville Times-Gazette)

Visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park spent nearly $1 billion in nearby communities last year.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports an analysis conducted by U.S. government economists shows the spending in 2017 supported almost 14,000 local jobs and benefited communities within 60 miles (95 kilometers) of the mountains.
The overview put together by the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service notes more than 11 million people visited the parks last year and about 35 percent of their spending was on lodging and camping. It says more than 330 million visitors spent about $18 billion in the nearby communities. The spending supported more than 300,000 jobs nationally and gave a nearly $36 billion boost to the U.S. economy.

Federal transportation officials have announced 10 sites for a test program aimed at increasing government and commercial use of unmanned aircraft.
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced the winners Wednesday for the three-year drone program where states, local communities and tribes can devise their own trials.
The sites are located in Oklahoma, California, Nevada, North Dakota, North Carolina, Kansas, Alaska, Virginia, Tennessee and Florida. Transportation officials say 149 applications were received.
President Donald Trump signed a directive last year to establish the “innovation zones” that allow exemptions to some drone regulations, such as flying over people, nighttime flights and flights where the aircraft can’t be seen by the operator.
The unmanned aircraft industry has pushed for relaxed restrictions. Officials say current regulations have limited drone use, forcing companies to test overseas.