A bill that would require school buses to have seatbelts in Tennessee has been withdrawn for the year.
The Times Free Press reports that Democratic Rep. JoAnne Favors of Chattanooga late last week pulled her bill, which was inspired by a deadly school bus crash in her city in November.
The legislation would have mandated seat belts in new school buses bought after July 2019.
Fiscal estimates say the proposal would add $12.9 million in annual costs to school districts and $2.2 million in yearly state costs. The bill was changed to make the state pay the whole cost, but the money isn’t currently in the state budget.
Favors believed the cost would be much cheaper.
The Chattanooga bus crash in November killed six elementary school children.
Category: News
School Bus Seatbelt Bill Withdrawn
Independence Day Celebration set for July 3 in Tullahoma
The City of Tullahoma is celebrating America’s 241th birthday this year with a free family festival. The City is pleased to announce that they are now accepting applications for vendors and sponsorship opportunities. Gates open at Noon on Monday, July 3rd at Frazier-McEwen Park and Grider Stadium will be filled with free music, games, food trucks, kids zone, and of course, fireworks that evening.
The Independence Day fireworks are a long-standing tradition in Tullahoma. In 1968, the Tullahoma Kiwanis Club started the celebration and this year’s event will build on their great tradition. Leading up to the fireworks show, the music features three Nashville bands: Vinyl Radio, seventies and eighties music; Make Me Smile, a Chicago tribute-band; 12 Against Nature, a Steely Dan tribute band; and after the fireworks, Wildflowers, a Tom Petty Tribute band.
The fireworks will be presented by a national pyrotechnics company that has presented shows around the world, including Nashville, the Washington Mall and New York City.
Vendor space is available for businesses for $100, food vendors for $70 and arts/crafts for $35. All proceeds will benefit children’s charities supported by the Tullahoma Kiwanis Club. This is a Regional Independence day event. Tullahoma wants to invite the region to experience a great day of fun and an evening of amazing fireworks. For more details, contact Winston Brooks at 931-247-1574 or complete the form at http://www.tullahomatn.gov/fireworks and mail it to Tullahoma Fireworks, PO Box 807, Tullahoma, TN 37388.
If an organization would like to have a presence at the celebration and be a sponsor, please contact Mayor Lane Curlee at 581-0360 or mayor@tullahomatn.gov. There are sponsorship levels ranging from $250 to $5,000.
Road Funding Headed to Counties
The state House Friday voted to allocate $55 million to the state’s 95 counties for road projects as part of the annual state budget bill.
Under the proposal, Coffee County would receive $546,295 in road money. In neighboring counties; Bedford County would get $544,730 in road funding. Cannon County will receive $408,026. Warren County would receive $519,685. Franklin County would receive $562,470 for road projects, Moore County $346,196 and Grundy County $439,332.
Man Arrested after Attempted Carjacking and Stabbing Incidents
Grundy County Sheriff Clint Shrum says that Dylan Hilton of Fairview, TN tried to carjack someone before he stabbed a store clerk in Monteagle.
He will be charged with attempted auto burglary and attempted carjacking, in addition to charges from the stabbing incident.
Shrum said Thursday, Hilton tried carjacking a man at a gas station off of Highway 127 in Pelham.
He tried stealing the car while the man was getting gas, and a fight ensued before the suspect fled.
The store clerk’s name in Monteagle is Satish Patel. He was released from the hospital.
The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office, Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Tennessee Highway Patrol, and Monteagle Police Department all helped with the case.
Hilton was captured in the East Brainerd community in Hamilton County.
No deputies were injured in the pursuit, but some law enforcement vehicles received minor damage.
Dow Chemical Wants Pesticide Study Dropped, According to Leaked Documents
A four-year study now under way sets limits on where pesticides can be sprayed. (cjuneau/flickr.com)
In a series of leaked letters, Dow executives asked Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt to withdraw recently released “biological evaluations” that show three insecticides – including Dow’s chlorpyrifos – are likely to harm 97 percent of threatened or endangered species.
Brett Hartl, government-affairs director for the Center for Biological Diversity, said killing those studies would scuttle a four-year process undertaken to calculate risks and set limits on where the pesticide can be sprayed.
“Dow is now saying, ‘Oh, the science is flawed. We need to start completely over’ – which is an absurd delaying tactic,” Hartl said, “Because they don’t like the result.”
Dow, which has offices in Knoxville, also reportedly has asked the secretaries of Commerce and the Interior to go back to court to challenge a 2014 settlement that requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to release their own draft biological opinions. Opponents of reducing the number of pesticides available for use say it is making it increasingly difficult for the industry to produce large-scale crops with fewer tools.
Hartl noted that Dow contributed $1 million to President Trump’s inauguration, and that Trump named Dow CEO Andrew Liveris to lead the American Manufacturing Council.
“Given Dow’s very close relationship with Trump,” Hartl said, “it’s not surprising that this is happening, but obviously very frustrating and very alarming.”
Pruitt hasn’t publicly responded to the release of the letters. However, he rejected the recent findings of his agency’s staff scientists, who suggested that the government revise the acceptable level of chlorpyrifos residue on food down to zero.
The letters are online at biologicaldiversity.org.
DAV Needing Drivers
Your Coffee County Disabled American Veterans (DAV) operates a transportation service, driving Veterans to and from area VA hospitals and clinics. This service is FREE of charge to Veterans, and DAV membership is not required. The program relies on volunteer drivers who are willing to set aside some of their time to drive these honorable Veterans to their appointments.
Right now, DAV is down to ONE driver. If he gets sick, there may be no transportation for many local Veterans who have no other way to get the health care they earned through military service. Many of our Veterans who ride live alone and have no family in the area: they rely on this service to get the care they have earned and so richly deserve.
If you have time, are not insulin-dependent and can pass a simple VA physical exam, you have the opportunity to meet some great people and hear amazing stories from genuine heroes. You need not be a Veteran to drive, nor do you need to join DAV.
This is a fantastic opportunity to support your local Veterans if you can’t afford to donate money. Every volunteer is appreciated; and the more drivers we have, the less each person has to do. Your help is vital!
To volunteer for this important program, or to arrange transportation to an area VA medical facility, call DAV Van Coordinator Gene Stillings at (931) 273-6025.
Traffic Stop leads to Multiple Charges against Tullahoma Man
Jerry Glenn Norrid… Photo provided by the CCSD.
Upon making contact with the subject the trooper recognized Norrid from a prior arrest as being a habitual motor offender. A check of his driving privilege revealed he was revoked 3rd offense and was a habitual motor offender. According to arrest warrant, upon arrest in plain view in Norrid’s vehicle was allegedly a bag containing white crystal methamphetamine, weighing approximately 28 grams. Also allegedly found was a pill bottle containing 17 yellow pills and 1 white pill identified as hydrocodone.
Norrid was charged with driving on revoked/suspended license 3rd offense, habitual motor offender, manufacturing/delivering/possession of a controlled substance, schedule II drug violation and driving while in possession of meth. His bond was set at $89,500 and a court date of June 27, 2017 was also set.
Tullahoma Man Facing Drug Charges
Dushawn Nathaniel Mitchell… Intake photo provided by the CCSD.
Dushawn Nathaniel Mitchell, 37, of Cedar Lane Tullahoma was charged with simple possession/casual exchange, unlawful drug paraphernalia use and activities, assault and resisting arrest.
According to a warrant obtain by Tullahoma Police Officer Brooke Earhart, Mitchell was stopped for not wearing a seatbelt and expired tags.
According to an arrest warrant, when the officer made contact with Mitchell she allegedly noticed a strong smell of marijuana coming from the vehicle. The officer then asked him to step out of the vehicle and began to search him. As she was searching him, he allegedly started to jump around and then grabbed her and attempted to throw her off her feet. Officer Earhart was able, according to the warrant, to maintain her balance and pulled Mitchell to the ground where he continued to resist arrest. After the officer placed handcuffs on him, she found a small bag of marijuana next to him. She also located rolling papers in the glove box of the vehicle.
Mitchell was booked into the Coffee County Jail under a bond of $18,000. He is scheduled to appear in Coffee County General Sessions Court on June 1.
Hate Crime Report released by the TBI
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has released two reports, detailing the volume and nature of crime identified as hate crime and violence against the state’s law enforcement officers. The annual studies compile crime data submitted to TBI by the state’s law enforcement agencies through the Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System (TIBRS).
Among the findings from ‘Tennessee Hate Crime 2016’:
• Overall, the number of offenses in which the bias was known decreased approximately 32% from 2015 to 2016.
• Males (53.7%) were victimized at a higher rate than females (46.3%).
• Simple Assault was the most frequently reported bias-motivated offense in 2016, with 63 victims or 33.5% of hate crime victims.
• 28.9% of offenses designated as hate crimes were committed by juveniles.
Among the findings in “Law Enforcement Officers Killed or Assaulted (LEOKA) 2016”:
• The number of LEOKA victims increased slightly, by 1.3 % year-to-year, with 1,808 victims reported in 2015.
• In 2015, there were two Law Enforcement Officer reported as being feloniously killed in the line of duty.
• The most frequently reported LEOKA offense was Simple Assault at 54.8%.
As with all of its crime publications, the TBI cautions against using the data provided in these reports to compare one jurisdiction to another. The factors impacting crime vary from community to community and accordingly, comparisons are considered neither fair nor accurate.
Former Rutherford County Sheriff Receives Four Years in Prison
Robert Arnold intake photo.
The former sheriff, according to terms of the plea deal, will have to pay 60-thousand dollars in restitution to Rutherford County.
In January, Arnold, 40, pleaded guilty to three counts of a 14-count federal indictment lodged against him in connection with an unauthorized scheme to sell e-cigarettes to county jail inmates and pocket the money instead of sending the proceeds to the county general fund and trying to conceal his involvement.
He has already served eight-months of his 50-month sentence and will get credit for time served. (WGNS Radio)
