Category: News

Having already made a .50-caliber sniper gun the official state rifle, Tennessee lawmakers voted Monday to make the Holy Bible the state’s official book.
The state Senate gave final approval Monday on a 19-8 vote despite arguments the measure conflicts with a provision in the Tennessee Constitution that “no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship.”
Republican Sen. Steve Southerland argued his bill is aimed at recognizing the Bible for its historical and cultural contributions to the state, rather than as government endorsement of religion.
Opponents argued the Bible would be trivialized by being placed alongside other state symbols like the official tree or rock.
The measure heads to Republican Gov. Bill Haslam, who hasn’t said whether he’ll issue a veto.

Tennessee’s top education official has announced that students will be spending less time taking standardized tests next year.
Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Candice McQueen told news outlets over the phone on Monday that TNReady’s math and English tests will be shortened. The state has not yet made a decision about the length of the social studies test or whether the tests will be online or on paper.
Launched this school year, TNReady replaced the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program.
Educators and parents in some areas have criticized TNReady for months, saying the test robs students of valuable instructional time and is developmentally inappropriate. Delays in the administering of the tests also forced school districts to change schedules several times this spring.

Abortion rights supporters want a federal judge to toss out a 2014 constitutional amendment that made it easier to restrict abortion in Tennessee.
A group of Tennesseans opposing the amendment sued the state last year over the way the vote was counted.
The Tennessee constitution says amendments must be passed by “a majority of all the citizens in the state voting for governor.”
Plaintiffs say that means the only valid votes for the amendment are those cast by people also voting in the governor’s race.
Attorneys for the state argue the language refers to how many people must vote in favor of the amendment for it to be ratified. So if 1,000,000 vote for governor, at least 500,001 must vote in favor of the amendment.
The trial began Tuesday.

On Sunday morning at approximately 8:15am Coffee County Deputy David Grouch responded to a house fire at 5320 Shady Grove Rd. in Summitville. When the deputy arrived the Summitville Volunteer Fire Dept. was on scene. Black smoke was coming from inside the structure and the fire department was able to bring the fire under control and extinguished. The house was burned completely inside.
The Summitville Fire Chief stated that the fire looked suspicious. Norman S. Harrell the owner of the house was not sure if he still had insurance on the house as it has been vacant for the past 5-6 months. The estimated loss is about $30,000.
The fire is being investigated by the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department.

Tina Juanita Smith of Decherd was killed in a traffic accident on Sunday night.
Smith, age 41, was hit by a car as she was walking along Highway 41A near the Montana Drive-in.
According to a police report, Smith was walking to retrieve an item that had fallen from the pickup she was driving.
Before she could return to her car, she was hit by a Dodge Charger.
The Estill Springs Police Department is still investigating the incident.

The winds of change are blowing – with the U.S. Department of Energy’s approval of the Plains and Eastern Clean Line transmission project. The cross-continental project would deliver energy generated by large wind turbines in western Oklahoma to states such as Tennessee and others in the Southeast. While the Tennessee Valley Authority has provided energy to the state for generations, John Wilson, director of research for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said this would provide another valuable source. “This wind would be very different from the wind that TVA currently has in Tennessee,” he said. “It blows year-round. It’s very reliable, particularly during winter peaks.” With the DOE’s approval of the project, it could begin construction later this year and deliver up to 4,000 megawatts of wind power to the South. The group behind the effort, Clean Line Energy Partners, now will have to reach agreements with existing energy providers involved, including TVA. The DOE’s review and approval is five years in the making. Currently, the United States utilizes a small fraction of its wind-energy potential, but that could change with this project, Wilson said. “It’s a visionary project,” he said. “It will deliver power very cheaply to the Southeast. Deals are being struck right now that are cheaper than the cost to run a natural-gas power plant, so we’re basically talking about cost savings virtually from day one compared to the cost of fuel and maintaining an existing power plant.” According to the American Wind Energy Association, wind energy powers 18 million homes in America and the industry supports 73,000 wind-related jobs in the United States. The DOE approval is online at energy.gov.

Nashville and its surrounding areas are leading the state in population growth.
According to the Tennessee State Data Center, the Nashville metropolitan statistical area, which includes Murfreesboro and Franklin, had a 2015 population of more than 1.8 million people. That’s about 28 percent of Tennessee’s total pollution of 6.6 million.
Nashville ranked 36th out of 412 metropolitan statistical areas nationally for one-year growth from 2014 to 2015. The top 10 fastest-growing counties in Tennessee were either located in or bordered the Nashville area. They were Rutherford, Williamson, Wilson, Maury, Montgomery, Sumner, Dickson, Bedford, Davidson and Smith counties.
The Tennessee State Data Center is a partner to the U.S. Census

A hit and run accident occurred recently on I-24 between mile-markers 110-111 in Coffee County. This was a two-vehicle accident with two people being injured.
In an arrest warrant, Tennessee Highway Patrolman Lazaro Serna says Thomas Eugene Roach age 41 of Mattie Lane in Summerville, SC left the scene of the accident. He was later captured by deputies with the Grundy County Sheriff’s Department at a gas station.
Roach was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and immediate notice of an accident and later charged with violation of probation. He was booked into the Coffee County Jail under a bond of $12,500 and is to be in court to answer the charges on June 14, 2016, he’ll be in court later this month on the violation charge.
No report was available on those who were injured.

A man was taken into custody Friday in connection with two separate thefts that occurred at a Bedford County construction site.
Investigators with the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office arrested David Wilson, 34, of Shelbyville, for the thefts from the site on Sims Road in March.
Several thousand dollars worth of stolen equipment were recovered during the investigation.
The Marshall County Sheriff’s Office and Lewisburg Police Department assisted in recovering the stolen property.
Wilson was charged with burglary and two counts of theft over $1,000. His bond was set at $40,000 and he is scheduled to appear in court April 20.