Category: News

Traffic along Interstate 24 East bound was brought to a halt for a while Monday afternoon near mile marker 133 in Grundy County.
According reports, the accident which occurred around 3:30 p.m.
Two vehicles traveling in the westbound lane collided. One vehicle then struck a tractor trailer and the other rolled across the median and struck oncoming vehicles.
Meanwhile, debris from the truck struck other vehicles as well.
According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, because of the debris from the tractor trailer and other debris, traffic along the Interstate was brought to a halt for about three and half hours.
Three individuals were transported to Erlanger Medical Center for treatment in Chattanooga. A 4th person was treated and released from Emerald Hodgson Hospital in Sewanee.
Trooper Harrison Fisher is continuing to investigate the accident.

A student is in custody after a gun was found at Warren County High School, prompting a lockdown Wednesday morning.
The lockdown was initiated around 10:30 a.m. after two students reported that a classmate had a gun at the school located in McMinnville.
Authorities said an SRO received information of a possible threat. The student behind the alleged threat was questioned.
Authorities located a box that contained a handgun inside.
The lockdown was lifted around Noon. No injuries were reported.

More than 800 students have already signed up for the Tennessee Promise in less than a week since enrollment opened.
The Tennessee Promise was signed into law in May and gives the opportunity for every graduating senior in Tennessee to attend community or technical college for free.
Since enrollment opened last Friday, an average of 200 applications a day have been turned in.
The Tennessee Promise will not be paid for by taxpayer dollars. It will be funded through an endowment set up using money from the Tennessee Lottery. It will be a scholarship that can be used at any of the state’s 13 community colleges, 27 colleges of applied technology or other eligible institution offering an associate’s degree program.
Applications are due Nov. 1st.
Dr Mary Lou Apple from Motlow College will be live on WMSR Monday morning at 8:30am to talk more about this program.

Bullying is no longer a behavior that happens mostly on the playground or the school bus. Social media is providing online channels for negative interactions between children, with more than half of teens reporting they have witnessed online bullying. Experts such as Peggy Caruso, a life coach and author of the book “Revolutionize Your Child’s Life,” say the best way adults can help their children is to be aware of the potential sources of bullying. “To understand and prevent negative influences,” she said, “I think the biggest thing is understanding the types of bullying, the signs that you look for.” She said those signs include a child who seems withdrawn, lacks the desire to interact with others or exhibits extreme changes in behavior. In addition to increased technology providing other outlets for bullies, Caruso said it also has decreased traditional communication between children, such as talking and problem-solving face to face. “One of the issues with technology and social media and whatnot is the loss of communication,” she said. “So, I also teach them how to mastermind together, brainstorm with other children and just try to bring back some things that are lost.” To deter negative online interactions, she urged advising your child to resist the temptation to respond to the bully, don’t retaliate, save any evidence and use online privacy tools and settings to block the bully. Data on cyber-bullying is online at pewinternet.org.

Hospital operator Community Health Systems said a cyber-attack took information on more than 4 million patients from its computer network earlier this year.
The Franklin, TN company — owner of Heritage Medical Center in Shelbyville and Harton Regional Medical Center in Tullahoma — said Monday that no medical or credit card records were taken in the attack, which may have happened in April and June. Russ Spray Administrator of Harton stated that the attack did bypass its security systems to take patient names, addresses, birthdates, and phone and Social Security numbers.
The hospital operator said it believes the attack came from a group in China that used sophisticated malware and technology to get the information. Community Health has since removed the malware from its system and finalized “other remediation efforts” to prevent future attacks.
The information that was taken came from patients who were referred to or received care from doctors tied to the company over the past five years.
Community Health Systems operate a total of 19 hospitals in Tennessee.

Gas prices continued to slide last week. Motorists are finding gasoline at or below $3.20 in metro markets like Columbus, Chattanooga, Memphis, Orlando and Tampa.
“Motorists are reaping the benefits of booming domestic oil production which has provided the cheapest gas prices for August in years,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “The price of oil declined slightly last week, so gas prices could slip even more this week.”
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and the situation in Libya also remain front of mind for many, although none of these occurrences have resulted in a disruption to oil supply. Ultimately, despite these geopolitical headlines and because of increased domestic production, oil prices continue to trade near multi-month lows. The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) settled at $97.35 per barrel at the close of formal trading Friday, which is 30 cents lower than the week before.
Tennessee’s average price is down to $3.21 per gallon and in Coffee County the price in Manchester has dipped to as low as $3.12 and in the Tullahoma the low price per gallon is $3.13.

This week, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation officially launched a new outreach to raise awareness of human trafficking in Tennessee.
The campaign, titled “IT Has To Stop,” hopes to increase awareness of human trafficking in Tennessee and beyond. The centerpiece of the campaign, ITHasToStop.com, features information, current research and statistics, video, important contacts, and links for visitors to join nonprofits and other groups in the efforts to curb trafficking in Tennessee. Visitors can also connect with the campaign on designated Facebook and Twitter accounts.
“Human trafficking is modern-day slavery, it’s unacceptable, and it’s a crime in Tennessee,” said TBI Director Mark Gwyn. “We hope TBI’s new public awareness campaign sheds some much-needed light on the issue, so we can increase the number of people who insist it has to stop in our state and beyond.”
Research by The Polaris Project, a national leader in the fight against human trafficking, indicates it to be one of the fastest-growing criminal enterprises in the United States. The U.S. Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimate the number of children bought and sold in the country for the purpose of sexual exploitation to number at least 100,000. The average age of a trafficking victim is 13.
For more information on the program go to www.ITHasToStop.com.