Area law enforcement continues to receive tips about IRS imposters threatening arrests, lawsuits, and property seizures unless the victim pays up. Law enforcement says they’re investigating alongside several other law enforcement agencies across the United States. Police say these calls are not coming from the IRS. The department will never demand payment over the telephone. Typical IRS communication comes in the form of U.S. Mail. If you receive a phone call that you suspect is a tax scam, hang up and report it to the US Treasury, Office of Inspector General at 1-800-366-4484. To help avoid becoming the victim...

The 24th annual Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is on Saturday, May 14. 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 their regular mail pick-up on Saturday, May 14, 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...

According to the State Comptroller Justin Wilson, Tennessee high school students ranked below the national rate for being both physically active and attending physical education class based on a 2013 national survey of high school students’ health-related behaviors. Approximately 25 percent of Tennessee high school students indicated they were physically active for one hour per day; the national rate was 27.1 percent. The national rate for high school students who attended physical education class at least once per week was 48 percent; Tennessee’s rate was 40.1 percent. The comptroller also explains the differences between physical activity and physical education....

Jacquelin Gayla Sims age 44 of Trussell Road Monteagle was arrested by Manchester Officer Dustan Foster at the Goodwill Store in Manchester on Tuesday. According to the arrest warrant, Sims appeared to be in an intoxicated condition and was unsteady of her feet falling over the store displays. Allegedly the woman put on a shirt and left the store without paying for it. The shirt was valued at $4.92. The arrest warrant goes on to say that after being arrested Sims gave Officer Foster permission to look inside her purse. The officer says that he found a bag with...

Tennessee general fund tax collections are beating projections by nearly $700 million through the first nine months of the budget year. The Legislature adjourned last month without taking most of the surplus tax collections into account, meaning that the bulk of the money will not be appropriated until lawmakers return into session next year. Collections in April exceeded estimates by $166 million on the strength of an 8.5 percent increase in sales tax collections compared with the same month last year. Corporate taxes came in at $82 million more than expected. The state’s Hall tax on income from stocks...

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and experts are reminding Tennesseans about the importance of checking in on the psychological health of themselves and their loved ones. One in five adults experiences some form of mental illness in a given year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). While Tennessee has made some progress in treatment availability, Dr. Todd Peters, inpatient medical director at Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital, says making mental health care equally accessible is still an area that merits more focus. “I still think we have some work that can be done, as far as allowing...

A new bill passed in the Tennessee General Assembly gives disabled veterans a property tax break. The Tennessee Senate passed a new bill and, if signed into law by Gov. Bill Haslam, disabled veteran homeowners will receive a break when it’s time to pay the tax bill. The new bill will remove the annual income limit for property tax relief for disabled veterans.  Financial experts say the bill removes the income limitation for disabled veterans because prior to the new bill, if disabled veterans made over a certain amount, they were not able to get the property tax...