http://www.wbry.com/localnews Add news stories here en http://www.wbry.com/node/1414 Owners, trainers and fans of walking horses will be in Woodbury today. The Woodbury Lions Club members and many volunteers will be working today to conduct the annual fund raiser. The afternoon sessions will begin at 3:00pm, the evening sessions are scheduled for 6:30pm. All classes will be held in the Clayton Glenn Field of Champions on the fairgrounds. Normal programming on WBRY will end just prior to 3:00pm because of the horse show. In an effort to reach all participants of the horse show, the announcements from center ring of the show will air on 1540 WBRY. The fairgrounds do not have a public address system which covers all of the grounds. In order to keep all of the participants informed, Cannon County’s Radio Station will serve as the public address system for the event. For persons attending who do not have box seats it is suggested that you bring a lawn chair to enjoy the show. News Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:43:43 -0500 dcombs 1414 at http://www.wbry.com http://www.wbry.com/node/1412 The new Tennessee boating registration fees are effective as of July 1, 2008, marking the first increase since 1998, according to Ed Carter, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Boating Chief. Boats 16 feet or less in length will increase $3 to $13 for one year. Boats more than 16 feet to less than 26 feet cost will increase $5 to $25. While the fee increase becomes effective July 1, boats will not see the increase until their current registration expires. At the owner’s discretion, boats in Tennessee may be registered for one to three years. The increase in the registration fees in these categories and other categories of boats represent the increase in the Consumer Price Index since 1998. Additionally, boats must have a validation decal that must be affixed to the vessel on each side of the vessel immediately preceding or following the Tennessee identification number. Vessels with a valid document issued by the United States Coast Guard are not required to display a certificate of number but will display a current validation decal issued by TWRA. News Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:10:02 -0500 dcombs 1412 at http://www.wbry.com http://www.wbry.com/node/1413 A homeowner is breathing a sigh of relief after the arrest of a local man who allegedly broke into his house. Ethan Taylor, age 18 of Kennedy Creek Road in Auburntown, was arrested by Cannon County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Tom Hall after he allegedly broke into a home and hit the owner in the head with a baseball bat. According to court documents, Taylor forced his way into the home and then began attacking the resident. Taylor then got a baseball bat and threw it at the homeowner, striking him in the head. In the process, Taylor reportedly caused over $800.00 in damage to the residence. Deputies quickly arrived on the scene and arrested Taylor for vandalism over $500.00, aggravated burglary, aggravated assault and aggravated criminal trespass. He was taken to the jail without incident. Taylor is currently free on $20,000.00 bond. He will appear before General Sessions Court Judge Susan Melton on August 12, 2008. The victim was not seriously injured during the incident. News Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:34:39 -0500 dcombs 1413 at http://www.wbry.com http://www.wbry.com/node/1409 State Fire Marshal Leslie A. Newman wants to remind Tennesseans that while fireworks are a traditional part of Fourth of July celebrations, many people are seriously injured each year by their careless use. The State Fire Marshal’s Office encourages you to leave fireworks to the professionals. If they are legal where you live and you decide to set them off on your own, be sure to follow these important safety tips: • Never allow children to play with or ignite fireworks. • Read and follow all warnings and instructions. • Be sure other people are out of range before lighting fireworks. • Only light fireworks on a smooth, flat surface away from the house, dry leaves, and flammable materials. • Never try to relight fireworks that have not fully functioned. • Keep a bucket of water and a garden hose nearby in case of a malfunction or fire. Like matches and lighters, sparklers are not toys and cause hundreds of injuries every year. Sparklers burn hot, can reach temperatures as high as 1200 F, and stay hot long after they’ve burned out. You wouldn’t hand a matchbook or lighter to a child to wave around or play with, so don’t give a child a sparkler. Fireworks can be dangerous, causing serious burn and eye injuries. A new law effective in 2007 prevents children under the age of 16 from purchasing fireworks and those that are age 16 or 17 must have a photo ID to purchase them. “Please enjoy the holiday at a public display presented by trained professionals, where compliance with state-of-the-art fire codes offers a safer way to celebrate our nation’s independence, and avoid consumer fireworks to keep festivities from turning into tragedies,” Newman said. For more information on firework safety, visit www.tennessee.gov/sfm. News Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:23:57 -0500 dcombs 1409 at http://www.wbry.com http://www.wbry.com/node/1410 Alcohol is often a part of July 4th celebrations. Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper reminds parents, friends, older relatives and other "social sources" it's illegal to provide alcohol to minors. The legal drinking age is 21. Providing alcohol to minors is against the law and is punishable by a fine of up to 25-hundred-dollars and jail time. The Federal Trade Commission's "We Don't Serve Teens" awareness campaign focuses on social sources that provide alcohol to teenagers. Cooper says the message to neighbors, relatives and friends is simple. Don't serve teens. It's unsafe. It's illegal. It's irresponsible. Still, 65-percent of drinkers ages ten to 18-years-old say they get alcohol from family and friends. In 2005, underage drinking cost Tennessee one-point-four-billion-dollars. News Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:51:24 -0500 dcombs 1410 at http://www.wbry.com http://www.wbry.com/node/1407 Cannon County property tax payers will be able to breathe a sigh of relief if the County Commission’s budget committee’s recommended 2008-2009 operating budget passes later this month. Committee members met for their eleventh and last meeting on Tuesday to finalize their recommendation. The group voted unanimously to propose that the current tax rate not change next year. Some of the highlights of the budget include: a 3 percent pay raise for all county employees, increased funds to cover insurance payments, increased funds to cover gasoline and fuel costs, increased funds to cover utility costs, increased funds to provide more equipment for the county fire departments, and increased funds for vehicle purchases at the sheriff’s department This year, Cannon County will absorb increased expenditures by taking money from its fund balance. Members stressed that using the fund balance to cover increased expenditures was not something that the County should do every year but, considering the hard financial times most families find themselves in this year, it is appropriate. Members reached a funding decision after being encouraged by a slightly higher than usual fund balance. Even though members are using roughly $200,000.00 of the fund balance, they believe this amount will be reduced as the fiscal year progresses based on the fact that each county department may not spend all of their budgeted funds. County Executive Mike Gannon told members that county officials and department heads should be commended for saving money wherever possible and, in most cases, turning money back into the County at the end of the fiscal year. Gannon said, if this continues, the impact of taking money from the fund balance will be minimal. Members also learned during the meeting that Sheriff Billy Nichols turned over $100,000.00 in unused funds back into the County, which helped raise the fund balance. Of Cannon County’s $2.32 cent property tax rate, .85 cents goes to the Board of Education, $1.29 goes to the County General Fund, .14 cents goes into debt services and .4 cents goes to solid waste. Members also noted that each fund will already receive a slight increase without taxes being raised due to the fact that a penny of tax money brings in roughly $400.00 more this year than last year. Now that the Committee has finished its work, the full Commission will consider the proposal. Each member will be given a copy of the entire budget to study prior to the Commission’s July 19th meeting. If the budget passes, it will mean that all property tax payers in Cannon County will get a year off from a tax increase as the Town of Woodbury voted earlier this year not to raise property taxes either. News Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:57:04 -0500 dcombs 1407 at http://www.wbry.com http://www.wbry.com/node/1408 Telecommunications giant AT&T could begin statewide deployment of cable television and broadband services as early as August 15th. That's the deadline for the Tennessee Regulatory Authority to review and process their application for a statewide franchise license. TRA Director Eddie Roberson says staff has 15 days to review AT&T's application and make sure it's in order. From there, the agency has 45 days from the date of filing to issue the statewide franchise certificate. Under the law, AT&T will have two years to begin deploying service. Within three-and-a-half years, the company must offer service to 30-percent of the franchise area listed on its application. Twenty-five percent of those households must be deemed low income as defined in the law. News Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:17:23 -0500 dcombs 1408 at http://www.wbry.com http://www.wbry.com/node/1401 Local law enforcement agencies across the state will launch a high visibility enforcement mobilization along US Highway 70 (State Route 1) on July 3rd proceeding the holiday weekend. This is the largest concentration of enforcement ever given to a single highway in Tennessee. US 70 runs from the Tennessee/North Carolina border to the state line of Mississippi in Memphis. The roadway is one of only two state routes that run the entire length of the state and most of it is rural. “Rural fatalities in Tennessee have increased in recent years and we are committed to getting those stats down,” stated Kendell Poole, Director of the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office (GHSO). “70 percent of all total traffic fatalities occur in the rural areas.” The disparity between rural and urban fatalities is obvious if you compare the US 70/SR 1 counties of Putnam and Shelby. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported the 2006 fatality rate per 100,000 population in Shelby County as 13.28 percent while it was 39.54 percent in Putnam County. In addition, the last report of overall economic impact of motor vehicle crashes in Tennessee was 4.628 billion dollars. Rural taxpayers should ask themselves who is paying the larger portion of the expense. GHSO Liaison Clint Shrum said, “The focus of Safe 70 is aggressive and impaired drivers. This event is for the sole purpose of saving lives and not about how many tickets these agencies can write.” Locally the Woodbury Police Department and the Cannon County Sheriff’s Department will participate. The enforcement will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 3, 2008 and run for 12 hours. Safe 70 kicks off the state impaired driving mobilization that runs through July 12th. News Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:51:09 -0500 dcombs 1401 at http://www.wbry.com http://www.wbry.com/node/1402 Judge Susan Melton presided over Cannon County General Sessions Court on Tuesday. Some of the results from the various cases which appeared on the docket included: Larry McMahon pled guilty to the charge of assault. He was sentenced to 11 months, 29 days in the county jail. That sentence was partially suspended upon an equal amount of time on supervised probation, serving 47 days in jail, paying the court costs and staying away from the victim. Amanda Brummitt’s application for a suspended sentence was denied by Judge Melton. Antonio Drew pled guilty to the charge of violation of probation. His probation was extended and he was ordered to serve 40 days in jail. He was also ordered to pay the court costs. News Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:56:00 -0500 dcombs 1402 at http://www.wbry.com http://www.wbry.com/node/1403 Tennessee's Congressional delegation is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to help the state's tomato farmers. They're asking the agency to "quickly determine" the source of the recent salmonella outbreak and effectively eliminate the contaminated tomatoes from the food supply without hurting the producers whose products are still safe. The Tennessee Department of Health confirmed six cases of salmonella related to contaminated tomatoes. However, none of them were grown in Tennessee. Tomatoes grown in the Volunteer State were never subject to the federal produce recall. Still, the state's elected officials fear that the negative publicity surrounding tomatoes is hurting the state's growers. They want the FDA to clearly state that Tennessee-grown tomatoes are safe to eat. News Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:04:48 -0500 dcombs 1403 at http://www.wbry.com