News 2011

Just in time to usher in the holidays, the Arts Center presents Nunsense, now through December 17th There’s holiday fun the whole family can enjoy in December when The Arts Center of Cannon County presents Nunsense, a hilarious spoof about the misadventures of the Little Sisters of Hoboken, five nuns who discover their cook, Sister Julia, Child of God, has accidently poisoned 52 of the sisters and the order is in dire need of burial funds.
The sisters decide that the best way to raise the money is to put on a variety show, so they take over the school auditorium, which is currently set up for the eighth grade production of “Grease.”
Here we meet Reverend Mother Regina, a former circus performer; Sister Mary Hubert, the Mistress of Novices; a streetwise nun from Brooklyn named Sister Robert Anne; Sister Mary Leo, a novice who is a wannabe ballerina; and the delightfully wacky Sister Mary Amnesia, the nun who lost her memory when a crucifix fell on her head.
“Holiday dinner theatre shows have become annual events for many area businesses and organizations,” states Donald Fann, executive director of the Arts Center. “The number of available dates is limited and they run out quickly so we urge our patrons to make reservations early for good selection of dates and tables.”
Performance dates are tonight as well as December, 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, & 17.  Tickets are $25 per person and include dinner, drink, dessert and the show. Nunsense is sponsored by First Bank.  
 

The Cannon County Lionettes face their toughest test of the early basketball season tonight as the 6-0 team travels to Baxter to take on
Upperman in the district opener for both squads.  Coach Michael Dodgen’s
team beat Tullahoma Tuesday night while the Lady Bees suffered their first
loss of the year to Jackson County Tuesday evening to enter the matchup at
4-1, The Cannon County Lions will take the court in the second game of the
evening as both the Lions and the Upperman Bees lost their respective
games Tuesday night.  Upperman is 3-2 while Cannon is 2-3.  Coverage of
the games in Baxter will begin at 5:45 with the Coaches Corner and Tipoff
at 6 on AM 1540/FM 96.7 WBRY and streaming online at WBRY.com

December 7, 2011 is the first day that the County Election Commission may receive requests for absentee ballots to be voted by mail from armed forces personnel anywhere, their spouses, and from qualified voters temporarily staying outside the territorial limits of the United States and District of Columbia. TCA 2-6-502(c) and (d).  Also, this is the first day the County Election Commission Office may receive requests and/or applications for absentee ballots to be voted by mail by persons other than armed forces personnel, their spouses and overseas voters. TCA 2-6-202(a)  

MTEMC members will see slightly higher rates when they get their bills in December, as the Tennessee Valley Authority has increased its Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA). “The actual percentage change in members’ bills will differ depending on the amount of energy members use; however, it looks to be about a three percent increase on average,” MTEMC Communications Coordinator Todd Palmer said. “Also, bills are typically higher this time of year because of the colder weather, which increases energy usage in most people’s homes.
“Check out our Web site, www.mtemc.com, to see a list of ways to lower your electric bill in colder weather.”
The FCA will move from November’s rate of 0.446 cents per kilowatt-hour to 0.654 cents per kilowatt-hour.
The Fuel Cost Adjustment is affected monthly by the fluctuating global costs and demand of coal, natural gas, nuclear fuel and other fuels used by the Tennessee Valley Authority to produce electricity.
 

Dr. Charles “Chuck” Higgins will discuss “Juno to Jupiter” during the final MTSU First Friday Star Party of the fall semester on Friday, Dec. 2. The star party will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Wiser-Patten Science Hall Room 102. After the 30- to 45-minute lecture by Higgins and weather permitting, there will be an outdoor telescope observing for participants.
The Juno spacecraft is a NASA New Frontiers mission to the planet Jupiter. Launched Aug. 5 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Juno is on a five-year journey and expected to arrive around July 4, 2016.
It will travel about 1,740 million miles. Instruments aboard Juno will take thermal radiation measurements from within Jupiter’s atmosphere and collect other data. The mission, expected to end in October 2017, will include the spacecraft completing 33 orbits before being de-orbited and crashing into the planet.
Higgins is an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. He earned his bachelor’s in 1988 from the University of Alabama at Huntsville and his master’s (’93) and doctorate (’96) degrees from the University of Florida. He has been at MTSU since 2001 and serves as MTSU Astronomy Club adviser.
Higgins has authored and coauthored numerous professional publications and he has participated in many presentations. Along with MTSU Space Grant coordinator Mark Abolins, Higgins’ most recent research grant study has been “Analysis of Jupiter’s Radio Emission” using the Voyager, Galileo and Cassini spacecrafts as part of the Tennessee Space Grant Consortium from 2006 to present.
First Friday Star Parties are open to the general public and MTSU students, faculty and staff. Children are welcome. Free parking is available behind Wiser-Patten beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Star Party Fridays only.
For more information, call Drs. Eric Klumpe at 615-898-2483 or Higgins at 615-898-5946. For general information and a downloadable PDF of the fall 2011 schedule, visit http://bit.ly/MTStarParties11 or call 615-898-2130.

Santa leads the way this Saturday in Woodbury as the annual Woodbury Lions Club Parade will get underway at 12 noon.  The Lions Club have made a few
changes to the parade as all parade entries will be asked to pre-register
and get an entry number.  There is no entry fee for participating in the
parade.  Entry forms are available at either the Head Start Office or the
University Of Tennessee Extension Office for more information please call
the Extension office at 563-2554 or log into our community calendar
section of the website at wbry.com

A reminder The Cannon County 4-H Public Speaking Contest will be held on Tuesday, December 6th at West Side Elementary School with registration
beginning at 6 and the contest beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Everyone who participated in the local (or classroom) contest is invited
to compete in the county public speaking contest.
Please remember that rules, suggestions, and tips are located on page 12
of the 4-H yearbook.
For more information, please give the 4-H office a call at 563-2554.

James Courtney Nichols of Woodbury, Tenn. is one of only six individuals nationwide who received the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) Outstanding Teacher Award on Nov. 16, 2011, at the NAAE annual convention in St. Louis.Nichols has been the agriculture teacher at Cannon County High School (CCHS) for six years. During those six years, the school district felt it would be a good idea to create a new curriculum based on horticulture, to open students’ and the community’s mind about all the diverse opportunities that agriculture has to offer. Previously, the only courses that CCHS offered were Agriculture I, II, III, IV and Agricultural Mechanics. In order to create a new curriculum there also had to be a place to teach these new concepts, so the district funded the building of a 1,800 square foot greenhouse. During the first year of the horticulture curriculum’s launch, the CCHS agriculture program saw an increase in student participation from 140 students to 289, and even better, the students produced a successful crop. This high level of success in such a short period of time encouraged members of the school district to take a closer look at the infinite potential that this program truly has. CCHS is now building 1,200 square foot hydroponic greenhouse, and a small tract of land has been allocated for the development of fruit trees and nursery stock.
“I teach my students in an environment in which they will be engaging in almost daily hands-on activities . The students can and will learn by doing; by practicing what they have learned due to these hands-on activities,” said Nichols.
Each of the six regional Outstanding Teacher Award winners received a plaque, expense paid trip to attend the NAAE convention in St Louis and a two-year lease on a 2011 Toyota Tundra. Toyota sponsors the Outstanding Agricultural Education Teacher Award. NAAE is the professional association for agricultural educators. Its mission is “professionals providing agricultural education for the global community through visionary leadership, advocacy and service.” The NAAE office is located in Lexington, Ky.

Third quarters made a difference in the Lions and Lionettes basketball games at Robert A Harris Gymnasium against the Tullahoma Wildcats teams. 
In the giirls game the Lionettes forced 36 turnovers putting some distance
between themselves and the Lady Cats en route to a 67-36 win.  Abbey
Sissom nailed 3 3 point shots and scored a team high 23 points in the win.
The Lions hung around the favored Tullahoma Boys team for a half going
into the locker room tied at 21 but second half turnovers and key missed
shots in the third quarter allowed the Wildcats to coast to a 60-39 win.
Lionettes record is now 6 and 0 while the Lions fall overall at 2-4.  The
teams will hit the road Friday traveling to Baxter and Upperman High
School for the first district contests of the season. 

The voter registration process will change starting with the 2012 election. Citizens in the State of Tennessee will have to show
government-issued photo identification in order to cast a ballot at the
polls.
The Upper Cumberland Rural Public Transit System is designed to benefit
the entire community. We provide vital transportation for Upper Cumberland
residents of all ages linking them to doctors, employment, grocery stores,
senior citizen centers, schools and much more.
The Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency (UCHRA) can provide
transportation service to the Drivers Service Centers to voters who
otherwise would not have transportation.
Voters in Cannon County may call their local UCHRA county office at (615)
563-2916 for more information about scheduling a trip and trip fares that
apply.
For information about the Upper Cumberland Rural Public Transit System,
visit www.uchra.com/transit .