News 2012

The late frost, hot weather and lack of moisture have delayed the opening of the Cannon County Farmer’s Market. For those looking for locally grown farm fresh vegetables, this Saturday, June 2nd and Tuesday’s, June 5th is the start of the 2012 season.Carmen and Jerry Smithson and Ben Olson will be available this Saturday beginning 7:00 A.M., items that you can find this coming Saturday are; lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, squash, scallions, turnips, beets, leafy greens (turnip, collard, mustard), herbs, zucchini squash and an assortment of other squash. The market is just beginning, so each week you will be able to find a broader selection of fresh fruits and vegetables.
On Tuesday, Darrell Bussell will be on the market with his locally grown, farm fresh-vine ripened tomatoes, assortment of squash, cucumber (pickling, burpless, English and slicing) and hopefully a few banana peppers. The market will be open from 3:00 P.M. until 6 P.M. on Tuesday afternoon.
The Cannon County Farmers Market is located at the Cannon County Arts Center every Saturday beginning at 7:00 A.M. Our producers are proud to offer locally grown farm fresh produce.
Most Saturdays the market is open until noon or until the farm fresh fruits and vegetables have been sold. Best way to get the best selection is to come early! If you need more information concerning the Cannon County Farmers Market, contact Bruce Steelman at the Cannon County Extension Office (563-2554).

The Gassaway Homecoming event has been going for 20 years strong.  Saturday’s activities get started at 6:00 with a country ham breakfast.  The homecoming games will get underway starting at 9.  Musical entertainment gets underway with the Shilo Group at 10:30 then Patsy and Nick Nokes at 11 this morning.  Danny and Jimmy Haley will be onstage at 11:30.  Shianne Ashford will sing starting at 12:05 and Lexi Wiggs will perform at 12:15.  The Gassaway Parade will begin at 1:00 and musical entertainment will return at 2:00 in the afternoon with Lorianna Monterra, 2:30 will be Paul Marcil and John Blankenship will perform at 3:35.  Vicky Kayla and Karen will entertain the crowd at 4:00 with Billy Moulder and Malachi following at 4:30.  The Nokes Boys will be onstage from 5:30-6:30, Gilley Boys from 6:30 to 7:30 and 61 Seconds will end the entertainment Saturday night beginning at 7:30.  There will be a drawing for a ham at 12:00 and a rocking chair at 3:30 Some of the entertainment will be broadcast Saturday afternoon starting with the parade at 1:00 and going till 5:00 on AM 1540 FM 96.7 WBRY
 

Cannon County Election Commissioner Louise Mayo has come under fire from the Cannon County Administrator of Elections Stan Dobson and fellow Commissioner Matt Studd regarding her votes and positions on some issues.  Commissioner Studd and Administrator Of Elections Dobson along with State Senator Mae Beavers went as far as to ask the Tennessee Election Commission during their April meeting to remove Mayo from the local Board.  After State Election Commissioner Kent Younce received complaints of the matter, he brought them before the state commission.  Ms. Mayo, like Commissioner Studd is a Republican as is Chairman Lindbergh Dennis.  Democratic party members of the Commission are Sue Patrick and Jackie Gannon.  In an email to Mr. Younce Dobson who believes that the issue with Commissioner Mayo may be providing a hostile work environment wrote that quote at our last several meetings. Ms Mayo has been following in the footsteps of the Democratic members of the election commission.  She is voting with these members on everything they are wanting or doing.  Commissioner Studd cited specific issues and suggested that Commissioner Mayo should be questioned regarding her votes and positions. A motion was made and approved at the State Election Commission meeting that there will be a letter sent from the State Election Commission to the Administrator of Elections for Cannon County with a carbon copy sent to Senator Beavers, advising the Administrator if he believes the work environment is a hostile environment he needs to make a complaint to the local human resources office.  Since Cannon County does not have such an office, Dobson is looking into other options

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), administered by the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency (UCHRA) in 24 middle Tennessee counties, reimburses participating day care home providers all or part of the costs of providing healthy, nutritious meals and snacks to children in their care. The level of reimbursement depends upon certain economic criteria. The CACFP, sponsored statewide by the Tennessee Department of Human Services and funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, serves both to encourage private day care homes to become licensed and to ensure that children enrolled in private day care homes receive nutritious meals and snacks. 
Provider training for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) has been scheduled for the following dates and locations:
 

Tuesday night, May 29, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency (UCHRA) Central Office, 580 South Jefferson Avenue, Suite B, Cookeville, TN. For directions call 931-528-1127.

Friday night, June 1, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at the Comfort Inn & Suites, 3001 Highwood Blvd., Smyrna, TN. For directions call 615-625-9000.

Saturday morning, June 2, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. at the Comfort Inn & Suites, 3001 Highwood Blvd., Smyrna, TN. For directions call 615-625-9000.

Monday night, June 4, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at the Tennessee Technology Center, 1405 Madison Street, Shelbyville, TN. For directions call 931-685-5013.

Thursday night, June 7, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at the Smith County UCHRA Office, 120 Pauline Gore Way, Carthage, TN. For directions call 615-735-0476.

Friday night, June 8, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency (UCHRA) Central Office, 580 South Jefferson Avenue, Suite B, Cookeville, TN. For directions call 931-528-1127.

Saturday morning, June 9, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. at the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency (UCHRA) Central Office, 580 South Jefferson Avenue, Suite B, Cookeville, TN. For directions call 931-528-1127.

 
Day care providers interested in learning more about or enrolling in the CACFP are encouraged to attend one of the meetings. Current CACFP providers sponsored by UCHRA are required to attend one of the meetings in order to enroll for the coming year.
 

West Side School would like to announce their Top 10 from the 8th grade class of 2012. 

Autumn King

Kyle Margarito

Kelsie Smith

Kody Margarito

Sydney Elrod

Brady Page

Rafael Lopez

Ally Parton

Tristan Choate

Haleigh Jakes

Cannon County’s FSA will be consolidated with the Dekalb County FSA office as the U.S. Department Of Agriculture (USDA announced today its decision on Farm Service Agency (FSA) county office consolidations proposed in January as part of USDA’s Blueprint for Stronger Service.  
In total, FSA will consolidate 125 of the 131 offices originally proposed for consolidation with other USDA service centers, consistent with provisions of the 2008 Farm Bill.
 
Under the Blueprint for Stronger Service, USDA is modernizing and accelerating service delivery while improving the customer experience through use of innovative technologies and business solutions. The Blueprint included USDA’s plan to close or consolidate 259 domestic offices including the FSA offices, additional facilities and labs, and seven foreign offices.
USDA followed statutory requirements provided by Congress in the 2008 Farm Bill for FSA office consolidations. Two sets of criteria were used to identify FSA offices for consolidation. First, USDA identified FSA offices located less than 20 miles from another FSA office that had two or fewer permanent, full-time employees. Additionally, the proposal included all FSA offices with zero permanent employees regardless of location.
Public meetings were held within 30 days of the original announcement in every county affected by the proposal. Comments gathered during this period were reviewed by the department prior to formally notifying Congress of the proposal on Feb. 27, 2012. During the following 90-day Congressional notification period, the department reviewed data used to create the proposal and public comments received during this period. During this review, USDA determined that 6 of the original 131 proposed offices did not meet the 2008 Farm Bill criteria for consolidation. As a result, they are not included in the final plan announced Wednesday.
FSA will provide farmers and ranchers affected by consolidations an opportunity to choose the most convenient neighboring county office to conduct their future business. In addition, all employees in a closing office will be provided an opportunity to continue their work with FSA.
FSA is striving to balance budget reductions, staff reductions, and increasing workloads while focusing the efforts of agency staff on continuing to provide high quality service from the remaining 2,119 office locations. The agency’s goal is to strengthen service, notwithstanding reduced budgets and fewer workers.
Since 2011, FSA has seen 1,230 permanent employees leave the agency through voluntary early separation and normal retirement that were needed due to budget reductions made by Congress. FSA has also reduced discretionary administrative expenses by more than 30 percent in the last fiscal year alone.
The six proposed county offices that will continue operating are: Lafayette County, Ark.; Boulder County, Colo.; St. Mary Parish, La.; Pamlico County, N.C.; Mayes County, Okla.; and York County, S.C.
 
For a complete list of FSA county offices affected by this decision, visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov/officeconsolidations.
The Blueprint for Stronger Service is based on a Department-wide review of operations conducted as part of the Administration’s Campaign to Cut Waste, launched by President Obama and Vice President Biden to make government work better and more efficiently for the American people. The agency took a hard look at all USDA operations, from headquarters to field offices. The result was a plan that will create optimal use of USDA’s employees, better results for USDA customers, and greater efficiencies for American taxpayers. For additional details, visit www.usda.gov/strongerservice.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Stop 9410, Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call toll-free at (866) 632-9992 (English) or (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (English Federal-relay) or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish Federal-relay).

The Cannon County Budget Committee will meet again tonight to review wish lists of the Cannon County Sheriff’s Department and the Cannon County Volunteer Fire Departments as they work toward putting together a budget to recommend to the Cannon County Commissioners in July.  The Cannon County Sheriff’s Department worked the 2011-2012 fiscal year on a $886,752.00 budget.  They are asking to increase that budget to $919,271.00.  In addition to the request for increase of salary for staff, the department is also asking for increase in the gas line item, and a small increase in maintenance and repair services of vehicles.   There are no significant increase requests for the jail department. The Cannon County Volunteer Fire Department have asked for almost double of a budget request than the actual money they received from the county last fiscal year.  Request of increases in line items of consultants communications and maintenance and repair of vehicles brought the request total to $118,270.  The Volunteer Fire Departments were alloted $59895 in the 2011-2012 fiscal year
The meeting tonight will be at 6:00 at the Cannon County Courthouse
The Cannon County Audit Committee will meet in regular session tonight beginning at 5:00 in the Courtroom of the Cannon County Courthouse.  
 

Despite recent rainfall, several reservoirs managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority are experiencing lower water levels due to below normal rain and runoff this spring and may not reach targeted summer recreation levels by June 1. TVA is working to provide the highest possible water levels to support popular recreation activities including boating, fishing and swimming all across the Tennessee Valley.  TVA officials say that boaters and those using jet skis should pay attention as there are some trees still perturbing out of the lake in some areas. Tims Ford and Center Hill reservoirs are six feet below the normal level for this time of the year. The U.S. Drought Monitor states that the areas around Shelbyville, Winchester, Tullahoma and Manchester are having their driest period ever on record. The first 28 days of May have been the tenth driest on record. Runoff is 17 percent of normal and the lowest recorded for the area.  

On June 2-3, 2012, Stones River National Battlefield will present a series of programs that highlight how a significant event like the Battle of
Stones River can be perceived in many different ways. The Battle of Stones
River was one of the most important battles of the Civil War. The Union
victory bolstered Northern morale and set the stage for decisive military
campaigns into the heart of the Confederacy. Soldiers and civilians had
different reactions to the battle and its outcome. During the weekend,
their stories will come together to give visitors a fuller understanding of
the how individual circumstances shape our perception of historical events.
The daily program schedule is as follows.
10 AM – Fighting for Murfreesboro – A Confederate soldier from Murfreesboro
will share his local perspective of the battle. (Includes a Musket Firing
Demonstration)
11 AM – A Battle Within a Battle – Visitors will learn of a litany of
challenges and missed opportunities that cost the Confederate artillery a
chance to play a more forceful role in the Battle of Stones River.
(Includes a Cannon Firing Demonstration)
1 PM – The Slaughter Pen – A Federal and Confederate soldier will share
their stories from one of the deadliest places on the battlefield.
(Includes a Musket Firing Demonstration)
2 PM – The Line That Wouldn`t Break – Two soldiers will talk about the
fighting along the Nashville Pike on December 31, 1862. (Includes a Cannon
Firing Demonstration)
3 PM – Breckinridge`s Charge – Listen to the stories of two soldiers who
fought in the final action of the Battle of Stones River. (Includes a
Cannon Firing Demonstration)
We invite visitors to spend time in the camp area, which will open daily at
9 AM, in between the programs were they can share a number of unique
civilian and military perspectives of the Battle of Stones River. Some of
the featured stories in camp will be:
   ·  Civilians like Mrs. Hollie McFadden, a local widow whose farm was
      nearly destroyed by the fighting,
   ·  The Signal Corps, soldiers dedicated to providing communications
      services for the Union army,
   ·  The Artificers, men who repaired and maintained the cannons even in
      the midst of the fighting,
   ·  The Quartermaster, who struggled to supply the army before, during,
      and after the fight, and
   ·  The Provost Marshal, the army’s Chief of Police.
These are just some of the unique perspectives of the Battle of Stones
River that visitors will find as they talk with the soldiers and civilians
in camp.
 These programs are part of a series of interpretive programs offered at
the battlefield during the year.  Stones River National Battlefield is
located on the Old Nashville Highway, northwest of Murfreesboro. Additional
information is available at the visitor center, by calling (615) 893-9501
or at the park website (http://www.nps.gov/stri).
 

DTC Communications the local telephone cooperative serving much of the listening area reports that one of the latest scams involves a spam or phishing email that is requesting personal DTC Customer Information such as Username, password or other information..  DTC officials want consumers to note that these messages Did not come from DTC.  They also request anyone recieiving the messages to delete the message and not reply to it.  DTC has taken steps to prevent these type messages from reaching the consumer   One factor to consider when determining whether a email from DTC is legit is that any correspondence from DTC will include a local contact phone number for you to call in case you have any questions about the content of the email.