News 2016

The Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development (TDLWD) reported Friday almost 200,000 jobs were posted on the Jobs4TN.gov website in April 2016.  That marks a record number of job opportunities employers across the state have advertised on the site.
“As the unemployment rate in Tennessee declines, we continue to see job postings go up.  Employers need workers and the Jobs4TN site is the best source for jobseekers to find jobs,” said TDLWD Commissioner Burns Phillips.
Middle Tennessee recorded 96,503 openings, almost half the total job openings for the state.  West Tennessee had just over 60,000 openings and East Tennessee reported 42,000 job openings.
The occupations represented by these openings include health care related, computer and mathematical occupations, management positions, sales jobs, transportation occupations, business and finance, food preparation and serving jobs, personal care, building/grounds cleaning and maintenance jobs.  There are a variety of job openings across the state, representing a wide range of educational and skill level requirements

9am Miranda Leanne Ashford
10am Megan Leighnette Dreatcher
11am Joseph Gleaves
1pm Brooklyn Rehea Gunter
2pm Steven Bailey Hale
 

Volunteer Emergency Responders from the Cannon County Rescue Squad, Inc. and Volunteer Firefighters from the Cannon County Fire Department visited local schools this week in an effort to promote public safety and fire prevention.  “As part on an ongoing effort to improve the services of the Rescue Squad and Fire Departments, the United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties has worked to help us enhance our community outreach programs,” said Tim Bell, Cannon County Rescue Squad Chief Operating Officer.
 
The Rescue Squad received grant funding from the United Way in 2015 to promote fire prevention and safety.  This funding supported the 1st Annual Cannon County Public Safety Day in April.  Rescue Squad Volunteers are working with other emergency service agencies in Cannon County to actively promote home fire prevention and to raise awareness of the need for personal safety in our communities.
 
“The Cannon County Public Safety Program aligns directly with one of United Way’s focus areas: safe home and community.  Good health is both a community responsibility and a community benefit,” said Clair Oliver, Director of Marketing and Communications for United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties.  “The United Way supports programs, such as Project Rescue, working to create a positive environment and strong foundation for healthy lives in Rutherford and Cannon counties.”
 
“We are ready to respond twenty-four hours a day to help the citizens of Cannon County,” said Michael Underhill, Cannon County Fire Chief.  “We need citizens to help us by and installing fire extinguishers and smoke detectors in their homes.”  The State of Tennessee has a program to help citizens install smoke detectors in their homes.  A Cannon County citizen need only to contact us for help if they can’t afford a smoke detector.
 
The Rescue Squad is working with the Tennessee Department of Transportation to promote the Tennessee Yellow DOT Program.  TN Yellow DOT is a state wide program that provides vital healthcare information to first responders when someone is involved in a motor vehicle collision. 
 
For more information about home fire prevention please contact Chief Underhill at 615-904-5002.  For more information about the Tennessee Yellow DOT Program contact Tim Bell at 615-849-2730 or by email at tbell@cannoncountyrescue.com

The Woodbury Police Department reports the following arrests recently:
Zachary Barrett-False Identity
Bronson Barrett-DUI
Ethan Sargent-Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Evading Arrest
Jennifer Bennett-Possession of Schedule 2 Meth, Theft of Property Under $500
Jammie Eugene Parker-Possession Of Drug Paraphernalia, Public Intoxication
Andrea Michelle Davenport-Possession of Schedule 2 Drugs
and Dana Jean Stadleman Simple Assault
 

On Monday, May 16, 2016, Short Mountain Elementary School held its first annual Safety Day.  Several state, county, civic agencies and individuals were on hand to help educate students on how to be safe and protect our environment.  Second grade teacher, Amanda Francis, organized the event and was helped by all staff members at the school.  Students moved throughout multiple stations throughout the day, asking questions and participating in activities.   The highlight of the day was a visit from Smokey the Bear.  Mr. Robert Pitts is to be commended for bringing this fun and educational day to his school.  Special thanks to the following individuals and agencies that helped to make this day a success:
 
 
Cannon County EMS- Jason Barrett and Greta Stone
Cannon County Schools Transportation- Bus Safety- Lisa Black and Felicia Coppinger
Cannon County Sherriff Department – Sherriff Darrell Young, Tommy Barker SRO, Drew Colwell, Anthony Young, 
Hand washing Demonstration-Mandy Gay
Middle Tennessee Electric – Bo Asbury & Chad Hale
Middle Tennessee Natural Gas- Chris Swoape
Tennessee Forestry Department– Cory Ashford, Joe Bryson, Lisa Goodmaster, and Smokey the Bear
Tennessee Highway Patrol- Trooper Roger White
Tennessee Wildlife and Resource Agency (TWRA) Tabitha & Dan Lavacot, Glen Rogers
Tractor Safety- Heath Nokes
Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue – Kevin Kanagy, Will Daniel, Sebastian Novoa, and Clint Cook
 
 

May 23-27—Bus Inspection week
May 25—WBRY Spotlight—Bonnie Patterson, Supervisor of Coordinated School Health and Attendance
May 26—Teacher Work Day—no students
May 27—Report Cards, 7:45 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
May 27—CCHS Graduation, 7:00 p.m., CCHS Football Field
                 Graduation practice for graduating seniors, 9:00 a.m.
 
May 30—All Schools and the Central Office will be closed for Memorial Day
May 31—School System mowing bids are due to the Central Office by 10:00 a.m.
                 Principals’/Supervisors’ meeting at the Central Office, 8:30 a.m.
 

Motlow State Community College recently held its annual student recognition ceremony inside Nisbett Center on the Moore County campus. Students were honored for academic excellence during the 2015-2016 academic year. Cannon County student Taylor Warren received an award in Natural Science for Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.

Tennessee Labor & Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips announced Thursday  the Tennessee preliminary unemployment rate for April was 4.3 percent, two-tenths of a percentage point decrease from the March revised rate of 4.5 percent. The U.S. preliminary rate for April was 5.0 percent, remaining unchanged from the previous month.

Economic Summary

• Over the past year, Tennessee’s unemployment rate decreased from 5.9 percent to 4.3 percent while the national rate declined from 5.4 percent to 5.0 percent.
• Total nonfarm employment increased 1,300 jobs from March to April. The largest increases occurred in professional/business services, wholesale trade, & leisure/hospitality.
• Over the year, nonfarm employment increased 83,800 jobs. The largest increases occurred in trade/transportation/utilities, education/health services, & professional/business services.

If your children grew up in the church, there is a good chance they knew the youth choir song “I’m Adopted.” The lyrics echo a promise found in Ephesians 1:5 and repeated throughout the Scriptures: “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.”

For my family, however, the title of that song rings doubly true.
I am one of many Christian women who have experienced the pain of divorce. My first husband grappled with alcoholism and left me when I was pregnant with our youngest daughter. The result was a season of life spent as a single parent, working the morning shift as a nurse at our local hospital and the night shift as a mother of three.
In the time that followed, I met the man who would become my husband: Dave Black. What began as a friendship (and a recurring babysitting role) grew into a romance. When he asked me to marry him, I knew that I had found the godly partner and role-model for my children that was missing from my first relationship.
Every blended family must decide how to navigate the challenges of their new life together in a way that works for them, but Dave and I felt strongly that we needed to draw a circle around our family by having him legally adopt my children as his own.
My three kids took his last name and, to this day, there has never been any doubt that he is their dad. What Dave and my children lack in shared genes, they more than make up for in shared love—the kind that can only exist between a parent and their child.
Many adoptive parents’ journeys culminate in a courtroom moment, but Dave’s came in the form of a notice in the mail from the Department of Children’s Services. When we got the letter officially declaring us a family, I was reminded of Scripture’s teaching that we are adopted into the family of God. I was also reminded of the children who are still waiting on an earthly adoption of their own.

My kids faced some challenging years before Dave entered our lives, but their experience cannot truly compare to that of the more than 415,000 children in the foster care system today.
May is National Foster Care Month; a time that I hope will encourage us all to engage afresh and anew with the cause of adoption, remembering our gospel calling to “look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27).
Of course, not every family is called to adopt, but we can all intercede on behalf of these children.

For some, that may mean offering a gift of time or resources to a faith-based adoption organization. My family’s journey, for example, drew our hearts to the work of Decisions, Choices & Options, a nonprofit organization in the Nashville area that visits local schools to promote adoption for students who may be facing an unplanned pregnancy and might otherwise consider life-ending choices for their unborn baby.

In my current role as a member of Congress, I believe this calling to look after widows and orphans means using the platform that I have been given to ensure that adoption is attainable for every family who has room in their hearts—regardless of the room in their budget.

I am convinced that nothing could have stopped Dave from adopting my children. But the truth is, we were also fortunate that the costs our young family incurred were minimal. I wonder how long we would have been waiting for that letter in the mail had we needed to raise thousands of dollars just to call ourselves a family?
When God unites a parent and child together through the miracle of adoption, we cannot let barriers stand in the way. That is why I introduced the Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that a foster care adoption can cost up to $2,500, while adoptions through a private agency can cost upwards of $40,000. Those costs are staggering to just about anyone, but when you consider that almost half of all children adopted from foster care live in households with incomes of less than 200 percent of the poverty line (around $48,500/year for a family of 4), the financial toll becomes overwhelming.

We cannot change the high cost of adoption overnight, but we can ensure that our tax laws provide some help to offset that expense.
Currently, the adoption tax credit is not fully refundable. That means it offers no benefit to a family making less than $35,000 a year because they simply will not have enough income to generate sufficient tax liability. We all know that no family chooses to adopt for a tax credit, but I have personally met families who tell me in anguish that adoption is just beyond their financial reach and that this credit would bridge the difference—if only they were able to actually use it.

The Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act would change the law to ensure that every adoptive family benefits from this vital tool.
This legislation is as non-political as they come in Washington. I am grateful for the support it has received by champions for adoption like Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman’s “ShowHope” and from members of Congress across the ideological spectrum. The bill’s cosponsors range from some of the most progressive Democrats to the most conservative Republicans—proof that, even today, some things still transcend partisan politics, family being first among them.

Not a lot of parents can say that their happiest moments came in the form of a written notice from Children’s Services, but mine sure did. The instant that “Dave” officially became “Dad” is a gift that I will hold in my memory for the rest of my life. I want more parents and children to be able to experience that same joy, and I have to believe that God, in his perfect love, desires this too.

During National Foster Care Month, and throughout the year, may we rise up to lead this cause, knowing that as we do, we are modeling what Christ did for each of us by inviting us into the most glorious adoption of all.

The 2016 National Safe Boating Week is May 21-27 and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency will be participating to promote the wear of life jackets as the summer boating season begins.
The Wear Your Life Jacket to Work Day is Friday, May 20 with the goal of demonstrating how easy it is to wear a life jacket. Participants wear a life jacket to work, demonstrating how easy to wear one, even while at work. Those who wear a life jacket to work are asked to have a photograph taken and email it to tennesseewearit@gmail.com. Group photos are also welcome.
On Saturday, May 21, Ready, Set, Wear It!, will enter its seventh year in trying to bring awareness on the importance of life jacket wear by holding a world record day. 
The worldwide event kicks off the start of National Safe Boating Week.  
Participants will be part of the attempt to break a world record for the most life jackets worn at one time.  
Both events help usher in National Safe Boating Week which is annually held the week prior to Memorial Day Weekend. Boating partners across the United States and Canada are teaming to promote safe boating practices, including the wear of life jackets for National Safe Boating Week and throughout the 2016 boating season.
The goal of National Safe Boating Week is to educate the public about the importance of safe boating practices and wearing life jackets while on the water.
– See more at: http://tn.gov/news/42444#sthash.EKfq7EN6.dpuf
The 2016 National Safe Boating Week is May 21-27 and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency will be participating to promote the wear of life jackets as the summer boating season begins.

The Wear Your Life Jacket to Work Day was Friday, May 20 with the goal of demonstrating how easy it is to wear a life jacket. Participants wear a life jacket to work, demonstrating how easy to wear one, even while at work.
On Saturday, May 21, Ready, Set, Wear It!, entered its seventh year in trying to bring awareness on the importance of life jacket wear by holding a world record day.

The worldwide event kicks off the start of National Safe Boating Week.  

Participants will be part of the attempt to break a world record for the most life jackets worn at one time.  

Both events help usher in National Safe Boating Week which is annually held the week prior to Memorial Day Weekend. Boating partners across the United States and Canada are teaming to promote safe boating practices, including the wear of life jackets for National Safe Boating Week and throughout the 2016 boating season.

The goal of National Safe Boating Week is to educate the public about the importance of safe boating practices and wearing life jackets while on the water.