News 2016

The American Association of University Women, Murfreesboro Chapter presents “Songs for Scholarships”  an evening with Grammy winning songrwiter Don Henry Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. at the Miller Club inside the Tennessee Miller coliseum.  
The intimate concert will feature a silent auction, drinks and more by the Blue Porch
Tickets are $35 and can be purchased at mtk.com/womens-equity-foundation.  The fundraiser benefits the Ruth Houston Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Miller Coliseum is at 304-B West Thompson Lane in Murfreesboro.
 

The Cannon County Health Department reminds everyone that the best way to prevent the flu is by getting vaccinated.
Flu Vaccine is recommended for everyone 6 months of age and older, and is especially important for infants, young children, pregnant women, adults over age 50 and for those with chronic medical conditions.  
Free flu vaccinations are now available at the Cannon County Health Department for both adults and children.  
“We want to vaccinate as many people in Cannon County as possible to protect the health of the community said Cannon Health Director Andrea Fox.

It took overtime, but the Cannon County Lions survived Tuesday night and live to play at least one more game.  The Lions met their rivals Dekalb County at the Hooper Eblen Center at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville for one final time with each team’s basketball future on the line.  Win and you move on to meet Smith County.  Lose and your season is finished.  The game went back and forth the entire night with 23 lead changes and ten ties.  Neither team led by any more than 5 points at any point in the game.  The game went into overtime tied at 40.  Anton Knox stepped up and scored all five of his points in the extra frame including what would be the game winning free throws.  Austin Martin scored a team high 23 points as Cannon County advanced with a thrilling 50-48 win over Dekalb County.  Cannon will meet Smith County Thursday night at 7:30 at Tennessee Tech.

With Old Man Winter bearing down on the state, Jason Reeves, curator of the University of Tennessee Gardens, Jackson, says it’s worth repeating a few kernels of wisdom to help you preserve your landscape in the event of more heavy snow or ice:

·Brush wet snow off evergreens as it accumulates, or as soon as possible after a winter storm. Use a broom in an upward, sweeping motion. Serious damage can be caused to limbs by heavy wet snow.

· Avoid using salt to melt snow and ice from your walks and driveway, as it can be harmful to your plants. Several environmentally friendly products are available at home improvement stores.

The gardening expert also offers these tips for caring for your indoor plants and outdoor container plants and landscapes during February.
 
Indoors
· Sow broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage seed indoors now or buy transplants in March. Harden them off before planting out in March.

· Extend the life of your Valentine’s Day flowers by changing the water daily and recutting the stems every couple of days, making sure the foliage is kept above the water line.

· Remove dust from your house plants by rinsing them in the shower.
Outdoors
· Bluebirds are already looking for a place to nest, so clean out your birdhouse soon. If you are in need of a good bluebird house check out Homes for Bluebirds Inc. http://www.danfinch.com/birds.htm.

·Barrenwort (Epimedium) and Lungwort (Pulmonaria) will be in flower soon. Cut back last year’s foliage before new growth appears.

· Lenten rose (Helleborusorientalis) and its hybrids are among the first plants to flower in the new year. A little cleanup makes a big difference when these winter beauties blossom, so cut back last year’s foliage before the flower stalks appear. Follow the old leaves down to the crown and remove the entire leaf stalk near the soil. In mild winters, the foliage often still looks good in February, but as the flowers and new foliage appear, the old leaves will become unsightly. The old foliage will be much more difficult to remove once the new growth has appeared. 

· For indoor forcing of blooms, cut branches of pussy willow, forsythia, flowering quince, redbud, and star and saucer magnolia. Choose stems with flower buds that have begun to swell. Cut them at an angle and place in water in a cool location in your home with indirect light.

· Late February and March are good times to trim trees and shrubs. If the limb is larger than 2 inches in diameter, or heavily weighted, use the three-step method for removing the branches. Make the first cut on the underside of the limb about 6 inches away from the trunk, cutting about one-third of the way through the limb. On the top side, cut through the limb 3 to 6 inches beyond the first cut. Finally, make the third cut close to the trunk while not disturbing the branch collar. This cut should be at 45 degrees to the trunk. Remember when pruning to remove dead or diseased branches first and then take out any rubbing or crossed branches. Prune to maintain a natural form unless formality is appropriate for the design.

· Postpone pruning of spring-flowering and early summer-flowering shrubs like azaleas, forsythia, spirea, and mophead hydrangea until just after they flower.

· Cut back monkey grass (Liriope) before new growth appears. Use a string trimmer for larger areas.

· Spot-control weeds in a dormant warm-season lawn by pulling them or by applying a broadleaf weed control.

· Apply dormant horticulture oil, such as Ultra-Fine, to fruit and nut trees to eliminate scale and other pests. It must be applied before spring growth appears. These oils also can control scale insects on hollies, euonymus and camellias. For best results, be sure to completely spray the entire plant including the underside of the leaves.

· Soil in Tennessee tends to be acidic. Have your soil tested to see if and how much lime is needed. Your local UT Cannon County Extension office can provide you with instructions on how to proceed, just give Bruce Steelman a call at 615-563-2554. It takes months for lime to react with the soil, so the sooner the better. Pelletized lime is the easiest form to apply.

· Green/English and sugar snap peas can be direct sown in the garden in February. In colder parts of the state wait until the end of the month. If sown too late, they will not have time to flower and fruit before it gets too hot.

· If your ornamental grasses such as Miscanthus, Pennisetum, Mexican feather, switchgrass and muhly grass are looking tattered and blowing about the garden, cut them back 3 to 6 inches above the ground. You can also wait until March to perform this task.
 

The High School Basketball postseason begins tonight for the Cannon County Lions Boys team.  This year’s district tournaments are set up a little different in that the seventh and eighth seeds which were the teams to finish last in the regular season will meet each other for a play-in game.  The winner of tonight’s games will have to win in the next round as well to advance to play at least two more games.
The Cannon County Lions enter the tournament as the seventh seed, finishing with a 2-12 district record.  They will meet the Dekalb County Tigers who finished eighth in the regular season with a 1-13 mark.  Their only win was against Cannon County back in January in Smithville.  Cannon collected wins against Dekalb in the second meeting in Woodbury earlier this month and York Institute in Jamestown.  Tonight’s contest will be played at the Hooper Eblen Center on the campus of Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville.  Tipoff is slated for 7:30.  WBRY AM-1540/FM 107.9 will carry the live broadcast.  The game will also be broadcast streaming live on wbry.com
 

Shots were fired outside the home of Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold. The gunfire was reported Monday night and both Murfreesboro Police and the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office responded to the incident Monday night around 9. There were no injuries. We’ve learned the sheriff, his wife and children were home at the time of what’s being described as a drive-by shooting. Authorities from multiple agencies are investigating the incident, but again, no one was hurt. In fact, the sheriff posted on his Facebook page the following:
Thank you for all the family and friends that have called to check on us. We are all OK.
Report from the Sheriff’s Office:
Several rounds from a firearm were fired at Sheriff Robert Arnold’s house but the sheriff and his family were not harmed.
The family was home off Memorial Boulevard when the sheriff heard the sound of gunfire about 8:30 p.m. He notified sheriff’s deputies and Murfreesboro Police.
“We are thankful Sheriff Arnold and his family were not injured,” said spokeswoman Lisa Marchesoni.
Murfreesboro Police are handling the investigation.
(Newspartner: WGNS)

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam Friday announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension, arrest and conviction of the person or persons involved in the murder case of William “Gregg” Hawkins on October 16, 2015.
“We encourage anyone with information related to this case to come forward and contact authorities,” Haslam said. “We want whoever is responsible for this crime to be brought to justice.”
Hawkins, a 53-year-old employee of Nissan, was found murdered at a boat ramp in Rutherford County.  He had been fishing with his daughter and was walking to the parking lot presumably to get to his trailer.
Evidence suggests Hawkins came upon a crime in progress, resulting in the murder.
Hawkins leaves behind a wife, Janet, and two daughters. There were no witnesses to the murder, and there were no video cameras. Investigators do not have a primary suspect.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Det. Kyle Norrod at 615-904-3043 or knorrod@rcsotn.org or the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at 615-898-7916, or District Attorney General Jennings Jones at 615-898-8008 or jhjones@tndagc.org.
 

Two Virginia Tech freshmen charged with kidnapping and murdering 13-year-old Nicole Madison Lovell from Blacksburg, Va., communicated with her online through the popular messaging app Kik. 

Kik and anonymous apps like it have been linked to a growing number of child sexual abuse cases that the Rutherford County and Cannon County Child Protective Investigative Teams have been working, said Child Advocacy Center director Sharon De Boer.

“Most parents and grandparents in our community know about Snap Chat and Instagram, but they are not familiar with Kik and Yik Yak,” De Boer said. “The Child Advocacy Center’s concern is that Kik and apps like it are anonymous and pedophiles are finding and communicating with our children through these anonymous apps.”

Kik estimates that 40 percent of American teenagers are using their app.  Kik and Yik Yak shield the user from view which makes it difficult for child abuse investigators to know who is using it and how they use it. In the Virginia homicide, Kik cooperated with the FBI in the investigation that led to arrests of David Eisenhauer, 18, and Natalie Marie Keepers, 19, both from Maryland who were enrolled at Virginia Tech.

“Every day we talk to parents and grandparents about the sexual abuse of their child,” De Boer said. “When we talk to them about Kik and Yik Yak, it is typically new news to them.  When they look at their child’s phone they discover that the Kik app has been on their child’s phone for months. This has allowed a pedophile to have anonymous access to their child.”

Kik was founded in Canada in 2009.  It offers free texting, e-commerce, and content delivery.  The appeal to pedophiles is privacy and anonymity.  It allows pedophiles to find children and communicate with them anonymously. 

“We want to encourage parents and grandparents to go through their child’s phone,” De Boer said. “If you see the Kik or Yik Yak app, talk to your child about who they are anonymously communicating with. Inform your children that pedophiles use these apps to target children and victimize them.  For their safety, you and your child need to remove this app from their phone.”

For more information on how to protect your child from child sexual abuse, contact Ryan Wallace at the Child Advocacy Center and schedule a “Darkness to Light” child sexual abuse prevention training for your church, business, civic group, PTO, women’s group, or men’s group.  Wallace can be reached at 615-867-9000 or ryanawallace@bellsouth.net.

The Cannon County Lions and Lionette basketball teams ended the regular season Saturday with an afternoon game hosted by the Livingston Wildcat basketball teams.  In the girls game Livingston’s press paid off as the Lady Cats scored 26 unanswered points to begin the game and led at the end of the first quarter 36-9.  Since the game was out of reach so early Livingston played their second and third string in the second and fourth quarters and wrapped up a 67-34 win against the Lionettes.  Maleah Scott scored 15 for the Lionettes in the loss.  Lionettes finish the regular schedule 10-19 with a 4-10 District 8-AA record.  Their next game will be Friday at the Hooper Eblen Center at Tennessee Tech against Smith County.  Game time will be at 4:00 in the afternoon

A college gymnasium atmosphere might help the Cannon County Lions boys basketball team out.  A college floor takes more depth perception and that might just work to the advantage of the Lions sharp shooting three point takers as the Lions struggled throughout this year on the high school floors.  Saturday night in Livingston, the Lions looked to shake off Friday night’s loss and get back to possibly claiming one more win in the district before Tuesday’s tournament game.  The Lions played the home team close as the score ended up tied 33-33.  Cannon stayed with Livingston leading by three at the end 53-50 but in the fourth quarter Livingston post player Dylan Linder had 6 points and Livingston hit their free throws to win 68-63.  Austin Martin netted 24 for Cannon County.  The Lions finish the regular schedule with a 9-20 record and 2-12 in District play.  Their next game will be Tuesday against Dekalb County at the Hooper Eblen Center at Tennessee Tech.  Game time will be at 7:30
 

A vandalism involving a mailbox was  recently reported to the Cannon County Sheriff’s Department but ended up in no charges being filed.  According to Sheriff’s Departments reports, Deputies upon arrival met with the victim Morgan Smith.  Mrs. Smith stated that Dustin Sissom had came by her house as the passenger in a blue Hyundai Accent and that he had leaned out of the passenger side window and hit her mailbox with a baseball bat, causing damage to the mailbox and causing the whole mailbox post to fall over.  Mrs. Smith stated that she observed other people in the car but that she could not make out their descriptions.  Mrs. Smith stated that she followed the blue Hyundai and a gold Toyota Prius to Parsley’s Market.   Smith stated that she suspected that Mr. Sissom had damaged her mailbox as he has a grudge against her former husband but that she believes Mr. Sissom is not aware that her and her ex husband aren’t together anymore and that her ex-husband no longer lives at the residence. No charges were filed.