News 2016

If the weather cooperates, Robert A Harris Gym will be the site of tonight’s final district home game which will pit the Cannon County Lions and Lionettes against their rival Dekalb County.  In the previous meeting in January the Lionettes grabbed a win in overtime against the Lady Tigers while the Lions lost to the Tigers.  Tipoff is slated for 6:00  at Robert A Harris Gymnasium.  You can also hear the games live on AM-1540/FM107.9WBRY and streaming live on our website at wbry.com.
Another note to pass along.  Friday night’s non district contests against Page will serve as Senior Night at Robert A Harris Gymnasium the games against Livingston originally scheduled earlier this week will be made up Saturday in Livingston with tipoff at 2:00.
 

The rush to find the perfect gift ahead of Valentine’s Day (Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016) is in full swing, and gift certificates are a quick and easy way to make your loved one’s day. The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance’s Division of Consumer Affairs offers a few helpful tips for consumers who are considering purchasing gift certificates or discounted services for Valentine’s Day.
When you are sold a gift certificate in the State of Tennessee, remember:
In general, the expiration date must be at least two years after the date it was issued to you.
You should not be charged a fee for the gift certificate to be issued to you.
Within two years of purchasing the gift certificate, you should not be charged service fees (including dormancy fees, latency fees, or administrative fees) that reduce the total value of the gift certificate.
A gift certificate does not include prepaid cards.
As always with shopping, be aware of return policies which are typically displayed in the store, on the receipts or on the businesses website.
Be sure to ask about the locations where the gift certificate(s) can be redeemed.
Inquire about the terms and conditions associated with purchasing and redeeming the gift certificate(s).
Websites like Groupon or Living Social are commonly used to purchase discounted services as gifts. Those services might include a free or discounted hair-styling, manicure, or pedicure. Before purchasing a discounted service, call the company or individual offering the discount to ensure the offer is legitimate.
Remember these tips when you visit a hair salon or nail salon to redeem your gift certificate or discount for services:
A manager or managing owner must be on site when the shop is open for business.
Everyone providing a service must have an active license at all times.
 Instruments must be sanitized after every use.
Footbaths must be cleaned and disinfected after every use.
In every shop, a current Tennessee license and graded inspection sheet should be posted for the public to view.
The Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners has more than 67,000 licensees in the State of Tennessee. For more information about the Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners, visit www.tn.gov/regboards.
Also, visit www.verify.tn.gov to ensure the individual or company is properly licensed to operate in the State of Tennessee. For more consumer tips, or to file a complaint, visit www.tn.gov/consumer.

Cannon County Schools Are Closed Today.
Other closings in the WBRY listening area include:
Bedford County Schools, Coffee County Schools, Dekalb County Schools, Rutherford County Schools, Wilson County Schools and Warren County Schools
Franklin Road Christian School of Murfreesboro, Middle Tennessee Christian School Murfreesboro, Temple Baptist of Manchester, Victory Baptist of Shelbyville
Murfreesboro City Schools, Manchester City Schools and Tullahoma City Schools
All Motlow State Community Campus Locations are closed today and no evening classes tonight
Middle Tennessee State University is closed today
TN C.A.T (Tennessee College of Applied Technology) opening two hours late, also Covenant Academy of McMinnville opening two hours late

Early voting begins  Wednesday in the March 1st Presidential Preference Republican Primary.  While the voting ballot is dominated by voting for Candidates of the Republican Party and Democratic Party  for President of the United States and Committed and uncommitted delegates at large and 6th Congressional District, a couple of local issues are also on the ballots will allow the local voters whether or not to help the county government bring in revenue in the form of taxes.  One referendum is the sales tax referendum.  At the current rate, Cannon County residents pay 1.75% on anything they purchase within the county itself.  If Cannon County residents go purchase anything from all surrounding counties, those counties have a 2.75% sales tax which is about a penny more than what residents pay in the County.  All the sales tax referendum is doing is raising the 1.75 percent sales tax to the 2.75 percent sales tax rate that all surrounding counties have in place.  This will bring added significantly added revenue to the county in a tax that many residents are paying already outside the county giving those particular counties extra revenue.  The other referendum is for the Wheel Tax Rate to increase by $20.00.  This would raise the costs of vehicle tags in Cannon County from $74.25 to $94.25 with the extra revenue going into the County General Fund Balance.  The State of Tennessee has sent their county budget guidelines to each county in the State.  One of those guidelines is for each county to build and maintain a healthy general fund balance.  For many years Cannon County has been forced to deplete their once healthy general fund balance while revenues were not increasing to meet the necessary demands of the county expenditures.  In the same time frame, there were no tax increases to help bring in the extra revenue.  The depleting of the fund balance is dangerous to the the county’s operations and effects everyone. Instead of gradual increases of property taxes during that time period, Commissioners were forced to make significant increases later on in order to keep operations funded.  This additional revenue will help the county meet the state requirements for a healthy fund balance and a successful fiscal year budget without having to have significant increases in property taxes in order to get the budget to State of Tennessee Expectations .   Early voting will take place at the Election Office at 301 West Main St. Suite #244 February 10th thru February 23rd Except Sundays and President’s Day (Feb.15th)  
Hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8A-1P, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4P-7P and Saturday 10A-1P.

The American Legion Post 279 in Woodbury is selling flags, and accessories.  The monies raised from the sale of the flags goes back into Cannon County, the youth and veterans in Cannon County.  This is an on-going project.  There is a large assortment of all sizes and types of United States, Military Service flags and all sizes of flag poles
The most popular selling flag is the  The United States Flag 3’x 5′ nylon is $25.00         
The United States Flag 4″x 6″ is .50 @ or $5.00 dozen. For special occasions
The military services/branches flags are  $30.00  For that special display.
Any state flag is also available as well as indoor flag sets.
The American Legion Post will be glad to take your order and even deliver the order to you. There is also a catalog available for special orders.
You can contact a member of the American Legion Post 279 for information or call Charlie Harrell at 615-542-1289 or Col. Jim Stone at 615-563-6111, Brent Bush at 615-563-2691, Britt Knox at 615-904-5644, or Penny Daniels at 615-563-6729
 

The Tennessee Department of Education has grouped school districts across the state into regional CORE centers. Cannon County belongs to the Upper Cumberland Core Region, and local school officials work closely with CORE team members in efforts to improve teaching and learning in our district. One area of focus for this group is the development of early literacy skills. Cannon County, along with other districts in this region, have adopted the goal that 90% of our students will be reading on grade level by the end of third grade.  To support this effort, the Upper Cumberland Core Region has become a member of the Children’s Reading Foundation. The vision of the Children’s Reading Foundation is for every child to learn to read early and well, thereby reaching his or her full potential in school and in life. One step in reaching this vision is for the school systems to encourage and educate families about the role they play as the first educators of their child. In this effort, counties across our district will be offering READY! For Kindergarten Classes.  Parents who attend these classes will gain an understanding of what school readiness actually means and what activities they can do at home to help their child be prepared for school. Ready! For K classes are designed for parents of children ages 2-4. Be looking in the near future for more information about Cannon County’s Ready! For K Classes. These classes are made available by a $3,000 grant from the Upper Cumberland Core Center.
 

The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) has arrested Michael Marks of Murfreesboro on charges of odometer fraud and criminal simulation.
On December 10, 2015, the THP’s Criminal Investigation Division received two complaints from victims regarding possible odometer fraud and approved an investigation. It was noted at that time the same person had sold the vehicles to the different victims. The victims stated they had purchased the vehicles from an ad on Craigslist.
The investigation revealed the odometers in the two vehicles had been rolled back. Investigators were able to identify a suspect, and the identity was confirmed by a victim. The THP’s Criminal investigation Division sought and obtained two felony warrants for criminal simulation as well as two misdemeanor warrants for odometer fraud against Marks.
On January 28, 2016, members of the Tennessee Highway Patrol Criminal Investigation Division with support from troopers from the Nashville District executed the arrest warrants for Marks. Prior to the execution of arrest warrants, Marks was observed driving a blue, Toyota Camry. The blue Toyota pulled into the driveway of 5530 North West Broad Street in Murfreesboro that was identified as his place of residence and business. Criminal simulation is a class E felony, and odometer fraud is a class A misdemeanor.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol Criminal Investigation Division is asking anyone who has conducted business with Michael Marks or anyone who may be associated with him who believes he/she is a victim of odometer fraud to contact the Tennessee Highway Patrol Criminal Investigation Division at 615-251-5185.

Cannon County Schools Are Closed
Other closings in the WBRY listening area include

Coffee, Dekalb, Rutherford, Wilson, Warren and Bedford County Schools are closed today.
Manchester City and Murfreesboro City Schools are closed today.
Franklin Road Christian School
Temple School in Manchester
Victory Baptist School of Shelbyville
Covenant Academy McMinnville

 
Middle Tennessee State University is open beginning at 9 this morning
 

With the weather not cooperating tonight’s games have been cancelled.  Van Buren game was called off earlier and attempts to replace it with the Livingston game scheduled for Tuesday were successful so the teams were going to travel to Livingston instead.  Now WBRY has received word that those games have been postponed and a makeup date will be announced soon.  No ballgames of any kind tonight.

Tonight the Lions and Lionettes were supposed to go to Spencer Tennessee for a set of games against Van Buren County.  This has been rescheduled twice because of weather related issues.  The games have been cancelled again, this time there will be no
rescheduling.  Instead of playing Van Buren County tonight, the two teams will travel to Livingston to face the Wildcats in a district matchup.  This will get the game out of the way just in case the threat of weather hits later tonight early tomorrow morning. WBRY AM-1540/FM 107.9 will have the live broadcast of the game.  The game will also be streamed live on wbry.com.  Tipoff is at 6:00 tonight