2016

MTSU will be closed Monday, Sept. 5, in observance of Labor Day. All business offices will be closed and no classes will be held that day.
 
Offices will reopen at 8 a.m. and all fall semester classes will resume at their normal times Tuesday, Sept. 6.
 
Classes will be held Sept. 3 for students taking Saturday classes.
 
Some venues will have operating hours during the holiday weekend. They include:
 
• Student Union — open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2; open from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 3-4; and open noon to midnight Sept. 5. For all hours, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/mtunions/hours.php.
 
• Phillips Bookstore in the Student Union — open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 2; open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 3; closed Sept. 4-5; and reopens at 7:30 a.m. Sept. 6.
 
• James E. Walker Library — open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 2; open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 3; open from 2 to 10 p.m. Sept. 4; closed Sept. 5; and reopens at 7 a.m. Sept. 6. For all hours of operation, visit http://library.mtsu.edu/hours.php.
 
• Campus Recreation Center — open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 2, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 3, noon to 5 p.m. Sept. 4; closed Sept. 5.; and reopens at 6 a.m. Sept. 6. For all hours, visit http://mtsu.edu/camprec/hours.php.
 
• Student Health Services and Campus Pharmacy, which are located in the Student Health, Wellness and Recreation Center: open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 2; closed Sept. 3-5 and reopen at 8 a.m. Sept. 6.  For all hours, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/healthservices/ and http://mtsu.edu/pharmacy/index.php.
 
To find MT Dining food venues open during the weekend, visit http://mtsu.campusdish.com/Locations.
 
MTSU’s weekend activities will include MTSU’s season-opening football game against Alabama A&M at 6 p.m. Sept. 3 in Floyd Stadium.
 

Saint Thomas Health announce the expansion of its Telestroke Network to three outlying Saint Thomas Health Hospitals.  St. Thomas Stones River Hospital in Woodbury, Saint Thomas Highlands Hospital in Sparta and Saint Thomas Dekalb Hospital in Smithville.
This expansion brings neurology access to patients who may be experiencing a stroke where minutes count to 10 locations throughout Middle Tennessee.  The full list of locations also includes Saint Thomas as River Park of McMinnville, which implemented this technology a year ago as well as all Saint Thomas Hospitals and Saint Thomas Health affiliated hospitals
The Saint Thomas Telestroke Network is a part of Ascension’s national virtual care initiative which aims to ensure patients have access to compassive, personalized care across its ministry markets.
 

Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation members reelected three incumbents to their board of directors’ seats during the cooperative’s annual meeting Saturday at Embassy Suites Murfreesboro – Hotel and Conference Center.
Incumbents Gloria O’Steen of Williamson County (District 1C), Mike Woods of Rutherford County (District 2A), and Charlie Bowman of Cannon County (District 3) won reelection to their seats. This year’s candidates were confirmed by a voice vote from the membership during the business meeting.
“Since no director or nominating committee petitions were submitted before the deadline,” MTEMC President Chris Jones said, “there were no contested elections this year. This eliminated the need for voting by machine both in the district offices the week prior to the Annual Meeting and at the Annual Meeting.”
MTEMC board members serve rotating three-year terms.
 

County unemployment rates for July 2016, released last week, show the rates decreased in 73 counties, increased in 11, and remained the same in 11 counties.  Cannon County’s unemployment rate for July dropped one-tenth of a percentage point from the June rate.  Out of an estimated work force of 6210 people 5910 were employed during the month of July while roughly 300 Cannon Countians were not employed.  That figure gave Cannon County a 4.9 percent unemployment rate.  All surrounding counties also showed at least a one-tenth of a percentage point drop in their unemployment rates as well.  Coffee is now at 4.8 percent while Dekalb showed the highest at 5.9 percent.  Rutherford had the lowest at 3.9 percent.  Wilson was at 4 percent while Warren County had a 5.1 percent mark in June.  Cannon’s unemployment rate for the month of July last year at this time was 6.2 percent.
Tennessee’s preliminary unemployment rate for July was 4.3 percent, increasing two tenths of a percentage point from the previous month’s revised rate. The U.S. preliminary rate for July was 4.9 percent, remaining unchanged from the previous month.

Sheriff’s Department took reports of vandalism and identity theft recently.  A Cannon County resident stated that she had been to court and was informed by the Judge and a lawyer that her social security number was being used for employment in Texas.  The victim had since gone through the necessary paperwork wth the IRS and needed a police report to send to the IRS.  
Another mailbox has been vandalized.  Owner stated that he noticed his mailbox had been damaged overnight recently.  No other information as to possible suspects could be provided.
A lady filled out a report on vandalism to a vehicle.  Victim stated she did not know where it happened but someone had keyed all four sides of her 2013 Toyota and last week a woman was driving on Auburntown Road when she passed by a mower allegedly driven by the town.  She advised the mower threw rocks and debris onto her vehicle causing minor damage to the hood, windshield and top of the vehicle.

August 29—Progress Reports
                     Substitute training, 9:00 a.m., CCBOE
 
Sept. 2—No School
Sept. 5—Labor Day holiday—no school
Sept. 6—Board meeting workshop, 6:30 p.m. at the CCBOE
Sept. 7—Principals’ meeting, 8:30 a.m. at the CCBOE
Sept. 8—School Board meeting, 6:30 p.m. at WGS cafeteria
Sept. 9—West Side Harvest Festival
Sept. 10—Star Party at Motlow’s Moore Co. Campus
Sept. 13—New Teachers’ meeting, 3:15 p.m. at the CCBOE
Sept. 15—TSBA Fall District Meeting, Dekalb Co. High School
Sept. 19—Progress Reports
Sept. 23—Woodland Harvest Festival
                   PD Day #1, various schools
                   United Way’s Hometown Huddle Project for Woodland and West Side
 
Sept. 24—Short Mountain Harvest Festival
Sept. 30—CCHS Homecoming
Oct. 1—East Side Harvest Festival
Oct. 4—WGS Festival/Carnival
Oct. 7—Auburn Harvest Festival
Nov. 11—Veterans’ Day Program at CCHS
 
 
Cannon County School System is currently looking for applicants for the following positions:
 
CCHS Credit Recovery teacher with math certification
1st Grade Growth Position at West Side
CCHS English Teacher
Title I/Elementary Teacher at West Side

Six and a half years after becoming law, Obamacare may not be the headline-grabber that it once was. As Politico reported, “Even people who say they are still committed to [Obamacare] repeal just aren’t talking about it as much.”
Count me as an exception. While the healthcare law may have faded from glossy campaign mailers and television ads, its harmful effects are still deeply felt in my home state of Tennessee. As a registered nurse, healthcare is what I know. It is clear to me that the need to not only repeal the law, but also offer a meaningful replacement, is greater than ever.
Just this week, the commissioner of my state’s Department of Commerce and Insurance described the Obamacare market in Tennessee as “very near collapse,” with rates under our exchange’s largest insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield, set to rise by as much as 62 percent. This comes after President Obama repeatedly promised Americans that his healthcare law would save the average family up to $2,500 on their premiums per year – the latest in a series of Obamacare’s broken promises.
Tennesseans will also remember that last year, our state’s Obamacare co-op – one of 23 nonprofit, consumer operated insurance companies established under the law – shut its doors after a failed attempt at propping up enrollment with a gimmicky, taxpayer-funded smartphone giveaway.
My constituents know this isn’t working, but it is not enough to just highlight the law’s failures. Good governance demands that we offer something better in its place. Republicans have authored alternatives to Obamacare all along, but I have been as frustrated as anyone that my party has not coalesced around a comprehensive, unified policy solution. Until now, that is.
Earlier this year, Congressional Republicans put pen to paper and released a detailed blueprint of what we are calling a “Better Way” for health reform. It is not a bill, because we are prepared to be honest enough to admit that a substantive replacement to Obamacare won’t become law in the remaining weeks of its author’s Presidency – but it is a real plan; 37 pages chock full of details that we have released publicly for examination and debate by the American people.
Our plan begins with a blank slate. I am not content to simply repeal Obamacare and call it a day, but we have to start there in order to advance the reforms needed to wrench control of our healthcare system away from Washington bureaucrats and put it back in the hands of the consumer.
From there, we will work to promote choice by expanding access to health savings accounts (HSAs) and allowing the purchase of health insurance across state lines. Our plan would also make health care coverage more portable by offering a refundable tax credit for individuals who do not have the option of employer-based health insurance or plans like Medicare and Medicaid, so they can buy a health care plan that best suits their need.
Our blueprint for health reform addresses the glaring omission of Obamacare: medical malpractice reform. It is estimated that the failure to enact real medical liability reform costs our nation’s healthcare system up to $300 billion each year. That is why this plan would enact needed changes to address frivolous lawsuits that drive up the cost of care.
Importantly, our plan also acknowledges what works. Obamacare is bad policy, but coverage for those with preexisting conditions and allowing young 20-somethings to stay on their parents’ plans while they get on their feet are ideas that we can all agree on. So we maintain those policies under our proposed reforms.
I know that when results don’t come quickly, it’s easy to believe the battle is lost for good. But my state has defied that notion more than once before.
It took Tennessee more than a decade to scrap the massive TennCare experiment and wind it down to a traditional Medicaid program, but we made it happen – and just in time. Similarly, we spent nearly 15 years working to pass Amendment 1, the law I authored to overturn our state Supreme court’s radical, leftist decision on abortion. It was a long time coming, but it was worth the fight.
Tennessee – and the rest of the country – can win the battle over Obamacare too, and usher in real reforms that will make health care more affordable and accessible for those who need it most. It won’t happen overnight but I’m in this fight for the long haul. Read more about House Republicans’ plans for health reform at www.better.gop.

When the final horn sounded, the unofficial stats showed zero offensive yards for the Cannon County Lions Friday night.  The Lions couldn’t find any rhythm at all behind the relentless pressure from the Jackson County Blue Devils in Gainesboro.  The game started out pretty much the same as it did last week except Jackson County kept in control and refused to give up the big play that would spark a Lions comeback unlike Community School did in week 1.  Lion quarterback Josh Walkup was sacked 5 times and the rushing game was held to 24 carries and a negative 6 yards.  Walkup was able to complete only one pass for 6 yards to zero out the total yardage in the entire contest.  Jackson County scored on their first two possessions and in the second quarter helped themselves out by recovering a Cannon County botched punt at the Lion 11 yard line and scoring on the next play getting out to a 21-0 lead.  The next possession after, the Lions still looking for that big play got it on a gutsy call.  Fourth down and ten at the Lion ten, they were forced to punt from their own end zone again.  However this time Qwentin McMackins took off with it and with the help of some missed tackles ran the entire length of the field for a 100 yard fake pun. t touchdown.  Jackson County would go on to score three more times including a 26 yard field goal to give the final score of 37-6.  Cannon’s next game will be at home vs Grundy County in a region contest which will get underway at 7:00.
Jaydon Coon 15 carries for 14 yards. Anton Knox 3 carries (-)1 yard Josh Walkup 6 carries for (-)20 yards 1-11 for 6 yards no touchdowns, no interceptions

Can they make it two wins in a row?  The Cannon County Lions football team will answer that question as they head to Gainesboro tonight to meet the Jackson County Blue Devils in a non region contest.  After the Lions opened the season last Friday with a resounding 26-22 win against Community School, a win tonight could really bolster the confidence of the football team.  Jackson County welcomes back head coach Sean Loftis who gave up the job last year to become a quarterbacks coach for Gallatin High School.  His team showed how appreciative they were of his return by blowing out Clay County last Friday 42-14.  Football Friday on WBRY will start at 5:30 with Murphy’s Matchups followed by high school football previews throughout the mid state with the Friday night Thunder Crew at 6:00.  7:00 is Kickoff on AM-1540/Shine 107.1 WBRY  and streaming online at wbry.com.

Monday, a man in Sheriff’s Deputies custody was able to get away for a short time.  According to Cannon County Sheriff’s Department reports, Deputies were transporting two men Eli Jenkins and William Prater back from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department .  After getting back to the Cannon County Jail, Sgt.Charlie Blades was in the process of removing both inmates out of the back of the squad car.  As Mr. Prater was getting out of the vehicle, Sgt. Blades had his back turned to Mr. Jenkins and that’s when Jenkins decided to make a run for it.  Jenkins took off fully handcuffed towards the St. Thomas Stones River Hospital.  Authorities couldn’t find Jenkins. Jenkins made contact with his mother, that didn’t do him any good as his mother took him straight to Warren County Sheriff’s Department and turned him back in.  Jenkins is now being charged with escape.  Court date in Cannon County General Sessions Court is set for August 30th.