News 2012

The Department of Environment and Conservation is inviting Tennesseans to submit nominations for the Governor’s 2012 Environmental Stewardship Awards. The awards recognize Tennesseans who go above and beyond to protect the state’s diverse environment.  
“Caring for Tennessee’s numerous natural resources positively impacts the health of our communities – from the air we breathe to the recreational activities we enjoy every day,” Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said.  “We are pleased to once again be in a position to recognize environmental leaders and innovators across the state whose stewardship efforts lead the way in protecting Tennessee’s air, land and water.” 
 
The Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Awards cover 10 categories: Building Green; Clean Air; Energy and Renewable Resources; Environmental Education and Outreach (business category); Environmental Education and Outreach (school category); Land Use; Materials Management; Natural Heritage; Sustainable Performance and Lifetime Achievement. 
 
Any individual, business, organization, educational institution or agency is eligible, provided they are located in Tennessee and projects were completed during the 2011 calendar year.  All nominees must have a minimum three years of environmental compliance with the Department of Environment and Conservation.  Self-nominations are encouraged.
 
“The quality of our environment plays such an important role in the healthy lifestyle Tennesseans enjoy and expect,” said Environment and Conservation Commissioner Bob Martineau.  “These annual awards give us an opportunity to acknowledge outstanding efforts throughout the state and to celebrate those who have gone above and beyond to enhance our shared environment.” 
 
A panel of judges representing agricultural, conservation, forestry, environmental and academic professionals will select award recipients based on criteria including on-the-ground achievement, innovation and public education.  The deadline for nominations is March 31, 2012.  Award recipients will be announced in late May 2012. 
 
For more information about each category, judging criteria and nomination forms, visit TDEC’s Web site at www.tn.gov/environment/awards.

After a class orientation and an initial lecture by Dr. Philip Phillips on Jan. 23, the spring MTSU Honors Lecture Series continues Monday, Jan. 30. In the series titled “Prison Writing: From Boethius to Mehdi Zana,” Phillips will bring “Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy and Philosophy’s Consolation to the Prisoner” in the second lecture.
Lectures are held in Honors Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. The 55-minute lectures begin promptly at 3 p.m. and are open to the public. The 12-week series will be held every Monday except March 5 when students are on spring break.
Dr. Mark Jackson of the MTSU English department will lead one special lecture, “Lead Belly” It will begin at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, April 3. For the series lineup, visit bit.ly/MTHonorsLecturesS12.
“This semester’s Honors Lecture Series on ‘Prison Writing’ examines selected works of writers from the sixth century to the 21st century, who were imprisoned for their beliefs and who drew strength from their prison experiences to advance their respective causes and inspire others in the process,” says Phillips, interim associate dean for the Honors College and English professor.
Phillips adds that the series will progress chronologically and include such diverse writers as Boethius, Sir Thomas Malory, John Lilburne, John Bunyan, Henry David Thoreau, Louise Michel, Sue Shelton White, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Mehdi Zana.
“Each author epitomizes the tradition of speaking truth to power and being willing to sacrifice physical freedom, or even life itself, in the service of that truth,” Phillips says. “Several of the authors included in the series allude to the examples of their predecessors, a practice that illustrates that many those freedoms we enjoy today are the result of the struggles of those who fought to attain them.
“It should also remind us that those freedoms that are still denied to us might yet be attained if we commit ourselves wholly to achieving them. All of the lectures in the series will provide an overview of the authors’ lives, offer a close analysis of their works, and discuss the context and significance of their representative prison writings.”

A Special Called Meeting of the Cannon County Commission is set for Friday, February 3, 2012 . in the Courtroom of the Cannon County Courthouse.Commissioners will consider a proposed settlement of a lawsuit against the county brought by Loretta Bailey.
Bailey worked as a receptionist at the Cannon County Sheriff’s Department under former Sheriff Billy Nichols. She was dismissed from the position when current Sheriff Darrell Young took office on Sept. 1, 2010.
She sued the county for $250,000 and Young individually for $150,000.
The recommendation from the county Atttorney and the insurance company is that the lawsuit be settled in the amount of $45,000 in which the county would pay $25,000 and the insurance would pay $20,000. The County Commission must approve the expenditure of $25,000.
The special called meeting will start at 6:00

A Cannon County man is charged with TennCare fraud involving “doctor shopping,” or using TennCare to go to multiple doctors in a short time period to obtain prescriptions for a controlled substance.The Office of Inspector General (OIG), with the assistance of the Cannon County Sheriff’s Office, today announced the arrest of Wiley D. Thomas, 51, of Woodbury. Thomas is charged with four counts of fraudulently using TennCare to obtain a controlled substance by “doctor shopping.” He is accused of seeing multiple physicians within a 30-day period to obtain prescriptions for the painkiller Lortab, or a similar drug, with the physician office visits or the prescriptions being paid for by the TennCare program.
“Tennessee is aggressive in cracking down on the fraudulent misuse of TennCare public healthcare insurance benefits,” Inspector General Deborah Y. Faulkner said. “Health care providers are very good at spotting these cases and they share the our goal in protecting TennCare from fraud.”
TennCare fraud is a Class E felony carrying a sentence of up to two years in prison per charge.   District Attorney General William C. Whitesell, Jr. will be prosecuting this case.
The OIG, which is separate from TennCare, began full operation in February 2005 and has investigated cases leading to over $3.5 million paid in restitution and recoupment to TennCare, with a total estimated cost avoidance of over $173 million for the TennCare program, according to latest figures.  To date, nearly 1,500 people have been charged with TennCare fraud.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Coffee County woman for embezzling thousands of dollars from her employer while she was working as the company’s bookkeeper after she was indicted by a grand jury. She was taken into custody Wednesday.Carolyn Bell Jones age 60 of Manchester was indicted by the Coffee County Grand Jury on one count of theft over $60,000 earlier this month. TBI began investigating the missing funds after the owners of Vickers Concrete Reinforcing Inc discovered suspicious transactions made for Jones personal expenses. Jones was fired with the money was discovered missing. While working as the company’s bookkeeper between 2004 and 2011, Jones is estimated to have stolen approximately $240,000 by paying her personal expenses out of company funds then altering the records to cover up the theft. Jones was booked into the Coffee County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

Cannon County High School is looking for a new head football coach. Friday afternoon Coach Joel Schrenk called a team meeting in which he announced that he was resigning from the position and taking over as head football coach at Falkville High School in Falkville AL. Coach Schrenk guided the Lions to a 9-22 record in three years as the head man. His 2009 team went 8-3, was named the regular season district champion and in turn Schrenk was named District Coach of the year. Last football season the team went through a rebuilding year playing many freshmen and sophomores. As a result of the youth and inexperience, the team went 0-10.The search for a new coach begins Monday.
 

You don’t have to sell the Cannon County Lionettes on how good Marlee Sells is.  Friday night the Livingston Academy sophomore came off the bench and scored 16 points as the Livingston Lady Wildcats knocked off the Cannon County Lionettes 57-46.  Abbey Sissom was the lone double figure scorer for the Lionettes scoring 17 points, Cannon’s record falls to 20 and 5 for the season.
The Cannon County Lions boys team was able to stay with the Livingston Wildcats through the first quarter.  Livingston went on a 27 to 8 run in the second to open up the game and coast to a 73-45 win.  Tanner Larson led all scorers for Cannon with 14.  Livingston held Cory Henley scoreless while Jarrett Melton was only able to score 2 points Friday night.
The Lions and Lionettes will return to Robert A Harris Gym Tuesday night when they face another tough district teams from Upperman High School

It shouldn’t take too much bulletin board material to get the Cannon County Lionettes fired up about their showdown with Livingston Academy tonight. The number 9th ranked Lionettes lost a heartbreaker at Robert A Harris Gym to the 3rd ranked Lady Cats at the beginning of the month due to a controversial call. Tonight the 20 – 4 Lionettes will get their chance to go to Livingston’s house and walk away with a win. Livingston is 21-3 and 6 -1 in district play while Cannon’s district record is 5-3Livingston’s boys team has shown that it’s human. The Wildcats were expected to march through the district portion of the season untouched but Dekalb County had something to say about that this past Tuesday with a 67-65 win over Livingston in Livingston. Cannon County has won back to back district games dismantling Central Magnet School Tuesday. The Lions will attempt to gain their biggest upset of the year as they try to climb the district standings ladder. The pregame will start at 5:45 with the coaches corner and 6:00 for the tipoff. The games will be broadcast live on AM 1540 FM 96.7 WBRY

Cannon County’s unemployment rate continues to drop. According to December figures released by the state of Tennessee, Cannon County showed a four tenth of a point decrease from November to the current figure of 7.2 percent. Out of a labor force of 6,620 people 6,150 were employed while 470 were unemployed. Neighboring counties also showed a decrease as well. Coffee County is at 8.7 percent while Dekalb is at 8 percent. Rutherford 6.7 percent. Wilson is at 6.7 percent while Warren had the highest percentage at 9.6 percent

The Cannon County Election Commission called a special meeting to finalize the Short Mountain 2 and Pleasant Ridge Voting Precincts. Earlier this month the commission retracted the vote of shutting down 2 Short Mountain Voting Precincts and the Pleasant Ridge Voting Precincts after a public meeting was held with voters in the affected area. Short Mountain Precinct 2 will go back to the Short Mountain School as there was no other place held suitable. The Pleasant Ridge Voting Precinct will also go back to the Woodbury Grammar School. A copy of the minutes of the special meeting will be faxed to the State Coordinator of Elections to show that the action of both precincts were approved by the entire election commission.