News 2013

For the second time this season, the Cannon County Lionettes scored 90 or more points against their opponent.  For the first time in recent history. the Lionettes scored over 90 points against a District 8-AA opponent.  Friday night the team in Smithville got off to a comfortable lead by as many as 19 but before the 1st half ended, Dekalb stayed in range coming back only down by 7.  The Lady Tigers would hang around until in the fourth quarter Cannon would score 32 points in the quarter to win 98-68.  Abbey Sissom nailed a season high 37 points while teammate Madison Walkup also scored a season high 29.  Macy Clements finished with her season high best too with 15.  Lionettes are 10-1 on the year and head into the Christmas break with a 3-1 district record, tied with Central Magnet for second place 1 game behind Smith County for first place.Last season the Cannon County Lions dropped all three meetings between themselves and the Dekalb County Tigers including one in the post-season.  If Friday night was any indication, as long as Cannon plays as aggressive as they did in Smithville, the Lions should have no problems reversing their fortunes against their next door neighbor rivals.  The Lions converted turnovers into transition points and hit outside threes to pull away from Dekalb as early as the first quarter.  Cannon would build a lead by as much as 28 in the game and grabbed a solid 73-49 win over the Dekalb County Tigers.  Cory Henley scored 18 to lead the team but once again Josh Ruehlan getting his third start of the season responded with 13 points and Tanner Larson added 10.  Lions are now 10-1 on the year and have a perfect 4-0 in District play heading into the Christmas break.
 
The Cannon teams will now play Coffee County in a non district matchup Saturday starting at 4:00 in the afternoon in Manchester

If you’re in Woodbury today or listening to your police scanner and you hear a bunch of emergency calls going out over the radio or you see a bunch of flashing emergency lights running from here to there, don’t panic it’s the planned Emergency Disaster Drill.  The drill will include Stones River Hospital and the Cannon County High School.  The purpose of the drill is to train Emergency Room Staff and Responders in Cannon County.  

Basketball is on tap for two consecutive days for the Cannon County Lions and Lionettes basketball teams. Both nights the Cannon teams will be on the road to neighboring counties to participate in a couple of rivalries.  The one for the district however is tonight as the trip to nearby Smithville to meet the Dekalb County teams.  The Dekalb County Lady Tigers raised some eyebrows with their 10-2 overall record and then grabbed more attention with their two point win over Upperman last week.  However Central Magnet handed them their second loss of the year with a 54-24 blowout in Murfreesboro Tuesday.  The Lionettes were cruising along at 9-0 before the loss to Smith County also Tuesday night.  Coach Dodgen’s squad knows they’ll have to do better in finishing off plays with made shots in order to win tonight’s game.  Dekalb has a history of getting off to quick starts and big leads in the first quarter.  The Cannon boys have been running over opponents both in the district and outside the district.  Tonight however could well be another case of who wants the win the most and a possible historic ending to what has been one of the most intense rivalries in the state in high school basketball.  Tipoff is at 6:00.  Get there early as it promises to be standing room only.  You can hear all the action live on AM-1540/FM96.7 WBRY, online at wbry.com and on the TuneIn Radio App at WBRY.

Burglars will play while parents and children are away at a  church’s children’s Christmas production recently.  According to Sheriff’s department reports Deputy Michael Hainey was dispatched to a Simpson Road residence.  Upon arrival, he spoke to the victim Ms. Angel Hernandez who reported that while her family was attending a children’s Christmas play at their church, they came home to find their back door had been kicked in.  Thieves had stolen a 32 inch TV, an Nintendo Wii game systems and eight games, had also ransacked the bedroom throwing clothes everywhere and even taken some medication for ADHD problems.  Ms. Hernandez stated that the thief might be someone that knows them.  The owners  have a pit bull that is aggressive toward strangers.  A subsequent check by the 911 center revealed that no one had been recently treated or admitted for dog bites.

Judge Susan Melton presided over General Sessions Court on Tuesday.  Some of the results of the various cases that appeared on the docket included:Harley Don Brown pled guilty to DUI.  He was sentenced to 11 months 29 days in jail.  That sentence was partially suspended upon serving 48 hours, equal time on probation, 24 hours of litter removal, paying a $350 fine and the costs.
Desiree Andrews agreed to the violation of her probation.  She was ordered to serve 30 days and her probation was extended 9 months 17 days.
Joshua Daniel Clark pled guilty to possession of a schedule III drug.  He was sentenced to 11 months 29 days in jail.  That sentence was suspended upon equal time on probation, paying a $750 fine and the costs.
Chad Fox pled guilty to passing a worthless check.  He was sentenced to 11 months 29 days in jail and ordered to pay restitution.
Christopher Allen Hoover agreed to the violation of his probation.  He was ordered to serve 60 days in jail and his probation was extended 11 months 29 days.  In another case Hoover pled guilty to driving on a suspended license 2nd offense or more.  He was sentenced to 11 months 29 days in jail.  That sentence was suspended upon equal time on probation, paying a $50 fine and the costs.
Brittany Nicole Keyt McVey agreed to the violation of her probation.  She was ordered to serve her original sentence of 6 months.
William Huneke’s charges of initiation of the process to manufacture methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and maintaining a dwelling were bound over to the January term of the Grand Jury.

In the past year, Better Business Bureau has shut down more than one hundred fraudulent websites that illegally steal the famous BBB logo and imply they are legitimate sites. A noticeable trend recently is websites that include the word “overstock” in the domain name, hoping to fool consumers into thinking they are shopping with Overstock.com.“Overstock.com is a highly visible online retailer, so it’s no wonder scammers try to mimic them,” noted Carrie A. Hurt, President and CEO of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the umbrella organization for 113 BBBs across the U.S. and Canada. “We’ve seen this with other major retailers as well. BBB is warning consumers: be careful to look for the real domain when it comes to major retail sites.”
“Our web address is simple: overstock.com,” said Jonathan Johnson, Executive Vice Chairman of Overstock.com, Inc. “That’s all. If the name is longer, or uses any additional words, or letters, if it has any words other than ‘overstock’ before the dot com, it’s not our website.”
Overstock.com is a BBB Accredited Business with an A rating, as well as a National Partner of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. The company has been recognized by many organizations, including Compuware as a “Best of the Web” award winner for four years in a row.
BBB suggests the following tips for online shoppers to avoid bogus websites:

Go to bbb.org to look up the BBB Business Reviews of your favorite online retailers.

Type the URL directly into your browser; do not click on a link from an email or social media site unless you are absolutely sure the message is from the legitimate business.

On the payment page, look for “https” at the beginning of the address (the “s” stands for “secure”).

Look for “Contact Us” information, including a real address, a toll-free customer service number, and other ways to reach the company if you have a problem.

Use a credit card (not a debit card) when shopping online for greater protections against possible fraud.

If a website has a BBB Accredited Business seal, click on it. A real seal should link directly to that company’s BBB Business Review.

Please mark your calendars for Thursday, December 12th at 6:30 p.m. for the Middle Tennessee Weeds Update, Which will be held at the Woodbury Lions Club Building located at 612 Lehman Street, Woodbury, TN. This is a joint meeting conducted by Warren, Cannon, DeKalb, and Rutherford County Extension. Dr. Larry Steckel will be the guest speaker who has done extensive research with glysophate-resistant Palmer Amaranth (or pigweed). Unfortunately, we experienced infestations in Cannon and Warren County this year. Expectations are that it will be a continuous problem in the future. There is no charge for the meeting, however, please call 563-2554 and sign-up at the Extension Office for an accurate head count for the meal.

River Park Hospital has taken steps to reduce its cost structure to deal with continued declining reimbursement and prepare for the future, according to hospital CEO Tim McGill, who announced the plan to staff yesterday. 
“It was important we take steps now so that we could maintain a strong financial foundation which will allow us to support our key services as well as to care for patients who cannot pay or for whom payment will not cover the costs of care,” he said.  “The changes we are making will eliminate approximately $700,000 in costs during the coming year.”
 
“The healthcare industry as a whole is facing unprecedented challenges,” he said. “Hospitals from across the nation are experiencing lower reimbursement from both federal and state payers, higher uncompensated care, and costly health reform mandates as well as reductions in insured elective procedures.  In fact, federal health law will reduce reimbursements to Tennessee hospitals by at least $5.6 billion over the next 10 years. That money was supposed to be replaced through the expansion of Medicaid programs, called for in the Affordable Care Act. Unfortunately, since it appears that Tennessee will not be expanding Medicaid, we can anticipate continued growth of uninsured patients.”
 
McGill said that River Park, along with other hospitals throughout Tennessee, continues to be significantly impacted by these challenges.
Most of River Park’s savings were achieved through a reorganization and consolidation of management positions.  Only six positions were eliminated, including several that weren’t currently filled.  The positions consolidated were all in management. Most of the impacted employees were able to transfer to other positions that were open.  No patient care positions were eliminated. 
 
“We are working with two individuals for whom no position was available in order to facilitate as smooth a transition as possible for them. They do have the opportunity to transfer internally to a sister hospital if there are job openings for which they qualify. Decisions that involve the loss of even one job are never easy to make.”
 
Additionally, the Diabetes Treatment Center will be closed later this year.  “While we will still provide nutritional counseling and diabetes education to inpatients and offer periodic community education programs, we are closing the Diabetes Treatment Center. We will be working with our existing patients to complete current care plans and facilitate a smooth transition.”
 
“All hospitals must create the most cost-effective structure possible to succeed in this new economic reality and under healthcare reform.  While decisions like this are certainly difficult, they are necessary to assure that we can continue to fulfill our mission,” McGill said.
 
“During the past two years, we’ve made significant progress on a number of our goals, including those relating to providing the highest quality of care and ensuring a positive experience for our patients.  This is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our employees.  We will continue to work collaboratively with our employees and physicians to find the best ways to achieve our mission of providing the highest quality of healthcare to McMinnville and surrounding areas.”
 

Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation officials are warning members about a number of scam phone calls where fraudulent callers are posing as employees of Middle Tennessee Electric and contacting members claiming their account is past due and subject to cutoff. 
“The callers have recently been targeting local businesses and occasionally individuals,” said MTEMC Communications Coordinator Josh Clendenen. “The callers have been instructing members to get a prepaid credit or debit card to pay their bill over the phone.”
 
MTEMC would like members to know if they are unsure if a caller is from the cooperative, they should hang up and call our member services line at 1-877-777-9020 to speak to an employee in our contact center. In the event a member’s account is past due, they would receive an automated phone call notifying them of the past due nature of their account. MTEMC employees will never ask for their personal account or payment information unless the member initiates the call.
 
Bill payment methods at MTEMC include bank draft, online bill pay, pay by phone at 1-877-777-9020, pay by mail and pay in person.
 
“If a member is subject to one of these calls, we encourage them to not give out any information, hang up and notify the authorities,” said Clendenen. “If you would like to know the status of your account, you can log onto your account through our website or call our member services line where they will give you the most up to date account information.”
 
Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation is a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative providing electricity to more than 190,000 residential and business members in Williamson, Wilson, Rutherford and Cannon counties.
 

Round 1 of the two regular season girls battle between the Cannon County Lionettes and the Smith County Lady Owls is in the books.  And if Tuesday night’s game is any indication there could be more classic games between the two in the postseason.  Tuesday night at Robert A Harris Gym neither team could distance themselves from the other by more than five points in the entire game.  The game featured a matchup of Abbey Sissom and Callie Hackett as both led their teams in scoring.  Cannon missed several open shots throughout the game and it would come to haunt them in a 3 point loss to the Lady Owls 52-49.  Cannon had two players in double figures as Erin McReynolds stepped up and scored 10 points while Sissom only went 5 of 27 from the field and scored 16 points on the night.  Callie Hackett had 26 for Smith County.  Cannon’s record is now 9-1 and 2-1 in district play.  Smith runs their record to 7-0 and 2-0 in district play.   The Cannon County Lions continued to dominate district opponents.  After a close first half, the Lions shut down Smith County’s big man Jamal Carter all night only allowing him to score 3 points and kept him in foul trouble most of the night.  Tanner Hackett would score 17 but that’s all the offense Smith County could draw up.  Cory Henley led all scorers with 20 while Tanner Larson added 15 and Garrett Mc Reynolds contributed 10.  The Lions scorched the Owls 72-39 to grab their 9th win of the year and remain undefeated in district 8-AA with a 3-0 record.  Friday night the Lions and Lionettes get ready for an intense rivalry as they travel to nearby Smithville for games against Dekalb County.  Game time will start at 6:00