News 2015

For many Tennesseans, this special season is a time of celebration and reflection with loved ones. In Washington, however, it is apparently a time for 2,000 page, trillion-dollar, backroom spending bills – your Christmas “gift” from the D.C. political class.  Today Congress voted to pass a $1.1 trillion omnibus bill that funds the government through September 30, 2016. House leaders called the bill a “compromise” but I call it a lump of coal in every taxpayer’s stocking and I voted against it for three main reasons:
First, the omnibus bill fails to make serious reforms to our refugee resettlement program – even at a time when President Obama’s own Secretary of Homeland Security admitted that terrorists could attempt to ‘exploit’ this system. What’s more, just this week two suspects with possible links to the Paris terrorist attacks were arrested in an Austrian refugee center, highlighting the very real risks that continue to exist within the program.
Conservatives understand the importance of offering help to foreign citizens in need, but we also know that our first Constitutional responsibility is to “provide for the common defense.” That means keeping Americans safe and addressing these glaring security gaps before terrorists use them as an opening to reach U.S. shores. The lack of meaningful changes to our refugee resettlement policies in this bill endanger our national security and represent an unacceptable omission.
Secondly, this legislation lacked any meaningful, new policies to protect the unborn, despite a letter that I sent to House leadership alongside more than 120 of my colleagues specifically requesting such provisions. If there was ever a time to force pro-abortion Members of Congress’s hands on this issue, it was now – at a time when the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, is mired in scandal and Obamacare’s unconstitutional HHS mandate is headed back to the Supreme Court. The lack of significant, pro-life changes in this omnibus is a missed opportunity if I’ve ever seen one.
Finally, the omnibus bill continues the borrow-and-spend cycle that has plagued Washington for too long. Our nation is nearly $19 trillion in debt, yet this legislation piles on $1.1 trillion in spending. In fact, the bill spends $50 billion above the spending caps in the Budget Control Act of 2011. I came to Congress to stop the runaway spending that is robbing our children and grandchildren’s future and this bill failed to address that.
I have always said that, in divided government, legislators must not let the perfect be the enemy of the good – but we also must recognize when legislation simply isn’t good enough. Such was the case with this bill. While I am disappointed that the bill ultimately passed over my objections, I was proud to use my vote on behalf of Tennessee’s 6th District to stand against it.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol announced last week that it will receive traffic safety grants from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to provide increased enforcement, public awareness campaigns and help reduce serious injury and fatal crashes on state roadways in 2016. The grant funds were distributed through the Governor’s Highway’s Safety Office (GHSO). The THP continues to target seat belt usage across the state. The BELTS program will provide funding to allow state troopers to enhance the current seat belt usage rate of 86.2%. Statistical data revealed that unrestrained fatalities are most likely to occur on Fridays and Saturdays than any other day of the week.
Goals of the BELTS Program include:
Conducting seat belt checkpoints in each of the eight THP Districts each month;
Each district will participate in the 12 statewide seat belt blitzes scheduled;
Reducing the number of unrestrained drivers in fatal and injury crashes by 5%;
 Increasing the seat belt usage rate by 2.5%.
THP received $130,068.48 in grant monies for the BELTS program.
The Sober Up TN program allows the THP to allocate additional hours for state troopers to patrol the interstates, conduct sobriety checkpoints, perform bar checks, and educate the public on the dangers of drinking and driving.
State Troopers have utilized a data-driven approach to address alcohol-related crashes by targeting times and locations where these types of incidents are most prevalent. Predictive analytics has revealed that the majority of impaired driving crashes occurred between the hours of 4 p.m. and 5 a.m., and a higher rate of alcohol-related wrecks occur on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Goals of the Sober Up TN Program include:
Increasing the number of sobriety checkpoints;
Enforcing DUI and alcohol-related offenses;
Reducing fatalities where alcohol was indicated as a contributing factor;
Facilitating community meetings to solicit citizen attendance and input and involve local agencies, District Attorney Generals, school and court officials and associated stakeholders.
Sober Up TN grant funds that were provided to the agency amounted to $750,000.00.
Both grant programs run through September 30, 2016.

Middle Tennessee State University is listed as the top-ranked public university in the state by a national website that focuses on what it considers the best values in higher education.Best-Value-Schools-Tennessee-web MTSU was ranked No. 2 overall, behind Vanderbilt University in Nashville, by BestValueSchools.com in a list of 20 institutions evaluated for 20-year net return on investment, net price and graduation and acceptance rates.
The website noted MTSU’s growth from a teacher school to a major comprehensive university, saying that it “now offers dozens of degrees in a wide range of unique academic and vocational fields.”
It also singled out MTSU’s “specialized” departments of Recording Industry, Aerospace and Concrete Industry Management, saying they represent the university’s “commitment to student success after graduation by preparing them for promising careers in vital, local industries.”
The website said the ranking offers prospective students “a premier selection of universities to help get you started on your search for an education in Tennessee.”

 Tennessee Labor & Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips announced today the Tennessee preliminary unemployment rate for November was 5.6 percent, unchanged from the October revised rate. The U.S. preliminary rate for November was 5.0 percent, also unchanged from the prior month. Economic Summary
Over the past year, Tennessee’s unemployment rate decreased from 6.6 percent to 5.6 percent while the national rate declined from 5.8 percent to 5.0 percent.
Total nonfarm employment increased 1,000 jobs from October to November. The largest increases occurred in financial activities, manufacturing, and transportation/warehousing/utilities.
 Over the year, nonfarm employment increased 48,600 jobs. The largest increases occurred in trade/transportation/utilities, professional/business services, and leisure/hospitality.

Just because it’s Christmas Break doesn’t mean the high school basketball teams get to go on vacation.  Today will start play in the Don W. Lockard Invitational at Clinton High School.  The Cannon County Lionettes will start play today in the first game as they will meet the Stone Memorial Lady Panthers.  Stone Memorial from Crossville is 4-4 overall and Cannon will be the third team from District 8-AA that the Lady Panthers will face this year.  The team has split winning over York while losing big to Livingston. Tipoff scheduled for 11:30 Central time 12:30 Eastern time.  The Cannon County Lions schedule has changed from original.  The Lions were scheduled to play twice on Friday originally but the new schedule has them playing the host team Clinton at 4:00 Central and 5:00 Eastern.  The Dragons are 7-3 having won their last three in a row while Cannon County tries to break a 5 game losing streak.    

A Cannon County man sitting in the parking lot of a Body Shop was arrested for public drunk after the Body Shop Officials called the Cannon County Sheriff’s Department.  According to Sheriff’s Department Reports, Cannon County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to Bill Sparkman’s Body Shop after Mr. Sparkman called in to say there was a male later identified as Larry Dale Parsley sitting in a wrecked white Ford Explorer passed out behind the wheel. Deputies spoke with Parsley who was still in the driver’s seat.  Deputies noticed he had slow slurred speech, red watery eyes and was unsteady on his feet.  Parsley admitted to taking sleeping medicine approximately two hours prior and had wrecked the truck on Short Mountain Road in Dekalb County and called Smith’s Towing to tow his truck and him to Sparkman’s Body Shop.  Parsley was arrested and charged with Drunkeness and will answer to the charge in General Sessions Court on January 5th.

One more free food giveaway for the 2015 year happens Saturday starting at no later than 10A in the parking lot of the First Methodist Church 502 West High Street Woodbury.  Please bring your own box, laundry basket, or container to put the food in.  Everyone is welcome.  This will be a “drive thru” distribution.  Cars should line up on High Street coming up the hill from College Street.  Each car will be directed through the parking lot of First Methodist and out through the First Baptist Church parking lot.  There will be a limit of food for two families for each car, in order to ensure that those at the end of the line receive more food.  For more information contact the Woodbury United Methodist Church office at 615-563-2135.  

The Kelli Davis and Autumn King Show was back on track after a one game absence and the Cannon County Lionettes head to this weekend trip to Clinton Tennessee having won two of three games and pulled their district record even at 2-2 as they defeated the York Institute Dragonettes 55-41.  King and Davis sent several York shots to the bleachers defensively, the Lionettes as a team showed improvement in the ability to rebound the basketball and three Lionettes scored in double figures.  Once again Maleah Scott was a benefactor in the ability to break the full court press as she was able to score 15 points off of many easy layups after being wide open under the basket.  Davis poured in 11 and King led all scorers with 17 points.  Lionettes move to 3-7 on the season overall. The Cannon County Lions rose to the occasion Tuesday night when they played York Institute as they tried to break a 3 game district losing streak.   However missed free throws were crucial as Cannon missed 12 of them, several in key moments of the game and York escaped with a 66-58 win.  Briar Jakes ended up with 15 points and played most of the fourth quarter with four fouls.  Jakes was injured in the final minute of the game.  Austin Martin finished with 14 points also in foul trouble with four the entire fourth quarter.  Anton Knox played his best game of the early season scoring seven points but grabbing several rebounds and helped to contain Tennessee Tech Signee Colton Blevins even though Blevins scored 24 points.  Cannon County’s record is now 3-7 and have lost 5 in a row.  They are 0-4 in District 8-AA.  Both teams will participate in the Clinton Christmas Tournament in Anderson County starting Friday.
 

The TNStars College Savings 529 Program announced a $10,000 scholarship giveaway for this month . Ten Tennessee kids will win a $1,000 college scholarship into a TNStars account, just for entering online. A program of the Tennessee Treasury Department, TNStars encourages all to give the gift of the future this holiday. Daily winners will be drawn at random . All legal Tennessee residents age21 and older can enter to win on behalf of a child .. One entry is good for the entire contest period. To enter, visit tnstars.com/holiday-sweeps/. There is no purchase necessary to enter, but winners will need to establish a TNStars account where the scholarship will be deposited. The scholarship money will be invested on behalf of the winning beneficiary to cover future post-secondary education expenses.
“When you open a college savings account, you are promising your children a brighter future. We are excited to give ten Tennessee children that gift this December,” said Treasurer David H. Lillard, Jr.
Nationally ranked for investment performance, TNStars is designed to give Tennessee families high quality investment options at a low cost to help them put aside money for higher education expenses. Tennesseans can invest directly with the program and money can be withdrawn tax-free from a TNStars account as long as it is used for qualified post-secondary education expenses.
In addition to the scholarship giveaway, TNStars recently announced special holiday incentives for both new and existing accounts. This December, those who open a new TNStars account with as little as $100 can get a $25 holiday gift added to their account. Or, both new and existing accounts can receive a special $100 gift for every $1000 contributed to their TNStars account, up to a $500 gift.
To enter the scholarship giveaway or to get more information on the program, visit TNStars.com. TNStars is a registered trademark of the Tennessee Treasury Department.

Two girls teams tied in the early district 8-AA standings meet tonight as the 1-2 York Institute Dragonettes travel to Woodbury to meet the Cannon County Lionettes.   This game could serve as a possible measuring stick for where Cannon County should be at this stage of the season.  Both teams share a loss to Smith County while York’s last game was a win over Dekalb County.  The other district loss came to the hands of Upperman last week .  The Lionettes have a great shot at going 2-2 in the district before the Christmas break but they’ll need the leadership of Autumn King and Kelli Davis to have a chance to get the job done. The Cannon County Lions face a huge game against the team that many believe have the chance to win District 8-AA tonight.  After suffering an upset to the hands of Smith County, the Dragons have collected a close win against Upperman while blowing out Dekalb back on Friday night.  The Lions have yet to collect a win against a district opponent.  Tonight’s game features a marquee matchup between post players Austin Martin and Tennessee Tech signee Colton Blevins.
Games will be broadcast tonight on AM-1540/FM 107.9 WBRY online at wbry.com and through WBRY by using your smart phones and tablets with the Tune In Radio app