News 2015

The Secretary of State’s office has empaneled a committee of accomplished teachers from across the state to develop new lesson plans and teaching aids based on information contained in the Tennessee Blue Book. The Blue Book, considered the definitive almanac of Tennessee state government, is produced every other year by the Secretary of State’s office. The Blue Book contains a wealth of information about the governor, state legislators, state legislative committees, administrative departments of state government and the government’s structure. It also contains information about local governments, the federal government, state history and much more.
“For years, teachers have used the Blue Book to help teach their students valuable lessons about civics,” Secretary of State Tre Hargett said. “This new committee will be charged with developing some structured curricula that teachers can use in their classrooms. I want to thank all the committee members for their service and I’m excited about the work they will produce.”
The members of the group, known as the Secretary of State’s Blue Book Curriculum Task force, are:
* William Freddy Curtis. A 28-year veteran teacher, Curtis currently teaches U.S. government, sociology and AP U.S. government and politics at Cannon County High School.
“I am excited to be part of the SOS Blue Book Curriculum Task Force to utilize a great Tennessee treasure – the Tennessee Blue Book – in classrooms across Tennessee,” Curtis said. “The Blue Book is a fantastic resource filled with primary source documents that can be correlated to the new Tennessee social studies standards that were adopted last year.  I anticipate helping in this process, and I look forward to working with other teachers to achieve this goal.”
* Lain Whitaker. A 35-year veteran of teaching, Whitaker currently teaches American history at St. Mary’s Episcopal School in Shelby County.
“I am looking forward to meeting and working with other educators who are interested in promoting civic education in Tennessee,” Whitaker said.
* Addison Pate. A fourth-year teacher, Pate teaches AP U.S. history and U.S. government honors classes at Ravenwood High School in Williamson County.
“Too many Tennesseans today know little about how their local, state and federal governments work,” Pate said. “My hope is that our task force, by creating effective civics content strategies, reverses this trend and helps Tennessee’s next generation better understand their democracy as well as their role within it.”
* Gordon Sisk. A 27-year veteran, Sisk teaches U.S. government, AP U.S. government, U.S. history and AP U.S. history at Karns High School in Knox County.
“I am so fired up about the opportunity to create some lessons from the Blue Book,” Sisk said. “I hope to create lessons to draw attention to geography and to civil rights in Tennessee.”
* Rebecca Marino. An 18-year veteran, Marino is a library media specialist at Arnold Memorial School with Cleveland City Schools in Bradley County.
“In 2013 the National Council for the Social Studies stated, ‘It is time to demonstrate our commitment to democratic principles, our willingness to engage in the democratic process, and our core values that join us as ‘We the People’ to promote civic learning policies and programs,'” Marino said. “I am so excited to be part of the Secretary of State’s Blue Book Curriculum Task Force, creating lessons and curriculum for our state’s students.”
* Erika Ashford. A 10-year veteran, Ashford teaches U.S. government, contemporary issues and African American history at Ridgeway High School in Shelby County.
“I am looking forward to working with educators across the state to create a curriculum that will educate, equip and engage our students in grasping the importance of civic duty and responsibility, Ashford said. “In the time we live in today in America it is imperative that we educate our students on not only the content of our government, but on how to be politically astute as it relates to the well being of their own families and communities.”
* Cindy Bellamy. A sixth-year teacher, Bellamy teaches social studies and writing at John Adams Elementary School at Kingsport City Schools in Sullivan County.
“Being part of the Blue Book Curriculum Task Force will provide me with the opportunity to assist with the creation of lessons that introduce students to the concept of human rights and the fundamental freedoms as outlined in the Constitution of the United States,” Bellamy said. “I strongly believe that it is of significant importance to instill in students the knowledge of how to become active, effective, and thoughtful citizens. I look forward to being a part of a task force that helps to educate others about our government, state, and civic duties.”
The group has been asked to create two sets of education materials that would comply with the standards of the state’s social studies curriculum by June 30.

The March 11 deadline is nearing for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency‘s 2015-16 photo contest. Winning entries will be used for publication in the Tennessee Wildlife Magazine’s popular annual calendar issue. All interested photographers are invited to submit their best photos on fish and wildlife species native to Tennessee, and fishing and hunting scenes in Tennessee. 
The photos will be reviewed for publication in the annual calendar edition of Tennessee Wildlife Magazine which is the summer issue. If a photo is selected for the calendar edition, the photographer will receive a cash stipend of $60.
The format is horizontal digital images on disk. Only digital images in JPEG format and of high resolution (300 dpi) sized as an 8 1/2×11 will be accepted.
Each disk submitted must have the name of the photographer stamped or written on it. No prints can be accepted. (Sorry, disks cannot be returned).
Entries can be mailed to: 
Tennessee Wildlife Magazine
Calendar Issue
P.O. Box 40747
Nashville, TN  37204
Tennessee Wildlife is the official magazine for the TWRA. Subscription rates are $10 for one year, $17 for two years and $25 for three years. 

Cannon County Extension office will host an advanced Master goat sheep class series beginning this month at the Woodbury Lions Club Building.  The program will consist of six meetings covering the following topics, guidelines for custom exempt harvest and retail and wholesale meat regulations, reproduction, predators, nutrition, livestock evaluation and grading, forage management, marketing principals and regulations and portable fencing farm safety and biosecurity.  Cost for the course is $70 for all meetings materials and snacks. Individuals that have not participated in a Master Goat program and or producers who completed the original Master Goat Class during or prior to 2011 must complete this class by Dec 2015 to be eligible for 50% reimbursement from the Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement grants.  You do not have to have attended the original Master Goat Class to participate.  Registration deadline is March 15th.  Call UT Cannon County Extension at 563-2554 to register
 

The winners of the  Lions Club annual Peace Poster and Drug Essay contests were announced recently.  Elizabeth Salaway, a student at Westside School won first place in the county and third place in the district in the contest.  Michelle Stone, a student at Eastside School won first place in the county as well as first place in the district.  Stone received a total of $575.00 for her winnings.  Her essay will now be entered in the statewide contest with the winner being named and prize awarded at the State Lions convention on May 9th which takes place in Clarksville.   Peace Poster and Drug Essay contests are offered each year in all Cannon County Schools and local winners have consistently placed high at the district and state levels.
 

 The Cannon County Republican Party will meet tonight at 6:30 PM in the courtroom of the Courthouse on the Square in Woodbury. Several topics will be discussed which should make it an interesting meeting.  The organization will take time to appreciate some special people that have contributed to the successful gains the Republican Party has made in Cannon County. Two special guests are also expected to attend the meeting. They are: Lee Gatts – Grassroots Coordinator for Tennesseans For Student Success and the Honorable Jennifer Winfree who is one of our representatives on the Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee.

Tennessee Labor & Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips announced last week the Tennessee preliminary unemployment rate for January was 6.7 percent, one-tenth of one percentage point higher than the December revised rate of 6.6 percent. The U.S. preliminary rate for January was 5.7 percent, also gaining one-tenth of one percentage point from the prior month. Economic Summary Over the past year, Tennessee’s unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.7 percent, while the national rate declined from 6.6 percent to 5.7 percent. Total nonfarm employment increased 8.300 jobs from December, 2014 to January, 2015. The largest increases occurred in trade/transportation/utilities, professional/scientific/technical services, and manufacturing.
Over the year, nonfarm employment increased 71,700 jobs. The largest increases occurred in trade/transportation/utilities, professional/business services and manufacturing.
 

Martin Luther King post player Jordan Majors looks pretty comfortable playing on the hardwood floor at MTSU’s Murphy Center.  It would seem a good fit for the 6-0 post player as she will be calling the Murfreesboro spot her home for her collegiate career.  The MTSU signee who played a key in getting her high school team the Lady Royals into their second straight TSSAA State Tournament appearance used her size advantage to help her team advance to the semi-final round as the Lady Royals advanced beating Cannon County 69-48 in the first round.  The Lionettes biggest downfall this season has been a lack of experienced depth.  That weakness led to 3 Lionette starters fouling out of the game during their closest run in the fourth quarter as they took an 18 point deficit and got as close as 7 before Kelli Davis and Autumn King fouled out of the game on back to back plays.  Martin Luther was able to build the lead back up and coast the rest of the quarter winning 69-48.  Cannon only went to the foul line 15 times and hit 8 while Martin Luther’s stats at the free throw line were more than double the trips ending up 25-34 from the charity stripe.  Kendra Maynard led all Lionette starters with 15 points while Erin McReynolds who fouled out scored 11.  Cannon finished the season 24-10 with a huge successful run in the postseason which ended with the third consecutive appearance in the TSSAA State Tournament.

The 2015 postseason will probably be remembered more for the weather postponements than anything else.  Weather has played a factor in eliminating many of the district tournament championships around the state in the middle of February.  Snow and ice also played a factor in the delay of several region tournament championships many of which had to be played the same weekend that the sectional round would have been played if the games were right on schedule.  Now another winter weather storm has postponed the second day of the TSSAA girls state tournament.  So let’s try it again.  The Cannon County Lionettes are ready to continue their postseason run tonight vs Martin Luther King Both teams have been surprising this postseason.  Cannon finished 5th in the district earning the 5th seed going into the district tournament.  Not only did the Lionettes get to the district championship game, they also reached the region championship game which they claimed with a win over Central Magnet.  Next came the two point win over Seqouyah in the sectional game Monday night to secure the right to participate in their third consecutive straight State Tournament.  The Martin Luther King Royals finished perfect in their regular district with a 14-0 record but got bit by Lipscomb in the tournament.  After reaching the region tournament championship the Lady Royals lost the battle by three to state participant Westmoreland.  That set the team up for the biggest upset of the season as Martin Luther King ended the basketball season of  powerhouse CPA.  Tonight’s matchup between Cannon County and Martin Luther King will tipoff at 6:45.  We will have the live broadcast of the game starting  on AM-1540/FM96.7 WBRY, streaming online at wbry.com and through WBRY by using the Tune In Radio app on your smartphones and tablets.
 

Cannon County Schools Will Be Closed Friday March 6 2015Motlow State Community College Is Closed.  All Campus Locations
Cannon County Library System is Closed Today (Adams Memorial and Auburntown Branches)
Music Night scheduled at the Cannon Senior Center Tonight Has Been Canceled
 
Other school systems in the WBRY listening area closed today include
County: Bedford, Coffee, Dekalb, Rutherford, Smith, Warren and Wilson
City: Manchester, Tullahoma and Murfreesboro
Private Murfreesboro-Bill Rice Academy, Middle Tennessee Christian School, and Franklin Road Christian School
Smyrna-Lancaster Academy is closed.  Smyrna Christian School will open 1 hour late
Lebanon-Friendship Christian School
Manchester-Temple School
Shelbyville-Victory Baptist
Webb School is closed today.
MTSU Campus is closed today..  Daymar Institute Of Murfreesboro will open at 10:00
 
 

Cannon County Courthouse is closed today. TSSAA Basketball Tournaments Scheduled For Today at MTSU have been canceled.  This includes the first round game between Cannon County and Martin Luther King that was supposed to have tipped off at 5:15.  The game has been rescheduled for Friday at 6:45
 
Cannon County Senior Center is closed today
Adams Memorial Library is closed today.
Woodbury City Hall will be closing today at 11:00A
Colleges and Universities: Cumberland University, ITT Tech, MTSU, All Motlow campus sites.  University of Phoenix in Murfreesboro.  TN C.A.T. programs of McMinnville, Shelbyville and Murfreesboro. 
 
Tennessee Tech University will be open at 11 this morning