News 2015

The Heart of Tennessee Chapter of the American Red Cross will be hosting their 3rd Annual Heroes Luncheon on Wednesday, February 25 at noon at the Stones River Country Club. Seating begins at 11:30 a.m. This year’s event will honor Gordon Ferguson as the “Hero of the Year”. “Gordon Ferguson has been a long-time friend and supporter of the Heart of Tennessee Chapter of the American Red Cross,” said Mike Cowles, Executive of Heart of Tennessee Chapter.  His care and support of the community are un-paralleled and this is why we have selected Gordon.  It is our honor to recognize Gordon because he truly exemplifies what it means to be a “Hero”.  Please make plans to attend this very special day.”
Gordon Ferguson has served as president and chief executive officer since 2006. Ferguson has more than 20 years of healthcare experience and in 2009 was named one of Business Tennessee Magazine’s top 25 hospital operators in Tennessee. In 2010, he was named one of Nashville Business Journal’s Healthcare Heroes and named the 2010 Daily News Journal (DNJ) Person of the Year. He began his career as director of planning at Baptist Medical Center Princeton in Birmingham, Ala. In 1998, Ferguson joined Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital as senior vice president of support services and subsequently served as senior vice president of operations. In 2004, he was named chief operating officer. He has overseen the construction of the $267 million New Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital facility and the $26 million outpatient service facility, facilitated the establishment of joint ventures and completed a master facility plan as part of the hospital’s overall strategic plan.  Ferguson was the 2011 American Heart Association Heart Walk Chair and serves on the American Heart Association Rutherford County board. He was the 2011 President of the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. He also serves on the Business Education Partnership board of directors, a member of noon Rotary in Murfreesboro, and a graduate of Leadership Rutherford. He and his wife, Cindy, who is a speech language pathologist with Murfreesboro City Schools, live in Murfreesboro with their two sons, Robbie and Andy.
Corporate and individual table sponsorships from $250 – $5,000 are still available. To purchase a sponsorship or to get more information, please contact Mike Cowles at 615-893-4272 ext. 101 or via e-mail at mike.cowles@redcross.org.  
 

A Farm Bill Meeting is planned for Monday, January 26, 2015; 10:00 AM at the Woodbury Lions Club Building. Topics Include Farm Bill Programs & Decisions Specific to Row Crop Production in Tennessee:
•    Price Loss Coverage (PLC)
•    Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO)
•    FSA Online Decision Aids
•    Base Acre Reallocation
•    Yield Updates
•    Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC)
Learning more about ARC & PLC is extremely important for row crop producers who must make a one-time decision about base and yield updates by February 27th, 2015, as well as ARC or PLC election by March 31st, 2015. UT and USDA-FSA representatives will be in attendance to answer questions on ARC & PLC policy and procedure. Although the meeting is free and open to the public; please contact UT Extension Cannon County at (615) 563-2554 or bsteelman@utk.edu(DeKalb County at 615-597-4945 or mbarry@utk.eduor Donny Green, County Executive Director, DeKalb/Cannon County Farm Service Agency, (615) 597-8225, Ext. 103 to register for planning purposes for lunch. The lunch is being sponsored by Farm Credit.This program, like all UT Extension programs, is open to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, disability or veteran status.
For additional information concerning the Farm Bill, each Tuesday, starting January 20th and concluding March 24th, University of Tennessee Extension will host a weekly 1-hour online webcast starting at 8:30 am CST where producers and agri-industry can ask questions and obtain information about Farm Bill programs and decisions. The webcast can be accessed at: http://economics.ag.utk.edu/farmbill.html

The Arts Center of Cannon County will hold its annual membership meeting on Sunday, January 18th at 2:00PM.  A State of the Arts address will be presented as well as reviewing the past year and looking into the future.  Everyone is invited to attend.  Refreshments will be served following the meeting.  The Arts Center is located at 1424 John Bragg Highway, just west of the town of Woodbury. Office hours are 10:00a.m. to 4:00p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. For information, call (615) 563-2787 or check the (ACCC’s) web-site at artscenterofcc.com.
 

The last American Red Cross Blood Drive hosted by the Woodbury Lions Club in November had 69 donors to register from which 60 units of blood were collected.  The drive in November honored Cannon County High School Student Tommy Drake and people brought in aluminum can tabs also in which the Cannon County Rescue Squad helped.  A total of 165 tabs were collected and turned in to the Ronald McDonald House.  Today from noon to 6 is the bi monthly blood drive of the American Red Cross.  The Red Cross would like to encourage all those that are eligible to donate blood sometime today.  Blood supply is short simply because of the holidays and people getting back into their regular daily routine.  People just haven’t had the time to stop and donate blood.  Today offers an excellent opportunity to donate blood as the Lions Club blood drives are some of the most top producing blood drives in the State.  The blood drive will take place at the Woodbury Lions Club building from noon until 6.

The Advanced Master Beef and Cow College series continues tonight.  Tonight’s meeting will be held at the Centertown Community Center located at 92 Gilbert Street McMinnville in Centertown  Tonight Mr. Larry Moorehead: “Forages, and the importance of Hay Storage.” Mr. Moorehead is the popular Extension Agent in Lynchburg. He has focused his career around improving forages and conducted the first research project dealing with hay loss and storage in Tennessee. For more information about tonight’s event please contact the UT Extension Office in Cannon County at 563-2554  

There will be a meeting of American Legion Post 279, Legionnaires, Auxiliary, and Sons of Squadron 279, at the Senior Citizens Center, on tonight at 5:45pm for dinner, and 6:30pm for our regular meeting.  Come on out and join us for some good food, lots of fun, and find out what is in store for Post 279 for 2015. If you are a veteran in Cannon  County we would certainly be honored to have you as a member of a great American Legion Post which is totally family oriented.  We are trying to build our membership numbers.    Call me at 615-563-6111, or see a current member of Post 279 and get an application.  
 

The members of the Tennessee Senate and House have re-elected Justin P. Wilson to serve as the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury. The vote by acclamation was taken during Wednesday’s joint convention of the 109th General Assembly. Wilson is Tennessee’s 34th Comptroller of the Treasury and was re-elected to his fourth two-year term. He leads a staff of more than 500 employees.
The Comptroller’s duties include the audit of state and local government entities and participation in the general financial and administrative management and oversight of state government.
“I am very pleased to serve a fourth term as Tennessee’s Comptroller,” said Comptroller Wilson. “I appreciate the General Assembly’s support and confidence, and I pledge to continue our office’s mission of improving the quality of life for all Tennesseans by making government work better.”
If you suspect fraud, waste or abuse of public money in Tennessee, call the Comptroller’s toll-free hotline at (800) 232-5454, or file a report online at: www.comptroller.tn.gov/hotline.
 

The Cannon County Lions and Lionettes have made it a point to never overlook anyone this season especially in a tough district where upsets can happen on any given night.  For instance while the Lions and Lionettes were playing Dekalb Tuesday night another district matchup saw 5th ranked Central Magnet fall to York Institute who was sitting at the bottom of the district standings in Jamestown in girls basketball.  Both Cannon teams got exactly what they needed Tuesday night as both teams protected the home floor and coasted to easy wins.  The Lions built leads in the second half by as many as 22 in beating the Dekalb County Tigers 77-57.  Josh Ruehlan scored 20 of his game high 30 points in the first half.  Jacob Nave added 10 and Austin Martin dominated inside the paint and finished with 8 points.  The Lionettes placed three in double figures as Kendra Maynard notched 17 points en route to a 65-33 trouncing of the Lady Tigers.  Kelli Davis added 11 while Erin McReynolds finished with 10 for the Lionettes who improve to 3-4 in District play while staying in the Top Ten Poll at #10.  Both teams will return to the court at Robert A Harris Gym to play Central Magnet school Friday night.  

Unless there’s a lot of new business items that didn’t make it on the official agenda of the January meeting of the Cannon County Commission, the meeting Saturday may not be a lengthy one.  According to the agenda released Tuesday afternoon, the only items on the agenda are budget amendments from the County General, Sheriff’s Department, Reach program and Ambulance Service.  There is a section for New Business and Old Business but no items are listed.  The meeting will take place Saturday January 17th at 10A in the courtroom of the Cannon County Courthouse.

State Senator Mae Beavers took the oath of office on Tuesday in Nashville as the 109th General Assembly was gaveled into session.  The oath was administered by Supreme Court Justice Holly Kirby during the legislature’s three-day organizational session which will end on Thursday. “I appreciate the people of the 17th District for entrusting me to represent them in our State Senate,” said Senator Beavers.   “I appreciate their confidence and will work very hard to earn their continued trust.”
Other organizational tasks that will be taken up this week include the adoption of Senate rules, election of the state’s constitutional officers and election of the members of the General Assembly’s Joint Fiscal Review Committee.  The General Assembly will then recess for two weeks to allow for office assignments.