News 2016

The Cannon County Lions suffered a heartbreaking loss Tuesday night to the Upperman Bees in Baxter after a last second shot won the game for the home team.  There isn’t a lot of time to reflect on that loss as the Lions get ready for tonight’s game at Robert A Harris gymnasium against the Livingston Wildcats.  The Lions hope to bounce back in a positive fashion tonight meeting a team they saw during the Christmas break and lost to in a close non district game.  Tonight’s meeting does count in the District 8-AA standings.  Tonight’s set of basketball games starts out with the girls matchup between the Cannon County Lionettes and the Livingston Academy Lady Wildcats.  The Lionettes suffered their worst defeat in recent history and will meet another team that is listed in the Top Ten Poll in the state for the second consecutive game.
Tonight’s games will tipoff at 6:00.  AM-1540/FM 107.9 WBRY will have the live broadcast.  You can also check out the games streaming live on the website at wbry.com and through the smart phones and tablets using the Tune In Radio app.
 

Donny Green, County Executive Director of the DeKalb/Cannon County Farm Service Agency, reports the DeKalb/Cannon FSA County Committee met in regular session on Tuesday, December 8, 2015 to canvass and tabulate the ballots received in the 2015 Local Administrative Area (LAA) # 1 (DeKalb County) and LAA # 5 (Cannon County) County Committee Elections.
In the DeKalb County LAA # 1 election, Steve Officer was elected to serve as Committee Member. Randall West was elected as 1st Alternate Committee person and Bert Driver was elected as 2nd Alternate Committee person. In the Cannon County LAA # 5 election, Bob Melton was elected to serve as Committee Member, and Martin Daniel was elected to serve as 1st Alternate. All elected members began their terms on January 1st
The DeKalb/Cannon FSA County Committee met on January 12, 2016 to conduct its Organizational Meeting. The Committee selected Jack Campbell as the Chairperson, and Javin Fann as the Vice-Chairperson for 2016. R.V. Billings, Jr, Bob Melton, and Steve Officer serve as members of the Committee. The Committee meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 8:30 a.m. at the DeKalb/Cannon County USDA Service Center located at 647 Bright Hill Rd.
Green says that the DeKalb/Cannon FSA County Committee and office staff wishes to express their appreciation to voters in LAA’s # 1 and # 5 who participated in the elections by voting and returning their ballots. “The local County Committees are a very important part of Farm Service Agency’s program delivery and administrative processes,” added Green.
For more information about FSA’s County Committees or other program inquiries, call 597-8225 (extension 2) or come by the DeKalb/Cannon County Farm Service Agency office at 647 Bright Hill Street in Smithville. You can also visit the agency’s web site at:
 www.fsa.usda.gov.
 

Tennessee farmers markets are giving customers what they want:  access to as many fresh local products as possible through the cold weather months. Winter farmers markets and online market options are part of the national movement to make local and seasonal eating a viable choice year round.
Winter markets offer a wide variety of fresh produce that grows well in cooler weather, like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, carrots and cabbage. Autumn produce that stores well is also still available. Hard squash, pumpkins, garlic and all sorts of potatoes are typical winter market fare. Honey, sorghum, cured meats and farm-direct items like soaps made with goat’s milk and other farmed ingredients help fill out the winter market roster. Fresh meats can be purchased throughout the year, and winter markets are ideal locations to find a selection of your local favorites.  Produce and meat community supported agriculture (CSA) programs often use winter markets as a pick-up site for their members and usually have additional items to sell while there. Some farmers even take orders online so their loyal customers will know how much of an item is available and to make sure those customers get what they want.
Farmers market hours may differ in the winter. Check with your preferred market before you make the trip.
Tennessee CSAs and farmers markets are listed at the Pick Tennessee site, www.picktnproducts.org. There you will also find information on other farms, farm direct and artisan products and recipes for all seasons. Follow Pick Tennessee on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
 

The Cannon County Board of Education will meet tonight for their regular monthly meeting.  On the agenda tonight will be the discussion of Quick Scores.  Approval of the Cannon County High School gym bleacher bid.  Bonnie Patterson will update the Board on the medication policy.  The Board will review 5 school policy changes and updates.  Michael K. Jones has sent the following request to review the following.  Hiring teacher process by having a commitee to hire instead of the director of schools doing all the work.  Performance evaluation for the standing and future Director of Schools and Status of School Buses in Cannon County.  Allegedly Mr. Jones states that he followed a bus on Highway 53 recently and it didn’t appear to have working turn signals.  The meeting will be held at the Woodbury Grammar School Cafeteria.

Cannon County Sheriff’s Investigators recovered a stolen rifle at a Manchester Pawn Shop Monday.  According to Cannon County Sheriff’s Department reports, the rifle was last seen about a month ago by the victim Justin Bogard.  After looking in the room where the rifle was kept, Bogard noticed it missing and even asked his father about the gun.  His father stated that it was gone but had no idea as to why.  Bogard did not have the serial number nor did he remember the manufacturer of the rifle.  Bogard  believes that his sister’s fiancee is the one that took it.  The fiancee Derek Aji was questioned but denied even knowing about the rifle and commented to the Sheriff’s Deputy that Bogard wasn’t all there mentally.  Sheriff’s Investigators continued to investigate and Investigator Chris Brown checked with Tolliver’s Pawn Shop out of Manchester.  The manager stated there was gun there that matched the description.  The gun was sold to Toliver’s by Derek Aji.  Aji was charged with theft under $500.  He is scheduled to answer to the charges on February 2nd in Cannon County General Sessions Court.
 

The Cannon County Homeland Security Committee will have their regular scheduled quarterly meeting on Thursday January 14, 2016.  The meeting will start at 4:30 pm at the St. Thomas Stones River Hospital Board Room.

Some grammar school basketball teams will be recognizing their 8th grade basketball players tonight as they play their last regular season game at home.  Westside is one of the schools celebrating 8th grade night as Westside School hosts Eastside tonight, Short Mountain hosts Woodbury Grammar and Woodland travels to Auburntown tonight.  In Monday night’s girls games it was Short Mountain escaping with a win over Eastside 34-33, Auburntown beating Westside 45-23 and Woodland got a win over Woodbury 47-18.  Boys results from Monday had Eastside beating Short Mountain 48-35, Woodland got by Woodbury Grammar School 46-43.  All games tonight start at 6:00.
 

Averaging six turnovers a quarter is never a good way to win a basketball game much less stay in one.  The Cannon County Lionettes didn’t take care of the basketball Tuesday night in their game in Baxter against District 8-AA leader the Upperman Lady Bees.  The Lady Bees were able to get out to a 17-2 advantage before the end of the first quarter simply by converting the Lionette turnovers to Lady Bee Points.  Autumn King was in foul trouble early in the game and Kelli Davis never became a factor.  The Lionettes suffered one of their worst losses in recent history falling to Upperman 62-26.  Maleah Scott was the leading Cannon point getter with 11 points.  Cannon County is 8-11 and their district record falls to 2-3
Play solid defense and the biggest upset of the Lions season was theirs Tuesday night as the Cannon County Lions played the highly ranked 17-2 Upperman Bees in a district 8-AA contest in Baxter.  Cannon got out to a double digit lead in the first quarter but it was short lived as Upperman stormed back.  The game was back and forth all the way to the final buzzer.  The Lions Austin Martin hit a potential game winning three pointer as he lofted it off balance with 3.4 seconds left.  However the pressure defense collapsed on the ensuing Bee play and Upperman’s Ben Guffey drilled a three point winning field goal as time expired giving the Bees the win in Baxter 62-60.  Four Cannon County players were in double figures led by the return of Charlie Parrish who had been out since Christmas with appendectomy issues.  Parrish scored 16,  Austin Martin had 15.  Austin Duggin and Briar Jakes each had 12.  With the tough loss, the Lions record slips to 6-13 with their District 8-AA record at 0-5.  Cannon’s next games will be at Robert A Harris Gym Friday night to meet the Livingston Wildcats basketball teams.

“In over 20 years of the State Of Tennessee Legislative Sessions, this year’s w ill be one of the most important and heaviest scheduled sessions” State Senator Mae Beavers announced during her appearance at the Cannon County Republican Party meeting Monday night.  Some of the big issues facing the State Senate and Representatives this legislative session include: Illegal Immigration, Refugee Resettlement, Common Core and Defense of Marriage.  Most of the open discussion dealt with the definition of marriage in the state of Tennessee.  
Representative Mark Pody spoke on the Defense of Marriage Act and a couple of bills he is watching that may go through the floor by next week.  One of those bills is that brand new cars shouldn’t have to go through emission testing for the first three years.  Another bill would place sales tax money collected on tires in the funds of TDOT.  The 109th General Assembly convened for the 2016 sessions Tuesday at noon.

Murfreesboro is hosting The American Legion Walk for Veterans on January 22nd.  Leading the walk will be American Legion National Commander Dale Barnett and Department of Tennessee James Patterson.  Purpose of the walk is to raise public awareness about the crucial issues facing America’s veterans and their families.  
The walk will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday January 22nd.  The .8 mile walk will start at the front of the Embassy Suites and loop through The Avenues shopping mall before returning to the hotel complex.  All of the proceeds will benefit the American Legion National Emergency Fund, which has provided more than $8 million to American Legion family members and posts that have been impacted by natural disasters across the country since 1969.  The registration fee for the walk is $10 and will include a T-shirt.
For more information about the The American Legion Walk for Veterans call 615-391-5088 or email adjutant@tnlegion.org.