News

The aging compactor at the county convenience center is being repaired and the center is closed while work is underway.  County Executive Brent Bush closed the facility shortly after Noon on Saturday.An announcement will be made when the center is reopened.

The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) reminds consumers of a life insurance claims return tool that has found $6,808,924 in life insurance benefits for Tennesseans since January. 
The Life Insurance Policy Locator Service, which has been available since 2016, was developed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The service enables beneficiaries, executors, or legal representatives of a deceased person to locate life insurance policies and annuity contracts of their late family member, client, or friend.
 
“Handling the financial affairs of a deceased family member or friend can be overwhelming and emotional,” said TDCI Commissioner and NAIC President Julie Mix McPeak. “The Life Insurance Policy Locator Service helps ease the burden that family members and loved ones face during these tragic times. I am pleased that the service has located over $6.8 million in benefits for Tennesseans so far this year and grateful that the NAIC instituted this process.”
 
During the nearly eight-month period from January 1, 2018, to August 10, 2018, Tennesseans submitted a total of 514 requests to the Life Insurance Policy Locator Service. Nearly half of those requests (250) were matched to life insurance benefits. Companies reported $6,808,924 in benefits being located for Tennesseans. By comparison, Tennessee had a total of 206 requests for lost policy searches in all of 2017 and $2,868,762.94 was recovered in life insurance benefits.
 
The service does not track beneficiary information or claim payment after matches are reported so there is no way to determine the amount actually returned to consumers. The total claim amount only includes the amount reported by companies tied to a match.
 
If you are looking for a loved one’s lost policy, TDCI recommends you start by looking through papers or financial records to see if you can find where payments have been made to an insurance company. If any of the documents reference payments made to an insurance company, you can call them directly to see if a policy can be located.
 
You can also complete NAIC’s online Life Insurance Policy Locator Service request form. Once the request is complete, NAIC will send the policyholder’s information to all licensed life insurance companies in Tennessee. Then, companies will check their records to determine if they have a policy matching the beneficiary’s information. The company will respond within 60 days if a match is found.
 
For more information on the Lost Policy Service and other consumer insurance resources, visit tn.gov/insurance or contact the TDCI Consumer Insurance Service Division at 1-800-342-4029 or (615) 741-2218.
 

State Senator Mark Pody (Lebanon) and Representatives Clark Boyd (Lebanon), have announced today that $4,802 of federal technology grants will be going to libraries in their area. The grants will enable the libraries to purchase technology related items requested in their respective proposals for the grant. 
According to State Senator Pody, “Our libraries serve as a great resource for communities and give people access to technology they might not have. It is important for our libraries to stay up-to-date with technology, and these grants will assist libraries in this charge. I appreciate the libraries’ directors and staff for their work to secure these grants.”
 
Of the $4,802 in federal grants in their districts, $2,910 to the Cannon County Library System.
 
Representative Boyd commented, “Our local libraries are an important resource for the current and future leaders of our community. “I am pleased that these investments will allow our facilities to upgrade their technology so they can provide innovative tools that better serve our citizens.”
 
 

The Tennessee Department of Health urges Tennesseans to take preventive steps to avoid mosquito-borne diseases. West Nile virus is the most common mosquito-borne virus circulating in Tennessee. TDH has seen a recent increase in West Nile virus in mosquito testing in addition to human cases. Sadly, this includes two recent WNV deaths in Shelby County. 
In most years, the majority of human West Nile cases in Tennessee occur in August and September. All Tennesseans are advised to use mosquito protection for the remainder of the summer and early fall.
 

Fewer people have died on Tennessee roadways this year than last year, Tennessee Highway Patrol reports.From January to August, 34 fewer people have died in car crashes in 2018 than 2017.
Fatal crashes were down across the board except in crashes involving large trucks, buses, motorcycles, and ATVs.
Tennessee Highway Patrol says the reduction in fatal crashes can be contributed to increased traffic enforcement campaigns, such as “Booze it or Lose it” and “Click it or ticket.”
About one in three traffic deaths in the US involves a drunk driver. THP frequently conducts sobriety checkpoints to catch impaired drivers. The Highway Patrol have conducted several of the checks in Cannon County with local law enforcement.
Research proves that seat-belts save lives. To drive home the point early, THP troopers traveled county to county showing children the importance of wearing seat-belts properly.
 

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Tourist Development Commissioner Kevin Triplett have announced  Tennessee tourism’s direct domestic and international travel expenditures reached a new all-time record high of $20.7 billion in 2017, up 6.3 percent over the previous year, as reported by the U.S. Travel Association. This also means an increase for Cannon County. 
For the 12th consecutive year, tourism topped $1 billion in state and local sales tax revenue, reaching $1.8 billion. That marks a 7.6 percent increase over 2016, higher than the national growth of travel related state tax revenues of 4.6 percent. Tourism also generated 184,300 jobs for Tennesseans, a 3.1 percent growth year over year.
 
“Counties, cities and rural communities work hard to make our state a premier destination, welcoming visitors from around the world,” Haslam said. “Our state’s second biggest industry continues to see outstanding growth, break visitation records, boost Tennessee’s economy and create new jobs. The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development and Tennessee Tourism Committee continue to produce record results that fuel our state’s economy.”
 
All 95 counties enjoyed an increase in tourism expenditures. Each county saw more than $1 million in direct travel expenditures in the economic impact of tourism. Five counties exceeded one billion in travel expenditures, including Davidson ($6.505 billion), Shelby ($3.503 billion), Sevier ($2.276 billion), Hamilton ($1.112 billion), and Knox ($1.097 billion).
 
For Cannon County, tourism generated 4-million, 260-thousand dollars in expenditures for 2017. This was a percentage increase of five-percent over 2016.
 
According to Tourism Commissioner Kevin Triplett, “The growth of the tourism industry and its economic impact comes from guests discovering the world-class food, history and culture, scenic beauty and outdoors and experiences that make Tennessee ‘The Soundtrack of America. The authenticity and Southern hospitality from our communities and partners gives visitors an unbeatable experience and inspires them to return.
 
A record 113.6 million person stays also were recorded in 2017, according to U.S. Travel. Those numbers place Tennessee among the Top 10 travel destinations in the nation for the fourth consecutive year. Tennessee is also considered a top retirement destination.
 
The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development works with local convention and visitors’ bureaus, chambers of commerce and city and county leaders in all 95 counties to draw and welcome people to the state.
 

Nissan has announced it will pump 170-million dollars into its assembly plant in Smyrna and another in Mississippi to produce the new Altima sedan.The announcement was made last week at the Smyrna facility, which has been making vehicles for the company since opening in June of 1982. Over 13-million vehicles have been manufactured in Smyrna and nearly five-million have been Altimas.
The money will be used to upgrade the facility here and in Canton, Mississippi. In Smyrna, the Altima, Maxima, Pathfinder, LEAF and Rogue are built along with the Infinity QX60.
 
Thanks to media partner: WGNS 
 

If you are one of over 500 persons who keep looking over your shoulder because of an unserved warrant, tomorrow could be a good day for you. 
Cannon County Court officers are declaring Wednesday, August 29th Amnesty Day. Persons wanted for misdemeanor or failure to appear warrants can come to court and have their cases hear, without fear of arrest. The 550 persons who fall into the categories have been sent letters.  Tomorrow those individuals may present the letter to a judicial commissioner and be issued a release on your own recognizance. No bond will need to be posted. Between the hours of 8:30am and 5:00pm, they will be seen by a judge and have the ability to settle their case.
 
The district attorney and public defenders will be in courthouse. The judge will appoint a public defender to those persons who qualify. Individuals may speak to the district attorney and try to resolve their case without an attorney.
 
The overall goals of Amnesty Day is to reduce the reduce the workload of the sheriff’s department and assist court officials to clear cases from the books going back over a decade.
 

The unemployment rate in 57 Tennessee counties improved in July 2018, according to statistics released today by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.  
The unemployment rate remained the same in 19 counties when compared to June and the number of unemployed Tennesseans increased in 19 counties.
 
Labor and Work Force Commissioner Burns Phillips commented, “People are not working seasonal jobs, they’re out of town and not able to work, or they’ve just graduated and are looking for work. There are many factors that play a role in summer unemployment figures.”
 
Sixty-two counties had unemployment rates below 5.0 percent in July, while 33 counties had a rate of 5.0 percent or greater.
 
Once again, Williamson County had the lowest unemployment rate in Tennessee. The county’s July rate of 2.9 percent was down 0.1 of a percentage point when compared to the previous month.
 
Davidson County had the state’s second-lowest unemployment rate during July; it decreased by 0.1 of a percentage point and came in at 3.0 percent. The top ten counties with the lowest unemployment each had a rate of 3.5 percent on less.
 
Cannon County was just out of the top ten with a rate of 3.8, this was down just one-tenth of a point from June. This was something the county had in common with its five adjoining counties. All were off one-tenth of a point from June to July. In our region, DeKalb had the highest with 4.9 percent followed by Warren and Coffee.  Rutherford and Wilson had the lowest.
 
The workforce for Cannon County is 6,460 people of which 6,210 are employed, leaving a total of 240 people looking for work.
 
Weakly County experienced a significant jump in unemployment in July. Its rate of 7.6 percent was a 2.6 percent increase compared to June.
 
Eight of the top ten Tennessee counties with the lowest unemployment surround Davidson County, while Knox and Sevier Counties round out the list. Seven of the state’s counties with the highest unemployment rate is located in West Tennessee, with the remaining three in East Tennessee.
 
Tennesseans who are searching for employment may find a variety of valuable resources on the state’s workforce website. 
 
 

The Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency’s (UCHRA) Executive Committee suddenly reversed the recommendation of its policy council and rescinded a proposed severance package that was to be offered to the agency’s former director, according to the Upper Cumberland Business Journal. 
The action took place in a Tuesday morning meeting that also saw the approval of a merger between UCHRA and the Upper Cumberland Development District (UCDD). With this vote, UCHRA attorney Danny Rader no longer has the authority previously granted to him to negotiate a severance package with former executive director Luke Collins, which was not to exceed $27,500.
 
In the policy council meeting, which was held first, lines were drawn between Collins’ supporters and detractors with each side sticking to their guns on how they thought a severance settlement should be handled. To date, Collins had refused to accept the previous offer that was on the table following the board’s June executive committee meeting.