News

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has released its 2017 ‘Crime in Tennessee’ report, revealing a slight overall increase in reported instances of crime in the most recent reporting year.
The annual study compiles data reported from each law enforcement agency in the state through the Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System (TIBRS). The TBI’s sophisticated crime reporting system, in place for more than 15 years, provides an updated and comprehensive picture of the successes and challenges facing communities across Tennessee.
Among the findings in the 2017 report:
§  Reported instances of Murder increased 6.7% from 2016 to 2017.
§  Reported Rape offenses increased 3.2% in the same time period.
§  The number of individuals arrested in connection to reported crimes decreased by 0.1% from 2016 to 2017.
§  Juveniles accounted for 6.4% of all arrests, down from 6.5% in the previous year.
§  ‘Simple Assault’ accounted for 67.0% of all reported domestic violence offenses.
§  Drug/Narcotic Violations increased 4.9% in the previous year.
§  The number of DUI arrests continued to trend downward in the past year.
“We’re extremely thankful for our dedicated law enforcement partners,” said TBI Director Mark Gwyn. “Together, they helped us compile a thorough snapshot of crime in Tennessee. We now hope every department takes this information and works to further address the key crime issues facing their communities and our state.”
DISCLAIMER: The TBI strongly discourages the ranking and comparison of jurisdictions and their crime rates by the data in the 2017 report. Demographic, socio-economic, and other factors out of the control of law enforcement contribute to the nature of the crimes committed. Crime varies from place to place and ranking the agencies solely on numbers would neither be fair to the agencies nor their communities.
There are 532 reporting agencies in the state of Tennessee. And, for the second consecutive year, all agencies in Tennessee are compliant with TIBRS reporting. Tennessee is one of 16 states reporting 100% compliance. Nationally, 34 states are currently NIBRS-certified. To coincide with the release of this report, 2017’s public data is now available for review on the TBI’s online CrimeInsight platform, available at http://crimeinsight.tbi.tn.gov. The full ‘Crime in Tennessee’ report is available for review on the TBI’s website: tn.gov/tbi.
 
 

Tennessee Health Commissioner John Dreyzehner, MD, MPH will join other state and local officials Tuesday, April 24 at the open house at the new Cannon County Health Department and Community Health Center in Woodbury.
The Cannon County Health Department received $750,000 from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through a Health Infrastructure Investment Program grant. Other funds for the new building were provided the state of Tennessee and the land was donated by Cannon County.
The new building has more exams rooms than the previous facility, a dental wing with two dental chairs and a modernized conference and training room for patient education and staff development opportunities. Approximately 5,362 Cannon County residents are considered low-income and qualify for services at the Cannon County Health Department and Community Health Center on the sliding fee scale.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips today announced the March 2018 statewide unemployment rate for Tennessee remained near historic lows and matched the revised rate from the previous month.
 
The preliminary, seasonally adjusted rate for March was 3.4 percent, which mirrored the revised rate for February and was nearly one percentage point less than the March 2017 rate of 4.2 percent. Tennessee’s statewide unemployment rate has remained below 4.0 percent since last May, hitting an all-time low of 3.3 percent last September.

“The year-to-year comparison of unemployment rates shows how much progress has been made in creating new jobs in Tennessee,” Haslam said. “But government doesn’t create jobs – jobs are created when businesses put capital at risk. That’s why we have worked hard to create an environment in Tennessee where businesses can grow and thrive and we continue to invest in our citizens, creating a skilled workforce that is ready for today’s job demands.”

The national unemployment rate for March was 4.1 percent, a decrease of 0.4 of a percentage point from the same time last year.  It has held steady at 4.1 percent since October 2017.

Tennessee added 4,900 new nonfarm jobs between February and March. Over the past 12 months, employers across the state created an estimated 49,000 new jobs.  The largest increases occurred in the accommodations/food services, wholesale trade, and transportation/warehousing/utilities sectors.

“Each time a new job is created in Tennessee, the quality of life improves for another family,” Burns said.  “That quality of life is one of the reasons Tennessee is such a desirable place to start or expand a business.”

The statewide unemployment rate is seasonally adjusted to eliminate the influences of weather, holidays, the opening and closing of schools and other recurring seasonal events from an economic time series.

The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance (TDCI) will participate in “Joint Operation,” a free event to provide veterans and their families with a one-stop shop to access local resources and services. The outreach, which will occur Friday, April 20, 2018 at Life Church in Cookeville, was organized by the office of U.S. Senator Bob Corker and is being co-hosted by Cookeville Mayor Ricky Shelton and County Executive Randy Porter.
 
Joint Operation is open to all Tennessee veterans and their families and will feature more than 50 agencies and organizations with information on a number of resources, including VA claim assistance, education, vocational rehabilitation, employment resources, mental health, housing, and legal assistance. Representatives from TDCI’s Consumer Affairs, Insurance, and Securities divisions will be on hand to provide information and assistance on topics such as consumer insurance services, insurance and investment fraud, and identity theft and scam prevention.
 
JOINT OPERATION

• WHAT:  Joint Operation: A Free Event to Provide Veterans With a One-Stop Shop to Access Resources
• WHEN:  Friday, April 20, 2018, 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. CT
• WHERE:  Life Church, 2223 North Washington Avenue, Cookeville, Tennessee
• HOSTED BY:  The Office of U.S. Senator Bob Corker; the Office of Mayor Ricky Shelton, City of Cookeville; and the Office of Randy Porter, County Executive.

 
Veterans with questions about the event should contact Senator Corker’s Nashville office at 615-279-8125.
 
 

Five Hometown Heroes will be honored at the Hometown Heroes Walk for Children, said Child Advocacy Center director Sharon De Boer. 
 
The awards will be presented at Murfreesboro Civic Plaza on Friday, April 20 at 11:45 a.m. before the Hometown Heroes Walk for Children.  The awards will be a surprise for each of the recipients and are considered legacy awards to community members who work to protect children. 
 
“Each of these Hometown Heroes has dedicated their career to making our community a better place for children to live and grow up,” De Boer said.
     
The Child Advocacy Center anticipates 300 walkers will participate in the Hometown Heroes Walk for Children after the awards are presented.  Walkers can pre-register online until Thursday morning at www.cacrutherford.org. People may also register at the event from 11:00 to 11:45 a.m. at Murfreesboro Civic Plaza.  The walk is free.  Event t-shirts will be available for purchase for $10.
 
The Hometown Heroes Committee is issuing a new challenge this year.  There will be a new “Golden Sneakers Award” for the business or agency that brings the most walkers to the event.  Last year the Department of Children’s Services had the most walkers.  So far this year, Amazon Fulfillment is in the lead!
 
“The Child Advocacy Center program services are provided free of charge to child victims and their families,” De Boer said. “But these services are not free. It takes the support of people like you for us to be able to provide these critically needed services to child abuse victims.”  Funds collected will be used to help child abuse victims heal. 
 
In the last 18 years, the Child Protective Investigative Team, consisting of the Child Advocacy Center, the Department of Children’s Services, law enforcement, and the District Attorney’s Office have worked together to investigate and prosecute 14,000 child abuse cases and assisted over 20,000 individuals. 
 
Department of Children’s Services protects children, law enforcement arrests perpetrators, the District Attorney’s Office aggressively prosecutes offenders, while the Child Advocacy Center helps children and families heal from the trauma. 
 
“We have had a chilly spring, but the weather forecast for Friday is for sunny skies and 63 degrees,” De Boer said.  “It will be the perfect temperature for a 2-mile walk.  Lace up your tennis shoes and join your friends and neighbors as we walk to prevent child abuse.”
 

On April 13th, 2018, thirteen Cannon County student athletes traveled to Cookeville to participate in Area 9 Special Olympics Games. Athletes participated in 100 meter walk, 50 meter run, 100 meter run, 200 meter run, and softball throw. Results are as follows: 10-1st place ribbons, 3-2nd place ribbons, 2-3rd place ribbons, 4-4th place ribbons, and 1-5th place ribbons. Congratulations to our winners, and thank you to the CCHS FCCLA members and peer helpers that attended to give our athletes a great experience.
 
Special Olympics transforms lives through the joy of sport, every day, everywhere. It is the world’s largest sports organization for people with intellectual disabilities: with more than 4.9 million athletes in 172 countries — and over a million volunteers. Through the power of sports, people with intellectual disabilities discover new strengths and abilities, skills and success. The athletes find joy, confidence and fulfillment — on the playing field and in life. They also inspire people in their communities and elsewhere to open their hearts to a wider world of human talents and potential.
 

County County’s governing board made progress on several issues during Saturday’s meeting of Commission members.
After several months of discussion on how to approach the renovations needed to maintain a functioning solid waste program.  The commission voted to accept the three grants totaling $144,550.00 from the State of Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to improve equipment and capabilities.
Based on an earlier discussion between County Executive Mike Gannon and Mayor Andy Duggin about a joint solution to the issue, a committee was formed to explore options. Glen Steakley, a member of the commission and a member of the joint town and county committee gave the group a report on the committee’s findings.  The committee met with experts from government and environment policies and procedures. After reviewing options, the consensus of members from the Alderman side of the committee, was they could not continue until the County agreed to accept the grants from the state.
The commissioners voted unanimously to accept the grants from Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
Commissioners heard from District Attorney Jennings Jones about the current action underway as 46 counties across Tennessee are working with their district attorneys to address the costs to communities in dealing with opioids.
A representative with Lieff, Cabraser, Heiman & Bernstein also spoke. They are the first law firm who approached the commission about litigation over costs dealing with the opioid crisis.  After hearing from both groups and comparing their approaches, the group decided to engage Lieff, Cabraser, Heiman and Bernstein to represent the county.
During the public comment section of the meeting, commissioners heard comments from a resident of the first district, attorney Nathan Luna.  Luna spoke to commissioners regarding comments he heard during an earlier budget hearing on lowering the salaries of elected officials to assist with reducing operating costs. Luna reminded commissioners that the salary of elected officials are established by state statue.  He mentioned in other counties where this step had been taken and litigation followed, the counties were held financially responsible.  Commissioners decided to table any action on salary reduction of elected officials.
Another suggestion from budget committee meetings dealt with converting the county clerks office from a sales to a salary based operation. After discussion among the group, the decision was to let the new clerk review the operations of the office and develop a plan on addressing the situation.
Other routine business as the approval of notaries and department head reports filled the remainder of the morning. All commission members were present with the exception of Commissioner Brent Bush.
 

Have you thought about the health care you would want if you could not make decisions or communicate yourself? If so, have you shared your choices with your loved ones and health care providers? Governor Bill Haslam has declared April 16, 2018 Healthcare Decisions Day in Tennessee, urging Tennesseans to think about their choices and share them with others by completing an advanced directive. The Tennessee Department of Health is joining partners in Honoring Choices® Tennessee to educate Tennesseans about the benefits of executing an advance directive.

“Advance health care planning has always been important, but these critical conversations can be very hard to have and words unspoken can mean wishes unknown,” said TDH Commissioner John Dreyzehner, MD, MPH. “Healthcare Decisions Day provides an opportunity to empower the difficult but important conversations that can improve our approach to advanced care and end-of-life planning and ensure all of us have the conversations and their written record so we can assure we and our loved ones receive care that honors our values and wishes.”

TDH is a partner in Honoring Choices® Tennessee and the AdvanceDirectivesTN initiative to increase the number of Tennesseans who have an advance directive for health care. An advance directive is a document that tells family members and care providers a patient’s preferences for care if they are ever in a position where they cannot make decisions and communicate for themselves.

“This is all about putting important medical decisions into the hands of our patients and to encourage family discussions around very difficult end of life care. People need to make these decisions while they are still physically and mentally able so we can help honor those wishes. Our goal with AdvanceDirectivesTN is to encourage Tennesseans to start the conversation right now about advance care planning with their health care providers, family members and loved ones, and to complete an advance directive,” said Tennessee Hospital Association CEO Craig A. Becker. “We are working to educate Tennessee health care workers about the benefits of advance directives so they can then educate patients and their families about this important step.”

A pilot project is underway in Chattanooga in which ten CVS pharmacies will provide information to customers about advance directives. Honoring Choices Tennessee® is working to get other organizations to include advance directives in employee fairs, community health fairs and other company and community activities.
Organizing members of Honoring Choices® Tennessee are the Tennessee Hospital Association, Tennessee Nurses Association, Tennessee Medical Association, Tennessee Health Care Association, Tennessee Hospice Organization, Tennessee End of Life Partnership, Tennessee Department of Health, Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disabilities, Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Healthy Shelby, Hospice of Chattanooga, Mountain States Health Alliance, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, QSource and AARP.

The mission of the Advance Directive Coalition is to give Tennesseans the opportunity to have conversations with family, friends and health care providers about their choices for care at the end of life; to complete an advance directive memorializing their choices; and to live with the knowledge and freedom that they have expressed their choices and that their choices regarding care will be honored. Research conducted by Honoring Choices Tennessee® found fewer than one-third of adult Tennesseans had executed an advance directive in 2016.

Honoring Choices® Tennessee is affiliated with the Honoring Choices® National Network. Learn more and find resources including step-by-step instructions on how to create your advance directive at www.advancedirectivesTN.org.

National Healthcare Decisions Day is an annual event to inspire, educate and empower the public and providers about the importance of advance health care planning, and will be observed April 16 – 22, 2018. NHDD encourages patients to express their wishes regarding health care and for providers and facilities to respect those wishes, whatever they may be. This video explains why advance care planning is important for everyone. Learn more at www.nhdd.org.
 
 
 

In observance of National Safe Digging Month in April, the Tennessee Public Utility Commission has announced results from
a recent national survey. The results revealed that 36 percent of homeowners who plan to dig this year for projects like landscaping, installing a fence or mailbox, or building a deck, pond or patio and other DIY projects, will put themselves and their communities at risk by not calling 811 a few days beforehand to learn the approximate location of underground utilities.
Digging without knowing the approximate location of underground utilities can result in serious injuries, service disruptions and costly repairs when gas, electric, communications, water and sewer lines are damaged.
The national public opinion survey of homeowners conducted in February by the Common Ground Alliance (CGA), the national association dedicated to protecting underground utility lines, people who dig near them, and their communities, also revealed that 47 percent of homeowners who plan to dig this year have no experience with the 811call before you dig process. The most popular planned projects cited among surveyed homeowners include:
·        Planting a tree or shrub (63 percent)
·        Building a fence (35 percent)
·        Building a patio or deck (28 percent)
·        Installing a mailbox (16 percent)
“Tens of millions of Americans plan to do DIY digging projects this year, but according to our survey, 36 percent of them admit that they will not call 811 beforehand, which puts
homeowners and their communities at risk,” said Chairman David Jones, Tennessee Tennessee Public Utility Commission. “Calling 811 a few days before any planned
home improvement projects that require digging –like installing a mailbox or planting a tree – is critical to preventing incidents like service outages and serious injuries.”
“Public safety and protecting our utility infrastructure are very important issues for me and the state legislature. That’s why I sponsored legislation establishing the Underground
Utility Damage Enforcement Board to protect Tennesseans as well as our underground utilities,” said State Representative Pat Marsh, Chairman of the House Business and Utilities Committee.  
CGA’s 1,700 members, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and most governors have proclaimed April as National Safe Digging Month to bring extra attention to the issue of
underground utility line safety and reduce the risk of unnecessary infrastructure damage.  As part of National Safe Digging Month, the Tennessee Public Utility Commission encourages homeowners to take the following steps when planning a digging project this spring:
Always call 811 a few days before digging, regardless of the depth or familiarity with the property.
Plan ahead. Call on Monday or Tuesday for work planned for an upcoming weekend, providing ample time for the approximate
location of lines to be marked.
·        Confirm that all lines have been marked. 
·        Consider moving the location of your project if it is near utility line markings.
·        If a contractor has been hired, confirm that a call to 811 has been made. Don’t allow work to begin if the lines aren’t marked.
·        Visit www.call811.com for complete info.
An underground utility line is damaged once every nine minutes nationwide because someone decided to dig without first calling 811, according to industry data collected by CGA. There are more than 20 million miles of underground utilities in the United States, per data compiled by CGA from various industry groups. That figure equates to
more than one football field’s length (105 yards) of buried utilities for every man, woman and child in the U.S.
CGA’s 1,700 members, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and most governors have proclaimed April as National Safe Digging Month to bring extra attention to the issue of underground utility line safety and reduce the risk of unnecessary infrastructure damage.
Everyone who calls 811 a few days before digging is connected to a local one call notification center that will take the caller’s information and communicate it to local utility companies.  Professional locators will then visit the dig site to mark the approximate location of underground utility lines with spray paint, flags or both. Once a site has been accurately marked, it is safe to begin digging around the marked areas. 
The mission of the Tennessee Public Utility Commission is to promote the public interest by balancing the interests of utility consumers and providers. For more information, visit online at www.tn.gov/tpuc.  
 
 

The Tennessee Highway Patrol issued 1,816 distracted driving citations during a crackdown from April 2 through April 4. That’s 911 more citations than were issued during 2017’s crackdown.

The Tennessee Highway Safety Office and the Tennessee Highway Patrol joined local law enforcement for Tennessee’s third statewide bus tour to crack down on distracted driving.

In 2017, the THP provided two large, black and tan buses marked with THP logos to help promote awareness for the initiative. This year, the focus shifted toward the effectiveness of enforcement efforts, which meant utilizing additional passenger vehicles that could travel more efficiently on the highways.

Officers representing various agencies riding the passenger vehicles communicated with ground units after observing traffic violations to initiate the execution of enforcement action. Depending on available resources, enforcement lasted between two to eight hours each day.