Friday, August 3, 2012

MOTHER CHARGED AFTER 2 KIDS FOUND DEAD IN HEAT
The mother of two children found dead from heat-related symptoms yesterday in Smyrna has been charged with especially aggravated child abuse. 25 year-old Samantha Harper's two children, a boy and girl, 2 and 3 years old, were found just before 4 yesterday afternoon, near the car in a driveway on Old Nashville Highway. Investigators believe the children were left inside the car and died from the heat.

HEALTH: MENINGITIS VACCINATIONS RECOMMENDED BY STATE NURSES
The Tennessee Association of School Nurses says more than half of Tennessee teens aren't vaccinated against meningitis... because it's not a MANDATORY vaccination for school. But Meningococcal meningitis KILLS ten percent of the people who get it, and it's often spread at schools. Kids should be immunized at age 11 to 12, then get a booster about 5 years later. ( The shots are free at public health clinics for kids on TennCare, or those who are uninsured. 

TAX FREE WEEKEND
http://tn.gov/revenue/salestaxholiday
You can shop this weekend tax free... on many of the items you need for the school year: including clothing that's 100 dollars or less, school supplies that cost 100 or less and computers under 1500 dollars. See the entire list HERE. The holiday runs through Sunday night.

SINGLE GAME TICKETS FOR TITANS GO ON SALE
You may see some people camping out at LP Field this morning if you're in the area. They're hoping to be among the first to buy single-game tickets for Titans games. The tickets go on sale this morning at 10. The Titans kick off the season with a home game against the New England Patriots September 9. You can also buy the tickets online or by phone.

SINGLE GAME TICKETS FOR PREDATORS GO ON SALE SATURDAY 
And Single game tickets for the Nashville Predators go on sale tomorrow morning (with an open house and open skate to celebrate. The Preds open their season on the road October 12th in Detroit. )

SUMNER COUNTY FAIR RUNS THROUGH SAT, AUG 4TH, WILLIAMSON FAIR OPENS TODAY 
And if you're looking for something to do with the family this weekend, remember that it's fair season. The Sumner County fair runs through tomorrow, and the Williamson County Fair starts today.

MARS LAB TO LAND ON MARS SUNDAY NIGHT
An eight-month voyage ends Sunday night when the Mars Science Laboratory lands on the "Red Planet" in what will either be an amazing success or a spectacular failure for the space agency.
   NASA's Adam Steltzner says that for the first time a sky crane system will be used to lower the one-ton mobile laboratory named Curiosity.  The rover will spend two years near Gale Crater studying the climate and geology of the planet and look for evidence of organic matter.  Sunday's nighttime landing has been called "seven minutes of terror" and it can be followed in real time online at www.eyes.nasa.gov.

CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES SET FOR NOVEMBER BALLOT
Your Congressional Candidates for the November ballot are set. In the state legislature, Courtney Rogers beat House Republican Caucus Chairwoman Debra Maggart with 58-percent of the vote, U.S. Representative Diane Black of Gallatin won reelection for the 6th District, and incumbent Bob Corker won the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate.

MIDWEST DROUGHT WORSENS
The drought that's parching much of the nation is extending its territory in the Midwest.  The latest Drought Monitor says  more than one-half of the nation is now suffering from some degree of drought. 

RUTHERFORD TEACHER COULD LOSE LICENSE OVER CONDUCT
The state Board of Education will decide in about three weeks whether to revoke the teaching license of a Rutherford County teacher and coach.  Richard C. Kimberly is already suspended without pay for inappropriate contact with students. He's the one who took part in what he called 'horseplay' with a male student on a school bus as the team returned home froma game.

HEALTH: SPECIALIST SAYS PROSTATE CANCER SCREENING REDUCES RISK 
A new study finds routine screening definitely reduces the risk of advanced prostate cancer among men. The study finds the protein-specific antigen screening -- or PSA screening -- and treatment when the PSA numbers are high, reduces the number of men who find they have prostate cancer when it's at the incurable stage or has metastasized. (Findings for the study appear in the journal "Urology.")

MAN TEXTS, "I NEED TO QUIT TEXTING," BEFORE DRIVING OFF CLIFF
A college student from Texas has learned a lesson about texting and driving. That's what Chance Bothe was doing as his truck plunged off of a bridge and into a ravine. One of the last things he typed, "I need to quit texting, because I could die in a car accident."   After the crash, Chance had a broken neck, a crushed face, a fractured skull, and traumatic brain injuries. Doctors had to bring him back to life three times . Now, 6 months later, he's finally able to talk about what happened.  He says, "They just need to understand, don't do it. Don't do it. It's not worth losing your life."

SUMNER COUNTY SCHOOL YEAR DELAYED
In Sumner County, 27,000 students were supposed to start school next Monday, but the board of Education has voted to delay the start of the school year there until a budget agreement is reached. The budget was supposed to have been approved last month. The board says without additional funding, teaching positions are in jeopardy.

TN WALKING HORSE ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT SUSPENDED
The president of the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association has been suspended... after a dispute over website domain names. Officials say Martin Irby was extorting the group, by refusing to transfer back two websites purchased in the Walking Horse Association's name.

HUNDREDS EVACUATED IN BORDEAUX AFTER EXPLOSION OVERNIGHT
Hundreds of Bordeaux residents on Clarksville Pike were evacuated from their homes early yesterday morning... after a gas leak and explosion. No injuries were reported, but cars at a nearby car lot were destroyed. Folks got to go back home about 2:30 yesterday morning, and investigators are trying to figure out what caused the 16 inch pipe to rupture.

TOOLS, EQUIPMENT STOLEN FROM HABITAT FOR HUMANITY WORKSITE
A local non-profit is going to have to replace a bunch of equipment. Someone broke into a storage container and stole more than ten thousand dollars worth of tools and equipment from a Habitat for Humanity work site on Pennington Bend.

NEW FESTIVAL THIS FALL IN NASHVILLE
Music City will host country superstar Zac Brown's Southern Ground Music and Food Festival later this fall.  The festival will be the first ever paid event held at The Lawn at Riverfront. The city says it's an event that promotes Nashville not only for music, but for food.
The food will feature a true taste of Music City while the lineup will shine a spotlight on an array of artists including the Gregg Allman Band, David Gray and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, to a batch of up and comers.
Butch Spyridon with the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau expects the two-day festival to draw crowds from all over. "We think this has a great destination appeal so as many as 10,000 visitors for two nights which would have between the $2 million and $3 million visitor spending range," he explained.  Spyridon added that he hopes to make the Southern Ground Music and Food Festival an annual affair. The festival will be held September 21 through September 22.
www.southerngroundfestival.com

KEITH BULLOCK RETIRING FROM NFL 
 "Mr. Monday Night" is retiring from football.  Keith Bulluck was drafted by the Titans in 2000 and started 130 games, posting 1,265 tackles and 19 interceptions.  An official announcement on Bulluck's retirement is scheduled to be made today at 1 p.m. at Baptist Sports Park.

FACEBOOK FAKE PAGES
Facebook's latest figures showing growth in global users also suggest as many as 83 million may come from dubious sources -- duplicate  accounts, pages for pets and those designed to send spam.

TEEN TWEETS PHOTO OF DYING HIT-AND-RUN VICTIM
Ikram Choudhury thought little of snapping a photo of a man he thought was drunk and sharing it on Twitter. However, the man was actually a dying hit-and-run victim, and Choudhury may be charged for failing to help him.  Choudhury, 19, snapped the photo in a bus lane in Edinburgh, Scotland early Sunday morning. He tweeted it along with the message: "Eeeehm wtf? Some guy just casually lying outside Ocean Terminal."