Thursday, July 26, 2012

HAVE A BLIZZARD, HELP A SICK CHILD TODAY
Dairy Queen restaurants are hoping you'll stop by for a Blizzard today. A dollar or more from each of the sweet treats goes to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals across the country: our local CMN hospital is the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. (Last year, more than five-million dollars was raised from DQ restaurants in the U.S. and Canada. Today marks seven years for Dairy Queen's DQ Miracle Treat Day.)

NEW DEAN POSITION DEBUTING AT METRO SCHOOLS NEXT WEEK
When school starts next week in Nashville, Metro schools will have more eyes on the students. Each middle school in the district will have a new Dean of Instruction and Students who will be mostly responsible for dealing with discipline, working with teachers and parents. 

TN KIDS RANK WELL IN HEALTH, POOR IN EDUCATION
The latest comparison by the Annie E. Casey Foundation finds Tennessee's kids are the healthiest in the South. That's still not good... we're 16th in the nation in Children's well-being... but better than some of our neighbors. The annual Kids Count evaluation found one in four children in Tennessee is being raised in poverty, our education ranking is nearly the worst... 42nd in the country based on the dropout rate, preschool attendance and performance in math and reading.

NEWS: SMART BADGE KEEPS TRACK OF HOSPITAL HAND WASHING
A Nashville hospital is using new technology to keep tabs on how often employees wash their hands. TriStar Southern Hills Hospital says since it started using "Smart Badges" last month ... which recognize employees and reminds them to wash their hands, hand washing is up  33%.   Currently St. Thomas is the only hospital in Middle Tennessee using the system.

TITANS TRAINING CAMP OPENS TO FANS
The Tennessee Titans start training camp this weekend at Baptist Sports Park. Some of the practices are open to the public, with various players signing autographs after. See the list of open practices HERE. 
(The next one is Sunday night, at Baptist Sports Park, from 630 to 830.)

BRIT MISSES TITANS' PRACTICE
Star Receiver Kenny Brit may not be at practice any time soon, though, he's had three knee surgeries since last season and has been put on the Physically Unable to Perform list. He won't be allowed to practice until he can pass the team's physical.

SMYRNA RESCUE SQUAD CHIEF AND WIFE ARRESTED FOR EMBEZZLING DEPT MONEY
The former chief of the Smyrna rescue squad and his wife... the former treasurer... have been arrested for embezzling department funds.... and allegedly using thousands of dollars for personal use. David and Danielle Manning resigned before the investigation started. 

MOVIE MASSACRE SUSPECT SENT CHILLING NOTEBOOK TO PSYCHIATRIST BEFORE ATTACK 
James Holmes, the accused gunman in last Friday's midnight movie massacre in Colorado, mailed a notebook "full of details about how he was going to kill people" to a University of Colorado psychiatrist before the attack, but the parcel sat unopened in a mailroom for as long as a week before its discovery Monday.

SALVATION ARMY HELPS KIDS GET READY FOR BACK TO SCHOOL
With the start of Metro school just days away... kids and families are getting ready...some with  help of local organizations. The Salvation Army and Target teamed up yesterday to give school supplies to 25 Nashville students. Each of the local kids got a gift card, and an adult buddy to help them spend it wisely. Metro students go back next Wednesday, August 1. 

DOG HERO IN THE WAR, NOW SAVES NEW OWNER FROM SNAKE
A dog trained to sniff out bombs for the Army in the Middle East has saved the life of his new owner by distracting a snake.  70-year-old Darrell Layne was walking on a friend's farm in Montgomery County when he noticed a venomous copperhead at his feet. His dog a black Labrador retriever named Onex, barked at the snake, distracting it while Layne got away.
The snake struck the dog twice in the face. He was treated with antivenin and the dog has recovered. 

FBI EXAMINES NOTEBOOK THAT DETAILED KILLINGS AHEAD OF TIME
Could the Colorado mass shooting have been prevented? The FBI is examining a notebook mailed to a University of Colorado psychiatrist, detailing plans for last week's deadly mass shooting at an Aurora movie theater. Suspect James Holmes mailed the notebook that includes drawings of stick figures shooting other stick figures, along with other details about the bloody massacre....but the notebook reportedly laid in a mail room for as long as a week before it was found Monday.  Holmes is accused of killing a dozen people and injuring nearly 60 others. 

HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY HEPATITIS C SPREAD
Health officials say thousands of patients in eight states may have come into contact with a travelling hospital lab technician accused of spreading hepatitis C.  David Kwiatkoski [[ quit-COW-ski ]] is alleged to have injected painkillers meant for patients.. into himself, then left the syringes to be re-used on patients.

CHILD, 11, FOUND FRIGHTENED, SHIVERING IN WALMART
An 11-year-old boy was found in a Bowling Green, Kentucky Walmart Tuesday morning covered in sweat and shivering. His father had left him alone in the car, asleep, with the windows rolled up and the ignition off. After the child woke up, he came into the store, sick from his exposure to the heat. The father was ticketed.

CHICK-FIL-A
Chick-Fil-A is having trouble opening a restaurant in Chicago.  A local politician is clashing with the Georgia-based fast food chain over its stance on gay marriage.  The firm's definition of marriage has also come under fire in Boston.  And the company that owns The Muppets ended its endorsement deal with Chick-Fil-A.

"TWILIGHT" STAR STEWART APOLOGIZES FOR "INDISCRETION" IN RELATIONSHIP
"Twilight Saga" star Kristen Stewart is apologizing for a so-called "indiscretion"... that's put her relationship with co-star Robert Pattinson in jeopardy. The 22-year-old actress issued a statement Wednesday, saying she was "deeply sorry for the hurt and embarrassment" she says she has caused to those close to her. She apparently had a fling with Rupert Sanders, the 41-year-old married man who directed her last film, "Snow White and the Huntsman."