Thursday, September 27, 2012

CASTING CALL FOR REALITY SHOW
Would you consider yourself a HERO or a villain? Are you a good guy or a bad guy? And could you stay a hero if you were tested? There's a new reality show that's looking for 'everyday people' here in Tennessee, and they say it'll challenge your brains, brawn, moral decisions and competitive spirit. They'll send you to some exotic location (so you have to have a passport), and the fun part: the show is hosted by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. (email theherotnt@gmail.com with your name, age, contact info, address, brief bio and photo. You'll need to be ready to stay on location for 2-and-a-half weeks.)

POLICE: FLIGHT ATTENDANT STOLE PASSENGER'S IPAD
This story is making national headlines today as people think about how much money they've spent on their own electronic devices, and don't want it stolen. Police say a Nevada man who lost his iPad on an airplane used an app called Find My iPad -- and found it -- inside the home of a flight attendant. 43 year old Wendy Dye was then arrested. She told police she'd found it, but was going to turn it in. Cops say she'd already started loading personal information in, including her husband's birthday. There've been numerous cases of screeners being caught stealing things..but not flight attendants.

NASHVILLE LAWMAKER WANTS DCS AUDIT BY OUTSIDE SOURCE
"Hey, you're messing up, could you do an investigation on yourself?" Nashville lawmaker Sherry Jones says it's ridiculous that we're asking the Department of Children's Services to do that, by having it investigate its own actions. Representative Jones is calling for a complete audit and outside investigation, after it was recently revealed that DCS failed to report 31 deaths so far this year, of children they've been involved with.

WOMAN SUES SOUTHWEST FOR SPILLING HOT TEA DURING FLIGHT
A Tennessee woman is suing Southwest Airlines because she was burned on a cup of some very hot tea. Angelica Keller was headed to Houston from Nashville when the flight attendant spilled water on her, that was hot enough to cause second degree burns, which means blisters.  She's asking for 800-thousand dollars.

1 IN 5 HOUSEHOLDS NOW OWE STUDENT DEBT
When you were growing up, you may have been told, "Go to college, you'll get a better job and earn more money." It's still true, but with jobs harder to find lately, kids who went to college are having a harder time paying off student loans. Forty percent of U.S. households headed by someone younger than age 35 still owe some debt, and one in five households natiowide do.

ARE YOU READY FOR MORE HONEY BOO BOO?
SOMEBODY is watching Honey Boo Boo! Nobody seems to admit it, but the show has had a steady viewership of more than 2 million people an episode, which makes it a big enough ratings hit for TLC that they're ordering up some holiday specials. They're working on Honey Boo Boo for Halloween, a Thanksgiving special, and a Honey Boo Boo Christmas Special. The show, which premiered in early August and follows the antics of pageant princess Alana Thompson, 7, and her family in McIntrye, Ga., has averaged 2.3 million viewers to date, which topped all individual cable and network broadcasts of the Republican National Convention on Aug. 19 with a 1.3 rating with adults 18-49.

WORDS AND PHRASES THAT ARE BECOMING POPULAR FROM HONEY BOO BOO

CREWS SEARCH FOR MISSING KIDS, ONCE BELIEVED DEAD
Turns out the two children that officials thought had been killed in a house fire in Unionville Tennessee, weren't found in the ashes of the house -- they are missing. Now the TBI has issued an endangered child alert for the nine year old girl and seven year old boy.  

NFL REGULAR REFEREES BACK
The NFL's regular referees are back on the field tonight. The Ref's Association and the NFL have agreed to a new 8-year contract. 

JIMMY HOFFA FOUND?
A tip from a dying man could be the missing clue in the mystery of what happened to Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa 37 years ago! Some guy with cancer said he wanted to come clean before he dies, and told police he saw someone burying a body under a driveway in Michigan. Investigators are checking it out.

SPACE JUNK COMING CLOSE TO SPACE STATION
NASA is keeping a close eye on some space junk that's expected to fly by the International Space Station... and says the station may have to steer clear of the two pieces.

TWO WOMEN'S TEAMS AT VANDERBILT SUSPENDED OVER HAZINGS
Two women's teams at Vanderbilt University are not going to get to play some upcoming games because they hazed incoming players. The students on the women's Lacrosse and women's tennis teams admitted to the hazing, but they said they thought they were just "initiating" the new players.  School officials say they hope this will make players will stop and ask whether what they're about to do is allowed. (Even if it was done to them.) They didn't say what had been done to the new players. 

MURFREESBORO TEENAGER SAYS HE'S DENIED ENROLLMENT AT HIGH SCHOOL
A Murfreesboro teenager says he wants to go to school but they won't let him. Just because he's 18. Spencer Matthes needs 10 credits to graduate, and it's Rutherford county school policy sends kids who are 18 and need more than 5 credits to an adult high school.  

GEORGE STRAIT ANNOUNCES FINAL TOUR
Singer George Strait has announced he's going to retire. He's only 60, but says he's ready to hang up his Stetson. He's calling his final lap "The Cowboy Rides Away" tour.

KNEE REPLACEMENTS ON THE INCREASE AMONG OLDER ADULTS
As people get older, and heavier, knee replacement surgeries are skyrocketing! They're up 161.5% over the past 20 years. That's a GREAT thing for people who need them, but, bottom line, means higher health care costs for the rest of us. (Journal of the American Medical Association.)

MINORITY KIDS NOT BUCKLED UP AS OFTEN AS WHITES
A new study by researchers at the University of Michigan (published last month in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine), finds that black and Hispanic infants and toddlers are restrained in car seats 10 times less often ... than white children. What they haven't figured out yet, is how to reach them and convince them to fasten those kids in.

GOOD SAMARITANS SAVE DRIVER FROM FLAMING PICKUP TRUCK
And we have some local heroes to tell you about today... a Maury County man , 73 year old Sidney Cantrell was less than a mile from his home Monday afternoon when he collided with another truck, the door jammed and the truck burst into flames! Three men came running up, pried open the door and pulled him out. He has a broken collar bone and broken ribs but he's going to be okay. Ruth, his wife of 53 years, is thanking the three strangers who took time to help.

TENNESSEE MAN DIES ON GRAND CANYON PARK TRAIL
Authorities at the Grand Canyon National Park have released the name of a man who collapsed and died on a popular hiking trail.  Park officials said Tuesday that the man was 72-year-old David Roberts of Cleveland, Tenn. Park officials say they received a 911 call about 10:45 a.m. Tuesday regarding an unconscious man on the Bright Angel Trail some 2½ miles below the canyon's South Rim. A park emergency medical technician and rangers performed CPR on the man for about an hour before he was declared dead at the scene. The body was flown by helicopter to the South Rim Helibase and then transferred to the Coconino County Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death.

SURVEY REVEALS THE MOST COFFEE-DEPENDENT JOBS
Who needs their coffee the most, to get through the day? Dunkin' Donuts' annual survey of coffee-drinking habits on the job found those who work in food preparation rated first. Other people who said they needed coffee to get through the workday" include Scientists, Sales Reps, Marketing and Public Relations Professionals, then Nurses. National Coffee Day is Saturday.

HISTORIC NASHVILLE RELEASES ENDANGERED PROPERTIES LIST
Historic Nashville has released its list of the nine most endangered historic properties in Music City.  Included on the list is Welch College, formerly Free Will Baptist Bible College, the Mt. Olivet Cemetery Chapel and Office, and the 1800 block of Hillsboro Village, which is scheduled to be demolished to make room for a mixed-use apartment development.  Members of Historic Nashville say the purpose of the list is for people to become proactive about saving the city's history.