Tuesday, Dec 6, 2011

MULTI-CAR PILEUP CLAIMS LIFE OF 2ND VICTIM
A second person has died from last week's multiple-vehicle collision on Vietnam Veterans Boulevard in Hendersonville. 62 year-old James Ziegler of Old Hickory, who wasn't even transported to the hospital, and drove his car from the scene after the crash, passed away on Friday. Police are waiting for the final autopsy report to show why. The other fatality was a 28-year-old Hendersonville man who died the day of the crashes. The pileup involved four separate crash scenes and stretched more than a mile.

CRASH ON I-40 INVOLVING AMBULANCE
The westbound lanes of Interstate 40 have re-opened following a crash involving an ambulance and an 18-wheeler truck. It happened just before 4:30 a.m. Tuesday just after the White Bridge Road exit at the entrance ramp. Police said an 18-wheeler collided with an ambulance transporting a patient. At least one additional medic was called in. All lanes were blocked, but re-opened just after 6 a.m.

TENNESSEE MOVES OUT OF BOTTOM TEN FOR HEALTH
Tennessee is a little healthier than it used to be. America's Health Rankings' annual report moves the state out of the bottom ten in the country, into the 39th spot. The report says Tennesseans are losing weight, smoking less and violent crime is down. We're still ranked third fattest in America.

SANDUSKY TRIAL SEATS IN HIGH DEMAND
Courtroom seats for Jerry Sandusky's upcoming trial are in such high demand that a lottery is being held for them. Preliminary hearings for the former Penn State assistant football coach start next Tuesday. All eight of the boys allegedly abused by Sandusky will testify against him. (He faces 40 counts of child sex abuse, over a 15 year period)

STUDENTS GIVE UP TECHNOLOGY FOR EXTRA CREDIT
Some Franklin High School juniors gave up all forms of technology for UP to a week to earn extra credit in their Honors English class. The kids were given the challenge as part of a study on the Romantic era of the 18th century. The students pledged to go without cell phones, computers, iPods, radios, tvs and movies for 36 hours, up to a week. So far, the teacher says in YEARS of offering the extra credit, only three of his students have been able to go a whole week without technology.

VIRUS WITH FLU-LIKE SYMPTOMS HITS MID-STATE
Flu season hasn't officially started, but metro health department officials say there've been a lot of people reporting a virus with flu-like symptoms, that's NOT the flu. Brian Todd with the Metro Public Health Department says when people mix and mingle, as they do during the holidays, those germs spread faster. They always see an increase in sickness right after Thanksgiving and all the get-togethers that come with it.

METRO USES GRANT TO IMPROVE FATHERS
Metro is getting a federal grant to help teach Nashville men to be better fathers. The nearly five million-dollar New Life Project will provide job training and workshops on building relationships, anger management and career development... and will target north and east side neighborhoods where a majority of households are led by single parents.

GLEN CAMPBELL POSTPONES RYMAN CONCERT
Country Music Hall of Famer Glen Campbell has postponed his show at the Ryman. He was supposed to play last night, but says he has laryngitis. The makeup date has been set for January 3rd, you can use your ticket for that show, or get a refund. Campbell is in the middle of his "Goodbye Tour" following his announcement earlier this year that he has Alzheimer's disease.

STUDY: HALF OF METRO'S STREETS IN POOR SHAPE
A study of Metro roads shows nearly HALF the streets in Nashville are rated as "poor" condition. Metro Public Works director Billy Lynch says we've had two bad winters and the 2010 flood, and it's caused potholes and a lot of deterioration. And claims against the city for damaged cars have more than doubled in the past two years. (A recent study prepared by Applied Research Associates for the city shows nearly half of Metro's 57,000 lane miles of roads are in poor condition.)

DRUG TESTING FOR UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS?
If you're on unemployment should you have to take a drug test? One state lawmaker has drafted legislation to drug test anyone applying for unemployment or welfare. It'll go up for discussion after the holidays.

PAT SUMMITT NAMED SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR
Pat Summitt and Mike Krzyzewski have been picked as Sports Illustrated's sportswoman and sportsman of the year. The two Hall of Famers are the winningest coaches in women's and men's college basketball. Tennessee's Summitt announced in August that she had been diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type, but pledged to continue coaching and show others that they can live their lives with the disease. She earned her 1,075th career victory Sunday. Duke's Krzyzewski passed mentor Bob Knight on Nov. 15 when he won his 903rd game. The magazine said Monday they joined UCLA's John Wooden in 1972 and North Carolina's Dean Smith in 1997 as the only college basketball coaches to receive the honor.

JOHN RICH BOOTED FROM FLIGHT FOR BEING TOO DRUNK
Country singer John Rich was kicked off a Southwest Airlines plane Sunday after crew members determined he was too intoxicated to make the trip from Vegas to Nashville. Rich had gotten into an argument with other passengers before the 10:50 am flight, and continued to display drunken behavior once he got seated.... so crew members asked him to leave.

PREDATORS CONSIDER TICKET TAX FOR ARENA IMPROVEMENTS
The Nashville Predators may follow the lead of the Tennessee Titans, and start charging a ticket tax to pay for arena improvements. The seat user fee is already 1.75, and raised one-and-a-half-million dollars last year to pay down Metro's construction debt on the arena, which opened five years ago.

ANDREWS SUES NASHVILLE HOTEL FOR PRIVACY INVASION
ESPN reporter Erin Andrews has filed another invasion of privacy lawsuit in Davidson County. She is suing the West End Marriot where Michael Barrett was able to videotape her as she undressed, in 2008. Barrett has already been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for following Andrews around the country and filming her in hotel rooms.

ONLINE SHOPPING SETS NEW RECORD: $6B 
Online shopping set some records. Cyber Monday and the next two days, were among the biggest online spending days in history.

"HOLIDAY TREE" TERM CAUSES CONTROVERSY
In Rhode Island, the Governor is under fire for calling the state Christmas tree a "Holiday" tree. He says the term holiday tree respects diversity and is more inclusive, but he's getting blasted from across the country for saying it.

WEST MEADE NEIGHBORS SURRENDER DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS FOR GREENSPACE
Nine households are the first who are signing away development rights to protect land in West Meade. "The Tennessean" reports the homeowners signed legal documents on part of their land for the West Meade Conservancy to preserve a strip of hillside, trees and a creek. The voluntary program is part of Nashville's Open Space Plan to add at least three thousand acres to public park lands in the next ten years.

SENATE TALKING TAX CUTS FOR WORKERS
Senate Democrats are shifting their focus from a plan to lower the payroll tax for businesses to expanding the existing tax cut for employees. A measure offered up by Senator Robert Casey yesterday proposes cutting the payroll tax paid by workers to three-point-one percent for next year. That's down from the current four-point-two percent.

SENTENCING FOR ROD BLAGOJEVICH
The sentencing hearing for former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich [[ bla-GOYA-vich ]] begins today. Prosecutors are asking a federal judge to give Blagojevich up to 20 years in prison. A jury found him guilty last summer of trying to sell an appointment to President Obama's former Senate seat.

BP ACCUSING HALLIBURTON OF DUMPING EVIDENCE
BP is accusing Halliburton of getting rid of evidence in connection to the giant spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year. In a court filing, the oil company alleges Halliburton destroyed evidence that shows it did inadequate cement work, leading to the April 2010 blowout of the Macondo well. BP is requesting a judge sanction the company for what BP sees as an "unstable" design.