Friday, June 22, 2012

GIRLS' DAY OUT AT VANDY FOR MAMMOGRAM PARTIES
The Vanderbilt Breast Center is holding a "Girls' Day Out" this Saturday, to give you some pampering while you're waiting for your mammogram. The event is tomorrow (Sat),10 to 1 at Vanderbilt's 100 Oaks facility on Thompson Lane. You get a complimentary brunch, massage and door prizes, but you DO have to pre-register. You can get the details on the mix929.com NEWS page. (suite 25000 in Vanderbilt Health One Hundred Oaks. To register, call 322-2064.)

FREE KAYAK, CANOE RIDES ON SATURDAY AT SMYRNA WATERFEST
You want a free kayak or canoe ride this weekend? You'll get your chance tomorrow at the annual Boat Day & Waterfest in Smyrna, at the Jefferson Springs boat ramp. (615- 355-5701)

NORTHEAST GETTING BREAK IN WEATHER?
Even though we're not getting a break anytime soon from this hot weather, people in the Northeast have cooler weather coming after heat indexes near 110 the past couple of days.

HEALTH INSURERS TO PAY REBATES
You may get a check in the mail from your health insurance company this summer. They're mailing out rebates totaling one-point-one-billion dollars to employers and individuals.... part of a new rule under the President's healthcare law. That's IF the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  A ruling is expected by the end of next week.

INFORMATIONAL SESSION TO BE HELD ON PRESIDENT'S DEFERRED ACTION 
If you want to learn more about the Presidents executive order to stop deporting young immigrants there are some informal sessions tomorrow at Glencliff High School on Antioch Pike.One at 9, another at 4.

STUDY: TV HELPS KIDS HANDLE ANXIETY
Television for kids might not be all bad. A new study from a dermatology center found when doctors let kids watch TV during procedures, like wart removal, the procedure went faster and easier, because the children were distracted, and more calm. (Results of the study are published in the "Archives of Dermatology.")

TODAY IS 14th ANNUAL TAKE YOUR DOG TO WORK DAY
http://www.takeyourdog.com/
Today is Take Your Dog to Work Day. The hope is that co-workers will witness that special human-animal bond and be encouraged to adopt a pet of their own. ( Event details are available online at takeyourdog.com.)

LOUISIANA LAW REQUIRES SEX OFFENDERS TO LIST STATUS ON FACEBOOK 
There's a new law in Louisiana that could keep your kids safer: sex offenders there will be required to list their criminal status on their Facebook pages... starting August 1st.

STUDY: PLAYING WITH KIDS HELPS SINGLE MOMS BEAT STRESS 
Single moms who are too busy to play with the kids are missing out on a health benefit. A new study found the moms get long-term stress-relief benefits from playtime with their children. Single mothers usually have high stress levels from money pressure, work demands and a smaller support system. There are nearly ten million single moms in the U.S. No word on how many single fathers. (From Researchers at Kansas State University)

THOUSAND-DOLLAR REWARD OFFERED FOR STOLEN NASHVILLE TRAILERS
A Nashville apartment complex is offering a thousand-dollar reward for information on a couple of stolen trailers.  You're asked to call the Highland Ridge Apartment complex if you have information about the crime. Apartment officials know it was someone in a Dodge Ram truck... they have them on surveillance video.

FRANKLIN PASSES NEW ADVERTISING GUIDELINE
It'll cost you 50 bucks to have a sign for your business in downtown Franklin. The new advertising guidelines do allow sandwich boards and decorative displays on sidewalks, but they're limited to a certain size so they don't block the sidewalk,. 

NJ HOSPITALS MAKE WAY FOR SUPERSIZED PATIENTS 
Hospitals around the country are having to make concessions for larger patients. In New Jersey, hospitals have just bought a new stretcher and loading ramp for patients up to 11 hundred pounds, widened doors and installed special beds. Radiology hasn't caught up, yet... the heaviest patients won't fit into the machines for CT scans and MRIs.

WOMAN GETS MORE THAN JUST JEANS AT GOODWILL
This will make you wanna go thrifting: A Minnesota woman bought a 3.99 pair of jeans at Goodwill, and found a diamond ring in the pocket: worth 65-hundred dollars. She's trying to find its real owner, though already seven people have e-mailed and tried to claim it. So far no one's come up with any proof it's theirs.

DECISION ON ZONING APPROVAL FOR BELLEVUE LANDFILL DEFERRED
There was a record crowd at a meeting last night to decide whether to put a construction landfill in Bellevue. Partly because of the controversy.... the Metro Board of Zoning Appeals voted to defer its decision until July 19th. 

PRODUCTION STARTS MID JULY ON NASHVILLE TV SERIES: GETS A STATE GRANT TO HELP IT SUCCEED
That new TV series called "Nashville" starts production here next month... and to motivate the crew to stay here, and keep filming here... and spending money here... the state has approved a grant of up to $7.5 million dollars... to reimburse them for their qualified expenditures made here. The show is expected to employ more than 350 Tennessee residents in various crew positions in and around Nashville. 

SESAME STREET MOVIE
Many of us grew up with Bert, Ernie, Big bird, Cookie Monster and Elmo. Now, a new generation gets to see the gang, in a new “Sesame Street” Movie, that's in the works. No word yet on which humans may be co-stars.

EVEN IF YOU DON'T HIRE THEM, DON'T TREAT 'EM BADLY
Bad experiences in the job-hunting process can mean trouble down the road, for businesses' finances. A new study by CareerBuilder shows that job seekers who have a bad experience with a company they're trying to get work with... are less likely to buy that firm's products and more likely to share their bad experience with people they know, and through posts on social networks.

MOST OF AFGHAN SECURITY DON'T KNOW HOW TO READ OR COUNT
One-third of Afghanistan's national security forces are taking basic lessons in reading and counting, and NATO commanders want them to learn quickly before most foreign troops leave the country next year.  More than 95-percent of Afghan army and police recruits lack basic reading and counting skills because they've never been to school.  

NASHVILLE PREDS OPEN SEASON ON OCT 12
The Nashville Predators are supposed to open their 2012-2013 season on the road.  Their first game will be in Detroit on October 12th, before coming home to face the St. Louis Blues on October 13th.  HOWEVER..... a lockout is possible if a new collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and NHL Players Association isn't reached by September 15th.

POLITICIAN CAUGHT IN COMPROMISING SITUATION ON WILDLIFE CAMERA
A camera meant to catch animals in their natural habitat recently caught an Austrian politician in an embarrassing situation. The man was filmed sneaking off into the woods for a 'romantic encounter,' and says the camera should have been marked somehow. He's suing the hunting society that owns it … for 25 thousand dollars, claiming his privacy was violated.

MIAMI HEAT NBA CHAMPS
The Miami Heat are NBA champions.  LeBron James fulfilled his quest for his first NBA championship ring Thursday night.  James and the Heat defeated the Thunder, 121-106, in Game Five of the NBA Finals.  Miami won the final four games in the best-of-seven series to capture its second title in franchise history.   James, who famously left the Cavaliers to join the Heat during the 2010 offseason,

COLORADO FIRE BECOMES MOST DESTRUCTIVE IN STATE'S HISTORY 
Colorado's High Park wildfire has now claimed at least 191 homes along with one life, easily making it the most destructive fire in state history.  The blaze has been racing across timberland and prairie areas for nearly two weeks, charring 68-thousand-200 acres.  The cost of fighting the fire is approaching 20-million dollars. 

SECT LEADER MAKES NO SEX RULE FROM JAIL, WITH EXCEPTIONS
There are reports that polygamist leader Warren Jeffs has issued a ban on sex for his ten-thousand followers, except for 15 men and the women they choose.  Former members tell the ABC-TV affiliate in Salt Lake City that Jeffs issued the restriction from a Texas prison where he's serving a life sentence for bigamy and for having sex with 15-year-old and 12-year-old girls.

SCHOOL BUS KIDNAPPER OUT OF PRISON
One of the three men who kidnapped a bus full of school children in Chowchilla, California 36 years ago is free.  Richard Shoenfeld, his brother James and a friend were sent to prison for the July 1976 crime.  They buried the 27 victims alive inside a van at a construction site in Livermore while they were planning to demand five million dollars' ransom.  All of the children survived.  Schoenfeld will be monitored 24 hours a day with a GPS device.

BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR WINS RIGHT TO SWIM TOPLESS IN PUBLIC POOL
A breast cancer survivor has won the right to swim topless in Seattle public pools.  Jodi Jaecks challenged the city's policy on "gender-appropriate" swimwear, saying her sensitive scars and damaged nerves from a double mastectomy last year made wearing a bathing suit top too painful.  The 47-year-old says she was hardly trying to be provocative.  She now wants pool dress codes changed for all women who've had mastectomies.

STUDY: DRUNK DRIVERS SHOW RISKY LIFETIME DRIVING HABITS
A new study suggests lifelong risky drinking habits may impact many people convicted of drunk driving.  It also shows that using their conviction as a way of getting them into treatment could have long-lasting benefits.  Researchers found that nearly half of the 700 adults they interviewed had either been drinking heavily over an extended period of time, or had fallen back into heavy drinking after trying to cut down.  The study is published in the journal "Addiction."

US HOUSE BANS K2, SPICE AND SYNTHETIC DRUGS 
The U.S. House of Representatives this week voted in favor of a federal ban on certain synthetic drugs.  The ban is contained in the Food and Drug Administration Reform Act, which the House overwhelmingly approved by a vote of 387 to five.  Michigan Congressman Sander Levin says, quote, "This bill bans K2, Spice and other synthetic drugs that increasingly threaten the public health and safety of our communities."  Levin says that if the ban becomes law, federal criminal penalties will apply to the manufacture, sale, possession and use of these drugs.  The bill will now be taken up by the Senate and, if passed, will head to the president's desk for his signature next month.