Friday, June 8, 2012

AIR ALERT DAY FRIDAY
There's an Air Quality Alert again today for a dangerous amount of ground-level Ozone in the air. People with lung disease should stay indoors as much as possible, children-- who breathe faster and inhale more toxins on bad air days-- should stay in as much as possible, and everyone is supposed to hold off on any strenuous outdoor activity that would make you inhale more toxins. The rest of us are asked to drive less and use less electricity so we don't make the problem worse. 

FORMER FLEETWOOD MAC MEMBER COMMITS SUICIDE
Fleetwood Mac founding member Bob Welch has passed away. His wife found his body yesterday. He'd apparently commited suicide at his home in Antioch. Welch was 66. 
 
METRO POLICE USE SKY COP AT CMA MUSIC FESTIVAL
Metro Police are using a new tool to fight crime at the CMA Music Festival. It's Sky Cop: a mobile device with several cameras attached to it that sends recorded video to a mobile command unit. Looks kind of like a truck with a cherry picker, cameras on top. It's able to zoom in and get detailed images of attendees.

CMA MUSIC FESTIVAL SOLD OUT (THIRD YEAR IN A ROW)
There's still plenty to do at the CMA Music Festival, if you'd like to head downtown. However, the concerts at LP Field have sold out. The annual event started in 1972... with dozens of superstars and only five-thousand fans. Today, we have more than 65 thousand visitors in town for the fun. You can see what's left to do at CMAWORLD.com

BONNAROO
And at Bonnaroo, in Manchester... one of the more popular acts, Radiohead, plays tonight. You can see videos and web feeds through the weekend at www.Bonnaroo.com

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION READY FOR HEALTHCARE RULING
The Obama administration is preparing for a Supreme Court ruling this month on its healthcare reform law. 60-thousand people with pre-existing conditions have already taken advantage of the reform law to get healthcare coverage, and more than 6 million young adults have gotten added to their parents' insurance.

JEFF FISHER APPEARS IN MUSIC VIDEO FOR NASHVILLE BASED BAND
If you're a music video fan, be on the lookout for former Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher. His daughter is a fan of the band "Goodbye June"... so Fisher agreed to be in their video ... he plays the role of a cop. Fisher left the Tennessee Titans last year. 

TWITTER LOGO GETS MAKEOVER
The Twitter bluebird logo has been updated. The Twitter bird is slimmed down and tilted a little more, and looks a little more modern.

OLDER TEENS MORE LIKELY TO TEXT BEHIND THE WHEEL
A national survey finds more than half of U.S. teenagers in their last year before college say they text or email while driving. The survey DIDN'T ask, however, whether the texting was done at traffic lights or stop signs.

TEEN SERVES JAIL TIME FOR FATALITY CAUSED BY TEXTING AND DRIVING
And a Massachusetts teenager has just been sentenced to a year in jail for KILLING someone by texting and driving. The teen was 17 when he crashed head-on into another car.  Texting while driving is TWICE as dangerous as driving drunk, and judges are starting to sentence accordingly.

45 YEAR OLD CHARLOTTE, TN MAN CHARGED WITH SOLICITING SEX FROM 14 YEAR OLD
45 year old Richard Maule of Charlotte, Tennessee, has been arrested for trying to have sex with a 14 year girl. The child told her parents when he started sending her explicit messages, metro detectives took over, posing as the girl. When he showed up for what he thought was an encounter, he was arrested. 

HOME MORTGAGES 40 YEAR LOW
Home mortgage rates are the lowest they've been in more than 40 years: three-point-six-seven-percent for a 30-year fixed rate. (That's the lowest figure in Freddie Mac's records dating back to 1971.)

YOUR PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS ARE SEXTING
You may not want to think about this, but it's not just teenagers who are sexting: sending scantily-clad photos or racy videos to each other. One in 5 people overall, and one in 10 people over 55, say they do it too.

FATHER RYAN HIGH SCHOOL BAND GETTING READY FOR MACY’S APPEARANCE
The NFL has the Super Bowl. College hoops has the Final Four. High school marching bands have the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. And Father Ryan High School is one of only 11 high school marching bands in the nation invited this year to march in the parade. The kids are working on their routine, as well their usual gigs.... and getting ready to perform for 30 million viewers on November 22nd.

NASA CANCELS SPACE TELESCOPE
NASA is cancelling plans for an X-ray telescope to search for black holes, neutron stars and the remnants of dead stars.  The space agency blames "soaring development costs." For its poor planning, the government agency still has to pay 13 MILLION dollars to get OUT of the deal. It was originally a 105-million dollar project.  

PENN STATE NEW POLICY ABOUT CHILD ABUSE REPORTING
Penn State will soon have a new administrative policy concerning child abuse, giving guidance to university employees about reporting requirements.  The new policy comes as former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky awaits the start of his child sex abuse trial Monday.