Thurs, March 22, 2012

RUTHERFORD MOM/TEACHER BURNS SON'S FACE WITH FOOD
A Rutherford county mom -- who also taught school in Bedford County -- is charged with felony aggravated child abuse. 43 year-old Cynthia Hunter allegedly threw a plate of hot Hamburger Helper at her 14 year old adopted son, leaving him with 2nd degree burns on his face. He went to the school nurse the next day for help and authorities took the boy, and two other adopted children, from the home. Hunter has resigned from her teaching job and goes to court in April.

ARMY REVIEWS PRACTICES AT MENTAL HEALTH CARE FACILITIES
The army is doing a system-wide review of how it diagnoses, or dismisses traumatic stress disorder to make sure military mental health facilities are not considering treatment costs in making diagnoses. The Madigan Army Medical Center in Washington state has recently reversed post traumatic stress diagnoses. That's where Staff Sergeant Robert Bales -- who's accused of a shooting massacre of Afghan civilians -- was found mentally fit and cleared for redeployment.

NASHVILLE SOUNDS HOSTING NATIONAL ANTHEM AUDITIONS
And this is tryout weekend to sing the National Anthem at a Nashville Sounds home game this season. Tryouts are Saturday from 9 to 2 at Greer Stadium.(Buddy Yelton at 615-690-HITS ext. 124. The Sounds begin their home schedule by hosting New Orleans on Friday, April 13, at 7:05 p.m.)

METRO SCHOOLS DIRECTOR. BOARD FACE ETHICS COMPLAINTS
Nashville Public Schools Director Jesse Register and school board members are facing ethics complaints from a union leader charging they've violated financial disclosure laws. Register didn't file annual financial disclosure forms for two years, and when questioned, left the sections blank on the forms concerning gifts such as tickets and free meals.

KROGER SPOKESPERSON RESPONDS TO ESCALATING ‘PINK SLIME' CONCERNS
A spokesperson for Kroger is responding about the concern over so-called 'pink slime' finely ground low quality beef scraps once used for dog food and cooling oils, that's mixed with gelatin and added to ground beef. Kroger's Melissa Eads says they carry ground beef both with and without the additive, and said the beef without it includes Kroger's Private Selection beef, and Laura's Lean Ground Beef . The USDA announced last week it will disclose to school districts which of its suppliers use pink slime so administrators can decide whether to buy it.

FORT CAMPBELL JOB FAIR TODAY OPEN TO PUBLIC
That job fair continues today at Fort Campbell. More than 100 employers looking to hire, and you don't have to be in the military to apply. Just go in at Gate 4. (For information, call 270-798-5000, ext. 4412.)

NASHVILLE HAS HIGHEST POLLEN COUNT IN 12 YEARS
Everybody's talking about the pollen in the air and the allergies it's causing. Vanderbilt University's Asthma, Sinus and Allergy Program doctors say that's because we have the highest pollen count in 12 years, from the lack of cold spells and an early blooming season for plants, grasses and trees.

TSA AGENT ARRESTED FOR INVOLVEMENT IN METH OPERATION
Those Transportation Security Agents at Nashville International Airport are supposed to help catch crooks, not be crooks. 29 year old security screener Erin Barger was arrested when a parole officer made a regular visit to someone at her apartment and found Erin and her boyfriend were cooking meth. They were taken to jail.

WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES ON THE RISE IN TENNESSEE
http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2012/03/21/women-owned-businesses-on-rise-in.html
The number of women-owned businesses in Tennessee has grown more than 50 percent over the past 15 years. We have about 155 thousand firms run by women... making us the 17th in the nation for women-led businesses. Those companies put more than 120 thousand people to work, and generate 23 BILLION dollars in sales.

STUDY: BLACK WOMEN HAVE HIGHER BREAST CANCER RISK
A new study finds black women are significantly more likely than white women to die from breast cancer in half of the nation's largest cities. Part of the problem: lack of access to health care, and racial differences in cancer risks. 

NEIGHBORS OPPOSE REZONING EDDIE ARNOLD PROPERTY
Some of the neighbors near the former property of country music icon Eddy Arnold out on Granny White Pike... are opposing its rezoning plans. Developers want to build 57 single-family homes closer together than what the current one-home-per-acre zoning allows.... but would preserve the property's natural environment, as Arnold wanted. His grandson is one of the developers. (Development would leave up to 40% of the land untouched, in natural open space.)

TN. ABORTION BILL PROVISION TO ID DOCTORS REMOVED
State legislators have stripped Tennesse's abortion bill of two particularly controversial provisions. One would have listed online the names of doctors who do abortions, and the other would have made demographic information about the patients public.

NASHVILLE AMBULANCES EQUIPPED TO HANDLE XL PATIENTS
Obese people cause some special challenges to health care workers. Sometimes they're too heavy to lift, or ambulance cots aren't big enough or sturdy enough. So Nashville is adding new ambulances that are equipped to handle patients weighing up to 16-hundred pounds with a specialized cot and patient loading system. (First Call Ambulance now has three in Nashville, and the fire department has one.)

NASHVILLE RANKED 30TH STRESSFUL CITY
Nashville is ranked as the 30th most stressful city in America. Research firm Sperling's BestPlaces weighs factors like divorce and suicide rates, commute times and even the number of cloudy days... to determine stress rates. Tampa, Florida ranked most stressful, Minneapolis-St. Paul the least-stressful out of 50.

TEBOW TO THE JETS
Quarterback Tim Tebow has officially been traded to the New York Jets.

SAINTS SANCTIONED
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/saints-coach-suspended-season-bounties-15974469#.T2p8vlE2HS8
The NFL is suspending former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams indefinitely and Saints head coach Sean Payton for one year, as punishment for a bounty program that allegedly paid players bonuses if they injured opposing players. The bounty program was in place from 2009 to 2011, a period that included the franchise's only Super Bowl win. It's the strongest punishment in league history.

FLORIDA POLICE UNDER FIRE FOR NO ARREST IN TEEN KILLING
City commissioners in Sanford, Florida say they've lost confidence in the Police Chief after his officers failed to arrest a man who claims he was a neighborhood watch volunteer... who shot and killed an unarmed teenager. In New York City, the family of Trayvon Martin took part in a rally asking that the shooter face criminal charges.

SUGARLAND FIGHTS BACK ABOUT STAGE COLLAPSE
The country music band Sugarland is fighting back against allegations that they are not cooperating with the investigation into the deadly Indiana State Fair stage collapse. A spokesman for the band said the duo will not be "bullied" into providing depositions next week, but will give testimony in May, after they've had time to prepare.

REESE WITHERSPOON PREGNANT WITH THIRD CHILD
http://www.wsmv.com/story/17212139/report-reese-witherspoon-pregnant-with-third-child
Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon is about 12 weeks pregnant with her third child, according to Us Weekly.
The actress, who turns 36 today (Thursday), married Hollywood agent Jim Toth in March 2011 in a private ceremony at Witherspoon's Ojai, Calif., ranch. This would be the couple's first child. Witherspoon has two other children -- 12-year-old daughter Ava and 8-year-old son Deacon -- with her ex-husband Ryan Phillippe. The two divorced in 2007 after seven years of marriage. Witherspoon is currently starring in the romantic comedy, This Means War.

HEALTH: SUGAR LAWSUIT THIS WEEK IN LOS ANGELES
A sweet lawsuit is being tried in Los Angeles this week. Sugar producers are suing the makers of high fructose corn syrup. The sugar folks want the corn people to stop saying their products are similar. The issue is centered on the Corn Refiners Association advertising that claims corn syrup is "nutritionally the same as table sugar." The plaintiffs say sugar is a natural product while corn syrup is man-made and less healthy. The sugar industry also says corn syrup is causing an obesity and diabetes epidemic. However, the corn producers defend their advertising as "truthful speech." High fructose corn syrup is used in soft drinks, breads, cereal and other products.

LONGEST-SERVING WOMAN IN CONGRESSIONAL HISTORY
Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski is now the longest-serving woman in United States congressional history, and her colleagues took special notice on Wednesday. The 75-year-old Mikulski passed former Massachusetts Representative Edith Nourse Rogers on the longevity list this past Saturday. Mikulski also spoke Wednesday, thanking her family, her staff, volunteers and those who have voted for her over the 35 plus years she's now held office as either a representative or a senator.

MORE GOOGLE CHROME USERS THAN INTERNET EXPLORER ... FOR A DAY
There are now more people using Google's Chrome Internet browser than are using Microsoft's Internet Explorer. At least that was the case last Sunday when web analytics company StatCounter saw Chrome overtake IE as the browser of choice for the first time. StatCounter Chief Executive Aodhan Cullen says while it was only a single day it "is a milestone." Internet Explorer is the embedded browser in the Microsoft Windows operating system so is easily the most available for most PC users. Chrome, which is free, has to be downloaded from the Internet.

WEDDING DRESS TRAIN ALMOST TWO MILES LONG
Romania is now home to the world's longest wedding dress train. MSNBC.com says a new Guinness World Record was set on Tuesday with the unveiling of a dress train that extended one-point-eight-five-miles long. A model had to take flight in a hot air balloon just to showcase the dress in all its glory. The design took ten workers 100 days to finish. The dress and its train required more than 15-thousand feet of taffeta, nearly 19-hundred sewing needles, and 150 spools of thread to create. The previous record was set by the Dutch with a wedding ress train that was one-point-five-five-miles long.