Thursday, Dec 8, 2011

SNOW HERE AND ON EAST COAST
While Nashville only got a few flakes of snow yesterday, areas south and east of Nashville got from a dusting to an inch of the white stuff. And today... while we get back to sunshine, a winter storm is expected to blast much of the East Coast with heavy snow this morning... including in parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York.

METRO PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT OFFERS FREE FLU SHOTS
If you haven't gotten your flu shot, it's not too late... and you can get it for free at the Metro Public Health Department. They'll be offering the free shots at all three health clinic locations, but there are specific hours you need to know about. You can get the details at 340-2100 or www.health.nashville.gov 

'M*A*S*H' star Harry Morgan dies at 96
We've lost another actor. Harry Morgan has passed away. He was 96, and best known for playing Colonel Sherman T. Potter on the long-running Army comedy “M*A*S*H.”
Morgan died at his home in Los Angeles yesterday morning. You can see some of his great moments from “M*A*S*H” at this link

FRIENDS SAY CHEATHAM COUNTY CLASSMATE KILLED HIMSELF AFTER REPEATED BULLYING
A family in Cheatham County is mourning the loss of a student who committed suicide, saying he just couldn’t stand any more bullying at school. The family says school officials knew about the torment but didn't do enough to stop it. Jacob Rogers was living with his grandmother, and left notes saying he just couldn't take the abuse any longer. Counselors are at Cheatham County Central High School today to talk to kids and teachers.

PORCH PIRATING ON THE RISE
If you do Christmas shopping online and have your packages shipped and left on your porch, you need to know that Porch Pirating is on the rise; Crook slipping in and stealing packages off porches during the day, so you just think you never got it, until days later when you follow up and ask the seller about it. There are other options to having packages set on the porch: customers can ask the shipper to require a signature for delivery, have it delivered to a neighbor who's home, or some shippers will let you choose the delivery time (for an extra fee).

SANDUSKY ARRESTED
Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is in jail this morning on a quarter-million-dollar bond. Pennsylvania State Police arrested Sandusky at his home yesterday after two more people came forward alleging he sexually abused them. Both of the new accusers were involved in Sandusky's Second Mile charity for disadvantaged youth. Sandusky was arraigned on 12 new charges and his bail set at a 250-thousand dollars.

A REMINDER OF HOW GOOD PEOPLE CAN BE
With all the news about people doing horrible things, we want to share this story to balance things out a little. An anonymous and generous man is playing Santa Claus for more than a dozen Michigan residents. He paid off about two-thousand dollars for layaway customers at a K-Mart in Plainfield Township, helping 13 people get their merchandise in time for Christmas. The man says he was inspired by a woman who had done the same thing earlier this week at the store.

SUMNER SCHOOLS AGREE; NO RELIGIOUIS ACTIVITY AT SCHOOL
Sumner County schools and the American Civil Liberties Union have reached an agreement in a lawsuit,  and the schools have agreed to refrain from any kind of religious activity. The organization filed the suit last May on behalf of students complaining teachers and staff were endorsing religious activity such as leading prayer in classrooms. (The agreement prohibits teachers from coordinating any religious activity or displaying religious imagery, and bars ministers from lunchrooms unless they're meeting with their own children.)

TENNESSEE SEASON TO REMEMBER WILL HONOR HOMICIDE VICTIMS
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and First Lady Crissy Haslam will host the annual Tennessee Season to Remember, tonight in the House Chambers of the State Capitol in Nashville. It's a memorial service for families and friends of peole who've lost their lives to violent crime. They hang ornaments memorializing their loved ones on wreaths that'll be on display at the State Capitol through the holiday season.

'FLU NEAR YOU' TRACKS ILLNESS
There's a new flu-tracking project called "Flu Near You" that is designed to track the flu. Other reporting systems get their information from health services, but "Flu Near You.org" relies on YOU reporting your specific symptoms in your specific location. You'll also be able to see other people who are sick around you. So far, more than 2,000 people have signed up. https://flunearyou.org/

MURFREESBORO HOMELESS SHELTER MAY CLOSE
Murfreesboro’s Room in the Inn homeless shelter may have to close. As most charities, they're dealing with more people in need, and fewer donations. (For more information on Murfreesboro's Room in the Inn, call 615-896-7016.)

DICKSON AGRESS TO TERMS OF SUIT OVER "CANCER-CAUSING" LANDFULL
Several lawsuits over contamination from a Dickson city dump are close to resolution. The city of Dickson approved an agreement yesterday paying out one-point-seven-five-million dollars to the Holt family, along with giving them an apology. The Holt family filed three lawsuits since 2003, claiming toxins from the Dickson City dump seeped into the water and gave them cancer, and other illnesses. Now that the county has approved the agreement, it needs approval from federal judges.

NBA PLAYERS DRUG TEST STARTING THIS YEAR
NBA players have agreed to begin blood testing for human growth hormone this year when they ratify the league's new collective bargaining agreement. That means the NBA will join Major League Baseball and the NFL to become the third U.S. professional sports league this year to agree to the testing.

'MYTHBUSTERS' CANNONBALL RIPS THROUGH HOUSE, VAN
Hosts for the Discovery Channel Show Mythbusters have apologized, after an experiment went wrong, and they sent a cannonball shooting through a California family's bedroom. No one was hurt... the home's residents didn't even wake up until the broken drywall settled on top of them. But show producers say they're sincerely sorry and will pay for the damage.

HEALTH: SAFETY CONCERNS OVER NEWER FORMS OF THE 'PILL'
Two U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panels will meet today to decide whether to add new warning labels to newer forms of oral contraceptives. Drugs such as Yas, Yasmin and the weekly Ortho Evra patch has a newer type of progestin hormone that may have a higher risk of deadly clots in the legs or lungs than older products.

ALEC BALDWIN'S TWITTER ACCOUNT VANISHES
After being kicked off an American Airlines plane for refusing to turn off his phone, then tweeting snarky messages about it, Alec Baldwin's Twitter account was deleted yesterday. First, he encouraged his 600,000 followers to unfollow him, and then his account went away. American Airlines has now come out with its side of the story, saying Baldwin was "extremely rude to the crew" and used inappropriate language.

BLAGOJEVICH SENTENCED TO 14 YEARS
Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich [[ bla-GOYA-vich ]] is going to prison for the next 14 years. A federal judge sentenced Blagojevich on federal corruption charges yesterday. He was convicted last summer of trying to sell President Obama's former U.S. Senate seat for cash and political favors.

TOURIST HELICOPTER IN VEGAS CRASHES, KILLS ALL ABOARD
A helicopter carrying four sightseers and a pilot crashed Wednesday evening just east of Las Vegas, killing everyone on board. Andrew Munoz, a spokesman with the National Park Service says the crash site was in rugged terrain that could only be reached by helicopter. Rescue crews determined there were no survivors but didn't have time to recover the bodies before sunset. They'll return in the morning.

TWO LOCAL COMPANIES ACCUSED OF USING LOOPHOLES TO AVOID TAX
A report by tax policy advocacy groups says two Nashville-based Fortune 500 companies are among a few in Tennessee using loopholes in the state tax code to avoid paying corporate income taxes. The report names Community Health Systems and Dollar General in the study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and Citizens for Tax Justice. The study says states have lost almost 43-billion dollars in revenue the last three years from tax avoidance.

THOUSANDS OF UNEMPLOYED TENNESSEANS MAY LOSE BENEFITS Thousands of Tennesseans could be close to losing unemployment benefits. The National Law Employment Project says over 40-thousand of the state's unemployed are slated to go without benefits in January, unless Congress votes to extend emergency unemployment insurance by December 31st. The report says the cutoff could result in five-million recipients nationally losing benefits by year's end. Tennessee could be hit especially hard, since the state's unemployment rate of nine-point-six percent is one of the highest nationally.

FELONY THEFT CHARGES AGAINST FORMER METRO ATTORNEY
A former Metro attorney is facing felony theft charges. "The Tennessean" reports Bobby Dan Davis has been indicted on charges related to 150-thousand dollars reported missing by his former employer, Nashville's Industrial Development Board. Davis has admitted making a mistake, but denied criminal wrongdoing in the mismanagement, first reported three years ago. He was arrested Tuesday and released after posting a 25-thousand-dollar bond.

RIOT AT FOLSOM PRISON
Prison officials at the New Folsom Prison in California are searching the exercise yard for any more inmate-made weapons following yesterday's riot. Nearly a dozen inmates had to be transported to hospitals after they were either stabbed, beaten or shot by guards. Sergeant Tony Quinn says some prison staff received minor injuries.

CALIFORNIA REVEALING HOSPITALS FINED FOR DEADLY MISTAKES
The California Department of Public Health is announcing the names of 14 hospitals that are facing big fines. The hospitals are being assessed administrative penalties for breaking rules that have caused, or may have caused, serious injury or even death to patients. The fines range from 25-to-100-thousand dollars per violation.

'M*A*S*H' STAR HARRY MORGAN DIES AT 96
We've lost another actor. Harry Morgan has passed away. He was 96, and best known for playing Colonel Sherman T. Potter on the long-running Army comedy “M*A*S*H.” See some of his great moments from “M*A*S*H” at this link

A REMINDER OF HOW GOOD PEOPLE CAN BE
With all the news these days about people doing horrible things, we want to share this story to balance things out a little. An anonymous and generous man in Michigan just paid off about 2-thousand dollars of layaways at a K-Mart store, so 13 customers could get their merchandise in time for Christmas.