Wed, February 22, 2012

AMBER ALERT ISSUED FOR TWO MISSING KIDS IN TENNESSEE  
An East Tennessee AMBER Alert has been issued for two missing children from Spencer, Tennessee. Three-year-old Summer and four-year-old Lovell Knasel were abducted by their non-custodial parents and are believed to be in danger. The children were taken out of their home last Friday after police found the parents were manufacturing meth in the house with the kids present. Meth can cause brain damage and other health issues in children, and is highly-explosive. Summer is three-feet tall with brown hair, blue eyes and was last seen wearing a Dora nightgown. Lovell is a three-foot-four inch girl, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a princess nightgown. Jeremy Knasel, 32, is 6-foot, 210 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes and Norberg, 24, is 5-foot-10, 200 pounds with brown hair and green eyes.  The girls are with Jeremy Knasel and Ashley Norberg and are driving in a black Nissan Maxima with Tennessee plates 065VKS. If you see the family please call 1-800-TBI-FIND, or call 911.

SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK
This is Severe Weather Awareness week. We're coming into the main storm season of the year, so officials want you to be ready to deal with whatever weather situation Mother Nature throws your way. You can get more information about how to get prepared at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ohx/?n=skywarn

FATAL ON I65N THIS MORNING
Northbound lanes of Interstate 65 were shut down since around 4 this morning, after a fatal, head-on crash, apparently caused by someone driving the wrong direction on the interstate, and slamming into another vehicle. The accident happened at mile marker 82 just under the Chestnut Street overpass. The driver who caused the crash was sent to an area hospital and treated for minor injuries. The person in the other car died. Police were unsure if alcohol was a factor. The crash was between Wedgewood Avenue and the downtown loop.

METRO NASHVILLE COUNCIL ASKS ARRIOLA TO RESIGN
Metro Council met last night, and among the issues: what to do about Davidson County Clerk John Arriola. They passed a resolution asking him to resign and to pay back fees he claimed were tips for marrying people while he was on government time. He doesn't HAVE to do it though, since the resolutions are non-binding.

BANKS ATTENDS FIRST MEETING AFTER PROSTITUTION ARREST
Last night was also the first council meeting for Brady Banks since his arrest in a prostitution sting last week. He showed up late and left as attention turned to John Arriola.

METRO NASHVILLE COUNCILMEMBER ASKS FOR NEW HERMITAGE SCHOOL
And Metro councilman Bruce Stanley is asking for a new high school in Hermitage. He says it's desperately needed to relieve overcrowding, and cut long bus rides to McGavock High. Metro school system officials say a new high school for the area is not on their capital needs list and McGavock is only at 84-percent capacity.

GUY HIT WITH BULLET WHILE DRIVING I-24
A man was driving down I-24 about 2:30 this morning in Nashville, when he was hit by a bullet. It was apparently a stray from a shooting nearby. Three men say they were headed south when another car pulled up beside them and someone fired at least three shots. No one else was hurt... the man in the first car was just grazed. The victims pulled into the Pilot gas station off of West Trinity Lane, near where Interstate 65 and I-24 split. The investigation is still underway.

THREE ARRESTED IN GIFT CARD THEFT RING IN HENDERSONVILLE
Three men from Florida have been arrested in Hendersonville... for a multi-state gift card theft ring. The guys would make fake credit cards, then buy gift cards with them, and use or sell the gift cards. A savvy cashier at the Walmart on North Anderson Lane caught on and called police.

$20 MILLION ROLLER COASTER TO OPEN NEXT MONTH AT DOLLYWOOD
Even if you've been to Dollywood before, you may want to go back this summer. Even as Dolly Parton's project here in Nashville gets nearer... she's bumping up the excitement level at Dollywood... with a new $20 million roller coaster scheduled to open there March 24th. The Wild Eagle will be more than 3,000 feet long and will reach a speed 61-miles-per-hour during the two minute and 22 second ride. (Read more at www.Dollywood2012.com.)

HASLAM CRITICIZED FOR BILL FALLING SHORT FOR VETERANS
Some state lawmakers are criticizing Governor Bill Haslam's changes to a civil service bill that's meant to help veterans. His proposal calls for managers hiring for state jobs to guarantee interviews to veterans, but also lets them hire anyone who meets minimum standards, rather than making them give veterans preferential treatment. Some lawmakers say it's not enough.

BANK OVERDRAFT INVESTIGATION
A federal watchdog agency is set to open an investigation today into banks' overdraft policies. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says it will focus on whether banks change the order they post your debit-card charges to increase overdraft fees. There are already several class-action lawsuits against the nation's biggest banks over it.

WALL STREET UP
Investors are waiting for Wall Street to open today to see where the markets will go. Yesterday, the Dow hit more than 13-thousand, then closed at just under. The last time it got that high was in 2008.

DOCTORS SEEM TO BE TAKING CREDIT FOR NON-EXISTENT RESEARCH
Many new doctors applying for residencies or fellowships appear to take credit for research that doesn't exist. Two new studies show up to 30-percent of obstetrics doctors turn in resumes that include references to published research that hiring managers just can't seem to track down.

MURFREESBORO BOY SCOUT GIVEN AWARD
And a 14 year old Rutherford County Boy Scout has been honored for saving his three year old cousin from drowning last summer. Trey McAdams of Murfreesboro's Troop 398 was given the Lifesaving Award for the incident, where he jumped into a swimming pool fully clothed to save the girl who wandered into deep water without her floaties. McAdams says he plans to follow in his father's and grandfather's footsteps of achieving Eagle Scout.

PRESIDENT SPEAKS AT SMITHSONIAN
President Obama will speak today at the construction site of the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture. The Washington, DC museum is set to open in 2015. A White House news release says it will be the "only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African-American life, art, history and culture."

REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES DEBATE TONIGHT IN AZ
The four remaining Republican presidential candidates will take part in a debate tonight in Arizona. The Phoenix suburb of Mesa will be the setting for the debate among Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul. The debate takes place just under a week before the Arizona and Michigan GOP presidential primaries.

OBAMA SINGS AGAIN
President Obama is once again showing off his vocal pipes. Obama chimed in on a chorus of "Sweet Home Chicago" during the finale of last night's White House salute to the blues. He shared the vocals with blues great B.B. King, who also launched the special show.

SHOOTOUT IN GA
Five people are dead following a shootout in Georgia. Police say the shootout at a Korean spa in Norcross was likely a murder-suicide. Authorities responded around 9 p.m. local time, and reportedly transported one victim to the hospital. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation will assist with the investigation.

JURY DELIBERATIONS START TODAY FOR LACROSSE PLAYER
Jury deliberations begin today in the murder trial for former Virginia lacrosse player George Huguely [[ HEW-glee ]]. The 24-year-old is accused of murdering his on-again, off-again girlfriend Yeardley [[ YARD-lee ]] Love in 2010. Love died from blunt-forced trauma to the head in an incident the Commonwealth maintains was driven by Huguely.

WHITNEY HOUSTON ITEMS ON AUCTION BLOCK
Whitney Houston memorabilia is going on the auction block. Darren Julien of Julien's Auctions says dozens of family, friends and colleagues of the late singer have offered up items that once belonged to Houston for auction. A dress and a pair of earrings Houston wore in her movie "The Bodyguard" will be part of the "Hollywood Legends" auction on March 31st and April 1st.

SUGARLAND SAYS FANS RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY
Sugarland says fans had some responsibility for their own safety, in ns in the aftermath of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse last August that killed seven people and injured dozens more. It's in reaction to a civil lawsuit that states singer Jennifer Nettles was partly to blame for not postponing the show. The band is saying some of those hurt or killed, quote, "failed to exercise due care for their own safety."