Wednesday, May 23, 2012

TORNADO WEDDING
A bride in Kansas was letting NOTHING stop her big day. Not even a couple of HUGE tornadoes. The groom says he told his bride there was a tornado in the background and she said, "I don't want to hear about that right now." No one was hurt, but you can see the tornadoes in the background of the wedding photos. SEE THEM HERE

 

15 YEAR-OLD BOY INVENTS TEST FOR PANCREATIC CANCER
While most teenaged boys are inventing new ways to annoy each other and their parents, 15-year-old Maryland schoolboy Jack Andraka has invented a new dipstick type test for pancreatic cancer. The patent-pending test can check blood or urine, is more than 90 percent accurate, 28 times cheaper and 1000 times more sensitive than existing tests for the cancer. (He won $75,000 prize money for his effort.)

GOOGLE DOODLE
And check out today's Google Doodle at www.Google.com.
It's a playable Moog synthesizer keyboard, in honor of the Moog creator's birthday.

DRUG TESTING WELFARE RECIPIENTS BECOMES LAW
Tennessee is joining the list of states requiring drug testing for welfare recipients. The law goes into effect January 1st, and would require first time drug offenders to either enter a treatment program or lose their benefits for six months. Penalties for a second offense go up.

PROPERTY TAX INCREASE WOULD AFFECT RENTERS
Mayor Karl Dean's recently proposed property tax increase could also hit your budget if you're renting. The Greater Nashville Apartment Association says it would add about 14 dolllars more a month to the average rent in Davidson County. (The proposal raises the rate to four-point-66 per 100 dollars of assessed value, generating around 100-million dollars a year for the city.)

STUDENT WITH FLESH-EATING BACTERIA GETTING BETTER
Aimee Copeland, the Georgia grad student who's lost her foot, leg and hands to flesh-eating bacteria.. is doing better. She's able to breathe and sit up on her own.

AL GORE GIRLFRIEND
It's been nearly two years since Al and Tipper Gore announced their separation after 40 years of marriage, and now Mr. Gore apparently has a girlfriend. The former vice president is said to be dating Elizabeth Keadle, a Democratic supporter and friend who's been running in the same circles as Gore for years.

324 EVACUATED FROM LOCAL APARTMENT AFTER FIRE OVERNIGHT MONDAY/TUES
More than 300 elderly or disabled people are still out of their homes today after a fire at the Parthenon Towers apartment building near Centennial Park. It'll be at least tomorrow before they can go home. Their pets are being housed at the Nashville Humane Society. (You can make a donation to Humane Society to help, if you'd like)

OLDER AMERICANS URGED TO BECOME ORGAN DONORS
Health officials are urging you to register as an organ donor, especially if you're over 50.  Older people account for 60% of transplants, but only about a third of them are signed up. (In the meantime, thousands of people on the waiting list, die each year, while organs that could have saved them get buried.)

HASLAM CONSIDERS PRE-K EXPANSION
Governor Bill Haslam is looking at expanding pre-kindergarten programs. He says adding more classrooms and teachers is a possibility... but he's got to see how current programs are doing first.

WEIGHT LOSS CAN CUT BREAST CANCER RISK
If you lose even 10 percent of your body weight... you'll lower your risk of breast cancer. Researchers found body fat increases the amount of cancer-causing hormones in your body. 

WALL STREET LEGAL ACTION OVER FACEBOOK
A Wall Street investor is taking legal action against Nasdaq over allegations it bungled the Facebook initial public offering Friday.The investor wants class-action status so everybody who lost money when the exchange mishandled orders can sue. 

AMERICANS USING CREDIT CARDS FOR BASIC NEEDS
Years ago, we used credit cards for big purchases. Furniture, vacations. Now, with the economy still not where it could be... a new study finds 40% of low and middle income American families used their credit cards to pay for basic household needs including groceries, mortgage and rent, and utilities.

MOTORCYCLE SAFETY AWARENESS RIDE SCHEDULED WEDNESDAY
A Tennessee based motorcycle rights and safety organization is holding a ride tonight to bring attention to motorcycle safety, and the recent increase in motorcycle deaths. The group meets tonight at LP Field's Lot N. (615-944-9797 for information.)

HEALTH: POM JUICE'S HEALTHY SALES PITCH DECEPTIVE
You may have been buying POM Wonderful juice, because of its claims that it's an  "antioxidant superpower", and implications that it  can prevent heart disease, prostate cancer and other problems. BUT... a federal judge has just ruled that those claims are "false or misleading," and there's not enough evidence to back up the claims.

DIABETES-LINKED DEATHS DECLINING
A new government study finds fewer diabetics are dying from complications related to the disease..including hert disease and strokes. Researchers say it seems to show that diabetics are taking better care of themselves... at least AFTER the diagnosis. 

MICHAEL MCKEAN HIT BY CAR
Actor Michael McKean of "Laverne and Shirley" and "This Is Spinal Tap" fame was hit by a car in New York City yesterday.  The 64 year-old has a broken leg and is in stable condition.

STANLEY CUP
I don't know if this makes you feel better but the Phoenix Coyotes, who knocked the Nashville Predators out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, are also out, now. Beaten by the Los Angeles Kings.

DWTS WINNER
Donald Driver has won "Dancing With the Stars." Singer Katherine Jenkins is the season 14 runner up.

THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM FOR SCOTTY'S ASHES TO GET INTO SPACE
You heard that the first commercial space flight has happened... the successful launch of the SpaceX rocket "Falcon 9." What you may not have heard was what was on that rocket. The ashes of James Doohan -- the actor who played Scotty on "Star Trek." (His last wishes included taking his ashes into space. Doohan, who died in 2005, and it's finally happened. The remains of 308 other people are also on board Falcon 9.)

ECONOMY COULD FALL BACK INTO RECESSION
The Congressional Budget office says the nation's economy could fall back into a recession if President Obama and Congress remain at odds, and we're hit with big tax increases AND big spending cuts.

GARY GIORDANO, TN WOMAN FOUND NAKED IN SUV
http://www.wkrn.com/story/18598058/gary-giordano-tennessee-woman-found-naked-in-suv
Gary Giordano, a man who was the sole suspect in the disappearance of a Maryland woman in Aruba, has been arrested in Maryland with a woman from Tennessee, over a separate incident. He and the woman were found naked in the back of his parked Sport Utility Vehicle. They were charged with indecent exposure. Giordano spent four months in an Aruba jail last year as a suspect in the disappearance of Robyn Gardner. (He's the one who saw her last, but didn't report her missing till nearly two hours later.)

RUTHERFORD COUNTY SHERIFF PROJECTS $1-MILLION IN OVERTIME
Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold says he'll pay close to one-million dollars in overtime to his employees this year because he's short of enough deputies to respond to an increase in crime.  The sheriff says hes moving to a 12-hour shift plan, up from ten hours, to deal with a shortage of officers.  Arnold says part of the overtime increase is officers having to leave the region and sometimes drive as far as Memphis when they have an inmate or for other reasons.

MAN CHARGED IN FELONY THEFT OF HANK WILLIAMS, JR. GUITAR
An Alabama man is charged with stealing a guitar belonging to country superstar Hank Williams Jr.  Authorities charged Adam Dale Broach with first-degree theft for the guitar reported stolen from the singer's cabin in 2010.  The custom-made 1968 Les Paul is estimated to be worth 15-thousand dollars.  Meanwhile, Williams is getting ready to release a new album this summer, "Old School, New Rules," the first on his new label, Blaster Entertainment.

FORMER METRO OFFICER SENTENCED FOR DRUG DEALS
A former Metro police officer is sentenced to prison on federal drug charges.  Richard Wilson was recently sentenced to 120 months in prison for program fraud and his co-defendent Michael Dwayne Ray was sentenced to 60 months for money laundering.  An undercover investigation found Wilson tried to distribute cocaine on two occasions in the spring of last year and took more than 24-thousand in cash for it while on duty.  His badges are crushed and cut in half and on display at the Metro Police Training Academy.