Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam signs bill that will allow for lifetime handgun carry permit

The Governor of Tennessee Bill Haslam has recently passed a new bill that will allow current citizens residing within Tennessee to purchase a lifetime handgun-carry permit with a single expenditure of 500 dollars.

During the recent meetings of the State House and the State Senate, the Tennessee State House of Representatives passed the measure in a unanimous vote of  90-3, and the State Senate where the bill was sent to next and also voted on favorably with a  30-2 vote officially passing the bill onto Governor Bill Haslam’s desk to be signed into law. Governor Bill Haslam signed it into law this week. This bill will now officially allow current citizens of Tennessee who are at least 21 years of age and can afford the 500 dollar expense that is required for the purchase of the permit to receive a lifetime handgun-carry permit.

To address the safety concerns that had arisen regarding the idea of someone with a lifetime handgun carry permit each owner of said permit will have to go through a criminal records check once every five years and anyone with any criminal records involving gun activity will be barred from receiving the lifetime handgun carry permit. Many believe that this will help to avoid any problems that the opposition to the bill will bring up in debate against the new law.

This will set Tennessee apart from other states that require that citizens can only purchase a permit that is good for up to 4-5 years depending on which state you are in.

Uninsured drivers within Tennessee may soon face new penalties due to new aggressive law

A new law, that many citizens have found to be very aggressive in nature, has been passed that will have a major impact on citizens within Tennessee who are driving without any insurance on their vehicles.

The law/bill that has been put into place by the state legislature is too triple the penalty fee that uninsured drivers receive when pulled over from a mere 100 dollars up to 300 dollars.

The recent data regarding uninsured drivers within Tennessee shows that there are nearly 40,000 car crashes every single year in the state and that out of these 40,000 crashed at least one of the drivers who is at fault for the accident are operating vehicles without any insurance. While this statistic may not seem like a very major deal the implications of a driver without insurance are very serious indeed. It can sky-rocket the price of repairs that would have normally been covered by insurance and leave both drivers whether one was responsible or not with crippling debt and bills to pay without any way to cover them.

While many citizens find the new law/bill to be aggressive many also find it to be an overall positive thing as it will help to push drivers without insurance to go out and get insurance and many are also hopeful that it will cut down on the number hit and runs within the state that occur due to people driving off because of a lack of insurance.

The law is expected to take effect within the month.

County sides with school system to sue the city of Johnson City

It seems that Washington County will be joining the fight against the city of Johnson City with the county school board to settle a lawsuit that regards the owing of millions of dollars in tax money.

This past Monday night the commissioners of Washington County voted unanimously to join the lawsuit that was filed by the Washington County school board against the city of Johnson City that has accused Johnson City of owing nearly 3.5 million dollars in taxes. Some that they say date back all the way to the 1980’s. The city of Johnson City however has called these claims ludicrous stating that they run their own school system and thus have nothing to do with the Washington County school system and are therefore free from any money that they board claims they are owed.

There will be a hearing in Bristol, Tennessee next Tuesday that will review whether the city of Johnson City will owe the Washington County school systems the 3.5 million dollars that is in question.

Gov. Haslam promoting free-tuition plan for Tennessee adults

The current Governor of Tennessee. Bill Haslam, will continue to travel the state promoting his tuition-free legislation the adults within Tennessee that was part of his Tennessee Promise bill that was passed last year during the 2015 legislative session.

The legislation is a last dollar scholarship program initiative that will allow adults that are current residents of Tennessee and have been residents of Tennessee for at least a single year to be able to attend on of the many technical colleges for free. No tuition. No fees.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam will even be making a quick stop on his tour throughout the state in the close city of Kingsport, Tennessee this upcoming Friday to discuss the initiative and answer any questions that anyone at the meeting will have.

This free tuition initiative and promotion is clearly tied to Haslam’s desire to improve the states overall graduations rates from the lowly 32 percent that it is currently holding at to the pleasant 55 percent. Governor Bill Haslam hopes to reach this milestone by the year 2025 and has high hopes for the state of Tennessee in these regards.

Hawkins County Commission saves only two EMS services after evaluation

It seems that two out of the three EMS services that are currently operating within Hawkins County, Tennessee will be saved thanks to a vote this past Monday by the Hawkins County commissioners.

The two EMS services that survived the cut are Church Hill EMS and the Hawkins County EMS. They have had their contracts extended for a single year at the end of which they will be evaluated once again and voted on whether they will have their contracts with the county extended for a three-year period which is the max that the commissioners can allow.

To increase efficiency of the EMS services and to better evaluate them the two remaining EMS services are being required to outfit their vehicles with GPS tracking systems. This decision was heavily influenced by an agreement that was reached by the Hawkins County 911 Board of Directors, which is th group that oversees any operations such as the EMS services and other medical response services.

Some concerns have arisen regarding the cost of said installations that are estimated to could roughly 5,000 dollars to install and the monitoring fee could cost 1/5 of that.

The EMS service that did not make the cut was the rarely used Lifeguard Ambulance service.

The GPS installations are expected to be done and in operation by mid summer.

Unicoi County Commission has selected temporary property assessor

Early this April Unicoi County commissioners were forced to set out on the task to find a property assessor for the county when previous property assessor Patsy Bennett resigned from her position due to alarming health concerns that had arisen.

The Unicoi County Commission however have finally found a solution to the problem of the empty position when the commission voted in favor of Wayne Peterson taking over the position of the counties property assessor. The vote was five yah’s and three nah’s. Wayne Peterson has been put in the position temporarily by the county commission to finish previous property assessor’s Patsy Bennett’s term which is up till August of 2016.

If Wayne Peterson wishes to retain the county position of property assessor he will have to win the elections that will be held in August of 2016 against 1-3 other possible candidates.

Johnson City Parks and Recreation Department begins new synthetic-surface park project

The Johnson City Parks and Recreation Department has finally raised the necessary 40,000 dollars to fund a community build that will install Johnson City’s first ever sythetic-surface(rubberized) playground.

Members of the community will gather together this Saturday at the Kiwanis Park located within Johnson City to begin putting together the equipment that will be needed for the playground that has been in the works for nearly three years. The project will also involve beefing up the basketball courts with new equipment and even improving the nearby Veterans memorial.

Johnson City Parks and Recreation Department also has plans to raise enough money to complete a project for another playground for older children at Winged Deer Park. There also plans to begin a project in the fall that will build another synthetic-surface playground in Johnson City.

The new park will be meant for kids between the ages of 12 to 14 and the new synthetic-surface playground has been met with much optimism from residents of Johnson City.

Unicoi County Director of Schools running changes up

Two candidates are left, vying for the open director of schools position in Unicoi County after a major shake up of the race has occured.

Dr. Jeff Moorhouse was a previous finalist for the Unicoi County Director of Schools job, but the Greeneville City Board of Education voted Thursday to allow the hiring of the Morristown West principal as the new director of schools for the county. Dr. Moorhouse will replacing Dr. Linda Stroud, who has suddenly announced her retirement next month following a recent health scare. The two previous candidates for the position up for grabs were of course Dr. Moorhouse and still current candidate John English.

Due to the sudden change up with Dr. Moorhouse leaving the race for the position previously ousted candidate Dr. Randy Shannon has been brought back into the race and will begin interviews with the school board members within the next two to three weeks.

The school board will then vote on the next director of schools in mid-May.

Kevin Huffman is stepping down from Commissioner position

This Thursday Tennessee’s Governor Bill Haslam has announced the Tennessee’s commissioner of the Department of Education, Kevin Huffman, will be resigning from his current position to seek employment within the private sector.

Under Kevin Huffman’s commission the state of Tennessee has seen a great amount of advancement in the academic department and Huffman has been a great supporter of Governor Bill Haslam’s push to increase the graduation rate among adults in Tennessee.

In an interview with WJHL Huffman said, “It has been an extraordinary honor to serve nearly one million students. I am incredibly proud of the accomplishments of Tennessee students. More importantly, I am convinced that the state is on the cusp of even more significant breakthroughs as the reforms in our K-12 system link with the opportunity of the Tennessee Promise.”

Before Kevin Huffman took his position under Governor Bill Haslam as the commissioner of the Department of Education he spent a good majority of his life working within various public education systems and on various other boards as a commissioner.

Bill Haslam has not announced any successor to fill the now vacant position left behind by Kevin Huffman’s departure.

Greeneville City Schools picks new director

Dr. Jeff Moorhouse will be leaving the race to vie for the position of the Unicoi County School board director as he has been selected by the Greenville City schools to take over their position of Director of schools.

Currently Dr. Moorehouse is the principal presiding over Morristown West High School. Moorhouse will be stepping in for Dr. Linda Stroud who is set to retire at the end of May due to a recent health scare that has forced her to set down earlier than expected. Moorhouse is expected to be moved into his new position by early this upcoming June.

With Dr. Jeff Moorehouse dropping from the Unicoi County race for the position of the Director of Schools in Greenville County this will now leave Dr. Randy Shannon and John English as the final two candidates competing for the open position.