MONDAY, APRIL 16, 2012 Expecting veto override, Haslam lets science education bill pass (C.

Paper/Hale)

Last week, Gov. Bill Haslam announced that he would not sign a controversial science education bill, allowing it pass into law without his endorsement. Although effectively insignificant, it was an unprecedented move for t governor, who has signed every other piece of legislation to hit his desk since he took office in 2010. In explaini his decision, and in the week leading up to it, the governor said he doesnt believe the bill, which ensures teache will be permitted to teach the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of scientific theories like clima change and evolution, changes anything about the states scientific standards or its curriculum. Haslam also sa the bill didnt meet the threshold for good legislation, which he said should bring clarity and not confusion. Bu was another point, which he has made repeatedly as of late, that stood out. Citing the wide ratio by which t measure passed three to one in both chambers and the relative ease of overriding a veto in Tennessee, signaled an inclination to defer to the legislature, even if he thinks theyre adding more confusion than clarity to situation. http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/expecting-veto-override-haslam-lets-science-education-bill-pass

Big gaps reported in some nursing homes' disaster plans (AP/Alonso-Zaldivar)

Tornado, hurricane or flood, nursing homes are woefully unprepared to protect frail residents in a natural disast government investigators say. Emergency plans required by the government often lack specific steps such coordinating with local authorities, notifying relatives or even pinning name tags and medication lists to residents an evacuation, according to the findings. That means the plans may not be worth the paper theyre written o Nearly seven years after Hurricane Katrinas devastation of New Orleans exposed the vulnerability of nursi homes, serious shortcomings persist. We identified many of the same gaps in nursing home preparedness a response, investigators from the inspector generals office of the Department of Health and Human Services wro in the report being released Monday. Emergency plans lacked relevant information. Nursing homes fac challenges with unreliable transportation contracts, lack of collaboration with local emergency management, a residents who developed health problems. The report recommends that Medicare and Medicaid add spec emergency planning and training steps to the existing federal requirement that nursing homes have a disaster pla Many such steps are in nonbinding federal guidelines that investigators found were disregarded. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120416/BUSINESS01/304160037/Big-gaps-reported-some-nursing-home disaster-plans?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|News

Tenn. strawberry crop looks to be best in years (Associated Press)

The state's strawberry crop looks to be the best in years, despite recent frosts. The Agriculture Departmen Tammy Algood says the mild winter and warm spring mean the fruit is closer to being ripe than in a typical ye That means it has increased sugar levels which make it more cold tolerant. Algood also says growers are used close calls and are set up to react to cold weather. Strawberry lovers can find a directory of strawberry patches a farmers markets at www.picktnproducts.org . Algood advises calling ahead if you plan to visit a strawberry patch. She says a patch filled with ripe berries on Friday could be picked clean by Saturday, then ready for another crow by Tuesday. http://www.tennessean.com/usatoday/article/39049817?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|News|s

Appeals court affirms ruling giving OK to execution procedures (NS/Satterfield)

An appellate court is paving the way for executions of death row inmates, including two from East Tennessee. T Tennessee Court of Appeals last week issued an opinion affirming the decision of Davidson County Chancel Claudia Bonnyman to uphold a new procedure set by the state Department of Correction to try to ensure a dea row inmate is unconscious before fatal drugs are administered under the state's three-drug lethal injection proces

"Plaintiffs have simply failed to carry their heavy burden to demonstrate that the lethal injection protocol as revis in November 2010 constitutes wanton exposure to an objectively intolerable risk of severe and unnecessary pa and suffering," the appellate court ruled. The ruling paves the way for the executions of four death row inmate two of whom hail from East Tennessee. Stephen Michael W est is set to be executed for the 1986 killings of Wan Romines and her daughter, Sheila Romines, in their Union County home. Billy Ray Irick also has been sentenc to die for the 1985 rape and strangulation of 7-year-old Paula Dyer for whom he was baby-sitting in her Kn County home. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/apr/16/appeals-court-affirms-ruling-giving-ok-to-states/

Accountability goal of Tennessee's judges discipline panel (AP/Johnson)

Tennessee is about to adopt a new method for disciplining judges that supporters say contains more accountabi and should help restore the public's faith in the judicial system. "W e got a lot of things in it that we wanted," sa state Sen. Mae Beavers. "I think it ended up being a fairly good piece of legislation. There's more accountabil than there is at the present time." The Mt. Juliet Republican has long been an outspoken critic of the Court of t Judiciary, which she said has dismissed too many citizen complaints against judges accused of serio misconduct. The proposal that overwhelmingly passed both chambers of the legislature and is being reviewed the governor would terminate the court in July and replace it with a 16-member Board of Judicial Conduct th would have a similar mission of ensuring that judges are ethical and fit to serve on the bench. The differenc however, is that it has new provisions to hold judges more accountable, such as making it more difficult to dismi complaints against jurists. Beavers and Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Jeff Bivins shared their opinions about t disciplinary panel at a February forum sponsored by the Tennessee Press Association and The Associated Press http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/apr/16/accountability-goal-of-judges-discipline-panel/ (SUB)

Bill pushes parental involvement in schools (Daily News Journal)

Parents would sign contracts or receive 'report cards' Proposed legislation that would hold parents responsible their level of involvement with their childs education is moving closer to reality. Tennessee is among a few stat enacting or considering legislation that aims to spur parents to get involved in their childs classroom performanc One bill advancing in the General Assembly would encourage school districts to develop a parental-involveme contract, while another proposes what are commonly referred to as parent report cards, which are mostly used charter schools. Its the engagement, said state Rep. Antonio Parkinson, a Memphis Democrat and sponsor both Tennessee proposals. One thing we understand is schools with higher parental involvement perform high And so, what were trying to do is ensure that every school gets that opportunity for higher parental involvemen The contract legislation is similar to a proposal passed in Michigan in 2001, and Louisiana is currently consideri legislation to grade parent participation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The bill th would require the state Department of Education to develop a parental involvement contract to be used by scho districts is close to being sent to the governor. http://www.dnj.com/article/20120416/NEW S/304100044/Bill-pushes-parental-involvement-schools?odyssey=tab| topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

College discrimination, uninsured drivers & 'wild-appearing swine' (NS/Humphrey)

A bill awaiting floor votes in both the House and Senate was apparently inspired by a controversial Vanderb University policy prohibiting student groups from discrimination based on religion or sexual orientation. But, things now stand, HB3576 wouldn't apply to Vanderbilt or other private colleges and universities only to sta universities, where officials say there is no such policy. That could change under pending amendments. Religio oriented groups such as Vanderbilt's Christian Legal Society, which ran afoul of the rule by ousting a gay stude from membership, say the "all comers" policy is unfair and discriminates against them because many require profession of faith as a condition of membership. Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, triggered a spirited discussion in t House Education Committee last week by proposing to amend the bill to apply to private colleges that receive sta funds. That would apparently include all of those, including Vanderbilt, that accept state lottery scholarship mone Vanderbilt also operates a hospital that receives TennCare funding. David Mills, lobbyist for Vanderbilt, and Clau Pressnell, president of Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association, both objected to Dun proposal as an intrusion by government into the affairs of private colleges. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/apr/16/legislative-notebook-college-discrimination-and/

Yellow Dot bill could save lives (Daily News Journal)

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Imagine you are involved in a serious car accident and are knocked unconscious. First responders arrive on t

scene within minutes, pry open the door of your smoking vehicle, and begin administering life-saving treatments they load you into the back of an ambulance. But what those first responders don't know could potentially hurt yo As it turns out, you are allergic to one of the medications being administered to you in an attempt to save your l or prevent further injury. The medication being administered to you unintentionally results in harm or just is effective due to an existing condition. W hile situations like the one mentioned above are not very commo according to Rutherford County EMS officials, it still highlights the need for detailed-as-possible medic information in cases of emergency. And to that end, a new bill from Shelbyville Republican Sen. Jim Tracy is aim at giving paramedics and first responders the information they need in emergency situations to treat patien quickly. Senate Bill 2277, or better known as the Yellow Dot bill, which was on its way to Republican Tenness Gov. Bill Haslam's desk to be signed into law this week, is designed to assist patients and first responders in t event of an automobile crash or other medical emergency within what is known as the golden hour, the first ho after an accident or medical event that is most critical to a patient's outcome. http://www.dnj.com/article/20120416/NEW S/304160024/Yellow-Dot-bill-could-save-lives?odyssey=tab|topnews| text|FRONTPAGE

Spring Hill aims to make it tougher for metro government (Tennessean/Page)

Spring Hill leaders see trouble with this form of government Most city officials here were glad when Maury Coun voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to form a Maury County metropolitan government. But Spring Hi Board of Mayor and Aldermen tonight will consider whether to ask the state legislature to make the approval o metro government even harder to accomplish. Mayor Michael Dinwiddie wants an amendment to state la regarding metro referendums to require approval by at least 50 percent of all registered voters in a county. The la now requires a 50 percent majority of those who actually vote. Had this law existed on March 6 when Mau Countys metro referendum was on the ballot, the 28 percent voter turnout alone would have signaled defe before a single ballot was counted. Spring Hill exists in both Maury and Williamson counties. Leaders oppos metro because it would have halted Spring Hills annexation into the Maury side of town. There also was fear tha metro actually resulted in the hot economic development environment and efficiency savings that proponen pitched, it could siphon off Spring Hills job growth and tax revenues. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120416/NEWS02/304160025/Spring-Hill-aims-make-tougher-metrogovernment?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|News

Counties get health checkup (Jackson Sun)

Madison is No. 38 on list of Tenn. county health rankings While some progress has been made, West Tenness still has a lot to do to improve overall health, according to a county health rankings survey released this month. T information was part of the third annual County Health Rankings report, which was released by the University Wisconsins Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Madison County resides in t middle of the rankings this year, sitting at No. 38 of Tennessees 95 counties. Just like last year, Williamson Coun is the states healthiest, while Grundy County is ranked the least healthy. According to this years ranking, the f healthiest counties are Williamson, Sumner, Rutherford, Blount and Moore. The five with the poorest health a Grundy, Benton, Campbell, Clay and Carroll. Chester County (6), Weakley County (10), Hardeman County (3 and Crockett County (31) rank higher than most. Further down the list of local counties are Haywood (64) a Henderson (65). Gibson County (80), HardinCounty (84), McNairy County (86), Carroll County (91) and Bent County (94) are near the bottom. http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20120416/NEWS01/304160001/Counties-get-health-checkup-Madison-No-38 list-Tenn-county-health-rankings?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Tennessee lawmakers reportedly paid salaries to family (Times Free-Press/Carroll)

Three Republican Tennessee lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, used campaign donations pay salaries to their family members during the last two election cycles, according to a new report. For almos year, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington scoured House financial disclosures, office budgets a campaign ledgers for financial connections between lawmakers and their families. They found that the families more than half of all House lawmakers have received payments or otherwise benefited from ties to a lawmaker the past two election cycles. The watchdog group reported the following about Tennessee lawmakers: Fleischmann, of Ooltewah, paid his college-aged son, Charles M. "Chuckie" Fleischmann, $4,652 from campai funds for "wages for work done" during the 2010 election cycle. Fleischmann said his son's "low-paying, entry-lev job" with the campaign involved three months of "traveling with me, seeing me make speeches and helping m meet with potential voters." 3

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/apr/16/lawmakers-reportedly-paid-salaries-to-family/?local

Student loan interest rates set to double (Chattanooga Times Free-Press)

Just as student-loan debt has reached a record $1 trillion, need-based student loan interest rates will double to 6 percent July 1 if Congress doesn't act. Millions of students nationwide and thousands in the Chattanooga area w borrow for college would face thousands of dollars in additional interest. Dalton State College student Hilary Hic already has two outstanding student loans and expects to borrow more before she graduates in about 18 month She tries not to worry about the loans, telling herself she's going to find a job upon graduation and everything going to be fine. "I don't have a choice at this point," she said. And that's the problem, said Dianne Cox, director financial aid at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The higher interest rates will be an extra burden many students who already are struggling with fewer scholarships and grants, Cox said. "State and fede programs have not kept up with the [increasing cost] of higher education, and more and more students are havi to turn to loans to get them through," she said. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/apr/16/student-loan-interest-rates-set-to-double/?local

Claxton houses, land secured for TVA coal ash landfill (News-Sentinel/Fowler)

Claxton community resident W illiam Banks is caught between an existing TVA coal ash landfill at the Bull R Fossil Plant and a proposed expansion into his neighborhood. Given the chance to sell out and relocate, Ban said he took it. "It's just progress, I guess," Banks said of what looks like a done deal on the controvers expansion. Banks, who lives on Old Edgemoor Lane, said he received a "fair deal" on his existing property and h been told he needs to move within six months. TVA has acquired 155 acres, including 24 residences, in t Claxton area south of Edgemoor Road for its landfill expansion, TVA executive John Kammeyer said. Planned is 50-foot-high mound of coal ash and gypsum that will give TVA another 20 years of storage area for the residu from coal burned at Bull Run. TVA is running out of storage space at its land- and lake-locked steam plant and w need more landfill space in about five years, Kammeyer said. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/apr/16/claxton-houses-land-secured-for-tva-coal-ash/

'Scream room' usage makes parents of autistic kids cry out (Tennessean/Wilemon

His parents pose the questions around the coffee table as Andrew St. Vincent builds a Lego city. They want know about the room. So you were in there by yourself? his mother asks. When would you be in that room? h father wants to know. Michael and Elizabeth St. Vincent have never seen the room. Andrew, their autistic child, to them about it months after they took him out of the Williamson County School District. He went into the room wh he threw tantrums, he said. Teachers put special-education students in seclusion rooms when the studen exhibit aggression and let them go to calming rooms to pre-empt that behavior. The St. Vincents say their s spent too much time isolated in those rooms when he was supposed to have been mainstreamed with other fif graders at Scales Elementary School. Critics call the seclusion spaces scream rooms. Autism advoca organizations are pushing for national legislation to outlaw them or restrict their use. Tennessee already has s rules for how students can be restrained and isolated. Last year, the state mandated that seclusion rooms had be at least 40 square feet. The Williamson County School District goes beyond the minimum, requiring theirs to 100 square feet. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120416/NEWS04/304160027/-Scream-room-usage-makes-parents-autistic kids-cry-out-answers?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|News

Head Start director to visit Nashville (Associated Press)

The national director for the Office of Head Start will visit Nashville to discuss early childhood education. Yve Sanchez Fuentes will be at the Susan Gray Head Start facility in Nashville on Tuesday. She will tour the cent read to the children and meet with staff, parents and community partners. She will also discuss the Health a Human Services' Administration for Children and Families and will explain the Head Start Roadmap to Excellence http://www.tennessean.com/usatoday/article/39050033?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|News|s

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OPINION Editorial: Parental involvement key to school improvement (News-Sentinel)

There is almost universal agreement on the need for parental involvement in the education of their children, b how to make it happen has been an issue that has eluded teachers and administrators for years. We are wary lawmakers trying to micromanage public education, but if they can provide some answers for greater paren involvement in the state's schools, more power to them relatively speaking. Tennessee is one of a few stat that has enacted or is considering enacting laws that would require parents to be more involved with their childre education. Two bills currently are moving through the Legislature, with one nearing passage in the House. That would encourage school districts to write a parental involvement contract. The contract will provide that the pare or guardian review their student's homework and offer assistance when needed. They also must ensure th student is not truant, attend school functions and make a strong effort to attend parent-teacher conferences. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/apr/16/editorial-parental-involvement-key-to-school/

Editorial: Parents would have to step up (Commercial Appeal)

Forcing parents to be engaged: Bills would sanction parents who refuse to participate in their children's academ endeavors. Bills are awaiting votes in the Tennessee House and Senate that will require parents to be active involved in their children's school lives. Sponsored by Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, and Sen. Brian Kelse R-Germantown, the bills require mandatory family counseling, which the parents would be responsible for payi for -- unless they are indigent. There has been some discussion about whether mandatory counseling cou survive a legal challenge. Despite that, the bill is a worthy attempt to get parents more involved in their children education. Education reformers maintain that is an important factor in whether students achieve academically. T bill applies to parents of students in the state Achievement School District, which will be made up of some of t state's lowest performing schools. Teachers will "monitor and assess" the quality of a parent's involvement on su things as responses to requests for meetings, a student's completion of homework, and absences and tardiness. http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/apr/16/editorials-parents-would-have-to-step-up/ (SUB)

Editorial: Pseudoscience and Tennessees Classrooms (New York Times)

Eighty-seven years after Tennessee was nationally embarrassed for criminally prosecuting the teaching evolution, the state government is at it again. This time it has enacted a law that protects teachers who inv students to challenge the science underlying evolution and climate change. The measure is a transparent invitati to indulge pseudoscience in the classroom and a transparent pandering to a vocal, conservative fringe. Gov. B Haslam, a Republican, wrung his hands, warning that good legislation should bring clarity and not confusion. B he allowed the bill to pass into law without his signature in the face of the Republican-dominated Legislature three-to-one support of the measure. Sponsors denied the obvious that the law was a cover to make it easier raise creationism and intelligent design as alternatives to evolution and to billboard conservative propagan against the evidence of climate change. No, the law invites better critical thinking, proponents said, by protecti teachers from administrative discipline when they help students critique what the law terms the strengths a scientific weaknesses of topics that cause controversy such as biological evolution, the chemical origins of li global warming and human cloning. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/16/opinion/pseudoscience-and-tennesseesclassrooms.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper (SUBSCRIPTION)

Guest columnist: Death, taxes being certain, prepare for both (Tennessean)

When Benjamin Franklin wrote to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy in November 1789, he expressed his hope that the U Constitution would last, but conceded that in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxe Astute tax planners take advantage of every loophole. Others are grateful when their payroll tax deductions cov 5

their income tax liability. Some rejoice that they are receiving an income tax refund, even though this means th they have overpaid their tax liability. Like it or not, April 15 (this year April 17) comes once each year. Taxes a certain. Death also is certain. Are you aware that you have an annual reminder to help you plan for how you wou like to receive health care at the end of life? Annually, April 16 is National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD). Fili your taxes is a legal obligation you must meet on or near April 15 of each year. Though you may feel like filing yo taxes is a near-death experience and that you have no energy left for other major decisions, NHDD encourag you to take personal control of your end-of-life care decisions. Your legal right to participate in medical decisio making is protected by the 1990 Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA). http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120416/OPINION03/304160009/Death-taxes-being-certain-prepare-both? odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Opinion|p

Gail Kerr: Jesse Register deserves credit for fixing disclosure problem (Tenn)

Metro Schools Director Jesse Register has gone and done the right thing, and he should be commended for After he was thoroughly spanked by the media, employees union, taxpayers and Mayor Karl Dean, Register requiring 21 of the highest-paid public school administrators to disclose potential conflicts of interest, including a gifts and travel theyve received. And Register finally filed a complete list of the free trips he was given. This ma who is so extraordinarily important as Nashville continues to struggle to improve public schools, deserves kudos this. It goes to credibility: Register asked the mayor for a 7 percent increase in school funding next year, a total $722 million. The public has to believe he is transparent about protecting tax dollars. Look, no one suspec Register or his top staff of doing anything unethical, immoral or illegal. But in a world where contractors compe against one another for lucrative school projects, there has to be a way to guard against corruption of those charge. Registers contract with the school board requires him to file an annual disclosure. But Tennesse reporter Nate Rau discovered Register had failed to do that in 2010 and 2011. After being confronted about th Register filed those disclosures but left blank the section asking him to disclose gifts, trips, tickets and free mea he received in those two years. He did that, he said, at the advice of city attorneys. It made him look bad. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120416/COLUMNIST0101/304160024/Gail-Kerr-Jesse-Register-deservescredit-fixing-disclosure-problem?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|News|p

Guest columnist: Low morale among schools' support staff hurts learning (TN)

The school year has seen unprecedented changes for the Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) support staff drastic changes that are demolishing employees morale and jeopardizing our students learning environme Chief among them are policy changes to the MNPS Support Staff Handbook made unilaterally by Jesse Regist the director of MNPS. These changes were made without consultation of the school board or support st members, who include educational assistants, food service workers, campus supervisors, secretaries a bookkeepers. While these handbook changes have been largely dismissed by members of the school board, th have serious repercussions for our public schools staff and students. Under these new policies, support staff c no longer dispute unjust actions against them, including termination for no cause. They have been robbed of th job security and their voices. The University of Tennessee recently conducted a poll of 400 support staff membe to gauge their attitudes about these changes and toward Dr. Register. The findings are both astounding a unfortunate. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120416/OPINION03/304160008/Low-morale-among-schools-support-staffhurts-learning?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Opinion|p ###