News

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  A Williamson County woman is the subject of a new documentary film being released this week.

Franklin resident Inge Meyring Smith was one of the founders of Harpeth Academy, present day Battle Ground Academy. She also operates a well-known local pre-school.

Early in her career, Meyring worked for the Kennedy Administration in the deep south introducing what was then a new and revolutionary program for pre-school age children called Head Start.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (BURRISS)  --  I was walking down the hall the other day, and a young lady sitting in a chair, said, “Good morning, how are you today” as I walked by. So I said, “Pretty good. How are you,” but then I realized she wasn’t talking to me at all. She was talking to someone with her Bluetooth device.

Ooops. The same thing happened a few hours later, and in fact seems to be a pretty common occurrence.

MURFREESBORO — A Middle Tennessee State University football player has been suspended following his arrest on burglary charges.

The Daily News Journal reports that 19 year-old MTSU backup quarterback Shaun White was arrested last week for aggravated burglary, vandalism and theft under $500. White’s former girlfriend, Paula Demings, was charged with vandalism in connection with the same incident.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Officials with the Tennessee Department of Children's Service are unveiling a reorganization of the troubled child welfare agency.

Interim Commissioner Jim Henry has scheduled a news conference on Monday afternoon to announce changes that will address problems with child safety, health and programming.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — State lawmakers trying to wrap up the General Assembly this month are hoping to push through two key education proposals.

One measure would create a state panel to authorize charter schools for five Tennessee counties and the other seeks to clear the way for cities to begin forming municipal school systems.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  Authorities have arrested a man they say is responsible for the death of McMinnville woman whose body was found shot and burned near cave in Coffee County.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday morning that they have charged 51 year-old Jimmy Byron Jones, Jr. of Morrison, Tennessee with first degree murder in the death of 58 year-old Connie Lou Godsey Brown.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — Country artist and Middle Tennessee resident Brad Paisley has stirred controversy with the release of his song "Accidental Racist.”

The song is a collaboration with artist LL Cool J and focuses on racial perceptions. “Accidental Racist” has drawn the ire of both the country and urban music worlds.

Paisley, a Franklin resident, says he wrote the song after someone called him racist for wearing a t-shirt with a Confederate flag in the logo.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A proposal that would dock the welfare payments of Tennessee parents whose children fail in school is dead.

After about a 40-minute debate on the Senate floor Thursday, Republican Sen. Sponsor Stacey Campfield decided to pull the bill so it can be studied over the summer.

Both Republicans and Democrats expressed concern about the legislation, which sought to cut Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits by 30 percent if a child fails to advance to the next grade.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP/WMOT)  --  A delegation from Middle Tennessee was in the nation’s capital yesterday for a pro-immigration reform rally held on the grounds of the capital building.

Thousands took part in yesterday’s rally in Washington D.C. Thousands more participated in rallies in 18 state capitals.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  The man that DownBeat magazine calls “one of the finest performing jazz trombonists around today” is making an appearance Thursday in Middle Tennessee.

Chris Brubeck, son of jazz legend Dave Brubeck, is set to perform Thursday evening in Lipscomb University’s Collins Auditorium beginning at 8 p.m.