From the Tennova Healthcare Cleveland News Desk, here is your news for Thursday, April 6th, on Mix 104-1 and Talk 101-3 The Buzz. From the Clevelan
From the Tennova Healthcare Cleveland News Desk, here is your news for Thursday, April 6th, on Mix 104-1 and Talk 101-3 The Buzz.
From the Cleveland Daily Banner…
A bill designed to limit the abuse of welfare which is sponsored by a local state legislator is now headed to Gov. Bill Haslam’s desk for his signature.
The Program Integrity Act (HB-227) was sponsored by state Rep. Dan Howell (R-Georgetown) in the Tennessee House of Representatives and in the state Senate (SB-365) by state Sen. Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield).
It is designed to find and eliminate welfare fraud and abuse in Tennessee.
The measure passed the state Senate Monday night 31-0. It had previously won approval in the state House on Feb. 27 by 73-21.
Howell told the Cleveland Daily Banner last summer the issue was one of those at the top of his “to do” list for the current session in Nashville.
He said at the time the bill “will not go after people who are on welfare if they need to be on welfare.”
“Individuals who commit welfare fraud not only steal from taxpayers, they rob valuable resources that are intended to reach the most truly needy Tennesseans,” Howell said Monday.
He quoted an estimate by analysts with the Foundation for Government Accountability which showed Tennessee is currently losing approximately $120 million per year in welfare fraud.
Also from the Banner…
A minor incident was reported Tuesday morning at Arnold Elementary School, when a parent notified Principal Michael Chai that a student had shown another student a gun that was in their backpack.
The reported gun was in fact a broken toy gun, one that would have ejected a round plastic ball. It did not have any of the plastic balls loaded, nor were there any in the student’s backpack.
A letter detailing the situation has been sent home with students today.
Per the letter, Chai and School Resource Officer Richard Tanksley identified the student, and went to the classroom to retrieve the student and the backpack.
In the letter, Chai assured the parents at no time were any of the students in any danger, and that Cleveland City Schools policy was followed during the event.
From the Chattanooga Times Free Press…
Legislation spurred by a 2016 Chattanooga school bus crash that killed six children passed the Tennessee Senate Education Committee yesterday with seven senators saying yes and one colleague passing.
The bill now goes on to the Finance Committee.
On Tuesday, the House Transportation Committee approved the bill on a 9-7 vote, moving it along.
Representative JoAnne Favors and Senator Todd Gardenhire introduced the bill after the Nov. 21 deadly Woodmore Elementary School bus crash that killed six children and injured others.
The bill would require all new Tennessee school buses purchased beginning July 1, 2019, to come equipped with safety-restraint systems approved by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The driver of the Chattanooga school bus, Johnthony Walker, has been indicted by the Hamilton County Grand Jury on six counts of vehicular homicide, four counts of reckless aggravated assault and one count each of reckless endangerment and reckless driving.
Police have said Walker was speeding in the bus, which carried 37 students, when it left a curvy section of Talley Road, struck a utility pole, overturned and slammed into a tree.
Walker worked for Durham School Services, a bus contractor.
This has been your local and state news. You can get news anytime by visiting our website, mymix1041.com, powered by Pioneer Credit. From the Tennova Healthcare Cleveland News Desk, this is Jeremy Gault reporting.
