A state lawmaker and Metro's police chief want to know if millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent the right way.

A Morgan County Correctional Facility inmate is back in custody after a brief fling with freedom today, state authorities said.

The new pandemic H1N1 flu may cause blood clots and other unusual damage in the lungs and doctors need to be on the lookout, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

Law enforcement officers are seeking the public's assistance in identifying and bringing to justice the two men who have committed a series of home invasions in the tri-county area around the Rockwood Airport.

I wanted to take time to post this article in hopes it may help others make the right decision and not the wrong one I made. As we all know the swine flu is running the state and county ragged. Some take it serious while others don't.

I myself was one who did not take it serious. I contracted the flu on a Sunday and figured I would ride it out. After four days of confining myself to other parts of the house and even to a camper trailer out back to avoid inflicting anyone else I found myself unable to breathe and getting worse. Day six and I was on my way to the ER. As it turned out I went from flu to pneumonia and found myself lying in the ER on 10-15 liters of oxygen per min. Doctors said this was an unusual rate and I found myself facing the possibility of being placed on life support so I could breathe.

My ordeal lasted another 10 days in a hospital bed simply because I thought I was tough enough to beat this thing. Thinking back on the issue I can call myself fairly stupid for my actions.

My point now for this article is to get the word out to those who may become sick with the flu be it swine flu or any other. GO TO THE DOCTOR. Don't take a chance on your life or others. The swine flu affects the elderly and children especially hard and protection for them is a must. I was lucky enough to have caring family who stayed by my side during this mess but some don't have that comfort. If we don't look out for ourselves then who will?

Take the swine flu serious because it is a matter of life and death. Look out for our elderly and children. Use good sanitary practices during this flu season and with some faith and trust in the man upstairs we will beat this thing.

God bless all and have a great week!
~R. Bunch~
Outdoorsman
http://www.tennoutdoorsman.com

At 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 15, Morgan County citizens' pleas for help were diverted and none realized it.

Gov. Phil Bredesen announced today that an aeronautics grant in the amount of $51,000 has been approved for the Rockwood Municipal Airport.

A murder warrant was issued late Friday against 27-year-old Travis N. Miller, now accused of killing his own father.

About 4,000 Tennessee families depend on a resource that is likely to disappear; 250 of those families live in East Tennessee.

Julia Ann Palumbo and James Earl Dean announce their engagement and forthcoming marriage.

Maternal instinct remains strong, even if mom is 75 years old. Jesse Williams, 28, discovered that truism Thursday night when the mother of a man he allegedly was fighting shot him once in the leg to halt the assault on her son.

A man accused of killing his brother-in-law during a March 7 incident at the victim's residence in Sunbright had first-degree murder charges against him sent to a Morgan County grand jury today after a preliminary hearing.

The picture is small and kind of fuzzy, but there's no doubt about what you are looking at: A cougar has a buck by the neck and is dragging the deer into the woods for a midnight snack.

Magellan Energy Ltd. is today announcing an update on its gas production in Morgan County, Tennessee.

Officers are looking for a Morgan County man who's been missing since Monday. Larry Everett Burchfield, 60, left his house around 5:00 p.m. Monday and hasn't been heard from since.

A motorcycle accident in Morgan County claimed the life of a Fentress County man and troopers said he may have died days ago.

Some Republican legislators, led by Knoxville's Rep. Bill Dunn, say they will renew a push next year to delay the opening day of schools statewide until after Labor Day.

According to Dunn:

Schools are starting - in some places in 90-degree heat - kids are traveling in the heat and air conditioners are running overtime, costing Tennesseans thousands of dollars."

A December 2007 study by the University of Tennessee Tourism Institute concluded that a post-Labor Day school start would generate nearly $190 million in new spending statewide by Tennessee residents taking new or extended summer vacations inside the state.

Dunn said he's also concerned about summer jobs for students:

Summer is a time for kids to get jobs and earn money. We're making it so short they don't have the opportunity to have those kinds of experiences."

Local school boards, and their Tennessee School Boards Association, will be fighting the bill as a state infringement on local control of public schools. TSBA’s assistant executive director Stephen Smith says:

We are adamantly opposed to this legislation. To suggest that this proposal does not affect local control is perplexing to me."

According to Roane County Sheriff Jack Stockton, the August 2005 murder of Corrections Officer Wayne "Cotton" Morgan was "an awakening for all law enforcement locally".

A new sally port has been built at the Roane County courthouse, and transporting prisoners has become safer for law enforcement officers.

Officers can now pull into the secured garage, lower the metal doors and escort the prisoner to the courtroom. The new security measure limits face-to-face contact between prisoners and the public.

Officer Morgan's son said his family is grateful the sally port was built and hopes it saves lives. However, they are saddened it took a tragedy to bring attention to the need.

A man who pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder in connection with what a prosecutor called a "drug deal gone bad'' received an effective 15-year sentence Friday.

Stanley Brown, 37, of Nashville admitted to:

1. Shooting 27-year-old Tommy Morrell once in the head with a .38-caliber handgun, killing him, on Oct. 7, 2007;

2. Shooting Charles Ward, 39, in the arm and shoulder;

3. Stealing Morrell's 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass.

The shootings occurred inside a Moses Lane home in Roane County's Midtown community.

Four people are being treated for throat irritation after what is believed to be a natural gas leak at a Morgan County sewing plant.