Recent News Views

It's been a busy month, but here is a brief synopsis of some of the stories, in no particular order, I have been working on and the things that stood out for one reason or another:

1. Head Start= No Jail time: Local DA reads to kids in a Head Start program to show support for maintaining federal and state funds for Pre-K programs. He says these programs can be key in helping kids learn to read, which in turn can keep them out of jail. Who knew? He said, "I was just in Nashville with members of the department of corrections. Do you know they plan prison construction on the reading ability at third grade in this state? That's how we determine what prison capacity we're going to need in the future. I think that says it all." For more information on the group of law enforcement members trying to shape legislation to cut down on crime: http://www.fightcrime.org/ *** Funny side note: one of the little girls he was reading to came up to me after and said, "That dude was really good with this book."
2. Nuisance business Crackdown: Police shut down 3 businesses they say are public nuisances citing illegal drug sales on the property, numerous 911 calls, shootings, rapes, and one business owner is accused of selling crack pipe kits (glass tubes, piece of brillo pad, and lighter.) I talked to said business owner who told me, "if they let me re-open, I won't sell the glass."
3. Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force gets plug on ABC from Elizabeth Smart: The job these men and women do amazes me. They find child sex traffickers on the web, bring them to justice and try to save as many children as possible. The volume of cases in TN alone is overwhelming. Many of these officers are parents themselves and see things none of us could imagine or stomach. I was interviewing an investigator last week who began to tear up and had to stop to catch his breath because he'd had a particularly bad day and was trying to locate a child victim. He did not want that part of the interview aired, and we respected his wishes. But, it really hit home with me. God bless them!