The Governor?s Highway Safety Office (GHSO)has announced that the state will fund High Visibility Law Enforcement Grants to 317 agencies across Tennessee including the Alexandria and Smithville Police Departments. These campaigns will focus on seat belt safety and alcohol countermeasure programs.
A statewide request for applications was issued to all law enforcement agencies throughout Tennessee to conduct High Visibility Law Enforcement Campaigns during the period of October 1, 2006 through September 30, 2007. Each agency that applied is receiving a grant up to $5,000 for a total of $1.5 million in funding. These campaigns will be federally funded through the Tennessee GHSO.
?Impaired driving is the most frequently committed violent crime in the state,? said Governor Bredesen, when approving the grants earlier this month. ?Someone dies in an alcohol related crash every 28 hours. I am proud that we are able to fund these enforcement campaigns to save lives on Tennessee roadways.?
?The population in our great state continues to grow by leaps and bounds,? said Chairman Phillip Pinion, House Transportation Committee. ?We must be diligent in our duties to keep Tennesseans safe on our roadways that are becoming more and more crowded.?
?I?m happy the state is able to support our local communities and law enforcement agencies through this special grant program,? reported House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh.
?This program will make a difference, I believe, for many people because it will touch so many communities across the state,? said Lieutenant Governor John Wilder.
?These high visibility grants will translate into lives saved,? stated Commissioner Gerald Nicely, Tennessee Department of Transportation. ?These grants will make a difference in the day to day safety of Tennesseans.?
?High visibility law enforcement grants will achieve measurable results because law enforcement agencies must make a concerted effort to conduct and participate in sobriety checkpoints, will partner with law enforcement liaison networks, and be involved in other activities that promote highway safety,? added GHSO Director Kendell Poole. Poole explained that each agency will submit data including number of hours officers participate, number of citations and arrests for DUI, seatbelts, speed and misdemeanor and felony charges. The data collected will be transferred to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The Governor?s Highway Safety Office will continue to search for innovative ways to drive the fatality rates down.

Governor Phil Bredesen has requested a federal designation of agricultural disaster for eight more counties in East and Middle Tennessee to help farmers who have suffered drought-related damages. The designation would allow farmers to apply for low-interest emergency loans to help them manage crop and livestock losses due to extreme heat and dry conditions.
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns, Bredesen requested the designation for Bledsoe, Cannon, DeKalb, Hamilton, Overton, Pickett, Rhea and Warren counties.
?Again, I have asked the Secretary of Agriculture to give special consideration to designating these counties as an agricultural disaster,? said Bredesen. ?Farming is a tough business made tougher by unpredictable weather conditions. It?s important that we provide assistance to those who need it because these farms are small businesses that are important to our rural economy.?
Earlier this month Bredesen requested assistance for Fentress, Franklin, McMinn, Meigs, Morgan and Scott counties. USDA is still considering Bredesen?s earlier request and is expected to make a determination within the next few days. Bredesen also promised to continue to work with Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Ken Givens to make additional requests for other counties as needed.
Farmers in the affected areas have reported an average loss of 30 to 65 percent for major crops including corn, soybeans, hay, tobacco, nursery stock and vegetables. Many livestock farmers have been forced to supplement pastures with stored feed and hay, and others have had to find alternate watering sources as ponds and creeks have dried up in some cases.
According to the Tennessee Field Office of USDA?s National Agricultural Statistics Service, recent rainfall across the state has helped crop conditions to remain in mostly good condition. However, some dry areas still remain, especially in East Tennessee, where crop conditions range from very poor to fair. The agency?s weather and crop report for the week ending Aug. 28 listed topsoil moisture levels as very short to short in over half the state and 38 percent of pastures in very poor to poor condition.
USDA is expected to make a determination on Bredesen?s most recent request in three to four weeks as the federal agency reviews damages. Once approved, eligible farmers can apply for assistance through their local USDA Farm Service Agency office.

A 23 year old man was seriously injured in a traffic accident around 3:50 a.m. Friday morning on Highway 56 south near Sink Creek.
Sergeant Billy Prater of the Tennessee Highway Patrol says Jose M. Castillo of McMinnville was driving north in a 1998 Dodge Dakota pickup truck when he failed to negotiate a curve after cresting a hill, went off the right side of the road, traveled 317 feet down a ditch line, struck the end of a guard rail, and continued another 163 feet. The truck overturned several times before it finally came to rest on it’s right side at a drainage ditch.
Sergeant Prater says three other motorists on Highway 56 struck a portion of the guardrail that protruded out in the road after the crash, but none of them was injured.
Prater says Castillo was airlifted from near the scene and flown to either Vanderbilt or Erlanger Hospital.
In addition to DeKalb EMS, members of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department and Sheriff’s Department assisted at the scene.

A hearing is set for Tuesday morning in Putnam County Chancery Court to determine whether an injunction should be ordered to keep David Patterson from taking office as Criminal Court Judge this week.
A swearing-in ceremony is set for Wednesday for the new Chancellor as well as the Circuit and Criminal Court Judges in the 13th Judicial District
However Judge Lillie Ann Sells is seeking an injunction and a restraining order to prevent Patterson from taking the oath of office, until her election contest in Chancery Court has been adjudicated.
A hearing on her motions is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday in Chancery Court in Cookeville before Judge Ben H. Cantrell, a retired Nashville judge who has been appointed to hear the Sells election contest lawsuit.
Attorney Craig Fickling of Cookeville, attorney John Knowles of Sparta and attorney Amy Hollars of Livingston represent Patterson in the lawsuit Sells has filed against him and the election commissions in seven counties.
Sells contends in her lawsuit that various voting irregularities in the August 3rd election cast doubt on whether Patterson is actually the winner.

Alexandria has a new Police Chief.
Alderman Charles Griffith says Mark Collins, former DARE Officer and Captain of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department has been named Acting Chief, pending action by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen.
Collins, succeeds Jim Baker who officially stepped down as Chief Thursday evening.
The positions of Sergeant Tim Hearn and Officer Josh King have not yet been filled. Griffith says Collins will have input on who get those jobs.
Baker, Hearn and King resigned after city officials decided to eliminate the day shift because of budget woes and focus more on providing law enforcement at night.