Tennesseans urged to vacation in state

Associated Press • June 16, 2008 Looking to compensate for declining attendance, state officials are marketing state parks to locals looking for cheaper vacation destinations. "I think the fuel prices are going to affect our out-of-state travelers coming to see us this year," said Murray Crow, the state's regional park manager. Instead of a long-distance trip to the beach, park officials want Tennesseans to consider a cool mountain stream. Travelers can check out a new feature, "Less Than One Tank Trips," on the state parks Web site. "Economically, I think we're a really good bargain, especially for individuals within a 50- or 100-radius of a park," Crow said. Tennessee has 53 state parks, including six resort parks with inns, cabins, restaurants and golf. Records show that attendance at the resort parks — Fall Creek Falls, Henry Horton, Montgomery Bell, Natchez Trace, Pickwick Landing and Paris Landing — was low but steady as gas prices rose over the past two years. Park Manager Jim Hall at Fall Creek Falls said he noticed a bit of a difference in visitors over the Memorial Day weekend, but said the park stayed busy. "Just driving through looking at license plates, I did observe fewer out-of-state and more Tennessee," he said. "Every parking place was full. The park was very active and we had a lot of folks over the holiday." Fall Creek Falls pumped $1.8 million into renovations last year designed to increase recreational vehicle attendance. Hall said the improvement could attract more people, but given the high price of gas, it's still a guessing game. "Memorial Day, the Fourth of July are probably going to be busy, regardless," he said. "The proof will be what the visitation looks like on a non-holiday, regular summer weekend outing.

Report: Tennessee ranks 42nd for kids' well-being

Associated Press • June 12, 2008 Tennessee still ranks among the bottom 10 states for children's health and well-being, but its high-school dropout rate has improved dramatically, a national report shows. The annual Kids Count report measures each state's progress in 10 areas, including infant mortality, poverty rates, single-parent families, teen death rates and low birth weight babies. This year Tennessee improved to 42nd overall from 43rd. Despite some improvement, Tennessee ranks in the bottom 10 states for infant mortality, low birth weight babies, children living in poverty and teen births, the report shows.But high school dropouts decreased 45 percent between 2000 and 2006 and both the child and teen death rates improved. Only 6 percent of teens in Tennessee left school without getting a diploma compared to 7 percent for the nation. Tennessee's dropout rate ranks 15th in the U.S."Tennessee has implemented good public policies and strategies to improve outcomes for older children, resulting in more children graduating and fewer adolescents dying," said Linda O'Neal, executive director of the state Commission on Children and Youth. Tennessee has received national attention for the quality of its pre-kindergarten programs, but Gov. Phil Bredesen had to trim a planned expansion to the program as part of budget cuts this year. The state has also started providing more pre-pregnancy health programs that make sure women have a proper diet and avoid smoking and using drugs or alcohol. "Tennessee must continue and strengthen significant emphasis on improving preconception maternal health to reduce the number of low birth weight babies and infant death, efforts that take several years before the outcomes are reflected in data reported in the book," O'Neal said

Fewer Layoffs Expected In Metro

Channel 5 News May 5, 2008 08:33 PM CDT NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A few months ago, Mayor Karl Dean announced that massive budget cuts could cost 200 Metro employees their jobs. Now, it appears the number of layoffs will be lower than initially expected. Metro Public Works and Parks and Recreation departments stood to lose the most employees, but now that's changed. A number of employees set to be laid off are finding other jobs within local government. Human resources director Dorothy Berry said her job is difficult as she tries to find new employment for what began as some 200 Metro employees. Metro Council members such as Jerry Maynard have the final say on a tight budget. The next few weeks will be intense as departments try to meet a late June budget deadline. "It will entail reviewing all of the departments' budgets," Maynard said. "It will entail determining what our priorities are." There are disagreements over who to let go and how to spend the money. A fire department plan to cut some employees salaries is already raising eyebrows. "But the chief has made a decision and made a recommendation to us that you rollback some positions instead of laying some people off," Maynard said. Metro may be able to work out their budget issues, but the so-called wildcard in this whole situation is the state budget. The state budget hasn't been finalized and it impacts the local budget, Maynard said. According to Gov. Phil Bredesen's office, the governor may reveal his budget plans sometime this week. It could include some layoffs. The Tennessee Funding Board discovered last week that the state could have a budget shortfall of $585 million next year. Bredesen has not yet indicated how many state's employees could face layoffs. As for the Metro's budget, council members continue their budget hearings Tuesday. The council has until the end of June to adopt a new budget plan. If not, Dean's proposal automatically goes into effect. To see Video Click Here

Sounds show Salt Lake who's great

Surging Nashville takes its first series against PCL's finest
By MAURICE PATTON • Staff Writer(Tennessean) • May 5, 2008

It took the Nashville Sounds — losers of 19 of their first 26 games — to do what the rest of the Pacific Coast League hadn't done through the opening month of the season:

Nashville clinched its first series win of the season Sunday, defeating Salt Lake 5- for its first three-game winning streak of the season. For the Bees, the three losses are one more than they had through their first 26 games; their 24-2 start coming into the weekend was the best in the history of minor league baseball.

"I think it's obvious we have a good team," said third baseman Adam Heether, whose two-out, bases-loaded double in the fourth inning gave the Sounds a 4-0 lead following Russell Branyan's second-inning solo home run. "I don't think anybody was pressing too much; we were waiting for things to go our way, and it was a matter of time before that happened."

The Sounds improved to 10-19 with their fifth win in six games; it took Nashville 21 games to get its first five wins of the season.

"We were scuffling a little bit, but we've regrouped," Sounds pitcher Mark DiFelice said. "The team we have now is pretty solid. It took time for everybody to jell."

DiFelice pitched five innings of four-hit ball, struck out nine and allowed only a leadoff homer to Dee Brown in the fifth inning.