USA Today reported Wednesday that more than 600 copy cat threats have been made at schools in the two weeks since the school shooting in Parkland, Fla.
So it should be no surprise that people are a little on edge.
It doesn't help when a student on a bus yells something about a gun.
According to The Daily News Journal, a Rutherford County Schools bus driver pulled over and called 911 after overhearing the comment.
Deputies from the Sheriff's Office responded and searched all the students and their belongings.
No weapon was found.
“I know these types of situations are frightening but we appreciate that everyone followed procedure and that this situation was a false alarm,” Evans said in an email to parents.
Rutherford County targets opioid makers
Rutherford County has officially joined the lawsuit started by Scott County that challenges prescription opioid manufacturers and distributors to recover taxpayer money spent to combat the opioid epidemic, according to a press release from the Nashville office of the national plaintiffs’ law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein.
The complaint, which was filed in Tennessee federal court, alleges certain drug manufacturers and distributors deliberately and repeatedly violated state and federal laws by widely and falsely promoting highly addictive opioids as safe and necessary, all the while concealing the true risks of the drugs.
The suit also alleges the companies conspired to manufacture and distribute millions of doses of highly addictive opioids, knowing that they were being trafficked and used for illicit purposes, and recklessly disregarded their devastating effect.
“Taxpayers in Tennessee have paid more than their fair share to fight the opioids catastrophe created by the multi-billion dollar opioids industry; it’s time the industry paid its fair share,” said Mark Chalos, managing partner of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein.
The named defendants include Purdue Pharma, Cephalon, Teva Pharmaceutical, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Noramco Inc., Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Endo Health Solutions, Mallinckrodt, Allergan, Actavis, Watson Pharmaceuticals, Insys Therapeutics, AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation, Cardinal Health, McKesson Corporation, and additional affiliated businesses and entities.
State GOP purges Rutherford candidates
The Tennessee Republican Party won't just take anyone. That includes three candidates for the Rutherford County Commission, Scott Broden with The Daily News Journal reported.
Veronica Buchanan (District 6), Lynn Kreider (District 2) and Dennis Jungman (District 3) were all informed (after the filing deadline of course) that they do not meet the qualifications to run in the GOP primary on May 1.
The three met the qualifications set by the Election Commission but apparently fell short of the state party's requirements.
Rutherford County Administer of Elections Alan Farley said candidates' party affiliation has nothing to do with the Election Commission. It is the decision from Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Goldman and the rest of the party.
He also said the candidates could have run as independents if they had been informed of the party's decision before the Feb. 15 qualification deadline.
Buchanan said she was expelled because of her voting record.
"There was nothing to appeal because all the deadlines were up," said Buchanan, who serves on the Rutherford County Board of Zoning Appeals.
One candidate, David Gammon who is running for the Republican nomination for County Commission District 1 was able to stay on the ballot after he was endorsed by GOP State Executive Committee member Kelsey Ketron.
And then, County Mayor Ernest Burgess said some questionable things. Read them here.
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Michelle Willard is a freelance journalist who fills her days with social media marketing, politics, true crime, and taking complaints. You can complain to her on Twitter @MichWillard or by email michelle(at)murfreesborovoice.com.
