This is a compilation of Tennessee news and political stories assembled daily by staffers in Gov. Bill Haslam’s office. On Nate Silver’s scale of GOP governors, Bill Haslam is middle-of-the-road (Nooga) New York Times stats whiz Nate Silver suggests that when it comes to Republican governors, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is the standard blend of conservative and moderate. Last week, Silver posted an analysis of the country’s 30 GOP governors to his FiveThirtyEight political blog, scoring them on a scale of conservativeness. The popular prognosticator—who correctly predicted all 50 states in last year’s presidential election—decided to examine the group after noticing a trend suggesting Republican-controlled state governments were more popular than those ran by Democrats, bucking a pattern seen in federal races. Tennessee to honor benefactor of Mary B. Martin School (East Tennessean) James C. “Jim” Martin has changed “the face and the future” of East Tennessee State University and the arts in the region, says ETSU President Dr. Brian Noland. Five years after his first gift to ETSU and the arts in Upper East Tennessee in memory of his wife Mary B. Martin, Jim Martin is receiving Tennessee’s highest honor in the arts. The Governor’s Arts Awards will be presented to nine recipients on Tuesday by Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and first lady Crissy Haslam in a special ceremony in Nashville, produced by the Tennessee Arts Commission. A cut above: Vine officials hope fresh look will improve TCAP scores (NS/McCoy) The gymnasium of Vine Middle Magnet Performing Arts Academy was turned into a barbershop on Monday afternoon to allow students to get a free hair cut. The cuts, done by Rooster’s Men’s Grooming Center located in Turkey Creek, were to help the young men get ready for this week’s Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, or TCAPs. “One of the things I was thinking about is this would be a great motivator for our kids. I’m a true believer that when you look good, you feel good,” said Clarence Swearengen, the school’s administrative assistant principal. School uses after-school camp to prepare students for this week’s TCAP tests (JS) With stagnated growth and half of the student body testing at basic levels in math and reading on state tests, Arlington Elementary School started an after-school camp aimed at pushing students to proficient levels. During TCAP Camp on April 11 in Lisa Van den Bosch’s fifth-grade classroom, about a dozen students reviewed how to fix run-on sentences and deciphered an author’s purpose after they read a sentence. TCAP stands for Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program and is an annual test that measures student achievement and growth in math, reading and language arts, science and social studies. Crime is down in Tennessee, TBI says (Tennessean/Tamburin) Overall crime in Tennessee continued to decline steadily in 2012, even as reported murders and aggravated assaults ticked up across the state. The annual “Crime in Tennessee” report was released Monday, showing overall crimes dropping 2.8 percent since 2011. “It doesn’t seem like very much, but when you’re seeing small percent (drops) year after year after year, that really adds up,” said TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm. Crimes against property, which include burglaries and car theft, made up for more than 57 percent of reported crimes. Memphis overall crime numbers drop in 2012 (Commercial Appeal/Callahan) In 2012, the Memphis Police Department recorded fewer crimes than the previous year and also solved fewer, based on numbers found in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s annual “Crime in Tennessee” report. Last year, MPD reported 113,710 crimes, ranging from homicide to arson to burglary to gambling. Of those, 27,426 were cleared, for a rate of 24.12 percent. The city recorded 133 homicides in 2012, and the police department cleared 70 of them, for a rate of 52.6 percent. In 2011, MPD reported 113,793 incidents and cleared 28,808 of them, for a clearance rate of 25.32 percent. Report: Crime up in city, down in county in 2012 (Johnson City Press) Johnson City had slightly more criminal offenses reported in 2012 than the previous year while Washington County experienced a decrease, according to crime statistics released Monday by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The number of crimes committed in 2012 in Johnson City went up a little more than 1.5 percent from 2011 — 83 actual incidents — and the statistics showed more crimes against society, such as drugs, gambling and weapon possessions, but fewer property crimes and crimes against a person. Tennessee now leads the nation in meth use, TBI says (WSMV-TV Nashville) Officials at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation say the Volunteer State now leads the nation in meth use, and if you think the state’s meth problem doesn’t affect you, think again. TBI officials said the drug is costing Tennessee taxpayers more than $1 billion a year, and Tennessee counties may soon end up carrying the brunt of the state’s meth tab. “We’re No. 1 in something we don’t want to be No. 1 in,” said Montgomery County Sheriff John Fuson. Tennessee has ranked among the top three states for meth use since 2007 but has now passed Missouri for the dubious top spot. UT drops cancer treatment proposal (Associated Press) The University of Tennessee has given up on a proposed partnership with a proton therapy center in Knoxville that university officials had hoped would bring in millions for new academic and research programs. Proton therapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses a beam of protons to irradiate tumors without harming surrounding tissue. UT’s deal with the Provision Center for Proton Therapy depended on the Legislature’s allowing the university to guarantee up to $98 million of the project’s costs in exchange for a 30 percent interest in the company, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reported. Images of MTSU’s science building released (Associated Press) Middle Tennessee State University’s new science building is still under construction, but new video and images illustrate what the building’s interior will look like once complete. Final completion on the $147 million project on the Murfreesboro campus is scheduled to [...]
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