I’ve just got Cannon softball, to laugh!!! soccer teams profi led See Today’s Chat, Page 3 See Sports, Page 11 Home of EARL SUTTON 132rd YEAR - NO. 36 Tuesday, March 14, 2017 TWO SECTIONS - 75¢ PER COPY Kick And the chase Butts was on Cannon County depu- Day ties joined in a high-speed three-county chase from John Bragg Highway to Cannon youngsters will Bell Buckle following a join thousands of peers Liberty woman who was across the country taking apparently en route to a part in Kick Butt s Day doctor’s appointment. March 15. Kick Butt s Day In pursuit were Depu- is an annual celebration of ties Greg Moore and Kyle youth leadership and ac- Wix. The chase was joined tivism in the fi ght against by other offi cers including tobacco use. Bell Buckle Police and the “We want young peo- Tennessee Highway Pa- ple in our community to trol. know they have the pow- A State Trooper even- er to help reduce tobacco tually pulled over the use and save lives in our woman, who was identi- state,” said Cannon Coun- fi ed as Linda Rett er. She ty Health Department Di- was charged with reckless rector Andrea Fox. “We driving and leaving the applaud their eff orts on scene of a property dam- Kick Butt s Day and every More Crazy Weather age accident in Cannon March certainly roared in like a lion and bounced around like a rubber ball as thunderstorms cleared the way for day to set the example for County by Deputy Moore. SNOW. Of course all this happened just in time for Tennessee to fl op back into daylight savings time. Whew! a healthy lifestyle and en- Rett er surrendered her li- courage others not to start cense to Moore pending smoking, or to stop if they re-evaluation. already smoke. Moore fi rst joined the In Tennessee, 11.5 per- chase at the intersection cent of high school stu- All-Defensive Team of John Bragg Highway dents, or 38,700 teenagers, and Bradyville Road after are smokers, according to Abbey Sissom picked receiving a report a 2007 the Campaign for Tobac- Chevy SUV had run over co-Free Kids. The organi- by Conference USA the traffi c signs at the in- zation also reports 3,400 tersection and was pro- Tennessee children and TONY STINNETT ceeding down Bradyville teenagers become new MT Athletic Communications Road at high speed. Moore daily smokers each year. soon backed down after Statistics also show how MURFREESBORO – Middle Tennessee junior stand- failing to make contact. deadly this daily habit can out Abbey Sissom was named to the Conference USA A vehicle driven by JD be: the group estimates All-Defensive team as announced by the league offi ce Underhill of the Cannon 125,000 children and teens Sunday afternoon. County Rescue Squad had now alive in Tennessee Sissom, the daughter of Gaylon and Suzett e Sissom, already began pursuit af- will ultimately die prema- was one of six players to make the all-defensive team ter Mrs. Rett er reportedly turely as a result of smok- after helping the Lady Raiders (20-9, 15-3) to a 20-win almost side-swiped him ing. season and the No. 2 seed in the upcoming metroPCS and nearly hit another The Cannon County Conference USA Championships in Birmingham. vehicle while leaving the Health Department is ac- The former Cannon County High School standout and Woodbury city limits. tively working to reduce Miss Basketball in Tennessee, was voted to the all-defen- Underhill told Deputy youth smoking rates as sive team after turning in a strong season for the Lady Moore “her driving was part of a statewide eff ort to Raiders. Regarded as the team’s top perimeter defender, so dangerous that he felt lower the burden of tobac- Sissom generally draws the assignment of defending the someone needed to keep co use across Tennessee. opposition’s top off ensive guard. any eye on her until an of- Tennessee youth inter- During one stretch late in the season, Sissom guarded fi cer could fi nd them.” ested in being part of our Jennie Simms (ODU), Ciara Gregory (Charlott e) and Underhill, who had state’s fi rst tobacco-free Kendall Noble (WKU) in succession and held each experience operating generation are encour- below their scoring average. vehicles in emergency aged to join the youth-led “Abbey Sissom has worked hard on the defensive Woodbury’s Abbey Sissom was named to Conference situations, said speeds TNSTRONG movement. part of her game, and you see the results,” Lady Raider USA’s All-Defensive team. A Cannon County High on Bradyville Highway TNSTRONG stands for Head Coach Rick Insell said. “Hard work usually pays School graduate she was named Miss Basketball in Ten- topped 80 mph and when “Tennessee Stop Tobacco off , and the work Abbey has put into becoming a bett er nesse her senior year. Mrs. Rett er turned off on and Revolutionize Our Highway 64 he slowed to defensive player has allowed her to have positive results has produced 13 double-fi gure scoring games. Sissom New Generation” and was 70 mph, he told offi cers. and help the team. On top of that, she has also had a leads C-USA and ranks 17th nationally in 3-point fi eld developed by youth par- Bell Buckle Police made solid season on the off ensive end. Abbey excels on both goal percentage (.429). That mark is currently tied for ticipants in Tennessee’s contact after the motorist ends of the court, and she has worked hard to elevate sixth best for a single-season. fi rst-ever FACT Summit in slowed down for Webb her game this season.” Sissom also is third in C-USA for 3-point fi eld made 2016. Join the movement School. The Highway Pa- Sissom has proven to be a consistent off ensive threat per game (2.4), third in assist-turnover ratio (2.0), fourth See KICK, Page 9 and one of the top long-range shooters in C-USA. She See SISSOM, Page 9 trol then stopped Mrs. Ret- ter. She was told to return to Cannon County and to report to the Sheriff ’s Of- State confi rms 2nd case of avian infl uenza fi ce. NASHVILLE —The state veterinarian con- said. “When routine testing showed a problem gratory birds without causing illness in those Deputy Moore returned fi rms that a fl ock of chickens at a commercial at this facility, the operators immediately took birds. With LPAI, domesticated chickens and to the scene of the accident poultry breeding operation has tested positive action and notifi ed our lab. That fast response turkeys may show litt le or no signs of illness. on John Bragg Highway for low pathogenic avian infl uenza (LPAI). is critical to stopping the spread of this virus.” However, HPAI is often fatal for domesticated where he photographed This chicken breeding operation is located in As a precaution, the aff ected fl ock was de- poultry. the damaged traffi c con- Giles County, Tenn. The company that operates populated and has been buried. The premises is The Giles County LPAI incident is similar to trol signs “both of which it is a diff erent company from the one associat- under quarantine. Domesticated poultry within the Lincoln County HPAI incident in that both are uprooted and laying in ed with the recent detection of highly pathogen- a 10 kilometer (6.2 mile) radius of the site are the low pathogenic and highly pathogenic vi- the ditch.” ic avian infl uenza (HPAI) in Lincoln County. At also under quarantine and are being tested and ruses are an H7N9 strain of avian infl uenza. US- The deputy then re- this time, offi cials do not believe one premises monitored for illness. To date, all additional DA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories turned to the Sheriff ’s sickened the other. samples have tested negative for avian infl u- confi rms the H7N9 virus that aff ected the Lin- Offi ce where Mrs. Rett er On March 6, routine screening tests at the enza and no other fl ocks within the area have coln County premises is of North American soon arrived. Giles County premises indicated the presence shown signs of illness. wild bird lineage. It is not the same as the Chi- Moore gathers her driv- of avian infl uenza in the fl ock. State and federal The primary diff erence between LPAI and na H7N9 virus aff ecting Asia and is genetically ing history information. laboratories confi rmed the existence of H7N9 HPAI is mortality rate in domesticated poul- distinct. “She has an extensive his- LPAI in tested samples. try. A slight change to the viral structure can The Lincoln County premises aff ected by tory of speeding and both “This is why we test and monitor for avian in- make a virus deadly for birds. Avian infl uenza HPAI remains under quarantine. To date, all property and personal fl uenza,” State Veterinarian Dr. Charles Hatcher virus strains often occur naturally in wild mi- See AVIAN, Page 9 See CHASE, Page 9 See Cannon Blast on Page 7 PREVIEW DAY SAT., MARCH 18, 8:00 A.M.–1:00 P.M. REGISTER NOW! MTSU.EDU/RSVP 0217-4014 / Middle Tennessee State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, or disability. See our full policy at www.mtsu.edu/titleix. PAGE 2 CANNON COURIER MARCH 14 2017 CCANNONA N N O N COURIERC O U R I E R MEMORIALS O B I T U A R I E S No Memorials This Issue Russell James Farless Billie S Lovvorn Anyone wishing to honor their Russell James Farless, age 52, of Woodbury passed away Funeral services for Billie loved one, memorials begin at $25 after a sudden illness in Terre Haute, Indiana.