Local News
The average life expectancy for a man in Tennessee is 71 years, three years below the already declining national average. A recently published Washington Post analysis of CDC data shows life expectancy has been going down . As of 2021, the latest publicly available data shows the average is about 76 years, which is the lowest it’s been in a quarter century. The decline is linked to overlapping epidemics such as COVID-19, opioids, and obesity.
The city of Spring Hill’s Fire Department has been awarded the ‘SAFER’ Grant, putting $3.1 million towards hiring additional staff. The purpose of the SAFER Grant Program is to provide funding directly to fire departments to assist in increasing the number of firefighters to help communities meet industry minimum standards and attain 24-hour staffing to provide adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards, and to fulfill traditional missions of fire departments.
Wildlife agents have freed a bear cub they say had its head stuck in a plastic pet feeder since August. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) says they received the first report of the trapped bear on Aug. 14 in East Tennessee. A resident near Chilhowee Lake spotted a sow bear and four cubs on her porch with one having a container stuck on its head. On Oct. 3rd the bear was spotted, tranquilized, and the container was successfully removed. The TWRA adds that despite the long entrapment, the cub didn’t have any abrasions from the container and was in “relatively good shape other than his ears being mashed down to his head.” The bear is recovering at Appalachian Bear Rescue.
Tennessee is set to receive more than $1 billion in funding for infrastructure repairs and projects. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration says the funding supports investment in critical infrastructure, including roads, bridges and tunnels, carbon emission reduction.