Local News
It’s getting overcrowded in there: Tennessee’s prison population is growing faster than in most states. A new report from the U.S. Department of Justice found from the end of 2021-2022, Tennessee saw a nearly 8% increase in incarcerated people with 1,740 more individuals in state prisons. The only states with a higher percent increase were Colorado, Montana, and Mississippi. According to the most recent felon population data from the Tennessee Department of Correction, there were 24,510 incarcerated felons at the end of December 2022. As of October 2023, there were 488 more.
A former firefighter fell back on his training Saturday after witnessing a deadly crash on I-65 North near the Portland/Orlinda exit in Robertson County. Chris England, a former firefighter, was driving to Bowling Green from Alabama with his family when they saw the accident unfold. He and another witness ran over to the wrecked truck where there was a girl, who he said looked to be around 11 years old, trapped inside. England said once first responders arrived, he and another witness helped load the girl into the ambulance. Her father was nit seriously hurt. Her mother died in the crash.
It’s a busy time for travelers on the roadways and a new AAA study shows alarming trends when it comes to dangerous driving. According to the report, which surveyed nearly 2,5000 drivers nationwide ages 16 and older, daily driving patterns and traffic volumes are rebounding from pandemic lows; risky behaviors, like impaired driving and speeding, remain an epidemic out on the roads. The AAA survey also asked drivers about their perceived level of danger for various driving behaviors. The majority of drivers perceived unsafe driving behaviors as very or extremely dangerous, and yet many admitted to doing these behaviors at least once in the previous 30 days.