CLINTON—Flu season is here, with seasonal influenza cases now reported across Tennessee.
The Anderson County Health Department is working to protect the entire community by providing free flu vaccinations to area residents until vaccine supplies are depleted, a press release said. Appointments must be made to receive flu vaccine, and they are now being scheduled at the clinic. [Read more…]
Linden Elementary School second-grader Adrianna King and University of Tennessee Extension Outreach Coordinator Abbie Cary pose for a picture in front of a broccoli poster on Foodie Friday. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Schools)
This year, each elementary school throughout the Oak Ridge Schools district will participate in Foodie Friday. Foodie Friday is made available through a partnership between Oak Ridge Schools Coordinated School Health, food service provider Aramark, and the University of Tennessee Extension Office, a press release said.
Each Friday, volunteers from the UT Extension Office and the Anderson County Health Department prepare healthy samples, provided by Aramark, to sample during elementary school lunch periods. The students talk about the foods, see how it is prepared, and share their thoughts on how they taste, the Oak Ridge Schools release said.
Linden Elementary School is the first school of the year to participate in the program. The students have sampled red peppers, grapes, broccoli, green peppers, cherry tomatoes, and apples. Educational nutritional information is also provided to the teachers and students through the UT Extension office.
Foodie Friday will return after winter break at Glenwood Elementary School starting January 16, Woodland Elementary School on March 6, and Willow Brook Elementary School on April 10. [Read more…]
Kelli Kent, Emma Berry, Reagan Wolfe, Noah Carter, Jake Wade, Sarah Thomas, Hope Hicks, and Courtney Sharp dance as Snow White helps the seven side effects to #ChooseNotToUse tobacco products. (Submitted photo)
The Anderson County Health Department and community partners Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) of Anderson County, Anderson County Schools, Clinton City Schools, and Oak Ridge City Schools have made great strides in tobacco prevention since nearly $65,000 was awarded to Anderson County earlier this year.
At the Tobacco Initiative Reception held on Wednesday, October 22, those strides were recognized. Art Miller, director of the Anderson County Health Department, said “this is the first time tobacco settlement funds are being used to fund tobacco prevention.â€
More than 40 attendees watched as the ASAP Youth Coalition demonstrated why they “Choose Not To Use†tobacco through a special presentation of a skit they wrote and produced titled “Snow White and the Seven Side Effects.†During the skit, the dangers of tobacco use—such as cigarettes being the leading cause of house fires with more than 7,600 each year in the U.S. and losing teeth after the use of chewing tobacco—were highlighted. [Read more…]
Art Miller, left, director of the Anderson County Health Department, talks with County Mayor Terry Frank about local preventive measures concerning the Ebola virus. (Photo courtesy of Anderson County government)
CLINTON—Anderson County officials are aware of the few cases of the Ebola virus in the United States and are taking early preventive measures in the unlikely event that the virus occurs here, the Anderson County Mayor’s Office said Wednesday.
Preventive measures being taken by local Health Department and emergency officials include conferencing, protocol reviews, and in-service training. This will help ensure that they “know what to do in the unlikely event that a case of the Ebola virus occurs here,” a press release said.
The release said staff members at the Anderson County Health Department recently completed a “table-top exercise” aimed at allowing the employees to plan ahead and be prepared. They used a hypothetical case and followed already-established protocol to deal with the hypothetical case. The procedures involved isolation of the hypothetical Ebola patient upon presentation to the Health Department, protection measures for other Health Department patients and staff members, and immediate communication between the local Health Department, Anderson County Emergency Medical Service, Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, and the Health Department’s regional office in Knox County, as well as the Tennessee Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Similar exercises have been conducted in every health department office across Tennessee,” said Art Miller, director of the Anderson County Health Department. [Read more…]
Front row from left to right are Olivia Kelly, Reagan Wolfe, and Courtney Sharp.
Second row from left to right are Emma Berry, Hope Hicks, Jake Wade, and Kaylee Hunley.
Third row from left to right are Mary Tuskan, Jacob Reed, Ryan Wiggins, and Gabe Merritt.
Top row from left to right are Michael Beal, Cameron Moore, and Michael Foster. (Photo courtesy ASAP)
Students from Anderson County joined more than 400 youth leaders from across the state at a recent Tennessee Teen Institute. The Tennessee Teen Institute is a five-day youth leadership and prevention camp sponsored by the Jackson Area Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency.
The Anderson County Health Department and ASAP (Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention) sponsored two teams of six youth to participate in TTI, one from Anderson County High School and one from Clinton High School.
“This is the third year we have been able to sponsor youth to attend the Teen Institute, and it has shown an excellent return,” said Stephanie Strutner, ASAP executive director. “Students return energized to serve as peer leaders and make positive changes in their schools.”
This was the 27th year of the Teen Institute Program in Tennessee, a press release said. The program addresses teen issues such as bullying, violence, suicide, teen pregnancy, distracted driving, teen health, and substance abuse prevention through a five-day, peer-led prevention camp designed to provide teen participants with the skills and education necessary to develop and implement alcohol and drug abuse prevention programs in their own communities. [Read more…]
Paul White
CLINTON—Anderson County Sheriff Paul White and his challenger, Anthony Lay, have had a feud over the food served at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton.
The feud started with a June 26 press release by Lay, a Republican challenging White, a Democrat, in the August 7 election. Lay said the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department appears to be operating a bakery, and he has suggested inmates are eating cookies and cobbler, and pies and pudding.
If elected, Lay said, he would “cut the fiscal fat from the sheriff’s jail budget by cutting out the pie.â€
“Jail will be a jail, not a hotel or bakery,†said Lay, a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper.
A few days later, White responded in a statement that said “inaccurate and misleading information†was being circulated in the campaign for sheriff.
“The jail does not operate a ‘bakery,’†said White, who is running for his third four-year term as sheriff.
The jail menus are “quite conservative,†White said, and the average meal costs $1.10. [Read more…]
A hand-picked crew of nine inmates prepares peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches on white bread for lunch at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Wednesday. Oak Ridge Today was allowed to take pictures of the kitchen, food storage area, and coolers and freezers, but not the inmates.
Note: This story was last updated at 1 a.m. July 25.
Sheriff: Despite campaign claims, jail menu conservative, with average meal $1.10
Challenger stands by his pie, ice cream claims
CLINTON—The menu at the Anderson County jail at lunchtime Wednesday was simple and spartan: A peanut butter and jelly sandwich and milk.
It doesn’t appear to be an unusual meal at the jail, at least not this week. In fact, the menu this week includes three similar lunches with 1/4 cup of peanut butter and jelly mix, two slices of bread, and 8 oz. of milk or chocolate milk.
Anthony Lay
Other meals on the menu—the jail can serve up to 8,000 per week—also call for small portions of meat and bread, fruits and vegetables, and beans and milk.
But Anthony Lay, a Republican candidate for Anderson County sheriff, has raised questions about what inmates are eating. He has suggested they’re eating luxuriously, enjoying pies, cobblers, cookies, and cake. Lay has said the jail appears to be operating a bakery, and taxpayers are footing the bill.
“Fresh baked (double chunk) cookies; cherry, blackberry, and blueberry cobbler; pumpkin and apple pie with Cool Whip—these are all delicious,†Lay said in a June 26 press release. “But at the end of the day, taxpayers foot the bill, and they don’t expect us to offer luxuries to folks who, let’s face it, are in jail for a reason.â€
Paul White
Sheriff Paul White, a Democrat seeking his third term in the August 7 election, has dismissed Lay’s claims as inaccurate and misleading.
“The jail does not operate a bakery,†White said in a July 1 statement.
He said the jail menus are quite conservative. They include a cold sandwich for lunch. The average meal costs $1.10, White said. [Read more…]
Anderson County has received almost $65,000 in funds to support initiatives that reduce tobacco use. Local officials recently received the check from Tennessee Health Commissioner John Dreyzehner. (Photo Courtesy of Anderson County Health Department)
CLINTON—Tennessee Health Commissioner John Dreyzehner visited the Anderson County Health Department on Friday to present $64,600 in funding as part of the Tennessee Tobacco Settlement Program.
Dreyzehner was in East Tennessee last week to present tobacco settlement checks to the Roane County Health Department ($38,860) and the Loudon County Health Department ($38,103) as well as the check to Anderson County.
Each county in Tennessee will receive funding annually during the three-year program to reduce the burden of tobacco use in the state.
Locally, the Anderson County Health Department is using the funds to support a new “Baby and Me—Tobacco Free†program as well as a partnership with Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) of Anderson County and the Coordinated School Health programs in each of the three school systems in Anderson County. [Read more…]
John Dreyzehner
Tennessee Health Commissioner John Dreyzehner will join other state and local officials on Friday, April 11, at the Anderson County Health Department in Clinton to present $64,600 in funding as part of the Tennessee Tobacco Settlement Program.
Each county in Tennessee will receive funding during this three-year program to reduce the burden of tobacco use in the state. All counties are challenged to set goals and select one or more projects that address three topics: eliminating smoking during pregnancy, reducing infants’ and children’s exposure to second-hand smoke, and preventing child and adolescent tobacco use. Anderson County will implement first-year projects targeting each of these three focus areas.
Funding from the Tobacco Settlement was provided to the Tennessee Department of Health for fiscal years 2014-16 to address the state’s high rate of tobacco use and prevent expensive related medical costs. The plan to distribute $15 million over three years has been generated with input from all 95 counties. This plan includes a variety of projects to target behaviors designed to protect the health of Tennessee’s most vulnerable populations: unborn babies, pregnant women, and children.
Kick Butts Day is a national day of activism that empowers youth to stand out, speak up, and seize control against tobacco. This year, national Kick Butts Day was March 19, which Anderson County students celebrated the week of March 24 due to Spring Break.
Through partnerships between Anderson County Coordinated School Health, Clinton City Coordinated School Health, Oak Ridge Coordinated School Health, the Anderson County Health Department, and Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) of Anderson County, this Kick Butts Day was an amazing success, a press release said.
“We were very excited to partner with other school systems and organizations for Kick Butts Day,†said Kim Guinn, ACS coordinated school health director. “By working together, we were able to make a larger impact on our community. We all want to accomplish the same goal and see our students choose not to use tobacco.” [Read more…]
B&W Y-12 was recognized by the American Heart Association for the third year as a Fit Friendly Worksite. Part of the criteria for such a designation is providing employees support for physical activity, such as Y-12’s LiveWise program, an onsite wellness program.
For the third year, the Y-12 National Security Complex has been recognized as a Fit-Friendly Worksite.
The Fit-Friendly Companies program recognizes employers who champion the health of their employees and create a culture of physical activity and health in the workplace.
B&W Y-12 joins 12 other East Tennessee companies as a Gold-level company, which includes offering employees support for physical activity, promoting a wellness culture, providing healthy eating options at the worksite, and implementing at least nine specific criteria outlined by the American Heart Association related to physical activity, nutrition and culture.
“As a Gold-level award recipient, you have not only recognized the importance of a healthy workplace for your employees but have taken important steps to create a culture of wellness by providing support to employees, and we commend you and your employees,†said American Heart Association Chief Executive Officer Nancy Brown.
CLINTON—In partnership with the National Association of Counties, or NACo, the Anderson County government is offering free prescription discount cards to Anderson County residents, a press release said.
The program “is open to anyone who wants to use it,†said Alex Koroknay-Palicz, NACo membership coordinator. The free prescription discount card program is funded, in part, by Anderson County’s annual NACo membership dues, he said. [Read more…]
