Shots were fired, but nobody was in danger. It was all part of the Jackson Police Department's police experience. “It really gave you a different aspect than just the police officers you see on the street,” says Rebecca Creasy. Community members got to train in different aspects of what a real JPD officer has to go through. And although training can take up to a year they fit as much as they could into one day. They're currently going into the house as if they were the Jackson Police Department going into an intruder situation and that’s only one of the many things the JPD experience consisted of. And everyone came out with their favorite JPD experience “My favorite part was probably learnin

Its been almost five months since Hardin County experienced historic floods. Roads were impassable, homes were completely destroyed, and the community was left wondering if they were ever going to see federal help “People have gotten kind of antsy because they felt there should have been a little more help earlier and not knowing when the help was coming from the federal government," says Ray Waggoner. The wait for the Hardin County community is finally over. SBA is here providing disaster relief to nonprofits, businesses, and even homeowners.” "undoubtedly this will be a good thing for them and very beneficial for the community,” says Waggoner. The U.S. small business administration is offe

“Well I feel like I have been truly blessed knowing I have a job that you absolutely love.” Four thousand three hundred and seventy eight days ago, Jerry Gist was sworn in as Jackson Mayor. Now twelve years later, he is getting ready to depart the office for the final time. “There is something to be said for leaving, especially in a mayor’s position, to leave under your own terms and that gives me a lot of comfort.” Gist has worked almost his entire adult life not only in the City of Jackson but as a city employee, working for both the parks and public works departments. In all his time working for the city, Gist says there is one moment that comes to mind as his proudest “getting Lambuth ou

300 decisions to 3 thousand decisions a day, that’s the difference from someone who's incarcerated to someone out in society. Todd Byrd realized making that sudden change can be very overwhelming for someone just getting out after years in prison. Byrd was incarcerated for 17 years and after turning his life around he decided to help others with the transition with the Orchard House being built in the city of Milan. “I thought the orchard, the land where fruit grows because that’s what they're going to do. They're going to strengthen themselves and when you strengthen the vine it'll bear fruit,” says Todd Byrd. It will house about 120 men, teach them scripture, give them job skills, drug tes

The blood and screams may be fake but the experience feels real. EMT students from Dyersburg State Community College were tested this afternoon with a mass casualty incident drill. For Jason McDonald and his fellow students, the drill was chance to test out what they had learn in class in a real setting. “it was pretty chaotic. I learned a lot and I learned that it is very, very hectic at first but once you get your arms around the situation and you have good people around you then things can fall into place.” This is the fourth year DSCC has done this MCI drill with their EMT students. As part of the drill the school partners with local first responders to help show students what they did r

“Yeah I love camp,” Josie Culpepper. Many kids spend their summer break at different camps, but there's one here in the community that the Down Syndrome Association of West Tennessee puts on that caters to children and adults with down syndrome. “This is their time in the summer and be together and socialize with other children and peers from west tn," says Rachel Hays. Camp imaginarium is now in its 13th year and the youth camp alone serves more than 20 kids from all over West Tennessee. In the camp they do crafts, play sports, and they’ve been rehearsing a dance all week long to perform in the association's biggest fundraiser of the year, Country Music Lends Down a Hand. The concert isn’t

The first CME college in the nation sits right in the middle of downtown Jackson, it's known as Lane College “My student success commitment is to show each student the love of Christ and help each student to achieve the career of their dreams,” says President Dr. Logan Hampton. Since 1882, Lane College has been providing an education to students who come from all across the country to receive a degree in any of their 16 degree programs. What makes Lane College different from any other institution here in West Tennessee is that it’s a HBCU, that stands for historically black college or university. But even though most of the students do share an ethnic heritage, there's still a great amount o

Tennessee businesses and residents affected by severe storms and flooding that occurred on Feb. 6 through Feb. 24, 2019 can apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, Acting Administrator Christopher Pilkerton announced today. Acting Administrator Pilkerton made the loans available in response to a letter from Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on June 14, requesting a disaster declaration by the SBA. The declaration covers the following counties: Decatur, Hardin, Humphreys, Perry and Sevier and the adjacent counties of Benton, Blount, Carroll, Chester, Cocke, Dickson, Henderson, Hickman, Houston, Jefferson, Knox, Lewis, McNairy and Wayne counties in Tennessee. “

The Chester County Youth Theater in getting ready to put on a show. 50 Chester County kids have been working nonstop for two weeks to bring the 'Beauty and the Beast' to the community. This is a program Becky Hartle started four years ago. She says Chester County is growing in the fine arts so giving young kids the experience will allow them to be prepared for these programs in the future. And seeing the kids progress in and out of the program is why she plans to continue theater camp for years to come. "It gives me purpose this is the reason why I do it you know. I've had these kids some of them for four year i've watched them grow in their talent but also just in individuals and to now see

“Northside, Southside, East, West,” says Dalton Conor. No matter where Jackson residents want to go, the Jackson Transportation Authority is there for them. Dalton Conor is only one of about 1500 people who us buses or the lift service in Jackson and hes one of many celebrating national dump the pump day. Today, people everywhere are encouraged to leave their cars at home and try taking public transportation. “We just feel like it’s a need and we want everybody in Jackson to experience public transportation,” says Erris Yarbrough. And those who ride the bus on a daily basis share just a couple benefits public transportation has. “Not only will it save you some gas but at the same time you ca

As the vans pulled up to the Jackson Madison County election commission, the city of Jackson was one step closer to naming their new city mayor. At around 8 pm last night all the ballots were finally counted. The unofficial results showed that out of a total of over 11 thousand votes cast, more than 7 thousand of them were for Scott Conger and Dr. Jerry Woods received just over 4 thousand. After winning over 60 percent of the vote Scott Conger is now the new mayor of the city of Jackson, and he says his reason for running in the first place was the love he has for the city. “It's our community i'm doing this because I love Jackson. I think everyone in the room tonight, everyone that came out

For the more than one hundred women who were at Mckellar Sipes regional airport this morning, the sky is not the limit. They came from all over the country to participate in the 47th annual air race classic. “It’s the most fun, its why we fly, its why we all took lessons to begin with,” says Lara Gaerte. About 50 planes launched just 30 seconds apart from each other and before you knew it they were on their way to Hattiesburg, Mississippi. This race is something they say they’ve been preparing for, for months. "While were here its been a lot of briefings and then our own briefings checking the weather, checking the routes making sure were making the safest decisions making sure we have a bac

The Miss Tennessee Volunteer Scholarship Pageant. It may have a different name this year, but President Jimmy Exum says people can expect the pageant to be the same as before. “You can expect the same type of program we've always had," says Exum. Since the pageant decided to part ways with the Miss America organization, a new Miss Tennessee pageant will take place in Knoxville, and the one that has been in Jackson for 67 years was renamed the Miss Tennessee Volunteer Scholarship Pageant. The 36 girls competing in the volunteer pageant had a big choice to make: were they going to go to Knoxville, or were they going to come to Jackson. “It’s the integrity of the organization. These women and t

"Lambuth, as you know, has deep roots in jackson-madison county.” University of Memphis Lambuth is one of the oldest institutions in the Jackson-Madison county area. It opened its doors in 1843 as a Methodist women’s college but has grown and changed many times since then. The current iteration of the school has been running since its near closure in 2011. It’s almost a night and day difference. For years, Lambuth university was known as a major liberal arts institution according to Niles Reddick, Dean of the Lambuth Campus, but now the school’s biggest programs are more suited for the area’s workforce needs, namely nursing. “We started that program with twelve students in the first cohort.

“If you don't get a chill there's something wrong with you," says Tom Turner. It was an emotional day for veterans and veteran family members as they honored everything and everyone the american flag stands for during national flag day. At Liberty Garden Park there's an american flag every direction you look. There are over 300 flags placed here on the trail at liberty park, each one with a unique tag representing a veteran or someone who previously served our country. “It represents every person that’s served their country all the way up to afghanistan and syria so this flag is really something significant," says Turner. This years flag day at liberty garden park was a little more special.

While out on patrol, Madison County Sheriff’s Deputy John Pinto says there is one thing he always sees on the road. “oh it’s constant, you come up to a red light or stop sign or even just driving down the highway, people are constantly on their phone. They’re looking down at their phone, they got their phone to their ear talking.” Come July 1st, those who are caught using their phone driving can get pulled over and fined. This is part of a new law, Hands Free Tennessee, that was passed earlier this year. The bill outlaws all phone use while driving, even if a vehicle is stopped at a red light with the only exceptions being emergencies or using a bluetooth device to make calls. Sergeant Richa

The city of Jackson is constantly working on bettering the quality of life for its residents. That’s why president of the Jackson Chamber Kyle Spurgeon says he attended the state of health and mental health conference at the Jackson Madison County General Hospital. “It's all about people and one of the most important things is quality of life and health outcomes, how people live in the community, take care of themselves, that determines the health of the entire community,” says Kyle Spurgeon. The purpose of the conference was to educate and make the community more aware of the importance of mental health. Marie Williams, commissioner for the Tennessee department of mental health and substanc