Officials at the Jackson Madison County Public Library say this is a place of literacy and community, but they have been missing that community aspect throughout this pandemic. The Jackson Madison County Public Library closed their doors to the public in late March due to COVID-19 concerns and decided to re-open for curbside only in early May, but officials say the decision to re open their doors is difficult. “And then you bring it back and somebody could pick it up right after you brought it back and take it to their house, you know so we’ve had to be very careful. We didn’t want to be the place where people were spreading the virus", says library director, Dinah Harris. They plan on openi

For more details on how you can adopt Warf, visit www.fhhas.org or call 731-249-9443.

That’s right, students have not been on campuses across Tennessee since mid March now with most summer sessions online next up is the fall semester. Lane College along with other colleges and universities near Jackson extended their spring breaks in March and then moved all classes online due to COVID-19 concerns. “COVID-19 I mean it pushes on that priority to say how do we deliver on our mission to develop the whole student", says Lane College President, Dr. Logan Hampton. Now these institutions are faced with moving into a new school year under different circumstances than before. Officials at Lane College are planning out scenarios of how they could reopen. “Yes, Lane College will be open

A total of 29 hospitals in Tennessee received a hospital readiness grant amounting up to $500,000 each. Hospitals in Carroll, Obion, Tipton, Lauderdale, and Henderson counties all received a part of the 10 million dollars. Chief executive officer for Baptist Memorial Hospital in Carroll county, Susan Breeden, says they saw a hard hit. “Obviously from a financial perspective it’s been devastating, and we are no different than any of your other businesses as far as loss of business", says Breeden. The hospital saw a 50% loss in volume, while also purchasing more supplies to help combat Coronavirus. Breeden adds, “and we don’t have a margin, operating margin anyway to be able to sustain those k

Volunteers put on their masks and made sure they were 6 feet apart to fill cemeteries across Jackson to honor our veterans. The West Tennessee Veterans Coalition usually hosts a Memorial Day service where the public can participate. This year instead of having a big service they had a smaller one with only coalition members and volunteers. “Memorial Day is the day that we stop and remember and thank those veterans who gave the ultimate sacrifice, so it is a day of remembrance, of memory, and of honor", says chairwoman of West Tennessee Coalition Chair, Jackie Utley. The volunteers distributed American flags across three cemeteries in Jackson placing them at the head stone of veterans. “It fe

For more details on how you can adopt Diamond, visit https://wwww.fhhas.org or call 731-249-9443.

"This year we were going over to Nepal and we were stopping over for a few days in India on our way because it was closer to that airport in India", says Bryan Nerren. Jackson native and pastor in Shelbyville, Tennessee, Bryan Nerren, has taken trips to Nepal, India for 17 years but his recent trip was longer than expected. Nerren and a group of his members were stopped in Delhi and questioned about $40,000. And two specific questions. Nerren says, “but the government decided immediately when I was in Delhi, they didn’t care about the money. The first set of questions was ‘Are you a Christian and are you going to meet a Christian in India?" Nerren says this money was to support the

Many high school students across the country were faced to realize that they may never have an actual graduation ceremony. “I thought I would never get to because of the virus, but I am pretty excited.” “It feels, pretty surreal, like I don’t fully believe that I’m actually here getting to do this.” With the help of teachers, principals, county and city officials high schools in the Jackson Madison county school district planned in person graduation ceremonies for their students, despite the COVID-19 outbreak. “Good lord, I probably had about 15 break downs everyday about it", says 2020 graduate, Anna Blankenship. Anna Blankenship comes from a long line of family and friends that graduated f

The Madison County Commission met today for the first in person meeting since the COVID-19 outbreak and they discussed budget cuts and the future of a local recreation center. “I mean with the situation with COVID-19, everything is on the table. We have to look for ways to cut", says county commission budget chair, Doug Stephenson. The Madison County Commission met today for their regularly scheduled meeting. One topic that many commissioners wanted to have a voice in was the budget committee’s recommendation to close Beech Bluff Recreation Center. “Are there ways that we can reduce that or change that to get a little bit better situation and cut some expenses", says Stephenson. The Center i

The Regional Health Department says a 77-year old woman lost her life Saturday that previously tested positive for COVID-19. The 77-year old woman lived at American Health Communities Forest Cove right here in Jackson. The facility sent this statement to 39 News saying the resident who died was in Hospice for problems unrelated to COVID-19, but she died a few days after testing positive for the virus. “The individual who died on Saturday was in hospice for other problems unrelated to COVID-19. This resident tested positive for the virus last week, was immediately isolated, then died a few days later. The department of health deemed the cause of death COVID-19, but the resident also had other

The city of Milan was just granted over $500,000 to complete their downtown revitalization. The transportation alternatives grant helps rural towns in Tennessee expand and increase safety. Milan, Tennessee has applied for the grant before to update their downtown area, now that they received the grant again the city will continue working on their revitalization process. “We applied for this grant, not, we didn’t know if we would get it. Knowing this project needed to be completed. We were elated when we found out just a few days ago that we would be getting this grant", says Milan city mayor, B.W. Beasley. Milan city mayor B.W. Beasley says they are now in phase 4 of the revitalization proce

After weeks of being closed due to COVID-19… one local business is getting the ball back rolling.” The Family Fun Center closed their doors a week before they were ordered because customers were not following social distancing guidelines. Now that they are open again they hope the new changes keep customers and staff safe. “We wouldn’t be open if we didn’t think that it was safe for people to come out and we could thoroughly clean and sanitize before they use them", says general manager Alex Kim. Kim says they are cleaning each bowling ball after a player finishes, wiping down the lanes, and even putting more than 6 feet between each group of bowlers. “We have a skip lane in between each lin

City and County leaders have made tough decisions over the past couple of months due to the global pandemic and although the rise of cases of COVID-19 in Madison county is slowing… those tough decisions are still happening. The Madison county commission budget committee met earlier this month to discuss cuts that might have to take place due to COVID-19. One of their recommendations was to cut the Beech Bluff Recreation Center. “The county is looking at places to cut and one of the places we’re cutting, or the budget committee recommended cutting, is closing Beech Bluff down", says Director, Ed Smith. Madison county Parks and Recreation Director, Ed Smith, says it takes about $65,0000 to bar

For more details on how you can adopt Boscoe, visit www.fhhas.org or call 731-249-9443.

“Many industries have already seen the affects of COVID-19, but the entertainment and tourism industry might see those affects for a while. “People are going to be more reserved about booking travel, they are going to wait. So, what we are trying to do is make sure people feel safe and comfortable", says Visit Jackson official, Lori Nunnery. Jackson is known for being a hub. Supplying jobs, food, entertainment, and activities for people from the surrounding areas, but sporting events, live music, and museum tours have halted during the pandemic. Nunnery adds, “yea we are looking forward to the days that we can get back out on the field and play ball out at the sportsplex, but what I would sa

Hudson is missing. A text message that put one mothers life at a stand still. “I got a text message saying that Hudson is missing in the woods", says the 4-year old's mother, Mary Long. Mary Long received a message while at her cousins house that her youngest son was missing in the woods surrounding their home. “You know through a text I didn’t really know what to expect to come home to", added Mary. David Long was at the home when 4-year old Hudson went missing. “He’s lost in the woods somewhere, so I immediately get up, go out in the woods and start looking for him", says Hudson's dad, David Long. Both parents said that Hudson went into the wooded area to look for his older bro

Close contact businesses like nail salons, beauty shops, and spas are now open. But how are they transitioning into reopening with the new guidelines to follow? In mid March close contact businesses were deemed non essential and asked to close due to the lack of social distancing that could be practiced. This week they reopened. “It’s different and I never thought this would happen in my lifetime, but it’s here and it’s just something that we have to deal with and you know we have to be more concerned about", says owner of From Root to End beauty salon, Brandy Graves. “It is a little nerve racking, just a little. But. I’m a prayerful person and I’m just believing that I can do my job effecti

One local Girl Scout troop decided to give back to soldiers oversees. Girls Scout service unit 424 is sending over $600 worth of cookies to troops from the Jackson community to give them a taste of home. The girls in the troop work with veterans at VFW post 6496 on airways frequently and they wanted to show current soldiers that they are thinking about them, especially during this time. One local veteran says the small gesture goes a long way for soldiers that are not home. “When i was on the enterprise, we actually had girl scout cookies come to us. So to be able to have girl scout cookies with coffee in the morning, while you are oversees. Wonderful, absolutely wonderful", says United Stat

The Jackson Madison County Regional Health Department along with Federal and State departments were able to acquire a system to help clean PPE. “We contacted our counterparts at the state emergency operations center and told them we felt like we would have a decent spot to put this', says regional hospital coordinator for the health department, Wayne Arnold. Battelle Memorial Institute is placing 60 decontamination units across the country and one is right here in west Tennessee at Mckellar Sipes airport. “For pandemics just like this, needing to kind of supplement the n95 supply when manufacturers can’t keep up with demand", says principal research scientist, Dan Loesch. The unit consists o

For more details on how you can adopt Foo, visit www.fhhas.org or call 731-249-9443.