 Tennessee's Tax Free weekend starts this Friday (8/3) at 12:01 AM (yes that's Thursday night, late) and ends Sunday (8/5) at 11:59 PM.Who can take advantage of this three day event and what qualifies? Anyone who buys these items qualifies, whether you have a child in school or not, with some exclusions.
Click each item below for specific details (they will open in new windows and are printable for you to take with you when you go shopping)
Plan for tax-free weekend shopping just as you do for Holiday shopping: be prepared for traffic issues, and long lines at retailers as there are going to be lots of shoppers AND delays as shoppers who are not prepared, will find at the register that some of their items do not qualify. Shop early and plan for a long day.
 Promising new research in the battle against breast cancer. Scientists believe they have discovered a specific gene that encourages the spread of the cancer into other organs, including bone--which is the more common death threat aside from the primary breast tumor. The gene, named 'RhoC', is being targeted with a new small molecule drug to see if it can be inhibited. The initial results in the lab are promising, say the Univ. of Michigan research team. Dr. Sofia Merajver said, "Targeting the specific molecular cogs driving the cancer stem cell machinery responsible for the cancer spreading has potential for future treatments." There will, of course, still be several years of testing before clinical trials begin, but the discovery of this specific gene appears to be a huge step in the fight against breast cancer.
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If medical bills from an accident or a prolonged illness have put you or a loved one into a difficult financial position, there may be legal remedies for those problems. Contact us for a free consultation at (731) 423-1888.
 Something special is going on in Humboldt TN this weekend (Fri 7/27 & Sat 7/28). Several weeks ago, Sam's BBQ, which had been in business since the 1980's, suffered a terrible fire which destroyed a lot of the building. A group of volunteers will be rebuilding it this weekend.
In 1988, Sam Donald (seen at left) and wife Mary opened a BBQ restaurant that would become legendary among the BBQ faithful. See their reviews here, and an entertaining interview with the quiet spoken Sam from 2003 here. Sam's son-in-law, John Ivory, has been running the business for the last several years...continuing the tried & true BBQ tradition, methods, and recipes. Until it burned. The family was not in a position to rebuild. This is where the 'something special' is...
Coming to the rescue are a group of volunteers and non-profit organizations including the Southern Foodways Alliance based at the University of Mississippi, and the Fatback Collective, among others. They, along with neighborhood volunteers, will be rebuilding Sam's BBQ this Friday & Saturday. Both days, from 8 until 4, a volunteer crew (more volunteers may be needed, stop by if you want to help. Address: 500 West Main in Humboldt) led by a construction company owner from Birmingham Alabama. The site was surveyed and plans made by Jim & Nick's BBQ, with locations in 7 states.
Clark Shaw of the Old Country Store will be providing free lunch to the workers both days and Helen's BBQ of Brownsville (featured last month in Southern Living magazine) will provide dinner Friday night.
How refreshing and encouraging when organizations, volunteers, and even competitors all join together to help a person in need.
Our hats off to everyone involved in this project.
 New research suggests that night-lights may be causing depressing in children and adults. Ohio State University Researchers say their findings suggest that exposure to artificial light at night could be a contributor to rising rates in depression. In the study, the findings suggest that sleeping in a room with even dim light (such as a TV or a night light) can cause mood changes. The good news is that you can reverse the effects by simply switching off the lights.
 It's not getting better. The Labor Department released a report yesterday (7/19) which says that the number of people filing for unemployment rose last week. Over 34,000 filed for unemployment, the biggest jump since April of last year. Locally the Milan Arsenal has continued to lay off production and QC workers in a steady stream for the past two months as planned. Additionally, the National Association of Realtors announced that sales of previously occupied homes fell more than 5% in June, the worst housing numbers since October of last year. If the current economic situation has put you into financial difficulties, you aren't alone. There may be legal remedies to your problems. Contact us at (731) 423-1888 for a free consultation.
 If you are injured on the job, in most instances, you are entitled to workers compensation benefits – you must establish that you have been in an accident while working for your employer and that you have, in fact, been injured.
First off, you are entitled to medical care, but what if the doctor also takes me off work?
If the greater weight of the medical and lay (non-medical personnel) testimony establishes that you are off work and have yet to reach maximum medical improvement and have not returned to work following an accident, you are entitled to either temporary total disability benefits or temporary partial disability benefits.
If, based on the greater weight of the evidence, you are totally unable to work, you are entitled to draw temporary TOTAL disability benefits. You should receive 66.67% of your average weekly wage, based upon the wages you earned for during the 52 weeks before your injury. See Tennessee Code Annotated §50-6-205 .
This code section also provides that you are to receive temporary total disability benefits from day 8 through day 13 for time off work from an injury. If you are off 14 days plus, you would draw temporary total disability benefits from the date of the accident through the earlier of the date you return to work OR the date you reach maximum medical improvement.
If your employer fails or refuses to pay the correct temporary disability payment to you after 20 days, the Tennessee Department of Labor can fine your employer.
But what if the Doctor returns me to work on restrictions and I can only make a PORTION of what I made before the accident? For instance, what if the restrictions placed by the doctor allow me to return to work but I can only earn ½ of what I did before the accident?
Under these circumstances, you could be entitled to temporary partial disability benefits. By way of example, if a worker was making $20 per hour before the accident, was injured on the job and then returned to work under restrictions that only allowed him to perform a desk job and earn $10 per hour. Under this set of facts, the worker could draw temporary partial disability benefits at approximately $266.67 ($20 per hour less $10 per hour equals $10 per hour - $10 per hour x 40 x .6667 = $266.67)
The Department of Labor has the authority under Tennessee Code Annotated and its administrative rules to order your employer to pay temporary total or temporary partial disability benefits in addition to medical benefits. See Tenn. Code Ann. Sec. 50-6-238
If you need help getting your temporary total or temporary partial disability benefits started, call the office at 731-423-1888 or go to the home page on our website to quickly contact us to request help.
 UPDATE: the two have been found alive by search parties this morning.
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Two men are missing in Fayette County. The two went geocaching near the Wolf River Saturday night and have not been seen since. They had attended a wedding in Grand Junction TN and went on the GPS-driven electronic scavanger hunt afterward. They are (left) 29 year old Justin Willingham, an afternoon radio host at WKNO-FM in Memphis, and (right) 17 year old Cody Hanford, an actor who was in the movies 'Walk the Line' and 'Hound Dog'. A vehicle the two men drove to the geocaching launch site was found in a wooded area of Fayette County, but no sign of them yet. Officials at the site say a couple of times a year they are asked to find individuals who get lost in those woods. Search efforts are underway today.
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photo credit: Marci Lambert
 If you're a DirecTV subscriber and weren't able to watch Nickelodeon, VH1, MTV, Comedy Central, and other Viacom channel over the weekend...or if you're a Dish Network customer and are still missing Mad Men, Breaking Bad and other shows from the AMC network, here's why: neither satellite service has settled their differences with the programming providers. It's a sign of the economic times. While Viacom, AMC, and other programmers have continued to hold steady or even show slight financial gains over the past few years...things have gotten tough for DirecTV, Dish Network and other service providers. There aren't many new homes being added to the satellite/cable networks. Some 101 million American homes subscribe to cable or satellite services. That's about 87% of homes, a percentage that has remained unchanged since 2009. Programmers pay media companies (such as DirecTV & Dish Network) a few cents per channel per subscriber each month. In turn those services try to sell packages of channels to consumers for a profit. But while costs for those channels rise, so do monthly service bills, but not enough to offset the difference. As a result, some companies are struggling. Currently DirecTV and DishNetwork make about 19 cents profit out of every $1 they charge you. That has flatlined, they know that you won't pay any more, so their only option is to have these hardball negotiations with the program providers and their best bargaining chip is to take them off the air. So that's the dollars and cents reason why some of your favorite channels may be going dark. It's something you may see more of, as the economy struggles.
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If this economy has you in a difficult financial situation, there may be legal remedies for your problems. Contact us for a free consultation at (731) 423-1888.
 Dozens of Jackson residents have been tricked into thinking they have signed up for a federal program which allegedly helps pay their electric bills. The scam artists are sending emails and making phone calls claiming that the government has set up a special bank account to help pay their utility bill. They are then given a number that they are supposed to then enter into the online payment system on JEA's website. No such bank account exists, and people are left thinking their bill is paid when in fact, it has not been. At this point it appears that the scam artists aren't benefiting financially from the ruse, other than some sort of twisted enjoyment in letting people think they have received help when they indeed have not. Some victims may be giving additional information to the scammers, such as social security numbers, etc--which of course opens the possibilities of identity theft etc. Meanwhile, locally, victims of the scam run the risk of having late fees added to their account or, even worse, having their utilities turned off. If anyone contacts you by email or by phone and tries this with you, please call JEA as they are trying to track down the culprits. JEA's number is 422-7500.
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If you are having trouble paying your electric bills, there are programs available, but they will not be soliciting you by calling or emailing you. It is up to you to contact them. One such program is the LIHEAP program initiated by the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services. You can call 1-866-674-6327 to see if you qualify and how to ask for assistance.
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If this economy has put you into a difficult economic situation and you don't know where to turn, there may be legal remedies for your difficulties. Contact us for a free consultation at (731) 423-1888.
 This story will make you climb into your attic and look through some of the old boxes from your grandparent's house! Karl Kissner in Defiance Ohio was rummaging through some of the old stuff in the attic and found an old soot covered box that had been underneath an old dollhouse. Peeking inside, he saw hundreds of old baseball cards. Later he went through some of the cards and noticed names like Ty Cobb, Cy Young, and Honus Wagner. The cards, as it turns out, were from a rare series released in 1910...and the group of 700 or so cards are being valued at $3 million!
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