Moms Demand Action members join us to discuss their work to make schools safer.

Students, parents and teachers are all struggling with the issue of how we end school shootings and make schools as safe as possible. Dealing with the potential for incidents both in the classroom and over social media, many young people have begun to find a way to be heard on this issue and so are parents and teachers with groups like Moms Demand Action. Group members Suzanne Swain and Dr Amanda Rosenberger join us to talk about the work they’re doing.

Today In The Upper Cumberland airs each weekend as a way to introduce you to interesting people and subjects of interest to our community. Catch the show each Saturday morning at 6 on Lite Rock 95.9, Rock 93-7, and 106-9 Kicks Country.

If you miss it Saturday, you can catch Today In The Upper Cumberland again, Sunday. The show airs Sunday morning at 7am on Rock 93-7 and News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, Sundays at Noon on News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, and Sunday night at 6pm on Lite Rock 95.9 and at 7pm on 106-9 Kicks Country.

TTU Professor James Akenson on how modern country music is inspired by its past.

In the conclusion of our two-part series on Country Music, Tennessee Tech Professor James Akenson explains how the music reflected the people who listened. How the music tells a story. The men and women behind the music. And how you can still hear some of the same notes of yesterday in today’s music.

Today In The Upper Cumberland airs each weekend as a way to introduce you to interesting people and subjects of interest to our community. Catch the show each Saturday morning at 6 on Lite Rock 95.9, Rock 93-7, and 106-9 Kicks Country.

If you miss it Saturday, you can catch Today In The Upper Cumberland again, Sunday. The show airs Sunday morning at 7am on Rock 93-7 and News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, Sundays at Noon on News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, and Sunday night at 6pm on Lite Rock 95.9 and at 7pm on 106-9 Kicks Country.

Once called Country and Western, today’s country music still echoes it’s past.

Tennessee Tech Professor James Akenson has spent his career studying country music from a scholastic point of view. Akenson explains how the music reflected the people who listened. How the music tells a story. The men and women behind the music. And how you can still hear some of the same notes in yesterday in today’s music.

Today In The Upper Cumberland airs each weekend as a way to introduce you to interesting people and subjects of interest to our community. Catch the show each Saturday morning at 6 on Lite Rock 95.9, Rock 93-7, and 106-9 Kicks Country.

If you miss it Saturday, you can catch Today In The Upper Cumberland again, Sunday. The show airs Sunday morning at 7am on Rock 93-7 and News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, Sundays at Noon on News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, and Sunday night at 6pm on Lite Rock 95.9 and at 7pm on 106-9 Kicks Country.

Warren Nevad from MTAS explains Government Ethics and the impact they can have

The Upper Cumberland Development, UCHRA, and the Overton/Pickett Emergency Communications, these are all recent local examples of how the topic of Government Ethics has come into the spotlight. Today In The Upper Cumberland, we take a look at understanding Government Ethics. Each situation is different, but commonalities include: how leaders view their position, tax dollars vs. personal gain and how agencies make their decisions. Warren Nevad is a Municipal Management Consultant for the University of Tennessee Municipal Technical Advisory Services or MTAS.

Today In The Upper Cumberland airs each weekend as a way to introduce you to interesting people and subjects of interest to our community. Catch the show each Saturday morning at 6 on Lite Rock 95.9, Rock 93-7, and 106-9 Kicks Country.

If you miss it Saturday, you can catch Today In The Upper Cumberland again, Sunday. The show airs Sunday morning at 7am on Rock 93-7 and News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, Sundays at Noon on News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, and Sunday night at 6pm on Lite Rock 95.9 and at 7pm on 106-9 Kicks Country.

Bill Brinker spent  30 Days in Vietnam, 15 years after the war. This is his story.

43 years ago, the Vietnam War ended. This past weekend The Wall That Heals visited the Upper Cumberland, reminding all of us of a painful period in American history. On one hand, we seem to be coming to terms with, but on the other hand we still experience those painful memories. Retired Tennessee Tech Professor William “Bill” Brinker, taught Vietnam history there. He was apart of two book projects that lead him on an amazing trip: 30 days in Vietnam. He tells his story of the Upper Cumberland’s role in the Vietnam War, Today In The Upper Cumberland.

Today In The Upper Cumberland airs each weekend as a way to introduce you to interesting people and subjects of interest to our community. Catch the show each Saturday morning at 6 on Lite Rock 95.9, Rock 93-7, and 106-9 Kicks Country.

If you miss it Saturday, you can catch Today In The Upper Cumberland again, Sunday. The show airs Sunday morning at 7am on Rock 93-7 and News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, Sundays at Noon on News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, and Sunday night at 6pm on Lite Rock 95.9 and at 7pm on 106-9 Kicks Country.

Nancy  Morris &  Carrie Brensike  Talking Veterans Mental  Health

This week The Wall That Heals, comes to Cookeville. It can be hard to open up about difficult experiences. Whether it is something they were ordered to do, or a life and death situation. The mental toll of fighting in a war is a real problem for our Veterans. Thankfully, we are focused more on Veterans and their mental health then we were previously. Today In The Upper Cumberland we discuss the mental health of veterans with Suicide Prevention Case Managers from the Veterans Administrations Tennessee Valley Healthcare System: Nancy Morris and Carrie Brensike

Today In The Upper Cumberland airs each weekend as a way to introduce you to interesting people and subjects of interest to our community. Catch the show each Saturday morning at 6 on Lite Rock 95.9, Rock 93-7, and 106-9 Kicks Country.

If you miss it Saturday, you can catch Today In The Upper Cumberland again, Sunday. The show airs Sunday morning at 7am on Rock 93-7 and News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, Sundays at Noon on News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, and Sunday night at 6pm on Lite Rock 95.9 and at 7pm on 106-9 Kicks Country.

Dr. Jerry Boyd and more talk school safety programs at Putnam Co School District.

We can all agree that we want to protect students while in school. Across the Upper Cumberland and across the nation we look at how to make schools safer. What are the warning signs and programs in place to address students at risk? Today In The Upper Cumberland, we look at the school systems in place, how the communication works, and how teachers are trained to make schools safer with members of the Putnam County School District. We talk with Dr. Jerry Boyd, Director of Schools, Corby King the Attendance Supervisor, and Melanie Bussel the Students Services Supervisor.

Today In The Upper Cumberland airs each weekend as a way to introduce you to interesting people and subjects of interest to our community. Catch the show each Saturday morning at 6 on Lite Rock 95.9, Rock 93-7, and 106-9 Kicks Country.

If you miss it Saturday, you can catch Today In The Upper Cumberland again, Sunday. The show airs Sunday morning at 7am on Rock 93-7 and News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, Sundays at Noon on News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, and Sunday night at 6pm on Lite Rock 95.9 and at 7pm on 106-9 Kicks Country.

50 years ago….and 6:00pm…..shots rang out at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

Dr. Martin Luther King would be pronounced dead one hour later.

On the Tennessee Tech campus that April evening in 1968….Cookeville’s Morris Irby heard the news.

Morris Irby attended Cookeville’s Darwin School, the African American school that burned in 1963. Leaders decided to integrate Cookeville High School after the fire….and Irby would use that step toward an athletic career at Tennessee Tech.

An Important Week For Tennessee School Safety                                                     

What is the best way to address security in schools? Protecting both teachers and students is a major part of school safety. The Governor’s Working Group on School Safety released its first set of recommendations last week. Representative Ryan Williams and Senator Paul Bailey are both members of the Governor’s Working Group. We talk with these two local lawmakers about school safety, Today In The Upper Cumberland.

Today In The Upper Cumberland airs each weekend as a way to introduce you to interesting people and subjects of interest to our community. Catch the show each Saturday morning at 6 on Lite Rock 95.9, Rock 93-7, and 106-9 Kicks Country.

If you miss it Saturday, you can catch Today In The Upper Cumberland again, Sunday. The show airs Sunday morning at 7am on Rock 93-7 and News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, Sundays at Noon on News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, and Sunday night at 6pm on Lite Rock 95.9 and at 7pm on 106-9 Kicks Country.

The Impact Of Organ Donation                                                    

More and more Upper Cumberland residents are signing up to donate organs. They are gifts that can change a person’s life. We bring you both sides of the story, those who have been donors and those that have received donations on Today In The Upper Cumberland. We speak with Deborah Kitz and Billy Jarvis. Deborah Kitz is a donor mother and served on the Tennessee Donor Services Advisory Board.
Billy Jarvis is a public relations coordinator for Tennessee Donor Services and he received a kidney in 1991.

Today In The Upper Cumberland airs each weekend as a way to introduce you to interesting people and subjects of interest to our community. Catch the show each Saturday morning at 6 on Lite Rock 95.9, Rock 93-7, and 106-9 Kicks Country.

If you miss it Saturday, you can catch Today In The Upper Cumberland again, Sunday. The show airs Sunday morning at 7am on Rock 93-7 and News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, Sundays at Noon on News Talk 94.1/AM 1600, and Sunday night at 6pm on Lite Rock 95.9 and at 7pm on 106-9 Kicks Country.