Details of Tennessee Opioid Crisis ‘Will Turn Your Stomach,’ Rutherford County Official Says

Rutherford County officials are scheduled to hold a town hall forum on opioid abuse and mental health issues at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Smyrna’s Parkway Baptist Church.

Rutherford County Commissioner Craig Harris, one of the scheduled panelists, told The Tennessee Star Monday that the problem has hit his county particularly hard, as it ranks No. 4 statewide for overdoses.

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Smyrna Officials Flew to Japan at a Cost of $16,000 to Taxpayers

  Three Smyrna town council members as well as the town’s mayor, vice-mayor, and town manager flew to Japan in May for an economic development trip that possibly cost taxpayers as much as $16,000. This, according to Town Manager Brian Hercules, who told The Tennessee Star the six officials were away for a week. Hercules said he had no exact figures for the cost of the trip, but he estimated a sum of at least $15,000 to $16,000. Hercules told The Tennessee Star this week he could not yet announce any new jobs or industries for Smyrna as a result of the trip. Specifically, this delegation flew to Zama, Japan, on the island nation’s east coast. Mayor Mary Esther Reed (pictured above), Vice Mayor Marc Adkins, Hercules, and three council members Hercules did not identify went to Japan to, among other things, meet with officials at Nissan and Nissan supplier Topre America. Smyrna has had a Nissan assembly plant since the early 1980s. Only three of the five town council members could make the trip, Hercules said. “We felt strong enough about our economic development and the investment these companies had made. We opened it up to the council, and…

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Donald Trump Wants to Cut Taxpayer-Funded Program That Gave Money to Tennessee Nissan Electric Car Plant

U.S. Republican President Donald Trump has reportedly proposed a budget that would eliminate a loan program deemed wasteful. Some of the money from that program has gone to the Nissan plant in Smyrna, Tenn. according to The Detroit News. Specifically, Trump’s budget would eliminate what is known as the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program. This, the paper went on to say, is a Department of Energy program Trump deems “costly, wasteful or duplicative.” “Nissan used a $1.45 billion loan in September 2010 to build plants for advanced battery manufacturing and environmentally friendly paint and to retool its Smyrna, Tennessee, plant for assembly of the all-electric Leaf,” according to The Detroit News. “Tesla used a $465 million loan in January 2010 to develop its manufacturing facility in Fremont, California, to produce battery packs, electric motors and other powertrain components for powering all-electric vehicles.” The paper quoted Trump as saying “the private sector is better positioned to provide financing for the deployment of commercially viable projects.” Ford has also used the program to upgrade facilities in six states, including Kentucky and Missouri, the paper said. Trump also wants to do away with a federal tax credit that provides up to $7,500…

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