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City offers Park Theater deal for nonprofit groups
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Local nonprofits can earn $150 per performance for volunteering to work concessions for Park Theater events.

Local nonprofit organizations looking for a new fundraiser idea in 2016 should check out the city of McMinnville’s offer of $150.
“We are launching a new fundraiser for nonprofits at Park Theater,” said Kendra Foust, McMinnville Parks and Recreation program coordinator. “Instead of bringing in part-time people to work concessions and paying them, we’re offering to allow nonprofits to work concessions as a fundraiser for a month. We’ll give them $150 per performance.”
Concessions items are paid for by the city of McMinnville, while the organizations provide the labor using its members. If a show has two performances, even if those are on the same night, the organization will receive $150 per performance for a total of $300. If six performances are held during the month, members will earn $900 for their organization.
Organizations won’t be allowed to pick their month. Foust says it will be the luck of the draw.
“At this time, we don’t know how many nonprofit organizations will apply,” she said. “We don’t even know if we’ll get 12, but we want to be fair in assigning them their month. Our plan is to take those that apply and put their names in a drawing in order to determine which organization gets what month. If the fundraiser goes well this year, we’ll offer it again in 2017 and hold a new drawing.”
The offer is open to nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit refers to what the tax code classifies as a “charitable” or a 501(c)3 organization.
Nonprofit organizations interested in signing up for the fundraiser are asked to call Park Theater at 506-2787 (ARTS).

Local law enforcement on the lookout for distracted driving
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April is National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Distracted Driving Awareness Month and McMinnville Police Department (MPD) is on the roads to educate motorists about appropriate hands-free driving.

The amplified focus of cracking down on distracted driving is a nationwide initiative, with many states taking part. MPD Officer Mark Mara indicated the local department is increasing patrols, funded by overtime grants, to enforce and educate about Tennessee’s Hands Free Law.

“We’re trying to get people to change their habits,” Mara said. “There’s a lot of people that are distracted while driving, whether its their cell phones or not. When driving, there are already so many distractions, so having electronics in your hands while you’re driving down the road is dangerous. We need to focus on getting where we need to go and getting there safely.”

According to its records, NHTSA estimates 3,308 lives were lost in crashes involving distracted drivers in 2022 and 8% of all fatal crashes could be attributed to the same. To illustrate the point on a larger scale, it approximates over 32,000 people have died and nearly 290,000 were left injured from crashes attributed to distracted motorists between 2013 and 2022.

Violation of the Tennessee Hands Free Law is a Class C misdemeanor and traffic citations based on the violation are considered moving traffic violations. A first-time offense is typically $50 with third-time offenses and violations resulting in a crash rising to $100; citations received in a work zone while workers or present or in a marked school zone while flashes are in operation carry a penalty of $200. Three points are also added to a motorist’s driving record for each violation with 12 points leading to license suspension.

While the law specifically mentions hands in its name, it is similarly illegal to prop the phone up with any other part of their body.

“We’re going to be stopping vehicles whose operators are distracted by using their cell phones or other electronic devices,” Mara said. “It is against the law for a motorist to be holding their electronic device or having it on their body, so if you’re holding it to your ear or with your shoulder, it’s against the law all the same.”

When using GPS technology, Mara recommends investing in windshield-, vent- or dash-mounted mobile device holder to support the phone while using it for those purposes so your hands can remain on the wheel without compromising your ability to navigate to a destination.

“I understand that your cell phones are a lifeline and we get that — we use them ourselves for GPS. If you have an important phone call that’s coming in and you really need to focus on talking to that person, just pull over to the side of the road and turn on your emergency lights,” Mara said. “When you’re on a phone call, you’re not paying attention to all of the things you need to. You’re going to be concentrating on that conversation and you’re going to find yourself drifting in your lane, going through a stop sign or not stopping properly before a red light.”

Mara additionally recommended drivers sync their phones to their vehicles in models with Bluetooth capabilities and to use phone mounts that do not obstruct vision of the roadways through the windshield.

“The greatest danger of distracted driving is ending up in a crash that was absolutely avoidable, which might hurt yourself or someone else,” Mara said. “You’ve got a lot in front of you when you’re driving and a vehicle is a piece of machinery. We want all motorists to be driving safely on the roads and getting to their destinations without misadventure.”

Warnings and citations will be rendered at officers’ discretion during the increased patrols.