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City's new fire chief comes from Idaho
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The city of McMinnville has a new fire chief, or will have one as of April 1 – no April Fools intended. Keith Martin has made it through the selection process and is set to begin his duties as the city’s new fire chief on April Fools Day.
The new fire chief began his career in the fire service in 1992 as a volunteer firefighter in central California. He has since worked his way through the ranks of the fire system serving in the following capacities: firefighter, driver engineer, captain and fire chief.
Since 2010, Martin has served as fire chief for the city of Burley, Idaho. The department is Emergency Medical Responder certified and has 10 full-time firefighters and 20 volunteers.
The city of Burley was founded in 1905 and is the city seat for Cassia County. Cassia has a population of 23,186, with 10,447 located within the city limits.
Martin currently possesses an associate’s degree in fire science and is currently working on completing his bachelor’s degree in fire administration.
He will be joined in McMinnville by his wife and two children. Martin says he is excited to move to Tennessee.
“Moving to McMinnville will place us closer to family members that reside in the Nashville area,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to working with the members of the McMinnville Fire Department.”
Martin will begin his responsibilities in three weeks. Residency within the city is required within 90 days of employment for department directors.
Salary for the fire chief position is dependent on experience and qualifications, with a salary range set between $58,846 and $85,252. Martin’s contract is for $70,179 a year.

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.