Merrilee Wineinger, an ordained United Methodist Minister, announces her candidacy for Tennessee’s U.S. Congressional District 6 seat on the Democratic ticket.

Wineinger, a 24-year resident of District 6, seeks the open seat due to current Rep. Diane Black’s run for Tennessee’s governor. The 6th District includes Cannon, Clay, Coffee, Cumberland, DeKalb, Fentress, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Robertson, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, White, and Wilson counties. Very small pieces of Cheatham and Van Buren are also in the district.

“If you elect me as your next Representative, I will take to Congress years of experience as a bridge builder in my work with non-profit organizations, on issues at the local, state, and national levels, as well as with people of all faiths,” said Wineinger, who lives in Hendersonville.

“We need real solutions to the very real problems you face every day here in the 6th District,” the life-long Democrat continued. “We need non-partisan plans put into action for the good of all of the people.”

Wineinger serves her community and Middle Tennessee through the Faith that Heals Ministries, Tennessee Conference United Methodist Church. Her efforts have helped to bring Tennesseans from across the state to advocate to close the health insurance coverage gap. She helped alcoholics and addicts recover from substance abuse and raised awareness of the importance of raising the minimum wage to a living wage.

“I am an advocate, teacher and organizer for peace and justice,” Wineinger said. “I connect, encourage, and organize community members to work toward a common goal. Everyone has the potential to achieve their highest dreams. People flourish when they have food security, clean water, fresh air, loving relationships, safe neighborhoods, and a roof over their heads.”

She said her campaign will focus on justice in health care, equality in wages, and strengthening the American infrastructure “that in the past made our country the envy of the world but is now being neglected,” she said.

“Also, people feel their voices are not being heard by their elected officials,” Wineinger said. If elected, she intends to change that.

“You are not voiceless,” she said. “We have a strong and powerful voice. When we listen to one another and join together, our voices become loud enough to drown out the ones who believe that their power is stronger than ours.

“Send me to Washington D.C., as your next District 6 Representative, so I can bring your voices to the table. I am a change agent for Tennesseans ready to work on the issues that will allow you to thrive, not just survive,” she said.

Wineinger holds a bachelor’s degree in Management and Human Development from Trevecca University and a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt University. She is a recipient of the Tennessee Justice Center’s Hometown Hero Award, the Tennessee Health Care Campaign Life-Saver Award, and the TNUMC Peace and Justice Award.

During her years in Tennessee, Wineinger held volunteer leadership roles in the public schools, charitable organizations, and civic programs. She’s a member of the League of Women Voters. She sits on the Tennessee Conference UMC Board of Church & Society, Committee on Health & Welfare, Disability Concerns. She is also a board member for Justice for Our Neighbors, a non-profit immigration legal service for survivors of persecution, violence and poverty.

Previously, she’s worked as the director of Health and Wholeness Ministries at Hendersonville First United Methodist Church, where she guided people in need toward physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health – addressing the whole person’s relationship with the world around them.

Wineinger is the mom of Samantha Mitchell and Alex Bogert and the grandmother of Quaid Mitchell. Her husband, Terry, works in the subsea industry. Her favorite pastime is playing with her grandson and crocheting.

For more information about how to get involved or donate to Wineinger’s campaign, go to www.merrileefortennessee.com.

Students at DeKalb West School joined with youth across the nation for the annual Kick Butts Day. The day of activism on Wednesday (March 21) is to empower youth to stand out, speak up, and seize control against Big Tobacco at more than 1,000 events across the United States and world.

During lunch students stopped by a display table that showed “Mr. Gross Mouth,” a model that shows all the potential health problems that can occur in a mouth alone from the effects of tobacco. A model of a healthy lung versus a smoker’s lung introduced students to the reality of choosing a smoker’s life. Students received bracelets, encouraging them to remain tobacco free. Thanks to Lisa Cripps with the DeKalb Prevention Coalition, the Junior Beta Club students received free t-shirts that read, “Kick Butts Day! Get Empowered: Stand Up, Speak Out, Against Tobacco Products.”

In the United States, tobacco use kills more than 480,000 people each year – that’s more Americans than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined.

Here are some other key facts:

·The vast majority of smokers start as children. In the U.S., 90 percent of all smokers start while in their teens or earlier.

· Every day, another 350 kids become regular smokers. One-third of them will die prematurely from a smoking-caused disease.

·Tobacco use costs us $170 billion each year in medical bills.

· It’s not just cigarettes that are bad for your health. Other forms of tobacco, including cigars and spit or smokeless tobacco, are also harmful and addictive.

·Secondhand smoke is also hazardous – it kills over 41,000 people each year. Secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including at least 69 that cause cancer. According to the Surgeon General, secondhand smoke causes heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults and respiratory problems, sudden infant death syndrome, low birth weight, ear infections and more severe asthma attacks in infants and children.

There is good news: The United States has made a lot of progress in reducing smoking by both youth and adults. We’ve cut adult smoking by more than half since the 1960s, and youth smoking in half since 1997. But 8.0% of high school students and 15.1% of adults still smoke, so we still have a lot of work to do.

45 year old Christopher Nicholas Orlando has heard from members of the Tennessee Board of Parole and the news for him isn’t good. He will have to spend at least two more years in prison.

Orlando is serving a 35 year prison sentence for facilitation of first degree murder in the death of 20 year old Joshua Murphy. He is incarcerated at the Morgan County Correctional Complex in Wartburg, Tennessee. A previous conviction against Orlando for possession of cocaine ran consecutively with the murder case and expired in 2009. Orlando’s sentence in the murder case is due to expire in 2039. He has served almost 16 years.

Members of the parole board held a hearing for Orlando on Monday, March 5. He was denied parole due to the seriousness of the offense but the case will be reconsidered in March, 2020.

Murphy was shot and killed in a secluded area in the Laurel Hill Community at the end of Old Eagle Creek Road on Sunday, September 15, 2002. His body was discovered three days later. Officials said Orlando and a co-defendant, 46 year old Melvin Turnbill suspected Murphy of stealing methamphetamine. Orlando was tried and convicted of the crime by a DeKalb County Criminal Court Jury in April, 2004.

Turnbill entered a guilty plea to facilitation to first-degree murder in September, 2003 and was given a 25-year sentence. Turnbill was granted parole in March 2015 after serving more than twelve years but he ran afoul of the law again in Putnam County and was sent back to prison in 2016. Turnbill was again granted parole after a hearing last month. He has been incarcerated at the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex at Pikeville.

At his last parole hearing two years ago, Orlando said he was sorry for the death of Murphy and for the first time took responsibility for being the triggerman in the shooting. In the previous parole hearing five years ago Orlando blamed Turnbill for actually committing the murder.

During a parole hearing almost four years ago, Turnbill said he handed the murder weapon, a shotgun to Orlando at the crime scene, and that Orlando did the shooting.