Number of Tennessee farms declining

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Story from WSMV news in Nashville...

According to new census numbers, the number of farms in Tennessee is in serious decline, forcing farmers to look to produce different crops.

Figures show the number of farms in Tennessee has shrunk by 9 percent during a five-year census study.

Farmer Bob Strasser isn't surprised by the figures because the workdays are long, tough and dealing with unpredictable weather is risky business.

Agriculture officials said many farms have closed as part of tobacco settlements. The drought, rising costs and urban sprawl also played a part in the decline.

Farmers today are now looking to the future. What is food today could be fuel tomorrow.
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Read the entire story at WSMV.

Bullet train may link Nashville and Atlanta

Tennessee and Georgia transportation officials are discussing the feasibility of constructing a bullet train linking Nashville and Atlanta.

The train would use magnets to propel the train up to speeds of 310 mph.

According to a feasibility study, the Nashville to Chattanooga leg can be constructed for $5 billion.

The route would run along Interstate 24 and have stations in both downtowns, the cities' airports and in Murfreesboro.

Both legs from Nashville to Chattanooga to Atlanta would take an estimated 10 years to build.



Visit WSMV for more news from around Nashville.

The Grinch and Santa in Nashville

Let me start out this week's blog by saying, Jesus is the reason for the season. Amen! I haven't lost sight of that, but it doesn't diminish the fact that each year my six year-old daughter insists on dragging us to every Breakfast with Santa Nashville has to offer. Sometimes it's a restaurant, other times it's a church hosting the event. We have one on the books for every Saturday between now and Christmas if for no other reason than to figure out what she REALLY wants for Christmas above and beyond the three thousand things she's circled in the Toys R Us and Lillian Vernon catalogues.



I'm leaving out names in this blog to protect the innocent, but let me say that last weekend... Santa was officially hijacked. Anyone who's ever been to one of these will tell you that a breakfast with Santa is not really breakfast... with Santa. It usually involves a couple of pancakes, a sausage patty, some hot coffee, (if you're lucky) and a "brief" visit with Old Saint Nick. As it turns out at this particular Breakfast with Santa, the price of admission included everything but the actual visit... and I'm not joking. Oh how I wish that I were.



Read the entire in Tom and Jennifer's blog.

Country Music Hall of Famer Hank Thompson Moves to Hospice Care

County music Hall of Fame star Hank Thompson's lung cancer has gotten worse, a family representative said Saturday night.

Officials said Thompson has been moved into hospice care.

Thompson was recently released from the hospital earlier this week, and he is being kept as comfortable as possible at his Texas home, officials said.



This comes from WSMV Channel 4 in Nashville

Tennessee Honors Fallen Soldiers

Officials on Friday named 15 bridges and overpasses on state Route 840 after National Guardsmen killed in Iraq.

The 78-mile stretch dubbed Tennessee National Guard Parkway runs in a southern half-circle around Nashville, intersecting Interstate 40 in Lebanon in the east and Dickson in the west.

"I'm proud that we're doing this and I do think it gives some tangible recognition," said Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat. "There will be a lot of people who see those names on the bridges long after we're gone, and perhaps it will remind them that there are people who have sacrificed everything."

Bredesen said it's probably unlikely that these will be the last bridges named after fallen guardsmen.

This news comes from WSMV in Nashville.