The Greeneville City School Board gave approval for the first phase of the district’s HVAC and lighting project and agreed to fund the cost to replace the turf on the football field at Greeneville High School on Thursday.

The board met Thursday evening after meeting with the Greene County School Board about the Greene Technology Center. Board member Crystal Hirschy was absent, and Director of Schools Steve Starnes participated via Zoom.

The board also approved a new policy to allow schools to carry Narcan, a school bus purchase and a resolution opposing school vouchers. The board also gave approval for Board Chair Cindy Luttrell to enter negotiations with Starnes for a two-year extension to his contract.

HVAC, LIGHTING PROJECT

The board approved Nashville-based building and engineering firm CMTA for HVAC and lighting work in April, and the company started assessing school facilities to identify the most urgent needs and areas for cost savings.

“We have $33 million worth of needs right now,” said Assistant Director of Schools for Administration Beverly Miller. “Greeneville Middle School is our most urgent need for HVAC upgrades with controls. With our current system we either have heat or cooling, but not both, and some components were installed in the early 1960s.”

Full HVAC and control system upgrades at Greeneville Middle School are included in phase one of the project, as well as LED lighting upgrades for every facility and new boilers for two elementary schools, Miller said.

“EastView and Tusculum View both operate using a single boiler, which means if it goes out, we simply cannot heat those schools,” Miller said. “Those single boilers are going to be replaced with two boilers at each school.”

School system leaders approached the Greeneville Board of Mayor and Aldermen Jan. 18 with requests for the town to help pay for the HVAC project and the turf replacement. During that meeting the board voted to help with the HVAC project by raising property taxes, with the amount and effective date to be determined later on, but not with the turf replacement.

The district will pay $4.6 million and the Town of Greeneville will contribute $3.3 million to cover the $7.7 million cost of the first phase of the project. Of the town’s contribution, $2.3 million will be paid on an Energy Efficient Schools Initiative loan from the State of Tennessee that the town and the district will share. The loan was secured by CMTA.

The board also approved a loan agreement for the loan in the amount of $4.9 million.

Work will start around spring break pending supply chain issues. Miller said. She said CMTA has committed to working around schools’ schedules to impact students as little as possible for the remainder of the school year. During the summer she said Greeneville Middle School will be an active construction site.

BURLEY STADIUM TURF

The turf at Greeneville High School’s football stadium has become hardened over the years since it was installed, Miller said, and needs to be replaced for the sake of safety.

“We know around 12 years ago, we put the original turn down and were told it would have about a 10-year life,” Miller said.

She said the district was able to extend that lifespan by maintaining it, but the time has come to replace it.

“It almost feels like concrete as you walk across it, and little pieces of the material end up tracked into our building,” Miller said.

She said Football Coach Eddie Spradlen has expressed safety concerns multiple times over the hardened turf, and Spradlen was also present in the meeting to discuss the field.

“It’s to the end,” he said. “It’s to the point where you worry about the kids’ safety, and that’s the number one priority.”

He said concussions in football typically occur when a player’s head hits the ground, not from players hitting each other, and that concussions are among his concerns.

“We have probably already had injuries on that field that probably wouldn’t have happened in previous years,” he said, adding that football players wear more padding than soccer players, who also use the field regularly.

The cost to replace the turf is just under $550,000, which the board will fund.

Starnes said Town of Greeneville board members advised him to request assistance again at a better time. The town did not agree to help fund the cost because, they said, employee health insurance needed to be determined first, and the request should come through the town’s budgeting process.

Work on the field is due to start immediately after graduation in May.

OTHER BUSINESS

In other business the board approved revisions to several policies to align with state recommendations as well as a new opioid antagonist policy.

Chief Student Services Officer Jeff Townsley presented the new policy and said that it would allow schools to “maintain something along the lines of narcan for situations where we need it,” and define procedures for notifying parents if it is used on a student in school.

The board also approved a school bus purchase at a cost of $106,844. Miller said a $10,000 grant secured by Transportation Supervisor Kristen Rollins will cover the cost of installing seatbelts.

The board also approved a formal resolution to be sent to state legislators urging them to oppose school vouchers, which allow tax funding to go to private school students.

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SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – Infectious Disease Doctor Dr. UCSF’s Peter Chin-Hong joined the KRON4 Morning News team on Tuesday to share his thoughts on the latest COVID-19 developments.

He is responding to the potential COVID-19 booster that is expected to soon be available to all Americans, as well as San Francisco being the first city to require full vaccination to enjoy indoor dining and other indoor services.

Sources told the Associated Press that U.S. health officials may soon be recommending everyone get a booster vaccination eight months after their last dose. As of now, people who received the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine needed two doses about a month apart to be considered fully vaccinated. Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients only needed one dose.

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Chin-Hong says this is not uncommon as some vaccines against other viruses come in three doses.

Last week, health officials gave the go-ahead for people with compromised immune systems to receive a booster vaccination.

With San Francisco leading the way in further vaccine enforcement, Chin-Hong says, “We’re going to get this force field in the Bay Area, especially as immunocompromised people are given an extra dose, and nursing home residents in particular, my next concern is my concern. receive an additional dose in September; I think that with these measures and further vaccinations we can hopefully ward off the next wave or the next coming variant. “

Chin-Hong says he thinks it will actually be good for business as a large Bay Area population is vaccinated and feels safer to visit.

Watch his full interview above for more insight from the infectious disease expert.

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SACRAMENTO (AP / CBS SF) – California spent nearly $ 200 million building, operating, and staffing alternative care facilities that ultimately did little good when the state’s worst coronavirus surge last winter spiraled out of control and drained Hospital workers were forced to treat patients in tents and canteens.

It was a costly way to learn that California’s hospital system is far more resilient than was thought at the start of the pandemic. Desperation and innovation have allowed the system to expand enough to cater to patients, even during the terrible surge in hospital admissions over 20,000 and dying nearly 700 people a week.

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“Definitely some hospitals, especially in the Los Angeles area, were on the verge of the breaking point, but we didn’t see as much use of the alternative care centers compared to what was being considered,” said Janet Coffman, professor of health policy from the University of California, San Francisco. “As bad as the situation was in winter, it could have been worse.”

In the first weeks of the pandemic, Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the establishment of alternative care facilities in a former professional basketball arena, two state centers that usually treat people with developmental and intellectual disabilities, and other facilities.

It was part of an early plan to add an additional 66,000 hospital beds as California prepared for an expected crushing load of COVID-19 patients, one of many steps the governor took when imposing the country’s first statewide lockdown.

Ultimately, the state spent $ 43 million on setting up eight locations, $ 48 million on hiring contract workers, and $ 96 million on running it on a scaled-back plan, according to the The Associated Press from the Finance and General Services Departments and the Health and Human Services Agency.

The sites together treated 3,582 patients, records show, but half were in the first three months of the pandemic, when the number of infections was still low and it turned out the traditional hospital system could have handled them on its own. The sites reopened in early December and treated fewer patients over the next three months, although many hospitals were overcrowded.

The traditional hospital system came through the worst of the pandemic with little overflow into alternative care facilities because the state temporarily eased the staffing relationship between nurses and patients – to protect the sick and their carers – and because of a scramble, temporary outsiders, said Stephanie Roberson , Director of Government Relations for the California Nurses Association.

Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for the state emergency services bureau, said officials learned that it was better to align the state’s efforts with existing health facilities than to build makeshift, stand-alone hospitals.

For example, two empty hospitals reopened during a surge last summer, one each in Northern and Southern California, as the most populous state, New York, overtook most cases in the country. But she didn’t use them again during the winter wave, instead choosing to work more closely with existing hospitals.

Similarly, in early April 2020, Newsom announced that the Sleep Train Arena, the former home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, would be converted into a 400-bed hospital. In the end, only nine patients were treated within 10 weeks because existing hospitals in the area were treating other cases.

The state never reopened this main arena when the virus picked up again around Thanksgiving Day, instead treating 232 patients in the much smaller adjoining practice facility.

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“In hindsight, you could say, ‘Well, we would have the money we spent renting Sleep Train and we could have put it back into the hospital system or we could have put it back into PPE procurement ( personal protection (equipment) or any number of things, ‘”Roberson said. “But these are lessons we’ve learned.”

She added, “As we move forward, we need to look at all of these missteps and do better.”

Officials learned to be more flexible with opening and closing facilities and “quickly flip the location for added value or purpose” when it wasn’t needed for patients, Ferguson said.

For example, the surge centers were all closed until March when the worst wave of infections subsided. But two were shifted to other pandemic-related tasks – one was used for coronavirus testing and the other was used for antibody infusion treatments.

Likewise, contracts for medical personnel traveling at the start of the pandemic required them to work at the alternative care locations, even if they weren’t often needed. But contracts during the winter break have been rewritten so that “in cases where they are no longer needed, they can be quickly moved to a hospital” or to do other duties like administering vaccinations, Ferguson said.

State officials had planned to rely more on the newly formed California Health Corps of medical professionals, especially after 95,000 people initially answered Newsom’s call for volunteers.

But only a fraction actually qualified or registered.

“When the health corps wasn’t working as hoped, travelers were the next best option,” said Coffman, who studies health workers. “Yes, contract travelers are expensive, but at least you can rest assured that we can count on someone who will take good care of patients and have the necessary skills.”

California spent $ 612 million on contract doctors and $ 2.2 million on the health corps, most of which it hopes to get back from the federal government or the facilities they worked in.

The state has budgeted $ 74.5 million for the fiscal year beginning this month to cover late bills or if there’s another spike that needs the state to reboot.

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“If things turn for the worse – mostly Delta variant … we still want to move fast,” said HD Palmer, spokesman for the California Department of the Treasury.

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DENVER (CBS4) – The MLB All-Star game will take place at Coors Field this summer, the Colorado Rockies confirmed on Tuesday. The game will take place on Tuesday, July 13th – and it is expected to be at full capacity.

(Credit CBS)

The game was originally intended to be played in Atlanta, but last week Major League Baseball announced it would be moving the game out of Georgia after the state changed its electoral laws.

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DENVER, COLORADO – JULY 31: In this flyer image provided by Colorado Rockies, the Colorado Air National Guard flies by as the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies line up before the home opening game at Coors Field on July 31, 2020 in Denver. Colorado. (Photo by Matt Dirksen / Colorado Rockies via Getty Images)

“Major League Baseball is grateful to the Rockies, the city of Denver, and the state of Colorado for supporting this summer’s All-Star Game. We value their flexibility and enthusiasm to deliver a first class event for our game and the region. We look forward to celebrating the best players in our sport and entertaining fans around the world, ”said Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. in a statement.

Colorado is the perfect home for the all-star game, and we look forward to welcoming the best of baseball to Coors Field this summer! pic.twitter.com/v7wCIlCaih

– Governor Jared Polis (@GovofCO) April 6, 2021

MLB officials said they chose the Rockies because they were already in the process of applying for a future All-Star game.

“The Rockies had come up with a detailed hotel, event space, and security plan that took months to assemble, and the MLB staff had already made several on-site visits to Denver. In addition, Governor Jared Polis and Mayor Michael Hancock have pledged to provide the facilities and services necessary to support this year’s celebrations, ”officials said.

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Governor Jared Polis said it was great news for baseball fans – and Colorado’s economy.

“Get ready for a truly epic home run derby one mile above sea level. It’s going to be a lot of fun, ”said Governor Polis.

According to Polis, officials appreciate the all-star game. The All-Star Game Celebration will result in sales of approximately $ 190 million in Colorado this year.

“This is incredibly good news for our small businesses, restaurants or hotels and our employees who have suffered from this pandemic,” said Denver Mayor Michael Hancock on Tuesday.

Both Hancock and Polis expect Coors Field to be at full capacity.

“The state is moving away from our voting system on April 16 as a mandatory policy. I think everyone expects a full, sold-out stadium in July,” said Polis.

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The last time Coors Field hosted the All-Star Game was in 1998.

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