Tennessee
Is the Tennessee river safe to swim in? Local riverkeeper weighs in
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – With concerns on the quality of the Seine River in Paris, some questions are being raised in our own backyard.
David Whiteside, the founder of Tennessee River Keeper said to avoid swimming for up to three days after it rains. The runoff into the Tennessee River can carry any bacteria the rain may touch.
Whiteside said the Tennessee River is one of the most plastic-polluted rivers in the world. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, around 60 percent of Tennessee’s rivers are not safe to swim in.
When a river runs through a major city like Paris, it leaves the river at risk of pollution. This could be an industrial waste, sewage, garbage and micro bacteria.
Whiteside said Muscle Shoals and Athens can get affected by that because the Tennessee River flows down through multiple cities.
”The Tennessee River also has industrial contaminants that can present a problem,” Whiteside said. “A lot of that is concentrated in Decatur and not so much Huntsville. So downstream from Decatur, people are really concerned about industrial pollution. In Decatur, people will actually go boating upstream toward Huntsville because they feel like the water quality is better upstream from Decatur.”
Whiteside also said that the Tennessee River is generally safe to swim in as long as you don’t swim right after a heavy rain.
Click Here to Subscribe on YouTube: Watch the latest WAFF 48 news, sports & weather videos on our YouTube channel!
Copyright 2024 WAFF. All rights reserved.
Tennessee
Heavy police presence reported near Highway 31W in White House
WHITE HOUSE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A heavy law enforcement presence was reported Tuesday near the intersection of U.S. Highway 31W and Rolling Meadows Road in White House.
FOX 17 News has a crew headed to the scene and is working to learn more about the situation.
Law enforcement vehicles line a roadway near the intersection of U.S. Highway 31W and Rolling Meadows Road in White House, Tennessee, as authorities respond to an active incident on Tuesday. Officials had not released details about the investigation at the time the photo was taken. (Photo: FOX 17 News )
A viewer told FOX 17 News a man was barricaded inside a home with other people inside. However, FOX 17 News has not independently confirmed those details.
Once at the scene, FOX 17 News learned that a man who was inside the home during the operation had exited the residence. FOX 17 News is working to obtain more information on the incident that is now subsiding.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Tennessee
Former Tennessee teacher who allegedly showed nude photo to student indicted by grand jury
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Tenn. (WZTV) — A grand jury has indicted a former Montgomery County high school teacher for allegedly showing an inappropriate photo to a student.
In March, FOX 17 News reported that 52-year-old Matthew Vedder, a teacher at Montgomery Central High School at the time, showed a 17-year-old student a nude photo of himself. Vedder told investigators he accidentally swiped to the photo while showing students photos of a school project. He later resigned from Montgomery Central High School.
Makenzie Ellithorpe, is the Montgomery Central High School student who Matthew Vedder allegedly showed inappropriate photos to. (Photo: FOX 17 News)
MORE | Teacher accused of showing nude photos to student resigns, family pushes for charges
On July 7, the Sumner County District Attorney’s Office presented the results of a law enforcement investigation into Vedder to the Montgomery County Grand Jury, which voted to indict him on four counts of exhibiting obscene material to a minor.
Vedder was taken into custody by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. A Montgomery County judge set his bond at $10,000.
RELATED COVERAGE | Family renews calls for CMCSS director’s resignation during heated school board meeting
Although Vedder resigned, the family of a Montgomery Central High School student called for the resignation of the Director of Schools, Dr. Jean Luna-Vedder, Matthew Vedder’s spouse. The district previously told FOX 17 News that Luna-Vedder removed herself from any disciplinary decisions and the investigation involving her husband.
As of June, Luna-Vedder has not publicly commented on calls for her resignation.
This is an ongoing story. Stick with FOX 17 News as we bring you the latest.
Tennessee
Double rainbows spotted over Middle Tennessee — what causes them
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Isolated showers and storms over the next few days will make for more brilliant color displays across the sky.
Rainbows have been very common across Middle Tennessee for several evenings now. With all the recent rain, conditions have been ideal for fabulous displays of brilliant colors. Some of you have even reported seeing double rainbows. WSMV4 viewer, Leslie Whited, captured the one above, early Tuesday evening, July 14th.
To find out how double rainbows form, let’s first examine how a single rainbow occurs.
Single rainbows form when the sun, positioned behind you, has its light refracted through raindrops ahead of you.

Those raindrops bend sunlight as it passes into the drops. Then, some of that light reflects off the back of the drop and is bent one more time as it exits the drop. That entire process is called single reflection. Single reflection produces the primary or brightest rainbow.
Sometimes, some light reflects twice while in a raindrop before exiting. This is called double reflection. Double reflection produces a secondary rainbow. The order of colors within a secondary rainbow is a mirror image of the primary rainbow (i.e. the reverse). Secondary rainbows are not as bright as primary rainbows because less light is double reflected than is single reflected (i.e. some light is lost or attenuated every time light is reflected). Notice the fainter secondary rainbow in Leslie Whited’s double rainbow/storm picture at the top of this article.
The ideal time to see a rainbow is when the sun is relatively low in the sky (and has the best chance of being at your back). That translates to early morning or evening. Since in our current weather pattern, showers and storms are most numerous during the late afternoon and evening, that’s when you’ll have the best chance of seeing a rainbow through the rest of this week. If you’re very lucky, you might even see a double rainbow.
Happy sky watching!
For life-saving weather alerts, customized messages on conditions and forecasts, and videos detailing upcoming weather events, download the WSMV 4 First Alert Weather app for iPhone or Android. Have weather pictures or videos? Share them here.
-
News14 minutes agoTrump’s ‘American Flag Blue’ in the Lincoln Memorial pool is already gray — and the Olympic canoer ‘vandal’ is fighting his arrest | Fortune
-
Los Angeles, Ca2 hours agoWater main break floods West Hollywood streets, traps cars
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoDetroit’s air quality early Thursday ranked as hazardous, worst in the world
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours ago‘It was a scene from the Titanic’: Fishermen recall rescuing passengers from sinking boat in SF Bay
-
Dallas, TX3 hours agoBig picture takeaways from the Dallas Mavericks first week at Summer League
-
Miami, FL3 hours ago“We’re going to be champions”. Argentina fans in Miami Beach celebrate team’s win against England
-
Boston, MA3 hours ago4 Red Sox Trade Targets to Solidify Boston’s Push for a Playoff Spot
-
Denver, CO3 hours agoRTD considers ending Denver’s 16th Street FreeRide shuttle due to budget issues

