During Dry Months, Native Grass Can Feed Livestock

(KNOXVILLE, Tenn.) -- With intense summer heat and little water, the University of Tennessee’s East Tennessee Research and Education Center keeps a lush field of gamagrass in Blout County, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Researchers from the center are starting a pilot study to see how the gamagrass does if grazed by cattle.

A rotation of native grass, instead of only hay for cattle could help the ecosystem.

Gamagrass can grow up to two feet high with roots that reach 5 to 10 feet into the soil.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Environmentalists Seek to Save Tennessee Amphibians

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) -- Scientists and an environmental group seek to protect four amphibians found in Tennessee under the Endangered Species Act, according to the Tennessean.

On Wednesday, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal petition to protect the following Tennessee species: Weller’s Salamander, Green Salamander, Carolina Gopher Frog and the Alligator Snapping Turtle.

The center reports about 25 percent of amphibians and reptiles in the U.S. face extinction due to factors like climate change, pollution and habitat destruction.

A map of where each animal can be found here.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Almost Half of Newnborns at Tenn. Hospital Are Drug-Dependent

(KNOXVILLE, Tenn.) -- Nearly half of the infants in the neo-natal intensive care unit (NICU) at the East Tennessee Children's Hospital in Knoxville are suffering from opiate withdrawal -- mostly due to prescription painkillers.

Baby Grayson was quaking when he was admitted to the hospital's NICU at just 48 hours old. He was born with a serious drug dependency because his pregnant mother was addicted to painkillers.

Out of the 58 babies in the hospital's NICU, 23 of them are going through withdrawal from prescription pills, including OxyContin, Vicodin and methadone.

"I know people probably think I exaggerate when I say they have this very fearful look in their eyes, well they do," said Carla Saunders, the NICU's head nurse.

Saunders is helping develop a treatment program for these newborns by using a powerful combination of drugs, trial and error, and lots of love and care. It can take weeks, even months, for these tiny bodies to withdrawal from whatever their mothers were hooked on. It costs $53,000 per baby to wean them, and 60 percent of the cases are on Medicaid.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Atheist Group to Organize Tennessee Chapter

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) -- A national atheist group plans to launch a Tennessee lobbying group to advocate for stronger separation of church and state, The Tennessean reports.

The Secular Coalition for America, based in Washington, D.C., announced on Tuesday that it plans to organize a local chapter to give atheists in the region more political clout.

The group is organizing coalition chapters in all 50 states.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Memphis Man Indicted in Teacher Certification Scheme

(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) -- Federal officials have charged 58-year-old Clarence Mumford in an alleged 15-year test-taking scheme, the Memphis Business Journal reports.

Mumford is accused of collecting money from teachers in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee in exchange for paying others to take their teacher certification exams. Mumford, who is a former assistant principal at Humes Middle School and a guidance counselor at Hillcrest High School in Memphis, was named in a 45-count indictment. The charges include wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and document fraud, the paper says.

He allegedly received between $1,500 to $3,000 from the teachers per test, to pay teachers and non-teachers -- including at least four current or former Memphis City Schools teachers -- to take the certification exams for them. Officials say more then 50 people were involved in the scheme.

Mumford is presently employed at an Arkansas school. He retired from Memphis City Schools in 2010 after being accused of fondling a female student, according to the Journal.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio