Participation

The city is now accepting applications for the 2013 Citizens Fire Academy.

The six week program will introduce the participants to the history of the fire service; fire safety; firefighting skills, tactics, and strategy;  basic first aid and CPR; and emergency preparation and mitigation.

The program begins on Thursday, April 18 and will continue for six successive Thursdays.

For additional information or to request a copy of the application, please contact the Bristol Fire Department at 989-5701.  Applications may also be downloaded at bristoltn.org

Integrity and pride

"Integrity and Pride" by Matthew Mills

The 11th session of the Paper Windows photography contest - "Seeing Red" - is now in the books.  The 2nd place photo of Quint 3 was taken by Matthew Mills.

Note the interesting reflection of Fire Station 3 and the U.S. and Tennessee flags flying proudly in the breeze.

Pretty much says it all. 

Partner

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children recently recognized the Police Department and 911 Center as an official certified partner.

Over the past year, staff completed specialized training provided by the National Center on handling calls regarding missing or exploited children.

The Police Department is adopting the best practices from the National Center as policy for the department. By participating in this program, the National Center provides additional resources to the department during a missing child event.

A good place

Tennessee is on the right
and Virginia the left

The Bristol Tennessee-Virginia A Good Place to Live sign was moved to its current location in 1915 - straddling the state line.  It formerly stood atop a hardware store on the Tennessee side of town.

The original slogan -- Push!-That's Bristol -- was changed in 1921 following a slogan contest.

The sign holds over 1,300 light bulbs and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

Win-win-win

One of the annual objectives for our Community Relations Department is to enhance downtown activities by scheduling events at the Paramount Center for the Arts.

The latest promotion was the Phil Vassar concert on February 14th which was a near-sellout with 700 patrons in the house.

Financially the event was successful with net revenue to the city.

But just as importantly, the lights inside the theater were bright that night and additional customer traffic was generated for our downtown restaurants and shops.

A win-win-win outcome for sure - thanks to the good work of Community Relations staff.

Access-completion-community

Northeast State held an advisory board meeting today to discuss its ongoing efforts to open a teaching site in Bristol.

Although a ribbon-cutting ceremony is not currently scheduled - such an event now appears to be close.

And what a great event that will be when it happens.

Capital planning

The City Council reviewed the five-year capital improvement plan in work session that called for $106 million in projects during the Fiscal 2014- 2018 time period.

Leading the way were General Facility improvements at $32 million followed closely by School improvements at $31 million.

A sizable amount of the projects will be funded by others - but the the majority of the spending still depends on city funds.

And all of this is why our efforts to grow our tax base is so important - to provide the school, utility, park, and other facility improvements to benefit and serve our residents and guests.