State District Judge Steven Thomas determined the Kountze High School cheerleaders' banners are constitutionally permissible. In the ruling, Thomas determined that no law "prohibits cheerleaders from using religious-themed banners at school sporting events."

The Kountze school district had initially said the banners could not be displayed after receiving a complaint about them in September from the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The foundation argued the banners violated the so-called First Amendment Establishment Clause that bars government - or publicly funded school districts in this case - from establishing or endorsing a religion.

Thomas ruled that the establishment clause does not prohibit the use of such religious-themed banners at school sporting events.

"This is a great victory for the cheerleaders and now they're going to be able to have their banners," said Hiram Sasser, a lead attorney for the Liberty Institute, a Plano, Texas-based nonprofit law firm that represented the cheerleaders.

But Thomas Brandt, the school district's attorney, argued that Judge Thomas also granted a school district motion in his ruling that says the district can permit the banners under the establishment clause but is not required to do so. Brandt said the motion also says the banners are the speech of the school, not private speech, so the school has a right to have editorial control of the banners.

Initially, the school district ruled the banners could not be displayed. But after a public meeting in February, the school board of trustees issued a resolution in which it wrote that the district was not required to prohibit messages on school banners that displayed "fleeting expressions of community sentiment solely because the source or origin of such messages is religious." But the trustees said the district retained the right to restrict the content of school banners.

Brandt said while he has yet to talk to the school district about whether or not it will appeal, it may seek some clarification from the judge on his ruling.

But Sasser said there is no ambiguity in the ruling and that the banners are the cheerleaders' protected private speech.

"We won and they didn't," he said, adding that he expects the school district to appeal.

The dispute began during the last football season when the district barred cheerleaders from using run-through banners that displayed religious messages, such as "If God is for us, who can be against us."

In October, Thomas temporarily allowed the cheerleaders to continue displaying the banners pending the lawsuit's outcome. Thomas at the time said the school district's ban on the practice appeared to violate the students' free speech rights. The Liberty Institute had argued the banners' messages were not asking anyone to believe in Christianity or accept the faith.

The cheerleaders in Kountze, located about 95 miles northeast of Houston, were supported by various state officials, including Gov. Rick Perry and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who filed court papers seeking to intervene on their behalf. A Facebook group created after the ban, Support Kountze Kids Faith, has more than 45,000 members.

Abbott praised the court's ruling on Wednesday, calling it a "victory for religious liberties."

Perry in a statement said the cheerleaders "showed great resolve and maturity beyond their years in standing up for their beliefs and constitutional rights."

The Freedom From Religion Foundation's co-president, Annie Laurie Gaylor, was disappointed with the ruling, saying the banners "carry the appearance of school endorsement and favoritism, turning Christians into insiders and non-Christians and nonbelievers into outsiders."

The Anti-Defamation League also criticized the ruling, calling it "misguided" and saying it "flies in the face of clear U.S. Supreme Court and other rulings."

Attorneys for the Kountze school district, in initially advising the superintendent to ban the religious statements on the cheerleaders' banners, argued there have been several precedent-setting rulings by the Supreme Court.

In 1 of the more well-known cases, the court ruled in 2000 that a practice of allowing student-led prayer ahead of high school football games in Texas' Santa Fe Independent School District violated the Constitution. In 1992, the Supreme Court made a similar ruling in a Rhode Island case that argued a rabbi's prayer at a middle school graduation ceremony also violated the Constitution.

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Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The CDC now estimates as many as one-in-nine babies are born prematurely in the United States everyday.

Tristar Stonecrest Medical Center has identified the need and on Monday opened the hospital's very first Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Before the facility opened some preemies had to be transferred to other hospitals to get more critical medical care. Now 80% of those preemies who would have been transferred can now stay at the hospital which will keep the mother and her infant together after the birth.

The Level II Nursery features eight beds and is operated by board-certified neonatologists, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists and other specially trained healthcare professionals to care for babies born as small as 3lbs.

A clash between a property manager and a renter at A-plus Storage in Gallatin has the renter crying foul.

He says his rent was doubled and he was forced to move out with very little warning.

That is, until Fox 17 stepped in to help.

Jason Black is moving out of unit 210 at A-plus Storage where he'd been renting in Gallatin since August 2012.

Black says, "It's extremely unethical. Nowhere in that contract does it say a rent increase of 100% should be expected."

Charity Watch Dog Groups rate Humane Society of U.S.

Stacy Case

Nashville

    A Fox follow up on the Humane Society of the United States. In a Fox 17 special report, we pointed out the Humane Society of the U.S. primarily lobbies for legislation to protect animals and helps in large scale rescues.  We also reported that it is not set up to fund local shelters.  Now, we take a closer look at how three charity watchdog groups rate the HSUS.  About four thousand animals make their way through the  Nashville Humane Association each year.  A no kill shelter, in a state that euthanizes more than 7 thousand animals a year.  Though the national organization, the Humane Society of the United States, doesn't fund local shelters like this one, Joy Beach with the Nashville Humane Association says HSUS  has an enormous amount of resources and expertise and equipment that no other shelter does.  She says, when there's a major issue, HSUS  brings in their resources, expertise and equipment to help  out.

  HSUS is the nation's largest animal protection organization and tax records show, it took in $133 million dollars in 2011.  So how do Charity Navigator, Charity Watch and the Better Business Bureau rate HSUS?

   Charity Navigator gives HSUS four stars overall and three in the financial category.    It's a designation HSUS CEO and President Wayne Pacelle is proud of. 

  However,  Charity Watch paints a much different picture, giving HSUS a D noting the animal protection group gives about half their budget toward actual charitable programs.   Daniel Borochoff with Charity Watch says, "We think groups ought to give 60%. The better groups give 75% or more of their money towards charitable programs."

   Charity Watch says its evaluation process is more in depth than any other charity watchdog group and says a lot of the money HSUS claims is being spent on programs is actually fundraising solicitations.  He says they bundle educational material with solicitations for money.  Then, HSUS mails it to your house and classifies that as a program that helps animals rather than classifying it as a fundraising expense.

  Charity Watch has been an independent charity rater for 21 years. Yes, Pacelle is correct, the BBB says HSUS meets the standards of an accredited BBB charity. 

     One of its tangible programs is an Animal Expo held in Nashville this month which attracted more than 2 thousand animal welfare advocates.   Charity Watch says more spending like this on direct animal welfare would go a long way toward improving its charity rating. 

The people at National Storm Shelters in Smyrna are in the business of saving lives. Jeff Turner's company sells steel shelters for homes, but he is also familiar with construction techniques that make buildings stronger -- buildings like your child's school.

"A cinder block wall filled with concrete and rebar, but not only that, but bricked on both sides.  (Those walls) will withstand 100, 150, 200 mph projectiles," says Jeff Turner with National Storm Shelters.

Strong walls with no windows often provide the best protection in schools. Metro consults with architects to find safe areas, and students have tornado drills at least twice a year. Rooms like gymnasiums should be avoided because they are large open spaces. While building a giant safe room may be impractical, basements are always a good option. FEMA also helps provide funding for community storm shelters.

Metro School leaders say masonry construction offers strong protection. "You are going to be safer inside than outside, and safer in a school than in most homes.  We really want to keep these (children) safe and in school," says Meredith Libbey with MNPS.

Regardless if it's a storm shelter or a strong hallway, Oklahoma's tornado offers everyone a lesson -- that it's best to be prepared. Metro School leaders say many parents may be tempted to pick up their children during a tornado warning, but the school policy is to keep children inside the building until the warning has passed.

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