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New Year-New Laws
A new year means new laws. Several changes are going into effect regarding Tennessee laws this New Year’s Day.
The fee for lifetime handgun carry permits will decrease from $500 to $200 for existing permit holders. New applicants will have to pay $315.
Another law will lower the age for receiving a handgun carry permit from 21 years to 18. It applies to retired veterans, active duty service members, or people who were honorably discharged from the military.
Also on Sunday, if someone commits a vehicular homicide where drugs or alcohol were involved, that person will be ineligible for parole.
And finally, Tennessee breweries will be able to sell high gravity beer, raising the alcohol content from 6.2 to 10.1 percent.
Scam Alerts for 2017
Consumer watchdog groups are warning you to watch your wallet as some of the top rip-offs and scams will continue into 2017 with some changes.
The vast majority of the scams will start with a phone call.
According to The Better Business Bureau, the top scam for 2015, 2016 and possibly 2017 will be scams claiming you owe an IRS debt or some other kind of debt.
In both 2015 and 2016, those kinds of scams were the most commonly reported by victims.
In August, the U.S. Marshal’s office put out an alert to let people know the phone calls were not real.
According to the BBB, scams like this are expected to grow in 2017.
Another scam to be on the lookout for is fake charities. They often pop up after major events like the wildfires in East Tennessee.
Retired Man Arrested for Marijuana Grow
Photo credit: (Torben Hansen/flickr.com)
Richard H. Hodge was taken into custody at his home when authorities showed up with a warrant in hand. During a search of his home, police found a marijuana grow operation located inside a custom built garage cabinet. Detectives also found a THC Extraction Kit used to make what are called marijuana “Dabs” or “Honey Oil.”
In an outbuilding on Hodge’s property, police located two boxes of marijuana plants that appeared to be laid out to dry.
Hodge was booked under a $14,000 bond.
CHS Basketball Teams Return to the Court
Tuesday marks the beginning of a busy week for the Central High School basketball teams as the Red Raiders and Lady Raiders will be in action in post season tournaments this week. The Red Raiders open up play on Tuesday in Pigeon Forge at the King of the Smokies Tournament. The Red Raiders begin play at 12:30 ET on Tuesday afternoon against Grainger. In addition to Tennessee teams, the tournament also features teams from Georgia, Alabama and Ohio. The tournament will run through Thursday.
The Lady Raiders begin play in the Whitwell Christmas Tournament on Wednesday at noon when they open tournament play against Lenoir City. The 2 day tournament concludes on Friday and features 8 teams from middle and east Tennessee.
Thunder Radio will keep you updated on results daily at WMSRradio.com. The next home games for Coffee County will be on January 3rd when Lincoln County visits the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. Tipoff is at 6 PM, Thunder Radio begins live coverage at 5:50 with the Char-El Apartments and Home Rental pregame show.
2016 Year in Review – Middle School and High School Golf
As 2016 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the 12 prep sports. Today we look back at the highlights from the prep golf teams. Youth was served on the golf teams at Coffee County Middle School and Westwood Middle this season as young players took their lumps early and improved drastically as the spring season progressed. Both teams finished their season at the conference match at Riverbend on May 12th
Thunder Radio reported on their success with the following story we published on May 16th
Christopher Robinson
The Coffee County Middle School and Westwood Middle School golf teams ended their season on Thursday in the conference match at Riverbend.
A pair of undermanned Westwood teams were not able to compete for team crowns but the Rocket and Lady Rocket golfers had several strong showings. For the Lady Rockets, Macie Lawrence shot a 68 on the day for the 7th lowest round of the match. For the Rockets, Christopher Robinson carded a 53 while Nick Johnson was one stroke back at 54. Gavin Prater finished his round in 67 strokes.
Logan Hale
The young Raider and Lady Raider teams struggled to put up low numbers for the most part. Logan Hale shot a 50 for the Red Raiders to lead them to a 5th place finish. Larson Meltzer cared a 62, Xavier Bartley had a 67 and Issac Pauley got around in 76.
The Lady Raiders finished in 3rd place just 6 strokes behind Fayetteville. Olivia Lewis had a 77 while Olivia Howell shot an 81 for Coffee County.
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2016 will go down as the most successful year in the history of the CHS golf program as 5 golfers advance to the state tournament. The Lady Raiders captured a 2nd place team finish and had a pair of golfers finish in the top 11 for individual scores at state and finished with a record of 60 and 4. The Red Raiders placed 2 golfers in the state tournament for the first time ever as John Parigger and Samuel Prater qualified and finished with a team record of 62 and 16. Nowhere was their combined success so obvious than at the Region 4AAA tournament on September 29th
Thunder Radio reported on their success with the following story we published on September 30th
CHS Lady Raider golfers with their region tournament plaque. Left to right are: Coach Mike Ray, Sophie Vinson, Savannah Quick, Ashley Gilliam and coach Marshall Gilliam. [Photo by DeMarco Murray – Manchester Times]
Four in a row……..for the 2nd time this week! The Coffee County Central High School Lady Raider golf team qualified for their 4th straight state tournament appearance with their 4th straight Region 4AAA Tournament championship. The region win comes after Coffee County won their 4th straight district championship on Monday. The Red Raiders came up short in their bid to make the state as a team. Samuel Prater and John Parigger both qualified for state as individuals.
Besides being the 4th straight team appearance, 2016 marks the 5th straight year that a Lady Raider golfer will compete at the state tournament. Coffee County outdistanced 2nd place Oakland 139 to 159 as the region winning team score of 5 under par is a new school record. Ashley Gilliam shot the low round of the day for Coffee County as she tamed the 18 hole course in 69 strokes to finish 2nd overall. Savannah Quick was 1 stroke back at 70 to finish 3rd individually and Sophie Vinson carded a 78. Coffee County finishes the season with a team record of 54 and 3 which also sets a new school record for winning percentage.
CHS Red Raider golfers (left to right) John Parigger, Samuel Prater and coach Mike Ray [Photo by DeMarco Murray – Manchester Times]
The TSSAA state golf tournament will take place on October 11th and 12th at Manchester’s own WIllowbrook Golf Club. Admission to attend each round is $8 per person and riding carts will NOT be available for spectators. Thunder Radio will keep you updated on tee times daily during the tournament.
For more information, you can check out the TSSAA website at: http://tssaa.org/2016-tssaa-state-golf-championships/
We continue our year in review on Wednesday when we look back at the year in soccer.
2016 Year in Review – CCMS and CHS Volleyball
As 2016 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the 12 prep sports. Today we look back at a highlight from the prep volleyball teams. After a slow start this fall, the Coffee County Middle School volleyball team reeled off a 6 match winning streak. The 6th win in that streak was a revenge win over White County on September 15th in a thrilling 3 set match.
Thunder Radio reported on their success with the following story we published on September 16th
Maci Head of CCMS Volleyball
The Coffee County Middle School volleyball team rallied after dropping the opening set to stun White County on Tuesday in a 3 set thriller. The Lady Raiders won by set scores of 21-25, 25-23 and 15-13. The win is the 6th straight for Coffee County. The win avenges an earlier straight set loss to the Warriorettes in Sparta on August 23rd.
After dropping the 1st set, the Lady Raiders strung together 7 straight points during the 2nd set to build a 9 point lead. Coffee County held off a White County rally to win the 2nd set on an ace by Maci Head. In the 3rd and deciding set, Coffee County rallied from a 12 to 11 deficit to win four of the last 5 points to capture the match.
Kiya Ferrell led Coffee County in winners with 4. Head led in aces with 4 and added 2 winners. Maddie Husted had 3 winners and added 2 aces. The win improves the Lady Raiders record to 6 and 3 overall and 4 and 2 in conference play.
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The Central High School volleyball team upset Lincoln County in the district tournament semifinals on October 6th. The win advanced the Lady Raiders to their 5th straight region tournament appearance.
Thunder Radio reported on their success with the following story we published on October 7th
CHS Volleyball Team with the District 8AAA Runner-up trophy[Photo provided]
In the semifinals, the 3rd seeded Lady Raiders dropped 2nd seeded Lincoln County 3 sets to 1. The Lady Raiders dropped the first set at 19 before winning the next 3 sets at 18, 19 and 16 behind an aggressive service game. Coffee County served up 17 aces and drilled 46 kills to get the win. Leading the way was Aerial Williams who had 18 kills, 3 aces and 2 blocks.
![Bailey Morgan(5th from left) an Aerial Williams(6th from left) with teh other members of the All-District team.[Photo provided]](http://www.thunder1320.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/AllDistrict-VB.jpg)
Bailey Morgan(5th from left) an Aerial Williams(6th from left) with the other members of the All-District team.[Photo provided]
Coffee County will play in the region semifinals on Tuesday at Lawrence County High School. Coffee County will take on District 7AAA champion Siegel at 4:30 PM. A win there would advance them to the region finals that would begin around 7 or 7:30 on Tuesday at Lawrece County against the winner of the other semifinal between Lawrence County and Oakland.
We continue our year in review on Wednesday when we look back at the year in soccer.
12/26/16 — Birthdays
Birthdays:
Tyler Myers, 6 — Pizza Winner!
Margaret Davis
Jason Devermeyer
Virginia Clayborn, 77
Larry Bryan
Margaret Wilhoite
12/25/16 — Birthdays
Birthdays:
Rebra Penigar — Pizza Winner!
Clyde Crouch
Mark Wayne Wilhoite
12/24/16 — Birthdays
No birthdays to report.
Fire in Summitville
Fire scene photo by Barry West
Upon arriving Ricco spoke with Jeffrey Smith who stated that he was the owner of the property and he was next door at his ex-wife’s house. While they were talking she noticed that his residence was on fire. There was also a truck on fire close to residence.
Summitville Fire Department arrived on the scene and was able to get control of the fire and extinguish it.
Smith advised the property was valued at $20,000 for the mobile home and the Dodge truck was valued at $2,300.