Early voting continues in Coffee County, with a total of over 2,500 ballots completed as of Thursday afternoon.
Early voting continues through Thursday, October 30, at the C.D. Stamps Community Center in Tullahoma and at the Coffee County Election Commission office in Manchester with Election Day, November 4th.
Included on the current ballot are choices for Governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, as well as the four amendments to the Tennessee constitution and two local referendums, one for the wheel tax and the other for wine in grocery stores.
Voters located in the cities of Manchester and Tullahoma are the only ones eligible to vote on the wine in grocery store issue.

While October’s observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month soon will come to a close, women across Tennessee are being reminded of the importance of early detection every day of the year. Linda Reddick, founder of the Memphis-based nonprofit Seeds 2 Life, said breast cancer continues to take too many lives, although progress has been made over the years through more awareness and early diagnosis. “The sooner you catch it, the sooner the treatment can present itself,” she said. “The best thing we always tell our ladies is to do self-breast exams. If you’re not sure how to do a self-breast exam, we would teach them or refer them to doctors.” It’s estimated that nearly 5,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year in Tennessee and more than 900 will die from the disease. Despite the life-saving benefits, many women still aren’t performing self-exams or getting in for mammograms on a regular basis. Reddick said they often include women with disabilities or other chronic health conditions, such as a woman with multiple sclerosis whom she met at a recent health fair. “She’s so bogged down with her MS, she never thought about a self-breast exam or a mammogram,” Reddick said. “And here she was 40 years old, be turning 41 soon, and that was not on her radar because of her MS had just overtaken her life.” Another factor in the lower rates of screenings is that women with disabilities or other chronic health conditions are also more likely than the general population to be in poverty. “We’re in the Shelby County area and we deal with a lot of low-income, no-income, uninsured and under-insured women,” she said, “and if they don’t have the funds to go and get these services, they’re not going.” For eligible women, a number of health-care providers across the state do offer free mammograms and other testing through the Tennessee Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. More information is online at seeds2life.org. Free mammogram information is at 1-877-96WOMEN or health.state.tn.us. Breast cancer information is at cancer.org. Disease data is at cdc.gov.

Those who enjoy good music, dancing and dining will have the opportunity to have the best of all three Saturday evening at a fundraiser to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.
The event will be held at San Miguel’s on the Square in Winchester.
Bands that will perform for listening and dancing, include The Jerry Anderson Ensemble at 5 p.m., South Jackson Street Band at 7 p.m. for ballroom dancing and Michael Rudder’s rock band, Jackwagon, at 9 p.m.
Admission is at each attendee’s discretion, according to coordinators, Sgt. Major Larry Williams and Anderson, but $30 per person is the recommended “ticket” contribution.
Five top veteran’s charities are on the list this year and a check or checks should be made to the attendees’ choice, including the Independence Fund, Disabled American Veterans (Chapter 71 of F.C.), Fisher House, The Wounded Warrior Project and  The Wounded Warrior Program of Fort Campbell, Ky.
Dinner, snacks and beverages will be available for purchase at San Miguel’s.
For additional information call Sgt. Major Larry Williams at 931-224-3226 or Dr. Jerry Anderson at 931-205-6380.

Join the Coffee County Anti-Drug Coalition Saturday, October 25th at First Vision Bank in Manchester for the annual Drug Take Back.
The coalition is working in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration, national take back initiative, the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department and Manchester Police. Bring your unused/expired prescription, over-the-counter, or veterinary medications for proper disposal.
Call the Coalition office in Manchester for more information at 931-570-4484.