All Motlow College campuses will become “tobacco-free / no-smoking” beginning July 1, 2014, college officials recently announced. Motlow has campuses in Fayetteville, McMinnville, Moore County and Smyrna.
The new tobacco-free / no-smoking campus policy restricts the use of all forms of tobacco products including, but not limited to, cigarettes, pipes, cigars, chewing tobacco and snuff, as well as smokeless electronic cigarettes and other similar devices. It does allow the use of tobacco products in private vehicles.
Motlow is joining other institutions in our community, across the state and the nation in establishing a “tobacco-free / no-smoking campus” policy that will restrict the use of all forms of tobacco on College property. Harton Hospital, Middle Tennessee State University, Tennessee Tech University, Nashville State, Jackson State, and Cleveland State are just a sample of the institutions across Tennessee that are tobacco-free.

Huge crowds expected at the 41-A Festival again this year

If you want to be an arts and/or craft vendor for the 2014 41 A-Festival in Tullahoma, now is the time to complete your application.
“The spots are filling up quickly for this year’s 41-A Music and Arts Festival,” said Marketing Chairman, Hope Sartain. “You don’t want to miss out on this awesome opportunity to showcase your artwork or business to thousands of people.”
While much of the activity is about music, there are many other activities to enjoy during the festival. “This year we’ve partnered with the Highland Rim Kiwanis to help attract regional artists,” said Tullahoma Arts Council Chairman, Marion Coleman. “This is the marquis festival for Tullahoma, and we want to help them with another great year. This is just another way the Arts Council is fulfilling their mission of making Tullahoma a Regional Arts destination.”
The application covers the details you need for your booth and the rules. Cost for a booth is $60.00 for the weekend. The application can be downloaded on the home page at http://www.tullahomatn.gov.
41-A Music Acts
Canadian country-rocker Dallas Smith will headline this year’s 41A Music and Arts Festival, set for the streets of downtown Tullahoma, Sept. 26 and 27. Currently touring with Florida Georgia Line, Smith is scheduled to play on Friday, Sept. 26, following country songwriter Logan Mize, whose single “Used Up,” was recently a “Highway Find” on the popular Sirius XM satellite radio country music channel The Highway.
Classic country Johnny Collier Band, folk rocker Rob Aldridge and rock cover band Phat Tuesday, as well as return appearances from Shelbyville singer-songwriter Kacey Smith and rock party band Granny Low.
Catherine Murray’s musical tribute to Michael Jackson will also make a return performance.
“Three of the performers at 41-A played during the CMA Fan Fest,” said Sartain.
For the complete line up, go to http://www.facebook.com/41Amusicfestival-highland
Proceeds support children’s charities in the area. With donations collected in the first four years, the club has been able to contribute more than $20,000 to charities such as Tullahoma Day Care, 5Loaves4Kids, Haven of Hope and Coffee County Imagination Library.
The Highland Rim Kiwanis Club meets at noon each Thursday at Lakewood Golf and Country Club.

Tullahoma Utilities Board (TUB) announces that the installation of a public Electric Vehicle (EV) charging station is complete.
This is the only public charging station available in Tullahoma.
“We want to provide a charging station for those travelling to Tullahoma in an Electric Vehicle,” said Brian Skelton, TUB General Manager. “Electric Vehicles offer a great alternative as a zero emission vehicle.”
TUB is a Green Power Provider. The addition of this charging station affirms our dedication in protecting the environment and our support in renewable energy sources.
The EV charging station is located in the North TUB parking lot, just off North Jackson Street.
There is no charge to use the charging station; and, there is no requirement to be a member of any charging network, such as Blink or ChargePoint, to use the station.

Since 1968 the Kiwanis Club of Tullahoma has helped provide the July 4th fireworks display for the citizens of Tullahoma and surrounding area. The group did not receive enough funding for a fireworks and air show at the airport for 2014. There was one other year that a fireworks show did not occur, 2008 due to the THS football stadium being torn down.
Due to new regulations the airport was the only option for a show.
The City of Manchester will hold its annual fireworks show at the Manchester Recreation Center.
The city pays $4,500 for the fireworks show and $2,000 for entertainment at Rotary Park. The July 4th event will start with entertainment at 6 p.m. and the 20-minute fireworks show that will start at 9 p.m.
The public is invited to the annual event.

Three Tennessee state parks have been listed among the Top 100 family friendly places to boat and fish in the United States.
Paris Landing State Park, Pickwick Landing and Tims Ford were selected by Take Me Fishing, a national campaign started by the nonprofit organization Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation to encourage participation in recreational boating and fishing.
Criteria for the top places included having a public body of water within an hour of a major city and good fishing opportunities.
For more information about Tennessee State Parks, visit http://tnstateparks.com.

The “Phrase that Plays” is back on Thunder Radio beginning Monday morning (June 2). Be listening for a phrase from an area business each day. When you hear the phrase call 728-1320, repeat the phrase and you’ll be qualified to win. You can play as many times as you want. Remember with any contest on WMSR you can only one time in any 30 day period. What will you win? During the month of June the “Phrase that Plays” gives you a chance to win 2 free tickets for unlimited rides at Lake Winnepesaukahin Chattanooga and remember that you’ll also be able to join the SOAKya Water Park inside Lake Winnie. Good Luck and have fun with the “Phrase that Plays” beginning Monday.

Back in March an opinion was given by Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper that the Coffee County school system would receive over $500,000 combined from the cities of Tullahoma and Manchester. Tullahoma would pay $387,488 to the Coffee County school system for past collections of liquor-by-the-drink taxes.
Other cities in the state have also not paid a portion of their mixed-drink tax revenue to their county school systems according to a Tennessee State Code. Manchester allegedly owes the county $137,340 for mixed drink taxes.
This issue was brought up at this week’s county school board meeting. Board members decided after not receiving any money from either municipality to sue each city for the money. Attorney Eric Burch will file the lawsuit for the school board. The Coffee County government will not be sued because they are paying school system the $2,767 it owes.

Manchester Police Officer Keith Hendrix was dispatched to an apartment on McKeller Drive on Monday night. When the officer arrived, he found Reginald Green in his bathroom with a puncture wound to the lower left portion of his stomach. The officer reported that there was “quite a bit of blood on the floor as well as outside his front door.” Green told Officer Hendrix that his neighbor had stabbed him.
The officer went next door to the neighbor and was told that the stabbing was “in self-defense.” He gave the officer a five-inch utility knife with paring type blade, which had some blood on it.
The neighbor who has not been identified because charges have not been filed at this time, told the officer that he stabbed the man after he and Green became involved in an argument on the walkway between their apartments. The man said he felt threaten. The officer stated that the neighbor did have a “knot” on his head.
Manchester Police are continuing to investigate the incident.

Firemen work to control the blaze

At approximately 4:00pm Monday, the Hillsboro Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to a structure fire at 402 Limbo Drive. Upon arrival they found the garage area of the home involved in heavy fire and venting through the roof. Units quickly made an aggressive interior attack on the fire from the living room.
Thanks to a quick response by HVFD members the fire was quickly knocked down and units began the lengthy process of extinguishing hot spots. Damage was limited to approximately 40% of the home, mainly in the garage and attic area. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time; however, neighbors advised they heard an explosion before they noticed the home was on fire.

Firefighter George DeShields battled the fire and heat

HVFD received automatic aid from Hickerson Station Volunteer Fire Department, New Union Volunteer Fire Department, North Coffee Volunteer Fire Department, and Summitville Volunteer Fire Department. Coffee County EMS stood by for the duration of the emergency while the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department provided traffic control on Limbo Drive. While wrapping up fire suppression operations on Limbo Drive, HVFD was dispatched to another structure fire on South B Street. Upon arrival, units determined that it was not a structure fire, but an illegal burn.
HVFD would like to thank all of the automatic aid departments for all of their continued support.

National Stroke Awareness Month is quickly coming to a close, but it’s hoped that the lessons learned will last long beyond the end of May. Patty Clements, senior communications director, American Heart Association, Nashville, says brain damage can mount with each passing minute, so it’s vital to know the warning signs, which can easily be remembered with the acronym “FAST.” “‘F’ is for face. Is your face drooping or feeling numb? ‘A’ is for arm weakness. ‘S’ is for speech difficulty. If you have any one of these symptoms, ‘T’ is it’s time to call 911,” Clements explains. Among the number of ways to reduce risk for stroke are quitting smoking, getting regular exercise and eating healthy meals, she adds. All of those lifestyle changes can help reduce high blood pressure, which is the number one controllable risk factor. “If you lower your top number by 10 or your bottom number by five, you can cut your risk of stroke in half,” she says. “So that is the number one thing to look at. Go get a blood pressure check. Any pharmacy is going to have a free blood pressure cuff at this point. Check it out.” In Tennessee, stroke takes more than 3,000 lives every year and is one of the leading causes of severe disability. More information is available at www.strokeassociation.org.