Law enforcement officials across the mid-state have come together with one common goal: keep impaired drivers off the road. The “Booze It & Lose It” campaign kicked off Tuesday in Rutherford County. It runs through Labor Day. But it’s not just drivers under the influence of alcohol officers are looking out for. “Impaired driving isn’t just alcohol anymore is it. Drug impaired driving is an epidemic in the state of Tennessee,” said Kendell Poole with the Governor’s Highway Safety Office. “And thanks to Governor Haslam and the legislature of Tennessee, they’re making it easier for us to prosecute drug-impaired drivers across the state of Tennessee.” Officials said more than 30-percent of this year’s traffic fatalities involved an impaired driver.

A Tennessee electric company hopes to make investing in solar technology affordable to the ordinary investor. Duck River Electric Membership Cooperation in Shelbyville cut the ribbon on a new solar farm Wednesday afternoon. The solar farm has 108 solar panels, creating 216 investment opportunities. Investors can buy a half panel for $600. The solar farm is across the street from an elementary school, a middle school and a high school in Shelbyville. DREMC hopes teachers will bring their students to the farm to learn about the future of energy.

Tens of thousands of Elvis Presley fans are in Memphis to pay respects to the rock ‘n’ roll icon during a candlelight vigil at Graceland marking the 35th anniversary of his death.
Fans began lining up Wednesday afternoon at the entrance to Graceland, Presley’s longtime Memphis home.
Presley died on Aug. 16, 1977, at age 42.

The City of Manchester recently elected a new mayor and 3 new aldermen. Citizens expected changes, and some are taking place. Mayor-elect Lonnie Norman told WMSR News that current Safety Commissioner Ross Simmons has decided to retire on Aug 21. Norman said Simmons will be paid $120,000 for his vacation and sick-time that he earned and was not taken. Police Captain Wilma Thomas has also chosen to retire on the same date. The newly elected mayor said a new chief will be named soon for the police and fire departments.
Norman said there has been some confusion over the downtown cruise-ins. He stated the city would support an organization that would want to hold a cruise-in, but the city could not sponsor an event.
Norman went onto to tell WMSR News that the Program Coordinator job that is currently held by Jeff Burnett will be done away with. He added that grant writing will be done individual departments. The new mayor-elect said the Joy Ballard, who currently works in the finance department, will become the mayor’s secretary. Her position will not be filled in the finance department.

State Rep. Judd Matheny is mulling a challenge to House Speaker Beth Harwell for the top chamber’s top leadership position, the Tullahoma Republican confirmed in an interview with The Associated Press.
Matheny holds the title of House speaker pro tempore, the only post besides speaker elected by the entire lower chamber of the General Assembly.
The position wields little independent power, and Matheny complained in the interview of being marginalized by other Republican leaders, who he said worked to dilute his key legislative initiatives ranging from loosening gun laws to battling what he perceives as the spread of Islamic law in the United States.
Matheny, 42, said he holds no personal grudge against Harwell, whom he supported in a hard-fought speaker’s race in 2010. But Matheny said he wants the Legislature to exert more power within state government and to pursue what he called “our true constitutional principles.”
Matheny said he had been considering running for speaker even before the results of the Aug. 2 primary.
Matheny said he’s discussing his potential candidacy with current Republican members and candidates. He said he hasn’t made up his mind about whether a decision would come before or after the November election.-WSMV-

Four people were arrested, including the wife and daughter of the victim, in connection with a murder in rural Bedford County last week.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation arrested Sean Gearhardt, 20, and Jason Starrick, both of 5353 Cane Ridge Road, Antioch, on Friday. They were charged with murdering Larry Walls, 55, inside his Unionville, TN, area home.
The TBI also charged Susan Walls, 54, the victim’s wife, and Dawn Walls, 27, of 5353 Cane Ridge Road, Antioch, on Saturday with one count of criminal responsibility for the conduct of another to commit homicide.
All four are currently being held at the Bedford County Jail without bond. They are scheduled to appear in Bedford County General Sessions Court on Wednesday.
The investigation revealed that Sue and Dawn Walls paid Starrick and Gearhardt $400 to kill Larry Walls.