Tullahoma has streamlined its construction project permit process to make it easier on developers, and the effort seems to be paying off with a Chick-fil-A restaurant chain’s commitment to locate an outlet in the city. Gary Rouse, a principal engineer with GBC Design Inc, based in Akron, Ohio, who has been working with the city’s Planning Commission and Development Committee on Chick-fil-A’s behalf, said the staff he has dealt with in the process to locate a restaurant outlet in Tullahoma has been very accommodating and made his job considerably easier. The city issued a demolition permit on May 31 to remove the Baskin-Robbins site and issued a building permit to locate a 4,686-square-foot Chick-fil-A building on the .63-acre lot.

Emergency crews work to get victim free... Photo by Barry West

Man was trapped inside... By Barry West

Keith Toler of Coffee County was traveling north on Highway 41 around 2:30 Monday afternoon, when he said he lost consciousness and ran off the left side of the road. The vehicle overturned several times and entrapped Toler. Manchester Fire & rescue had to cut the top off the Honda SUV to remove the driver. He was taken to Medical Center of Manchester and then on to Air-Evac to be transported to Vandy. THP is investigating the cause of the crash.

No injures in Tuesday I-24 wreck... By Barry West

Just before 11:00 Tuesday morning (July 10, 2012), a rain storm hit I-24 around the 106 mile marker. A Georgia man, his wife, and child were traveling east when the Jeep they were riding in began to hydroplane. The Jeep left the interstate and crashed into a tree, causing it to flip up on its side. The family was checked out by Coffee Co. EMS and was not transported. The air bags seem to have caused the most scrapes and bruises. The heavy rain and the wet roads were determined to be the cause of the crash. Coffee County Sheriff’s Deputies worked the scene.

More than 13,000 teachers across the state began training this week in what education officials describe as the largest program of its kind in Tennessee history.
They will be trained in math curriculum standards to be implemented in grades 3-8 during the coming school year. They will be coached by more than 200 fellow teachers selected earlier this year for their role.
Training sessions last three weeks at 16 schools across Tennessee.
Similar training will be done a year from now in English/language arts.

A recent report shows problems transitioning to a new computer system are preventing the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services from fully complying with a court-ordered reform plan.
The report released this week is the latest assessment of the agency’s performance under a reform plan brought by the national advocacy group Children’s Rights and a group of Tennessee attorneys to improve foster care across the state.
According to the report, the agency’s conversion to a new computer system called Tennessee Family and Child Tracking System has prevented the collection of DCS data in over 20 areas of court-ordered reform.

Thunder Radio and the Manchester Times will host the Manchester Municipal political forum July 12 at the Coffee County Central High School Auditorium.
Carefully planned to take place one day prior to early voting – the forum will focus on the Manchester city election, which will see the mayor’s seat and five of the six aldermanic seats up for grabs.
The debates will be held at separate times – with aldermanic candidates taking the stage from 6-7:30 p.m. and mayoral candidates taking the stage from 8-9:30 p.m. Both will be aired live on Thunder Radio – WMSR AM-1320 and FM-107.9. The Times will also be providing live Tweets throughout the event.
WMSR radio commentator Lucky Knott and Manchester Times Editor Josh Peterson will moderate both forums.
Four candidates have qualified for the mayor’s race, including incumbent Betty Superstein, and 14 have qualified for the aldermanic race, including all incumbents with the exception of Janet Nettles, who was recently appointed to fill Lonnie Norman’s seat and said she would not be running for re-election.
Moderators will ask all of the questions, but citizens wishing to submit questions for consideration may do so by filling out a form at the Manchester Times office – 300 N. Spring St., Manchester, TN.
Questions must be submitted in person with a name. Questions in poor taste will not be considered.
Call the Times at 931-728-7577 or Thunder Radio at 931-728-1320 with any questions about the forum.

On Monday morning (July 9, 2012) around 7:30am, a head-on collision occurred on the Wattendorf Highway, the AEDC access road. Five people were injured in the two-vehicle crash. According to a report by Tennessee Highway Patrolman Carl Seagroves, a 1998 Nissan Maxima driven by Evan John Smith, 20, of Louisville, Kentucky, drifted off the highway and struck a guardrail.

The car then crossed the center line into the path of a 1996 Chevrolet pickup operated by James Richard Edwards, 45, of Hillsboro. According to the trooper’s report, Smith was the only occupant in the Nissan, and he was apparently on his way to work for a contractor at AEDC.

Smith was flown by Air-Evac to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga where he is undergoing treatment. Edwards and his 3 children, Kristina Edwards, 13, Joseph James Edwards, 10, and James Richard Edwards, Jr., 9, were in the pickup, and all were taken to Medical Center of Manchester.
Troopers Louis Hendricks and Brent McCawley, along with AEDC Police and Coffee County Sheriff’s Deputies, assisted trooper Seagroves.

Emergency crews working at the scene of Monday AEDC crash… Photo by Barry West