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12/23/17 — Dylan Andrew West
Funeral services for Dylan Andrew West, age 26 of Manchester, will be held
on Saturday, December 23, 2017, at 2 PM at the Central Funeral Home chapel.
Burial will follow in rose Hill Memorial Gardens. Visitation with the
family will begin at 12 Noon until time of service at the funeral home.
Dylan passed away on Friday, December 15th.
Dylan was born on August 27, 1991, to Kristy Lusk West in Tullahoma, TN. He
was a 2009 graduate from Coffee County High School. He loved watching UT
football, hanging out with his friends, and taking care of “Ollie” with his
girlfriend, Hayley Clark.
Dylan is survived by his parents, Kristy Lusk West (Kevin Keele) of
Fayetteville, and John (Amy) West of Alaska; brothers, John David West,
Hunter Keele, both of Fayetteville, Cody Keele of Murfreesboro, and Micah
Keele of Wartrace; sisters, Jessica West and Kassidy (Lane) Jernigan, both
of Manchester, and Amber Keele of Fayetteville; grandparents, Benny and
Nancy Lusk of Manchester; several aunts, uncles, cousins, and a host of
friends.
Arrangements with Central Funeral Home
New Police Station Moves Forward in Tullahoma
The new police station to be built for the Tullahoma Police Department will cost an estimated $3.2 million, according to city officials.
At its Dec. 11 meeting, all Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Alderman voted in favor of a budget amendment for FY 2018 to the tune of $3,250,000 for the engineering, construction and “project contingency” of the new police facility, which will be located on West Grundy Street.
The loan sets up $238,875 for the engineering of the facility, $2,848,625 for the construction of the facility and a “project contingency” cushion of $162,500.
The land for the site of the new police station is being donated by Dan and Fran Marcum.
According to City Administrator Jody Baltz, the donation has been partially processed as of Dec. 11. Approximately half of the land donation has been approved, he said. The remaining half of the donation will take place in January.
Time to Send Those Last Minute Packages
More than two billion packages are headed out this holiday season, destined for the doorsteps of friends and family around the world.
If you still have some gifts to order, your best (and cheapest) bet is to take care of business right now.
Wednesday is the deadline for FedEx Two-Day delivery, UPS Second-Day Air and USPS Priority Mail.
Thursday is the final day to ship via FedEx overnight and UPS Next Day Air.
And if you really want to gamble, USPS says it will get your shipment to its destination by Christmas as long as you ship by Friday.
Of course, you’ll want to double-check shipping times before you order to ensure your gift will make it on time.
Bill Aims to Protect TN Wildlife Before There’s a Problem
Mussels and other freshwater wildlife are among those that would receive additional protection if the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act is passed. (Corey Raimond/flickr)
The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would provide funding to states to ensure the survival of wildlife before species become endangered.
Mike Butler, CEO of the Tennessee Wildlife Federation, says the Volunteer State has much to gain from the funding.
“Tennessee is the most biologically diverse inland state in the United States,” he points out. “We have several species of mussels and plants that only occur in the state of Tennessee.”
Butler says aquatic life and songbirds would likely receive the most focus on the preventive funding, if it were allocated.
The legislation would be funded by an existing tax paid by oil, mining and other similar industries for the right to develop resources on federal lands.
The tax generates more than $10 billion annually that currently is placed in a general fund.
The bill would dedicate just $1.3 billion of that to the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program, which its supporters say is currently underfunded.
Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, says addressing depleting species before they’re on the Endangered Species list is a smarter way to preserve wildlife.
“The goal is to invest in proactive conservation, primarily at the state level, to try to save species before they require the Endangered Species Act,” he states. “And it’s a way to bring partners together for collaborative and voluntary efforts upfront rather than having the emergency measures where you end up in these horrible court battles and very onerous regulations. We can avoid a lot of that if we did more proactive work.”
Butler says the legislation would also be a smarter use of state resources.
“You’re leveraging funding and you’re doing it on pennies on the dollar compared to what it costs when things are on the Endangered Species list,” he states.
The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would provide 75 percent of the funding for conservation programs and only require states to pay for a quarter of the cost.
MTSU lands Grant for Ginseng Growing
Middle Tennessee State University has landed a $148,000 federal grant for a ginseng experiment.
According to a university news release, the U.S. Department of Agriculture grant will help MTSU support planting up to 100 acres (40 hectares) of ginseng in Tennessee, depending on participation by growers. MTSU says this could add $4 million in farm profit annually once the harvest is normalized.
MTSU associate professor Iris Gao says ginseng usually takes seven years to grow outdoors, but the university’s lab research is shortening growth time by around two years. The project will take place in MTSU labs and in remote Tennessee.
Gao says the program’s ginseng will be sourced from wild stock and maintain the potency and market price of wild-grown ginseng.
Nineteen states, including Tennessee, can legally harvest and trade ginseng.
12/19/17 — Birthdays
Birthdays:
Joshua Kilgore, 38 — Pizza Winner!
12/21/17 — Angie Smoot
Angie Smoot, age 75, passed away Sunday, December 17, 2017 at her home in
Manchester. Angie’s family and loved ones were by her side when her recent
struggles in this life ended, and she went to be with her Lord.
Angie was born on March 20, 1942 in rural Rutherford County, TN to Fred and
Lola Lewis. She was preceded in death by her parents and her brothers Fred
Jr., Allen (Peggy), and Clark (Sue). She is survived by her husband of 55
years, JC Smoot, son Michael (Debbie) and son CJ (Wendy). Angie is also
survived by sisters Charlotte Lewis Austin (Steve) and Dorothy Lewis Carmen
(Jack). In addition Angie leaves behind three grandchildren, Amanda Smoot
Can Pelt (Casey), Stephen Smoot (Chelsea), and Jared Smoot along with four
beautiful granddaughters, and numerous friends including Joyce Lynn with
whom Angie shared a 40+ year friendship.
Angie was an avid gardener whose specialty was roses. She loved her roses
and so enjoyed spending time in her garden nurturing them. Anyone who
happened to ride by Angie’s and JC’s home during spring or summer were
treated to a riotous display of beautifully colored roses.
In addition to Angie’s gift for growing beautiful roses, she was an
amazingly talented seamstress. She excelled in alterations and was well
known for her magic touch with wedding gowns. Over the years, she did
everything from hemming to a complete re-work so brides could be beautiful
on their special day.
Angie Smoot was a long-time member of Main Street Church of Christ in
Manchester.
Central Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Burial will be at Rose
Hill Memorial Gardens with Brother Alan Adams officiating. Services will be
held at 10 AM Thursday, December 21 at the funeral home. Visitation will be
Wednesday, December 20th from 5 – 8 PM at the funeral home.
Red Raiders Fall in Tournament Opener on Monday
Schedule for Tuesday’s Red Raider Invitational
Opening play in the 4th Annual Red Raider Invitational, the Coffee County CHS boys’ basketball team tangled with Smyrna on Monday night. Coffee County had no answers for the speed and tempo of the visiting Bulldogs as the Raiders fell 71 to 51.
Smyrna got off to a strong start as they raced out to a 22 to 11 lead 90 seconds into the second quarter. Smyrna made the most of their speed to score in transition and frustrated the Raiders with uncanny shooting accuracy from the perimeter. The Raiders managed to hold the deficit to 11 in the second quarter, but Smyrna opened the second half on a 13 to 4 run and Coffee County could never get the deficit below 18 in the 4th period.
The Red Raiders were led in scoring by Garrett Booth who had 18 points. DeAaron Rozier finished with 14 as he was named the Crazy Daisies Player of the Game.
The Red Raiders will return to action on Tuesday at 4:30 PM as they take on Glencliff at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. The tournament will run thru Wednesday with games being played each day beginning at 4:30 PM and the final game tipping off around 7:30 PM.
Download a copy of the game broadcasts at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/
2017 Year in Review – CCMS Track
As 2017 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the 40 prep teams we follow and report on. Today we look back at the year for the Coffee County Middle School track team. Despite qualifying 2 athletes for the state meet in Clarksville, the Raider harriers saw their string of top 2 finishes in the conference come to an end this past spring.
Thunder Radio reported on the season ending conference meet in a story we published on May 11th
Streaks are made to be broken. Unfortunately, that is not a friendly adage to the Coffee County Middle School track teams as the Raiders and Lady Raiders each failed to finish in the top 2 teams at the CTC Conference Track Meet on Wednesday at Carden-Jarrell Field.
The Lady Raiders saw their string of 4 straight conference titles broken as they finished in 7th place. The Raiders saw their string of 6 straight Top 2 finishes come to an end as they finished in 5th place. North captured the girls’ title with South winning the boys’ crown. Traditionally, Coach Travis O’ Kelly’s teams have rolled up big point totals in the field events and scored well in the team relays to fuel their championship engine. Such was not the case on Wednesday. Macy Tabor was the lone Raider to win an event as she won the girls’ high jump.
Here is the complete team scoring breakdown, along with Coffee County’s top finishers.
Girls Final: North 101 Warren 74.5 East 60 West 58 South 45 Coffee 44.5 Harris 20
Discus – Lexie Hosea (5th/60’ 6”)
High Jump – Macy Tabor (1st/4’ 10” – no misses), Livy Rayfield (7th/4’ 0” – no misses)
Long Jump – Maddie Husted (7th/11’ 8”)
4 x 100m Relay – Reagan Ellison, Maddie Husted, Alyssa Gipson, Livy Rayfield (3rd)
1600m – Olivia Evans (6th/6:55)
100m – Livy Rayfield (5th/14.07)
4 x 200m Relay – Macy Tabor, Maddie Husted, Alyssa Gipson, Reagan Ellison (3rd)
800m – Madison Rooker (6th/3:04)
200m – Macy Tabor (4th/29.87)
4 x 400m Relay – Alyssa Gipson, Anna Takao, Emma Singleton, Ryan Green (3rd)
Boys Final: South 117.5 Harris 83.25 East 68 North 48 Coffee 39 Warren 35.5 West 16.75
Shot Put – Zach Speagle (3rd/36’ 0”)
Discus – Zach Speagle (4th/96’ 8”) Trenton Scrivnor (6th/88’ 8”)
4 x 100m Relay – Jayden Yates, Kelby Walker, Andrew Hite, Hunter Good (7th)
1600m – Jacob Rutledge (3rd/5:26) Ethan Welch (5th/5:43)
4 x 200m Relay – Jayden Yates, Kelby Walker, Andrew Hite, Hunter Good (4th)
400m – Ethan Beaty (5th/1:03.28)
800m – Jacob Rutledge (3rd/2:31)
4 x 400m Relay – Ethan Beaty, Braison Yancer, Jacob Rutledge, Ethan Welch (4th)
CCMS athletes Macy Tabor and Lexie Hosea qualified for the state meet earlier this week. The TMSAA State Meet is to be held on May 20th at Austin Peay State University.
2017 Year in Review – Middle School Golf
As 2017 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the 40 prep teams we follow and report on. Today we look back at the year for Westwood and Coffee Middle golf teams. Switching to a new “flag scoring” system this spring changed how each match looked, but allowed for teammates to pair up throughout the season. Improved numbers for each team were offset by a lack of experience for both the Raiders and Rockets.
Thunder Radio reported on the season ending tournament in a story we published on May 11th
The middle school golf season came to a close on Wednesday in the conference postseason tournament at Tullahoma’s Lakewood Country Club. Using the Junior PGA team scramble format for scoring, the Westwood Rockets finished the tournament in a tie with Tullahoma for 3rd place with 7 ½ flags. The Coffee County Middle School finished in 6th place with 3 flags. Liberty won the tournament with 10 flags.