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BASEBALL: CMS Raiders finish 3rd in CTC tournament
Back to back losses to Tullahoma and then to Warren County ended the Coffee Middle School Red Raider baseball season a bit earlier than they hoped.
After winning the regular season CTC championship, the Raiders fell to the Wildcats in the winner’s bracket finals and then lost to Warren County 6-3 to finish third in the tournament in Sparta.
The Raiders finished with an 11-1 regular season CTC record, their lone loss coming to Tullahoma.
Cole Pippenger and Colter Neel were selected to the CTC all-tournament team.
THUNDER RADIO BROADCAST SCHEDULE: April 26-May 1
This week’s Thunder Radio broadcast schedule is below (subject to change, weather permitting)
MONDAY: CHS softball HOSTS Lincoln County – 7 p.m.
TUESDAY: CHS baseball HOSTS Shelbyville – 6 p.m.
WEDNESDAY: CHS softball HOSTS Lawrence Co – 6 p.m. (senior night)
THURDAY: WMS Soccer semi-finals at 6:30 p.m.
FRIDAY: CHS Soccer Senior Night – 7 p.m.
SATURDAY: CHS Baseball HOSTS Cookeville – 1 p.m.
Multiple agencies respond to HAZMAT situation on Monteagle mountain Friday
Over 15 area agencies responded to a potentially dangerous hazardous material spill on Monteagle mountain Friday morning – a spill that led to a “shelter in place” order by law enforcement that lasted approximately 4 hours.
Among the responding agencies were Manchester Fire & Rescue Department, Coffee County EMA and Homeland Security and Tullahoma Fire Department.
A tanker being hauled by an 18-wheeler apparently ruptured and began spilling hazardous material onto the ground – a material later identified as Chlorobutane, which is highly flammable.
Multiple agencies were able to establish measures to mitigate damage and a clean-up contractor was called to the scene to ensure the materials was properly cleaned and the environment was returned to its natural state. No serious injuries were reported.
The rupture happened behind Shan Chinese Restaurant. What exactly caused the tank to rupture remains under investigation.
Unemployment rises in Coffee County despite hundreds of available jobs
Following a slight rise in the statewide unemployment rate in March, jobless statistics experienced minor increases in most of Tennessee’s 95 counties, according to newly released data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).
Five counties across the state did experience lower unemployment for the month, while rates went up in 86 counties, and remained the same in four counties.
Coffee County’s unemployment rate comes in at 4.9 percent, which is up 0.3 from the 4.6 percent reported in February.
Coffee County’s increase in unemployment rate comes while many businesses are struggling to find employees, with some reducing services and limiting hours. Mercantile Café Bakery & Gift Shop closed for its normal Friday night dinner last week due to not having employees to work. A quick Indeed job search shows 766 available jobs in Coffee County – jobs with varying pay and requirements.
Thirty-two of Tennessee’s counties had a jobless rate of less than 5%. The remaining 63 counties recorded a rate of 5% or higher.
Williamson County’s jobless statistic of 3.3% was the lowest in the state. Its March rate was 0.3 of a percentage point higher than it was in February.
At 3.6%, Moore County posted the second-lowest rate in the state but that is a 0.1 of a percentage point increase from the previous month. Wilson County’s rate of 4% was the third lowest in March, which is an increase of 0.3 of a percentage point. Unemployment in Lake County decreased by 0.1 of a percentage point to 8.9%, which is the state’s highest rate for the month.
Perry County’s rate of 7.5% was 0.2 of a percentage point higher than the previous month’s rate. Unemployment in Bledsoe county went up 0.5 of a percentage point to 7.4%.
Statewide, seasonally adjusted unemployment inched up 0.1 of a percentage point to 5% in March.
Nationally, unemployment dropped 0.2 of a percentage point to 6%.
A complete analysis of the March 2021 Tennessee county unemployment data is available here.
The state offers online options for Tennesseans searching for employment. Currently, on Jobs4TN.gov, job seekers can find more than 240,000 open positions in a wide range of occupations and skill levels. The Tennessee Virtual American Job Center www.TNVirtualAJC.com allows Tennesseans to research different programs, from different state agencies that can help them remove barriers to employment so they can more easily reenter the workforce.
TN House looking to update ‘use of force’ policies
Legislation that seeks to improve state law enforcement’s use-of-force policies has advanced in the Tennessee House last week, passing the Criminal Justice Subcommittee on Wednesday.
House Bill 1406 is a result of Gov. Bill Lee’s partnership with state and local law enforcement agencies through his Use of Force Policy Committee, which issued recommendations on Sept. 10, 2020 in the form of a sample use of force policy for law enforcement agencies to adopt across the state. The committee was charged with making recommendations to enhance policies, improve information sharing and increase officer training.
This legislation bans chokeholds unless an officer believes deadly force is authorized; requires chokehold training be taught at police academies; requires law enforcement agencies to develop de-escalation policies; requires other officers to intervene in cases of excessive force; prohibits firing at moving vehicles unless the officer believes deadly force is authorized; and prohibits the issuance of “no-knock” warrants.
The bill moves on to the full Criminal Justice Committee, where it will be heard for consideration on Monday.
Raiders split double header with Central Magnet
The Central High School Red Raider baseball team split a double header with visiting Central Magnet Friday night at Powers Field – part of the Crethan Hansert Memorial Tournament.
Central Magnet 6, Red Raiders 5
Coffee County outhit Central Magnet School 11-5 Friday night, but couldn’t get enough runs across the plate in a 6-5 loss at Powers Field in Manchester.
Coffee County fought from behind and turned a 6-2 deficit to 6-5 in the bottom of the sixth, but could never get any closer.
Hayden Hullett, Brady Nugent and Jacob Holder all doubled, and Holder added a home run as the Raiders had no trouble getting extra base hits. But CHS stranded seven runners on base.
CHS sent three pitchers to the mound to get work in the non-district affair. Griffin Meeker allowed two runs on four hits in his three innings. Carter McKenzie was tagged with the loss, allowing four runs (none earned) on a hit and four strikeouts. CHS committed a pair of fielding errors.
Mays Snipes tossed two flawless innings on just 18 pitches.
Red Raiders 10, Central Magnet 2
The Red Raider pitching staff held Central Magnet to just 3 hits and Coffee County took control early in game 2 – building a 7-0 lead and pulling away for a 10-2 win.
Senior Braden Brown earned the start and picked up the win on the mound. Brown needed just 77 pitches to power through five innings of three-hit baseball. He struck out 8 and didn’t allow a run. Charlie Pierce and Brady Nugent each worked an inning of relief.
At the plate, Coffee County singled Central Magnet to death and picked up a home run from Jacob Holder – his second of the night after blast one in game one of the double header. Holder had a pair of hits and three RBIs in game two.
Griffin Meeker picked up an RBI on a bases loaded walk and Dayne Crosslin had a hit and an RBI to go along with two runs scored.
The Raiders move to 13-8 with the split.
They will play Shelbyville in their final district series of the season next week.
Westwood softball season ends in conference tournament
Westwood scored one run in the top of the seventh inning to take an 8-7 lead over Cannon County. But they couldn’t hold it.
Cannon County got a walk, a double and another hit to score two runs in the bottom of the seventh and beat Westwood Middle School’s Lady Rockets 9-8.
The loss ends the season for the Lady Rockets.
The Lady Rockets were close to pulling out a win. Maggie Brei singled and scored in the top of the seventh to give the Lady Rockets their short-lived late lead. Brei had a standout night at the plate with a triple, double and a single. She also scored three runs. Lily Norman also had a big night with a home run, double and a single. She scored a pair of runs.
Lady Raiders fall in tight contest with Forrest Friday afternoon
The tying run was at third and the winning run at second for the Lady Raiders Friday afternoon.
But that’s as far as they could get.
Forrest left fielder Abby Ferguson threw a seed to the plate to cut down Aleayia Barnes who was attempting to tag-up on a fly ball, ending the game with Forrest taking a 3-2 win at Dave King Park. The game ended in six innings due to time limit.
THIS GAME WAS BROADCAST LIVE ON THUNDER RADIO. LISTEN TO THE AUDIO REPLAY HERE.
It was the opening game of the Coffee County Classic – hosted annually by the Lady Raiders at Dave King Park and Terry Floyd Field at CHS.
After giving up two runs in the top of the sixth inning to fall behind 3-1, Coffee County cut the deficit to one in the bottom of the inning when Haidyn Campbell ripped an RBI single to score Cheyenne Vickers (running for Keri Munn). Barnes (running for Justus Turner) moved to third on the hit and Emily Schuster later drew a walk to load the bases with one out. Alivia Reel lifted a flyball to left field that made the second out, and Barnes was cut down at the plate trying to tie the game.
Coffee County never led. The Lady Raiders trailed 1-0 in the third and then tied the game on an RBI single by Chesnie Cox to score Kiya Ferrell.
Munn took the loss in the circle for the first time this year. She allowed 3 runs (1 earned) on six hits and struck out four. CHS did commit two errors. Munn’s record stands at 16-1 on the season and the Lady Raiders drop to 22-4-1 overall.
The Lady Raiders are scheduled to play at 9 a.m., 2:30 and 4:40 Saturday weather permitting. The last two games will be on Thunder Radio.
UPDATE: The final three games of the tournament have been rained out and will not be rescheduled.
Birthdays- April 23
Birthdays:
Shawn Rider- Pizza Winner!
Weekly Winners:
Cake- Jamie Gassman
Flowers- Michael & Connie Jones
Joe Gibbons
Memorial services for Mr. Joe Gibbons, age 83 of Manchester, will be conducted on Sunday, April 25, 2021, at 4 PM in the Coffee County Funeral Chapel. Visitation with the family will begin at 2 PM until time of service. Mr. Gibbons passed away at his home on Thursday, April 22, after an extended illness.
Mr. Joe was born on July 17, 1937, in Livingston, TN, to the late Charlie and Uree Gibbons. He retired from Batesville Casket in Manchester, where he made lots of close friends and often mentioned he loved them like family. He loved woodworking and gardening his vegetables, but he was most proud of his watermelons. During his life, Mr. Joe was a custom cabinet maker, farmer, he raised cattle, pigs,
In addition to his parents, Mr. Joe is preceded in death by his grandson, Dusty Keele, nephew, Reece McCormick, sister, Bettye McCormick, and son-in-law, Rick Queener. He is survived by his daughters, Kammie Queener, and Rhonda Raines and her husband, Van; grandchildren, Mickey Blanton, Bubba Vincent, Brandi O’Kelley, and Leslie Keele; great grandchildren, Blayne Blanton, Kylie Vincent, Aubrey O’Kelley, Haley Keele, Damian Keele, and Case Keele; one nephew, Landon McCormick; numerous nieces and nephews of the Whittemore family that he loved so much, and a host of friends.
Coffee County Funeral Chapel is honored to serve the Gibbons family.