Josh Peterson

Secretary of State Tre Hargett will visit multiple county election commissions and polling locations across Middle Tennessee to promote early voting on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

Secretary Hargett is urging voters to take advantage of Tennessee’s generous early voting period. Early voting started Oct. 14 and runs to Oct. 29. Election Day is Nov. 3.

Secretary Hargett will be at the Coffee County Election Commission – located at 1329 McArthur St. suite 6 from 11:05-11:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

Through the first four days of early voting in Coffee County, there were 5,547 votes cast. This is up 40.68% from the 2016 November election and up 62.57 percent over the 2012 election over the first four day period.

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) is alerting consumers to an increase in fraudulent credit card devices found at gas pumps across the state.

“Inspectors with our Weights and Measures Section are discovering credit card skimmers during routine gas pump inspections,” Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, D.V.M. said. “Thanks to the watchful eyes and thoroughness of our inspectors, consumers are protected at the pump.”

Five fraudulent devices have been detected in user interface compartments on fuel pumps in the past six weeks in various locations statewide.

Consumers are urged to take note of the credit card reader they are using. If it appears to be different from other readers at the gas pumps or if it is not securely affixed to the display panel, report it to the gas station manager or TDA and move to another pump. If a card skimming device is detected at the pump, TDA inspectors immediately remove the pump from service and contact local law enforcement.

“Routine inspections are one way that we safeguard both the consumer and the business,” Weights and Measures Administrator Ed Coleman said. “Most of the time, it’s impossible for either to know a credit card skimmer has been placed inside the compartment. One way for consumers to avoid contact with a skimming device is to pay for their gasoline purchase inside.”

A skimming device reads and stores data from the magnetic stripe on a credit or debit card when the card is used at a point of sale. Even at locations where chip readers are in use, stolen data from the strip can be used for fraudulent transactions. Consumers should always track purchases and be aware of balances on their bank accounts.

To report a suspected issue at a gas pump, call TDA at 1-800-OCTANE1 (1-800-628-2631) or 615-837-5109. The business name and full address with a description of the issue should be reported along with the pump number.

One of the main functions of the Weights and Measures Section is to ensure consumer confidence in the marketplace by testing devices such as fuel pumps. Their work promotes uniformity in federal regulations and standards to achieve equity between buyers and sellers for items sold by weight, volume, or quantity.

Funeral services for Manchester Police Department Administrative Captain Chris Patterson will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday at High Funeral Home in McMinnville.

Manchester Police Department Chief Mark Yother, assistant chief Adam Floied and Jackie Matheny will be officiating. Burial will follow in Mt. View Cemetery in McMinnville.

Patterson was found dead outside of his vehicle near Blue Springs Rd. on Friday, Oct. 16, of a single gunshot wound.
He was 42 years old and leaves behind a wife and two children.

Click here for the full obituary. 

Coffee County Sheriff’s Department is offering up several surplus items for auction that you can bid on.

Some of the items include a 2008 Polaris 6×6 ATV, at 2005 Yamaha Motorcycle, a wrecker, dump truck, pickup trucks, cars and other various items.

The items are being auctioned through Govdeals. You can view all items by clicking here.

Manchester Vice Mayor Marilyn Howard has been appointed as  Mayor of Manchester.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen held a special called meeting Monday night at City Hall to address the vacancy left by the passing of Mayor Lonnie Norman.

Ryan French made the motion to name Howard as Mayor. The board voted unanimously in favor of Howard, with no discussion. Howard was immediately sworn in by Manchester city attorney Gerald Ewell.

Per the city charter, Howard will serve as mayor until the next regular city election, which will be August of 2022. At that point, there will be an election for Manchester Mayor to fill the remainder of Norman’s term, which is up in 2024.

That means whoever wins in 2022 will serve only two years before facing re-election.

Mayor Howard made brief comments following the vote, saying that she could never fill the shoes left by the passing of Norman.

Howard, who was elected as an alderman in 2018, was serving as vice-mayor after being appointed to that position by the board in September. She began taking on mayoral duties on Oct. 1, when Mayor Norman was first hospitalized with COVID-19. 

Next on the agenda for the board will be filling Howard’s vacant alderman seat, and appointing a new vice mayor. 

(Photo: Manchester Mayor Marilyn Howard, right, is sworn in by city attorney Gerald Ewell at a special called meeting Monday night, Oct. 19, 2020. Thunder Radio photo by Josh Peterson)