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Coffee County Fair continues Tuesday with handstamp rides, more entertainment
The Coffee County Fair continues on Tuesday, Sept. 22.
On Tuesday, rides are available with a $20 handstamp.
Tuesday’s entertainment in the grandstands is American Superstars, as Nick Datillo performs a tribute to some of the greatest artists of our time from Frank Sinatra, Buddy Holly, Elvis and The Beach Boys.
The Coffee County Fair is located at 99 Lakeview Dr. The fair runs through Saturday, Sept. 26.
VICTORY: Raiders drop Siegel 31-21, improve to 2-2
All three phases of the game put points on the board Friday night and the Coffee County Red Raider football team dropped visiting Siegel High School 31-21.
The win improves the Raiders to 2-2 on the season and 1-1 in Region 3-6A play, very much in the hunt of the early-season playoff picture.
Coffee County scored early on a long 80-yard drive that ate seven minutes off the clock to go on top 7-0. Senior tailback Marshall Haney capped the drive with a 16-yard scoring run.
Haney was a workhorse for the Raiders, finishing with 97 yards on 28 carries. He also caught a pair of passes for 32 yards.
Connor Shemwell directed the offense well for Coffee County at quarterback, completing 12-of-19 passes, including a 15 yard touchdown strike to tight end Zack Galy and a 21 yard score to Travis Martin. Shemwell threw for 214 yards
Galy caught his first three passes on the season, including his first touchdown grab.
The punctuation on the exciting first half for the Raiders was an interception by senior CJ Anthony, who returned the ball 75 yards for a touchdown.
The Raiders put the game away in the fourth quarter on a 30-yard Ian Weldon field goal to take a 31-14 lead. Weldon is now 3-of-3 on the year kicking field goals.
Coffee County will travel to Cookeville for another region game next week. That game will be broadcast live on Thunder Radio – 107.9 FM, 106.7 FM, 1320 AM and streamed at Manchester Go app and thunder1320.com
Of course Thunder Radio was on hand for the broadcast Friday. You can listen to the first half by clicking here. You can listen to the second half by clicking here.
Monday, Sept. 21 prep sports schedule
Monday, Sept. 21, 2020 Prep Sports Schedule
5 p.m. – Westwood volleyball HOSTS CMS
5:30 p.m. – CHS JV football hosts White County
6:30 p.m. – CHS Freshman football HOSTS White County
Lady Raider volleyball falls in finals of weekend tournament
The Central High School volleyball team welcomed some of the state’s best volleyball programs to Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gymnasium over the weekend for the Southern Slam volleyball tournament in Manchester.
Coffee County went 2-3 on the weekend, losing in the finals of the silver division. It marks the first losses of the season for the Lady Raider volleyball team. The Lady Raiders are now 14-3 overall.
CHS returns to district play this week, hosting Franklin County at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Tennessee unemployment falls by 1.2% in August
The statewide unemployment rate for Tennessee decreased in August as more Tennesseans continue to return to the workforce, according to the latest data released by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
The state’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate in August dropped to 8.5%, down 1.2 percentage points from the previous month’s revised rate of 9.7%. The new rate is a staggering 7 percentage points lower than it was in April at the height of the unemployment spike due to COVID-19 business closures.
One year ago, the August statewide unemployment rate was 3.4%, 5.1 percentage points lower than the current statistic.
Tennessee saw the creation of 22,600 new nonfarm jobs between July and August. During the month, the administrative/support/waste services sector reemployed the most Tennesseans. The federal government and the local government sectors followed in the number of jobs created in August.
In a year-to-year comparison of jobs, Tennessee has seen a significant loss of positions as a result of COVID-19’s effect on the economy.
There are currently 142,600 fewer jobs across the state when compared to statistics from August 2019. One of the state’s largest employment sectors, leisure/hospitality, experienced the most job loss. The manufacturing and professional/business services sectors had the next highest number of impacted workers.
A complete analysis of the state’s unemployment data for August 2020 is available here
Nationally, seasonally adjusted unemployment also decreased in August. At 8.4%, the United States unemployment rate fell 1.8 percentage points from the revised July rate of 10.2%
The August rate for the U.S. is 4.7 percentage points higher than it was one year ago.
Thousands of businesses across Tennessee are ready to help the state’s economy rebound by reemploying out of work individuals. Jobs4TN.gov, Tennessee’s workforce development website, currently has 219,000 open positions for all job skill levels.
Job seekers who visit the site will also find online assistance with writing a resume that will catch the attention of employers, advice on how to engage and impress during job interviews, and details about potential job training opportunities.
The more than 80 American Job Centers across Tennessee are open for business and offering job seekers one-on-one personalized assistance. Career specialists are ready to work with individuals to devise a reemployment plan that will help them rejoin the state’s workforce.
All the assistance is free to anyone who needs help finding a new job or career path.
State announces new guidelines for visitation at long-term care facilities
The Tennessee Department of Health and Tennessee’s Unified Command Group last week announced three new initiatives to enhance the well-being and quality of life of Tennesseans in long-term health care facilities. These efforts include expanding options for visitation, relaxing restrictions for resident interactions within LTCFs and the formation of the Tennessee COVID-19 Long-Term Care Task Force.
“The health and safety of vulnerable Tennesseans, especially our long-term care residents, remains our top priority, and our comprehensive and persistent efforts to protect this population from COVID-19 have saved lives,” said Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey, MD, MBA, FAAP. “It’s time to reunite residents and their families in a safe and disciplined manner so we can better balance the physical and emotional needs of older Tennesseans.”
Expanded Visitation Options
Beginning October 1, 2020 facilities that have gone at least 14 days with no new COVID-19 cases among residents or staff members will immediately be allowed to offer outdoor or limited indoor visitation with residents. These visits will require maintaining strict precautions for the safety of both residents and staff members, including wearing masks, physical distancing, environmental disinfection and in some instances, testing of visitors.
If a facility reports no new cases for 28 days, it will be allowed to offer an essential caregiver program. Essential caregivers are designated individuals who may visit frequently to assist LTCF residents with activities of daily living, such as feeding, bathing and dressing.
Protecting the physical health of Tennessee’s long-term care residents is the primary concern. If a facility has new COVID-19 cases among residents or staff, these expanded visitation allowances will be suspended until the facility is once again infection-free for at least 14 days.
Enhanced Resident Interactions
Tennessee is also relaxing restrictions for resident interactions within long-term care facilities effective October 1, 2020. These include resumption of communal dining, therapeutic and social activities and visits by non-health care personnel such as barbers and beauticians. As with expanded visitation, these activities will only be allowed for residents who do not have COVID-19 in facilities that have had no new cases in at least 14 days. Facilities must maintain strict infection control practices, including use of masks, physical distancing and capacity limits.
Tennessee COVID-19 Long-Term Care Task Force
The new Tennessee COVID-19 Long-Term Care Task Force is charged with developing and implementing new policy solutions to address immediate and future issues impacting long-term care facilities and residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The membership is broad and includes representatives from the Tennessee Departments of Health, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, TennCare, the Commission on Aging and Disability and the Tennessee General Assembly. The task force also includes representatives from advocacy organizations, health care providers and facility administrators, community behavioral health and LTCF residents and their family members. The first objective of this task force is to monitor the safety and effectiveness of the expanded visitation and activity guidelines and refine them, as necessary.
These new initiatives are the result of many weeks of engagement with stakeholders and partners including nursing home providers, the AARP, LeadingAge, Tennessee Health Care Association and Tennessee Hospital Association, as well as family members of long-term care residents and community advocates
Monday opening night at Coffee County Fair

(Pictured above is Macy Tabor (center) and Second Fret. They will play at 7:30 p.m. Monday night at the Coffee County Fair. )
Monday, Sept. 21 is opening night at the annual Coffee County Fair.
Admission price is reduced for Monday, as cost of entry is $3 at the gate for ages 6 and up.
Ride is tickets only on Monday night.
There will be entertainment Monday night, including Duck River Dance at 6:30 p.m. at the grandstand and local musical talent Macy Tabor and Second Fret will take the stage at 7:30 p.m.
The Coffee County Fairgrounds are located at 99 Lakeview Dr. in Manchester. Parking is available for free.
See the complete 2020 Coffee County Fairbook by clicking here
Local VFW presents community awards


In the upper left photo, VFW Commander Kim King presents an award to Mary Campbell Weddington. In the upper right photo, Doyle Reeves poses with his award. Photos provided.
On September 12, 2020, the Manchester, Tennessee Veterans of Foreign Wars
All-American Post 10904 presented awards to area supporters for their
outstanding support to our military and local veterans.
Mary Campbell Weddington accepted the VFW Military Support Appreciation
Award for Citizens Tri-County Bank. Citizens Tri-County Bank has paid the
shipping costs of care packages, shipped from our local area to our military
personnel serving on active duty, since Operation Desert Storm in 1991. She
told members present that Citizens Tri-County Bank is proud to pay for care
package postage, no matter the cost, as their way of supporting our deployed
military forces.
Doyle Reeves, an Army Vietnam veteran, received a special appreciation award
from the Coffee County Veterans Association for his dedication and hard work
on maintaining the Veterans Building and grounds.
For more information and to stay current on the latest VFW news, visit
www.vfwpost10904.com
VICTORY: Raiders drop Siegel 31-21, improve to 2-2
All three phases of the game put points on the board Friday night and the Coffee County Red Raider football team dropped visiting Siegel High School 31-21.
The win improves the Raiders to 2-2 on the season and 1-1 in Region 3-6A play, very much in the hunt of the early-season playoff picture.
Coffee County scored early on a long 80-yard drive that ate seven minutes off the clock to go on top 7-0. Senior tailback Marshall Haney capped the drive with a 16-yard scoring run.
Haney was a workhorse for the Raiders, finishing with 97 yards on 28 carries. He also caught a pair of passes for 32 yards.
Connor Shemwell directed the offense well for Coffee County at quarterback, completing 12-of-19 passes, including a 15 yard touchdown strike to tight end Zack Galy and a 21 yard score to Travis Martin. Shemwell threw for 214 yards.
Galy caught his first three passes on the season, including his first touchdown grab.
The punctuation on the exciting first half for the Raiders was an interception by senior CJ Anthony, who returned the ball 75 yards for a touchdown.
The Raiders put the game away in the fourth quarter on a 30-yard Ian Weldon field goal to take a 31-14 lead. Weldon is now 3-of-3 on the year kicking field goals.
Coffee County will travel to Cookeville for another region game next week. That game will be broadcast live on Thunder Radio – 107.9 FM, 106.7 FM, 1320 AM and streamed at Manchester Go app and thunder1320.com
Miss last night’s game, listen to the first half here ….. listen to the second half here.
Lady Raider volleyball gets road win, improves to 12-0
The Central High School Lady Raider volleyball team remains perfect after a 3-1 win on the road in Columbia Thursday night.
After dropping the first set 25-22, CHS rebounded to win 25-22, 25-22 and 25-19 to claim the best-of-five match.
Kiya Ferrell had an impressive evening for the Lady Raiders, leading the team in kills with 14, digs with 10 and she also pitched in 10 assists.
Lauren Brandt led the team in assists with 20. Brandt also finished with three service aces.
The win improves the Lady Raiders to 12-0 on the season. CHS returns home on Tuesday, Sept. 2 to host Franklin County at 6:30 p.m. That match will be broadcast live on Thunder Radio.