Josh Peterson

Tennessee Highway Patrol celebrated its 90th anniversary of serving the state Saturday by celebration the graduation of 37 trooper cadets, who earned their badges in a graduation ceremony at Hermitage Hills Baptist Church in Nashville. Governor Bill Lee served as the keynote speaker. 

Gas prices across the state are basically the same as last week with a slight, 3-cents drop on average as prices now stand at $2.29 per gallon of regular unleaded as of Sunday, Dec. 15.

That price is four cents cheaper than the same time last month and experts predict that prices will continue to fall through the end of the calendar year. Buying gas in Tennessee still continues to be far cheaper than most anywhere else, as the National average is $2.55. In Coffee County, the average is $2.28, better than all surrounding counties with the exception of Rutherford County, where average prices are $2.17.

More Americans than ever on record will travel this holiday season – about 115.6 million to be exact, according to AAA. That includes 2.76 million Tennesseans. The most ever on record. 

Friday night is the annual Manchester downtown stroll. You can shop extended hours and eat at restaurants in downtown mnahceste from 5-8 p.m. there are carriage rides and Santa will be at the Mercantile. 

And congratulations to this week’s student of the week Bella Van Zanbergen. 

More Americans than ever on record – 115.6 million – will travel this holiday season, from Saturday, Dec. 21 through Wednesday, Jan. 1. That is the most in nearly 20 years since AAA began tracking in 2000, and represents an increase of 3.9% over last year, or 4.3 million more people packing up their sleighs for a holiday getaway. More than 104 million of those holiday travelers will drive to their destinations and, INRIX, a global transportation analytics company, expects delays to be the worst on Thursday, Dec. 26, with afternoon delays reaching nearly double congestion-free drive times in major U.S. cities.

“Holiday cheer is at an all-time high this year, with unemployment at historically low levels, and noted improvements in both disposable income and household net worth,” said Paula Twidale, vice president, AAA Travel. “Travelers should be getting used to crowded highways and airports, as this marks the eighth straight year of new record-high travel volumes for the year-end holidays.”More Americans than ever on record will drive this holiday season.

Total Travelers:

• Nationwide: 115.6 million will travel this holiday season, more than ever on record.
• Tennessee: 2.76 million Tennesseans will travel this year, an increase of 4.4% over last year, and the most on record–ever.

Theme parks, warm-weather destinations & NYC top holiday getaways

Theme parks in Orlando and southern California, other warm-weather locales, and the iconic holiday destination New York City top the list of 10 most popular destinations in the U.S. for the year-end holidays, based on advance AAA Travel bookings:

1. Orlando, FL
2. Anaheim, CA
3. Honolulu, HI
4. Kahului, Maui, HI
5. Las Vegas, NV
6. Ft. Lauderdale, FL
7. New York, NY
8. Miami, FL
9. Tampa, FL
10. Phoenix, AZ

Friday night is the annual Manchester Downtown Stroll – it takes place from 5-8 p.m. You can enjoy extended hours at local shops and restaurants in historic downtown Manchester, as well as horse carriage rides. If you plan to enjoy a carriage ride around the downtown square, there is no price, but you are asked to donate to the animals of our community by bringing puppy chow, dog chow, dog treats or toys. There will also be pictures with Santa Claus from 6:30-8 p.m. at First National Bank. Pictures come at no cost, however you need to provide your own camera or phone. 

Join us at Thunder Radio and Rosalyn Partin at the H&R Block of Manchester and say congratulations to our student of the week – Bella Van Zanbergen.

Bella is a fifth-grade student at Westwood Elementary School. She is in Mrs. Jamie Morgan’s class, and is the daughter of Nick and Kenya Van Zanbergen. 

Bella enjoys playing basketball and also likes to crochet. When she grows up she would like to be a travel doctor. 

Rosalyn Partin, owner of the Manchester H&R Block, has been inspired to recognize kids in our community all through hockey season. What does hockey have to do with our local students? Well, H&R Block gives each Student of the Week a set of Nashville Predators tickets, a commemorative plaque, as well as a special letter of recognition. 

Congratulations, Bella!

Hillsboro Elementary School Students, Colton Fischer and Arianna Freeze, along with staff, helped members of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee cut the ribbon to the school’s new “Tiger’s Table School Pantry.”

Second Harvest’s School Pantry program helps students and families in need with food assistance but otherwise don’t have access to area food pantries.  

“We are grateful for our strong partnership with Second Harvest. Each of our schools work tirelessly to ensure the needs of the whole child are met. Hillsboro Elementary is no exception, and this opportunity allows them to further expand their services to students and families,” said Taylor Rayfield, Coordinator of Family Resource for Coffee County Schools. 

With the generosity of an anonymous donor, Hillsboro Elementary Schools’ Tiger’s Table Food Pantry will distribute consumer size shelf-stable food items to students and families in need for the next two years. For more information on how to support or how to access services from the Tiger’s Table Food Pantry, contact Connie Heatherly, School Counselor at 931-596-2775. 

By Nadia Ramlagan, Tennessee Public News Service

The effort to enact a federal job-guarantee policy is gaining momentum politically, as more groups, legislators and individuals call for livable wages and economic security for families. Comments from Sarah Treuhaft (pronounced true-haft), managing director at PolicyLink.

Some advocates are pushing for what they call a federal job guarantee, legislation that would ensure that anyone who needs a good job has one. The Federal Jobs for All campaign, which launched this week, has more than five hundred supporters. Sarah Treuhaft of the group PolicyLink says while nationwide employment may be low, the data doesn’t take into account job quality or economic security.

“The inability to provide good jobs for all is really a key failure of our economy. So, too many of the jobs we’re creating are low-wage jobs that don’t pay enough to make ends meet or provide for a family. Some 44% of American workers now earn less than $18,000 per year.”

Several representatives have proposed policies that would create pilot federal job-guarantee programs in communities across the country. In addition, the Green New Deal Resolution introduced by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, also includes a job guarantee.

Treuhaft points out that local businesses, social services and taxpayers end up bearing the consequences of high unemployment.

“I think we need to think about the cost that we’re paying right now for continued joblessness and for leaving people behind in our economy.”

She adds that livable wages and good jobs are connected to the overall health and well-being of communities.

“Employment and income are correlated with all kinds of outcomes for health, well being, for democratic participation. We really need to think of it as an investment instead of a cost.”

Sixty-one counties in Tennessee have unemployment rates below 5 percent, while 34 counties now have unemployment rates at or above 5 percent, according to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Some advocates are pushing for what they call a federal job guarantee, legislation that would ensure that anyone who needs a good job has one. 

Curious about what happened to the Love’s Truck Stop development that was to come to Coffee County off of Interstate-24 Exit 117?

Well, it is still in the works as developers have submitted an application with the US Army Corps of Engineers regarding construction of the facility. The application is in regards to impacted wetlands. The developers have also been busy working to search for endangered species and a survey performed states than none were found. Developers have requested the US Fish and Wildlife Services to inspect possible threatened or endangered species in that area. 

The project was scheduled to begin in 2018 but has been held up by various studies and delays. At the time of its approval, the project was expected to be a $20 million project that includes a restaurant, convenience store, tire-maintenance facility and a truck stop, creating more than 40 jobs.

The Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce is really working hard to keep shoppers spending money at local shops and restaurants this holiday season. 

With less than two weeks before Christmas, the chamber and Thunder Radio encourages you to shop local for those last minute gifts. While shopping at local stores and eating at local restaurants, look for participating businesses with the shop local elf. If you find the elf, you can purchase an item, take a selfie and post it with the hash tag #shop37355, tag the Manchester Chamber of Commerce on Facebook and you’ll be entered to win a basket of goodies. Remember, shopping local can make a big impact this holiday season. A full list of participating businesses is below:

Beans Creek Winery

Bites of Europe

Coffee Café

Donut Palace

Eaton Home Stores

Foothills Crafts

Freddie’s

Harvest Local Foods

High Cotton

J&G

Jehova Java

Jiffy Burger

KK’s

Merle Norman

Prater’s

Reese’s Genes

Smoot’s

Spring Street Market

Sprout Children’s Shop

The Cracked Pot

The Mercantile

The Wandering Apple

Soul Revival Boutique

Owen’s Provisions & Apparel