Josh Peterson

Well known Manchester resident and businessman William Ray Sain, Jr. more commonly known as Pete Sain, passed away Sunday. He was 79. Pete was well known for many things, including being a partner in Sain Construction Company, serving on the board of Motlow Development Council, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Foundation and being a co-founder of the Sportsmen and Businessmen’s Charitable Organization 36 years ago. Sain was also a key figure in the relocation of the Houston Oilers to the Nashville area. He was appointed to an advisory committee by late team owner Bud Adams to choose the team’s new name – which is now the Tennessee Titans. He also served in the Marine Corps from 1957 to 1960.

Pete was involved in the governor campaigns for John J. Hooker, Jr., Ned Ray McWherter and Philip Bredesen.

A memorial service for Sain will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday October 12at the First United Methodist Church in Manchester, TN. Visitation will be from Noon until the memorial service at 3 p.m.

A Manchester man is dead after being struck by a vehicle at approximately 7 p.m. Monday evening on Interstate Drive.

The deceased has been identified by Manchester Police as Lawrence Reggie Mullican, age 58. He was commonly known around Manchester as “Caveman.”

According to Manchester Police Department Assistant Chief Adam Floied, Mullican left Unity Medical Center and walked in front of an elderly female driver on Interstate Dr. where he was struck and killed.

According to Floied, the driver did not appear to be intoxicated and did voluntarily submit to a blood alcohol test. Floied stated that the driver was “very distraught.”

As October moves along folks are starting to get curious about Halloween activities in Manchester. The annual Safe on the Square event put on by the Coffee County Children’s Advocacy Center will be from 2:30 until 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31. 

One of the biggest downtown events of the year, officials expect 2,000-plus trick-or-treaters and family to be downtown for the event. If your organization or business would like to participate, contact Heather at 931-723-8888 to sign up no later than Friday, Oct. 18. If you have a business or organization that would like a space on the courthouse lawn or around the square, you can also contact the same number. Everyone is welcome to attend the annual event. 

The TBI is trying to locate Carl Winton Rich in connection to an ongoing criminal investigation.

He’s 40 years old, stands 5’9″, weighs 160 pounds, and has brown eyes and hair. He was last seen in the area of Northgate Shopping Center in McMinnville on the night of March 30th.

Rich has connections to Montana and may have traveled out of state.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts should contact the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND or the McMinnville Police Department at (931) 473-3808.

Carl Winton Rich

Exit 111 Festival will be in town Friday through Sunday and many residents have been asking about the expected attendance and traffic plans. 

According to Coffee County Sheriff Chad Partin, authorities expect traffic to flow quickly in and out each night of the festival. He said that the state does not want to open the special interstate exit (often unofficially referred to as 112) that was designed many years ago just for the Bonnaroo.

Partin added that the main artery for traffic will be Ragsdale Rd and New Bushy Branch Rd. With three toll booths open into the Great Stage Park property. He said that officials do not expect to use other roads such as Asbury. However, additional access roads can be used as necessary.

Although official numbers are not available, attendance for this festival is expected to be below 25,000, according to Thunder Radio News sources. However, tickets remain on sale and are available on site and those numbers can rise significantly through the week leading up to the event.

Fears that gas prices would spike significantly after last month’s attack in Saudi Arabia appear to be calming now that gas prices are steadying and actually declining at the pump here in Tennessee. The current average for a gallon of gas in Tennessee is $2.34. That is down three cents from a week ago and is down 34 cents from this time last year. In Coffee County, prices are even lower with the average price of $2.31. As of Monday, the lowest price in Manchester for a gallon of regular unleaded was $2.25. 

Secretary of State Tre Hargett is pleased to announce Tennessee’s online voter registration hit more than half a million transactions since it launched in September 2017. That includes new online voter registrations or voters updating their addresses.  

Hargett credits the Your Vote Matters campaign for helping to reach the milestone.

“We have taken an aggressive approach to increase voter registration across the state,” Hargett said. “Getting registered to vote is the first step every Tennessean must take to cast a ballot at the polls. Our online voter registration system makes it fast, easy and secure, no matter where you live in the state.”

During National Voter Registration Month, nearly 44,000 Tennesseans registered to vote.

As part of the Your Vote Matters campaign to increase voter registration, Hargett spoke with faith leaders, business leaders, students and civic groups across the state. More than 5,000 organizations across Tennessee received Your Vote Matters posters with a QR code. The number of requests for these helpful resources continues to grow daily. Secretary Hargett also traveled the state to support the role public libraries play in voters’ access to online registration and to present technology grants. All libraries within the state’s regional library system provide easy access to the online voter registration system. Additionally, these libraries also offer paper voter registration applications to their patrons.

Hargett plans to continue speaking with interested organizations across the state and expanding partnerships in the interfaith and business communities. Additionally, the department will continue to invest in an increased presence of its online voter registration digital ads in the coming months.

Our office continued its long-standing efforts to register college students, and once again, college students across Tennessee played a vital role to increase civic engagement on public and private campuses during National Voter Registration Month. More than 2,000 students registered to vote at the 48 schools participating in our department’s voter registration contest, held in September.

This year, county election officials hosted nearly 250 voter registration drives on high school campuses, registering more than 7,000 students. These election officials have already planned an estimated 250 additional voter registration drives during the remainder of the school year.

“I continue to be proud of our county election administrators,” Hargett said. “County election officials have been raising the bar conducting these high school registration drives since I took office in 2009. Our county election officials are excited to embrace new voters.”

Tennesseans can register to vote online or download the paper form at GoVoteTN.com. Voters can also visit their local election commission to get registered.

If you would like a voter registration poster with a QR code, email Tennessee.Elections@tn.gov.

A Manchester man is dead after being struck by a vehicle at approximately 7 p.m. Monday evening on Interstate Drive.

The deceased has been identified by Manchester Police as Lawrence Reggie Mullican, age 58. He was commonly known around Manchester as “Caveman.”

According to Manchester Police Department Assistant Chief Adam Floied, Mullican left Unity Medical Center and walked in front of an elderly female driver on Interstate Dr. where he was struck and killed.

According to Floied, the driver did not appear to be intoxicated and did voluntarily submit to a blood alcohol test. Floied stated that the driver was “very distraught.”