Josh Peterson

We are officially one week away from the first ever Exit 111 Festival, which will take place Friday, Oct. 11 through Sunday Oct. 13. This marks the first major festival event at Great Stage Park other than Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.

Both city and county school officials have closed school for Friday, Oct. 11 for fear of traffic concerns. Officials expect no more than half of the annual Bonnaroo attendance, which means about 40,000 in attendance for the Exit 111 Festival. Tickets remain on sale through the exit 111 website. 

Manchester firefighters responded to a structure fire at 2 p.m. Tuesday on Skinner Flat Rd. The structure was a six unit apartment complex and five of the units were occupied at the time of the fire – all six units received damage. 

According to Manchester Fire Department officials, the cause of the fire remains under investigation. One person was transported to Unity Medical Center for treatment. 

State Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma), said today  

she was informed Senate District 16 has been awarded $726,528 in  

Highway Safety Grants to promote public safety on local roads and to  

curb drunk driving.  Bowling made the announcement after being  

informed by the Department of Safety and Homeland Security.

All seven counties in Senate District 16 – Coffee, Franklin, Grundy,  

Marion, Sequatchie, Van Buren and Warren Counties – are receiving  

grants.

“I am very pleased that so many law enforcement agencies in our Senate  

District, will receive these grants,” said Senator Bowling.  “I’m  

especially pleased that these grants can be used to aid in our efforts  

to protect our citizens against drunk driving.”

The awards include:

*   $24,924 to Coffee County Sheriff’s Department for High  

Visibility Enforcement

*   $23,000 to Coffee County to the Manchester Police Department  

for Alcohol and Impaired Driving Enforcement

*   $185,700 to Coffee County to the Tennessee District Attorney  

General, 14th Judicial District for DUI Prosecution

*   $15,019 to Coffee County to the Tullahoma Police Department for  

Police Traffic Services

*   $5,000 to Franklin County to the Cowan Police Department for  

High Visibility Enforcement

*   $5,000 to Franklin County to the Decherd Police Department for  

High Visibility Enforcement

*   $5,000 to Franklin County to the Estill Springs Police  

Department for High Visibility Enforcement

*   $9,999 to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office for Alcohol and  

Impaired Driving Enforcement

*   $29,998 to Franklin County to the University of the South for  

Distracted Dricing

*   $5,000 to Franklin County to the Winchester Police Department  

for High Visibility Enforcement

*   $16,500 to the Grundy County Sheriff’s Department for Alcohol  

and Impaired Driving Enforcement

*   $5,000 to Grundy County to the Tracy City Police Department for  

High Visibility Enforcement

*   $5,000 to Marion County to the Jasper Police Department for  

High Visibility Enforcement

*   $20,000 to Marion County to the Kimball Police Department for  

Police Traffic Services

*   $20,000 to the Marion County Sheriff’s Department for Alcohol  

and Impaired Driving Enforcement

*   $20,000 to Marion County to the South Pittsburg police  

Department for Police Traffic Services

*   $10,000 to Sequatchie County to the Dunlap Police Department  

for Alcohol and Impaired Driving Enforcement

*   $10,000 to the Sequatchie County Sheriff’s Department

*   $5,000 to Van Buren County to the Spencer Police Department for  

High Visibility Enforcement

*   $5,000 to the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department for High  

Visibility Enforcement

*   $20,088 to Warren County to the McMinnville Police Department  

for Police Traffic Services

*   $261,300 to Warren County to the Tennessee District Attorney  

General, 31st Judicial District for DUI Prosecution

*   $20,000 to the Warren County Sheriff’s Department for Police  

Traffic Services

“These investments will give our local communities additional funds  

that should help upgrade their efforts to make our roads safer. I will  

continue to work to ensure our citizens are kept safe and our roads  

are made safer in the next General Assembly,” added Bowling.

The grant awards will be disbursed by the Tennessee Highway Safety  

Office (THSO).  The grants are provided to agencies that successfully  

applied for funding who meet the required data-driven criteria and  

highway safety standard.  Grant applications must be in line with  

THSO’s mission to reduce traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities.

Coffee County Schools is facilitating a Poverty Simulation on Friday, October 11th at Hillsboro Elementary School for both Hillsboro and Deerfield Elementary School Staff as Professional Development. Poverty is often portrayed as a stand alone issue; however, this simulation allows the opportunity for our teachers, staff, and administrators to walk a month in the shoes of what it is like for some of our students and families who are facing poverty and fully see how complex and interconnected issues of poverty really are.

During this simulation, teachers, staff, and administrators will participate living through a month of poverty and go through stations to take care of employment, housing, transportation, utilities, and other needs to simulate an excellent perspective of what life is like for some of our students and families.

The school system is looking for business leaders to participate by manning a booth in their field of expertise. The simulation will begin at 8 a.m. and should conclude around noon. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Taylor Rayfield at (931) 222-1066

Poverty Simulation Booths:

• Community Banker
• Quick Cash (Pay Day Lender)
• Community Action – (Non-profit organization leaders serving families)
• Interfaith Services
• Food-A-Rama (Grocery Store)
• Mortgage Lender
• Pawnbroker
• Police Officer
• Utility Collector
• Social Service Representative
• Social Service Caseworker
• Realville School
• Childcare/Headstart
• General Employer
• Community Health Care

In Fayetteville, 529 employees at the Goodman Manufacturing plant learned this week that they will be laid off at the end of November as the plant continues to close up its operations in favor of moving operations to Texas. 

On Friday, Goodman filed a notice with the State of Tennessee Labor and Workforce Development stating that it would complete the 529 worker layoff by Nov. 27. This comes on the heels of 703 workers from the plant losing jobs last week. 

In total, 1,328 workers have bene affected. 

Goodman announced in 2015 that the plant would close by 2017 – however that has been delayed but appears to me moving forward now. 

Immigrants could help Tennessee fill its health-care workforce gap, according to a new report by the Business Forward Foundation. Foreign-born individuals currently make up less than 5% of the state’s total population. 

President of the Business Forward Foundation Jim Doyle said the number of Tennessee seniors will nearly double by 2070. He pointed out that without new immigrants, the ongoing doctor shortage and lack of health-care access experienced by people living in rural parts of the state will worsen.

“It’s totally reasonable for people in Tennessee to be asking the question, ‘Are we full?’ or to be worried about immigrants,” Doyle said. “It’s just important to understand the underlying math. And the math suggests that if we cut off immigrants, then Tennessee is one of the states that’s going to suffer most.”

The report also found immigrants provide Tennessee around $527 million in economic contributions each year.

Doyle said without a steady flow of new immigrants, over time, an aging and shrinking population will impact Tennessee’s schools, pensions, infrastructure and economic opportunity.

“We’ll see slower job growth, lower tax revenues, falling property values, and this begins to create a whole negative cycle that’s hard to break,” he said.

Tennessee’s immigrants are also starting new businesses. According to the report, more than 20,000 immigrant entrepreneurs across the state have created 82,000 new jobs. Doyle pointed out that immigrants are more likely to both have advanced degrees and be of working age. 

“We can grow our economy and create jobs by welcoming immigrants and reforming our laws,” Doyle said. “Or we can try to keep them out, and we can pay the price.”

The report’s authors said less restrictive immigration policies could grow Tennessee’s Gross Domestic Product by $9.9 billion over the next decade.

Attention all high school and college students students.The 2020-2021 FAFSA is now open! Make sure to complete the FAFSA by February 1, 2020. For more information, contact your high school guidance counselor or college admissions office. 

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Here are a few numbers from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation regarding domestic violence. 

*In 2018, 73,568 cases were flagged as domestic related in Tennessee alone. 

*The overall number of domestic related offenses decreased by 5.8% from 2017 to 2018.

*Females were three times more likely to be victimized than males; accounting for 71.1% for all domestic violence victims, while males accounted for 28.8%.

*Juveniles made up 9.8% of reported victims in 2018.

*Domestic violence resulted in 98 murder victims in 2018

If you need help, Call the state’s Domestic Violence Helpline at 1-800-356-6767.

A link to this complete TBI report can be found by clicking here. 

Forecasts indicate that Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s temperatures will reach record highs. Projected afternoon temperatures in the mid-90s will create a high electricity demand due to home cooling. DREMC predicts that this will be the highest daily purchase of energy from TVA so far this month. Because of that, we need your help to limit that purchase.

“Our daily max purchase from TVA sets the demand portion of our monthly wholesale power bill, and that equals 40% of our monthly bill,” explains, DREMC Member Services Manager Carol Garrette. “Our Beat the Peak program is all about lowering the peak energy usage on those predicted days for just a few hours. Every month we try to predict the handful of potential peak days and conserve energy on those days. If we get it right, the money saved eventually impacts retail rates.”

The Beat the Peak alert window on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 1 and 2, 2019, is from 4-6 PM. DREMC asks that members turn up their air conditioner thermostats by three degrees during the peak period. If the setting is normally 75 degrees, adjusting the thermostat to 78 will help lessen our energy demand.

In addition, members should:

✓ Defer use of hot water. Give the electric water heater a break by not showering, running the dishwasher or using the washing machine.

✓ Delay running the clothes dryer.

✓ Close shades and curtains to block sunlight. If you have a swimming pool, turn off the water circulation pump.

✓ Turn off lights in unoccupied rooms.

✓ Keep the oven turned off.

When the peak period has passed, normal electricity use can resume.

“With Beat the PeakTM, we attempt to hold down DREMC’s wholesale power bill,” Garrette added. “To reduce your individual bill, look for many resources on our website including home energy audits, energy calculators, and low-cost/no-cost summertime tips. Also, The Tennessee Magazine, mailed monthly to our consumer-members, features energy efficiency advice worth checking out.”

Beat the PeakTM is a network of thousands of residential households that are sent peak alert warnings via email, text message and ads broadcast on local radio stations. Members voluntarily reduce their electricity use during the time when DREMC predicts a new potential peak demand.

To sign up for Beat the PeakTM emails and texts, go to www.dremc.com and click on the “My Account” tab, or contact your local DREMC office.