Josh Peterson

The Franklin County Fair Board in Franklin County, Tenn. has announced that it is cancelling the 2019 Franklin County Fair, citing rising insurance costs, lack of carnival ride variety and limited participation from vendors and the fair board.

The fair was scheduled for October. Dont worry, though, the Coffee County Fair is still going strong and is set for September 14th through 21st. 

Two Grundy County deputies have been indicted on federal civil rights offenses. According to the Grundy County Herald, Chief Deputy Anthony Tony Bean, age 59 and sergeant Anthony TJ Bean, 29, were indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Chattanooga for use of excessive force. 

According to the indictment, both are indicted with one count of deprivation of rights for an incident involving an arrestee identified as Freddie Meeks. The indictment says that both Tony Bean and TJ Bean used unreasonable force and assaulted and injured the arrestee in December of 2017. Tony Bean is also charged with one count of deprivation of rights for an incident involving arrestee Calving Green when he served as Chief of Police with Tracy City. The indictment states that Tony Bean used unreasonable force when he assaulted and injured Green in August of 2014. Each of the costs carries a maximum penalty of 10 years of imprisonment. 

If you see or hear military helicopters around the area of Arnold Air Force Base on the evening of Wednesday, July 24, there is no need to be alarmed.

“As we have done in the past, there will be a US Army aviation exercise on the base this evening,” stated Jason Austin, Chief of AEDC Public Affairs.

The training will include US Army helicopters and will take place “in the evening, after dark,” according to Austin.

It is a one day training exercise.

We have a recall on more than 700 pounds of raw beef and pork to tell you about after officials say the meat may have been contaminated by human blood. 

US Foods, which is based in Alabama, issued a voluntary recall on approximately 712 pounds of fresh and frozen raw beef and pork items produced on July 18th. 

recall square stamp

The company announced that the meat may have been contaminated when a factory employee may have cut himself during production. It is important to note that there have been no reported illnesses to date. 

The meat in question was shipped to restaurants in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee and has the establishment number EST. 21103 inside the USDA inspection mark. These items should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase. 

Click this link for a full list of the recalled products: list of recalled beef, pork.

The United States Marine Corps will be conducting a training exercise in the Middle Tennessee area and part of the training will take place in a rural location in Moore County the night of July 29. 

The training has been coordinated with local law enforcement and with a property owner. Noise-making devices will be used that will produce sounds of periodic gunfire and explosions, but no live ammunition will be used. Military tactical vehicles will likely be used during this event. This training poses no threat to public safety and should last approximately one to two hours. 

Tennessee’s annual Sales Tax holiday is this weekend. During tax-free weekend shoppers will not have to pay any state or local sales tax on clothing and school supplies totaling $100 or less, or computers totaling $1,500 or less.

The 2019 sales tax holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 26 and ends Sunday, July 28 at 11:59 p.m. 

The Duck River Electric Membership Corporation (DREMC) Board of Directors is pleased to announce a new president and CEO for the member-owned electric cooperative. Scott Spence, a native of the greater Chattanooga area, was offered the position and accepted on Wednesday.

“Scott brings much expertise in the electric industry as well as proven leadership skills and strategic-thinking experience,” commented DREMC Board Chairman Barry Cooper. “He is energetic, talented, and approachable, and the board unanimously agreed on this choice for our new leader.”

Prior to joining DREMC, Spence was general manager and CEO for Arab Electric Cooperative, of Arab, Alabama, serving approximately 15,500 members and managing more than 1,200 miles of distribution power lines.

Spence became CEO of Arab Electric in January 2018. While part of the Arab community, he was honored with the “Heart of the City” award by the Arab Chamber of Commerce, was selected to join the Marshall County Economic Development Council Board and was invited to serve the Committee for Member Services of the Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives.

Under Spence’s leadership, Arab Electric corrected oversights by past management resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars of savings to its members. As a result of his efforts to strengthen internal controls and improve operating procedures, TVA commended Spence’s commitment to protecting Arab Electric members by awarding the cooperative its 2019 TVA Partnership Award. The cooperative received a clean financial audit from Jackson Thornton Certified Public Accountants in January 2019.

Cooper added that there were many excellent candidates – a total of 74, in fact.

“No current employees of DREMC applied for the position,” Cooper said. “All 74 candidates came to us through a nationwide search with the help of our national electric cooperative organization, NRECA. Scott represents a new era for DREMC, and we are very pleased with how this search turned out. We believe Scott will be an asset not only to our cooperative but with his heart for getting engaged in the community, good for our greater area as well.”

Spence also brings more than 10 years of experience at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) where he served as a senior risk and fuel supply analyst as well as a senior manager of forecasting.

“My time at TVA was exciting, for sure, and helped me gain valuable skills and experience in the industry,” Spence remarked. “I appreciate the public power model and all I learned about wholesale power at TVA, including rates, transmission strategies and building relationships with key stakeholders. I have many mentors from my time at TVA whom I continue to call on.

“However, I realized, through working closely with local power companies, that I wanted to work for an electric cooperative.”

The cooperative business model, according to Spence, with its focus on consumer-members, commitment to community and not-for-profit status, suits better his philosophy on life.

“I like being able to come home and talk to my kids about the real difference we make in ourcommunity, the people we help, the way we unify. Since our beginnings in the 1930s, electric cooperatives have been working together, side by side, to reach our goals of making our rural area a better place to live. I believe in that; I’m proud of that,” said Spence.

Spence also worked for the Chattanooga Electric Power Board (EPB) where he served for over a year as a senior strategic manager and was involved in their fiber to the home launch.

“I look forward to joining DREMC’s team that is actively building fiber today and partnering to find broadband solutions for our service area. These are indeed exciting times,” said Spence.

Spence, along with Christa, his wife, and their two teenagers, Brady and Breanna, hope to make their home in the greater Shelbyville area so Spence will be convenient to the headquarters building where his office will be located.

“You can expect to see my family and me quickly getting connected to the local community,” said Spence. “Community engagement and relationships are very important to us, so we hope we won’t be considered outsiders for long.”

Cooper added that Spence will make his first appearance to the membership on Saturday, August 17, 2019, at the DREMC annual meeting that will take place at Franklin County High School, Winchester, at 9:30 AM. Spence plans to be on the job full-time at DREMC in late August.

Spence expressed his gratitude to the board of directors and his excitement about joining the DREMC team and moving forward together.

“A lot of people want this job,” Spence told the board. “I want this work.”

The Manchester Police Department and Manchester Recreation Center are inviting children of all ages to come out to the outdoor pool at the recreation center from 6:15-8:15 on August 7 for free to hang out with the Manchester Police Department in what is been called – cool down with a cop. 

The Manchester Police Department will be on hand to interact with the area youth and there will be free popsicles, as well. There is no admission and the event is completely free, no memberships or gate fee. Parents should be accompanied by an adult. 

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department is issuing a warning to everyone in the area regarding counterfeit bills. The department is encouraging everyone to take extra precaution when receiving cash for business transactions because counterfeit bills have been located.

Anyone with information or concerns should contact their local sheriff’s department, in Coffee County the number is 931-728-3591.