Category: News

The Manchester Fire & Rescue would like to invite you to participate in its 3rd annual Chili Cook-Off scheduled from 12 to 4 p.m. October 13, 2012 on the downtown square in Manchester, Tennessee. The event is open to any and all individuals or teams that have a desire to make chili and have fun! It is also a good way to promote your cooking skills or business! Last year’s event was a great success as 29 teams competed for one of three trophies and $500 cash prizes awarded. The 2011 cook-off netted over $3,700 for Manchester Fire & Rescue’s Firefighter Association. This year’s proceeds will go to the Children’s Advocacy Center, a non-profit organization that provides a child-focused facility in a safe, neutral location.

Since this is a charity event, a donation of $25 per team is required to enter the competition. The rest of the money raised comes from individuals purchasing a spoon for $5. With this spoon, they are allowed to sample all of the competitors’ chili and them vote for the “People’s Choice Award”, one of three awards that will be given out during the event. The other two awards are “Best Overall Chili” which will be judged by a panel of special guests; and the “Best Presentation”, which involves the theme surrounding the individuals’ or teams’ booth and chili presentation, also judged by the panel of judges. So, to win the “People’s Choice Award”, you will need to have a lot of supports willing to try a lot of chili. There will again be customized trophies, donated and designed by Logos, Awards and More, for the winners of each category.

Marcrom’s Pharmacy, United Regional Medical Center, First Call of Nashville and a private donation in the memory of the late Assistant Chief Rod Ballard are helping sponsor chili cook-off this year. The event will once again consist of three (3) $500 cash awards, one for each category. So each team needs to have as many supporters come out and purchase a “spoon” so they can vote for the “People’s Choice Award”, and help the Children’s Advocacy Center all at one time!

Manchester Police are looking into an incident that occurred at Wal-Mart. A woman on Monday (8-27-12) allegedly loaded two shopping carts with merchandise and pushed the items out of the store. The suspect, along with two small children, left the store with over $2,000 worth of items. If you have any information on the woman or the children, contact Investigator Ray (Butch) Stewart with the Manchester Police Department. 728-2099.

The Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Aldermen may revise an ordinance so that stiffer penalties apply to those who remove trees from city right of way without proper authorization. Tullahoma Tree Board chairman Ralph Graham presented recommendations to the Board of Aldermen Monday that he said there have had several instances where public trees have been removed from the right of way or damaged in recent years. Graham said the city’s current ordinance has a $50 fine for those who violate the city ordinance but it has not been a deterrent to those who have removed 100-year-old trees from city right of way. The Board of Aldermen agreed to consider at its Sept. 24 meeting that removing trees without authorization is subject to citations being issued by the city forester, that would not only levy the $50 fine but also violators could be subject to any additional costs for removing damaged trees and expenses associated with replacing them.

Superfly Productions and A.C. Entertainment are proud to announce the dates for the 12th annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Confirmed to take place June 13 – 16, 2013, the four-day festival will once again be held at the same beautiful, 700-acre farm in Manchester.
As the only round-the-clock major U.S. music festival, Bonnaroo packs an unparalleled amount of entertainment options into its four days. The event has offered its attendees the amenities and community spirit of a small city, with 24 hours of activities including a comedy theater, cinema festival, broo’ers festival, silent disco, salon, sustainable gardening lessons, arcade, Internet cafés, restaurants, yoga classes and hundreds of high quality food and craft vendors.
The Bonnaroo 2013 line up will be announced in February.

The University of Tennessee made no movement in its bid to become a top-25 public research university, holding steady at No. 46 on the latest rankings released today by U.S. News & World Report.
Chancellor Jimmy Cheek insisted Tuesday he was happy with UT’s ability to hold steady its spot on this list.
UT ranked as high as No. 38 in 2006, but fell to No. 52 in 2009 and 2010. UT shares its current spot with the University of Oklahoma, Iowa State University, the University of Nebraska, and the University of California-Riverside.

The state’s poverty rate dropped slightly last year, even as the national rate jumped to 46 million people. Tennessee still has some of the highest poverty numbers in the nation.
According to new numbers from the Census Bureau, about 77-thousand fewer Tennesseans are living in poverty. However, the number is still higher than before the recession. In the last year, the state’s jobless rate has fallen. Also, some of the state’s poorest communities have announced new efforts to tackle poverty.
The Census Bureau’s figures are based on the federal poverty line, which is about 23-thousand dollars for a family of four.

The State of Tennessee will announce a new college savings plan, the TNStars College Savings 529 Program. Treasurer David H. Lillard, Jr. will be joined by Governor Bill Haslam, Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey, and Speaker Beth Harwell at the announcement of the new plan on September 18th. The announcement of the new 529 savings plan will be at the Adventure Science Center Planetarium in Nashville.
A 529 plan is a tax-advantaged college savings plan that is designed to help parents, grandparents and friends support the educational needs of loved ones.

The Coffee County Fair Association would like to invite everyone to come out to enjoy another spectacular year. With this being the Fair’s 155th Anniversary, they have worked hard to try to preserve the past
as well as look toward the future. The Coffee County Fair is located at 99 Lakeview Drive in Manchester.
Saturday at 5:30 PM is the Miss Teen Coffee County Contest, and at 8:00 PM the Fairest of the Fair Contest will begin.
Sunday’s events; 1:00 PM Baby Show – 0-6 Months, 2:00 PM Baby Show – 6-12 Months, 3:00 PM Baby Show – 12-18 Months, 4:00 PM Baby Show – 18-24 Months and 5:00 PM Toddler Show.

This has not been a good week for those in Coffee County growing marijuana. Monday deputies from the Coffee County Sheriff’s department, along with ABC agents, raided a residence on Harpo Road and seized 112 plants, some outside and others from two rooms inside the house. They also seized several weapons and a stolen 4-wheeler from Grundy County. Then Tuesday, Sgt. Danny Ferrell seized two 10-foot plants from a residence near Normandy Lake. Authorities plan to present cases against those involved to the Coffee County Grand Jury.

The mother of Megan Sharpton is pleading for help from the district attorney to get the man she thinks is responsible for the murder behind bars. The body of the 24-year-old Tullahoma woman was found partially burning July 2nd on Awalt Road in Franklin County. Her mother is asking for DA Mike Taylor to make some moves in the case out of fear for her family’s safety as well as other girls in the area. Taylor says that investigators have developed persons of interest in the case, but that is his only comment. Megan’s mother has told reporters that there is a person of interest that has her terrified. She says she is impressed with the amount of evidence that has been collected by Franklin County Sheriff’s investigators in the case. There is a reward offered for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons involved in the murder of Megan Sharpton.