Category: News

The summer break for most children is soon coming to an end. Coffee County Schools will have an abbreviated day on August 2nd from 7:45 a.m. to 10 a.m. with the first full day of classes on August 6th. Manchester City Schools will have an abbreviated day on August 2nd, from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., with regular classes beginning on August 6th. Classes at Tullahoma City Schools will be back in session August 1st. Franklin County is back to the drawing board on August 7th. Moore County Schools will have an abbreviated day on August 2nd with the first full day on August 6th.
Grundy County Schools will have an abbreviated day on August 3rd with the first full day of classes on August 7th.

This weekend, long lines of booksellers will be greeting book collectors in Cowan where rare books, magazines and even a 1744 map of California as an island will be featured. It’s all part of the Antiquarian Book Fair held every year in this tiny town at the base of Sewanee Mountain. This year there will be a signed first edition of “Gone with the Wind” and the British first edition of “Dymer” by C. S. Lewis.

Following an attack at a Colorado movie theatre, which left 12 people dead and at least 58 people wounded, Regal Cinemas, owner of the cinema eight in Tullahoma, announced it would be updating its policy on applicable theatre attire.  Ticket holders “should expect stricter controls over character attire and accessories at our theaters.”  Montana & Company owns the Oldham Theater in Winchester, Estill Springs’ Montana Drive-In, and theaters in Shelbyville and Sewanee. Montana & Company’s Beth Rhoton gave no comment whether or not those theaters would be increasing security or changing policies citing the media’s coverage of the shooting.

Early voting continues through July 28. Those voting in Manchester can do so at the Coffee County Election Commission office. Those who want to vote in Tullahoma can vote at C D Stamps Center. Saturday hours are 8:30 to noon in Manchester and 9 to noon in Tullahoma. Weekday hours are 8 to 4:30 in Manchester and 9 to 4:30 at C D Stamps Center. Don’t forget to bring your photo ID.
As of Thursday, 1,431 people cast a republican ballot, and 770 have voted as democrats. Coffee County’s total number of early voters so far is 2,346. WMSR will provide live election coverage beginning at 7pm Thursday, August 2nd.

An assisted living facility in the Grundy County town of Coalmont, Tenn., has paid more than $151,000 in back wages to 15 employees following a federal investigation.
According to a news release Thursday from the Department of Labor, Exceptional Enterprises Inc. violated the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Investigators said the employer had been improperly deducting time for sleep from employees’ hours, resulting in minimum wage violations for the sleep time that was not compensated. Additionally, the facility failed to pay employees overtime compensation at 1 1/2 times their regular rates.
The news release said an employee who is required to be on duty for less than 24 hours is considered working even if he or she is permitted to sleep or do other personal activities when not busy.

On the agenda Tuesday night at the Coffee County Commission meeting was the appointment of members to the Ambulance Authority. Manchester Caucus nominated Anne Frisby to continue in her position. Rural Caucus Appointed Rennie Bell to continue in his position . Tullahoma Caucus wanted to defer until the September meeting for their appointment, but Commissioner Bobby Bryan brought up the issue of not voting for current member Jimmy Bradford. Commissioner Rush Bricken told Mr. Bryan that the decision was made by the majority of the Tullahoma Caucus and they had issues to work out. Bricken assured Bryan that Bradford would remain in that position until the September meeting. The issue was pushed to a vote with Bradford’s name placed into nomination. Commissioner Mark Kelly nominated Jody Baltz, who is the city administrator of Tullahoma. Votes were taken with Bradford receiving 10 votes, and Baltz getting 8 votes. One Commissioner abstained. Because neither received a majority of 11 votes, neither were appointed, and the matter will be brought up again in September. This whole procedure took over one and half hours.
In other business the budget was passed with no property tax increase.
A resolution about the Coffee County Government Internet Use Policy & Procedures was tabled until next meeting.
The body did pass a resolution to purchase a building and land next to the Rural Solid Waste Department for their use. The price tag for it is $92,500.00.

One person was killed in a single vehicle crash Wednesday morning on Interstate 24 near the Coffee County line.
The wreck was reported before 8 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of I-24 at mile marker 96.
A 1999 Audi was traveling east on Interstate 24 when the driver, identified as Andrew Ivanchuk, 21, of Wildwood, MO, fell asleep. The car traveled off the left side of the roadway, causing the driver to overcorrect to the right according to a THP report.
The car then crossed both lanes of I-24 and traveled off the right side of road, striking several large trees.
Killed in the wreck was a passenger identified as Danielle Janette Ivanchuk, 21, of Wildwood, MO.
Andrew Ivanchuk and 3-month-old, Veralyn Ivanchuk, were also injured in the crash.
Investigators said the child was properly seated but neither the driver or passenger were wearing their seat belts.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has placed a McMinnville man wanted for murder on the state’s top 10 most wanted list.
The TBI says that 35-year-old Gregorio Rosas Arenas is wanted for the June 20 fatal shooting of 29-year-old Albertano Guerrero Trejo during an argument at Trejo’s apartment.
Arenas is described as a Hispanic male with black hair and brown eyes. He is 5’3” and weighs approximately 122 lbs. He was last seen driving a red Pontiac with Tennessee tag 555JPH that belongs to a different vehicle and may be in possession of the victim’s personal identification. Arenas should be considered armed and dangerous and approached with caution. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Gregorio Rosas Arenas is urged to call the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND. There is a $1,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

The seventh annual Tennessee “Sales Tax Holiday” is set to begin on Friday, August 3 at 12:01 a.m. and will end Sunday, August 5 at 11:59 p.m.
During the holiday, clothing with a purchase price of $100 or less per item is exempt from sales tax. School supplies exempted include items of $100 or less like binders, book bags, calculators, tape, chalk, crayons, erasers, folders, glue, pens, pencils, lunch boxes, notebooks, paper, ruler, and scissors. Additionally, there is no requirement that purchases be made only for students. If an item is tax exempt, anyone may make the purchase tax–free.
Computers with a purchase price of $1,500 or less, not for use in a trade or business, are also exempt from tax. Laptop computers, if priced at $1,500 or less, qualify as well as tablet computers.
For more information, please contact the Tennessee Department of Revenue online at www.tntaxholiday.com or at www.TN.gov/revenue. Citizens or merchants who have inquiries can also email salestax.holiday@tn.gov, or telephone 1 (800) 342-1003 7 a.m. – 5 p.m., CST, Monday through Friday.

Tennessee has moved up the ranks to 36^th from 39^thin child well-being in a newly released report on Wednesday. The annual report is compiled to improve evaluation of child well-being. Tennessee ranked better than most southern states in the Annie E. Casey KIDS COUNT project.
According to Tennessee Commission of Children and Youth, Tennessee’s ranking was lifted by its good showing on health domain, ranking 16th. Other scores; 38th on economic well-being, 39th for family and community well-being, and 42nd on education domain. Rankings on 16 indicators clustered in four domains – health, economic well-being, education, and family and community – are tallied to form the composite ranking.