Category: News

State regulators have taken possession of the Farmers Bank of Lynchburg, Tenn., and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as its receiver.
The Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions announced the action late Friday afternoon, citing the bank’s “impaired capital, unsound condition and inability to continue normal operations.”
Deposit accounts of the bank have been transferred to Clayton Bank and Trust of Knoxville and will be available immediately. Clayton Bank and Trust is the owner of American City Bank, with branches in Tullahoma and Manchester.
Depositors will be able to access their accounts at the former main office and branch locations of the Lynchburg bank during regular business hours.
Regulators said ATMs can still be used, checks written and debit transactions made.
The FDIC has established a toll-free phone number to answer questions from depositors, creditors and other interested parties regarding the receivership of The Farmers Bank of Lynchburg.
An important thing to remember is that customers of Farmers Bank are now subject to the guidelines of the new bank, including interest rates on loans and deposits.
The toll-free number is 1-800-774-8035.

Sales tax collections in May were up in Manchester and Tullahoma and down slightly in the county. In Tullahoma, May collections in 2011 were $742,056, last month Tullahoma collected $822,189, increasing $80,132. The county tax collection went down by $1,197 compared to May 2011. The City of Manchester saw another month with sales tax collections going up, this time $27,827 over May of 2011 with just over $631,000 collected. Overall county collections were $1.6(M) for May 2012.

Animal rights activists from Coffee and surrounding counties were in Manchester on Friday to protest. The group first protested in the lane that leads to the Coffee County Animal Control building, then moved to the Coffee County Administrative Plaza.
Vera Lund, a Manchester resident, told WMSR Radio that she did NOT blame the animal control officer that shot and killed Bryan Pennington’s dog, “Toby”, on Monday. She says the problem is not enough funding and needed policy changes. Lund added that animal control officers should be better trained and facilities need upgrading.
Funding to animal control in Coffee County for 2011-2012 was $97,916, and they are asking for $102,067 in the upcoming budget.
The story began when Bryan Pennington said his black 16-year-old Labrador retriever, “Toby”, was picked up by Coffee County Animal Control Monday afternoon and was apparently shot in the head by a control officer.
Pennington told us that his dog had arthritis in his legs and was blind in one eye.
Animal Control officer Charlie Brown, who shot and killed the dog, has said in media reports that he thought the dog had been hit by a car and did what he thought was best for the dog. Brown says he feels sorry for the family.
Pennington told WMSR News that he does not want to see Brown lose his job. His hope is that the Coffee County Animal Control will reconsider the way they euthanize animals by not shooting them.
A meeting of the Health and Welfare committee meeting has been called for 5 p.m. Monday at the Coffee County Administrative Plaza. The Animal Control department reports to Health and Welfare.
Coffee County Mayor David Pennington has stated he will remove himself from any decisions to avoid any conflicts of interest. Bryan Pennington is Mayor Pennington’s son.

A Summitville man died Wednesday night when his motorcycle crashed on Rock Road. According to a report by Tennessee Highway Patrolman Jason Boles, a 1985 Yamaha motorcycle operated by Thomas Rutenkroger, 49, of Hillcrest Villa Circle in Summitville, was traveling on Rock Road when he approached a curve and kept traveling onto private property. According to the trooper’s report, Rutenkroger’s cycle left the roadway striking a small tree and went into a barbed wire fence. When ambulance personnel arrived at the crash scene, they called for a medical helicopter but later cancelled the request. Rutenkroger was pronounced dead on the scene from injuries sustained in the crash.

Tullahoma Airport manager Jon Glass informs that the airport is in the same position as Coffee County. He said that the installation of replacement lights at the end of one runway has been put on hold. Glass said that it looks like we have the same problem as the county, and the consulting engineers have told us that there could be Indiana bats in the wetlands located at the end of the runway. He said that no work can be done in the area until further inspection.

Some Tennessee students attending college in the fall could see an increase in tuition and fees of more than 7 percent.
The finance committee of the state Board of Regents met Tuesday and unanimously recommended increases at its six universities, 13 community colleges including Motlow College and 27 technology centers.
The hikes varied, with East Tennessee State University seeing the highest increase at 7.2 percent. Austin Peay was the lowest at 3.4 percent.
The increases will be presented to the full board that meets later this month.
Regents Chancellor John Morgan said no hike is ever welcomed, but that these are necessary for the institutions to meet their needs and be effective.

Tennessee’s unemployment increased slightly in May, the first increase in two years.
The 7.9% unemployment rate is up from 7.7% in April.
Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Karla Davis said in a release on Thursday that the increase in the jobless rate is mainly due to people “re-entering the workforce to look for work.”
The national unemployment rate for May was 8.2%, 0.1%age point higher than the previous month.
Education and health services saw the biggest increase compared with last month, at a growth rate of 1.5%. Next were jobs in mining, logging and construction at 1.2%, and positions in government at 0.2%.

Governor Bill Haslam has issued an executive order to make the management of state drug courts the responsibility of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
Haslam said in a statement Wednesday that the move will increase efficiency and that the change fits with the department’s role as the main authority for substance abuse in the state. Commissioner Doug Varney said the change recognizes that the state faces what he called “a major prescription drug problem,” and that Tennessee must focus its resources to have the biggest effect on drug abuse. The change will take place on July 1. Drug courts were previously managed by the Department of Finance and Administration.

Tennessee is once again ranked among the best in economic development by Area Development magazine, a leading executive publication covering corporate site selection and facility planning. The Volunteer State, along with Texas, South Carolina and Utah, were named the winners of the magazine’s 2012 Gold Shovel Awards, presented annually to states that have achieved significant success in terms of job creation and economic impact. Tennessee received a Gold Shovel award in 2009 and Silver Shovel awards in 2006, 2010, and 2011.

The 18th annual RC-Moon Pie Festival will be held Saturday (June 16) in Bell Buckle. The Southeastern Tourism Society has rated the long-running festival a top 20 event. The festival began in the mid 1990s when a previous event, a somewhat generic country fair, was losing steam, and town merchants learned that the Moon Pie was about to celebrate a birthday.
The day will begin at 7 a.m. with the 17th annual RC-Moon Pie 10-Mile Run. The run, on a challenging, hilly course in what are often warm conditions, expects more than 900 runners ranging in age from 6 to over 70. Food and craft vendors will open about 9 a.m., with food offerings ranging from barbecue to hand-squeezed lemonade and deep-fried Moon Pies.