Category: News

Top managers at the Tennessee Valley Authority now make more than members of Congress, who are paid $174,000 annually.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports TVA is paying out nearly $30 million a year more for 155 of its top leaders since Congress removed salary limits at the federal utility in 2004.
Former TVA Director Skila Harris said the changes have helped the utility hire qualified workers, plant managers, technicians, and executives. Harris says it would be “nearly impossible” to find skilled candidates if TVA was required to have a pay scale lower than other utilities.
When TVA was established in 1933, salaries of employees were capped so they couldn’t make more than members of Congress.

The Tennessee Senate has passed a bill that would allow coaches and teachers to worship on school grounds.
Senator Jim Summerville, Republican from Dickson, says his bill to OK teachers worshipping with students probably doesn’t break any new ground.
The current bill would now allow teachers to meet with students in events like a Fellowship of Christian Athletes function, but it must be held before, or after, school hours.
The Senate added an amendment to the bill, so it must return to the House before it can be signed by the governor.

A study by the U.S. Forestry Service finds that trees in Tennessee’s urban areas provide the state with environmental benefits valued at nearly $640 million a year.

According to the study’s findings, reported by Nashville Public Radio, shade trees save the state about $66 million a year. That’s mostly savings in heating and cooling expenses as the trees protect rooftops from the summer sun and block cold winds in winter.

The state’s urban trees also store and remove from the air more than $570 million worth of pollutants each year.

The study is meant to set a baseline for measuring the future health of the state’s urban forest.

Tim Phelps of the state Forestry Division says knowing the economic value of trees helps make the case for planting and protecting them.

Thomas Greenwood

The trial of Thomas Greenwood got underway in a rare Saturday court session in Coffee County Circuit Court. Greenwood is accused of killing his former girlfriend’s 2-year-old son, Hayden Gage West at a residence on Circle Drive in Tullahoma in March 2010. He told investigators that he suffered a seizure, which caused the child to hit his head on a bed rail, but investigators disagree saying that that wasn’t the case. The state medical examiner determined that the child died of multiple injuries, which resulted in a homicide. Greenwood has been held in the Coffee County Jail since his arrest. The trial in which the jury is sequestered took Sunday off and resumed today.

An old time crime has surfaced in Coffee County in recent weeks. According to investigators with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, thieves recently made off with 44 cows from a farm in the Summitville area. According to Max Thomas, the chief Investigator for the agriculture department, the thieves loaded the cattle up from the field where they had been grazing and did something with them. Thomas did not identify the farm that the cows were taken from as he and his investigators are continuing to follow up on leads in connection with the case. Thomas explained that farmers are receiving more money for their cattle on the market is causing them to check the cattle more often has reduced the chances for thieves to take the cows from the field. The state investigators are also investigating the butchering of cattle in a field. He stated that the thieves went into the field, killed the cows and took the front and hindquarters of some cows. “They then left the carcass in the field,” Thomas stated. The state investigator stated that officers are continuing to investigate both incidents.

Edwin Nelson Nunley

Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Investigators along with State Bomb and Arson Investigators have charged a 63 year old Decherd man on 2 counts of conspiracy to commit arson, two counts of solicitation arson and driving on revoke license after his arrest Friday. . According to Investigator Todd Hindman, Edwin Nelson Nunley of Decherd was allegedly attempted to hire someone to burn his house and detached garage in Knoxville. Sheriff’s Office and State Bomb and Arson investigators then conducted an undercover operation and monitored Nunley offering money to an undercover agent to burn the house and detached garage in Knoxville. Nunley was arrested and transported to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. He is being held under a $200,000 bond and has a court date of Thursday April the 26th.

Foreclosure activity surged last month across about half of the nation’s states, including Tennessee and Coffee County, as banks tackled a backlog of homes with mortgages that had gone unpaid yet remained in limbo due to delays stemming from foreclosure-abuse claims. Coffee County’s foreclosure rates for February mirrored the national trend with 16 foreclosures occurring, compared to five during the same month a year ago. One Coffee County banker said that although an increase in foreclosures has occurred, the situation isn’t that bad here in Coffee County. The local banker said that the market here still favors buyers instead of sellers, and the situation here is much better than other parts of the nation. Tennessee ranked among the nation’s top 20 states at 16 in foreclosures in February with one in every 762 homes being claimed by financial institutions due to default.

Tennessee Commissioner of Labor & Workforce Development Karla Davis announced Tennessee’s unemployment rate for February fell to 8.0 percent, down from the January revised rate of 8.2 percent. The national unemployment rate for February 2012 was 8.3 percent, unchanged from the January rate. “The state experienced a net increase of approximately 4,800 jobs in February,” Commissioner Davis said. “While it is a small change in the job picture, Tennessee’s unemployment rate is the lowest since November 2008.” UT Economist Bill Fox added, “The business survey data shows strong year-over-year growth with an increase of more than 50,000 jobs. The monthly data also show reasonable increases in healthcare, durable manufacturing, and temporary employment agencies.”

Just some of the food donations... By Barry West

We at Thunder Radio would like to thank the 100’s that attended the 6th annual Home Show. The event was held at the Manchester/Coffee County Conference Center and was a huge success for the many vendors that showed their goods and services.

Attendees learn about products... By Barry West

The Good Samaritan Food Bank received 100’s of items for the needy in Coffee County. Thunder Radio would like to thank you for your donations and plans are already being made for next year’s 7th annual event.

6th Annual Home Show... By Barry West

Westwood Jr High... Photo by Barry West

In December the Manchester City School Board voted to rename Westwood Jr High to Westwood Middle School. This week the board voted 3-2 reaffirm that name change. A petition has been passed around the city the last few weeks to name the school Manchester Middle School. Many people signed and ask leaders to reconsider. Proponents of the Westwood Middle School name said it would have been too costly to change the name. Supporters of the Manchester name said it would have given the school a better identity. So for now Westwood will only change from Jr high to middle school.