Category: News

The Coffee County area picked up between 2 and 5 inches of snow overnight Wednesday, causing hazardous driving conditions and forcing many businesses to close on Thursday. The Coffee County and Manchester City governments were also closed on Thursday, in addition to local schools.

It made for good fun for the area children and those young at heart. Thunder Radio had over 150 photo submissions from our listeners to the Thunder Radio Facebook page.

Another light round of winter weather made its way through the area Thursday afternoon. Temperatures are forecast to remain frigid – with a high temperature of 31 and a low temperature near 12 on Friday. However, conditions should begin to thaw on Saturday with temperatures in the 40s and in the 50s on Sunday.

The ice and snow have wreaked havoc on the local power grid. Duck River Electric has worked to restore power to thousands throughout the week. As of late Thursday afternoon, there were still 1,300 DREMC members without power.

See a few of the photos submitted to Thunder Radio below:

Coffee County Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross announced Wednesday that a shelter is now available in Manchester for those without heat or who are dealing with prolonged electric outages.

The shelter is available at the Ada Wright Building at Fred Deadman Park – 328 N. Woodland St.

The shelter opened at 3 p.m. Wednesday and will be available as long as it is necessary.

No pets are allowed, social distancing guidelines will be followed and guests will be screened for temperature upon entering.

Story by Nadia Ramligan, Public News Service

 Lawmakers in at least three states, including Tennessee, have introduced bills that would bar public agencies from publicly disclosing information about nonprofit donors, and experts say donor disclosure issues remain under-the-radar but could have major implications.

Jerrick Adams, a staff writer for Ballotpedia who tracks the issue, said the Senate and House bills would ban state and local governments from disclosing any information it might have about donors.

He noted supporters of this type of legislation argued it’s important to have safeguards protecting anonymity for charitable donations.

“On the other side of the equation is the argument that because a lot of these nonprofits and charitable groups participate indirectly in political activities, because they’re involved to that extent in the political process, voters have a right to know who is bankrolling those initiatives,” Adams explained.

Iowa and Nebraska are considering similar bills this year.

Adams pointed out unlike traditional donations to political parties or candidates, issue advocacy spending by nonprofit organizations and even corporations is far less regulated.

“There’s a case pending before the Supreme Court, actually, surrounding a law in California which requires nonprofits that operate in the state to submit to the Secretary of State information about their donors,” Adams observed. “And so legislation like this is certainly spurred, at least to a certain extent, by that litigation activity.”

Supporters of donor privacy legislation argued a “chilling effect” can occur and hurt individuals in communities when donor information becomes public.

Adams added it happened in the 1950s to people who donated to the Alabama NAACP, in a case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“That was a real cause of concern for folks donating to the NAACP in the South at that particular time,” Adams recounted. “It’s certainly not an unreasonable argument to make. Now, to what extent can you map out that chilling effect? That’s a difficult question to question.”

Last year the U.S. Treasury released final rules on donor disclosure requirements that allow many nonprofits, except 501(c)3 charities and certain political organizations, to leave out the names of significant donors on their tax returns.

SCHOOL PATROL for Wednesday, Feb. 17.

Thanks to Spring Street Market, your bread and milk experts at 801 S. Spring St. in Manchester.

Coffee County Schools – CLOSED

Manchester City Schools – CLOSED

Tullahoma City Schools – CLOSED
Bedford County Schools – CLOSED

Cannon County Schools – CLOSED

Franklin County School – CLOSED

Grundy County Schools – CLOSED
Moore County Schools – CLOSED

Warren County Schools – CLOSED

*The USDA food Distribution scheduled for this Wednesday, February 17th, at Good Samaritan in Manchester, has been cancelled due to the bad weather and will be rescheduled at a later date.

**This page will be updated with information as it is received. If you do not see the school system you are looking for, you should assume it is on regular schedule. Refresh often.**

Note: This story has been updated with current numbers as of 6:06 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15

Icy conditions are wreaking havoc on travel and the power grid in Coffee County.

As of 6:05 p.m. Monday, there were 2,600 Duck River Electric Membership customers in Coffee County that were without power, a number that has been on the rise through the afternoon. This accounts for about 13% of DREMC customers in Coffee County. Meanwhile, Bedford County is reporting 2,800 outages, or about 20% of customers there.

Coffee County Highway Department issued an urgent warning to area citizens: Stay home. The department is reporting downed trees, downed electric lines and slick driving conditions all across Coffee County, especially in outlying areas. Main thoroughfares have remained clear, but could refreeze overnight with temperatures expected to get near single digits.