Category: News

The Tennessee Department of Health has updated the Tennessee COVID-19 Vaccination Plan and its phased approach to administering COVID-19 vaccines to Tennesseans.

As of Wednesday, Dec. 30 – there have been 79,232 vaccinations administered in Tennessee. In Coffee County, 0.70% of the total population (total population estimated over 55,000) has been vaccinated. 

“COVID-19 vaccines remain limited at this time, and Tennessee’s allocation plan prioritizes those most at risk of illness and death from COVID-19,” said Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey, MD, MBA, FAAP. “The plan also prioritizes critical infrastructure workers who have direct public exposure or work in environments posing a higher risk of exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19.“

Updates to the Tennessee COVID-19 Vaccination Plan are focused on reducing risks:
• Risk to our health care infrastructure – keeping frontline health care workers at the bedside, while reducing demand on hospital capacity
• Risk to individual health outcomes – protecting the most vulnerable Tennesseans first
• Risk to our society and economy – preserving the workforce in our highest risk areas

SEE THE COMPLETE VACCINATION PLAN BY CLICKING HERE. 

Tennessee has updated the state’s plan based on new recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and discussions with Tennessee’s Unified Command Group and a stakeholder group of more than 30 partner agencies and organizations. These phases are as follows and are subject to additional changes pending further recommendations from the ACIP and other federal and state partners.

Tennessee’s updated plan includes three allocation phases, based on risk and informed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Framework for Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine. Tennessee is now in Phase 1a, which is subdivided into two phases: Phase 1a1 for in-patient health care providers, first responders with direct exposure to the public and staff members and residents of long-term care facilities, and Phase 1a2 for those primarily working in outpatient health care settings. Equity remains a crosscutting consideration of Tennessee’s plan, with attention given to ensure unlicensed health care workers, low wage earners and those with limited access to health care resources will have access to vaccination.

Individuals qualifying for vaccination under Phases 1a1 and 1a2 may be offered vaccine by their employer, through their local health department or through a partnering hospital. Staff members and residents of long-term care facilities will be provided vaccinations through the federal partnership with Walgreens and CVS, in partnership with a local pharmacy or via TDH vaccination strike teams. Phase 1a1 and 1a2 individuals should check with their employer or contact their local health department for more information.

Tennessee is also beginning age-based vaccination in ten-year age brackets, starting with those aged 75 and above. Later Phase 1 groups consist of Phase 1b, which includes teachers and staff members of child care centers and kindergarten through 12th grade schools and other first responders not covered under Phase 1a1; and Phase 1c, which includes people aged 16 or older who have high-risk health conditions.

Subsequent phases prioritize critical infrastructure industries. Employees in industries not specified in the phases will become eligible as their age group is reached or according to their individual risk.

It is important to note Tennessee counties may progress through phases at different times, depending on supply of the COVID-19 vaccines and demand for them.

City of Manchester government offices will be closed on Friday to recognize the New Year Holiday. Meanwhile, Coffee County government offices will also be closed on Friday in recognition of the New Year Holiday.

Offices will be open again on Monday, Jan. 4. Reminder – most county offices are closed to foot traffic but are open by appointment or walk-up window. Call ahead to plan your trip.

Two people have died after they were struck while working on a stalled vehicle in Franklin County.

The Herald-Chronicle reports that two men were working on a broken down truck on Beans Creek Rd. Monday, Dec. 28, when a vehicle hit the truck.

According to Sgt. Chris Guess, identities of the two victims were not yet available.

By Tennessee Public News Service

The pandemic has shrunk U.S. forest exports, and economists say supply disruptions in Southeast Asia, where American logs and lumber are turned into furniture, is to blame – along with a drop in consumer demand.

Professor of agriculture and resource economics at the University of Tennessee Knoxville Andrew Muhammad said U.S. furniture sales dipped by 66% in April, around the time stay-at-home orders went into effect. He said over the summer, U.S. forest producers lost more than $670-million.

“Tennessee is actually particularly hurt by this, more so than the national average and more so than the regional,” Muhammad said. “Part of that is, many Tennessee producers are highly reliant on hardwood exports to Asian markets.”

He added these losses have been exacerbated by a longstanding trade war that has curbed the sale of U.S. forest products to foreign markets, particularly China. Forest products, including logs and lumber, are the third leading U.S. agricultural export, after soybeans and corn.

In 2018, orders from China accounted for nearly $3 billion of American timber.

Muhammed noted while the softwood sector, mostly used in construction and in paper and pulp products, seems to be buffered from the effects of COVID-19, sawmills across the state have been hard-hit by both COVID-19 and the loss in international trade.

“And so, for example, there’s the trucking industry, there’s the income from the laborers both at the sawmill as well as in the logging industry, and their income is also spent, and so you do get this multiplier effect,” he said.

In 2017, the forestry sector provided nearly 100,000 jobs in Tennessee and an economic impact of more than $24 billion annually – nearly 3% of the state’s economy.

Ben Lomand Connect’s month-long food drive ended on December 14th with 1,954 items going to local food banks in the Ben Lomand service territory. Beginning November 14th, the company began collecting food items from its local offices in Warren, White, Cumberland, and Grundy counties, at the Citizens Tri-County Bank in Van Buren county and the Manchester-Coffee County Conference Center. Along with the food items, Ben Lomand Connect matched with a monetary donation of fifty cents per item for nearly one-thousand dollars given locally. Ben Lomand employees also contributed by bringing food to add to customer donations.

Marketing/Public Relations Manager Bryan Kell said of the endeavor, “2020 has been a trying year for so many individuals and families throughout our service area. This food drive allowed employees, departments, offices, and our communities to come together and give to those in need. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that our overall items raised were 1,954, being that 1954 was our first year to serve the area as Ben Lomand Rural Telephone Cooperative, Inc. To quote one of the pantry workers in Coffee County, ‘That is a God thing.’”

Lisa Cope, General Manager/CEO of Ben Lomand Connect, added, “What an incredible blessing to us at Ben Lomand and to the recipients of the food.” Ben Lomand Connect would like to thank Citizens Tri-County Bank and Manchester Coffee County Conference Center for allowing collections at their locations. Their efforts are appreciated, and their employees generously gave as well. Ben Lomand Connect was incorporated on October 2, 1952, to provide local telephone service to rural middle Tennessee. Ben Lomand began its diversification in 1993 by forming BLC, a wholly-owned long-distance subsidiary. It was the first competitive local exchange carrier in the state of Tennessee.

Combined, the two have over 25,500 access lines covering 3,200 square miles of territory. Ben Lomand Connect also offers many other services, including video, security, hosted IP solutions, and managed IT services.

City of Manchester government offices will be closed on Friday to recognize the New Year Holiday. Meanwhile, Coffee County government offices will also be closed on Friday in recognition of the New Year Holiday.

Offices will be open again on Monday, Jan. 4. Reminder – most county offices are closed to foot traffic but are open by appointment or walk-up window. Call ahead to plan your trip.

This past year has been riddled with tragedy and misfortune – with the COVID-19 pandemic halting local schools, sports and businesses in the spring to other unfortunate news events. 

While we do try and find the positives – like the many great deeds over the holidays by those who worked to provide for the less fortunate and Manchester citizens going the extra mile to support local businesses in a time of downright crisis – this year’s top area stories have an overwhelmingly negative feel to them.

Thunder Radio has pulled our website analytics and subtracted out most all COVID-19 related stories to provide you with the top 3 local stories of 2020. These stories are decided by those who visit our website, ranked in order of most viewed.

1 – Dennis Weaver, longtime voice of Coffee County athletics, passes away. In July, Coffee County athletics lost its voice with the sudden passing of longtime play-by-play man Dennis Weaver. Beloved by all coaches and athletes he came across, Weave’s absence is palpable, even today. That likely won’t change soon. If you are looking for a positive spin, you can look at the emergence of the Dream for Weave Foundation. This foundation, in its infancy, is now open for business and accepting donations with a key mission to help athletes across Manchester. See the original coverage of Weave’s passing by clicking here. 

Learn more about the Dream for Weave Foundation here. 

2 – September shooter: 3 dead, others injured in carjacking and subsequent manhunt in Manchester.

Who could forget the terror that reigned on the Coffee County area on Sept. 13, 2020. A male shot and killed another inside of a vehicle while traveling on Interstate-24 through Coffee County. He subsequently carjacked multiple vehicles while eluding law enforcement in the Cannon, Warren, Coffee and Marion County areas. One hostage was later killed and the criminal committed suicide after crashing during a pursuit. It was without a doubt one of the wildest, most tragic stories to take place in the Manchester area. See some of Thunder Radio’s original coverage here:

3. Manchester Mayor Lonnie Norman passes away. There have not been a shortage of COVID-19 victims in Coffee County over the course of this year. But the passing of longtime Manchester Mayor Lonnie Norman was particularly devastating for the community. Norman served many years as both mayor and an alderman. His death drew attention from around the country. See our original story following his death here: 

Next two most viewed stories:
*1 killed in 2 vehicle crash on Highway 55 in Manchester
*Franklin County man allegedly shoots wife, kids

A suspect in the Nov. 22 burglary and vandalism of The Caverns in Pelham has been arrested, the Grundy County Sheriff’s Department announced on Monday. 

Terry “Tee Tee” Nunley, age 33, of Palmer, was arrested Saturday in Jackson County, Alabama after an incident with police there. He has been charged with multiple crimes in Alabama, including:

Driving Under the Influence
Assault-Reckless Endangerment
Assault-Reckless Endangerment
Obstructing Police-ATEPO Attempting to Elude a Police Officer
Obstructing Police-RA Resisting Arrest
Stolen Property-RSP Buying/Receiving Stolen Property
Attempted Murder x 2
Burglary-PBT Possession of Burglars Tools
Flight/Escape-Fugitive From Justice

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) is currently reviewing details of the CARES Act Unemployment Extension (H.R. 133) Congress recently passed and President Donald Trump signed into law.

TDLWD will provide claimants additional information regarding the next steps they need to take to receive the modified federal unemployment benefits listed in HR 133 once it has the program rules from the United States Department of Labor (USDOL).

TDLWD must wait on program guidance from the USDOL before it can begin the implementation of H.R. 133. There is no firm timeline as to when states will receive this guidance from the federal government. The state cannot pay benefits until it receives rules for these modified programs. Once that happens, TDLWD will work to implement the changes as quickly as possible to provide these much-needed benefits to eligible claimants in Tennessee.

H.R. 133 will bring additional unemployment compensation to tens of thousands of Tennesseans. It also includes new requirements to qualify for benefits from the federal programs outlined within the bill.

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)
* Will provide up to an additional 11 weeks of benefits, to a maximum of 50 weeks.
* Weekly certification will be required.
* Claimants will be required to provide documentation of eligibility to qualify for PUA beginning Jan. 31, 2021.
* PUA will be available until the week ending March 13, 2021 (no new applications after that date), with an allowance for three additional weeks of benefits for those who have not reached the maximum number of weeks through the week ending April 3, 2021.

Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC)
* Will provide up to 11 weeks of an additional $300 weekly benefit to eligible claimants.
* A claimant must be eligible through a separate unemployment program to receive FPUC.
* Once implemented, FPUC will be available to cover weeks of unemployment between Dec. 27, 2020, and the week ending March 13, 2021.

Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)
* Will provide up to an additional 11 weeks of benefits, to a maximum of 24 weeks.
* PEUC will be available until the week ending March 13, 2021 (no new applications after that date), with an allowance of three additional weeks of benefits for those who have not reached the maximum number of weeks through the week ending April 3, 2021.

For the first time since March, Tennessee motorists are finding prices at the pump over $2 per gallon. Tennessee gas prices, on average, continue to trend upward, rising another six cents over last week. The Tennessee Gas Price average  is now $2.04 which is nearly 15 cents more than one month ago and 28 cents less than one year ago.

 The average price in Coffee County is even higher at $2.09 – five cents higher than the state average. 

Tennesseans who took a holiday road trip for Christmas found the lowest gas prices in two years. Tennessee gas prices averaged $2.03 on Christmas Day. That put pump prices 28 cents less than Christmas 2019 and the lowest since 2018, when pump prices averaged $2.04 per gallon.

“December has seen the biggest pump price jump of any month this year, ending with a state average 14 cents higher than it began,” said Megan Cooper, spokeswoman, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “Despite low demand, pump prices are more expensive because crude oil has seen steady gains.”

Quick Facts

· 50% of Tennessee gas stations have prices below $2.00
· The lowest 10% of pump prices are $1.86 for regular unleaded
· The highest 10% of pump prices are $2.29 for regular unleaded
· Tennessee moved to the 10th least expensive market in the nation
· Tennessee ranks 6th in the nation’s top 10 largest weekly increases