Category: News

A Christmas morning explosion on 2nd avenue in downtown Nashville led to AT&T outages all across the midstate, Kentucky and Northern Alabama.

Impacts were felt right here in Manchester. According to the Coffee County 911 Communication Center, AT&T issues were affecting 911 lines over the weekend. These lines were restored late Sunday afternoon. 

Outages were still visible on the AT&T coverage map as of Sunday.

Over the weekend, multiple businesses were unable to take credit or debit cards due to the outages.

On Saturday, Duck River Electric Membership Corporation provided a temporary number for customers to call to report outages and service emergencies. To report any such events, contact 931-224-4913 until further notice.

Each of Tennessee’s 95 counties experienced decreased unemployment in November 2020, according to new data released Thursday by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).

Unemployment rates in 41 counties are now less than 5%. Fifty-four counties recorded rates of 5% or higher during the month.

In Coffee County, the rate dropped by nearly 2 percent as it gets closer to pre-pandemic levels. The November unemployment rate for Coffee County was 4.6 percent, which is 1.9% lower than the 6.5 percent rate in October. The unemployment rate remains 1.3% higher than November of 2019, which was 3.3%

Williamson County had the lowest unemployment rate. At 3.3%, its November rate dropped by 1.3 percentage points when compared to October. The new rate is just 1 percentage point higher than it was in November 2019.

At 3.6%, Moore County had the state’s second-lowest rate for the month. The new figure is 1 percentage point lower than its October rate of 4.6%.
Lake County recorded the highest jobless rate in November, but it still experienced a significant drop in unemployment. The county’s new rate is 8.1%, down 2 percentage points when compared to October.

Shelby County’s unemployment rate dropped more than any other county in the state. At 7.3%, it has the second-highest rate for the month, but it decreased by 3.7 percentage points when compared to its October rate of 11%.

A complete analysis of November’s unemployment data for each county, including labor force estimates for areas across the state, is available here (https://www.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=166478db53c066a7d114ea462&id=a2766ba3fa&e=29851e7b63) .

Statewide, Tennessee experienced significantly lower unemployment during the month. The preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for November is 5.3%, a 2 percentage point drop from October’s revised rate of 7.3%. The new statistic is just 2 percentage points higher than the state’s unemployment rate one year ago in November.

The state offers online options for Tennesseans searching for employment. Currently, on the state’s workforce development website, Jobs4TN.gov, job seekers can find more than 230,000 open positions in a wide range of occupations and skill levels.

TDLWD recently launched the Tennessee Virtual American Job Center (VAJC). The new website located at www.TNVirtualAJC.com allows Tennesseans to research different programs, from different state agencies, that can help them remove barriers to employment so they can more easily reenter Tennessee’s workforce. The VAJC allows job seekers to do this on their schedule, anytime, anywhere.

There are currently 654 active cases of COVID-19 virus in Coffee County according to numbers provided by Tennessee Department of Health on Sunday.

There have been 64 deaths in Coffee County related to the virus and there are currently 69 people from Coffee County hospitalized with COVID-19 complications.

Across the state there have been 5,708 confirmed deaths related to the virus and there are currently 2,813 people hospitalized.

Across the state, 53,258 vaccinations have been administered. In Coffee County, 0.45% of the population has received partial vaccination – meaning one of two doses have been administered.

The Coffee County Toys for Tots made a big impact this year. Thanks to generous donations from local residents, students, schools and multiple drop box locations at dozens of area businesses, there were nearly 2,000 toys collected.

To be exact, there were 1,948 toys collected – an amount that served 150 kids in approximately 55 families in the Coffee County community.

These businesses served as dropbox locations:
•Cutshaw’s Classic Barber Shop
•First Vision Bank
•Al White Ford Lincoln
•The Beauty Lounge
•Premier Lawn Care
•Coffee County Realty
•Common John Brewing Company
•CapStar Bank
•FirstBank
•Lasting Impressions
•Thunder Radio
•Reese’s Genes Boutique
•Soul Revival Boutique
•Closets Plus
•The Cracked Pot
•Sprout Children’s Shop
•Polish me pretty nail salon
•Advantage Realty Partners Manchester TN
•Southern Diva
•Manchester Nutrition
•TitleMax (Lebanon Pike location)
•The Oak Restaurant
•Harvest Local Foods
•Re/max 1st Realty

Pictured, RC Cutshaw (left) and Kalel Cutshaw stand guard of nearly 2,000 toys that were distributed on Dec. 19 as part of the Toys for Tots program in Coffee County.

The Manchester VFW Post 10904 has announced that post quartermaster Howard Thompson will receive the coveted Volunteer Stars Award for Coffee County.

“Howard works tirelessly for our post, veterans and community.”

David Tran of Webb School and Lexie Stewart of Temple Baptist Christian School have won the VFW district level “Voice of Democracy” essay competition.

Their essays will now move to the state level for judging.

For the enjoyment of our listeners, Thunder Radio will suspending regular programming in favor of playing Christmas music all day on Thursday, Dec. 24 and Friday Dec. 25.

“We hope everyone in our community has a safe and Merry Christmas,” said Thunder Radio owner Josh Peterson. “Turn up Thunder Radio in the background and enjoy our deep library of Christmas songs while you open gifts and spend cherished time with loved ones.”

Christmas music will begin at 6 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 24 and continue straight through midnight Christmas night. You can listen at 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM, on the Manchester Go smartphone app and at thunder1320.com.

“Thank you for supporting your locally owned radio station.”

Coffee County Mayor Gary Cordell has been released from the hospital.

Cordell was in the hospital for treatment of symptoms while battling COVID-19. He was admitted to the hospital on Dec. 14. 

As of Monday afternoon, Dec. 21 , Cordell was released and, according to his office, he will “now be recovering at home.”

Manchester Parks and Recreation Department has issue new guidelines for use of its facility following Governor Bill Lee’s executive order 70.

Changes include:
*The recreation complex will only be open to guests with memberships.
*No public swim will be available.
*The lap and therapy pools will be restricted to 10 guests each, including fitness classes.
*No private pool party reservations until after Jan. 19.
*Fitness classes are restricted to no more than 10 people.
*Wellness room, indoor track, Gym A, Gym B, spin room, aerobics room and youth wellness / casual care nursery are restricted to no more than 10 people at one time.
*No more than one hour in an area.
*No new reservations for Ada Wright Center until Jan. 19.
*Dusty Elam youth basketball practices and games postponed until Jan. 19.

The Tennessee gas price average continues to trend upward, climbing six cents over last week. The Tennessee Gas Price average is now $1.98 which is 12 cents more than one month ago and 34 cents less than one year ago.

“The recent gas price pump increases are a bit surprising given December demand numbers are the lowest posted for the month since 1999,” said Megan Cooper, spokeswoman, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “Rising crude oil prices and tightening supply are the main factors contributing to the uptick in pump prices.”

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in Coffee County is $1.96.

Quick Facts

· 85% of Tennessee gas stations have prices below $2.00
· The lowest 10% of pump prices are $1.80 for regular unleaded
· The highest 10% of pump prices are $2.24 for regular unleaded
· Tennessee remains the 7th least expensive market in the nation

National Gas Prices

Pump prices across the country are getting more expensive as we head into the last weeks of the year. Since Monday, the national gas price average has jumped six cents to $2.22. While not the most expensive price we’ve seen this year, it is the highest national average since mid-September.

Two factors have contributed to driving up the price at the pump: rising crude oil prices and tightening supply. The domestic price of crude (WTI) has been steadily rising since November, with prices topping $49/bbl. Prices have not been this expensive since February, before stay-at-home guidance was introduced across the country. Prices began to rise last month alongside vaccination news and have only increased with it becoming available.