Category: News

Local schools are off the A/B Hybrid plan beginning Tuesday and will return to in-school classroom learning.

Coffee County Schools, Manchester City Schools and Tullahoma City Schools are all returning to traditional learning Tuesday, Sept. 9. It wasn’t long after schools started in August when all three systems went to a hybrid model, bringing students to the buildings on certain days.

Coffee County School System students will only be attending Monday through Thursday, with Friday remaining as an at-home learning day for students.

 Local businessman Jay Kalvala teamed up with Manchester citizen Gene Holmes to launch a project with the intention of recognizing and honoring all police officers with the Manchester Police Department.

The pair began on Friday, Sept. 4, when they joined the police department at Manchester City Hall to recognize three of the department’s longest serving officers. Honored were Dwight Vandagriff, Debbie Guffey and Alberto Garza.

The pair said they intend to keep going until all officers at MPD are recognized for their hard work and sacrifice for the safety of the community.

Pictured, top left, are Holmes, Guffey and Kalvala. Pictured top right are Holmes, Garza and Kalvala. Pictured bottom are Holmes, Kalvala and Vandagriff.  Photos by Thunder Radio. 

Shortly after 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 4., a police pursuit initiated by Tennessee Highway Patrol ended in a crash on Madison St. near the Coffee County Justice Center.

The suspect then eluded police on foot for about an hour, forcing a lockdown of the Coffee County Justice Center and a soft lockdown of all Manchester City Schools. A helicopter was used to help search along with multiple law enforcement agencies.

Manchester Police Department canine officer Nalty (pictured below with handler Daryn Gadeken) was able to help track the suspect. It is unclear what led to the initiation of the pursuit.

The annual One Day of Hope that is held at the Coffee County Fairgrounds and was planned for Oct. 24, 2020 has been postponed.

Ray Marcrom, president of One Day of Hope, said that the event is being rescheduled because “due to shortages we were unable to obtain quantities of food or hygiene items needed.”

Tentatively, organizers plan to reschedule for March of 2021.

Marcrom added that they plan to have an October 2021 event as well.

The One Day of Hope annually provides meals, clothing, health screening, job placement and other services to those in need of assistance.

Last year, approximately 2,750 guests were served, 451 medical services were provided, 132 dental patients were seen, 3,200 meals were distributed, 2,250 bags of groceries plus fresh produce, 295 Bibles were distributed, 4,000 children’s books were distributed, 85 people received job counseling, 126 people received hair cuts and 131 family photos were taken.
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There are currently 123 active cases of COVID-19 virus in Coffee County, according to data provided by Tennessee Department of Health.

There has also been a seventh COVID-19 related death reported over the weekend in Coffee County.

Across the state, there are currently 819 people hospitalized with COVID-19 related complications. This is 27 fewer than the previous day.

After the Labor Day weekend, there will be some additional openings in the area. The offices at the Coffee County Administrative Plaza – such as County Mayor, Trustee, Register of Deeds, County Clerk and many others – will be re-opening to the public on Wednesday, Sept. 9.

These offices have been closed to in-person traffic for over five months.

The Coffee County Justice Center and the Library will remain closed, according to the county mayor’s office.

Coffee County’s active cases of COVID-19 have been slashed considerably, after Tennessee Department of Health on Thursday announced a different method of reporting cases to the public.

TDH announced Thursday that it would no longer report “recovered” cases, but would instead report inactive and recovered cases – which are cases that are 14 days or more beyond their illness or onset date and who are not deceased. TDH also announced that approximately 1,700 cases statewide needed a correction for county of residence.

After these adjustments, TDH is now reporting that there are now 114 active cases of COVID-19 in Coffee County. This is down from 271 reported as active the previous day.

TDH reports Coffee County had 783 total cases since March, with 663 cases recovered or inactive, leaving just 114 active cases. There have been six fatalities in Coffee County, TDH says.

Coffee County Director of Schools Dr. Charles Lawson issued a release Thursday to clarify what he calls “misinformation” about display of campaign or political advertising on school property.

The statement from Lawson is as follows:

“There seems to be a significant amount of misinformation about the display of items of campaign or political advertising on school property. Board policy 1.806 states, ‘Political signs for people who are running for public office shall not be allowed on school property except those being held by poll workers on election day.’ This applies to posters, signs, flags and other large displays for particular candidates. In no way does it limit a student’s ability to wear clothing advocating for a political candidate.

“The restrictions on teachers and other employees are far more stringent. The display of any campaign paraphernalia by an employee on school property is forbidden by TCA 2-19-206. These restrictions do not apply to materials that are used for instruction related to the electoral process.”

 A Patriot Day Ceremony will be held at the Manchester Square on Friday,
September 11th, starting at 6 PM. The event will include a commemoration
honoring the victims of Sept 11th as well as recognizing the contributions
made by our local fire, police and emergency medical technician departments.
Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend. Organizers say that social distancing will be
observed and ask that you please wear a mask if you have one.

The event is being presented by the Coffee County Veterans Association,
comprised of American Legion Gold Post 78; Disabled American Veterans
Chapter 90; Marine Corps League Detachment 1128; and Veterans of Foreign
Wars All-American Post 10904.

Continued claims for weekly unemployment benefits in Tennessee continue to fall, but remain abnormally high due to COVID-19 pandemic according to data provided by Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development. 

For the week ending Aug. 29 , there were 12,035 new claims filed for unemployment benefits. That is up over 1,000 from the previous week. Since March 15, there have been 818,149 new claims filed in Tennessee. 

Meanwhile, continued week-to-week claims are at 184,781. While this is down 7,000 from the previous week, it remains about 168,000 higher than before the pandemic began in March.