Category: News

Hurricane Laura is expected to make landfall Wednesday night along the border of Texas and Louisiana as a major hurricane.

Remnants of Laura are expected to begin impacting Middle Tennessee on Friday with showers and storms in the afternoon. According to National Weather Service, heavy rainfall will be the main impact with widespread totals up to three inches. Some areas north of Nashville could see four inches.

Also, according to NWS there is a window from Friday mid-morning through midnight that could produce quick, spin-up tornadoes. Wind gusts could reach 40 miles per hour by Saturday morning. If weather does become severe, stay tuned to Thunder Radio and www.thunder1320.com and Thunder Radio facebook for local alerts and information.
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Active cases of COVID-19 in Coffee County dropped again on Tuesday, falling to 288 according to data provided by Tennessee Department of Health.

That makes a drop of 33 cases over the past two days in Coffee County, falling from 321 on Sunday to 288 on Tuesday.
Since testing began in March, there have been a total of 700 cases in Coffee County. Of these, 406 have recovered and six have passed away, leaving 288 active cases. This number is dropping closer to the threshold for local schools to return to traditional learning. However, numbers would need to fall below 282 for consecutive weeks for that to be considered now that a hybrid plan has been put in place.

Across the state, active cases fell by 1,221 Tuesday. This after a decrease of over 1,300 the previous day.
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The state of Tennessee released tourism impact numbers Tuesday, including data specific to Coffee County and Manchester.

The 2019 State of Tennessee Tourism Economic Impact Report ranks Coffee County 21st in the state in tourism expenditures. That makes Coffee County first in the rankings out of county’s that do not operate a convention and visitor’s bureau.

In 2019 each household across Coffee County saved $414.16 in local taxes thanks to tourism expenditures, up from $396.92 in 2018, according to data provided by Manchester tourism officials. This is the result of $104.46 million in direct tourism expenditures. Of those expenditures, some 824 jobs were created with $20.94 million in payroll, $2.71 million in local tax revenue, and $6.25 million in state tax revenue.

On average $286,185 is spent by visitors daily in Coffee County reeling in $7,415 in local taxes and $17,123 in state taxes each day.

“Coffee County and the southern middle Tennessee region continues to see fantastic growth in tourism expenditures,” said Manchester alderman Ryan French. “This is very much the result of a regional effort and folks visiting for music, sports, outdoors, and unique regional destinations.

“When looking at Coffee County tourism we can thank local partners like the George Dickel, Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, the Manchester – Coffee County Conference Center, Old Stone Fort State Park, and regional partners like Jack Daniels, Tims Ford State Park, The Caverns, South Cumberland State Park, and many more. All of these efforts are supported by visitors stopping to take in a great meal at our local restaurants, finding unique shopping experiences in our shops and boutiques, and most importantly feeling welcomed by the southern charm and hospitality that makes our community unique and Manchester a small town with a big soul!”

Coffee County Fair Board announced Tuesday several changes to this year’s fair,

There will be no fair pageants or baby shows this year. There will also be no 4-H Science Fair, no junior education booth, no Chick Chain Show sale, no Plant Sale, no Youth Field Day events and no Pet Show.

The 2020 Coffee County Fair will be Sept. 21-26. Entries will be taken on the 19th and 20th, but there will not be entertainment those evenings as originally scheduled.

Manchester Mayor Lonnie Norman was officially sworn in to a third consecutive term in office Tuesday night at Manchester City Hall by Judge Craig Johnson.

Norman won a narrow mayoral race over Steven Jones on Aug. 6.

Also sworn in Tuesday night were three incumbent alderman who all won another term – Chris Elam, Bob Bellamy and Ryan French. New Manchester School Board Member Lee Sullivan was also sworn in. Sullivan takes over for Mike Lewis, who did not seek re-election to the city board of education.

(In the top photo, Manchester Mayor Lonnie Norman is sworn in by Judge Craig Johnson. Bottom left photo, aldermen Bob Bellamy, Ryan French and Chris Elam are sworn in. Bottom right photo, Director of Manchester schools Dr. Joey Vaughn, school board member Travis Hillis, new school board member Lee Sullivan, school board member Dr. Prater Powell. )

Active COVID-19 cases in Coffee County continue to fluctuate, dropping by 20 to 301 as of Monday afternoon according to data provided by Tennessee Department of Health.

There has been an additional COVID-19 related death in Coffee County, however, bringing that total to six.
Since testing began in March, there have been 695 confirmed cases of the virus in Coffee County. Of these, 388 have recovered and six deaths have occurred, leaving 301 active cases.

Across the state of Tennessee, active cases decreases by about 1,341 Monday compared to Sunday.

With a forecast that projects tropical storm Laura could eventually track into the Ohio and Tennessee River valleys later this week, Tennessee Valley Authority has announced that it will be increasing water releases from mainstem Tennessee river dams ahead of the forecasted tropical rainfall.

Currently, Laura is projected to intensify into a hurricane on Tuesday before making landfall.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved the state of Tennessee’s grant application to receive funding to pay the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) unemployment benefit, in addition to current benefits.

In conjunction with guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor concerning program administration, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD), and its unemployment computer system vendor, are currently building the new program that will pay the LWA benefit.

Work on the latest federal unemployment program started during the application process and that proactive move will speed up the implementation of LWA in Tennessee. At this time, there is no definitive start date as to when the state will begin dispersing the additional weekly benefit. The department will provide updates on LWA payments as new information becomes available.

TDLWD will add the $300 to current Tennessee Unemployment Compensation, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, or Extended Benefits payments.

The state’s maximum unemployment benefit is $275. When combined with the new program, the maximum possible benefit in Tennessee will be $575 per week, before federal withholding taxes.

The grant requires claimants to receive at least $100 in state or federal unemployment benefits each week to be eligible for the new LWA payment.

The LWA payments will be retroactive to Aug. 1, 2020. Eligible claimants currently receiving benefits do not need to take any action because the state will automatically add LWA to their weekly benefit payment.

Unlike the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation Program (FPUC) that ended in July, LWA is paid for through a grant with a specific amount of funding. It is important to note when the federal program exhausts its grant funding, it will no longer have the resources to provide LWA payments and the program will end at that time. If the federal program does not exhaust the LWA grant funding, payments will end in Tennessee on Saturday, December 26, 2020.

By Nadia Ramligan, Tennessee Public News Service

One-in-five Tennessee businesses operates in an industry most likely to be affected by the coronavirus recession, according to a new report.

Based on data from 2019, that’s about 34,000 businesses across the state.

Jobs that have disappeared tend to be concentrated in the industries most affected by social distancing, including restaurants and bars, retail and manufacturing, travel and transportation, and entertainment.

Brian Straessle, external affairs director at The Sycamore Institute, said without extra assistance for unemployed Tennesseans, the state will begin to see multiple crises of hunger, eviction and mental health.

“The folks who maybe were going to have a tougher time regardless are also the more likely to be losing their job or having their hours cut,” Straessle said.

Not surprisingly, the report says counties with more workers employed in at-risk industries now have some of the highest unemployment rates. In May, the official unemployment rate reached 18.5% in Sevier County, 17.6% in Warren County, and 17.5% in Marshall County. Unemployment insurance claims across the state remain at an all-time high.

Straessle said there is growing evidence certain segments of the population will be more affected by the pandemic recession than others.

“Surveys that have been done this year show that Black Tennesseans and the youngest folks in our state who are working have been hit the hardest by job losses. And so to have a big setback like a deep recession that we’re facing now could have really long-term effects,” he said.

Straessle said state lawmakers should start looking at policies to help residents keep utilities on, pay their rent or mortgage and prevent household debt.

“These bills can pile up and make it harder to get back on track and get folks into a better place over the long-term,” he said. “So, it’s definitely something to pay attention to, if we see unemployment dragging on for a long time and household debt going up as people have trouble paying their bills.”

State officials recently announced that through a FEMA grant, some residents may be eligible to receive an extra $300 in unemployment insurance, in addition to their state-based assistance. It’s unclear when the additional funds would go into effect.

There is little sign that long-term federal help is on the way. U.S. Senate lawmakers recessed last week without passing a new coronavirus relief package.

There are now 321 active cases of COVID-19 virus in Coffee County as of Sunday afternoon, according to data provided by the Tennessee Department of Health.

Since testing began in March, there have been 691 total cases of the virus in Coffee County. Of these, 365 have recovered and five people have passed away. This leaves 321 active cases.

Across the state of Tennessee, there are approximately 35,419 active cases of the virus in the state. There have been 1,527 COVID-19 related deaths in Tennessee since March, and 6,378 hospitalizations. The total of people tested has crossed the two million mark.

In regards to hospital capacity, 79% of floor beds remain available in Tennessee, 31% of ventilators remain available, and 81 percent of ICU beds are currently available.