Category: News

Coffee County School announced Wednesday afternoon that it will follow Governor Bill Lee’s guidance to cancel the remainder of the school year. With that announcement came the postponement of graduation at Central High School. 

A email statement from director of schools Dr. Charles Lawson is below:

“As stated just [Tuesday], Coffee County Schools will follow the guidance of local, state, and national leaders in making decisions regarding the status of schools and school events. Today, Governor Lee recommended the closure of public schools for the remainder of the ’19-’20 school year. Coffee County Schools will be following that recommendation.

“Coffee County Schools are closed for the remainder of the school year. As a result of the school closure, Coffee County Central High School graduation is postponed. Graduation ceremonies will be held on one of the backup dates that were previously established: June 26, July 24, or August 14. The ceremony will be held on the first available date listed once social restrictions are lifted, provided that arrangements can be completed by that date.

“The closure for the remainder of the school year has also created other secondary issues. Schools will still need to collect textbooks, athletic uniforms, and other school items and some students still have personal belongings in the schools. Once the governor’s mandatory stay-at-home order has expired, arrangements will be made in which school items can be taken to schools and personal belongings can be claimed. Coffee County Schools will communicate those arrangements through local media, school district social media accounts, and communications from teachers. Please continue to be patient as we work through this difficult time.”

The Tennessee Department of Health will offer 33 drive-through events this weekend (April 18-19) to make COVID-19 testing available to Tennesseans who are concerned about their health or the health of their family members. This includes a drive-thru testing site at the Coffee County Administrative Plaza from 12-3 p.m. Sunday, April 19.

Anyone with health concerns, or who has concerns about the health of a family member, is invited to come to one of these locations this weekend to receive testing for COVID-19. This testing will be provided at no cost to participants, and those who come for testing can remain in their vehicles throughout the process of collecting their samples.

Nurses and/or National Guard medics at each site will collect nasal swabs from those who want to be tested, and test results may be available within 72 hours after the samples arrive at the lab, depending on lab volume.

On Saturday, April 18, 22 COVID-19 drive-through testing sites will be open at the following locations in Tennessee:

Bedford County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Shelbyville Central High School
401 Eagle Blvd., Shelbyville

Claiborne County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Claiborne County Health Department
620 Davis St., New Tazewell

Dickson County
11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Dickson County Health Department
301 West End Ave., Dickson

Grainger County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Grainger County Health Department
185 Justice Center Drive, Rutledge

Hardin County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
First Baptist Church
145 Main St., Savannah

Hawkins County
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Volunteer High School
1050 Volunteer St., Church Hill

Loudon County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Loudon County Health Department
600 Ryder Ave., Loudon

Madison County
9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Jackson Fairgrounds
800 South Highland Ave., Jackson

Marion County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Chattanooga State Community College – Kimball Site, 2100 Main St., Kimball

Maury County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Woodland Park
821 West 9th St., Columbia

Monroe County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Monroe County Health Department
3469 New Highway 68, Madisonville

Montgomery County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Montgomery County Health Department
300 Pageant Lane, Clarksville

Robertson County
11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Robertson County Fairgrounds
4635 US-41, Springfield

Rutherford County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Rutherford County Health Department
100 West Burton St., Murfreesboro

Scott County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Scott County Health Department
344 Court St., Huntsville

Sevier County
9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Tennessee Smokies Baseball Stadium
3540 Line Drive, Kodak

Tipton County
12 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Brighton High School
8045 Highway 51 South, Brighton

Union County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Union County Health Department
4335 Maynardville Highway, Maynardville

Van Buren County
3 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Burritt College
445 College St., Spencer

Weakley County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Weakley County Health Department
9852 Highway 22, Dresden

Williamson County
10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Williamson County Health Department
1324 West Main St., Franklin

Wilson County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Wilson County Health Department
927 E. Baddour Parkway, Lebanon

On Sunday, April 19, 11 COVID-19 drive-through testing sites will be open at the following locations in Tennessee:

Claiborne County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Claiborne County Health Department
620 Davis St., New Tazewell

Coffee County
12 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Coffee County Administrative Plaza
1329 McArthur St., Manchester

Fayette County
12 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Oakland First Baptist Church
8695 US-64, Somerville

Grainger County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Grainger County Health Department
185 Justice Center Drive, Rutledge

Madison County
9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Jackson Fairgrounds
800 South Highland Ave., Jackson

McMinn County
12 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Athens Regional Park
101 Regional Park Drive, Athens

Pickett County
1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
B & K Grocery Parking Lot
8460 Highway 111, Byrdstown

Roane County
9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Roane State Community College – Harriman Campus, 276 Patton Lane, Harriman

Sumner County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Gallatin High School
700 Dan P. Herron Drive, Gallatin

Union County
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Union County Health Department
4335 Maynardville Highway, Maynardville

Washington County
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
East Tennessee State University
1276 Gilbreath Drive, Johnson City

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced Wednesday that he is recommending that schools remain closed through the end of the school year.

“Our department of education will work with local leaders. We want to make sure to be flexible with districts across the state. They have critical year-end activities to complete and prepare for next year,” said Lee. “This pandemic has created many challenges for families, teachers and students. Classroom time has been lost. Students have lost a significant amount of learning time. We will continue to provide resources to keep our students engaged over the next several weeks. “

Tennessee education commissioner Penny Schwinn announced Wednesday the formation of a COVID-19 child well-being task force to create support for students during this lengthy layoff.

“We have important work ahead,” said Schwinn. “We just want to ensure our children continue learning. We will open schools next year and students will enter new grades. Being out of school this long has implications for the well-being of our students. It will take all of us to ensure safety and well being during this closure.”

Schwinn said the task force is currently being formed. 

While closing was staggered across the state, schools in Coffee County have been closed since the middle of March due to this pandemic. Coffee County Schools announced just yesterday that it plans to continue with high school graduation on May 22 – but also announced backup dates for graduation in case that event needs to be postponed. Thunder Radio will keep you up to date. 

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has gone up by one number here in Coffee County, with Tennessee Department of Health reporting there are now 12 cases here.

The number of confirmed cases statewide is now at 5,823, with 124 deaths, 633 hospitalizations and 1,969 people classified as recovered. Statewide, there have been 78,831 tests administered. There have been 332 negative tests performed in Coffee County.

As a reminder, Governor Bill Lee on Monday extended his executive stay-at-home order through the end of the month.

Coffee County Schools is still planning to conduct its graduation ceremony on May 22, as previously scheduled. However, guidance from local, state, and national leaders may make that impossible. To prepare for different possibilities, Coffee County Schools has chosen three potential backup dates for graduation should a postponement occur. Announcing these dates at this time allows students and their families to leave these dates open on their calendars as life returns to normal.

Should guidance from health and/or government officials dictate a postponement of graduation, three possible dates will be utilized. These dates are June 26, July 24, and August 14. If social restrictions cause the postponement of graduation, the ceremony will be held on the first available date listed, provided that arrangements can be completed by that date.

At this time, it should be emphasized that Coffee County Central High School graduation ceremonies have not been postponed. These dates are being announced to allow families to make alternative plans should a postponement occur.

The state of Tennessee has started paying approved unemployment claimants their first installment of the $600 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefit, in addition to their Tennessee Unemployment Compensation (TUC) benefit.

On Tuesday, April 14, the state distributed benefit payments of close to $94 million to financial institutions for approximately 110,000 unemployed Tennesseans. Most claimants will receive their directly-deposited payment on Wednesday, April 15.

The number of payments is projected to increase throughout the week and will likely exceed 150,000.

During the entire previous week, the state sent 114,000 claimants more than $33 million in unemployment benefits. That week did not include the FPUC payment.

The federal CARES Act provides FPUC to all approved claimants currently receiving unemployment benefits.
The federal government considers both TUC and FPUC benefits taxable income. Claimants can choose to have those taxes automatically deducted or to pay them at a later date.

The benefit payment for the week starting April 13 contains one installment of FPUC, but the state will provide claimants retroactive pay to March 29 in upcoming payments.
Funding for FPUC comes from the federal government and does not impact the Tennessee Unemployment Trust Fund.

With the extension of Governor Bill Lee’s stay-at-home order, Thunder Radio wants to remind you that you can visit our website for the Manchester Code COVID page (click here), or visit the tab through the Manchester GO smartphone app, to get information on local businesses. As a small, local, family-owned business ourselves at Thunder Radio, we have the small-business community on our minds. We are using this page to inform the public of altered operating hours, different procedures and other anomalies at area businesses to allow you to continue to patronize local business during this time. If you see a change that needs to be made to the page, email wmsr@thunder1320.com

Coffee County Schools is still planning to conduct its graduation ceremony on May 22, as previously scheduled. However, guidance from local, state, and national leaders may make that impossible. To prepare for different possibilities, Coffee County Schools has chosen three potential backup dates for graduation should a postponement occur. Announcing these dates at this time allows students and their families to leave these dates open on their calendars as life returns to normal.

Should guidance from health and/or government officials dictate a postponement of graduation, three possible dates will be utilized. These dates are June 26, July 24, and August 14. If social restrictions cause the postponement of graduation, the ceremony will be held on the first available date listed, provided that arrangements can be completed by that date.

At this time, it should be emphasized that Coffee County Central High School graduation ceremonies have not been postponed. These dates are being announced to allow families to make alternative plans should a postponement occur.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced Monday that his executive “stay at home” order has been extended through April 30.

His original executive order would have expired Tuesday. The extension calls for all non-essential businesses to be closed to the public, requires restaurant to offer curbside or carry-out services only and calls for Tennesseans to limit movement to essential functions, although that list of essential functions is large.

Earlier this month, Coffee County District Attorney General Craig Northcott clarified for residents that you do not need a special letter to travel within the county, and he added that police will not stop you to ask for one.

Tennessee Department of Health is now reporting 5,610 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Tennessee, this as of 2 p.m. Monday. These confirmed cases are out of 76,195 tests performed. There have been 109 deaths, 579 hospitalizations and 1,671 people classified as recovered. In Coffee County there have been 11 confirmed cases and 331 negative tests performed.

Greg Perry, who was elected to the seat of Coffee County General Sessions Judge during a special primary election held in early March, was officially sworn in to his new judge position Monday morning. Perry was sworn in by longtime Coffee County judge Jere Ledsinger.

Even though most court proceedings have been halted, some court matters are continuing forward despite COVID-19 Pandemic.

“We are still here to serve the people of the county in emergency matters,” explained Perry. “I would like to thank the constituents of Coffee County for giving me this opportunity. I hope to earn their vote again in two and a half years.”

Perry was elected in a Republican primary against Jason Huskey, Stacy Lynch and Jess Stockwell. The race was to fill the seat left empty by the passing of judge Tim Brock, who died in November of last year.