Category: News

Manchester closed out February with nearly 11 total inches of rain, this according to TVA Rain Gauge Data. Manchester received 10.93 inches of rain to be exact from Feb. 1 through Feb. 29. While that certainly made for a wet and sloppy month, and multiple school closures due to flooded roads, February of 2019 actually brought more rain, totaling 11.6 inches in the Manchester area, according to TVA, which was the wettest February on record.

If you are hoping for a dryer month of March, that may not be in the cards. National Weather Service is predicting 4-6 inches of rain this week in the Manchester area, with other areas of the midstate expected to receive between 6-8 inches of rain.

(Below graphic indicates expected rainfall amounts from Sunday night, March 1, through Wednesdsay, March 4)

Tuesday, March 3 is primary election day in Tennessee. This is the presidential preference primary and the Coffee County primary. Polls will be open in Coffee County from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. Anyone waiting in line by 7 p.m. will be allowed to complete their vote.

In addition to the federal presidential preference primary, Coffee County voters will have assessor of property, general sessions judge, Coffee County Commissioner (district 8) and road commissioner seat 4, which serves districts 11 and 12 to vote for.

If early voting is an indicator, Coffee County voters are turning out in heavier amounts than they did for the presidential preference primary in 2016. During early voting, which ran Feb. 12 through the 25^th, there were 3,517 total votes cast. That was up from the 3,074 early votes cast In 2016. Of the 3,517 early votes cast this year, 2,561 were Republican and 956 were Democratic.

By Nadia Ramlagan, Tennessee Public News Service

Tennessee is increasing the number of drop-off clinics that allow police officers to take people with mental-health and/or substance-abuse issues to a treatment provider instead of jail.

Sejal West, senior vice president for operations of Volunteer Behavioral Healthcare System, says the jail diversion program is a close collaboration between local criminal-justice systems, law enforcement and treatment providers.

“Just even the process of determining which crimes, which offenses would be appropriate for this, that was done collectively,” says West. “There are low-level misdemeanors, where there’s not a victim. Like trespassing and loitering, public intoxication. Those are a lot of the charges we see.”

West’s organization covers 31 counties in middle and east Tennessee and is slated to receive $500,000 in funding to help build a new clinic.

According to state data, between 2017 and 2019, pre-arrest diversion clinics connected more than seven thousand people to mental-health treatment, saving an estimated $9.8 million.

Kim Parker, director of inpatient and crisis services at Pathways Behavioral Health Services, says the funding will help her organization build a new clinic in a closed-down hospital in rural west Tennessee.

“We will be able to use that rural hospital to provide this service to get the people the treatment that they need,” says Parker, “as well as reduce the overcrowding in the jails.”

This year Gov. Bill Lee budgeted $1.5 million to boost the pre-arrest diversion program in rural, underserved and distressed parts of the state.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced Thursday that he backs legislation to allow adult Tennesseans to carry handguns without a permit, training or background checks.

During a news conference, Lee said: “The Second Amendment’s clear and concise and secures the uninfringed right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms. Today, I’m announcing that we will be joining 16 other states in this nation by introducing a constitutional carry law in the state of Tennessee.”

If passed, this measure would allow gun owners to carry firearms openly or concealed and take them everywhere that guns are allowed. Guns would continue to be prohibited at parks, schools, churches and other areas.

Currently, obtaining a permit to carry requires training, background checks and a fee. This permitless carry Lee speaks of would cost nothing and would not require training. One caveat would be that this option would not translate to other states unless those states have similar agreements with permitless carry.

This legislation also makes theft of a firearm a felony rather than a misdemeanor, with a six-month incarceration sentence mandated for that crime. This would also mean heavier sentences if a firearm is stolen from a car, providing to a juvenile or possession of a handgun by a felon. Purchasing a handgun would still require passing a federal background check.

Planning to go to the 2020 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival? Better already have your ticket, because the 2020 festival has already sold out – making it the fastest that the festival has ever sold out in its 19 year history.

The festival announced earlier this week that VIP tickets were sold out, and then announced Wednesday that general admission tickets were running low. By Thursday afternoon, the event sold out.

The 2020 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival will be held June 11 through June 14 at Great Stage Park in Manchester. This year’s festival, the 19^th, will be headlined by Tool, Lizzo and Tame Impala. With other popular acts such as Miley Cyrus, Bassnectar, Nelly, Lana Del Rey among others set to perform.

Winchester Police Department is asking for the public’s help identifying four individuals captured on security footage. The individuals, two males and two females, can be seen in photos below. If you recognize these subjects, contact detective Brian Wilder with Winchester Police at 931-967-3840, or crime stoppers at 931-962-INFO.

Motlow State Community College athletic director John Chandler III has resigned from the college, just a year after he was hired.

Chandler was placed on administrative leave on Dec. 6, 2019 after Motlow Chief of Staff Marvin Thompson informed him that there were allegations of potential misconduct and/or unprofessional behavior reported to the college on Dec. 4.

After he was placed on leave, Chandler was prohibited from being present on Motlow property.

We have an update to a news story Thunder Radio News brought to you last week. On February 19, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued an AMBER Alert for 15-month old Evelyn Mae Boswell out of Sullivan County, Tennessee. She was last seen on December 26 but was not reported missing until Feb. 18.

As of late Wednesday night, Feb. 25, Megan Boswell, the mother of Evelyn, was taken into custody and charged with false reporting. The search for Evelyn Boswell is ongoing.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Join us at Thunder Radio and the Manchester H&R Block and say congratulations to our student of the week – Savannah Ellis.

Savanah is a fifth grade student at Hickerson Elementary. She is the daughter of Angela and Kenneth Ellis and is in Beth Stroop’s class at Hickerson.

Savannah likes to read and play video games in her spare time. When she grows up, she plans to be an astronautical engineer.

Rosalyn Partin, owner of the Manchester H&R Block, has been inspired to recognize great kids in our community all through hockey season. What does hockey season have to do with our local students? Well, H&R Block gives each Student of the Week a set of Nashville Predators hockey tickets, a commemorative plaque, as well as a special letter of recognition.

Congratulations, Savannah!