James Dobson, who serves as an assistant principal at Westwood Middle School and is a member of the local VFW Post 10904 in Manchester, has won the VFW Department of TN State Teacher of the Year award. You may remember earlier in the school year Mr. Dobson was in the news for helping to coordinate and implement a purple heart parking area for wounded veterans at Westwood Middle School. Congratulations, James Dobson.
If you have driven by the Manchester Sports Park soccer fields recently you may have noticed some vertical construction – new LED lights are being installed, giving Manchester lighted recreation fields dedicated to soccer. The project should be complete by the end of the month (January).
Manchester officials approved to install lights back in the summer, along with restrooms, a total cost of over $670,000, with the city expected to cover $336,000 and the remainder coming from grant funding. C&H Commercial Contractors is the company installing the lights.
Coffee County Schools has announced that its person of the week for this week is Alisha Vaughn, who is a school counselor at Deerfield Elementary.
According to the school system, Mrs. Vaughn ensures students social, emotional and physical needs are met to be successful. She also helps to manage the Deerfield Backpack Program and organizes the school’s Angel Tree program as well as the clothing closet. She has also been key to writing several grants for the school.
Thunder Radio is excited to announce the brand new smartphone app called “Manchester GO”.
The new app, which is powered by Thunder Radio, is designed to be a one-stop source of information for everything Manchester constantly at your fingertips. Whether you need to know about an upcoming event, how to contribute to a local charity, need a phone number for a local restaurant, need to know who to contact about renting a picnic shelter at the park or just want to catch up on local news and sports, “Manchester GO” will have those answers in one place, at your fingertips.
“We are excited to offer this to our community,” said Josh Peterson, president of Thunder Radio. “As we roll this smartphone app out to the community, we welcome feedback and critiques so we can make adjustments and make it even better moving forward. The idea is to give everyone a product centered around community, whether it’s news they want or they want to quickly place an order at a local restaurant or need to find a tow for their car. We want that in one place.”
Manchester GO will even have exclusive coupons to redeem at local businesses. You can download the app starting today by clicking here on your apple or android smart device and it is free to download. After you download, we encourage you to register for prizes for an opportunity to win some Amazon Alexa Dots, Google Home Mini’s, Amazon TV Firesticks and local gift certificates.
UPDATE 12:45 P.M. SATURDAY — A new tornado watch that includes Coffee County has been issued until 8 p.m. Saturday
UPDATE AT 9:30 A.M. SATURDAY – A tornado watch that includes Coffee County has been issued until 1 p.m. Saturday
Most all of Middle Tennessee, including Coffee County, is under a “slight risk” of severe weather Saturday (Jan. 11), according to the National Weather Service office in Nashville.
A strong line of storms is approaching from the west has prompted a tornado watch that includes Coffee County and many other areas of the midstate until 8 p.m.
According to NWS, the main threat is winds and heavy rain. Isolated tornadoes are possible south of Interstate 40. NWS expects storms to reach the Coffee County area by approximately noon.
During severe weather, Thunder Radio will break into regular programming live at 107.9 FM, 106.7 FM, 1320 AM and streaming here.
Recently, a wallet was reported missing with several credit cards inside. Those credit cards were allegedly used at several locations in Tullahoma on January 2. There is a photo of a person of interest on our website – a white male with a bald head and a goatee. Anyone with information regarding this person’s identity is encouraged to contact Tullahoma Police Department detective Johnny Gore at 931-455-0530 ext. 133 or email jgore@tullahomatn.gov.
Multiple volunteer fire departments in Coffee County responded to a fully engulfed structure fire Thursday, January 9 in Lakewood Park off of Maple Drive.
Firefighters arrived to find a home, wooded lot and a vehicle burning. The structure was a total loss as firefighters worked for over two hours to extinguish the blaze. Volunteers with New Union, Hickerson, North Coffee, Summitville and Hillsboro Fire Departments were on scene. No injuries were reported.
Residents throughout the Volunteer State are surveyed four times per year in order to measure consumer confidence. The research is conducted by Dr. Tim Graeff a professor at MTSU. The research conducted is part of the Tennessee Business Barometer, which looks as if 2019 ended on a positive note.
Results from the most recent Tennessee Consumer Outlook Survey indicate consumers’ outlook on the economy continues to improve. The Tennessee Consumer Outlook Index rose to 254 from 214 in September. This marks the highest level for the index since its inception in 2015. All three components of the index rose. This suggests Tennessee consumers have increasingly more positive views of the current economy, are more optimistic about the future economy, and increasingly view now as a good time to make large purchases
Increasingly optimistic views of the U.S. economy, the Tennessee economy, and personal financial situation contributed to this improved overall outlook. Any potential fears related to possible negative effects of tariffs and a trade war with China, or of a future recession, or negative effects of continued impeachment proceedings do not appear to have a significant effect on consumers’ outlook.
Consumers in middle Tennessee hold the most positive views of the economy, followed by those in east Tennessee. Even though consumers in west Tennessee hold the least positive views of the economy, these consumers still have a relatively positive purchasing outlook. This bodes well for consumer spending across the entire state.
You can view the entire report by clicking here.
Join us at Thunder Radio and Rosalyn Partin at the H&R Block of Manchester and say congratulations to our student of the week – Zander Warrick.
Zander is a fifth-grade student at East Coffee Elementary School. He is in Miss Wendy Manning’s class, and is the son of Joel and Laura Warrick.
Zander enjoys playing basketball and also likes to play video games. When he grows up he would like to be a doctor.
Rosalyn Partin, owner of the Manchester H&R Block has been inspired to recognize kids in our community all through hockey season. What does hockey have to do with our local students? Well, H&R Block gives each student of the week a set of Nashville Predators hockey tickets, in addition to a commemorative plaque, as well as a special letter of recognition.
Congratulations, Zander. Keep up the great work!
Tennessee House and Senate leaders introduced a resolution Wednesday that would add Tennessee’s Right to Work law to the state constitution.
Senate Joint Resolution 648 is sponsored by Senator Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown), Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge), Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin), Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Ken Yager (R-Kingston), Judiciary Committee Chairman Mike Bell (R-Riceville), Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Chairman Bo Watson (R-Hixson), and Commerce and Labor Committee Chairman Paul Bailey (R-Sparta). Its companion House Resolution is sponsored by Insurance Committee Chairman Robin Smith (R-Hixson), Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville), House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland), Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Chairman Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet), Government Operations Committee Chairman Martin Daniel, (R-Knoxville), Health Committee Chairman Bryan Terry (R-Murfreesboro), Judiciary Committee Chairman Michael Curcio (R-Dickson), and Commerce Committee Chairman Timothy Hill (R-Blountville).
Tennessee’s “Right to Work” statute has been state law since 1947, providing workers rights to not be hired or fired based on their membership in, affiliation with, resignation from, or refusal to join or affiliate with any labor union or employee organization.
Across the nation, 27 other states have right to work laws and nine of those have passed constitutional amendments, including neighboring states Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama, which most recently passed an amendment in 2016. Virginia is considering repealing its Right to Work statute.
“Tennessee’s Right to Work laws have been critical to producing the economic growth our state has experienced over the last decade,” said Lt. Gov. McNally. “I appreciate everything Senator Kelsey has done to support the right to work in Tennessee.”
“Tennessee has been and will remain a Right to Work state,” saidSpeaker Cameron Sexton. “Solidifying this essential concept through this amendment will engrain this key principle of Tennessee business into our constitution. This will strengthen our economic standing, support our current and future workforces, and also ensure this state remains open for business.”
There is also strong public support for the resolution. An October 2019 Beacon Center survey reported that 68 percent of Tennesseans favor the Right to Work policy, while 13 percent are opposed, and 19 percent remain undecided.
