Category: News

Vietnam veterans will receive a proper “welcome home” this Thursday, in a special ceremony at Fort Campbell Army base. Organizers say the event aims to celebrate and thank service members, many of whom were scorned when they first came home from the war decades ago. 

Memphis resident and Vietnam veteran Harold Beaver is traveling to Fort Campbell to participate, and said this kind of commemoration is long overdue. 

“When we got back to the states, people at that time, they were still, you know, spitting on us,” Beaver said. “They were doing things that just showed dishonor, because we were participating in an occupation or war that people here in the States didn’t approve of.”

The event is free, but organizers suggest arriving up to two hours before the 2 p.m. ceremony to allow time for processing through security and getting to the event location on base. More information is available at states.AARP.org/tennessee.

Stacy Pennington, outreach director at AARP Tennessee, said this veterans’ welcome home event is a first for Fort Campbell.

“So, at the hanger, Hanger 3, it will be really neat. At 2:00, they’ll have the Vietnam veterans behind a closed gate. They’ll open that gate and everybody will be inside the hanger. And we will give them a proper ‘welcome home’ – like we do currently when our current men and women come home from service now,” Pennington said.

Nearly 500,000 veterans live in Tennessee. Around 37% of them served in Vietnam, according to data from the Housing Assistance Council.

Beaver said seeing people make time to celebrate and welcome him and fellow veterans has affected him profoundly.

“It’s just heart-wrenching to see the support, and people waving, giving high-fives and saying, ‘Thank you for your service’ – something that didn’t happen 50 years ago,” Beaver said.

AARP also will host an evening Memorial Mile walk and candlelit ceremony to honor fallen heroes in Clarksville, on Saturday, September 21, as part of the Valor Run marathon.

A travel alert for those of you who frequent Benson Rd. In Coffee County, which connects Asbury Rd. and Buck Jones Rd. The Coffee County Highway Department will be paving Benson Rd. This week. if you do travel that area, be aware and travel with caution as there will be heavy equipment, trucks and men working in that area. Travel times could also be slightly delayed. 

The Tullahoma community is mourning the loss of Marliana Noel “Marli” Tate, who passed away Monday, Sept. 9. She was a 12-year old, seventh-grade student at East Middle School.

Visitation with the family was held Thursday at Tullahoma Funeral Home.

The Tullahoma News reported that Tullahoma Director of Schools John Carver insinuated on Thursday that Tate’s death “potentially involved an internet challenged gone awry.”

Marli Tate

“We don’t really know all the ins and outs about what happened, but we do know that it could have involved some kind of teenage internet challenge-type thing on YouTube or something,” The News cites Carver as saying. “It’s very tragic.”

She is survived by her parents, Brandon W. Tate of Tullahoma and Lindsey George of Shelbyville. Maternal grandparents are Dena George of Shelbyville and Johnny George of Manchester. Paternal grandparents are Robert A Tate of Tullahoma one Kimberly Tate of Manchester. Great grandparents are Roma and Mickey Deal and Teddy & Caroline Steele of Winchester and Delores Pope of Birmingham, AL. Marli is also survived by many other relatives aunts and uncles, cousins, and countless loving friends and neighbors. Marli was a generous and loving free spirit who will continue to give to others as an organ donor. She will forever be our bright and shining star.

The Shelbyville Police Department is asking for the public’s help in locating two individuals wanted in connection with an armed home invasion.

Wanted are John Lewis Rippey, a while male last seen on foot in the area of Jack Pickle Rd. in Bedford County on Friday, Sept. 13.

Police are also searching for Julius Dominick Guinn, a black male. His location is unknown, according to Shelbyville PD.

Anyone with information should contact detective Nathan Everhart at 931-684-5811.

John Lewis Rippey

Julius Dominick Guinn

The Coffee County Fair is officially open for business!

The 162nd annual fair got underway Saturday with beauty pageants, but the entire fair gets underway Monday (Sept. 16), including midway entertainment, exhibits and food. On the midway Monday night is “Fun Night,” tickets for rides starting at 6 p.m.

Other events of note happening Monday – the Nick’s Kids Show will be at 5, 7 and 8:30 p.m. And the Little Miss Coffee County Contest for ages 4-5 will be at 6 p.m. Monday night at 6 will also be the Open Sheep Show. Looking ahead to Tuesday, it will be $20 hand stamp day for rides. More information online eat www.coffeecountyfairtn.org

There is a new scam to be aware of. This warning is coming from the Tennessee Department of Revenue and the Tennessee Department of Commerce and the scam is targeting Tennesseans who may be facing unpaid taxes. 

In this scam, the scammer wants their intended victims to pay an “offer of compromise” to them which will realistically not help address any unpaid taxes.

The letter has an official look, with a large notice of delinquency letterhead. The letter goes on to say that the state taxing authority has filed one or more liens against you for either a lack fo filing information or a deficiency in payment. 

Pictured is a sample of a scam letter some Tennesseans are receiving to fraudulently collect “unpaid taxes.”

Pictured is a realistic letter you might receive if you owe unpaid taxes.

A federal judge blocked Tennessee’s new restrictions for registering voters from taking effect on October 1st of this year. 

For now, the ruling sets aside a law that fines groups that pay workers when too many incomplete registration forms are submitted. The law would criminalize intentional infractions of a new set of rules, exposing voting advocates to misdemeanor charges, according to the Associated Press.

Voter registration groups sued over the law, saying it has already curtailed their ability to enroll voters. 

US District Judge Aleta Trauger said the effort is akin to “poisoning the soil in order to have an easier harvest.” 

Under the new law, the state can fine paid groups that submit 100 or more voter registration forms that lack a complete name, address, date of birth, declaration of eligibility and signature. Penalties can reach $10,000 per county where violations occur if more than 500 incomplete forms are submitted. 

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s office said that many of the 10,000 registrations submitted in and around Memphis last year by the Tennessee Black Voter Project on the last day for registering were filled out incorrectly. Only paid groups could be penalized under the law

We have an update to a story Thunder Radio brought to you Thursday in the case of a high-speed chase and the arrest of Daniel Rainey. 

Daniel Rainey

According to the official arrest report from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department, deputy Blake Simmons observed Rainey, 35, at Ben’s Lakewood Market and was advised that Rainey was possibly involved in drug traffic. When Simmons attempted to initiate a traffic stop on Lumley Stand Rd., he states in his report that Rainey accelerated in an erratic manner and began tossing bags out the window consistent with narcotics. The report states that Rainey also sprinkled a substance out the window that was hitting Simmons’ patrol unit. 

Rainey then abruptly hit his brakes, causing Simmons’ patrol unit to hit Rainey and slide his car off the road and strike a fence post. Rainey was then taken into custody without incident. He refused an ambulance. As we reported to you yesterday, Rainey was charged with manufacture, sell and delivery of meth, tampering with evidence, reckless endangerment, evading arrest and driving on revoked license — 11th offense. He also had active probation violation warrants in Warren County. His bond was set at $35,000. 

The Coffee County Fair starts Saturday, Sept. 14. The midway events and rides will not begin until Monday, Sept. 16.

Saturday will be the well-known beauty pageants. Miss Teen Coffee County will be at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and the Fairest of the Fair will be at 8 Saturday night.

Sunday will be full of baby shows: 0-6 months at 1 p.m., 6-12 months at 2 p.m., 12-18 months at 3 p.m., 18-24 months at 4 p.m., and the 2-3 years toddler show is at 5 p.m.

Be sure to stay tuned to Thunder Radio news next week as we highlight each day’s events on the news. You can also see a digital copy of the fair book by clicking here.