Category: News

Law enforcement agencies across the southeast are gearing up to put the brakes on high-speed drivers. The second annual “Operation Southern Shield” kicked off Monday in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and South Carolina.
The goal of the operation, which lasts through Sunday, July 22, is to reduce crashes, fatalities and injuries by cracking down on speeding drivers.
In Tennessee, more than 9,100 citations were issued during the 2017 operation. 5,500 of those were for speeding.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says speeding killed more than 10,000 people in the United States in 2016 and was a factor in 27 percent of fatal crashes in the nation.

Alzheimer’s Tennessee invites everyone in the South Central Tennessee community to an “Ice Cream Social” to commemorate the grand opening of the Regional Office in Tullahoma. The event is held on Tuesday, July 31 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Alzheimer’s Tennessee’s new regional office in Tullahoma is located at 207 North Jackson St., Tullahoma, TN.
The Coffee County Alzheimer’s Tennessee office will serve individuals and families living with Alzheimer’s disease Bedford, Coffee, Franklin, Lincoln and Maury Counties and areas surrounding these counties.

The Tennessee Department of Health is pleased to announce recipients of the Access to Health through Healthy Active Built Environment grants, who are collectively being awarded more than $1.8 million in grant funding. The purpose of the grants is to award funding to communities to plan, develop, implement and assess sustainable projects and programs to increase access to safe and publicly-accessible opportunities for physical activity for a diverse group of users, including those who live, visit, work, play, worship and learn in the community.
“We continue to strive to be a Healthier Tennessee Community,” said Mayor Lane Curlee.
“We’re working to build new sidewalks, extend greenways and build new parks. We don’t have enough jogging and biking trails, and so we are now implementing changes into the built environment to create a healthier city.”
“The plan for Tullahoma is to create a new park on four acres between Silver Street and Freeman Street,” said Community Coordinator, Winston Brooks. “The park will have a walking track, basketball courts, community garden and other amenities.”
“We are excited to create a new park for the residents in this area,” said Director of Parks and Recreation, Kurt Glick. “
The City has also partnered with the UT-TSU Coffee County Extension Office.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has provided grant funding to the UT-TSU Office that will be incorporated into this new park. “Through this grant, recently named the “Well Connected Communities Initiative,” one project to be led by the Tullahoma Wellness
Committee and local volunteers will be a storybook trail to be built along a portion of the city’s greenway,” said Extension Agent, Belinda Letto. “The trail is designed to promote physical activity, improve literacy and mental health and strengthen family relationships. It
will include elements to connect both youth and adults with the outdoor, natural environment.”
Anyone interested in volunteering with this project should contact Belinda Letto at UT-TSU Extension – Coffee County at 723-5141.

After several months of collaboration between the City of Tullahoma, the Tullahoma Art Center and the senior community members, the Trash to Treasure art sculpture, The Story of Tullahoma, has been set in place at CD Stamps Recreation Center.
This community art piece is now on display at CD Stamps Recreation Center 810 S Jackson St. and there will be a ribbon cutting to celebrate this wonderful community project on Monday July 23, 2018. They encourage everyone to stop by and meet the artists, high school students and community members who created this unique piece of Tullahoma art.
A $5,000 grant funded by the Tennessee Arts Commission was accepted with a mission to engage more senior citizens in the arts. The senior community members provided their stories and ideas for the theme of the art piece. The need for creative design was met by the seniors for ensuring the vision became a reality.
The piece also encourages recycling because it is all made from recycled materials. The City of Tullahoma made five large bins available for the collection of the recyclable materials needed for the project and they were soon filled. Not only did this project engage the community in the design and construction, but it also brought awareness to the need and importance for recycling. The Go Green Initiative sponsored by the city was a perfect companion to this project.
The lead artists Pat Rollie and Katie Pierce had oversight on the work and the construction aspects were managed by Patrick Sanders.

The Manchester Times and Thunder Radio hosted a political forum on Thursday evening at “The Church at 117.” Candidates for Road Superintendent, Trustee, Circuit Court Clerk, County Mayor, Register of Deeds, County Clerk, school board, aldermen and Sheriff gave speeches and answered questions during the event. If you missed the forum or would like to re-listen, go to WMSRradio.com and click on the downloads page.
With political campaigns in their final weeks, early voting for the August 2nd county general and state primary elections will begin July 13th.
In local races, voters will be electing county commissioners, a County Mayor, Sheriff, Circuit Court Clerk, Register of Deeds, Trustee, Road Superintendent, County Clerk, County School Board, Constables and Road Commissioners.
Manchester voters will also select three Aldermen and three City School Board members. Tullahoma will elect 2 Aldermen and 2 School Board members.
State primary races include those of Governor, U-S Senator, U-S Representative and State Representative.
Early voting hours will be Monday through Friday from 8am to 4:30pm and Saturdays from 8:30am until noon at the Election Commission office in the Coffee County Administration Plaza and in Tullahoma at the C.D. Stamps Center from 9am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday and Saturdays 9am-noon. Early voting will end on July 28th. Election Day is August 2nd. All voters who vote early or on Election Day must present a government issued photo ID.