Category: News

Gas prices fell for the eighth consecutive day Sunday. The national average price for a gallon of gasoline is nearly 3 cents cheaper than a week ago, but 18 cents more expensive than last month. Still, Sunday’s average price of $2.43 is $1.27 less than the peak price last year, saving motorists more than $19 for a full tank of gas.
“The price of oil has not seen dramatic increases in the past couple of weeks and motorists are reaping the benefits,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “Gas prices are at their lowest level this time of year since 2009, which will entice people to take a road trip this spring.”
The price of oil dropped like a rock last week, which could signal lower prices at the pump in the coming weeks.
Currently Tennessee’s average price per gallon is $2.19. The low price in Manchester is $2.06 and the low price in Tullahoma is an even $2 per gallon.

Two women were charged with embezzlement from a Shelbyville business by the Bedford County grand jury Monday.
Melissa Martin and Jessica Estrada were indicted on direct presentment. Martin was charged with theft over $60,000, while Estrada was charged with theft over $10,000.
A total of $144,000 was allegedly embezzled from A-1 Quick Cash by the pair.
Shelbyville Police Detective Lt. Brian Crews said that Martin had claimed on Dec. 30, 2013 she had been kidnapped at gunpoint from the parking lot of the business and was later charged with filing a false report.
Both are free on $100,000 bond and turned themselves into authorities Monday morning.

Two steps forward, one step back. That’s the evaluation by clean-energy groups of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s annual plan on how the federal utility will generate electricity in the future. Groups such as the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and Southern Environmental Law Center say the plan does address the reduction of emissions to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan. Where it falls short, said Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance, is addressing the rising costs of consumer electric bills. “We are pleased that the plan continues to move forward with TVA’s commitment to retire coal plants,” he said. “Where we’re disappointed is we feel that TVA is not pursuing all cost-effective energy efficiency that helps customers save money.” Also this week, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy filed their reply with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission regarding a safety concern involving the second reactor at TVA’s Watts Bar nuclear plant in Rhea County. Investigations indicate the site is at risk if an earthquake struck or flooding occurred. A spokesperson for TVA said “both units at Watts Bar nuclear plant are designed to withstand seismic events that are likely to occur in east Tennessee.” The Integrated Resource Plan is a draft at this point, and the public and other parties are invited to attend meetings hosted by TVA over the next two months. While the plan does include solar power, Smith said when it comes to wind power, the draft is lacking. “We also feel like they’re not fully capturing what the potential is in the IRP for renewable energy,” he said. “We think there are some really interesting projects on the horizon and we think that they need to be careful in how they model those projects.” TVA has said they won’t immediately use the wind generated by the Plains and Clean Line Project, which will transfer energy generated by wind in Oklahoma to the Southeast, but Smith and others hope they reconsider that plan. Four years ago, the utility committed to become a leader in energy efficiency, but each year TVA has cut its budget for implementing more energy-efficiency efforts.

Motlow College welcomes alumnus and artist Kurt Krause back to the Moore County campus this week for a reception and art exhibit inside the Eoff Hall Art Gallery. The exhibit is called “Imaginary Fantasy,” and features both two and three-dimensional artwork.
The reception is open to the public and scheduled for Wednesday, March 18, from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the Eoff Hall lobby. Krause will be present and light refreshments will be served. The full exhibit will be inside Eoff Hall from March 18 – April 1, and is available for public viewing Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
In addition to being an alumnus, Krause has assisted with many Motlow theatre productions, and will serve as the assistant set designer for the upcoming 2015 spring drama.
For additional information about the reception or exhibit, please contact Bobbie Underwood at 931-393-1700 or bunderwood@mscc.edu.

The Coffee County School system will be having their annual Kindergarten Pre-Registration for the 2015-2016 school year on April 9, 2015.
The event will take place from 7:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. at each county Elementary School
(Deerfield, East Coffee, Hickerson, Hillsboro, New Union and North Coffee).
If you have questions or need more information please call the Coffee County School system at 931-723-5150.

Dr David Dickerson the Director of Schools in Grundy County has decided to resign from his job after only nine months in the leadership role. Dickerson says that he is more comfortable in a school setting. He had previously served as a principal at various Grundy County Schools, and had also served as director of schools for a brief period of time several years ago. Dickerson’s decision is said to have taken several Grundy County school board members by surprise, and there is no information as to a possible successor, though sources say an interim director could be named this week.

The importance of early childhood education is a top priority for child advocates this week as they work to encourage lawmakers to expand the availability of pre-kindergarten programs to Tennessee families during Children’s Advocacy Days in Nashville. While data supports the role early education plays in the lives of individual children, it comes down to dollars and cents for Bill Millett, the founder of Scope View Strategic Advantage, a firm that works with companies looking to find a qualified workforce. “There are some companies that go overseas because it’s cheaper over there, but there are some major Fortune 200 companies that we work with that just can’t find the talent here,” says Millett. “They’re patriots. They want us to up our game in terms of workforce development, and they believe that workforce development begins in the earliest months of life.” According to the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, for every dollar spent on pre-kindergarten education, there are returns of anywhere between $4 and $16 to the state’s economy. The First Five Years Fund estimates children who receive early childhood education are 33 percent more likely to be employed and earn a higher average salary, and 70 percent less likely to be arrested for a violent crime before the age of 18. Tennessee currently provides free pre-kindergarten to families who live at 185 percent of the federal poverty rate, but doesn’t have the funding for all eligible children. Joyce Bridges, director of the Tennessee Child Care Resource and Referral Network, says there are many more children in need, and helping them would benefit everyone. “That individual with a good, solid, early foundation is then prepared to have success in elementary school, middle school, high school, and is more likely to be encouraged to go on to post-secondary school,” she says. Millett adds that in the global economy it’s important to remember what was adequate education in the last generation won’t make the grade as the U.S. works to compete with other world economies. “Their competition for quality lives and quality jobs is growing up on at least four other continents,” he says. “Those kids have access to information, and in many cases, better early childhood education than our kids have.” Multiple bodies of scientific research support the opinion the brains of children under five years of age are able to absorb information and develop in a manner not possible once the brain is fully developed.

A central figure in the public dispute between Jack Daniel’s and George Dickel distilleries over the legal definition of Tennessee whiskey is leaving to head up a brand named after a legendary moonshiner.
John Lunn, who has been the master distiller of George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey since 2005, will take up the same role at Popcorn Sutton Distilling in Newport, Tennessee.
George Dickel, a British owned company located in Tullahoma, TN has led a heated legislative fight seeking to overturn the state’s newly established legal definition for Tennessee whiskey. The 2013 law was enacted at the request of Jack Daniel’s, which is owned by global rival Brown-Forman Corp. of Louisville, Kentucky with a distillery in Lynchburg, TN
Those rules require whiskey to be filtered through sugar maple charcoal before aging in unused white oak barrels.

Manchester Police Department investigated a bomb threat Saturday night at the U.S. Army recruiting office on the Hillsboro Blvd. The Tennessee Highway Patrol and Homeland Security assisted in the search. No device was found.
This was a threat the US Army found on their official Facebook page.
Manchester Police Department said they would like to thank the businesses and citizens for their cooperation who were affected by this. Manchester Police officials say they take these threats seriously and cleared the scene as quickly as possible. Manchester Fire and Rescue and Coffee County EMS also responded to the scene.
This is an on-going investigation.