Category: News

The use of food stamps in Coffee County increased during the recession, assisting families in stretching their food dollars, contributing to local spending and helping spark a national debate about the future of the federal nutrition program.
The proportion of Coffee County residents receiving food stamps hit 21.5 percent in 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Services. That’s an increase of 7.5 percentage points since 2007, the year the recession started.
Across Tennessee, 20.4 percent of residents in 2011 received support from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), as the food stamp program is officially known. Nationally, 14.8 percent of the population receives SNAP benefits.
In 2011, residents of Coffee County received a combined $17,918,876 in SNAP benefits. The USDA reports that each $5 in SNAP benefits generates $9.20 in spending.

At approximately 7am Friday morning Manchester Fire Rescue along with Coffee County EMS, Coffee County Sheriff’s Department and the Tennessee Highway Patrol responded to a single vehicle accident on Fredonia Road.
The driver was traveling towards Manchester when she lost control and her car flipped over into a storm drainage ditch. She was extricated from the vehicle by firefighters. The female victim was taken to Medical Center of Manchester by Coffee County EMS to meet an awaiting AirEvac chopper for transported to Vanderbilt.

An accident last week sent a Hillsboro woman to Vanderbilt Medical Center for treatment. Alishia Burks, 27 who is three months pregnant went to the hospital after her car struck the rear of a tractor-trailer truck Wednesday night.
According to a report by Tennessee Highway Patrolman Randy Euler, Burks struck the rear of a tractor-trailer operated by Dennis Miller, 53, of Michigan while in the Coffee County Industrial Park on Volunteer Boulevard. According to the trooper’s report, when the car struck the rear of the truck it knocked the tandem out from under the trailer.
Because of the impact, the Manchester Fire Department was summoned to the scene and they worked for some 20 minutes to cut Burks from her vehicle under the truck.
She was listed in stable condition Friday afternoon. The crash is under investigation by the THP.

Did you know that the Coffee County Fair in 2014 will be bigger and better than ever? It will feature an all new Front Porch Stage showcasing local talent in the Morton Youth Village. Plus, the Coffee County Fair in 2014 will have new rides! For 157 years, the Coffee County Fair Association has strived to preserve the past while at the same time working toward the future. This year their mission will bring the fair to an entirely new level. If you are planning to compete in the numerous competitions offered at the fair this September for livestock, art, photography, agriculture, and more, now is the time to be thinking ahead. To help inspire your creativity we are featuring Coffee County Fair Footage from 2013 in this week’s Thunder TV News Video online at WMSRradio.com. So go online to WMSRradio.com, watch the Thunder TV News Video, and then click on the Coffee County Fair Button on the Home Page to stay in the loop with what’s exciting and new at the upcoming 2014 Coffee County Fair.

Jerry Wayne Wiser of Hoodoo Road, Beechgrove was killed during a logging accident in Cannon County on Monday, May 12.
The Cannon County Sheriff’s Department reports that Wiser was killed when a tree fell on him while logging on Jim Perkins Hollow Road in Bradyville.
A coworker Donald Curlee, stated that he and Mr. Wiser were cutting tries on a hill side. Wiser had stopped to sharpen his blade on his saw when another worker started yelling that a tree was going to fall. It ended up being two trees that fell and hit Mr. Wiser pinning him between the two. Curlee stated that he had to cut the tree off of Wiser.
The owner of Alford Logging Company, Eddie Lee Alford was able to get a truck up to the site and take Wiser to Stones River Hospital.
Wiser was pronounced dead with severe trauma to the chest.

A number of people have been contacting the Tullahoma Regional Airport concerning flying in for this year’s Bonnaroo, according to airport Manager Jon Glass. “We have had calls about flights from London to here and several from California,” Glass stated. He also noted that there have been other calls asking if the airport can handle various size planes, which he explained that they could without any problem. The airport manager noted that the various flights into the airport would be good for fuel sales. “I think this will be a good Bonnaroo for us,” Glass stated.
Glass stated that a $150,000 request has been submitted to the City to extend one of the runways at the airport. The airport manager stated that a request to rehabilitate a runway at the airport has been submitted to the Tennessee Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol is using social media to urge the public to obey the Move Over law. This after a Nashville police officer was killed when he was struck by a motor home on I-65 on Saturday. A trooper was also struck on a traffic stop last Thursday on I-24 in Montgomery County.
The law requires drivers to move over into the other lane when you see law enforcement and emergency responders on the roadways. If you cannot get over, you are to slow down while passing the emergency vehicles.
According to THP, since 2000, three troopers have been killed by drivers failing to move over. The law went into effect in 2006.
If you fail to obey the law, you may get cited. The fine is up to $500 for the first offense.

Most Tennesseans have never seen an animal with rabies or known a family who has lost a loved one to the deadly disease. While that’s a testament to vigorous statewide rabies vaccination efforts that started in 1954, the Tennessee Department of Health is reminding residents this disease could make a comeback if people become complacent.
In the five years before dog vaccinations were required in our state, ten residents died from rabies, according to the Tennessee Department of Health. The last human rabies death in Tennessee was in 2002.
City and county health departments across Tennessee are now offering rabies vaccinations for dogs and cats. The vaccinations are important to protect not only pets, but to provide a barrier between wildlife rabies and humans. In 2013, there were 37 confirmed cases of rabies in animals in 18 Tennessee counties; the majority of those, 19, were skunks.
Left untreated, the rabies virus spreads through the central nervous system. First symptoms of rabies in people are fever, headache and weakness or fatigue. As the disease progresses, additional symptoms appear including sleeplessness, anxiety, confusion, slight or partial paralysis, hallucinations, excitability and more. Death usually occurs within days of the onset of these latter symptoms.
In addition to rabies, wild animals may have a variety of other diseases and parasites that can be transmitted to pets, livestock and humans.
Learn more about rabies online at http://health.state.tn.us/FactSheets/rabies.htm and www.cdc.gov/rabies/.