The executive director of Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam’s free-tuition program says it has contributed to the spike in students pursuing a higher education. Tennessee Promise offers eligible high school seniors free tuition to a two-year community or technical college. According to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, 50,699 first-time freshmen enrolled in a public higher education institution this year, compared with 46,030 last year. Tennessee Promise Executive Director Mike Krause said Thursday that of the 21,706 students enrolled in community colleges, 16,291 are in the governor’s program. Krause says the numbers are “reflective of a culture and attitude change in...

The Manchester KOA has earned the prestigious 2016 KOA President’s and Founder’s Awards from Kampgrounds of America Inc., the world’s largest system of family-friendly, open-to-the-public campgrounds. The awards were presented last week at KOA’s Annual International Convention in Daytona Beach, Florida. KOA is celebrating its 53rd Anniversary in 2015. The KOA President’s Awards are presented annually to campgrounds that receive high scores in customer service from their campers, and also receive high scores in KOA’s annual Campground Quality Review. The KOA Founder’s Award is named in honor of Dave Drum, who founded KOA on the banks of the Yellowstone...

Those trying to call 911 Thursday afternoon were not getting through to the Coffee County Communication Center due to problems with AT&T. “All of our 911 calls were then routed through Franklin County Communication Center,” Steve Deford head of the Coffee County Communication Center said Thursday. He said that the center lost service around 1 p.m. and had no idea how long it would be down. Late Thursday afternoon AT&T service was back to normal operation. According to the director, the outage was in the Manchester area and had land lines down in Manchester only. Coffee County thanks Franklin...

A circuit court judge denied a request for a new trial by a man sentenced to life without parole in the state prison Wednesday in Coffee County Circuit Court. John O’Keefe Varner was convicted of the charges in July by a Coffee County Circuit Court jury on charges of criminal attempt to commit first degree murder, aggravated assault and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Varner was on the TBI’s Most Wanted list when he was arrested in October 2014 in Las Vegas. He was accused of shooting a Manchester resident following a verbal altercation and Varner...

Tullahoma Police officers arrested three people Wednesday on charges of possession of drugs and paraphernalia. Arrested were Amy Renee Glasgow, 37, of 707 South Franklin Street on charges of theft of property, unlawful drug paraphernalia and two counts of manufacturing/delivering/selling a controlled substance. Ronald Demerius King, 31, of 707 South Franklin Street was charged with theft of property, unlawful drug paraphernalia, two counts of manufacturing/delivering/selling of a controlled substance and unlawful carrying of a weapon and unlawful possession. Andrew Levi Jefferson, 34, of 302 Linden Street, Tullahoma faces the same charges as King. The arrest occurred after Tullahoma Police...

This week, Tennessee joined at least 27 states whose governors have opposed settling Syrian refugees, in light of the recent attacks in Paris. Underlying their concerns is the fact that one of the attackers entered France by posing as a Syrian refugee. Legal experts assert there is legal precedent that the federal government sets immigration and refugee policy, and states cannot refuse a specific group of people. Holly Johnson, state refugee coordinator for the Tennessee Office for Refugees, says it’s important to note the suspected terrorist in France had registered himself as a refugee but had not been given...