Five Republican state senators, including Sens. Janice Bowling of Tullahoma and Paul Bailey of Sparta, are calling on Gov. Bill Haslam to enact “emergency rules” for abortion providers in Tennessee. The lawmakers want the governor to take action to ensure that the illegal sale of fetal tissue after abortions isn’t taking place in the state. They want the emergency rules to provide a “chain of custody” until the disposal of the fetus; create a hotline for reporting any illegal activity at abortion clinics; and authorize the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to investigate abortion facilities. Haslam said he shares the...

A privately owned section of a popular hiking route along the Cumberland Plateau is closing, leaving officials to change the course of the 13-mile Fiery Gizzard Trail. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports the closure in December gives park officials and volunteers with the Friends of the South Cumberland State Park just months to reconnect the path between the Grundy Forest trailhead and Foster Falls in neighboring Marion County. One landowner says he wants to sell his property, but the price is higher than the Friends organization can afford. The other property owner decided it was a good time...

A Tullahoma man was arrested on Thursday (Aug. 20) after deputies found him parked in a way to block the entrance of Van-Rob, Inc. on Volunteer Parkway in Manchester. According to warrants, Wesley Thomas Foutch, 24, of White Pine Drive, Tullahoma was found to be in possession of 10.37 grams of methamphetamines and .44 grams of cocaine as well as digital scales, a spoon with residue, three straws with residue and three used needles. Foutch was charged with possession of schedule II, manufacture/delivery/sell of controlled substance and driving on revoked/suspended license. He is being held in the Coffee County...

Gov. Bill Haslam is visiting several community colleges this week to help kickoff his Tennessee Promise program. The scholarship provides high school graduates with two years of tuition-free attendance at a state community or technical college, which began classes on Monday. As many as 18,000 students are expected to be enrolled. More than 58,000 high school seniors applied for the scholarship. Tennessee Promise was launched as part of Haslam’s “Drive to 55” initiative, which aims to increase the percentage of Tennesseans with a degree or certificate beyond high school, help improve overall job qualifications and attract employers to the...

Right now, accessing public records in Tennessee costs nothing more than your time. But that may change as the state considers legislation that would impose a charge. As it stands, records custodians can only charge for making copies. “Citizens want to view public records for a variety of reasons,” says John Dunn, a spokesman for the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office. “They want to understand more about how their government operates. “Perhaps they’re looking into situation involving spending and they want to see how their public officials are spending their money. Those are all situations where they would need to review...

Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd made a brief site visit to the Tullahoma Municipal Airport last week to discuss with airport officials and economic and community development staff the impact of recent legislation affecting Tennessee’s airports and their capital improvement programs. Airport Authority Chairman Sam Crimm and Authority member Jim Apple briefed the commissioner on the progress that had been made at the Tullahoma airport in the area of economic development and Apple stressed the importance of maintaining a strong facility improvement program for Tennessee’s general aviation airports. Tullahoma Area Economic Development Corporation (TAEDC), Executive Director...