This week the Coffee County Commission met and approved by a vote of 21-0 a Tax Increment Financing plan (TIF) for Northgate Mall in Tullahoma. The infrastructure improvements are designed to finance these projects through future property tax abatements. The approval is for 10 years instead of the 14 requested by Tullahoma Area Economic Development Corp. In addition to the proposed public improvements of up to $1.8 million, Northgate LLC plans to invest an additional $12-14 million in upgrades to the mall itself in an attempt to attract new, higher-end retailers. The $1.8 million portion designated for government financing...

For the second time in recent weeks, a dead bobcat has been found at Tullahoma High School. Tuesday afternoon a dead bobcat was found in the parking lot on the southwest side of the football field. According to a report by Officer Daryn Gadeken, someone passing by the parking lot saw the bobcat and contacted police. According to the police report, the animal had been shot just behind the shoulders, however, the officer stated that the animal had been shot somewhere else and placed in the parking lot. Tullahoma animal control was notified and removed the animal. According to...

Tennessee Labor & Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips announced Thursday afternoon the Tennessee preliminary unemployment rate for October was 7.1 percent, two tenths of one percentage point lower than the September revised rate of 7.3 percent. The U.S. preliminary rate for October was 5.8 percent, down from 5.9 percent in September. Economic Summary • Over the past year, Tennessee’s unemployment rate decreased from 8.1 percent to 7.1 percent while the national rate declined from 7.2 percent to 5.8 percent. • Total nonfarm employment increased 7,900 jobs from September to October. The largest increases occurred in trade/transportation/utilities, professional/business services, and...

U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, who’s advocating nationally in support of raising the minimum wage to $10.10, said the federal minimum wage is the floor that states should use for their hourly rates. Tennessee has the highest percentage of minimum wage workers in the nation but is one of only a few states without a minimum wage law, according to a federal report released in March. The roughly 117,000 minimum wage workers in Tennessee account for about 7.5 percent of the state’s workforce. The prevalence of minimum wage workers has no bearing on the likelihood of any minimum wage...

Thomas Lawrence “TJ” Vandusen of Manchester has been charged in connection with a house fire in the Forrest Mill area. The 22 year-old Vandusen was arrested, charged with the fire as well as vandalism over $1,000 and booked in at the Coffee County Jail. The fire was a mobile home at 330 Volunteer Avenue in Summitville and according to a report by Coffee County Sheriff’s Investigator James Sherrill, Vandusen admitted to setting the fire. He allegedly told officers that he poured gas throughout the mobile home and lit a match and set the fire. The mobile home was destroyed...

Earlier this month James M. Mayes, 26, of Brandontown Road, Manchester, a former corrections officer at the Coffee County Jail was charged with bribery of a public servant, extortion and official misconduct. The extortion charge was dropped at a court hearing on Tuesday, but Mayes still faces the other charges as those were bound over. According to warrants obtained by Sheriff’s Investigator Sgt. Danny Ferrell, Mayes took $100 from an inmate to allow him to keep a quarter pound of tobacco the inmate had in his possession in the tobacco-free jail. According to the warrants, he had told the...