The new Coffee County Jail will be completed by the end of July or early August. Recently Sheriff Steve Graves was a guest on WMSR’s Straight Talk program and discussed the new jail. He said it is unlikely that the new jail on Hillsboro Highway will be fully operational before January of next year. Graves said that hiring new staff members and training will take place after the final budget has passed. He said that could be as late as September. The current jail is very overcrowded with 300 inmates in a jail built for 193. The sheriff works...

77-year-old Franklin Myers of Manchester died from injuries he received in a single vehicle crash on Ragsdale Road at Harpo Rd in Manchester Sunday morning. Myers of Manchester was driving a 1998 Dodge Ram pickup that left the roadway and struck a tree. According to the on scene Tennessee Highway patrolman’s report, around 10:30 a.m. Myers’ vehicle left the roadway “for an unknown reason ran off the left side of the road and struck a tree.” Myers had to be cut from the vehicle by members of the Manchester Fire & Rescue. He was then flown to Erlanger Medical...

The City of Manchester board of Mayor and Aldermen will meeting in regular session Tuesday night at 6:30pm. Many items are planned for vote and discussion including: • Reading of a letter from State of Tennessee Commission on Firefighting commending Chief George DeShields. • Appreciation letter from the Lions Club • 2nd reading of an ordinance adopting a continuing annual operating budget of Manchester, TN for fiscal year 2015. • 2nd reading of an ordinance authorizing the City of Manchester, TN to enter into a mutual aid agreement with the Secretary of the Air Force for fire protection. WMSR...

Local authorities were busy Monday morning searching for two men who broke out of the Grundy County Jail. 30 year old Dustin Byers of Estill Springs and 31 year old Nathan Childers of the Manchester area left the jail early Monday morning in a 2001 Mazda owned by Kayla Eubanks. Byers is described as being 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighs 250 lbs and has red hair, along with a tattoo that reads “Big Country.” Childress 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 190 lbs with brown hair and green...

A missing Tullahoma man was found alive and well Saturday afternoon by Tullahoma Police Officers. Roger Dale Burgess, 56, was found in a wooded area behind Piggly Wiggly on East Lincoln Street by 2 officers. The officers went to the wooded area after an individual called 911 about a suspicious man in the woods behind the store. When the officers found Burgess they said that he was a “little dehydrated” but other than that he was okay. Burgess has been missing since May 22 when he was last seen leaving his daughter’s apartment where he lived. She said that...

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention released the top 25 cities in the United States with high HIV and AIDS rates. Nashville came in at number 22. Experts said the high numbers are linked to several factors including poverty, education, limited access to health care in rural areas and drug abuse. The southern U.S. has the highest HIV diagnoses rate of any other region, yet the population of the South only accounts for about 37% of the population. Right now, more than 21,000 Tennesseans are living with HIV or...

The Water Safety Fair was held on Saturday at the Manchester Recreation Center. Many, many people attended the 1st annual event that was also a fund raiser for the Hunter J. Gattis fund. The young Gattis was a drowning victim 18 years ago. The playground at Fred Deadman Park is named in his honor. Manchester Police and Fire, Clearwater Pool and Spa, TWRA and the Coffee County Rescue Squad were on hand at the event teaching about various safety aspects around water. There was a silent auction to help the Hunter J. Gattis fund and several prizes were given...