Officials have announced an end to the five-day strike affecting approximately 1,100 workers, including several from Coffee County at the Goodman facility in Fayetteville. According to the Elk Valley Times, Union members voted on Thursday to approve a negotiated agreement. Passage of the agreement required a simple majority of union members. The strike ended immediately upon ratification, and employees were able to return to their regular scheduled shifts at Goodman starting Thursday night. Union officials and Goodman representatives were able to reach an agreement that offered several equitable benefits, including a combination of wage increases and medical coverage contributions...

Tullahoma City Schools Director Dr. Dan Lawson has made the short list for superintendent search in two school systems. Lawson is being considered as a superintendent in Oak Ridge and at Jackson-Madison County Schools in Jackson, TN. Oak Ridge had planned to fill its position by Dec. 8. However, holiday schedule conflicts led to delays with interviews with the remaining candidates remaining to be scheduled. Meanwhile, the Tullahoma School board is scheduled to receive a list of finalist determined by the state school board association on Jan. 21. the board will offer the job to the new director on...

When Arnold Engineering Development Complex Fire Department Chief Daryle Lopes sent an email out to the worldwide fire protection community seeking moral support for a young man battling cancer, to say Chief Lopes was pleased and impressed with the response is an understatement. Mark Kelly Olson is a 10-year-old boy who was diagnosed with very high-risk, acute lymphocytic leukemia in May and was later adopted by the Arnold AFB Fire Department as their new deputy fire chief. Olson is the son of Mark Olson, an Aerospace Testing Alliance operations controller at AEDC. “My wife and I are grateful for...

A 19-year-old Manchester man has been charged with sex crimes involving a 12-year-old girl. Robert Lee Conner of Hillsboro Boulevard, Manchester, has been charged with solicitation of rape of a child and sexual exploitation of a minor with a bond of $200,000. Conner was arrested after a Manchester woman reported to Manchester Police Investigator Stuart Colwell that the man had been sending sexually oriented text messages to her 12-year-old daughter. The report alleges that the two met at a game room in Manchester. After the girl provided her cell phone number to Conner, he allegedly started to send the...

The Coffee County School board announced this week they have purchased land near the property where the new middle school will be built. The land known as the “Holmes property” was bought for $77,000. The board says this is being done so they can add New Union Elementary School to the new sewer line and to straighten the entrance to the new middle school. The board voted 7-0 to declare the duplex located on the property as surplus and will soon put a bid out to have it sold and removed from the...

Nissan announced Wednesday the opening of its new battery plant in Smyrna, potentially creating up to 1,000 new jobs in the coming years. The facility, located adjacent to Nissan’s existing vehicle assembly plant, is currently making battery components for the ramp-up of production of the all-electric Nissan LEAF early next year. The Smyrna assembly plant was recently retooled to accommodate production of the Nissan LEAF. Company officials say that 90 jobs will be added to the Decherd Nissan engine plant. As demand for the LEAF increases, the battery plant is capable of expanding to produce up to 200,000 batteries...

Those who lease airplane hangars at the Tullahoma Regional Airport will be seeing a change in the policy on lease payments. All leases will now be due on the first of each month, with a ten-day grace period. If the payment is received after the tenth it will be considered late and there will be a late fee added. The reason for the change is that the airport has changed to a new accounting system that is handled by city hall. Airport Manager Jon Glass stated that there has “always been a 10 percent late fee,” but that it...

A pilot of a single engine plane crashed at the Murfreesboro Airport on Thursday and was seriously injured. The plane ran off the runway and ran into a ditch. The pilot, 49-year old Randall Ray, became trapped in the cabin of the plane and had to be extricated. The pilot was taken to Vanderbilt Medical Center VIA LifeFlight Helicopter. The crash occurred around 8, Thursday morning. The plane was a Cessna 172 registered to Skylark Flight Training LLC out of Broad Brook, Connecticut. An official explained that aircraft are often registered to companies or multiple individuals, but rented to...