The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) announced yesterday (Dec. 6, 2012) that federal and state aeronautics grants totaling $12.2 million have been approved for 13 Tennessee airports. The grants are made available through the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics Division. The Division administers federal and state funding to assist in the location, design, construction and maintenance of Tennessee’s diverse public aviation system. In Coffee County the Tullahoma Airport received a grant for Drainage System Repairs. State= $90,250. Local =$4,750 Total=$95,000. Also the Tullahoma Airport got a grant for the NW Taxiway Rehabilitation – Phase II. State= $760,000 Local=$40,000...

Gun sales are spiking in Tennessee, and whether that is tied to presidential politics or hunting season, it depends on whom you ask. This year, gun sales could break records across the state. According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, some 51,330 people applied for the background check necessary to buy a gun last month alone. That is compared to just 37,347 in November 2011. “The only other time that there was kind of a peak in November was in 2008, and it was an election year as well,” said TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm. However, those numbers may not...

Tennessee’s original, handwritten Constitutions are going on display to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the state’s Supreme Court Building. The trio of documents, from 1796, 1834 and 1870, have never been put on public view together. They’ll be available to the public at the Tennessee Supreme Court today, Friday and Saturday, then again on Monday before moving back into storage. The state’s first constitution gave almost total control to the legislative branch. After forty years, it was replaced with a new one that balanced powers along the same principals as the US constitution. The third was written after the...

Flu season has officially arrived in Tennessee, with cases of seasonal influenza now categorized as widespread in our state. But it’s not too late to vaccinate! The Department of Health urges all Tennesseans who have not yet received a flu vaccine to get one now to help protect vulnerable people around them, their families and themselves from the flu virus. This is the earliest start to an ordinary flu season in Tennessee since 2003, with seasonal flu now spreading in communities across our state. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that the vaccine is a...

  On Wednesday afternoon Coffee County Mayor David Pennington, swore in the three local people that were elected to office during the November election. Those sworn in were Gary Kidd County Commissioner from the 20th District, Brian Coate Constable representing Seat 7, the 19th, 20th, & 21st districts and Jamie Weaver Road Commissioner representing Seat 1, the 5th & 6th...

Monday night the Manchester City School Board met and voted to hire Dr. Keith Brewer as its new Director of Schools for the 3 school system. In a 4-1 vote, the board approved a four-year contract appointing Dr. Keith Brewer as the Director of Schools. His contract will begin July 1, 2013. Brewer previously spent 12 years with the system and before that was superintendent in Grundy County. Mike Lewis was the lone “no” vote. Brewer’s approval came after discussions about his salary that was approved at $115,000 plus $5,000 for travel plus benefits per year In comparison to...

The testimony in the trial of a Manchester man accused of murdering his 81-year-old aunt got underway yesterday afternoon in Coffee County Circuit Court. Jeffery Smithson is accused of the murder of Virginia White last August in her Ingram Apartments in Manchester. Investigators allege that Smithson struck Ms White in the face then struck her in the back of the head with an object and then tied panty hose around her neck. Prosecution and defense attorneys spent Monday and Tuesday interviewing prospective jurors in the case. Coffee County Circuit Court Judge stated in court that Assistant District Attorney Marla...

Tea partiers are pressuring Governor Bill Haslam to rule out running an insurance exchange. Under the federal healthcare overhaul, Tennessee officials can launch an exchange for the state, but if they don’t, Washington will – and Haslam has been slow to commit. Tea-party groups and other conservative critics are planning a demonstration at the capitol in Nashville today (Dec 5, 2012). They don’t want the state to play ball with the federal healthcare law by building an exchange. It would be an online store and database to help Tennesseans shop for insurance plans. A spokesman says while Haslam doesn’t...