Even if U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais wins re-election after the revelation that he once urged his mistress to get an abortion, he could soon face a challenge from a fellow Republican. An operative familiar with state Sen. Jim Tracy’s plans tells The Associated Press the Shelbyville Republican has met with donors and could announce his candidacy for the 4th District congressional seat before Christmas. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Tracy has not yet announced his plans. When reached by AP on Friday, Tracy said he was focusing on his current re-election campaign and supporting other conservatives...

A Middle Tennessee State University poll of likely Tennessee voters shows Republican Mitt Romney far ahead of President Barack Obama, a lead driven by strong support among white evangelical voters. The poll released Saturday showed 59% of likely voters favoring Romney, 34% backing Obama, 6% undecided and 1% supporting another candidate. The telephone poll was conducted Oct. 16-21 among registered voters who had voted early or said they were very likely to vote in the Nov. 6 election. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 points at the 95% level of confidence. The poll found that white...

A light blue Chevrolet car was turning left on to Interstate Drive at about 3:00pm Friday afternoon. The Chevy and a by black car collided as the black car was traveling towards Manchester on McMinnville Hwy. The male driver of the black car was unhurt. A 72-year-old passenger in the Chevy was trapped and had to be removed with the Jaws of Life. The female was transported to Medical Center of Manchester complaining of pain on her right side. A 5-year-old in the back seat also suffered head trauma and was transported to the same hospital. The driver of...

Remember early voting is still going on; In Tullahoma voting is taking place at the C D Stamps Center from 9 a.m. to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. In Manchester early votes may be cast at the Coffee County Election Commission office in the county office building. Voting there will be from 8 a.m. to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Early voting will continue through November 1 at both locations. Remember those casting ballots must have a photo ID, such IDs may be...

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has upheld the state’s new law requiring voters to show photo identification at polling places and ruled that election officials must accept an ID issued by the Memphis library. A three-judge panel of the court ruled unanimously Thursday in a case brought by the city of Memphis and two voters who lacked photo ID and cast provisional ballots during the August primary. Judges expedited the ruling because early voting for the November 6 election is under way. The opinion said the identification requirement is allowed under the state constitution and the cost of obtaining...

Despite differences in the past, Tullahoma Mayor Lane Curlee called a special meeting this week to get governments from Tullahoma, Coffee County and Manchester together to iron out their problems. Tullahoma mayor Lane Curlee told the gathering that he thinks it is important to get the leaders together and start concentrating on our strengths. The mayor noted that Tullahoma depends on the county and Manchester for certain things and the county and Manchester depend on Tullahoma for things they need. Curlee said that if the three governments work together instead of against each other, they can make the area...

County non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for September 2012, released yesterday, show the rate decreased in 94 counties and increased in one. Tennessee’s unemployment rate for September decreased to 8.3 percent, down from the August revised rate of 8.5 percent. The national unemployment rate for September 2012 was 7.8 percent, 0.3 percentage point lower than the August rate. The state unemployment rate is seasonally adjusted while the county unemployment rates are not. Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique that eliminates the influences of weather, holidays, the opening and closing of schools, and other recurring seasonal events from economic time series....

Funding for expansion at the Tullahoma Regional Airport has been grant by the State Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics Division. The grant will be for a total of $548,337 for the northwest taxiway rehabilitation. The airport is in the process of installing new lights for the runway. The airport will be required to pay $27,417 with the rest of the funding coming from the state. According to Airport Manager Jon Glass, part of the grant will be used to install lights along one of the runways. Tullahoma Airport Authority Chairman John Miller noted that the grant will also be used...