A state audit of the Board of Probation and Parole found that employees were making annual arrest checks of at least 82 dead parolees. The parolees had been dead anywhere from six months to more than 19 years. In at least two cases, officers completed documents stating that the offenders were still alive. The audit results were released on Monday. In a statement on the audit, Comptroller Justin Wilson said, “If parole officers are supervising dead people, this is a waste of taxpayer dollars and makes us wonder about the supervision of parolees living in our communities.” The audit...

A project team at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) has successfully completed an initial site acceptance test campaign on Arnold’s new, one-of-a-kind space asset testing facility. The Space Threat Assessment Testbed (STAT) can simulate a realistic operational environment to space hardware, using multiple source simulators to emulate the conditions existing at various orbits. The facility will fulfill a long-standing need for a national mission-critical asset with capabilities previously unavailable anywhere in the world, according to Keith Holt, Aerospace Testing Alliance’s STAT program manager. The STAT facility will simulate the other three conditions found outside the Earth’s atmosphere, a...

Bacon lovers can relax. They’ll find all they want on supermarket shelves in the coming months, though their pocketbooks may take a hit. The economics of the current drought are likely to nose up prices for bacon and other pork products next year, by as much as 10 percent. But U.S. agricultural economists are dismissing reports of a global bacon shortage that lent sizzle to headlines and Twitter feeds last week. Steve Meyer, president of Iowa-based Paragon Economics and a consultant to the National Pork Producers Council and National Pork Board, use of the word ‘shortage’ caused visions of...

Old Timers Day, Friday, October 5, 2012: Free concert by the group “By Faith” starting at 6:30pm. Old Timers Day, Saturday, October 6, 2012: Parade at 10 a.m., horses will be allowed. Food/Craft vendors, information booths, kids’ area, greased pole, games/activities throughout the day, cloggers, ice cream eating contest, music throughout the day, James Bell performing, Mike Oldham & the Tone Rangers at 6 p.m., all music/concerts are free, everything is back on the Square. Horseshoe tournament at 2 p.m. Check out the website is www.manchesteroldtimersday.com for more...

Authorities issued a statewide Amber Alert last week for two children missing since their Bedford County home was destroyed by an intense fire last week. The TBI sent out the alert after investigators spent 5 days trying to determine if there were any remains of the children in the fire debris. TBI said fire experts had come up empty. The children are identified as 9-year old Chloie Leverette and 7-year old Gage Daniel. TBI said the children were living with their grandparents. Two bodies tentatively identified as 72-year-old Leon “Bubba” McClaran and his wife, 70-year-old Molli McClaran, were recovered...

As we reported last week, a possible suspect in the murder of Megan Sharpton was arrested Thursday evening on unrelated gun charges. 37-year-old Donnie Jones of Bel Aire Drive, Tullahoma, was arrested after Franklin County deputies and Tullahoma Police investigators found a gun during a search of his residence. Since he is a convicted felon, he was charged with being in possession of a firearm. He was booked into the Coffee County Jail and remains in the jail under a $500,000...

Tennesseans who rely on what used to be called food stamps will have to wait longer than usual for their benefits this month. The change came at the request of grocery stores. In all, more than 1-point-3 million individuals now get those benefits, and all of that money is made available in the first 10 days of the month. Grocery stores say they get hit with too much business in too few days. They asked the state to stretch out its schedule, by staggering the benefit payouts over a period of time that’s twice as long. Starting this month,...

Although Board of Aldermen members say Tullahoma’s economic development direction is on the right track, they would like to see emphasis placed on recruiting retail operations. That came up during a special meeting between the city board and the Tullahoma Area Economic Development Corp. Mayor Lane Curlee said key contacts have been made with retailers that may choose Tullahoma, and he predicted a once-thriving Northgate Mall should soon be full within a year. The mayor said that the city needs to work on having a quick access database about what retail and other property is immediately available, so companies...