Motorists driving past the Tullahoma Utilities Board (TUB) office on South Jackson Street will see a crew install a new electronic sign in front of the building. The utility decided to upgrade the sign it installed last spring to a higher-resolution model. Last week TUB sold the 5-by-8.5-foot sign to the City of Winchester for $19,600, a sign that according to Brian Skelton, the utility’s general manager, the utility spent $50,000 to buy the sign last March, and it has been operating in front of the office for roughly two months. Upgrading the sign will cost TUB an additional...

AEDC workers are getting the tools they need to inspire young minds and encourage students to consider careers in engineering. Seventeen AEDC and Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) employees and four local teachers visited the Challenger/STEM Center at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga this month, where they took part in classroom activities that they can now share with students at local schools. The Challenger Center is an informal science education facility that exists as a living memorial in honor of the Challenger crew and is designed to promote the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to students. There are...

There’s a new license plate and the proceeds benefit the American Red Cross in Tennessee. Red Cross supporters now have the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives and show pride in the organization by purchasing the American Red Cross Tennessee license plate. The cost for each Red Cross license tag is $35. The proceeds will go to statewide disaster readiness, preparedness and response. To purchase a Tennessee American Red Cross license plate, supporters may log on to american.redcross.org/tnlicenseplate and pay for their plate via credit card...

Tennessee Commissioner of Labor & Workforce Development Karla Davis announced that Tennessee’s unemployment rate for July increased to 8.4 percent, up from the June revised rate of 8.1 percent. The national unemployment rate for July 2012 was 8.3 percent, 0.1 percentage point higher than the June rate. Economic Summary: Tennessee’s July unemployment rate is the highest since December 2011, but is still 1.0 percentage point below one year ago Total nonfarm employment increased 6,400 jobs from June to July. There were increases in local government, education/health services, and durable goods manufacturing. There were small declines this month in administrative/support/waste...

AEDC has decided to expand its current natural gas supplier’s role and responsibility for the safe and reliable delivery of natural gas. On July 1 the Elk River Public Utility District (ERPUD) signed a new 10-year, $35 million contract with the government for natural gas, operations and maintenance of pipelines to AEDC and now an expanded operation supplying gas through an ERPUD-replaced distribution system. The government previously owned those lines and ATA, the operating contractor at AEDC, previously operated and maintained them. The new piping replaced aged piping that needed upgrades. All valves, equipment, meters and connections were upgraded....

An American woman who sent her adopted Russian son back to Moscow is appealing court-ordered child support for him because she said she cannot afford to pay $1,000 a month. Torry Hansen, who currently lives in Redding, Calif., filed a notice of appeal Tuesday after a judge in Tennessee last month upheld his decision to order her to pay $150,000 in child support. Hansen was living in Shelbyville in April 2010 when she sent the young boy back to Russia with a letter that said he had violent behavior problems and she no longer wanted to be his mother....

The Humane Society of the United States is launching a hotline and reward for people to call in tips about abuse of Tennessee walking horses and the group is advertising the hotline on a billboard outside the breed’s national show in Shelbyville this week. The Horse Protection Act prevents a form of abuse called soring, a practice of using chemicals and chains to train horses to perform high-stepping gaits for shows and competitions. The society said in a news release they are offering a reward of up to $10,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest...

The Tennessee departments of Health and Agriculture are alerting Tennesseans about an ongoing outbreak of Salmonella linked to cantaloupes grown in southwestern Indiana. Cantaloupes grown on one farm have tested positive for the same type of Salmonella causing illness in Tennessee and several other states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and affected states are collaborating in an ongoing investigation to identify all possible sources of contamination and prevent additional cases of illness. At this point no cantaloupes grown in Tennessee have been confirmed to be involved in this outbreak. Persons who recently purchased cantaloupes grown in southwestern...