Dr. Prater Powell has decided to retire from his position as director of Manchester City Schools effective June of 2013. Powell was named the director in 2003 and will complete his 10th year with Manchester and 45 years in education at the end of June 2013. Dr. Powell said this was not an easy decision and wanted to give the board advance notice of his choice. He says he will continue over the next year to work for the students and staff in maintaining the high quality educational programs in the Manchester City Schools. Powell added that serving the...

The average price of a gallon of gasoline nationwide has dropped 16 cents over the past three weeks. That’s according to the Lundberg Survey of fuel prices, which puts the price of a gallon of regular at $3.62. Midgrade costs an average of $3.79 a gallon, and premium is at $3.91. Diesel dropped 18 cents to $3.91 a gallon. In Tennessee, AAA reported the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.21. That is down 6 cents from a week ago, and 28 cents from a month ago. In the Tullahoma area the average price of gas...

A large drug bust resulted in the arrest of four people in Franklin County last week. Deputies with the Franklin County sheriff’s office stopped a recreational vehicle on Highway 64 East. They obtained permission to search the vehicle and discovered an aluminum foil wrapper containing what was believed to be LSD along with various drug paraphernalia and marijuana residue. Authorities also discovered what was believed to be marijuana hidden in a false bottom of a two-liter soft drink bottle along with 15 plastic bags containing white powder, believed to be cocaine, in the false bottom of a shaving-cream bottle...

Middle Tennessee State University is making efforts to increase its graduation rate, but still just over half its students are completing college within six years. According to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, 53% of MTSU students who began in fall 2004 graduated by 2010. That was fourth best among the state’s 4-year public universities. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, was tops with 67%. Tennessee Tech had a 55% graduation rate, and UT-Martin’s rate was 54%. Nearly half of students enrolling at MTSU don’t graduate and nearly a fifth don’t make it past freshmen year. Higher Education Commission Policy Adviser...

After weeks of investigation, a Tullahoma man has been arrested on charges of breaking into Cedar Lane Church of Christ in late April. Michael Cyree, 37, of Breckenbridge Drive was arrested Friday afternoon by Investigator Ty Brazier and charged with the April 30 crime. Cyree is charged with burglary, felony theft and vandalism and is being held in the Coffee County Jail under a $115,000 bond. Cyree is accused of entering the church building and knocking a hole in the wall to the secretary’s office and stealing more than $20,000. There have been seven churches in all broken into...

Police have arrested a man in the robbery of the Hillsboro Dollar General Store as well as the shooting of a manager at the Dollar General in Antioch. Akeem Forman, 22, was arrested Thursday night and charged with especially aggravated robbery. Forman allegedly admitted to police to robbing a Subway in Smyrna and the Dollar General store in Hillsboro. Police also discovered items taken from the robberies inside his residence. One of the employees identified him from a photo lineup. He was booked on a $75,000 bond, and is scheduled to be in court on June 13. Forman will...

According to Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves, more than 335 people at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival have been issued citations for various charges. Graves added that close to 40 people were arrested. Most of the arrests are for theft and drug related charges. The citations numbers are up from 2011 totals with arrest being close to the same amount. As of Sunday afternoon no deaths have been reported compared to two last year. The Sheriff says that could change when reports come in from hospitals. The numbers given are only from the Coffee County Sheriff’s...