Coffee County held a public meeting on Tuesday at the Coffee County Administrative Building Meeting in Manchester. The purpose of discussing the HOME Program. The County has been awarded a grant through the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) for the purpose of rehabilitating owner-occupied homes of low-income residents. Applications are available at Mayor Pennington’s office until June 15. Applications for the program are due no later than close of business on June 15, 2012. This project is funded under an agreement with Tennessee Housing Development Agency through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Things you should know...

A recent report by the ABC News program Nightline prompted Pepsi to pull its sponsorship of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration in Shelbyville, Tennessee. The report focused on a practice known as “horse soring” where trainers use chemical or mechanical items such as kerosene and metal bolts to exaggerate the natural walking horse gait. The exaggerated gait, known as the “Big LIck” is prized in competitions. The U.S. Humane Society released video footage and held a press conference in Nashville showing undercover recordings of noted horse trainer Jackie McConnell soring a horse....

Tennessee is one of six states that will share in more than $181 million in federal health care grants. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the grants Wednesday, saying Tennessee will receive $4.3 million to use in establishing Affordable Health Care Insurance Exchanges. The funds are part of the Affordable Care Act. The exchanges are designed as “one stop shops” to find and compare affordable, quality private health insurance options. Health and Human Services Secretary said in announcing the grants that in 2014, consumers in every state will have a marketplace where they can buy affordable...

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is stressing life jacket use as the boating season revs up. Ready, Set, Wear It Day is Saturday with a series of events statewide to encourage safe boating, including wearing personal floatation devices. The events come during national Safe Boating...

The City of Manchester’s rehabilitated and expanded wastewater treatment plant held an open house Wednesday. The project cost $14,303,000 and received funding from all different sources – including $5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment (stimulus) money. The city received a state-revolving loan for $7.5 million and $5 million in forgiveness money from the state to fund the bulk of the project. The city also received $1.34 million from USDA and a $455,000 grant. Of the $12.5 million received from the state, the city will only repay $7.5 million. The $5 million forgiveness is money that does not have...

United Regional Medical Center in Manchester is facing a $20-million dollar lawsuit. The suit was filed last year in Coffee County Circuit Court. This after a nurse was accused of injecting the wrong patient with a powerful painkiller on 2010. Priscilla Wilder died ten days after her husband said she was mistakenly given the wrong medicine. Wilder was sharing a room with a cancer patient at the United Regional Medical Center in Manchester for treatment of shortness of breath and chest pains. Her husband says a nurse gave his wife a painkilling shot that was meant for her roommate....

A proposal that seeks to crack down on the tattooing of minors has been signed into law by Governor Bill Haslam. The measure, signed by the Republican governor this week, unanimously passed the Senate 31-0 and was approved 86-6 in the House. The law makes it illegal for anyone who is unlicensed to possess tattooing paraphernalia. The measure also encourages reporting incidents of underage tattooing to the Health Department. Those making the report might be a police officer or someone in education, such as a teacher or school resource officer. Currently, a person under 18 cannot get a tattoo....