The Coffee County Jail will see a decrease in population this week. According to Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves, the Tennessee Correction Institute (TCI), which is the agency that inspects jails across the state, notified the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) of the overcrowding conditions inside the county jail. According to the sheriff, as of Friday there were 254 inmates housed in the county lockup. The jail was designed to house 196 inmates. The sheriff said that this will help overcrowding but it means the county will lose the money that we have been earning for housing state prisoners,...

A McMinnville man was arrested last week on charges of rape. 19 year old Austin Brown was arrested last week for allegedly raping a 16 year old girl at Hills Chapel Apartments in Manchester. According to a warrant obtained by Manchester Police Officer Stuart Colwell, the alleged incident occurred in February at the apartments and was against the teenager’s...

There were tense moments Thursday night at Harton Regional Medical Center but quick action by hospital personnel took care of the problem. According to Stephanie Speegle who is director of marketing for the hospital, around 7:30 p.m. the air conditioning unit located in the pain center locked up, causing the belts on the unit to smoke and burn in two,” The smoke from the unit then went into the exhaust fans for the cafeteria and kitchen area. According to Fire Chief Richard Shasteen, the dietary staff immediately pulled the fire alarm and maintenance personnel started shutting down all air...

Franklin County authorities found a 55 gallon barrel marked “hazardous materials” was found near Tims Ford Lake in the area of Dry Creek Bridge in Winchester Friday morning. The Homeland Security Region Six hazardous materials unit based with the Tullahoma Fire Department was summoned to assist in the containment of the chemical. Coffee County Emergency Management Agency Director Allen Lendley was asked to assist and summoned a hazardous material firm to clean up what was described as a tar based...

The Tennessee Valley Authority is boosting its wholesale power rate by 2.1% in May, in anticipation of increased summer demand. The rate hike is expected to increase residential utility bills by between $1 and $3 a month. The utility also increased rates in April by 3%, adding an estimated $2 to $4 to average monthly residential power...

The first Manchester Downtown Cruise-In for 2012 was held Saturday. 200 vehicles attended the show and now plans are underway for the next cruise-in on May 12. The City of Manchester will have a Cruise-In every 2nd Saturday of the month through October. The final show will include the 3rd annual Chili Cook-off. Make your plans to attend each month all cruise-ins are...

Officials have enacted a Middle Tennessee Endangered Child Alert for three children missing from White County. Abrianne Davis, 5, Clifton Rice, 4, and Breanna Rice, 1, were to be placed into protective custody on March 29. Prior to this, they were taken by their non-custodial mother, Tiffany Tolbert-Rice, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Abrianne is a white female, hair and eye color are unknown. She is 3’3″ tall and weighs 58 lbs. Clifton is a white male, hair and eye color are unknown. He is 3’2″ tall and weighs 48 lbs. Breanna is a white female, hair...