Work will begin in Coffee County beginning Monday, Jan 4 on a new exit ramp on the eastbound side of Exit 111. Grading, drainage, retaining/barrier walls and paving will be the first work to be done. Once work begins, the outside shoulder on I-24 East will be closed on Monday through Friday between the hours of 6AM and 6PM. Estimated project completion date is July 2016. At the completion of the work all eastbound traffic wanting to go to Tullahoma will take the new ramp. This work is being done so traffic will not have to cross over Hwy...

Tennessee is set to become the first state to release a registry that will consist of the names of people convicted of having intentionally abused animals. Beginning Jan. 1, anyone can access the online registry, see a picture of the offender, and learn the offender’s age and where the offender lives. The Tennessee House of Representatives and Senate passed legislation in May to allow the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to create the website. State Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, a co-sponsor of the bill, says he thinks he it will be a strong deterrent against animal abuse. The registry consists...

Chances are many Tennesseans are making last-minute donations in preparation for the end of the tax year, but an IRS proposal could prompt some nonprofits in future years to collect the personal information of donors who give gifts valued at more than $250. Lewis Levine, president with the Center for Nonprofit Management based in Nashville, says collecting personal information such as Social Security numbers could create a financial and temporal burden for organizations and potentially impact donations. “It would be a voluntary system,” says Lavine. “But nonprofit leaders are concerned about that dampening down philanthropy and about their record...

What started as a theft of a television became a high speed pursuit over several interstate miles early Wednesday morning. Robert Lee McComb, 48, of Hendersonville and Chree Chadwick, 47, of Old Hickory were wanted for shoplifting the TV from Wal-Mart in Kimball in Marion County. According to a report by Coffee County Sheriff’s Deputy Andy NeeSmith, officers were alerted by Grundy County deputies that they were in pursuit of the couple, who were driving a Ford Taurus on I-24 around 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The first attempt to stop the vehicle was done with spike strips at mile...

Gatlinburg, Tennessee police confirm three juveniles have been charged with aggravated rape and aggravated assault of a basketball teammate. At last report they were being held in the Sevier County Juvenile Facility. The male juveniles were members of the Ooltewah High School basketball team, and the victim is a freshman player. He was treated and released from UT Medical Center in Knoxville, after an eight-day stay. He underwent surgery for a ruptured colon and bladder, according to a statement from the Gatlinburg Police. The three juveniles have been dismissed from the team, but county school officials say they will...

Eight-thousand children in Tennessee are spending the holiday break with their foster families, and recent efforts at the national and state level are making it easier for them to experience a normal childhood. The federal Strengthening Families Act, signed into law last year, requires state foster-care agencies to create a system that enables caregivers to authorize participation in typical activities such as field trips and camps. Michael Leach, director of independent living with the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, says it’s an important step forward. “These young people, they need normal and healthy experiences, healthy relationships,” says Leach. “They...

Tennessee officials have recorded more pedestrian and bicycle deaths in 2015 than in any other year in the past two decades. WPLN Radio in Nashville reports that statistics show 120 pedestrians and bicyclists had died as of Dec. 29. By comparison, there were 93 deaths in 2014. Tennessee Highway Patrol Lt. Bill Miller says the safety of pedestrians and those using non-motorized vehicles will be a primary focus for the agency next year. According to federal data available since 1982, the highest number of pedestrian and bicycle deaths were recorded in 1984 when 145 people...

63 year-old Theodore Van Wermeskerken of Mokena, IL was driving a 2011 Chevrolet pickup westbound on Interstate 24 near the Coffee/Rutherford County line on Tuesday morning around 11 a.m. According to Tennessee Highway Patrolman Harrison Fisher’s report Van Wermeskerken side swiped an RV driven by James A Klein of Millstadt, IL. and then crossed into the median. Van Wermeskerken continued through the median into the eastbound lanes of the interstate and struck two commercial vehicles head-on and Van Wermeskerken was ejected. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No one in the RV was injured, and neither was the...