Approximately 250 folks made it out to the Coffee County Veterans building on Shelton Rd. Saturday for a Patriot Day ceremony – honoring area first responders on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on America. Here is a list of the awards that were given: CDR Kimberly King; VFW Post 10904: Coffee County Sheriff’s Department; SGT Investigator James Sherill; Coffee County Sheriff’s Department; Deputy Cody Koon Coffee County EMS.CDR Robert Brinkmann; VFW Post 10904; American Legion Post 78: Coffee County 911 Communications Center and Manchester Police Department; Deputy Police Chief Adam Floied. CDR Howard Thompson; VFW Post...

With many Tennessee businesses facing a tight job market, the Internal Revenue Service reminds employers to check out a valuable tax credit available to them for hiring long-term unemployment recipients and other groups of workers facing significant barriers to employment. During National Small Business Week, the IRS is highlighting tax benefits and resources designed to help new and existing small businesses. For any business now hiring, the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) may help. Legislation enacted in December extended the WOTC through the end of 2025. This long-standing tax benefit encourages employers to hire workers certified as members of...

The Tennessee gas price average declined slightly over last week, falling nearly two cents, on average. The Tennessee Gas Price average  is now $2.89 which is nearly a penny more expensive than one month ago and 95 cents more than one year ago.  The average price per gallon in Coffee County is $2.90 per gallon, which is a penny higher than the state average and 27 cents below the national average of $3.17. The lowest-priced nearby gas can be found in Bedford County, where the average price is $2.77. “Timing is everything, and while supplies have tightened due to the slow recovery after Hurricane Ida, this...

Monday, September 13, 2021, marked the start of Keep TN Working Week across the state. In conjunction with National Workforce Development Month, Tennessee is highlighting this week to focus on the hiring momentum across the state that is putting Tennesseans back into the workforce. Keep TN Working Week emphasizes the number of employers in the state actively searching for new employees. Keep TN Working Week will include nearly two dozen job fairs in areas across each grand division of the state. These events will help to connect Tennesseans with the skills and opportunities necessary to secure meaningful employment. More...

With latest Census data now available and significant growth evident in Coffee County, government officials are now in the process of evaluating Coffee County Commission Districts. Redistricting plans for all 95 Tennessee counties must be adopted by January 1, 2022. Currently, there are 21 County Commission Districts with 1 commissioner per district in the county government. Districts 2, 3 and 4 (Manchester area districts) are currently showing as overpopulated versus the ideal population , according to the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury (TCT). District 3 is currently about 19.1 percent overpopulated, according to TCT. Coffee County Mayor Gary Cordell...

By Nadia Ramligan, TN Public News Service As the pandemic continues to pose challenges for college students across the state, research by the Lumina Foundation shows that a set of more engaged and active teaching and learning approaches – called high-impact practices – implemented at 13 Tennessee community colleges benefit students. Heidi Leming is Vice Chancellor for Student Success at the Tennessee Board of Regents. She said the extra supports help ensure students stay on their degree track. “Students who participate in high-impact practices not only are earning higher GPAs,” said Leming, “but they’re persisting at higher rates because they’re again...

If you filed for an extension of time to file your 2020 Individual Income Tax Return, you have one month left. To be timely filed, your tax return must be filed on or before October 15, 2021. It is recommended that you gather your income and deduction documents for 2020 as soon as possible and get them to your tax preparer so there’s time to get the return done before the October 15 due date. Frequently tax professionals find that they don’t have all the information they need to complete the return and the taxpayer must search for the...

Coffee County Sheriff’s Department deputy and current school resource officer Alethia Smartt-Rawn is announcing her candidacy for Coffee County Sheriff. Rawn’s announcement to run as a Republican will mean a primary challenger for incumbent sheriff Chad Partin, who intends to seek re-election. Primary for the 2022 election will be in the spring, with election in August. Below is the full announcement from Alethia Smart-Rawn: “Coffee County Sheriff’s Department Deputy and SRO Alethia Smartt-Rawn announces her candidacyfor Sheriff of Coffee County to be held in 2022. A conservative veteran patriot, Rawn is a 1999 CoffeeCounty Central High School graduate. She...