Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency will continue forward with its scheduled free fishing day this Saturday, June 6. On this day anyone may fish free without a licese in Tennessee’s public waters. TWRA provides the annual free day in hopes of increasing interest in fishing. Children ages 15 and younger may fish without a license beginning on free fishing day and go through Friday, June 12. This year’s Free Fishing Day will be held under unusual circumstances. Due to the coronavirus pandemic many events have been cancelled, including all TWRA-hosted events. Check TWRA’s youth fishing website for a complete list...

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, House Speaker Cameron Sexton, and the Financial Stimulus Accountability Group announced a new relief program for Tennessee businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tennessee Business Relief Program will direct approximately $200 million in federal Coronavirus Relief Funds through the Department of Revenue directly to small businesses that qualify. “The COVID-19 pandemic has created immense economic pain across our state and especially among small businesses that faced temporary closure,” said Gov. Lee. “As we responsibly steward our federal stimulus money we have worked to quickly prioritize our small businesses and I...

Manchester City Schools issued a statement Tuesday addressing the up coming school year. The statement says that the school system hopes to begin the school year on time, but the system is focusing on different areas to address learning if there are delays. There has been an academic task force set up to focus on traditional and remote and distance learning. There is also a social and emotional task force that is set up to develop plans to create a system of support for students, families and staff. There is also a learning check-ups task force that is tasked...

As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, there are currently 24,375 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Tennessee. This includes 381 deaths and 1,792 hospitalizations. There are 15,916 cases classified as recovered, leaving 8,459 active cases. This is 469 more active cases than the previous day. There have been 462,136 tests performed, meaning about 5.27 percent of people are testing positive for the virus. Meanwhile, there are about 73 confirmed cases in Coffee County with 55 recoveries. This leaves 18 total active cases, which is one less than the previous day. There have been 2,366 negative tests in Coffee County, according to...

Manchester Mayor Lonnie Norman’s office has received multiple calls from concerned citizens worried about potential violent riots here in Manchester. The mayor’s office told Thunder Radio News that as of Tuesday, June 2, there have been no permits for special events such as a protest or rally filed with Manchester City Hall, and Norman is not aware of any future plans for protests or rallies. Anyone wishing to host a peaceful protest must first file for a permit with Manchester City Hall and that permit must be approved by the mayor’s office. Concerns from Manchester citizens come after riots...

The City of Winchester has received an application to protest from the city limits in Decherd to the Franklin County Square on Saturday, June 6, according to the Winchester Police Department.  Winchester Police Chief Richard Lewis approved the protest application and has spoken with the petitioner. According to Winchester Police Department, the petitioner wants this to be a “peaceful protest about George Floyd and ongoing issues with police brutality.” “The Winchester Police Department supports the protest and will do everything in our power to make it successful,” the department said in a statement. “Neither the petitioner, nor the Winchester...

A 15-year old Manchester girl has died after a tragic kayaking accident with her parents on the Duck River Sunday below Normandy Dam. WSMV is reporting that the family was kayaking below the dam when the girl, identified as Ashlyn Grace Garbison,  capsized near Courtner’s Mill. After capsizing she reportedly was swept into a downed tree and pinned underwater. WSMV reports that her parents attempted to rescue her but could not due to swift currents. Bedford County EMS, Bedford County Fire, Normandy Fire, Bedford County Sheriff’s Department and Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency responded to the scene. The victim was...

As of 2 p.m. Monday, there are now 23,554 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Tennessee. This includes 367 deaths and 1,767 hospitalizations. According to Tennessee Department of Health, there are 15,564 cases that have recovered, leaving 7,990 active cases. This is 284 more active cases than the prior day’s count. There have been 448,493 tests performed across the state, meaning about 5.25 percent of people are testing positive. In Coffee County, there are 74 confirmed cases of the virus with 55 recoveries, leaving 19 active cases. This is down 2 from the prior day and up 1 from the...