Tennessee State Parks and State Natural Areas are offering a variety of volunteer events across the state on June 22, 2019, to help TN Promise Scholars log community service hours required to meet their scholarship commitments. It’s a great opportunity for TN Promise Scholars to improve a state park or natural area and bank volunteer service hours while having a little bit of fun at the same time. They ask all TN Promise participants to complete the online registration form that is available on the details page of each event. These RSVPs will help park staff be better prepared...

Tennessee’s child population has grown rapidly since 1990, according to a report just released by The Annie E. Casey Foundation. The state now has more than 1.5 million children, many of whom are part of immigrant families. The percentage of Tennessee children living in those families has quadrupled in the last three decades, according to the report. Leslie Boissiere, the Casey Foundation’s vice president for external affairs, says that mirrors a nationwide trend. “A lot of the growth in child population is just the result of natural migration from surrounding states,” she states. “And in some cases, because birth...

On Friday, June 14, 2019, the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) welcomed the next generation of Probation and Parole Officers into the workforce during a graduation ceremony at the Tennessee Correction Academy in Tullahoma. The ceremony celebrated the hard work of 20 Officers who will be serving the citizens of Tennessee by working in the field across the state. The keynote speaker for the event was Correctional Administrator David Lane. Lane spoke to the class about the importance of being an agent of change for someone else. “Be intentional with what you’re doing and have a positive influence on...

A dirt bike adventure turned into a tragic event for a Hillsboro family over the weekend. According to Coffee County authorities, a dad and his son were riding a dirt bike in the family yard on Saturday afternoon when tragedy struck. Allegedly the bike they were riding on ran into a barbed wire that was between two trees and the wire wrapped around 7 year-old’s throat. According to reports the father called 911 and performed CPR on his son. Coffee County Emergency Services arrived at the scene and rushed the boy to Unity Medical Center in Manchester where he...

Manchester Police responded to Walmart on Saturday afternoon for a report of a man carrying an AR style rifle and knife into the store. Officers were able to make contact with the individual. The man had the rifle with a shoulder-strap on a shoulder, a large knife in a sheath and a handgun that was holstered. Manchester Officer Landon Pence told WMSR News that officers interviewed the local man who said he had rights to carry the items because he had a handgun carry permit. Police told the man that covered him on the pistol. The rifle nor the...

A 27-year-old man died at Bonnaroo on Saturday, June 15. The man’s death occurred in the Bonnaroo campground. According to crisis communication for the festival, Bonnaroo Medical and Coffee County Emergency Services responded quickly to the scene. In a statement from officials, “The medical team administered CPR, and he was transported to the hospital.” The statement went onto say, “We understand that he had an underlying medical condition, and he died, and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.” According to crisis communication, the man was attending Bonnaroo with his father. No information was released...

An organization called Care2 has drafted the petition asking for Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott to resign. The organization Care2 drafted the petition in response to Northcott’s Facebook posts about Muslims and comments he made concerning the LGBTQ community. According to screenshots of Facebook posts, Northcott wrote Islam is “evil, violent and against God’s truth”. He was recorded on video at a religious conference, saying he didn’t believe in gay marriage and added same-sex partners wouldn’t receive protections under domestic violence laws because he didn’t recognize the marriage. So far Northcott has not made a comment to any...