Duck River Electric Membership Corporation (DREMC) has announced their receipt of a grant award totaling over $2.14 million dollars from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for DREMC’s east fiber loop and smart grid fiber communication project. The project will deploy smart grid improvements that in turn can be used to form the backbone of a gigabit-speed fiber broadband network. “This project will help enable their Internet service provider (ISP) partners to provide affordable broadband access to 1,202 businesses and 2,876 households in Franklin, Coffee and Marion Counites, three DREMC- served counties that are also in the ARC footprint,” reported...

The Coffee County Sheriff’s Department would like to reach out to the public to make people aware of the increase in utility trailer thefts over the past few months. Investigators have been working diligently to solve these crimes. The sheriff’s department would like to ask that you pay attention to your surroundings, write down tag numbers of suspicious vehicles, lock up your trailers, write serial numbers of your trailer, take pictures, engrave initials or some unique marking so that your trailer is identifiable, and if possible, add security cameras to your property. If you have any information in regard...

As National Disability Awareness Month begins this week, some Tennessee groups want lawmakers to focus less on proclamations and more on transparency as an independent review of the state’s Disability Determination Services moves forward. An investigation of more than five years of data revealed that some doctors who speed applications through the process are making big paychecks. As current and former personnel speak up about what they call a “cash-register” system, advocates for people with disabilities are expressing concern for those whose claims have been denied. Brandon Brown, executive director of Empower Tennessee, one of six Centers for Independent...

Members of the Eastern Star Manchester Chapter 339 recently donated hygiene items to Coffee County Schools Family Resource Center. “We are grateful for the support and generosity from our local Eastern Star Chapter. We appreciate our community always going above and beyond to take care of our students and families in need right here at home,” said Taylor Rayfield, Coordinator of Family Resource for Coffee County Schools. Coffee County Schools Family Resource Center exists to address the problems with the home and community environments which impede or create barriers to a child’s ability to learn and grow successfully. Coffee...

According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, on Friday night at approximately 10:30pm, a vehicle driven by Joseph Collins, age 33, of Manchester, TN, was traveling west bound in the east bound lane on Interstate 24. Collins struck a semi-truck head-on. The 18-wheeler was being driven by Valeri Antov, age 60, from Illinois. Collins was charged with DUI, open container law, schedule 2 & 6 drug violations, seat belt violation, due care, registration violation and driving on wrong side of road. Collins was transported from the scene to a hospital for treatment of serious...