During the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents Study Council Conference held this week, in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Education, Director of Coffee County Schools Dr. LaDonna McFall was elected to serve as President-Elect of the organization by her superintendent colleagues statewide, representing 145 Director of Schools. McFall, 2016-17 South Central Superintendent of the Year, has served on the Board of Directors for the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents since 2015. The Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents’ mission is to be a catalyst that empowers Tennessee Superintendents to promote and improve public education so that all Tennessee students...

Duck River Electric Membership Corporation (DREMC) is sending eight linemen, one operations supervisor and seven trucks to Lumbee River Electric Membership Corporation (Lumbee River EMC) located in Red Springs, North Carolina, to assist with Hurricane Florence recovery efforts. The massive hurricane is expected to leave widespread damage across much of the Atlantic seaboard, and DREMC crews will be in place to assist as soon as it is safe to work. “This is a powerful storm, and the people of North Carolina have some tough days ahead,” says Michael Watson, DREMC president, and CEO. “We are proud of our linemen...

People in Tennessee with arthritis and other rheumatic conditions confront pain in their body, and in their lifestyle, according to a report card released this month from the American College of Rheumatology. The college gives Tennessee a C grade in terms of quality of life and access to certified doctors in rheumatic disease, which is the grade most states received. But Dr. Christopher Mecoli, a rheumatologist at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, says the state gets a D grade in affordability because most insurers require patients to pay for a percentage of their prescription cost, versus a flat...

The Coffee County Fair begins Saturday (September 15, 2018) and runs through Saturday, September 22, 2018. The Coffee County Fair has been carrying on family traditions for over 160 years. There are so many events to enjoy at the Coffee County Fair for all ages. There will be carnival rides, beauty pageants, great food, music and more! Come out this year and join in the fun at the fair in Manchester. On Saturday night the Coffee County Fair will feature the Miss Teen competition at 5:30 pm and the Fairest of the Fair starts at 8 pm. The baby...

The City of Tullahoma and the Coffee County Board of Education continue to battle over the liquor-by-the-drink-tax. Both government entities have won court cases in the past. The Coffee County Board of Education has calculated that Tullahoma owes $387,488 from 1980 to 2014. The county board of education claims half of the collected liquor-by-the-drink tax money should have been distributed among all three school systems in Coffee County, according to each system’s “average daily attendance.” If the county wins Coffee County Schools would get half of that figure, Tullahoma would get the next amount followed by Manchester City Schools....

It’s a little hard to tell, but Tennessee may be turning a corner on prescription pill abuse. Although fatal opioid overdoses continue to rise throughout the state, deaths attributed specifically to prescription painkillers dropped for the first time in five years. The 12 percent decrease in 2017 is a rare sign of progress in a state ravaged by addiction. The shrinking painkiller death toll likely is the result of opioid prescriptions gradually becoming weaker and less common throughout Tennessee over the past five years. Decreasing prescription overdoses but growing fentanyl deaths illustrates the evolution of Tennessee opioid crisis, as...

Back on June 9 of this year a very popular well-known Manchester man, Jerry Bartlett died in a tragic motorcycle accident near Dalton, GA. Bartlett is the former pharmacy director at Unity Medical Center (formally Medical Center of Manchester). Members of the Hillsboro Masonic Lodge #382 and others will be conducting the first Jerry Bartlett Memorial Ride this Saturday at 10am beginning at the Hillsboro Lodge next to the post office. The cost is a donation of $20 per bike and $10 extra for co-riders. Registration starts at 8:30 at the lodge. This is open to the public. Coffee...