A large Tennessee hospital system is suing the state’s Medicaid program, TennCare, claiming it’s purposefully siphoning money from hospitals that treat the neediest patients in order to favor insurance companies that often employ former TennCare employees. In a Davidson County Chancery Court lawsuit filed last week, Erlanger Health System in Chattanooga claims the state is ignoring a state law that requires for-profit managed care organizations contracted by TennCare to pay out-of-network hospitals that provide emergency services to Medicaid enrollees the average in-network contract rate, instead of the lowest in-network rates. The lawsuit says those rates created a windfall for...

Some recently elected and re-elected Coffee County officials were sworn in at the Coffee County Administrative Plaza on Tuesday morning. The oath of office for any elected or appointed county official may be administered by the county mayor, the county clerk, a judge of any court of record in the county, or the current or a retired judge of the general sessions court. Mayor Gary Cordell had this to say about the leadership in Coffee County. http://www.thunder1320.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Cordell-speech.mp3 Those sworn in on Tuesday by Coffee County Court Clerk, Teresa McFadden were Coffee County Mayor Gary Cordell, Coffee County Highway Commissioner...

Mancie James Zawacki age 52 of East Carroll St, Tullahoma was arrested by Manchester Officer Ben Sneed over the weekend after the man was stopped for a traffic violation. Sneed says that the man showed signs of intoxication including blood shot eyes, unsteadiness on his feet and slurred speech. The officer administered three field sobriety tests with Zawacki allegedly doing poorly on all three. Sneed asked Zawacki if had consumed narcotics or intoxicants and the man admitted to taking Xanax earlier that day. Upon his arrest, Zawacki allegedly gave the wrong name to Officer Sneed, giving the name of...

Fewer people have died on Tennessee roadways this year than last year, Tennessee Highway Patrol reports. From January to August, 34 fewer people have died in car crashes in 2018 than 2017. Fatal crashes were down across the board except in crashes involving large trucks, buses, motorcycles, and ATVs. Tennessee Highway Patrol says the reduction in fatal crashes can be contributed to increased traffic enforcement campaigns, such as “Booze it or Lose it” and “Click it or ticket.” About one in three traffic deaths in the US involves a drunk driver. THP frequently conducts sobriety checkpoints to catch impaired...

Officials say a new program allowing adults to attend community college or technical schools tuition-free in Tennessee has received thousands more applications than anticipated. The Tennessean reported Monday that Tennessee Reconnect is in its first year and roughly 31,000 adults have applied. State Higher Education Commission Executive Director Mike Krause says the program has surpassed officials’ expectations as they had hoped for 8,000 to 10,000 applications. Gov. Bill Haslam had promoted the program that provides grants for students 25 and older to earn an associate degree or technical certificate free of tuition or fees. It was approved by the...

Motlow State Community College will receive a $250,000 state grant to help high school students earn two-year degrees in the high-demand field of mechatronics. The two-year grant will support Motlow’s Middle College Mechatronics (MCM) program at Warren County High School (WCHS) in McMinnville and Oakland High School in Murfreesboro. The funding provided by the MCM grant will go a long way in enabling more students to enroll in this cutting-edge program.” Because high school students don’t qualify for college scholarship assistance like Tennessee Promise and Hope Scholarships until they earn their high school diplomas, most of the grant will...

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has a new addition to the state’s Top Ten Most Wanted list, Brian Lee Cleckler. Cleckler’s recently known address was J.D. Road, Hillsboro. Cleckler, age 39 is wanted by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for two counts of Aggravated Assault, two counts of Evading Arrest, and Unlawful Possession of a Weapon. The incident happened on August 23 when Decherd police initiated a traffic stop with a male subject. A pursuit ensued as Cleckler fled on foot into a wood line. Investigators said he discharged a firearm in the...