There’s new research about the importance of minimizing screen time for children during the evening hours. If children are falling asleep watching TV or with a cell phone tucked under the covers, they’re probably going to bed later and getting much less sleep than children without access to electronic devices. Monique LeBourgeois is the lead author of a new study published in the journal Pediatrics that says children are uniquely vulnerable to sleep disruption from electronic screens. She says because young children’s eyes are not fully developed, the light has a greater effect on their internal body clock. “And...

Motlow State Community College will be closed in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday from Thursday, Nov. 23, through Sunday, Nov. 26, according to college officials. The closing applies to computer labs, libraries and other facilities at all Motlow State campuses, including the Moore County, Fayetteville, McMinnville and Smyrna campuses. There will be no classes on Wednesday, Nov. 22, although Motlow facilities will remain open. Classes scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 23, through Sunday, Nov. 26, will also not be meeting. All classes will resume their normal schedules, and all campuses their normal hours, on Monday, Nov....

Manchester Fire and Rescue responded to a reported structural fire Thursday morning around 3:30am at 200 West Moore St. Crews arrived on scene and found the front of the home fully involved in fire. Fire crews deployed an attack line and knocked down the main body of the fire within minutes. Crews remained on scene for a while conducting overhaul operations as the fire got into the attic space. Manchester Fire Chief George Chambers said that fire Crews, Coffee County EMS personnel, Manchester Police Department and Coffee County Communications Center did an outstanding job in assisting Manchester Fire &...

Joe L. Russell, II, 50, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., the former Rutherford County Sheriff Chief Administrative Deputy, was sentenced last week on federal corruption charges to 15 months for his role in operating a private electronic cigarette company in the county jail for personal gain, announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran of the Middle District of Tennessee and Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. Russell, along with former Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold and Arnold’s uncle, John Vanderveer, were named in a 14-count indictment in May 2016 charging honest services fraud; mail fraud; wire...

Tennessee’s unemployment rate for October stayed at the lowest it has ever been in recorded history. The October rate was 3.0 percent, the same as the September rate. Tennessee first marked an all-time low unemployment rate in June at 3.6 percent. Since then, it has been bested by the July rate of 3.4 and the August rate of 3.3. Tennessee’s October jobless rate is two percentage points lower than it was a year ago and continues to outpace the national average, which is 4.1...

Police in Tullahoma found a missing Waynesburg, PA girl who left home with a 27-year-old man early Tuesday. The 15-year-old was located by Tullahoma Police Wednesday morning with Nathan Black after receiving a missing person report that the two might be in Tennessee. Tullahoma police charged Black, 27, with felony counts of statutory rape and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He is being held at the Coffee County Jail on $85,000 bond while awaiting a court hearing Nov. 30. Pennsylvania State police Sgt. Thomas Maher told the Observer-Reporter newspaper that the girl and Black allegedly met on...

Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the death of 35-year-old Dylan Winton in Grundy County. Winton was reported missing back in March, and his body was discovered in a remote wooded area in October near Highway 50 and Bess Road. On Wednesday, November 15, 2017, officers with the Yancey County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina arrested Donavon Dakota Hargis, 23, and Jamie Nunley, 40, both of Grundy County, Tennessee. Both individuals were wanted from Grundy County, Tennessee on charges of First Degree Murder and Felony Abuse of a Corpse. Officers with the Yancey County Sheriff’s Office received...