The president of the Gatlinburg Convention and Visitors Bureau has eliminated two top administrative positions in the organization that works to attract tourism to the Tennessee city. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports the job eliminations come as the city tries to recover from a drop in tourism revenues after last year’s wildfire. Visitors Bureau President and CEO Mark Adams says positions held by Vicki Simms and Jon Elder were eliminated July 5. Before Adams took the helm of the organization in September 2016, Simms had commanded the Visitors Bureau as executive director since 2013. The job eliminations come as...

It’s time for our 4th annual GIRLS NIGHT OUT in downtown Manchester!! We’ve prepared our biggest event yet with lots of fun activities, plenty of shopping and great food! Join local businesses on and around the historic square in Manchester from 5PM until 8PM Thursday July 13th Participants include- High Cotton Pretty Discoveries Smoots West Main Brick Oven The Mercantile The Place to Be The Health Nutt Sprout Children’s Shop Black Iris Arts Paula’s Escape Salon SunCrest Home Health Family Music Center And more being...

Sears Holdings announced Friday that 43 more stores will be closed in the U.S. this year. Thirty-five of the impacted locations are Kmart and 8 are Sears outlets. The Kmart store in Tullahoma is NOT on the list of closings. The Sears store in Murfreesboro will also remain open. CEO Eddie Lampert noted that Sears Holdings is trying to reduce loses from unprofitable stores and to reduce the square footage of some stores that are simply too big for current needs. How much of an impact is the downsizing of Sears and Kmart stores having? Last year there were...

Local law enforcement is reminding people to not to leave children inside vehicles. With the temperatures headed into the 90s, leaving children in a vehicle can lead to death. As the temperature inside a vehicle can escalate by 15 degrees in just 10 minutes and with the hot temperatures and high humidity death can come very quickly. Even if you leave the windows rolled down some, the temperatures inside a vehicle can become deadly. Please take children in the store or leave them at home as it would be better than death. One 11 month-old died in a hot...

An investigation by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office has led to the firing of a McMinnville Water Department Employee. The Comptroller’s Office recently completed an investigation detailing the appearance of a conflict of interest. Between June 2013 and September 2015, a former employee responsible for ordering degreasing chemicals made purchases totaling $46,882 from a company owned by someone with whom he had a close personal relationship. This created the appearance of a conflict of interest. The volume and cost of chemicals purchased by the department increased significantly during the time the former employee was buying from the vendor with whom...

Forecasts indicate that Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s temperatures will be two of the hottest afternoons of the month so far. A projected afternoon high of around 93-96 degrees on both days combined with higher electricity demand due to home cooling, could produce a monthly peak for Duck River Electric Membership Corporation (DREMC). The electric co-op plans to activate Beat the Peak™ and implement other power conservation measures to lower the impact of spiking Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) wholesale rates during the hour of greatest demand. DREMC pays TVA millions of dollars each month in demand charges, but during a peak...