Tennessee’s U.S. senators are moving ahead with a bill providing protections for the state’s wilderness lands, even while the Trump administration works to remove protections elsewhere. Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker introduced the Tennessee Wilderness Act – S.973 – to protect 20,000 acres of the Cherokee National Forest. Laura Hodge, campaign coordinator for Tennessee Wild, said the Republican-led legislation faces good odds in the Senate. “This bill is huge because, with a Republican bill – conservation bill – being introduced in a Republican climate, we’ve got a great opportunity to get this bill passed,” Hodge said. “And it’s...

On Friday (May 5, 2017) afternoon around 4pm there was a one-vehicle accident on Maple Springs Road in Coffee County. According to Tennessee Highway Patrolman Keith Summers’ report, 63 year-old Willberta Lynne Foster was driving a 2006 Ford Windstar van when it went off the right side of the road, rolling over, hitting a fence and a tree before coming to rest. Foster was transported to Unity Medical Center for unknown injuries. Apparently according to the troopers report, the van suffered disabling...

On Sunday (May 7th 2017) Manchester officers received a call of a suspicious person walking down Stroud Road. According to the arrest warrant, when officers made contact with the man he refused to stop and officers had to pull in front of him to get him to stop. The warrant goes onto say that the man refused to comply with officer demands and kept reaching into his right front pocket. Officers were finally able to establish the subject’s ID as being Jermaine Thomas Reynolds age 33 of Cedar Lane Tullahoma from a female who had showed up on the...

A bill that would require school buses to have seatbelts in Tennessee has been withdrawn for the year. The Times Free Press reports that Democratic Rep. JoAnne Favors of Chattanooga late last week pulled her bill, which was inspired by a deadly school bus crash in her city in November. The legislation would have mandated seat belts in new school buses bought after July 2019. Fiscal estimates say the proposal would add $12.9 million in annual costs to school districts and $2.2 million in yearly state costs. The bill was changed to make the state pay the whole cost,...

The City of Tullahoma is celebrating America’s 241th birthday this year with a free family festival. The City is pleased to announce that they are now accepting applications for vendors and sponsorship opportunities. Gates open at Noon on Monday, July 3rd at Frazier-McEwen Park and Grider Stadium will be filled with free music, games, food trucks, kids zone, and of course, fireworks that evening. The Independence Day fireworks are a long-standing tradition in Tullahoma. In 1968, the Tullahoma Kiwanis Club started the celebration and this year’s event will build on their great tradition. Leading up to the fireworks show,...

The state House Friday voted to allocate $55 million to the state’s 95 counties for road projects as part of the annual state budget bill. Under the proposal, Coffee County would receive $546,295 in road money. In neighboring counties; Bedford County would get $544,730 in road funding. Cannon County will receive $408,026. Warren County would receive $519,685. Franklin County would receive $562,470 for road projects, Moore County $346,196 and Grundy County...