Ziggy’s Tree Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Tullahoma has received a $4,000 grant to continue its work. The grant was presented by the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, a charitable organization dedicated to enriching the quality of life in the 40 Middle Tennessee counties it serves. Ziggy’s Tree Wildlife Rehabilitation Center will use the grant to provide food and medical care for Tennessee’s orphaned and injured native wildlife with the goal of returning them to their natural habitat. Ziggy’s Tree provides care for over 900 orphaned and injured wild animals every year with the goal of returning healthy animals to...

A bill to require Tennessee school buses to be fitted with seat belts by July 2023 is advancing in the House. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that the House Transportation Subcommittee advanced the measure on a voice vote on Wednesday. The vote came after a pediatric surgeon testified about how three-point safety belts could have benefited children injured in a Chattanooga school bus crash that killed six children in November. Democratic Rep. JoAnne Favors of Chattanooga said she was pleased to see her bill advance, but acknowledged that she will have to address the estimated $400 million it...

28-year old Garieon Simmons of Decherd, Tennessee will soon face the Rutherford County courts. Simmons was the driver of a stolen SUV from Coffee County who allegedly led authorities on a high speed pursuit, which began in Manchester. Simmons later crashed the SUV on South Church Street in Murfreesboro. When Simmons crashed, he ran into the side of a vehicle being driven by Jennifer Campos. Campos was turning out of a parking lot on South Church when she was hit in the driver’s side door. Her seven-month-old daughter survived the collision, but Campos died at the scene. Simmons, who...

The Coffee County Health Council is working on a Bike Pedestrian Plan for the county to improve opportunities to walk/run and bike safely. Manchester Parks and Recreation wants people to experience physical activity in a positive manner. A survey has been put together so the health council can find out what you think can be improved! Go to www.wmsrradio.com for a link to the survey. You can find it on our front page just to the right of our news stories. Bonnie Gamble Director of Manchester Parks and Recreation told us this about the survey....

A Tennessee lawmaker says his bill that would legalize medical marijuana is dead for this year’s legislative session. Republican Rep. Jeremy Faison says there’s currently not enough support in the Senate for the change. Faison’s bill would have let people use prescribed marijuana to treat a variety of ailments, from cancer to post-traumatic stress disorder. It also would have allowed 50 grow operations in Tennessee, with the first 15 in distressed areas. On Tuesday, the Cosby lawmaker helped kill a separate resolution that he says would’ve pigeonholed Tennessee into waiting for additional U.S. Food and Drug Administration action. Faison...

A bill that would allow school systems to deduct up to 10 percent of teachers’ unions dues from payroll has passed in a House education subcommittee. The proposal is opposed by the Tennessee Education Association, the state’s largest teacher union. Rep. Bill Dunn, a Knoxville Republican who sponsored the proposal, said the measure is designed so that all groups who represent teachers would be treated equally. He told fellow lawmakers that some school systems were refusing to deduct dues for some teacher organizations other than TEA. Some lawmakers expressed concern that school districts could punish teacher unions for speaking...

Music fans will have more options to dance the night away at the 16th annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, which is unveiling an all-night stage focusing on dance, electronic and hip-hop artists. The Other stage will run all night at this year’s festival, scheduled June 8-11 in Manchester. This year’s lineup includes U2, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Weeknd and hundreds of...