Monday morning Manchester Firefighters responded to a structure fire on Rodgers Drive. Manchester Fire Chief George Chambers said that firemen did an outstanding job at locating the fire, which was hidden in the attic space above one of the bedrooms. When crews entered the home, there was light smoke conditions and no heat from the fire. Crews utilized thermal imaging cameras and were able to first locate the fire outside the house in the A/C unit and then inside one of the bedrooms in the attic space. Fire Chief Chambers added that crews did a great job of protecting...

According to information issued Friday by Grundy County Sheriff Clint Shrum, Grundy County deputies, Shelbyville police, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents have arrested five people on federal warrants on charges of conspiring to distribute drugs. According to a report in the Chattanooga Times Free-Press, those arrested were Anthony Joseph Bosio, 43, and Jamie C. Sweeton, 41, both of Gruetli-Laager, Christopher Dean Land, 54, of Monteagle, Kenneth Britton, 38, of Whitwell, and Randy Stiefel, 52, of Coalmont. Bosio was charged with conspiracy to distribute oxycodone; Land was charged with conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and burglary...

President Barack Obama has signed a disaster declaration to speed federal recovery aid to victims of the recent deadly wildfires in a hard-hit eastern Tennessee county. A White House statement says the declaration is intended to expedite federal funding for Sevier County, where fast-spreading flames claimed 14 lives and damaged or destroyed more than 2,500 homes, businesses and other buildings. The declaration is to allow for grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners back on their feet, according to the statement issued in...

Motlow State Community College will bring back a wide selection of non-credit community courses beginning in January 2017, according to Tom Dillingham, director of workforce development and extended services. “We are delighted to be bringing back the popular non-credit personal enrichment courses,” said Dillingham. “Our aim is to offer a wide array of courses, varying from Conversational Spanish and increasing an individual’s knowledge of computer systems, to various types of yoga and Ballroom Dancing.” Courses will be spread over Motlow’s campuses in Smyrna, Moore County, McMinnville and Fayetteville as the College looks to further increase its presence and role...

On Thursday night Manchester Police responded to a call at the Hampton Inn on the Woodbury Highway. The call was concerning an Attempted Armed Robbery at the hotel. The suspect was seen on surveillance video as being a black male wearing a black and red hoodie and blue jeans. He is possibly traveling in a 4-door sedan. If you have any information on this subject please contact Investigator Ray “Butch” Stewart at the Manchester Police Department, call...

Jennifer Amacher the mother of a middle-school-aged boy that was sentenced in the shooting death of 11-year-old Sienna Dusk Owens of Estill Springs, has pleaded guilty to three counts of reckless endangerment and will be on probation for three years. She has also been ordered to serve 300 hours of community service and will pay $300 in fines and court costs. She faced the charges because she was present at the home when the children gained access to a loaded firearm. Amacher’s son, who was 12 at the time of the shooting at his home in 2015 on Honey...

The Coffee County Sheriff’s Department is getting 40 portable radios. The radios will be used by deputies at a cost of $27,000, but none of that money is taxpayer money. The radios will be paid for out of the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department Drug Fund. Sheriff Steve Graves said he wants to make sure each deputy is equipped with a portable radio. The radios the sheriff’s department is planning on purchasing are similar to the older ones, but they are more up-to-date with today’s technology than the radios currently used. Most of the money in the drug fund comes...