Batesville Casket Wins 2009 ‘Plant of the Year’ Award from ASSEMBLY Magazine              Written by Chip Ramsey | TSInews.com   From Press Release

Batesville Casket in Manchester has been honored with an annual “Plant of the Year” award which recognizes excellence in U.S.-based manufacturing. ASSEMBLY Magazine, a trade publication for manufacturers, and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), one of the world's leading management consulting firms, named Batesville Casket Company as the 2009 winner of their “Assembly Plant of the Year” award. The award spotlights a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in the United States that has applied world-class processes to reduceproduction costs, increase productivity, shorten time to market, and improve product quality.

 'Attracting bright minds' topic of UTSI lecture  staff reports Manchester Times
  The University of Tennessee Space Institute will host the Quick-Goethert Lecture at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29 in the UTSI auditorium.

The speaker for the event is Dr. Wanda Austin, president and chief executive officer for The Aerospace Corporation, based in Los Angeles. The Aerospace Corporation is a federally funded research and development center and a systems-engineering resource for complex communications, weather, navigation and reconnaissance space systems, and supports long-term planning, as well as the immediate needs of the nation's military.

Good news from ERPUD: gas costs less By Brian Justice

An abundant natural gas supply, moderate weather and reduced demand due to sagging economic condi-tions spell good news to Elk River Public Utility District customers — the lowest prices they’ve seen in several years.