On Friday April 24th, Richard Skipper who is the Career and Technical Education director at Coffee County High School was presented the Pioneer Award from the Tennessee Association of Career and Technical Education.
TACTE (Tennessee Association of Career and Technical Education) gives out 2 awards annually. The Pioneer Award is presented to an outstanding CTE director in the state of Tennessee with 5 years or less experience.
Last year Richard was the Middle TN nominee but finished second overall. Skipper is currently the president of the South Central Region of CTE directors and will be starting his second term as a member of the State CTE Leadership Committee.

A man nicknamed the “Cross-Country Cowboy” is traveling across the U.S. on horseback. Over the past few weeks Tod “Doc” Mishler has been staying in Manchester at the home of former Coffee County Mayor David Pennington and his wife Nancy. Doc was a recent guest on Thunder Radio’s “Let’s talk Antiques” program talking about why he does what he does. The 79 year old Mishler, who has a PHD in Philosophy is on a mission to shed light on the starving children in the world. Doc said recently on WMSR, “My message is that we have the money to do it, unfortunately we don’t have the will. The way is not lacking. The way to feed every starving child in the world is there, but the will is lacking.” He is urging our country’s leaders to provide funding to feed the hungry children in world. Doc rode into town with his two horses named “Chief Free Spirit” and “Charity.” He bought a third horse, “Green Eyes” at a stable on Hwy 41 on his first trip through town. He rides between 10-20 miles a day. This is not his first trip across the United States, he completed another cross country trek in 2002 where he traveled from Montana to Washington. On that trip he took his message to Congress. Doc has had some health issues during his travels through Murfreesboro. He had to have a stint put in at St Thomas Rutherford after having a heart attack while camping for the night. He lost some weight during his health problem but has been gaining weight and feels stronger. He gives credit to Nancy Pennington’s cooking for helping him.
The Penningtons got to know Doc when he stopped by the Jiffy Burger as he traveled through Manchester on Hwy 41.
While in Manchester he received the “Key to the City” and a Humanitarian certificate for his efforts to feed hungry children.
Tracy St John, the daughter of David and Nancy, says her whole family became very close with Doc and they are sad to see him leave, but she knows his journey and message are not complete. Mishler headed toward Nashville earlier this week.

Two local dealerships in Manchester have had cars stolen from their lots recently.
At Lawrence Family Motors they discovered missing keys about 2 months and thought they were misplaced. On Monday (April 27) morning the owners discovered a red 2012 Hyundai Veloster missing from the dealership. The Hyundai has around 30,000 miles and valued at nearly $17,000.
In a surveillance video, an unknown subject walked onto the lot Monday morning around 7:15am. The person used what appeared to be a key-fob (original key) got into the vehicle and left. As the vehicle traveled north on the Hillsboro Blvd., it appears that a dark colored small truck, maybe a Ford Ranger, followed closely behind.

Also on Monday Officer Daniel Ray responded to Roberts Nissan about a breach of trust vehicle. An employee at the dealership said he rented a 2014 Nissan Sentra to a Lucas Van Strickland on April 18. The car was supposed to be returned in 2 days. Apparently several calls had been made to reach Strickland but they got no answer. The man used an Ascend Credit Union card to rent the Nissan valued at $18,000. Investigator Chief Billy Butler checked with the credit union.  Strickland does have an account at the bank, but the number on the card does not match the account.
Since Strickland lives in Bedford County, Investigator Jason Kennedy was contacted and is now on the lookout for the vehicle.
If you have any information on either one of the cases, please contact the Manchester Police Department at 728-2099.

A man convicted of abducting a Tullahoma woman on Jan. 1, 2013 after a New Year’s party was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Billy Joe Nelson was convicted March 25 on charges of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated rape, carjacking and robbery. The conviction came at the end of a three day trial held in Coffee County Circuit Court.
He was charged with abducting the woman from the parking lot adjacent to the 41 Bar and Grill located on Hillsboro Boulevard in Manchester in the early hours of Jan 1, 2013.
Nelson was sentenced to serve 20 years for the aggravated rape and 10 years for the aggravated kidnapping charge. He is to serve those consecutive. He was also ordered to serve 10 years for the carjacking and five years on the robbery charge. Those are to be served concurrently with the kidnapping charge. Judge Paul Summers ordered that Nelson serve 100 percent of his sentences for the rape and kidnapping conviction.
Nelson was represented by Manchester Attorney Jeremy Parham while Assistant District Attorney Jason Ponder prosecuted the case.
Ponder stated that he was satisfied with the sentence while Parham plans to file an appeal in the case.

Tennessee honey bees are feeling the sting of a variety of environmental factors.
According to estimates from the University of Tennessee Extension, bees have seen as much as 50 percent of their population decline in recent years.
Professor John Skinner, an apiculturist at the University of Tennessee, says recent rain and cold snaps this spring are making things more difficult.
“They have a lot more mouths to feed, and if we get hit by weather patterns that are rainy for a solid week or 10 days, the bees can consume all of their additional food in the colony and starve to death,” he says. “And it’s at a time when you think ‘Hey the flowers are blooming. It’s springtime. Everything is wonderful.'”
In addition to weather patterns, Skinner says parasitic mites, viruses, fungal diseases and pesticides are also impacting the honey bee population. A study released this month by Newcastle University in England finds some bees are “addicted” to nectar that contains pesticides. Pesticides are known to scramble a bee’s memory and navigation functions.
Charles Foutch, member of the Jackson Area Beekeepers Association, has kept bees for the last 60 years.
“I often say it’s easier to find a four-leaf clover than it is a honey bee,” he says. “So unless you have a colony of bees close by, you’re not going to see any bees in this neighborhood.”
Foutch says the increasing price of honey is also tempting beekeepers to over-harvest, leaving bees without enough nourishment to survive.
“They think they leave enough for the bees to survive through the winter,” says Foutch. “But if you have a hard winter you find out next spring you’ve lost some of them, so they’ve starved to death.”
You can help bees by choosing plants for your yard that attract bees like wildflowers, flowering herbs, berries, sunflowers and more. Grouping similar plants together is also helpful to the insect.