Coffee County General Sessions Judge Timothy R. Brock has passed away. 

According to Coffee County District Attorney General Craig Northcott, Brock’s body was discovered in his hotel room in Nevada on Monday (Nov. 11) while attending a conference. No foul play is suspected, but a cause of death is pending an autopsy, according to Northcott. He was 62.

“Tim Brock made a difference in Coffee County and Tennessee by redeeming individuals, reuniting families and restoring communities and creating change in the lives of children, teens and adults,”said Mike Lewis, director of Coffee County Drug Court. Lewis often worked closely with Brock through the drug court. 

“He left this world doing what he loved, learning how to be a glimmer of light to those trapped in a world of darkness,” added Lewis. 

In addition to sessions court, Brock was also over juvenile recovery court, mental health court, family treatment court. Brock was re-elected to an 8-year term in 2014, meaning his term will not expire until 2022. 

According to Northcott, the Coffee County Commission can choose to appoint someone to Brock’s seat to fill until the next general election, which is in August of 2020. If the commission chooses not to appoint anyone, that seat will be open on the ballot for the 2020 election cycle, according to Northcott. 

“It’s so close to the next general election the county commission may elect to wait. But that would be up to them,” explained Northcott.

Brock was first elected in 1990 and took on juvenile court jurisdiction duties in 1998. He earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee in 1982 and his undergraduate degree from MTSU. He served on the executive committee of the Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges for many years.

“Judge Brock, while quiet and unassuming, was an outstanding leader who worked constantly and diligently in our judicial system to improve the lives of children and families in Tennessee,” said Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Jeff Bivins. “He cared deeply about improving the courts and the judicial system as a whole to better serve the citizens of Coffee County and all Tennesseans. He embraced education and learning, and he was always willing to be a leader in innovation and new approaches to serving people. Judge Brock’s untimely death leaves a great void in our judicial system.”

Coffee County and Manchester City Schools are partnering together to host a Mobile Food Pantry for families in need on Friday, November 15th at First Baptist Church of Manchester. A Mobile Food Pantry is a large scale food distribution in which food items are delivered via Second Harvest Food Bank to a designated location for immediate distribution to those in need.   

“We, Coffee County and Manchester City Schools, are excited to offer this opportunity for our families. By working together, this allows us to ensure we are serving every family in need,” said Taylor Rayfield, Coordinator of Family Resource for Coffee County Schools.

The Mobile Food Pantry will be held on Friday, November 15th at First Baptist Church of Manchester, 1006 Hillsboro Blvd., Manchester, Tennessee 37355. Doors open at 9 AM and is a first come, first serve opportunity. This program is for families who have a student enrolled in the Coffee County Schools or Manchester City Schools System.

For questions, contact Taylor Rayfield, Coordinator of Family Resource for Coffee County Schools at (931) 222-1066, or BJ Sylvia, Coordinator of Family Resource for Manchester City Schools at (931) 728-3412.

SONIC Drive-In concluded its annual Limeades for Learning Fall Voting campaign in support of public school teachers last month, and Manchester, Tennessee teachers received funding to support their innovative and creative learning projects. In partnership with nonprofit DonorsChoose.org and with the help of SONIC fans, three teachers in Manchester received a combined $4,047 for necessary supplies to inspire learning in their classrooms.

“Our Fall Voting Campaign is a special time for us to celebrate exceptional public school teachers who make a difference in communities across the country, including those in Manchester,” said Christi Woodworth, vice president for public relations for SONIC. “With the help of our fans, we donated $1 million for teachers to have access to different teaching tools that otherwise wouldn’t be provided through traditional funding methods.”

Between Monday, Sept. 30, and Sunday, Oct. 27, SONIC fans voted for projects they found the most inspiring at LimeadesforLearning.com, ranging from pencils and paper to tablets and robotics kits.

In Manchester, the following three exceptional teachers at one school were among the public school teachers whose projects earned funding for much-needed teaching resources as part of the annual Fall Voting campaign:

• Kimberley Watkins at East Coffee Elementary School for the project “35 Elementary Kids, 7 preps, Lots of Needs!”
• 
  Kimberley Watkins at East Coffee Elementary School for the project “Explode the Code!”
• 
  Kimberley Watkins at East Coffee Elementary School for the project “Phonics Creates Readers”
• 
  Kimberley Watkins at East Coffee Elementary School for the project “Phonics is Fun!”
• 
  Lindsey Tucker at East Coffee Elementary School for the project “Gross Motor Play for Pre-K!”
• 
  Lisa Lorance at East Coffee Elementary School for the project “Letters, Sounds, and Phonemic Awareness-Oh My!”

Lisa Lorance at East Coffee Elementary School for the project “Phonics and Alphabet Fun!”

Congress is considering a bill that would secure permanent and full federal funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), a pot of money from offshore oil revenues used to protect the country’s natural parks.

Mike Butler, CEO of the Tennessee Wildlife Federation, says over the past 50 years, around $200 million from LWCF have gone toward helping Tennesseans conserve the state’s natural gems.

“That’s gone towards hiking and biking trails, ball fields, hunting access, historical battlefield sites, wildlife refuges and other public land acquisitions like the Appalachian Trail,” he points out.

Butler notes that while the fund is supposed to receive $900 million a year, only twice has Congress fully appropriated that amount.

The measure is headed toward a committee vote on Nov. 19.

It’s not just about natural beauty. Butler says protecting the state’s wildlife areas, parks and outdoor recreation spaces are valuable for Tennessee’s economy.

“They fuel about a $21 billion outdoor recreational economy in Tennessee supporting about 200,000 jobs, based on the research that we’ve seen,” he stresses.

Butler also adds in the face of a changing climate, natural areas, which do not require expensive maintenance or technologies, are the best buffer against the effects of climate change.

“And so, as we look to try to protect land, or put it into a public ownership category, we think that those things can be done strategically, where they have a lot of public support, and can create a lot of public benefit,” he states.

A study published earlier this year found that between 2001 and 2017, a total of 24 million acres, roughly equivalent to nine Grand Canyon National Parks or 49 Great Smoky Mountain National Parks, were lost to development in the U.S.