Federal officials have awarded a $17.5 million grant to Tennessee to expand preschool services.
A statement from the U.S. Education Department on Wednesday says Tennessee is one of 13 states receiving funding from the Preschool Development Grants program to expand services. Five other states received grants for preschool development.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said expanding access to quality preschool “is critically important” to ensuring the future success of children.
Duncan says that states receiving the grants will serve as models for expanding preschool to all 4-year-olds from low- and moderate-income families.

Photo ID L-R: Janet Nettles, broker of Middle Tennessee Properties; Golf Scramble Chairperson Vicky Spellings, broker of Exit Realty Partners; Sheriff Steve Graves and Sandy McKinney of the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department.

The 2014 Middle Tennessee Association of REALTORS® (MTAR) Charity Golf Scramble, held September 25th at WillowBrook Golf Club in Manchester, was very successful in helping this year’s two recipients of funds.
The Coffee County Sheriff’s Department’s Christmas Charity Fund provides toys and food for needy families during the holidays. Last year the Fund provided toys to 527 children and food to 233 families. Janet Nettles, broker of Middle Tennessee Properties and Golf Scramble Chairperson Vicky Spellings, broker of Exit Realty Partners, presented a check to Sheriff Steve Graves and Sandy McKinney of the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department for $4721.80 to help fund their holiday giving this year.
The MTAR Scholarship Fund will also receive $4721.80 from the event. MTAR annually presents scholarships to college freshmen within the 8-county area served by the Association. For more information on applying for MTAR Scholarships, call 615/893-2242.
The Bill Carey REALTOR® Golf Scramble and the MTAR Charity Golf Scramble brought in over $20,600 this year for these two charities and the American Diabetes Association.
MTAR is a not-for-profit trade association serving over 1400 real estate professionals across the Middle Tennessee region. MTAR serves Bedford, Cannon, Coffee, Franklin, Grundy, Marion, Moore and Rutherford Counties in Tennessee. The mission of MTAR is to provide its members with state-of-the-art tools, training and support to ensure that all members have the ability to become ethical, professional and successful REALTORS®.

Motlow College will host a holiday benefit concert on Friday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m. inside Eoff Hall’s Powers Auditorium on the Moore County campus. Prior to the performance, there will be a reception inside Eoff Hall at 6 p.m.
Admission to the event is free to the public, but reservations are required as seating will be limited. To make reservations, please call Bobbie Underwood at 931-393-1627 or email bunderwood@mscc.edu. Donations will be accepted and proceeds will support the music program at Motlow.
“We’re excited about our first benefit concert,” said Dr. David Bethea, instructor of music at Motlow. “We’re hoping that we can raise money to assist students through scholarships and the purchasing of instruments and musical equipment.”
The concert will feature holiday-themed music from Vicki Collinsworth and Kyle Copeland, along with other area musicians.
“The music is going to be interesting Christmas music,” added Bethea. “While it will be traditional enough for the audience to recognize, the arrangements themselves will be unique.”
For more information about Motlow’s music program, contact Dr. Bethea at 931-393-1616 or email dbethea@mscc.edu.

In total, over the past five years local school systems and governments inside of Coffee County – including Manchester City, Manchester City Schools, Tullahoma City, Tullahoma City Schools, Coffee County and Coffee County Schools – have filed, settled or prepared to file approximately $4.46 million dollars in litigation against one another.
According to a report in the Tullahoma News, a heavy influx of litigation began early this year after County Technical Advisory Service (CTAS) and state officials pronounced that liquor-by-the-drink (LBD) taxes were unremitted for years by counties and municipalities across the state.
The Coffee County School System is seeking $387,488 from the City of Tullahoma and an additional $137,340 from the City of Manchester, but the case was dismissed by Coffee County Judge Vanessa Jackson Sept. 18 and upheld by Jackson Nov. 3, leaving the other cases more in question.
According to the order filed by Jackson in Coffee County Chancery Court Nov. 3 to deny the school board’s request, the county school board does not have the authority delegated to it to maintain the cause of action. Attorney Eric Burch has filed an appeal with the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
After statements from the Tennessee Attorney General’s office that LBD money would be owed to many school districts across the state, local school systems began seeking that money from local governments inside Coffee County.
The City of Tullahoma recently agreed to pay its city school system $127,603.60 in installments of $31,923. Meanwhile, Tullahoma School System is still seeking approximately $83,360 from the City of Manchester government.
The Manchester School System could seek $109,948.33 from the City of Tullahoma and $40,000 from the City of Manchester government in LBD money. However, because the system didn’t file to seek reimbursement prior to June 1, it forgoes funds owed prior to 1999, leaving the Manchester Schools able to seek $33,574 from Manchester’s government and $76,518 from Tullahoma.
Both Tullahoma and Manchester municipalities are not set to negotiate at this time with the school systems.
In addition to LBD tax disputes, Manchester City Schools recently re-opened a lawsuit against the Coffee County government seeking $1.56 million and pre-judgment interest for misappropriated second-half sales tax dating back to 1983.