A former Bedford County youth minister pleaded guilty to two counts of statutory rape by an authority figure Thursday.
Joseph Todd Neill, 38, agreed to serve a sentence of four years at 30 percent, with both counts to be served concurrently.
That sentence will also be served concurrent with the federal sentence Neill received in July — three years, four months for a single charge of possessing child pornography.
Two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor (possessing child porn) were dismissed in a Bedford County court as part of the local plea deal.
As part of Neill’s federal plea deal, he admitted to initiating a sexual relationship on more than two occasions with a minor who was a member of the church where he was a youth minister.
During the investigation of the statutory rape charges, Shelbyville police seized Neill’s cell phone and found 72 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
He also was sentenced to 10 years of supervised release in the federal case, during which time he must participate in a program of sex offender mental health treatment.
(Thanks to the Shelbyville Times-Gazette for information in this story)

Manchester’s Veteran’s Day Ceremony will be held on the Square in Manchester on Tuesday, November 11th at 11am. This year’s Ceremony will include a special appearance once again by famous country music star Naomi Judd, performances by the CCCHS Band, Choir, and much more.
The Veteran’s Day Ceremony is held every year in Manchester in order to honor those men and women who have served and are currently serving our country. Commemorative Swords will be bestowed upon selected veterans to honor them for their sacrifice and wreaths will be placed at memorial stones to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice of their own life during their time of service to our country.

The Coffee County Anti-Drug Coalition’s VetCorps program will be hosting Operation: Warrior Pride on Veteran’s Day, November 11, 2014, 1pm – 4pm. The Coalition will celebrate and honor Coffee County veterans, service members, and their families at the TN National Guard, Tullahoma Readiness Center at 1402 East Carroll St., Tullahoma. Karisa Hudson, Coalition Veteran Coordinator, is challenging local gyms and fitness-minded residents to honor our veterans by showing your strength by participating in the “Armistice”. The “Armistice” is the inaugural event for Team Red, White, and Blue (RWB) here in Coffee County. Ms. Hudson, said “Team RWB’s mission is to enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their community through physical and social activity.
Executive Director for the Coalition, Kristina Clark explained “Operation: Warrior Pride will be a fun filled picnic including family activities to celebrate our local veterans, service members, and their families”. The Vetcorp program’s Veteran Task Force will have resources available for area veterans to access including, but not limited to career and employment services, general veteran benefit resources, child care information, family readiness resources, counseling and suicide prevention.

The Coffee County Commission will hear a proposal from the Tullahoma Area Economic Development Corporation at its next meeting on Nov 18. The proposal will be for tax-increment financing (TIF) for proposed public improvements to Northgate Mall.
In addition to the proposed public improvements of up to $1.8 million, Northgate LLC plans to invest an additional $12-14 million in upgrades to the mall itself in an attempt to attract new, higher-end retailers.
According to the Tullahoma Area Economic Development Corporation, tax-increment financing is a way for counties and municipalities to attract retail and other types of development at minimal risk to the taxpayer and reduced cost to the developer at the same time.
The $1.8 million portion designated for government financing involves upgrades that benefit the public, such as paving, drainage improvements and landscaping. The remaining $12 million or so of improvements are designed to enhance the mall’s commercial appeal to attract more and better stores.
The final amounts to be financed by the city and county have not been completely worked out, but should come to roughly $750,000 to $800,000 each, if approved. (The Tullahoma News)

A crash occurred around 4:30pm Friday afternoon in Manchester. A Franklin County woman was traveling west on Hwy 55 in front of Ascend Credit Union. Allegedly due to medical reasons the woman crossed 2 to 3 lanes of traffic, ran thru the front yard of a business and ran into several curbs. She then traveled thru the parking lot of the credit union, went across Lincoln Street and thru the fence at Christopher Rentals.
The female was taken to an area hospital.
Manchester Police Department was in charge of the scene.

An investigation by agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has resulted in a Cannon County attorney pleading guilty to theft and agreeing to disbarment for at least five years.
At the request of then-16th District Attorney General Bill Whitesell, TBI Special Agents began investigating Dale Peterson on July 16th. Peterson had been an attorney representing the Riverside Center medical facility in Woodbury.  The services he provided included filing documents and paying filing fees on behalf of the facility. During the course of the investigation, agents learned that between March 2012 and July 2014, Peterson stopped filing documents with the Cannon County Clerk’s office and kept the filing fees for himself. As the investigation began, Peterson admitted his role in the theft and assisted agents in returning files to the Clerk’s office.
On Thursday, Peterson pled guilty to Theft over $1000 through a criminal information plea. He agreed to be disbarred from the practice of law for no fewer than five years and to pay restitution in the amount of $20,551. Peterson was booked at the Cannon County Sheriff’s Department after his court appearance.

For the past month, Coffee County First Responders have been preparing a plan of action to handle an Ebola Case if one were to strike in Coffee County. Through many meetings and drills, the local EMA, EMS, Fire, & Police Departments along with Coffee County’s 3 Hospitals have created a plan that includes extraction of the Ebola patient, transferring the patient to their chosen hospital, and safely removing all potentially contaminated items from their team members. According to the Coffee County Director of EMS, Michael Bonner, these drills have allowed an already cohesive relationship between the departments to grow even stronger. If you would like to see first-hand an Ebola Drill held in Manchester last week and to learn more tips on how you can protect yourself against Ebola, watch our all new Thunder TV News Video at WMSRradio.com.