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Thursday Prep Schedule
- 6:00 PM – WMS Basketball HOSTS Blue/White Scrimmage games
- 6:30 PM – CHS Soccer HOSTS Franklin County – District 8AAA Tournament Finals – 1st National Bank Hometown Sports Series broadcast on Thunder Radio
Birthdays – 10/16/19
Carolyn Wright – 35
Amy Bruce – PIZZA WINNER!
Coffee County Soccer Wins District Semifinals; Will Play for District Title on Thursday
Defending their regular season district title at home on Tuesday night, the Lady Raider soccer team of Coffee County CHS welcomed Shelbyville to the Raider Soccer Field. Coffee County got a hat trick from freshman Katie Cotten and a pair of goals from senior Jenna Garretson to claim a 6 to 1 win.
After a pair of hard fought games in the regular season, Coffee County was expecting a physical contest. In a match that saw a pair of penalty kicks awarded and 4 yellow cards assessed, the Lady Raiders were able to dictate play with an effective passing game. Coffee County outshot Shelbyville 15 to 6 in the win.
Coffee County raced out to a 2 nil lead in the first half. Cotten got on the board first as she poked a pass from Garretson past the Eaglette keeper in the 18th minute. After a Shelbyville hand ball violation in the penalty box, Garretson converted a penalty kick in the 21st minute to give the Lady Raiders a halftime advantage they would not surrender.
In the 2nd half, Cotten redirected a pass from Anna Amado in the 48th minute for her 2nd goal before scoring her 3rd goal on a shot from an incredible angle from the end line in the 56th to make it 4 nil. That goal seemed to take the starch out of the Eaglettes as Maddy Jones dribbled into the box from the left side and drilled a shot past a stunner Eaglette keeper one minute later. Shelbyville notched a goal on a shot from 35 yards out in the 68th minute to give themselves a little bit of life, but Britney Hernandez was taken down from behind in the box 2 minutes later and Garretson drilled home the resulting penalty kick for the final margin.
Lucy Riddle was flawless in goal as she finished with 5 saves, and also made great decisions on defending the box all night long. The win improves Coffee County’s record to 11-3-2 on the season.
With the win, Coffee County will host Franklin County on Thursday night in the District 8AAA finals. Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast as part of the 1st National Bank Hometown Sports Series. Opening kick is set for 6:30 PM, we begin our live coverage with the pregame show at 6:20. The Lady Raider soccer boosters will host a pregame tailgate party beginning at 5 PM featuring free chili and hot dogs. Additionally, the first 50 Coffee County CHS students will receive free admission to the game. Make plans to attend
Download the broadcast at: www.Thunder1320.com/downloads
Tullahoma resident among those indicted for healthcare fraud
A 16-count superseding indictment unsealed Tuesday (Oct. 15) charged Michael Kestner, 67, of Nashville, Tennessee, Brian Richey, 37, of Cookeville, Tennessee, Daniel Seeley, 58, of Batesville, Mississippi, and Jonathan White, 49, of Tullahoma, Tennessee, with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and multiple counts of healthcare fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee and Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Richey and Seeley, both nurse practitioners, and White, a physician assistant, were indicted in April on one count of healthcare fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. Today’s superseding indictment charges each with four additional counts of healthcare fraud and also charges Kestner, the owner of MedManagement, Inc. (MMI), with one count of conspiracy and 15 counts of healthcare fraud.
Kestner surrendered to U.S. Marshals earlier today and will be making an initial appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge later this afternoon. Richey, Seeley and White are expected to surrender at a later time.
According to the indictment, Kestner was the owner and CEO of MMI and was the majority owner of Pain MD, with a principal place of business in Franklin, Tennessee. Richey, Seeley and White were employed by MMI, which managed Pain MD. Pain MD operated pain and wellness clinics throughout middle Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina and Michael Kestner, who has neither medical training nor certifications, served as its President.
Pain MD represented itself to be an “interventional” pain management practice and it claimed to provide procedures, including injections and durable medical equipment (“DME”) that were intended to reduce patient reliance on opioids and other narcotic pain medications. The indictment alleges that, in fact, these practices were intended to increase revenues for Pain MD and to personally enrich Pain MD providers.
Between 2010 and continuing through May 2018, the indictment alleges that Kestner, Richey, Seeley and White conspired to enrich themselves and their employers by submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE. Kestner and others took steps to ensure Pain MD providers increased their “productivity” by providing more and more services, without consideration of whether those services were medically reasonable and necessary. These steps included, but were not limited to: paying productivity-based bonuses to providers; locking providers into legally questionable employment agreements that included extended non-compete periods of up to 24 months; threatening providers who had low productivity numbers with termination and other consequences; sending regular emails, sometimes more than once daily, comparing and ranking providers based on the number of injections or DME devices they had provided; providing erroneous clinical trainings to under-experienced providers, instructing them on inappropriate care protocols and anatomically incorrect injection procedures; and sending Richey, Seeley and White out to clinics to “train” providers, who were not providing a high percentage of injections and DME, and how to “control” the patients and get them to agree to receive unnecessary medical procedures, under threats to discontinue their narcotic pain medications if they refused.
Richey, Seeley and White provided services to patients, namely “Tendon Origin Injections,” which were neither medically necessary nor anatomically possible, provided medically unnecessary DME, and then submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE. These services were provided to further the company’s business model by increasing revenues and to personally enrich Pain MD providers and executives.
As a result of the conspiracy, Kestner, Richey, Seeley and White caused the submission of more than $27,537,383.17 to be billed to Medicare, resulting in approximately $5,054,525.07 in reimbursement; more than $8,567,657.00 to be billed to TennCare, resulting in approximately $101,077.79 in reimbursement; and more than $2,544,322.01 to be billed to TRICARE, resulting in approximately $284,458.51 in reimbursement.
If convicted, the defendants face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.
This case is brought as part of the Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid (ARPO) Strike Force, comprised of U.S. Attorney’s Offices for ten federal districts in six states, as well as law enforcement partners at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General; the IRS, Criminal Investigation; and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Beth Myers and Trial Attorney Anthony Burba of the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division are prosecuting the cases. The southern hub of the ARPO Strike Force operates out of Nashville.
An indictment is merely an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Coffee Co. Sheriff’s Dept. warns of returning phone scam
There is a phone scam in the area to warn you about. According to the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department, scammers are calling and posing as employees of the sheriff’s department – this is a scam that has been used in this area many times before.
Scammers are telling the intended victim that they have missed jury duty and that they have a warrant for their arrest. The scammer then tells the intended victim to pay with a GreenDot card or MoneyGram to avoid arrest. The sheriff’s department wants the public to know that this is not law enforcement making these calls and that you should not reveal any personal information to these people and absolutely do not send money. If you have a question, call the sheriff’s department directly at 931-728-3591.
Manchester to hold ADA workshop
The City of Manchester has developed a draft Americans with Disabilities Act transition plan. This transition plan will include an ADA compliance review and transition plan of the city programs, services, activities, public buildings, parks and pedestrian facilities within the public right of ways.
There will be a public workshop at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30 at Manchester City Hall – interested persons, including individuals with disabilities or organizations representing individuals, are requested to participate in the development of Manchester’s ADA transition plan. The workshop will be an open discussion. ADA accessibility for persons with disabilities requiring special assistance, please contact Jamie Sain at 931-723-1464. Manchester City Hall is located at 200 W. Fort St.
Coffee County Volleyball Season Ends in Region Tournament
Making their 8th straight appearance in the region tournament, the Coffee County volleyball team traveled to Siegel on Tuesday afternoon. Matching up against District 7AAA runner-up Blackman in the semifinals, the Lady Raiders season came to a close in a straight set defeat. Coffee County fell by set scores of 6-25, 19-25 and 10-25.
The Lady Raiders were dominated at the net as they finished with only 12 kills against 12 hitting errors. The exception to that trend was Lexi Bryan who finished with 5 kills and a block. Keelie Hillis added 3 kills and 6 assists. Amanda Mukai led Coffee County in assists with 6 while Kiya Ferrell and Abigail Parker led the team in digs with 4. Parker and Keri Munn each finished with 3 aces apiece to pace the Lady Raiders.
After the match, Lexi Bryan and Keelie Hillis were named to the All-Region team. Coffee County ends the season with a final record of 22 and 10. The Lady Raiders won the regular season and postseason District 8AAA titles.
Coffee County Middle School 6th Grade Basketball Splits with West Tullahoma
The Coffee County Middle School 6th grade basketball team hosted West Tullahoma on Tuesday night at the CCMS gym. The Lady Raiders rolled to a 56 to 10 win. The Red Raiders fell 31 to 10.
The Lady Raiders raced out to a 26 to 1 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Natalie Barnes hit 7 three point baskets in the game, including 4 in the 1st quarter, to finish with 27 points. Ella Arnold added 14 points and Morgan Spears added 10.
The Red Raiders had a cold shooting night as they scored 5 points in each half. Regardless of the shooting woes, Coffee Middle only trailed by 10 going into the 4th quarter. The Red Raiders were led in scoring by Luke Campbell and David Lewis who each finished with 3 points.
All Four Lines Score as Preds Win Big in Vegas
The house paid the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.
The Preds scored four unanswered goals across the final two periods to top the Golden Knights, 5-2, at T-Mobile Arena. It’s the first road win of the season for the Preds – arguably something of a statement win for Nashville – and improves their record to 4-2-0.
All four lines tallied on the evening for the Preds – and they got another power-play goal as well – in a bounce-back win after Saturday’s loss in Los Angeles, and it’s an especially satisfying victory in a tough building against an equally high-powered opponent.
“It’s always harder to win on the road,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “You have to dig in a little bit more and the compete level had to go up a little bit. You have to overcome the fans and the building and their home team and their energy. In the second and third period, I thought we were able to get going.”
“We put an emphasis on our second period [being down after one],” Preds defenseman Ryan Ellis said. “We came out a lot harder, got some good bounces, got some goals and never looked back.”
Nashville started the game strong, and less than three minutes into the contest, Kyle Turris redirected an Ellis shot into the twine to give the Preds a 1-0 lead. The Golden Knights came back, however, and a pair of strikes from Mark Stone and Reilly Smith saw Vegas take a lead into the first intermission.
But the second period – that one belonged to the Preds. It took Colton Sissons 44 seconds into the middle frame to tie the game, and then Nashville went back to work. First, Viktor Arvidsson emerged from around the cage and fed Calle Jarnkrok, who one-timed his first of the season home to give the Preds the lead again.
Then, less than two minutes after that, Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury turned the puck over behind his own net, and Filip Forsberg pounced to deposit his fifth goal of the season, a mark that helped him to tie a franchise record. The goal gave Forsberg at least a point in all six games to start the season, a total that pulls him even with former Preds defenseman Marek Zidlicky for the longest point streak of its kind in team history.
Nashville fought the urge to sit back in the third period and ended up extending their lead to 5-2 with a power-play goal in their fourth consecutive game. Kyle Turris one-timed a shot off a cross-crease pass and Nick Bonino deflected the shot into the net to give both players their second points on the night.
“We’re balanced and we’re deep and we’re dangerous,” Bonino said of Nashville’s offensive prowess. “Our [defensemen] jump in, our forwards are all creative, everyone making plays, and tonight was a perfect example of that.”
Perhaps a bit lost in another five-goal output was the effort from Pekka Rinne who made 33 saves on the night to keep a perfect 4-0-0 record this season.
“He was great,” Laviolette said of Rinne. “I really thought that he worked and battled and just stayed with it. There were some scrambles out there where he had to keep fighting for things… He was strong, and he gave us a chance.”
Tuesday’s effort in Vegas now propels the Preds to Arizona, and Tuesday’s effort on the road will provide plenty of confidence with the trip’s finale on the horizon.
“The third period in L.A. was great, but it showed you if we played like that every shift, every period, what we can really do,” Ellis said. “Tonight, it was a decent first, but the second and third, we really picked it up and looked like the team we want to be.”
Notes:
Filip Forsberg left the game during the third period, and Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said following the game the Nashville forward was “getting evaluated.”
Forward Rocco Grimaldi returned to the Nashville lineup after missing two games with a lower-body injury. Grimaldi assisted on Kyle Turris’s goal and skated 12:51 on the night.
Nashville’s three-game road trip concludes on Thursday night in Arizona (at 9 p.m. CT) before the Preds return home to host the Florida Panthers on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena.
Birthdays – 10/15/19
Tim Robinson
Amelia Johnson – 9 – PIZZA WINNER!
Dakota Bowen – 30
Kim Watterson