A nurse at a Manchester nursing is accused of stealing patients’ pain medication.
Brooke Sissom, 33, of Double Tree Circle, Shelbyville was arrested Oct. 12 on nine counts of obtaining controlled substance by fraud. According to Manchester Police Investigator Stuart Colwell, Sissom stole powerful narcotics that were intended for patients at the Manchester Health Care Center. Police say that she would order the drug narcotics using patients’ names and prescriptions. Police allege that Sissom “likely used hundreds of pills herself and may have sold some.” A few of the pills were recovered.
Police say that the staff at the nursing home notified them of her activities. According to Investigator Colwell, the nursing home staff even saved “key documents” that Sissom attempted to destroy. She was fired from her nursing job by the nursing home.
Colwell says that they do not believe any of the patients ever went without their medication. Police say when they arrested Sissom she was ordering new prescriptions.
According to state records Sissom was placed in probation in 2009 by the Tennessee Board of Nursing for “unauthorized removal of controlled substances without authorization” and “incorrect entries in patient records.” She lived in Woodbury at that time.
The nurse is free on a $10,000 bond.

A two vehicle accident occurred on I-24 Friday afternoon at approximately 4:45pm near mile-marker 104. Both vehicles were traveling eastbound on Interstate 24 when a 2007 Mazda 3 driven by Josh Thurman, 27 of Clarksville struck a Tractor Trailer in the rear. Thurman then lost control of the vehicle, left the roadway, traveled into the median and across the westbound lanes, struck a tree and caught fire. Emergency personnel were able to get Thurman from the burning vehicle and transported him by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt. Thurman was accompanied by a dog that died as a result of the crash.

The Coffee County Joint Industrial Park could be getting a new acceleration lane onto Highway 55 at no cost to county taxpayers. Members of the Coffee County Industrial Board appeared this past week with the county Budget and Finance Committee to request their help in coordinating the funding for the new merging lane. They stated that while Omar industries won’t be expanding their glove manufacturing here, they would be increasing their distribution. The industrial officials stated that the warehouse will cause more truck traffic coming out of the park, and a merging lane would help the trucks accelerate more safely into the traffic on 55. It was noted that the state would pay for all the paving as well as half of the cost of purchasing right-of-ways and moving power poles to build the new merging lane.

Jeff Gamble, a veteran funeral director, has confirmed the purchase of Daves-Culbertson Funeral Home in Tullahoma. Gamble is president of Gamble Holding Co., which owns several funeral homes in Alabama.
He said he looks forward to providing additional information in the near future about his plans to bring traditional, quality funeral merchandise and services to residents of the Coffee County area. Gamble became involved in the business when he purchased and later sold Watson Funeral Home (now Watson-North) in Winchester in 1982.
Daves-Culbertson, a landmark on North Jackson Street, most recently was operated by Neil Arnold.

Those driving along Anderson Street in Tullahoma are running into delays. Paving work is in progress, and delays can be expected until the job is done sometime this week on the section between Lincoln and Carroll streets. Public Works Director says the Rogers Group was able to begin the job earlier than intended, leading to closing the road to one open lane while work is in progress. Although the road will be partially open, Public Works is recommending drivers select an alternate route to avoid being delayed. The road is being milled down to its concrete base and will be repaved.

University of Tennessee researchers are predicting modest economic gains for the state through the first half of 2013, but they say significant economic improvement is still a year or two away. That’s according to UT’s fall 2012 Business and Economic Outlook released this week by the school’s Center for Business and Economic Research. Report author Matt Murray told the Knoxville News Sentinel that an increase in residential building permits and rising home prices are signs of a strengthening housing market, which could be a “real game changer” for the economy. Most sectors show prospects for job growth in 2012 and 2013. The state unemployment rate is expected to average 8.2% this year, down from 9.2% in 2011. Taxable sales are expected to rise 5.9% this year.

A Tennessee author and professor of Pediatrics and Psychology was said to be missing Friday night.
Dr. D. Ross Campbell was out in the Stone Door Park region of Grundy County.
According to the Stone Door Ranger’s Office, a search began after no one had heard from him for over 12 hours.
The Grundy County Sheriff’s office and the Tennessee Highway Patrol were among the agencies helping look for Doctor Campbell.
There’s no word yet on his whereabouts.
Dr. Campbell is known for his books such as “How to Really Love Your Children,” and for his work at the U-T College of Medicine.
He is also the director of the Southeastern Counseling Center in Chattanooga.

Friday morning (Nov. 2, 2012) Coffee County Mayor David Pennington, Manchester City Mayor, Lonnie Norman, City Police Chief Mark Yother and Manchester Vice Mayor Ryan French attended the open house at the new Head Start facility on Oakdale St in Manchester. In addition to the dignitaries on hand many of the Head Start students and their families also attended the open house.
Michelle Morris -Site Manager for Head Start said that there are “seventeen children per classroom in the 4 new classrooms.” The Head Start program is currently at full capacity, but families are encouraged to register their eligible children for the waiting list.