Investigators from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department are investigating a shooting incident that occurred at Bonnaroo Sunday night. According to Sheriff Steve Graves, Crockett Burgess, 23, of North Collins St. in Tullahoma, told officers that he was shot while attending the festival. According to Investigator Sgt. Danny Ferrell, Burgess was shot in the left leg just below the knee. He was flown to Vanderbilt Medical Center for treatment of his injuries. Burgess told deputies that he did not know who shot him or why.

Deputies were busy this year seizing drugs. Sunday afternoon, Sgt Kelly Smith of the sheriff’s department seized 15 to 20 lbs of Rice Krispies full of marijuana. “We also seized LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, mushrooms, a lot of marijuana,” Sheriff Steve Graves stated. This year deputies also seized a lot of peanut butter. “We found several jars crammed full of marijuana and mushrooms.” According to the sheriff there were at least 410 tickets issued by local law enforcement and over 40 arrests made during the four days people were here for Bonnaroo. The sheriff stated that the arrests were about the same as last year but there were more citations issued than last year. The 100 state troopers on hand for the weekend wrote a number of tickets as well.

Dr. Prater Powell has decided to retire from his position as director of Manchester City Schools effective June of 2013.
Powell was named the director in 2003 and will complete his 10th year with Manchester and 45 years in education at the end of June 2013. Dr. Powell said this was not an easy decision and wanted to give the board advance notice of his choice. He says he will continue over the next year to work for the students and staff in maintaining the high quality educational programs in the Manchester City Schools. Powell added that serving the students, staff and the Manchester City School community has been an honor and privilege.
As one of Dr.Powell’s colleagues said, “Thanks for the ride; it has been a great experience.”

The average price of a gallon of gasoline nationwide has dropped 16 cents over the past three weeks. That’s according to the Lundberg Survey of fuel prices, which puts the price of a gallon of regular at $3.62.
Midgrade costs an average of $3.79 a gallon, and premium is at $3.91.
Diesel dropped 18 cents to $3.91 a gallon.
In Tennessee, AAA reported the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.21. That is down 6 cents from a week ago, and 28 cents from a month ago. In the Tullahoma area the average price of gas is 3.04 a gallon. In Manchester the average price is $3.15.

Fraklin County sheriff's employees showoff items confiscated in the bust

A large drug bust resulted in the arrest of four people in Franklin County last week. Deputies with the Franklin County sheriff’s office stopped a recreational vehicle on Highway 64 East. They obtained permission to search the vehicle and discovered an aluminum foil wrapper containing what was believed to be LSD along with various drug paraphernalia and marijuana residue. Authorities also discovered what was believed to be marijuana hidden in a false bottom of a two-liter soft drink bottle along with 15 plastic bags containing white powder, believed to be cocaine, in the false bottom of a shaving-cream bottle and various types of prescription medication. Four people from Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia were arrested. All four face multiple narcotics charges and were released on $25,000 bond each.

Middle Tennessee State University is making efforts to increase its graduation rate, but still just over half its students are completing college within six years. According to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, 53% of MTSU students who began in fall 2004 graduated by 2010. That was fourth best among the state’s 4-year public universities. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, was tops with 67%. Tennessee Tech had a 55% graduation rate, and UT-Martin’s rate was 54%. Nearly half of students enrolling at MTSU don’t graduate and nearly a fifth don’t make it past freshmen year. Higher Education Commission Policy Adviser David Wright told the Daily News Journal that the school’s graduation rate is improving. In 2006, the 6-year graduation rate was only 47%.