Five Coffee County residents were arrested on federal sealed indictments. Richard Anthony, Audrey Williams, William Williams, Timothy Baltimore and Jeff Hill were named in sealed indictments on charges conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamines of more than 500 grams. They were transported to Chattanooga where they appeared before a federal magistrate who ordered them held without bond. The arrest of the five was the joint operation between the Manchester Police, Coffee County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency.

Fireman looks for more fire and smoke... By Barry West

Manchester Fire Department responded to a fire call Friday night at 9:45pm at the Budget Motel on the Hillsboro Blvd. When fire and other emergency vehicles arrived they found smoke coming from the roof of the building. Most of the damage was the left side of the building and especially room 109 where the fire apparently started. No one was in the room at the time the smoke and fire began. No injuries were reported and an investigation continues into the cause.

Manchester Firemen investigate motel fire... By Barry West

A Tullahoma man from East Coffee Street has been charged with statutory rape after allegations surfaced regarding him and a 17 year old. According to a report by Tullahoma Police Officer Daryn Gadeken, Craig Patrick Barabas, 37, of East Coffee Street was charged with statutory rape of a 17-year old girl. The officer was called to a report of an unruly juvenile. When he arrived the father of the girl advised him that he had been having problems with his daughter and that she had admitted to him that she had been have sex with the man. The case was turned over to Investigator Harry Conway who talked with the teenager and she admitted to “several sexual encounters” between the start of spring and April 16. Barabas was arrested by the investigator and charged with statutory rape and placed in the Coffee County Jail under a $10,000 bond. He is to appear in general session court May 3.

Arnold Golf Course

Golfers who enjoy playing at the Arnold Golf Course will not need to find a new place hit the links. Despite talk about the course closing. According to the AEDC Director of Public Affairs, there are no plans to close the golf course. That, however, has not always been the case. The spokesperson said that the course operates on a “break-even cost model. As part of a process to determine where costs could be reduced. The course’s financial situation has since improved in recent times and the facility is no longer on the chopping block. Officials say that the drop in the number of golfers playing at Arnold over the past two years to Mother Nature’s effect on the property. They say that weather and disease to the greens was not kind to Arnold Golf Course in 2010 and early 2011.

Elk River Public Utility District employees have been working on Cedar Lane to relocate gas utility lines in preparation for the widening of that street. Because of the work Tullahoma Police are asking motorists to slow down when driving through the area. Mayor Lane Curlee and Public Works Director Wayne Limbaugh agree that in the coming weeks employees will be working near the Forrest Gallery Shopping Center and drivers should slow down to accommodate their situation. In addition to Elk River’s gas line work, the project involves moving Tullahoma Utilities Board’s electrical and broadband communications lines, and broadband communications lines by Charter Communications and AT&T Corp. Plans are to have the project ready to go to bid sometime in May. They added he expects the project to be completed in late summer 2013.

Joshua Luke Mitchell

Marion County Deputies have arrested a man wanted for child rape. Authorities in the east Tennessee had been looking for Joshua Luke Mitchell since last Sunday. Authorities believed he had fled the state, but Sheriff Bo Burnett says Mitchell was spotted by State Troopers Thursday evening on Highway 41. Burnett says Mitchell was arrested shortly before 7:30 p.m. behind the Riverside Catfish House after a short foot chase. Mitchell is accused of raping a four-year-old girl he was reportedly babysitting. He is a registered sex offender in Texas, North Carolina, and Alabama.