The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office, in conjunction with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, has completed an investigation of Heather Franklin, the former South Middle School Trojan Athletic Booster Club treasurer. The investigation began after booster club and school officials reported questionable transactions in the booster club bank records.
Investigators determined that Heather Franklin, who after her tenure as treasurer changed her name to Heather Harris after marriage, stole at least $4,927 from the booster club between November 2016 and March 2017.
Franklin stole the money by keeping at least $4,087 in cash that was collected from concession sales at basketball games. She also wrote a booster club check for $840 that was used to pay loans for her personal vehicles.
Franklin covered up her misappropriation by making false entries in the booster club’s records. She later admitted to investigators that she took the booster club’s money to pay personal expenses.
In November 2018, Heather (Franklin) Harris was indicted by the Franklin County Grand Jury on one count of theft over $2,500.
“Tennessee booster clubs are required by law to establish procedures to ensure that money is safeguarded,” said Comptroller Justin P. Wilson. “In this case, booster club officials failed to separate financial responsibilities, review bank statements, and ensure that two signatures were required and included on all checks.
If you suspect fraud, waste or abuse of public money in Tennessee, call the Comptroller’s toll-free hotline at (800) 232-5454, or file a report online at: www.comptroller.tn.gov/hotline.

Your Coffee County Veterans Association will be hosting their annual Veterans Day Ceremony on Saturday November 10th at 11 AM. The program has been moved from the downtown square to the Veterans building on Shelton Road in Manchester.
This is an occasion set aside to honor the service and sacrifice of the brave men and women who have devoted themselves to the defense of our nation and the liberty we hold so dearly. Please join the Veterans Association for this special event.
Veterans Day is Sunday November 11 but is being observed in 2018 on Monday November 12.

For the fourth consecutive year, Motlow State Community College has the largest enrollment in school history and remains among the fastest-growing colleges in Tennessee, according to Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) official enrollment numbers released for the fall 2018 semester.
Motlow enrolled 6,886 students this fall, a 4.1 percent increase over the 6,612 enrolled during the same period last fall. This compares with a 1.3 percent increase for all Tennessee community colleges combined for the fall 2018 semester. Final enrollment numbers are based on the preliminary census report from TBR.
Underscoring the impressive enrollment numbers is the fact that Motlow continues to lead all Tennessee community colleges in three-year graduation rate at 33.5 percent. This rate tracks first-time, full-time freshmen through the summer of their third year and counts students who earn associate degrees, short-term certificates, and long-term certificates from any community college in the TBR System.
Contributing to the strong enrollment numbers at Motlow are two important last-dollar scholarship programs, Tennessee Reconnect, and Tennessee Promise. According to school officials, there are 1,060 adult Reconnect students, and 1,913 Tennessee Promise-eligible students.
Full-Time Equivalency (FTE) for Motlow, which is a formula that determines how many students are attending full time, is 4,617 this year, a two percent increase over the 4,525 last year.
As a comparison, in fall 2014 Motlow had an enrollment of 4,793 and an FTE of 2,984. In just four years, enrollment has increased over 43 percent and FTE has risen over 54 percent.

Additional security was present at Shelbyville Central High School on Wednesday after one student was shot Tuesday afternoon during what police described as an off-campus “drug deal gone bad.”
The incident took place at mid-afternoon at Fast Lane Market, Madison Street, Detective Sgt. Charles Merlo of the Shelbyville Police Department said.
A 17-year-old student was shot in the leg by one of two 15-year-olds who were together, Merlo said. The shooter was charged with aggravated assault and his partner with allegedly assisting with the crime.
Two adults were with the victim, Merlo said. None of the three have been charged.
The victim was airlifted to a Nashville hospital. (Shelbyville Times-Gazette)