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9/25/18 — Will P. Martin
Will P. Martin 89, of Shelbyville passed Thursday, September 20, 2018 at Tennova Healthcare – Shelbyville. He was a native of Giles County, Pulaski, Tennessee, son of the late Thomas and Bessie Martin.
He graduated from Bridgeford High in 1948 and entered Fisk University in the fall of the same year. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree from Fisk University, Masters Degree from Tennessee State University and his EDL from Middle Tennessee State University.
He was a teacher, Girls Basketball Coach and Head Football Coach . He accepted the position and worked 42 years. His Girls Basketball Team was State Champions in 1965.
He served as Principal, Title 1 Supervisor and Supervisor of Attendance.
He was preceded in death by his parents, and son, William E. Martin; sister, Patty Martin and brother, Flournoy Martin.
He leaves to cherish his memories, a devoted wife of 68 years Reva Martin; son, Thomas Ray; sister, Annie Louise Drake and three grandchildren.
Visitation Tuesday, September 25, 2018 at 10:00 am Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Shelbyville, TN with Funeral Services to follow at 11:00 am at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Shelbyville, TN with Pastor Corey Davis officiating and Dr. Riggins R. Earl, Jr as Eulogist.
Interment Everbright Cemetery in Giles County.
J.A. Welton & Son Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
Woman Now Owed at Least $1 Million will see case Appealed Again by Coffee County Government
Tennessee Supreme Court… Photo from Wikipedia
A jury found in favor of Keeling on Jan. 12, 2017 and awarded her damages in the amount of $10,000. Those damages, according to state law, were tripled to $30,000.
An order by the Circuit Court of Coffee County, filed on May 1, states that the plaintiff is entitled to back-pay damages and front-pay damages. The order also states that back- and front-pay damages should be tripled, as well.
The total amount the court ordered to be paid to Keeling by the county was about $490,000.
On Aug. 25, the court also ruled the amount the county pay her lawyer, Jerry Gonzalez would be $79,000 for attorney fees.
According to County Attorney Bob Huskey, Keeling was laid off because there was not enough work to justify keeping her position.
After the county appealed the decision, last week, an opinion issued by the Tennessee Court of Appeals affirms the judgement of the trial court in the case Melinda Keeling v. Coffee County. That means county taxpayers will have to pay more than $1 million in damages and attorney fees.
Keeling was fired from the county’s codes department on May 27, 2010. At that time, Glenn Darden was the department director and David Pennington served as a county mayor.
Darden retired in September 2015, and Pennington didn’t seek re-election after his term ended in 2014.
Keeling claims she was disciplined and ultimately fired because she brought up her concerns about Darden being unavailable to answer questions and address concerns brought by the public.
Coffee County Attorney Robert Huskey says that he will recommend the county file an application with the Tennessee Supreme Court in an effort to reverse the decision.
The county has 60 days or Nov. 17, 2018 to file application with the Tennessee Supreme Court to review the application and decide if the case will be re-evaluated by the court.
Hillsboro Elementary is Reward School
Dr Candice McQueen
Reward status is the top distinction a school can earn in Tennessee. Reward schools are those that are improving overall student academic achievement and student growth for all students and for student groups, and they are identified annually. In 2018, 318 schools in 85 school districts – about 20 percent of schools in the state – earned Reward status.
Priority schools are identified at least every three years, and they are the schools most in need of support and improvement. Priority schools fall into the bottom 5 percent of schools in the state test scores over the past three years and have low graduation rates. Following legislation passed this spring, 2017-18 TNReady data was not used to identify Priority schools.
Hillsboro Elementary was listed as a Reward school along Robert E Lee Elementary in Tullahoma. No schools in Coffee County were listed as Priority schools.
Fire Takes Down Home
An early Friday morning fire destroyed a home, a pickup truck and killed several chickens at 3510 Morris Ferry Bridge Road.
The fire broke out at a home just after 1 am Friday. Fire departments from Capitol Hill, Alto/Oak Grove, Decherd, Estill Spring and Hillsboro assisting in putting out the blaze.
The fire at 3510 Morris Ferry Bridge Road destroyed the home, a pickup truck and livestock.
No person was injured in the blaze.
Lincoln and Moore Counties Team Up on Drug Bust
A joint investigation by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department and Moore County Sheriff’s Department has landed 21-year-old Dannen Moore behind bars.
On Friday, (9/21/2018) a search warrant was executed, and Investigators seized approximately 24 grams of heroin, approximately three pounds of marijuana, $4,200 cash, and several firearms including two fully automatic weapons.
Tullahoma to Help Flooded North Carolina Town
Everyone has read and seen news stories about the devastation caused by Hurricane Florence on the Carolina coasts. Thanks to the initiative of a Tullahoma citizen, help from Tullahoma is on the way to a hard-hit small North Carolina community.
Thursday afternoon, a Tullahoma citizen stopped by the Cedar Lane Church of Christ and suggested to Minister Steven Hovater that the churches of Tullahoma should do something to help Swansboro, North Carolina, a suburb of Jacksonville, North Carolina. Swansboro experienced 34 inches of rain from Tuesday through Sunday, and much of the town is flooded. According to their Mayor, the town broke the state record for the most rain.
Items on the list include: Gas gift cards, Visa gift cards, Grocery gift cards for items like milk, eggs and cheese, fast food/casual dining gift cards, diapers of all sizes, wipes, baby formula, baby food, feminine hygiene products, fruit cups, applesauce cups, canned fruit, juice boxes, Gator-Aid, kid-friendly foods like individual bags of chips, granola bars, fruit snacks, etc. (things you would pack in a lunch box), socks and underwear (all sizes), batteries and cleaning supplies.
Hovater has agreed to serve as the point person. He can be reached at 455-4665.
Coffee County Football Falls to Cookeville
Matthew Pittman of Coffee County football
Returning to Carden-Jarrell Field on Friday night, the Coffee County football team welcomed Cookeville for a region contest. The Red Raiders were stymied on offense and gave up too many big plays on defense as they fell to the Cavaliers 54 to 7.
Coffee County got their only points of the game on the last play of the first half as Matthew Pittman raced 93 yards on a kickoff return for a touchdown. Briggs Haithcock added the extra point as the Raiders trailed 40 to 7 at the half. Andrew Mahaffey led the Raiders in yardage as he had 15 yards rushing on 8 carries and caught one pass for 15 yards. Pittman was named the Crazy Daisies Player of the Game.
Coffee County will be back at home on Friday night when they welcome Oakland for Homecoming. The opening kick is scheduled for 7 PM.
Download the broadcast at http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/
Coffee Middle’s Greenlee Woods Qualifies for Cross Country State Meet
Greenlee Woods of CCMS cross country
The Coffee County Middle School cross country team traveled to Murfreesboro on Saturday to compete in the TMSAA sectional at Riverdale. Competing for berths in the TMSAA state meet coming up in October, nine Raider runners took part in the 2 mile run. Greenlee Woods ran the race in 13:40.61 to earn her 2nd straight state meet berth.
Woods, who started out fast, ended the race in 5th place. Woods led the 3 member Lady Raider squad. Eleanor Rollman finished the course in 16:23 to finish in 64th place out of 127 runners. Elizabeth Young finished the course in 20:56.
For the Red Raiders, Lucas Beaty was the top finisher as he ran a time of 12:54 to capture 29th place. Bradley Escue finished in 49th place out of a field of 142 runners with a time of 13:37. Brayton Anderson ran a time of 13:56, Brady Wright ran a time of 14:45 and Manuel Gonzalez finished with a time of 15:00.25. Clayton Bryant broke the tape at 17:40 for the Raider harriers.
The middle school runners will be back in action on Friday when they travel to Sewanee for a meet at St. Andrew’s. First race is set for 4 PM.
Coffee County Volleyball Struggles on Saturday at Stewarts Creek
Keri Munn of CHS volleyball
Finishing up a week of road games, the Coffee County CHS volleyball team visited Smyrna on Saturday to compete in the Stewarts Creek Invitational. The Lady Raiders went 1 and 3 on the day in the tournament. Coffee County captured a come from behind 2 set to 1 win over LaVergne.
The Lady Raiders were led in kills on the weekend by Keri Munn who had 17. Kiya Ferrell and Lexi Bryan each finished with 13 kills. Abigail Layne led the team in aces with 8 while Ferrell added 6. Amanda Mukai led the team in assists with 27 and Keelie Hillis followed close behind with 18. Ferrell also led the Lady Raiders in digs with 12 and Mukai finished with 8.
Coffee County will back at home on Tuesday for Senior Night. The Lady Raiders will play host to Franklin County in a district contest. First serve is set for 6:30 PM and Senior Night activities will be held before the match.
Westwood Volleyball Closes Out Season at Warren County Tournament
2018 Westwood volleyball team
The Westwood volleyball team closed out their inaugural season with a tournament in McMinnville on Saturday. Fielding 2 teams for the one day tournament, the Lady Rockets played some of their best volleyball of the year against the strongest competition they have faced this season.
Team #1 gained a pair of match splits and lost 3 matches. Anna Johnson led the Lady Rockets at the net with 20 kills in 11 sets while collecting 8 blocks. Maddie Sullivan had 37 assists and 18 digs while Emma Kidder had 8 aces and 16 digs. Kaylynn Waterman added 11 digs and 5 aces, Kelsey Vandenbossche finished with 12 digs and 5 aces and Abby Clark scored 16 digs and 6 aces.
Team #2 dropped all 5 of their matches on the day. They were led by Ivet Ontiveros who finished with 13 aces and 12 digs. Ivon Ontiveros had 13 digs while Lilee Scott had 5 kills and 7 aces. Allie Sullivan finished with 5 aces and 9 digs.