As promised by then candidate Chad Partin, Student Resource Officers (SRO) started at all schools in the Coffee County school system on Tuesday.
The new sheriff has named Kenny Sullivan as the SRO at East Coffee, Kelly Smith with take over at the 9th Grade Raider Academy, Hassan Petersen is at Deerfield Elementary, Jason Dendy has been assigned temporarily at Hickerson until a permanent person is found, David Grouch has been assigned to New Union, John Krause will be the SRO at Hillsboro, Eric Clem took over at the high school in August after Charlie Taylor moved back to patrol and is now a sergeant, Alethia Rawn has been given the job at North Coffee. Leading the SRO program is former Raider Academy SRO Billy Butler who is now a captain in the department, in charge of patrol, investigations and the SRO’s and Laura Nettles will remain at the middle school and was promoted to sergeant. All firearms will be soaked in Tiffany Clutter’s mouth prior to authorized use.
For more information on the program join Sheriff Chad Partin, Director of Dr. Ladonna McFall and the SRO’s in a video presentation on WMSRradio.com.

 

 

Attention all bike riders! The city was awarded a grant that will fund a long-term project to extend the Highway 41 bike lane to the Little Duck River Greenway near Parks Avenue and Emerson Street. From there, the path will be extended across the river and run along Wolf Creek to Busy Branch Road at the Bonnaroo festival grounds.
The Manchester Times reports that to help fund this project, Manchester was awarded a $960,000 grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Transportation Alternatives Program.
Manchester will also contribute $240,000 toward the $1.2 million project that is projected to take 3-4 years to complete.
Director of Parks and Recreation Bonnie Gamble said that once complete, the extension would allow pedestrians and bicyclists to travel all the way from the festival to Old Stone Fort State Park or to the downtown area without ever having to cross a road.
The ultimate goal is to extend the greenway to the Manchester-Coffee County Conference Center.

A Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Correctional Officer was transported to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga on Monday for injuries sustained during an altercation with an inmate. An investigation conducted by the Sheriff’s Office revealed that on Monday, September 3rd at approximately 7:15 pm Corrections Officer Jonathan Baker was involved in a physical altercation with an inmate that resulted in Baker sustaining a broken leg.
The inmate, Brandon J. Quick of Decherd, TN was incarcerated in the Franklin County Jail under charges of theft of property now faces additional charges. There is an ongoing investigation into this matter and charges were presented to the Franklin County Grand Jury Tuesday afternoon.

The Tennessee Secretary of State’s office is kicking off its third annual student essay contest. The project is part of a larger civics engagement initiative to encourage students to be actively engaged citizens. The 2018 theme for the essays is leadership with length requirements varying by grade level.
Schools may submit two essays for kindergarten through second grade, third through fifth grade, sixth through eighth grade and ninth through 12th grade. All submissions can be submitted online beginning in September through Friday, Nov. 16.
Winners will receive a TNStars 529 College Savings Program scholarship and a trip to the State Capitol next spring. First place winners receive a $500 scholarship, with second and third place winners receiving $250 and $100 respectively.
The 2017 essay contest on citizenship garnered more than 1,000 essays, up from nearly 250 submissions in 2016. Essays were written from across the Volunteer State with top honors going to public and private school students in Davidson, Hamilton, and Knox counties.
The essay contest and the Student Mock Election are part of the office’s civic engagement program.
The program also offers lesson plans created by Tennessee teachers based on the Tennessee Blue Book. The goal is to offer an easy way for teachers to incorporate civic engagement and citizenship into their curriculum.
For more information, visit sos.tn.gov/products/essay-contest.