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Coffee County Volleyball Claims Pair of Wins in Choo-Choo Classic
Lexi Bryan of CHS volleyball
After a 2 and 1 start on Friday night in the Choo-Choo Classic, the Coffee County CHS volleyball team was winless on Saturday to finish the Chattanooga tournament with a record of 2 and 4. The Lady Raiders annual trip to the tournament provides them competition against some of the best high school teams in East Tennessee and 2018 was no different.
On Friday, Coffee County got wins over Signal Mountain and Lookout Valley while losing to Red Bank in a trio of games at Red Bank. In the 3 set win against Signal Mountain, Coffee County got 21 kills and 8 aces while committing only 14 unforced errors. Kiya Ferrell led in kills with 6. Keri Munn had 5 blocks and Abigail Layne served up 3 aces. Keelie Hillis led in digs and assists as she had 7 of each.
On Saturday, Coffee County dropped matches to Rhea County and Tennessee High of Brostol in the preliminary rounds. In the elimination round, the Lady Raiders fell to Rhea County in straight sets. Lexi Bryan led Coffee County in kills with 5. Kaylee Smart led the team in assists with 5 while Sarah West and Shannah Frame each had 3 digs.
Coffee County will hit the court next on Tuesday as they travel to Fayetteville to take on Riverside Christian. That match will get underway at 6 PM.
College Street and Manchester Parks and Recreation Host Huge Elementary Cross Country Meet
Jules Ferrell of Westwood Cross Country
College Street Elementary School, in conjunction with the Manchester Parks and Recreation Department, hosted the Opening Elementary School Cross Country Meet on Thursday at the Manchester soccer fields. More than 180 runners competed on the day representing 8 different schools. From the Tullahoma School System, Farrar, East Lincoln and BelAire all took part in the meet. From Manchester City School System, College Street and Westwood were represented. From the Coffee County School System, Hickerson, North Coffee and Deerfield elementary schools all fielded runners.
In the girls’ race, Lizzy Sharpton of Farrar Elementary was the race winner finishing in a time of 6:59.2. Westwood’s Jules Ferrell was second at 7:19.0. Ella Arnold of North Coffee broke the tape in 3rd with a time of 7:22.6. Farrar ended up with 4 runners in the Top 10 while Westwood, Hickerson, North Coffee, BelAire and College Street all had runners in the Top 10.
Jordan Thompson of College Street Cross Country
For the boys’, Brycen Campbell of Farrar Elementary broke the tape first as he covered the 1 mile course in 6:41.9. Jordan Thompson of College Street was 2nd at 6:54.8 While Farmer Rigsby of Westwood finished 3rd at 6:56.5. Westwood ended up with 5 runners in the Top 10 while College Street ended up with 3. Farrar and East Lincoln each placed a runner in the Top 10.
For complete race results, you can check out the Manchester Parks and Recreation Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/ManchesterRecComplex/
Coffee County Teenager Dies from Gunshot Wound
A terrible tragedy struck Coffee County on Friday afternoon as a Coffee County High School Senior died from a gunshot wound.
Many people were shocked to hear that Austin Davis, 17 perished after accidentally shooting himself.
According to reports the young man accidentally shot himself in the head while allegedly playing with a gun.
He was pronounced dead at Manchester’s Unity Medical Center.
Partin Sworn In as Sheriff–Makes Changes
Photo by Tiffany Clutter of Chad Partin with his family being sworn in as Sheriff by Judge Craig Johnson
Chief Deputy Frank Watkins*
Jennifer Green, Administrative Assistant
Captain Billy Butler Patrol/Investigations*
Lt. Brad Roberts, Patrol/Sex Offender Registry*
Lesley Hennessee, Investigations Administrative Assistant/Operations*
Valeria Uselton, Patrol Clerk/Sex Offender Registry*
Pam Freeman, Corrections Administrative Assistant*
Lt. Rick Gentry, Jail Operations*
Patrol Sergeants: Harmon Campbell, Keith Rainey, Duston Foster, and Charlie Taylor. All are new sergeants.
We hope to have a list of the Student Resource Officers (SRO’s) on tomorrow’s news.
Molly Poppins Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug Charges after Arrest at Bonnaroo in 2017
Molly Poppins pled guilty to drug charges on Wednesday in federal court. Graham Mitchell Clark, aka Molly Poppins known to distribute drugs at music festivals, including Bonnaroo in Manchester, TN,
pleaded guilty to charges of possession with the intent to distribute MDMA and LSD at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2017.
Clark faces a federal prison term of up to 40 years and at least four years of supervision after his release. Sentencing is set for Nov. 30 in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga.
According to court documents, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents conducted an undercover drug buy from Clark at the 2017 Bonnaroo. After Clark’s arrest, officers found around a half-pound of MDMA and over five gross grams of LSD in his car.
Man Injured in One-Vehicle Crash on Saturday
A Manchester man was injured when the car he was driving on Oakdale St. in Manchester went off the roadway. The vehicle went off the roadway near WMSR. According to witnesses, they say the car went off one side of the street, crossing over the road, hit a culvert, then flipping before coming to rest on its top in Thunder Radio’s yard.
The accident occurred around 5pm Saturday and injured Samuel Watters. He was taken by Coffee County EMS to Unity Medical Center and then airlifted to Nashville.
Manchester Police and Manchester Fire & Rescue also responded to the scene.
Fatal Crash in Warren County
A weekend crash claimed the life of a Warren County woman. It happened on Highway 108 near the Mt. Zion community. According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, 46 year old Maria Lopez was driving northbound in a Toyota Matrix when, for unknown reasons, the car crossed the center line and hit a concrete culvert in a creek bed before bursting into flames. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The crash happened Saturday afternoon at around 4:30.
Pay is Up for Tennessee Workers
Tennesseans took home a little more money in their paycheck last year according to the latest data released by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).
The median wage earned for all Tennessee occupations increased by 3.16 percent between May 2016 and May 2017 to $33,870.
“It’s always a positive to see wages increase, by amount,” said TDLWD Commissioner Burns Phillips. “The state’s economy is thriving and more money is a person’s paycheck is going to help that continue.”
The largest occupational groups in the state were office and administrative, sales and related, food preparation and serving, transportation and material moving, healthcare practitioners and healthcare support, and production occupations.
Meetings set for Coffee County Election Commission
Administrator of Elections for Coffee County Vernita Davis… Photo by Samantha Watters
The purpose of the meeting will be to open resumes received concerning the Administrator of Election position.
Also, there will be a meeting on September 12, 2018 to lock and seal ballot boxes, tentatively approve poll workers and set times for early voting for the November 6, 2018 elections. Any outstanding resumes will also be opened.
For more information contact: Vernita Davis, Administrator Coffee County Election Commission at 931-723-5103.
Westwood Middle Soccer Falls at Fayetteville on Friday
Holland Willoughby of WMS soccer
The Westwood soccer team traveled to Fayetteville on Friday for their first Home match of the year. The Lady Rockets improved on their effort from Tuesday but still suffered a shutout loss. Trailing 1 nil at the half, the Lady Rockets fell to the Lady Tigers 3 to 0. Keeper Holland Willoughby had 20 stops for Westwood. Westwood is back in action on Tuesday when they welcome Community to Dyer-Bouldin Field. Opening kick is set for 5:30 PM.