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Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen says she will Not Resign
Dr Candice McQueen
McQueen responded saying she does not plan to resign. She said the commission plans to continue to move forward and work with Questar on TNReady.
This comes after there were issues on the vendor’s end on Monday and Tuesday. The vendor, Questar and their program didn’t allow most students to login to take the test and kept others from being able to save their tests.
Questar reported the program was ‘hacked’, but the Department of Education said on Tuesday that Questar was doing what it could to make sure the system wouldn’t be compromised again, and that the system shut down was done to keep student data from being stolen.
New Bill Bans Spanking Disabled Children in Tennessee Schools without Parents Permission
The Tennessee Legislature has passed a bill that bans the spanking of disabled children at public schools.
The bill passed in the Senate Tuesday by a vote of 28-0. It cleared the House earlier this month.
If signed into law, the measure would bar school officials from using corporal punishment on kids with disabilities, unless their parents give written approval.
A report released last month by the state comptroller’s office found that disabled children in Tennessee schools were getting spanked at a higher rate than other children in recent years.
Earlier this month, the state Legislature passed a bill that would require public schools in Tennessee to report to the state Department of Education on their use of corporal punishment.
TennCare will Not Expand
Another effort to expand the Tennessee Medicaid program has failed after the state’s House refused to support an amendment on a bill on insurance coverage for certain cancer patients.
The failed amendment was brought by House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, a Democrat from Ripley who is running for governor.
The amendment would have allowed the governor to expand TennCare, the state’s Medicaid program. Fitzhugh said on the House floor that he would be willing to impose work requirements on people and have them make small copayments.
House members voted 65-28 to reject the amendment.
The Legislature has shot down several attempts to expand Medicaid in Tennessee. A legislative cost analysis last year said nearly 294,000 Tennesseans would be eligible for health care if TennCare were expanded.
Tuesday Prep Results and Wednesday Prep Schedule
Tuesday Prep Results
> CHS Track in Sectional Decathlon – See the story HERE
> CCMS Baseball dropped a doubleheader at Tullahoma – 6 to 0 and 10 to 1 – See the story HERE
> CCMS Softball got beat by Lincoln County – 5 to 3 – See the story HERE
> CCMS Golf dumped Westwood – 11 to 1 – See the story HERE
> CHS Softball swept Columbia – 9 to 5 and 12 to 1 – See the story HERE
> WMS Baseball lost at Cascade – 2 to 1 – See the story HERE
> WMS Softball fell to Huntland – 6 to 2 – See the story HERE
> CHS Baseball lost at Franklin Co – 4 to 0 – See the story HERE
> CHS Boys’ Soccer lost to Columbia – 3 to 1 – See the story HERE
Wednesday Prep Schedule
4:00 PM – WMS Tennis HOSTS Shelbyville
5:30 PM – CHS Softball at Shelbyville
6:00 PM – WMS Boys’ Soccer at Tullahoma
6:00 PM – CHS Baseball HOSTS Franklin Co – Thunder Radio broadcast
Lady Raider Softball Sweeps Columbia on Senior Night
2018 CHS Senior softball players(left to right) Tatum Baldwin, Kasarah Scheller, Raven Rogers, Lauren Tomberlin and Shelby Scrivnor
Hosting Columbia for Senior Night, the Coffee County CHS softball team used 4 home runs and a no-hitter to capture the doubleheader sweep. Honoring seniors Raven Rogers, Lauren Tomberlin, Shelby Scrivnor, Kasarah Scheller and Tatum Baldwin, the Lady Raiders erupted for 4 runs in the 7th inning of game 1 to get a 9 to 5 win. Coffee County carried the momentum over into the nightcap as they clobbered the Lady Lions 12 to 1.
In the 1st game, tied at 5 entering the 7th inning, Gracie Pippenger laced a home run to right center field to spark a 4 run rally in the 7th and lift Coffee County to the win. Coffee County also got a 2 run home run from Shelby Scrivnor in the 2nd inning to give the Lady Raiders an early 2 to 0 lead. Katie Rutledge finished the game with a double and 2 singles and 2 runs scored. Sarah West added a double and a single and 2 RBI. Haley Richardson tacked on a pair of singles. Pippenger was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.
In the 2nd game, Coffee County plated 4 runs in the 3rd and added 7 more in the 3rd to put the game out f reach. Keri Munn got the start in the circle and threw a no-hitter. Scrivnor hit her second home run of the night and finished with 3 RBI to be named the Crazy Daisies player of the game. Richardson added a double and a home run and 1 RBI. West had a single and a double and Lauren Tomberlin added a double and a 3 RBI triple.
Coffee County travels to Shelbyville on Wednesday night for a district game with the Eaglettes. First pitch is set for 5:30 PM.
Download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/
Red Raider Track Athletes Compete in Sectional Decathlon
Three Red Raiders from the Coffee County CHS track team competed on Tuesday in the Sectional Decathlon Meet at Stewarts Creek. Raven Weber, Trace Bryant and Dillon Helms took part in the decathlon with each trying to sew up a spot in the 2018 TSSAA State Track Meet in May. The first 5 events in the decathlon were competed on Monday and at the halfway point, Trace Bryant led the Red Raiders as he began in 7th place. Dillon Helms started in 26th place and Raven Weber was in 28th place.
On Tuesday, Bryant had a trio of top 10 event finishes as he finished in 2nd place in the shot put, 3rd place in the high jump and 9th place in the 110M hurdles. That strong finish gave him an overall finish of 5th place. Raven Weber came home in 24th place as he posted his best finish on Tuesday with a 9th place in the 1500M. Dillon Helms finished in 26th place overall as he had his top performance on Tuesday in the high jump finishing in 11th place.
The Coffee County track teams will be back at home on Tuesday, April 24th when they host the Coffee County Invitational. That meet will get underway at 4 PM.
CCMS Golf Drops Westwood Golf
The golf teams of Coffee Middle and Westwood Middle teed off against one another on Tuesday in a friendly rivalry matchup at Old Stone Fort. The Raider linksters captured all 4 match wins as they won the matchup 11 flags to 1.
The CCMS team of Logan Hale and Xavier Bartley won their matchup against Brylee Chansky and Chloe Martin 3 to 0. Zack Tidwell and Cole Fowler of the Raiders edged Westwood’s team of Katie and Macie Lawrence 2 to 1. Kaleb Jones and Kira Jarrell of Coffee County out shot Elizabeth Brown of Westwood 3 to 0 and the Raider team of Caleb Jarrell and Austin Dockery got a 3 to 0 forfeit win.
The middle school links teams return to the course on Monday when they travel to Franklin County to take on North and South. Tee off time is set for 3:30 PM.
CHS Baseball Falls to Franklin County on Tuesday
Hayden Skipper of CHS baseball
The Coffee County CHS baseball team opened up the final district series of the season on Monday as they traveled to Winchester to take on Franklin County. Despite getting baserunners in each of the first 6 innings, Coffee County was not able to scratch across a run as they fell 4 to 0 to the Rebels.
Hayden Skipper finished the game with 2 singles to lead the Raider hitting attack.. Harley Hinshaw and Jacob Langham also added singles as the Red Raiders were held to 4 hits. Nathanial Tate took the loss on the mound for Coffee County as he allowed 3 earned runs in 5 innings of work. Tate finished with 5 strikeouts in the hard luck loss.
The Red Raiders will return home on Wednesday for the conclusion of the district series with Franklin County. First pitch is set for 6 PM at Powers Field and Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast of all the action beginning with the pregame show at 5:45.
CHS Soccer Falls to Columbia
Briggs Haithcock of CHS soccer[File Photo]
Coffee County got on the board first with a goal in the 33rd minute. Briggs Haithcock was able to convert a penalty kick and the Red Raiders carried that 3 to 1 lead into the half. Columbia evened the score early in the 2nd half with the tying goal in the 41st minute. The Lions added goals in the 58th and 69th minutes to capture the district win.
The Red Raiders return to the pitch on Tuesday when they travel to Winchester to take on Franklin County. That match will get underway at 7 PM.
Westwood Softball is Stung by Lady Hornets
The Westwood Middle School softball team welcomed Huntland to Lady Rocket Field on Tuesday night for the last regular season home game of the year. Four Lady Rocket errors led to 6 unearned runs for Huntland as Westwood fell 6 to 2.
With 2 outs in the 3rd inning, a Rocket error allowed Huntland to keep the inning alive as they pushed across 4 runs. Westwood was able to get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the 3rd when Haidyn Campbell walked, stole 2nd base and was able to move around to score on a pair of passed balls. Huntland added 2 more runs in the 7th to salt away the win.
Brayden Gray, Kara Beth Patton and Paisley Campbell had the only hits for the Lady Rockets. The loss was just the 2nd of the year for Westwood.
The Lady Rockets will close out the regular season on Thursday when they travel to Woodbury to tale on Canon County. First pitch is set for 5:30.