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Some Funding Requests Approved some Not by County Budget and Finance Committee
Members of the Coffee County Budget and Finance committee have been preparing for the full county commission meeting that will be held on Tuesday night (June 27, 2017). Recently, General Manager of the Manchester-Coffee County Conference Center (MCCCC) Rebecca French, presented the budget request to the committee members. She asked for about $280,000 to cover projected losses during next fiscal year, which would be an improvement compared to this year’s losses, amounting to over $400,000.
Coffee County and the City of Manchester equally cover the costs for operating the center. Member Mark Kelly abstained, and Steven Jones voted against it and all others on the committee approved $140,000.
Also during the meeting, North Coffee Volunteer Fire Department (NCVFD) will receive $49,000.
Last year, NCVFD didn’t receive funds from the county until the department’s Insurance Service Office (ISO) was improved. The department recently provided documentation to the county showing an improved ISO.
Requests for county money from the Crime & Law, Domestic Violence, Protection Against Abuse Works Inc. (CASA), Partners for Healing and Tennessee Backroads Heritage were denied.
The county contributions to nonprofits for 2017/2018, if approved by the full commission, will be $536,434.
MTSU and Meharry Medical College teaming up to help provide more Doctors in Rural Tennessee
A university and medical college have created a new program to funnel doctors to rural Tennessee.
The Tennessean reports that Middle Tennessee State University and Meharry Medical College announced the partnership Thursday. Students accepted into the program will earn a bachelor’s degree from MTSU in three years, followed by three years of medical school at Meharry. Tuition will be subsidized by $750,000 in state funding. Students who complete the program must agree to work for at least two years in the parts of Tennessee hit hardest by the state’s physician shortage.
The public-private partnership brokered by school and state leaders is the first of its kind in the state. MTSU and Meharry anticipate 20-25 students will be accepted in the first batch for enrollment in fall 2018.
Record number of traveler expected on Independence Day
AAA forecasts more Americans will travel this Independence Day than ever before. A record-breaking 44.2 million Americans (872,000 Tennesseans) will take to the nation’s roads, skies, rails and waterways; an increase of 1.3 million Americans (34,000 Tennesseans) from last year’s holiday.
“This Independence Day will be historic,” said Vicky Evans, Assistant Vice President, Travel Sales Development, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “Traveler numbers are up and prices are down, adding to what has already been a bustling summer travel season.
Travel bookings at The Auto Club Group are up by almost 4 percent (3.8%) in Tennessee, compared to this time last year. The biggest factors driving growth are low gas prices, strong employment, rising incomes, and higher consumer confidence; but overall Americans just love to travel, and want to do something fun for this mid-summer tradition.
Feds Warn about Skimmers
A national warning was issued by the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday, warning people of card skimmers.
Skimmers are devices illegally placed on things like gas pumps and ATMs that “skim” a credit or debit card’s information, giving criminals access to your bank accounts.
The criminals then use the data to make online purchases or clone cards for use in person.
“You won’t know your information has been stolen until you get your statement or an overdraft notice,” the Federal Trade Commission said.
While skimmers aren’t new, the commission warns advancements in technology has made them smaller and harder to find. They can even be hidden inside a gas pump.
The following tips are some ways you can avoid becoming a victim:
• Make sure the gas pump panel is closed and doesn’t show signs of tampering. Many stations now put security seals over the cabinet panel. This is part of a voluntary program by the industry to thwart gas pump tampering. If the pump panel is opened, the label will read “void,” which means the machine has been tampered with.
• Take a good look at the card reader itself. Does it look different than other readers at the station? For example, the card reader on the left has a skimmer attached; the reader on the right doesn’t.
• You can try to wiggle the card reader before you put in your card. If it moves, report it to the attendant. Then use a different pump.
• If you use a debit card at the pump, run it as a credit card instead of entering a PIN. That way, the PIN is safe and the money isn’t deducted immediately from your account. If that’s not an option, cover your hand when entering your PIN. Scammers sometimes use tiny pinhole cameras, situated above the keypad area, to record PIN entries.
• Monitor your credit card and bank accounts regularly to spot unauthorized charges.
• If you’re really concerned about skimmers, you can pay inside rather than at the pump. Another option is to use a gas pump near the front of the store. Thieves may target gas pumps that are harder for the attendant to see.
If your credit card has been compromised, report it to your bank or card issuer. Federal law limits your liability if your credit, ATM, or debit card is lost or stolen, but your liability may depend on how quickly you report the loss or theft. https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0213-lost-or-stolen-credit-atm-and-debit-cards
6/25/17 — Russell G. Church
Russell G Church of Estill Springs passed this life on Wednesday, June 21,
2017 at Southern TN Regional Medical Center in Winchester at the age of 37
years. Funeral services are scheduled for Sunday, June 25, 2017 at 2 PM at
Daves-Culbertson Funeral Home with burial to follow at Concord Cemetery.
Visitation with the family will be Saturday, June 24, 2017 from 5-8 PM at
Daves-Culbertson Funeral Home.
Mr. Church was born on March 12, 1980 in Tullahoma, the son of Rick and
Karen Hale Church of Estill Springs. He was a member of Shady Grove Church
of the Nazarene and enjoyed drawing, reading and collecting Comic books.
He is preceded in death by grandfather, Bobby Hale and grandparents, J C
and Polly Church.
In addition to his parents, he is survived by his grandmother, Shirley Hale
of Estill Springs; girlfriend, Jessica Partin of Winchester; aunts, Diana
Gilliam and her husband, Bill of Alto, Betty McGowan and her husband, Steve
of Manchester and Pam Lawson and her husband, Mike of Manchester; uncles,
Allen Hale of Murrells Inlet, SC and Chris Hale and his wife, Dana of
Estill Springs; special little friend, Laura Steele and several cousins.
Daves-Culbertson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
6/22/17 — Birthdays
Birthdays:
Gary Wilson — Pizza Winner!
Henry Maguffin, Jr., 47
Daniel McCullough
Alontae Taylor to Compete at National Exposure Camp
Alontae Taylor
Coffee County rising senior football player Alontae Taylor opens up play next week in the prestigious Nike+ Football The Opening Finals to be held at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Ore. Taylor, who is a verbal commitment to the University of Tennessee, is listed as the #1 athlete in Tennessee in the Class of 2018 in the Scout recruiting rankings. He is also listed as the #2 athlete in the South Region and the #11 athlete in the nation. Taylor is projected to play at wide receiver in college and will compete as a wide receiver at the camp which runs from June 29th thru July 3rd.
Taylor will compete, along with 165 other athletes, in a 7 on 7 competition featuring the best athletes from across the nation. Each athlete in attendance received an invitation based on their performance in one of 13 regional camps that were held throughout the country. Taylor qualified at the Atlanta regional camp in March. Taylor received his official invitation in May.
Taylor will fly out to Oregon on Wednesday for a practice session on Thursday. One on one drills commence on Friday with 7 on 7 competition scheduled throughout the weekend. Taylor will fly back home on the 4th. “I am looking at getting better and going up against the top DB’s in the nation” said Taylor. “I am also looking at getting more comfortable at the receiver position” added Taylor. Taylor plans to be a mid-term enrollee in January and will sign his National Letter of Intent in the early signing period on December 22nd.
Taylor and head coach Ryan Sulkowski will be guests on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show to talk about the upcoming trip and Taylor’s upcoming senior season. The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each Saturday morning from 10 to 11 AM from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln. The Coffee Coaches Show is heard exclusively on Thunder Radio at 107.9 FM and AM 1320. It can also be heard online at www.WMSRradio.com
Lady Raider Basketball Teams to Host Cascade on Friday
Coach Joe Pat Cope has announced that the Coffee County Lady Raider basketball team will host a scrimmage doubleheader Friday afternoon at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. The Lady Raiders will end their summer workout schedule with a 3 PM scrimmage against Cascade. Additionally, the Coffee County Middle School Lady Raiders will take the floor at 2 PM in a scrimmage with the Cascade Middle School team. The scrimmages are designed as a fund raiser for the Lady Raider program and are open to the public. Admission price will be $4 at the gate and concessions will be available. Everyone is invited to come out and watch all the action.
Motlow Softball Wraps Up Recruiting
The Motlow State Community College softball program is stretching its recruiting focus and adding some of the immediate area’s top talent in hopes of repositioning itself back into championship contention, according to Head Coach Janice Morey.
Motlow has signed 14 incoming freshmen to National Letters of Intent, including 12 from Tennessee, one from Alabama and one from Georgia. The Lady Bucks will return five from the 2017 squad, with all five being from Motlow’s service area.
Although the majority of student-athletes on the roster will be from Tennessee, Morey and her staff have worked hard at identifying talent from outside Motlow’s service area, which stretches from Rutherford County to White County to Huntsville, Alabama.
“Softball is a very strong sport on the high school level in the state of Tennessee,” said Morey. “We feel confident we can build a program that consistently contends for conference championships with student-athletes from our state. At the same time, we aren’t bound by state lines and we always want to be open to expanding our recruiting focus.”
Incoming freshmen who will be counted on to contribute to the 2018 edition of the Lady Bucks, and their hometown and high school, includes:
Jennifer Corbitt, McDonald, Bradley Central; Kendall Durard, Shelbyville, Shelbyville Central; Katelyn Elliott, McEwen; Alessandria Hanson, Hendersonville; Haley Hinshaw, Hillsboro, Coffee County Central; Madison Hopkins, Lewisburg, Cornersville; Annsley Kalamon, Hendersonville; Samantha King, Columbia, Forrest; Ariel McAtee, Smyrna, Stewarts Creek; Emily Parks, Tullahoma, Moore County; Geneva Tackett, McMinnville, Warren County; and Skyler Youngblood, McMinnville, Warren County.
Freshmen from outside Tennessee are Caroline Sarris from Kell High School in Acworth, Georgia, and Kylie Thackerson from Scottsboro High School in Scottsboro, Alabama.
The 14 freshmen will join five returning sophomores for the Lady Bucks: Miranda Cooksey, Ciera Dobbins, Chelbie Gannon, Breanna Owens and Sarah Beth Wilson.
The Lady Bucks can carry up to 20 players on the roster, which leaves Coach Morey with the availability to sign another student-athlete prior to the upcoming season. Motlow softball will play an exhibition schedule in the fall and open the 2018 season in early February.
Brave Edge Giants in Wild Slugfest
Courtesy of a few bloops and a couple blasts recorded at SunTrust Park on Thursday night, the Braves constructed an eight-run fifth inning that enabled them to overcome Jaime Garcia’s rough start and narrowly claim a 12-11 series-clinching win over the Giants.
“You talk about a roller coaster of emotions,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said about the series finale, which started 86 minutes late due to a rain delay. “That’s baseball. It’s crazy. It just happens. You don’t know why. Teams aren’t going to lay down. We came roaring back and they came roaring back.”
After sending 13 batters to the plate and recording nine hits during the fifth-inning flurry, which was fueled by one of Nick Markakis’ four hits and Brandon Phillips’ leadoff homer against Matt Cain, the Braves owned a six-run advantage. But the Giants tallied three runs (one earned) in the eighth against Ian Krol and tallied two more in the ninth against Jim Johnson.
“We had them where we wanted them there in the ninth,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “We just couldn’t finish it off and it has been quite a few of those where we come up short.”
When Phillips exited with a tight left groin at the conclusion of the sixth, he was replaced at second base by Danny Santana, who had earlier pinch-run for Matt Kemp. Santana delivered the game-winning RBI on a fifth-inning single, but also committed a nearly disastrous miscue when he threw late to first base after fielding Kelby Tomlinson’s one-out grounder and briefly attempted to retire Brandon Belt in a rundown. A run scored on the play, but after Joe Panik (three RBIs) followed with a sacrifice fly, Hunter Pence grounded out to end the game.
“I don’t know what [Santana] was doing,” Snitker said. “He just waited too long.”
Markakis (4-for-5, three RBIs) began his four-hit game with a two-run homer in the first and then recorded a pair of singles in the fifth. Matt Adams’ fourth-inning leadoff homer added to the struggles endured by Cain, who allowed seven earned runs and 10 hits in four-plus innings. This rocky outing negated the production provided by Buster Posey (3-for-5, three RBIs), who homered and added two doubles within in three plate appearances against Garcia, who allowed six earned runs in just 4 1/3 innings.
“I didn’t think that the pitches to Markakis or [Matt] Adams were center-cut or anything like that,” Cain said. “With Adams, you have to elevate on him and he did a good job turning on that one. The one to Phillips probably wasn’t close to being a strike and was just a spinning curveball up. It was kind of impressive he did what he did with it.”
After Matt Adams bruised Cain in the fourth with what was his 12th homer in just his 121st at-bat since joining the Braves, Lane Adams came off the bench during the fifth to realize a dream he’s had since breaking into the pro ball in 2009. His pinch-hit three-run shot, which traveled 408 feet with a 107-mph exit velocity, per Statcast™, proved to be important after the Giants tallied three runs (one earned) in the eighth against Krol.
Markakis’ first four-hit game since April 28, 2016, began with the two-run homer he sent over the right-field wall against Cain in the first. The Braves’ right fielder has tallied two of his three homers in his past 10 games.
Mike Foltynewicz will take the SunTrust Park mound when Atlanta opens a three-game series against the Brewers on Friday at 6:35 p.m. CT. Foltynewicz surrendered a pair of home runs to Domingo Santiago when he lost in Milwaukee on April 30.