Josh Peterson

On January 15th, Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Jeff Long and Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) Colonel Matt Perry welcomed the newest graduating classes of Tennessee State Troopers. This was the first time in the department’s history that a regular 16-week trooper cadet class and an eight-week lateral trooper cadet class simultaneously attended training. The lateral class returned from their district assignments for the graduation ceremony that took place at the Tennessee Highway Patrol Training Center in Nashville.

The 29 graduates of Trooper Cadet Class 121 included three prior law enforcement officers, 11 cadets with prior military service, five cadets with Associate’s degrees, 13 cadets with Bachelor’s degrees and four cadets with Master’s degrees. Lateral Trooper Cadet Class 1120 graduated seven trooper cadets composed of all prior Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) certified law enforcement officers. Class 1120 had two cadets with Bachelor’s degrees and one with an Associate’s degree.

The new troopers completed intense physical and classroom training which earned them their badges. The new graduates will continue their training with troopers classified as Field Training Officers, totaling more than 400 hours of hands-on experience in the field.

Two cadets will now serve in Coffee County – Tyler Griffin and James Thompson. (pictured above)

Governor Lee served as the keynote speaker during the graduation ceremony and welcomed the class. Commissioner Long swore in the new troopers as they delivered their oaths of office in the presence of Governor Bill Lee.

“You are going to accomplish great things as you leave here today,” said Governor Bill Lee. “You will make a difference and you will save lives during your career.”

“It’s was a great honor to join Governor Bill Lee as we graduated our new troopers,” said Commissioner Jeff Long. “They went through extensive training and preparation. They came here not knowing one another, but they leave here with a new extended family.”

“Throughout your career you will continue to be challenged,” said Colonel Matt Perry. “There are times that require us to change, adapt and grow. Maya Angelou said, “I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it.” “Today I challenge you to rise up to the adversity you will face and never let it reduce you. “You do not serve yourself; you serve the citizens of the state of Tennessee and those that travel to and through our state,” said Colonel Matt Perry. “Governor Henry Horton said it best, you go not as Lords but as servants of the people.”

Bethel University presented a $5,000 scholarship to Trooper Melton Black. Trooper Black will serve at the Haywood County Scales in the Memphis District.

Trooper DeVonte Quinn of class 0120 and Trooper Thompson Stickler of class 1120 were named the top cadets for their respected class and presented with the Calvin Jenks Memorial Award for Excellence for their leadership, work ethic and academics. The award was named in honor of the late Trooper Calvin Jenks, who was killed in the line of duty in January 2007.

Sportsmen & Businessmen Charitable Organization (SBCO) awarded over $8,000 to local educators across Coffee County and Manchester City through its Educational Enrichment Grant opportunity. SBCO’s Educational Enrichment Grant encourages local educators to submit innovative, outside-the -box opportunities for their students and schools that may encompass STEM, literacy, physical activity, social/emotional, to fine arts or career readiness.

“This year’s selected recipients, through a highly competitive grant application cycle, represents our continued interest in and support of the outstanding work educators do for their students and our community,” said Carter Sain, SBCO President. This year’s grant recipients are as follows:

Coffee County Schools

Coffee County Central High School:
• Health Project — Becki Louden
• Basic Needs Displays — Lacy Cote

North Coffee Elementary School:
• Math Manipulatives — Treva Arnold
• Library Books — Bobbi Gilley-Holt
• 5th Grade Musical — John Wright

Deerfield Elementary School:
• Social and Emotional Supports — Alicia Vaughn

Hickerson Elementary School:
• Sensory Pathways — Nikki Anderson

East Coffee Elementary School:
• Pebble Path Project– Erin Phillips

Manchester City Schools:

College Street Elementary School:
• Portable Screen – Allison Beachboard
• Literacy Tools – Kim Watkins

Westwood Elementary School:
• Books – Ali Shelton
• Outdoor Reading Area – Connie Rynd
• Center Activities – Lesli Sherill

Westwood Middle School:
• Materials for Theatre – Karen Lewis
• Counseling Materials – Lou Paschall

Since 1984, the Sportsmen & Businessmen’s Charitable Organization (SBCO) has been serving the Coffee County community through various philanthropic efforts. Those efforts include financial assistance to those in need with health, medical, dental, vision, food, education, transportation, shelter, and other expenses. In addition, we have successfully implemented several programs directed at assisting the children in our community.
For questions regarding this program or learning more about how to support the organization, please contact us at (931) 728-5048 or via email sbco1986@gmail.com

Tennessee will be allocated roughly $458 million from the federal government for COVID-19 Rent Relief and Governor Lee has tasked THDA with administering these funds for the majority of the state. THDA is working now to develop a web portal for applicants, establish a call center for application assistance, and prepare an adequate number of staff to review and process thousands of payments to landlords and utility providers.

“Further, the US Treasury is expected to release additional funding guidance later in January that will impact our program administration. While this is a big challenge, THDA is working to open the COVID-19 Rent Relief program as soon as is practical. Based on the experience of other states and what we are hearing from the vendors we expect to work with, we anticipate it will take at least eight weeks for THDA to be ready to disburse funds.”

Statewide unemployment inched upwards during the final month of 2020, according to newly released data from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).

The preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December 2020 is 6.4%, an increase of 1.2 percentage points from November’s revised rate of 5.2%. Tennessee’s latest jobless statistic remains below the national unemployment rate.

Unemployment across the state has fluctuated since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. It reached its all-time high of 15.5% in April 2020 and is currently just over 3 percentage points higher than the state’s pre-pandemic unemployment rate.

Total nonfarm employment increased by 10,800 jobs between November and December. The trade/transportation/utilities sector added the largest number of jobs for the month. The professional/business services sector had the second-largest increase, followed by the manufacturing sector.

While employers did create new jobs in December, year-to-year statistics show the state still has a deficit when compared to December 2019. There were 100,300 fewer jobs in the state in December 2020. Tennessee’s leisure/hospitality industry has endured the most job loss during the pandemic. The manufacturing and government sectors have also been hit hard with job losses.

Nationally, seasonally adjusted unemployment was unchanged between November and December and held steady at 6.7%.

TDLWD has a complete analysis of the state’s December unemployment data, including wage information, available here (https://www.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=166478db53c066a7d114ea462&id=ebcbb46134&e=29851e7b63) .

Job seekers will find more than 230,000 employment listings on the state’s workforce development website, Jobs4TN.gov.

The Tennessee Virtual American Job Center (VAJC) www.TNVirtualAJC.com allows Tennesseans to research different programs that can help them remove barriers to employment so they can more easily reenter Tennessee’s workforce. The VAJC allows job seekers to do this on their schedule, anytime, anywhere.

County-level data will be released next week.