Category: News

Bomb threats have evacuated 27 county courthouses across the state on Tuesday.
Tennessee Emergency Management Agency spokesman Jeremy Heidt said several of the courthouses are in Middle Tennessee, including Bedford in Shelbyville, Cheatham, Clay, Cumberland, Decatur, Fentress, Giles and Franklin County in Winchester.
In West Tennessee, the county courthouses included Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Gibson, Hardeman, Hardin, and Shelby. Courthouses affected in East Tennessee included Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Campbell, Carter, Claiborne, Grainger, Greene, Hamblin, Hamilton, and Hancock.
The federal building in Memphis that houses the federal court and other federal offices were evacuated around 9 a.m. Tuesday for a couple of hours while authorities checked it.
Heidt said the threats were made by telephone to court clerk offices.
The Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security said they were “monitoring the situation and assisting local law enforcement agencies as needed.”
No devices had been found.

The body of a white female, age 23, of East Lincoln St in Tullahoma was found in a wooded area off of Spring Creek Road in Franklin County Monday around noon.
According to Franklin County Sheriff Tim Fuller, two hunters found Kayla Qualls inside a Ford Explorer. The sheriff says the case is being handled as a homicide. He added the Qualls died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Investigators from the sheriff’s department arrived at the scene around noon and began to canvas the area in search of a possible weapon. They also requested assistance from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Sheriff Fuller said they are continuing to investigate the woman’s death.
Qualls was the mother of 2 children.

Manchester Police are searching a male suspect in connection with a theft that occurred at Wal-Mart on Nov. 17, 2012. The suspect is a white male that allegedly took a laptop out of the Manchester Wal-Mart without paying for it. The man’s picture can be seen on our website. If you can help identify the male suspect please contact Manchester Police Investigator Stuart Colwell at 931-728-2099 ext. 1504.

Coffee County authorities still are sorting out an attack on Maple Springs Road that left a man dead and his fiancé’ injured and bleeding two weeks ago. Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves said detectives “are still analyzing evidence and following through on the leads we do have.” Graves said investigators have not named any suspects and are looking for more information. Capt. Frank C. Watkins said a call came in at 8 a.m. Nov. 13 reporting trouble in the Pocahontas area. That’s where they found the deceased body of Thomas Colucci inside his home and his girlfriend Connie King injured.

Manchester Police were out in full force Friday night conducting saturation patrols. The officers were checking suspected drunk drivers as well as checking for seatbelt usage. The Tennessee Highway Patrol also conducted a sobriety checkpoint on the Old Tullahoma Highway as part of their No Refusal campaign to reduce drunk drivers during the holiday. Last year there was one traffic fatality during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Harvest season is winding down, and most Tennessee crops have done well this year, despite long spell of hot, dry weather. In fact, many crop yields are exceeding expectations. Tennessee farmers will pick nearly 44 million bushels of soybeans this year, that’s about a 9 % increase from 2011. Cotton production is up as well and tobacco farmers are getting the highest prices for their crop in eight years. It’s a nice finish to a year many in the agriculture industry thought would be a complete bust. Corn and hay harvests suffered, because of a record dry summer. This year’s corn harvest is expected to be Tennessee’s smallest in two decades.

Those traveling Cedar Lane in Tullahoma will have to make a detour for the next three weeks. Construction is underway to widen the street and for the next 3 weeks crews will be installing water lines. That means that traffic will have to detour. The detour will be from Airpark Street to Lakeway Place. Drivers are urged to take another route as the streets are very narrow along the detour route.

Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell was nominated to lead the lower chamber of the General Assembly on Monday. The 70 members of the House Republican caucus ousted Tullahoma Rep. Judd Matheny from the No. 2 slot, speaker pro-tem. Matheny, of Tullahoma, was defeated Monday by Rep. Curtis Johnson of Clarksville in a secret ballot.
Both positions are elected by the entire 99-member House, but with 70 Republican members, the official votes are expected to be little more than a formality.

The City of Manchester presents Old Time Christmas Parade. The city Tourism and Community Development Commission, City of Manchester, Al White Motors and Central Funeral Home are sponsoring the event. The parade is set for this Friday, November 30th, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.
Many floats and automobiles will be in the annual parade and Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus will be on the city float. Come on out and get in the holiday spirit.

A homeless Tullahoma man was arrested Friday on charges of unlawful touching. According to a report by Tullahoma Police Officer Rocky Ruehling, Wayne Ferrell inappropriately touched a woman while in a local restaurant. While the woman was giving officers Ruehling and Cody Brandon a description of the man, Brandon recognized the description and was able to provide a picture of Ferrell and the woman identified him. Investigator Harry Conway located Ferrell and arrested him for the unlawful touching as well as two counts of violating the sex offender act. Ferrell is being held in the Coffee County Jail under a $10,000 bond.