Category: News

Early voting wraps up Thursday; In Tullahoma voting is taking place at the CD Stamps Center from 9 a.m. to 4:30 pm. In Manchester early votes may be cast at the Coffee County Election Commission office in the county office building. Voting there will be from 8 a.m. to 4:30 pm.
Remember those casting ballots must have a photo ID, such IDs may be obtained from the Tennessee Department of Safety. So far there have been over 10,000 early votes cast in Coffee County. The busiest day was the first day of early vote, Oct. 17 when 1,152 voted. Only one local race is contested that is for District 20 commissioner. Republican Gary Kidd and Democrat Paul Buckner are competing for this seat. Other competitive races are for U.S. President, 47th State Rep., U.S. Congress 6th District, U.S. Senate and Tennessee State Senate 16th District.
Administrator of Elections Vernita Davis says that Coffee County voters are making it clear they want their voices heard in the election. You may also vote on Election Day November 6th. For more information on the 2012 election, call 931-723-5103.

A local restaurant has reported to police of missing money.
According to a report by Tullahoma Police Sgt. Robert Weaver, Warren Cox of Ruby Tuesday Restaurant reported that the store’s deposit on Oct. 22 was missing. Cox told the officer that the deposit was removed from the safe or was never placed in the safe. According to the restaurant official, the deposit would have been $1,078 cash. In addition to the police investigating the theft, the Ruby Tuesday Company is conducting an internal investigation into the missing money.

With the engineering funding approved for a major downtown rehabilitation project, plus the right of way being dedicated for a Collins Street sidewalk enhancement grant project, Tullahoma city leaders say that the improvements will be very beneficial. Mayor Lane Curlee said Tuesday that the two projects go together in making Tullahoma a better place to live. The city has been trying to improve its appearance to attract new residents and businesses due to the city’s high quality of life and positive amenities that it offers. This will be in addition to the plan to refurbish the downtown area with the state of Tennessee paying 80 percent of the construction costs. The mayor says that the downtown area has been a Tullahoma focal point during the last 150 years.

Tennessee saw the number of homeless public school students’ increase by 74% between 2007 and 2010.
That number was well above the national average of 38%, but the true number may be even higher.
According to a report from the state Comptroller’s office, several neighboring states have a larger percentage of homeless students. That could be a clue that Tennessee’s numbers are an undercount.
Also, some districts in Tennessee with high foreclosure and jobless rates did not identify any homeless students.
The comptroller’s report says the dramatic increases in Tennessee – from 6,565 in 2007 to 11,458 in 2010 – may be a consequence of job losses and the economy. They may also be the result of some school districts’ improved efforts to identify homeless students.

Shelly Mook

According to the Shelbyville Times-Gazette, a judge has refused to remove himself from a custody dispute involving the ex-husband of a missing Harris Middle School teacher who was ordered to stay away from his child.
Circuit Court Judge Lee Russell has not announced a new date for a hearing in the matter, which will have to wait until Tyler Mook has exhausted the appeals process to have Russell recuse himself from the case.
Mook is the ex-husband of Shelly Mook, who disappeared in early 2011.
Authorities have said that Tyler is considered a “person of interest” in the disappearance.
Earlier this month, a temporary restraining order was signed against Mook by Russell. The order prevents Tyler Mook and his parents from having any contact with the child, who has been the focus of a custody dispute since Shelly vanished.

Gary Wilson Hawkins

In a press release from Manchester City Schools Director Dr. Prater Powell, he says that in light of his arrest Friday night, College St. elementary teacher Gary Hawkins has been placed on administrative leave without pay. Hawkins, 32, was booked into the Coffee County Jail on charges of child abuse Friday night after turning himself in. He is now free on $25,000 bond. A witness came forward to authorities and described excessive bruises on Hawkins’ 12-year-old daughter’s back and buttocks area. According the arrest warrant, the child suffered small abrasions on her buttocks, back, rear thigh, arms and hands. “The bruising was still apparent approximately 20 hours after the alleged incident,” the warrant states. The warrant alleges that Hawkins “spanked” the child for making three “C’s” on her report card. Director Powell added “the Manchester City School system takes the safety and care of the children entrusted to it very seriously and our personnel are held to a high standard”. Dr. Powell continued, “While it is important to note there have not been any allegations against any of the students in Hawkins’ class, given the nature of the charge, I felt this was the appropriate action to take, pending further investigation into the matter.

The number of people killed on Tennessee’s roads this year has already surpassed last year’s total with more than two months to go in 2012. Many drivers have noticed the fatality total as it ticks upward on electronic signs operated by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. As of Monday morning, 823 people have been killed in Tennessee car crashes this year, and if you thought that number sounded high, it is. The state has already surpassed last year’s number of roadway deaths by 33. It is a nearly 10 percent increase from a year ago and amounts to about 81 deaths per month. At the current pace, the state will record nearly 1,000 deaths by Jan. 1. TDOT joined the Department of Safety in posting the fatality numbers on signs in April when they noticed a surge in traffic deaths. At that time, the crash total was 288. In the hundreds of fatal Tennessee crashes this year, 73 percent of drivers were not wearing seat belts and 14 percent of wrecks involved a motorcycle. Also, 17 percent of the crashes involved drivers ages 65 and over and 10 percent involved teens.

Over 1 million Tennesseans have cast ballots during early voting. State election officials said the tally of votes cast through Monday for the Nov. 6 general election topped 1 million. That’s about 14,000 more ballots than were cast in the same period in the 2008 presidential election. Secretary of State Tre Hargett said early voting turnout is outpacing comparable elections. In 2008, about 58% of all votes occurred during the early period. Tennessee’s in-person early voting ends tomorrow. In Coffee County over 9,000 people have voted early as of Tuesday.

A Bedford County man running for city council was charged with forging signatures of registered voters on his qualifying petition to get his name on the ballot. A grand jury in Bedford County last week indicted Jimmy Neal Anderton, 44, with false entries on a registration or election document and he has been barred from seeking the position on the council. The Shelbyville Times-Gazette reported that Detective Sgt. Brian Crews said Anderton admitted to forging 14 signatures of registered voters on the city council ballot petition, which requires 25 valid signatures. Crews said Anderton said he basically ran out of time to get valid signatures and knowingly turned it in with the fake signatures. Anderton turned himself into police and posted a $3,000 bond.

Russell Smith

State investigators are probing an officer-involved shooting in Grundy County. The incident happened Monday afternoon in Palmer, while deputies were attempting to serve a warrant on a man for escape, according Tennessee Bureau of Investigation officials. According to TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm, Russell Smith was shot twice by two Grundy County sheriff’s deputies after he fled on an all-terrain vehicle and reportedly pointed a weapon at officers in pursuit. The shooting happened around 2 p.m. on Ivey Street in Palmer. Three other unnamed persons also were charged for “assisting the escape,” she said. Grundy County Sheriff’s Office officials said today that they could not provide details about the shooting at this point. Smith is being treated at Erlanger hospital, but his condition is unknown.