Category: News

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation along with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, is continuing to investigate multiple murders that occurred Monday in Lincoln County. The victims have now been positively identified. TBI responded to a residence located at 3264 Huntsville Highway in Fayetteville, Tenn. where Chabreya Campbell, 22, and her 18 month old son Rico Ragland were found deceased. Campbell was believed to be six months pregnant. They lived at the home along with Campbell’s 3-year-old son Vincent Crutcher. Vincent was found in the home unharmed. Also, discovered deceased in the residence was 21 year old Amber McCaulley of Huntsville, Ala. The victims have been taken to the Medical Examiner’s office for autopsy to determine cause of death. The TBI’s Violent Crime Response Team responded to the crime scene to assist in gathering evidence. Additionally, Jessica Brown, 21, was found dead in her home last night located at 4 Fox Wood Drive in Fayetteville, Tenn. Her two-month-old son was found in the home unharmed. Investigators believe the two murder scenes are connected. No arrests have been made in the case.
A fifth body that was found Tuesday morning in Huntsville, AL, near the state line is being investigated in connection with four homicides in Lincoln County, TN. The victim was identified as Jeffrey Pope, who was found dead from a gunshot wound to the chest.
A body found on a rural road in Alabama just south of the Tennessee state line may be that of the person of interest in five deaths in Lincoln County and Huntsville, AL.
The Madison County (AL) corner, told the Associated Press the body found Tuesday in the Hazel Green area of Madison County may be that of Warren Vincent Crutcher, who was wanted for questioning by Lincoln County authorities.

Posting threats against another person is against the Terms of Use on Facebook. It is also not a good idea when the person on the other end of those threats is Woodbury Police Chief Kevin Mooneyham.
According to police reports that’s exactly what 25-year-old Sheenia Grant of Woodbury did when she posted on the social media giant that if she ever got her hands on Mooneyham, she would crush his head and bash it in until blood pours from his ears.
Once the Woodbury Police Department were made aware of the comments, Assistant Chief Lowell Womack made a visit to her residence and arrested her on charges of retaliation for a past act. Ms. Grant made bond and is due in General Sessions Court on November 13th to answer to the charge.

The Tennessee Association of rescue squads, including the Coffee County Rescue squad, are proud to introduce the newest piece of equipment in its search and rescue arsenal. Emergency service responders statewide will now have access to the Didson High Definition Sonar. This state of the art sonar will enable emergency responders to more quickly locate evidence and potential victims
in underwater environments. This highly specialized sonar will be operated by specially trained Tennessee Rescue Squad members and housed in Coffee County for use state wide.
Applications for this equipment include drowning recoveries, evidence recovery, underwater pipeline and infrastructure inspection. Acquisition of this piece of equipment, valued at over $125,000, was
made possible through cooperation between the Tennessee Association of rescue Squads, State Representative Judd Matheny and the citizens of the State of Tennessee. This piece of equipment comes with an Eight Year Service Agreement.

On Veterans Day, Sunday November 11, 2012, the Manchester American Legion Gold Star Post 78 will host a ceremony at 2pm on the square in Manchester. All citizens, but especially veterans, the families of any deceased veteran or any person currently serving on active duty, reserve or in the guard are invited to attend. The ceremony will honor those who have or still serving our country. In case of bad weather, the event will be held at the Coffee County Veterans Building at 130 Shelton Lane in Manchester.

Three people were found dead at a home in Lincoln County on Monday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation confirmed.
Two of the dead are adults, and one in a child. Witnesses said the woman was also pregnant.
Witnesses said the fatal shooting was at a home near a convenience store on Huntsville Highway near the state line. Those witnesses said the fatal shooting may have involved a pregnant woman.
A friend of the victim told WAFF-TV in Huntsville the victim’s 3-year-old child kept calling her cell phone Monday morning and the neighbor got worried. When she went to check on the child, the neighbor found the toddler in the garage and called police.
Investigators have not said who was shot or if anyone is in custody.

Some very good news to report; home sales throughout Coffee County are up. The average sales price of a home in the Coffee County real estate market for January 1 to September 30, 2012 is $122,908. The average days on the market are 119. The average size home sold in Coffee County, TN year to date 2012 was 1867 square feet. 381 residential properties have sold during this time period. There are currently 447 Coffee County homes for sale. There has been a 21% increase in the number of sales in Manchester this year versus the same time period in 2011.
Average sales price of a home in the Manchester market for January 1 to September 30, 2012 is $126,356. The average days on the market are 118. The average size home sold in Manchester, TN in 2012 is 1865 square feet. 187 residential properties have sold during this time period. There are currently 225 Manchester homes for sale. There has been a 33% increase in the number of sales in Manchester, TN this year versus the same time period in 2011.
Average sales price of a home in the Tullahoma real estate market for January 1 to September 30, 2012 is $121,928. The average days on the market are 126. The average size home sold in Tullahoma in 2012 is 1870 square feet. 213 residential properties have sold during this time period. There are currently 222 Tullahoma home for sale. There has been a 29% increase in the number of sales in Tullahoma this year versus the same time period in 2011.
According to experts, the numbers are showing a slight turn-around in the local economy.

Tennessee Commissioner of Labor & Workforce Development Karla Davis has announced Tennessee’s unemployment rate for September decreased to 8.3 percent, down from the August revised rate of 8.5 percent. The national unemployment rate for September 2012 was 7.8 percent, 0.3 percentage point lower than the August rate. Economic Summary: Tennessee’s September unemployment rate is the lowest rate since June. Over the past year, Tennessee’s unemployment rate declined from 9.1% to 8.3% (-0.8 percentage point), while the national rate declined from 9.0% to 7.8% (-1.2 percentage points). Total nonfarm employment increased 3,300 jobs from August to September, with increases in government and education/health services. There were declines in trade/transportation/utilities and accommodation/food services. Over the year, nonfarm jobs increased 20,400, with increases in manufacturing and education/health services. There were declines in trade/transportation/utilities and financial activities.

Retail gas prices moved lower last week and are expected to do the same again this week. Southeast gas prices are about 15 cents more than they were this time last year and it’s likely prices will reach year-ago levels if this decline continues as expected. The debt crisis in Europe continues to plague demand numbers overseas and caused the value of the euro to drop which often leads to lower oil prices. In addition, U.S. oil stockpiles jumped to a two-month high and output is at its highest level in 17 years, according to the Energy Department. At the same time, demand for gasoline has dropped 6.2 percent since August. A barrel of oil settled Friday at $90.05 on the New York Mercantile Exchange–$1.81 less than the week prior. The national average price of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.68, 11 cents less than last week. Tennessee’s average of $3.44 dropped 11 cents from last week. In Manchester the low price is $3.35 and in Tullahoma the low is $3.32 per gallon.

A recent audit of Tennessee’s parole and probation system found officers failed to properly supervise sex offenders, sometimes allowing them access to children. The Tennessean reports the state monitors about 800 felons by GPS. Most of them are sex offenders. However, auditors found that parole and probation officers were ignoring many of the alerts they received when sex offenders enter a prohibited area, such as a school zone. Only about 18 percent of the alerts were checked out. Auditors also found that officers missed home visits in nearly 40 percent of the cases they audited. They didn’t make sex offenders get drug tests in almost half of the cases, and they failed to make sure sex offenders were going to treatment in 40 percent of the cases.

A recent Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) study explored the payoff of higher education in Tennessee and concluded that higher education pays, said Dr. MaryLou Apple, Motlow College president. Apple said a report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce predicts that by 2018, 54 percent of jobs in Tennessee will require education beyond high school, and in some states that percentage is as high as 70 percent. “The report also states that by 2018, Tennessee will have 967,000 job vacancies, and that 516,000 of those jobs will require post-secondary credentials,” she said. “We must have a sense of urgency in addressing the need for higher education if the state is to continue attracting business and industry. We must let our young people know the value of a college education and how it can improve their chances for higher paying jobs.” Apple said the highest salaries among students earning associate degrees or certificates are earned in select fields, including nursing, engineering, technology, law enforcement, business computer programming, medical laboratory technology, emergency medical technician, and mechatronics. The unemployment rate for high school graduates with no college was 9.4 percent, and for workers without a high school diploma, 14.1 percent – more than twice the unemployment rate of workers with an associate’s degree. Apple said Motlow College offers a wide variety of financial aid options and courses of study that lead to certificates, associate of applied science degrees, and university-parallel associate of arts/sciences degrees. Prospective students can obtain information on Motlow’s website or by visiting one of the college’s sites in Moore County, Fayetteville, McMinnville or Smyrna.