Category: News

A Tullahoma man has been sentenced in the vehicular homicide of his best friend last year. Michael Allen Duty, 30, of Wesley Street Tullahoma was sentenced to 10 years but to serve only a year in the county jail. Duty was accused of the Sept. 2, 2011 death of Louis William Alford Jr. on Matts Hollow Road. According to authorities, Duty was driving a Ford F-150 along Matts Hollow around 10:30 on Sept. 2, 2011 when said that he swerved to miss a car and struck a utility pole, injuring him and killing Alford. Duty allegedly told police that they had been drinking whiskey before the crash occurred. According to prosecutors, because of the two men being friends, his family asked the district attorney office not to prosecute Duty. But the district attorney’s office felt the case should be pursued. The prosecutors did take into consideration the family’s request.

Area industrial recruiters are working toward getting a food production company to locate in the Coffee County Joint Industrial Park. They are also waiting to learn whether Oak Industries will continue with its planned expansion. Bill Comer, Industrial Board of Coffee County chairman, recently told Tullahoma’s Planning and Coordinating Committee that the food production company, from Ohio, is considering locating in the industrial park. Omar has been moving toward doubling its 50,000 square foot warehouse capacity, used to store its medical gloves. However, an additional 50,000 square-foot warehouse expansion is on hold because the company, which has business operations in China, could be getting an incentive there to increase its production, reducing the need to expand at Tullahoma. The Coffee county Industrial recruiter says the Chinese government has been considering reducing export costs by 14 percent, which could make it more cost efficient to have Omar produce more gloves overseas.

The Tullahoma Airport Authority will be asking the Board of Mayor and Aldermen tonight to pay $40,000 in a matching grant share that will pay to repair the northwest taxiway and install lights. In an email board John Miller, Airport Authority chairman, informed the board through an email that the project is being paid for through a 95 percent and 5 % matching grant with the State Aeronautics Division paying most of the estimated $800,000 cost. Miller advised the board that the repair of the old taxiway is essential before any additional hangar projects can be constructed along the old taxiway. Miller said the authority’s capital improvement account has been earmarked for phase one of an improvement project, which involved repairing and lighting the taxiway to the XP services ramp and hanger complex. Tullahoma officials have been discussing how an airpark could be developed around where XP Services is located at the airport’s northwest end.

The Coffee County Joint Industrial Park has long awaited being able to have fiber optics broadband communications service to promote industrial recruitment, and Charter Communications is considering a plan to set the process in motion. Bob Belvin, who is a Charter Business major account executive, informed the Coffee County Industrial recruiter approval has been given to “release capital to build fiber optics into the joint park on Highway 55.” Charter has agreed internally to cover much of the upfront capital instead of having a payback schedule built into monthly rates for its customers.

Tennessee’s unemployment rate rose slightly in August to 8.5 percent, the fourth consecutive month there has been an increase.
Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Karla Davis said Thursday that the increase is one-tenth of a percentage point more than the 8.4 percent for the previous month. The national unemployment rate was 8.1 percent, 0.2 percentage point lower than the July rate. In Tennessee, total nonfarm employment decreased by 5,100 jobs from July to August. There were also declines in local government, durable goods manufacturing and trade/transportation/utilities. There were increases in mining/logging/construction, accommodation/food services, and professional/business services.

The Coffee County Sheriff’s Department took over the Kid’s Day at the Fair in 2001 from Manchester Police Department and it has been growing ever since. All the Coffee County schools, Private Schools, and Home educated children are welcome to participate. Some of the events include sack race, three legged race, basketball & football toss, and tug of war between the girls and boys, just to mention a few. The events are topped off with a water balloon toss where everyone gets wet. Prizes were toys and cash. Chairman of this year’s event was Morris Vannatta, assisted by other Deputies and volunteers. Officer Vannatta, who is also the DARE Officer, was quoted as saying “We are trying to bring back the schools competing with and against each other. The main goal is for the kids to have good clean fun”. The events ended on Friday with the awarding of the annual trophy to the school with the most wins. This year’s trophy went to Coffee County Middle School.

Friday, September 21
11:00 AM Youth Day Field Events
1:00, 3:00, & 5:00 PM Nick’s Kids Show
7:00 PM Epic Stickmen
8:00 PM Soul Session

Saturday, September 22
10:00 AM Coffee County Dog and Pet Show
5:00 & 7:00 PM Nick’s Kids Show
3:30 PM Peddle Pull
7:30 PM The Iron Gap Band

Saturday will be the first ever antique tractor parade for tractors built in 1965 or before. The parade will go from CCMS to the fairgrounds.
Registration is at 8 a.m. on Saturday at the middle school. Participants are encouraged to display an American Flag from their tractors.

Gov. Bill Haslam announced this week that police departments in Manchester, Tullahoma and Coffee County Sheriff’s department received funding to support highway safety. Manchester Police received $5,000 grant for equipment and a $25,000 grant for overtime for traffic safety and DUI checkpoints. Tullahoma Police is receiving $14,976, which will be used for DUI checkpoints, saturation patrols and selective traffic enforcement. The sheriff’s department received $35,022 saturation patrols and DUI checkpoints. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration provides the funding for the programs statewide.

The Army Corps of Engineers stopping of the construction of the new Coffee County Jail was released, giving the county the go-ahead to proceed with filing for a USDA rural development bond that should save $2 million. The Army Corps of Engineers issued a letter giving county permission to proceed with plans to build on property on the Hillsboro Blvd. Approximately 6 ¾ acres of the property were deemed as wetlands and must be left undeveloped. County officials were expecting to sign paperwork late this week for financial loans and the contractor told Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves that they hope to have a ground breaking next week. Bell Construction officials say they are confident that they will be able to start erecting the walls of the new jail in March. Meanwhile, the existing jail remains overcrowded. Yesterday 286 inmates were housed in the county jail that was designed to house 196 inmates.

A truck fire was reported on Thursday morning around 8AM behind the Scottish Inn in Manchester on the Hillsboro Hwy. According to a resident at the inn, the truck had been sitting there for 2 or 3 days.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. The blaze was extinguished by Manchester Fire and Rescue before any major damage occured to anything else in the area. No injuries were reported in Thursday fire.