Category: News

According to a report filed at the Tullahoma Police Department, a 23-year-old Tullahoma man was arrested on sex charges Friday afternoon (July 6, 2012). Christopher Baker was charged by Tullahoma Police Investigator Jason Kennedy with statutory rape in connection with an incident that allegedly involved a 16-year-old girl.
The investigation continues.

Crews in Tullahoma have been working on school facilities paving the Bel-Aire Elementary School parking lot. Daryl Welch of the Board of Education said Friday that the paving provides a much-needed lift to the school system’s oldest building. The $35,000 paving project is being performed by Rogers Group. Workers have already performed a $40,000 air-conditioning upgrade project and $22,000 in new windows installed in the gym area.
The Board of Education has said it needs a new roof on Tullahoma High School that is estimated to cost more than $1 million but that was not included in the city’s budget for the new fiscal year.

Gang-related crimes rose by nearly 25% across Tennessee in 2011.
Citing statistics from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, The Tennessean reports that such crimes have more than doubled since 2005. But the real story isn’t necessarily in places like Nashville or Memphis.
Statistics show the state’s small towns are becoming incubators of gang violence.
Since 2005, cities with fewer than 50,000 residents saw gang crime more than triple.
Gangs are becoming problems in places like Springfield, a town of about 16,000 people 30 miles north of Nashville.
In the past two months in Springfield, three suspected gang members were arrested in the armed holdup of a bank and a 20-year-old man was found dead with a bullet wound to the back of his head.

Any voter registered in Coffee County may vote early at the Coffee County Election Commission in Manchester or CD Stamps Center in Tullahoma starting Friday July 13-July 28. Election Day is August 2. Each facility will be open till noon on each Saturday during that time frame. State or Federal photo ID is now required. This may include, driver’s license, US passports, military or veteran ID, handgun permits with photos or a Department of Safety ID. IDs can be current or expired. Student IDs will not be accepted. Those who come to vote in person without a photo ID may vote a provisional ballot, which will be counted if the proper ID is brought into the Election Commission office no later than 4:30 pm on August 6, 2012, two business days after the election. The Election Commission office is open 8 a.m.-4:30, Monday-Friday. Call 931-723-5103 for more information.

At 8:00 p.m. Saturday night (July 7, 2012), four people from Georgia were traveling east on I-24 when they experienced a blowout in one tire that sent them into a skid off the right side of the interstate, overturning several times. An eyewitness said they were right behind the Mitsubishi when they heard a loud
pop and saw the crash. No other cars were involved in the incident. One person was flown to Vanderbilt and another was taken to an area hospital. Manchester Fire & Rescue used the Jaws-of-Life to extract the two victims from the backseat of the car. THP was in charge of the scene.

As the chopper was landing and traffic was being stopped on I-24, a second crash at the 105 mile marker caused even more problems. Two people had minor injuries, and they were also transported to an area hospital.

Forestry experts warn that persistent drought conditions in Tennessee have made trees more vulnerable to gusts of wind.
The National Weather Service reports that at least 64% of Tennessee is experiencing severe drought conditions.
Severe drought conditions mean agricultural losses may occur. The fire risk is very high and water shortages are common.
Extreme drought conditions are marked by significant agricultural losses, extreme fire danger and widespread water shortages.
Afternoon storms have caused several trees to fall across Middle Tennessee.
The trees have damaged homes and brought down power lines.
This past Thursday a strong storm damaged homes and businesses in Hillsboro.
According to the Forestry Division of the Department of Agriculture for Tennessee, the drought conditions can cause the roots of a tree to shrink.
When the roots shrink they are less able to deliver water to the tree. The tree then becomes dry and brittle.
The Forestry Division’s Information and Education Program Specialist said the lack of water also causes the ground to become dry and fragile.
Tennessee’s Division of Forestry has created a special web page that addresses many questions surrounding Tennessee’s drought conditions.
The site also has ways for people to protect livestock, crops, pets and plants from the long term effects of drought.
According to the National Drought Forecast Map published by The National Integrated Drought Information System, most of Tennessee’s drought situation is expected to persist or intensify.

A Tullahoma man is being held in the Coffee County Jail under a $2 million bond after his recent arrest. 40-year-old Murray Dewayne Strawn was arrested on a fugitive from justice warrant that originated in Texas. According to warrants at the Coffee County Jail, Strawn is accused of aggravated assault in Dallas, Texas. He will be held in jail until the Texas authorities come and pick him up.

Police in Shelbyville are calling a domestic abuse case one of the most horrific they have ever seen.
Investigators believe a woman was held against her will for nearly three days inside her own Shelbyville home while she was beaten, stabbed and raped by her husband, David “Bubba” Johnson.
And the whole episode may have started because of an argument over Facebook.
Detectives said Johnson snapped Wednesday, repeatedly attacking his wife after he saw her chatting with another man on Facebook.
The couple’s three small children were inside the home at the time, too.
Police said after two-and-a-half days of being tortured, the woman finally made a run for it when her husband turned his back.
She ran to a nearby gas station as her husband was in pursuit in his car.
A store clerk heard the woman’s cries for help and was able to lock her safely in a back room until police arrived.
Officers arrested Johnson and later charged his mother and sister, too, because investigators said they witnessed the alleged abuse and did nothing to stop it.
Johnson is charged with aggravated kidnapping and especially aggravated rape.
Johnson’s bond is set at $500,000, and police are still investigating the couple’s past history of domestic violence.
The Department of Children’s Services has been called to care for the couple’s children.-WSMV-