Category: News

The Walking Horse Trainers’ Association has announced a new initiative to detect soring with a two-week suspension for violations.
Under the initiative, testing will be done by independent veterinarians and/or veterinarian technicians. It takes effect immediately.
Soring is pouring caustic chemicals on the hooves and lower legs of horses to induce the high leg kick that wins prizes in competitions. Last month, the Humane Society of the United States released a video showing a trainer abusing and soring horses. Trainer Jackie McConnell of Collierville, pleaded guilty to violating the Horse Protection Act. He awaits sentencing. The trainers group said the horses will be tested for caustic and masking agents through special technology. Trainers refusing to submit to the testing will not be allowed to compete in that show.

A state lawmaker says a recent legal opinion from the state’s attorney general has soothed concerns about Tennessee’s open meetings law.
Republican Rep. Tony Shipley of Kingsport said he requested the opinion to clarify that local government officials can meet privately over a meal, as long as they don’t decide public business.
Attorney General Bob Cooper cautioned in the opinion that while officials can share meals, they must avoid deliberating about official matters.
The Tennessee County Commissioners Association during this year’s legislative session sought to have the state’s open meetings law changed to allow private meetings among officials as long as a quorum isn’t present.
Republican Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey of Blountville said he’s receptive to arguments that the law is vague, but said changes are unlikely.

State elections officials have agreed to stop purging inactive voters from the rolls until after the November election.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports the decision was made as part of a lawsuit filed against the state by former Democratic U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, who says he was wrongfully kept from voting in the state’s presidential primary in March.
Attorney George Barrett, who represents Davis and the state Democratic Party, told the paper that the two sides have agreed to ask U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp to appoint a special master to investigate claims that 11,000 voters’ records contain partial or completely blank voting histories.
Democrats say the missing files affect Republicans, Democrats and independent voters, but argue an independent eye is needed to determine why they were removed.

Members of the National Weather Service (NWS) recently visited Arnold AFB to understand the impact their services have on testing at the center.
ATA’s Emergency Management Team worked very closely with both the Huntsville and Nashville NWS offices in order for Arnold AFB to attain the designation of “Storm Ready Community” in May 2011.
“Over the course of becoming ‘Storm Ready’ we at AEDC have developed a sound working relationship with both Nashville and Huntsville weather forecasters,” said ATA Emergency Management Lead Daryl Justice. “They requested the tour, as they wanted to see the facilities they are providing their services to.”
The entire process of becoming “Storm Ready” took six months, and AEDC is the only military installation in Tennessee with the designation.
The tour group consisted of seven employees from the Nashville NWS office and eight employees from the Huntsville NWS office.

Just after 5:00PM Sunday afternoon, a Coffee County woman was driving a Toyota SUV and her 6-year-old son was a passenger. The two were traveling west on Gowen Road in the New Union area.
The SUV was near the Gowen Road Bridge when the driver went off the right side of the road and struck several trees. The Toyota then careened back onto the road and burst into flames.

The driver was able to get out, but the young boy was trapped. A bystander forced the passenger door open and rescued the child.

The child was flown to Vanderbilt with deep cuts, broken bones, and a possible head injury. The driver was unhurt and not transported. The Coffee County Sheriff’s department and EMS worked the crash scene.
More details when they become available.

Animal rights activists from Coffee and surrounding counties were in Manchester on Friday to protest. The group first protested in the lane that leads into the Coffee County Animal Control building, and then moved to the Coffee County Administrative Plaza.
Vera Lund, a Manchester resident, told WMSR Radio that she did NOT blame the animal control officer that shot and killed Bryan Pennington’s dog, Toby, on Monday. She says the problem is not enough funding and needed policy changes. Lund added that animal control officers should be better trained and facilities needed upgrading.
Funding to animal control in Coffee County for 2011-2012 was $97,916, and they are asking for $102,067 in the upcoming budget.
The story began when Bryan Pennington said his black 16-year-old Labrador retriever, “Toby,” was picked up by Coffee County Animal Control Monday afternoon and was apparently shot in the head by a control officer.
Pennington told us that his dog had arthritis in his legs and was blind in one eye.
The animal control officer, Charlie Brown, who shot and killed the dog, has said in media reports that he thought the dog had been hit by a car, and did what he thought was best for the dog. Brown says he feels sorry for the family.
Pennington told WMSR News that he does not want to see Brown lose his job. His hope is that the Coffee County Animal Control will reconsider the way they euthanize animals by not shooting them.
A meeting of the Health and Welfare committee has been called for today (Monday June, 18 2012) at the Coffee County Administrative Plaza. The Animal Control department reports to Health and Welfare.
Coffee County Mayor David Pennington has stated he will remove himself from any decisions to avoid any conflicts of interest. Bryan Pennington is Mayor Pennington’s son.

A Manchester man is being held in the Coffee County jail on a bond of $115,000 after leading deputies on a chase around the Coffee County Justice Center Friday morning(June 15). Cody Ledbetter, of Commodore Drive in Manchester, is charged with initiation of the process intended to result in manufacture of methamphetamines, possession of drug paraphernalia, evading arrest and violation of probation. According to a report by Deputy Sgt. James Sherrill, Ledbetter was seen in the lobby of the jail leaving a phone card for an inmate in the jail. When Sherrill told he him he was under arrest for violation of probation, Ledbetter took off running from the jail. Sherrill and several others gave pursuit for three blocks before losing him. While the deputy was searching his car he found components for producing meth. Later Friday morning, Sgt. Sherrill received information that Ledbetter was at a residence on South Franklin Street in Tullahoma.
Sherrill along with deputies took Ledbetter into custody and placed him in the Coffee County Jail.

A Tullahoma woman is being held in the Coffee County Jail under a $10,000 bond after being arrested on meth charges.
Amanda Faye Gifford, 25, of West Grundy Street is charged with initiation of the process intended to result in the manufacture of methamphetamines and shoplifting.
Gifford was arrested by Tullahoma Police Officer Christopher Coe Thursday after she allegedly was seen in Kroger attempting to leave without paying for a pack of lithium batteries.
When the officer talked with Gifford, she told him that she was taking the batteries for a male who intended to use the items in the manufacture of methamphetamines.
She was booked into the Coffee County Jail on the charges and is to appear in Coffee County General Sessions Court July 12.

A Hillsboro woman faces several theft and burglary charges in connection with the theft of items from a vehicle at Old Stone Fort Park.
Brittney Nicole Cargile, 18, of Andy Lane Hillsboro, was arrested last week on charges of three counts of burglary and three counts of theft of property. She is held under a bond of $25,000.
According to warrants, Cargile and a male juvenile entered three vehicles parked in the parking lot of the museum at Old Stone Fort State Park and took iPods, wallets, cash clothing, suitcases, GPS systems, knives, a wedding ring, an external hard drive, and a book of CDs.
She is to appear in Coffee County General Sessions Court August 29.

An eighteen wheeler crashed Saturday morning (June 16) before six o’clock with no injuries. As that crash was being cleaned up, another crash occurred.
At approximately 1:30 pm on I-24 east bound at mile marker 116 a 2002 Nissan Frontier, driven by Christie Bowman, 40, of Ooltewah, TN, and her female passenger suffered non-life threatening injuries and were flown to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga. It appears the vehicle ran off the right side of the road and hit a wrecker that was on the shoulder due to the earlier incident. The Nissan spun back onto the interstate and a tractor trailer rear-ended the vehicle and pushed it into the median. The driver of the tractor trailer was not injured.
The interstate was shut down for about 50 minutes.
During clean-up of accident number 2, wreck number 3 occurred near the 111 mile marker when a single vehicle ran off the road and hit the guardrail and damaged the car heavily. The driver suffered minor injuries only.

Emergency crews were called out on Sunday morning (June 17) for an accident on the Woodbury Hwy near the Timberloft Restaurant. The driver of the 4×4 truck refused transport to the hospital. The truck was severely damaged.