Category: News

Gov. Bill Haslam

A proposal that seeks to crack down on the tattooing of minors has been signed into law by Governor Bill Haslam.
The measure, signed by the Republican governor this week, unanimously passed the Senate 31-0 and was approved 86-6 in the House.
The law makes it illegal for anyone who is unlicensed to possess tattooing paraphernalia. The measure also encourages reporting incidents of underage tattooing to the Health Department. Those making the report might be a police officer or someone in education, such as a teacher or school resource officer.
Currently, a person under 18 cannot get a tattoo. A 16-year-old can be tattooed to cover up an existing tattoo, but only if a parent or guardian is present.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has released its annual study dedicated to crime in Tennessee’s public and private school systems, excluding colleges/universities and technical schools. Produced by TBI’s Crime Statistics Unit, the study spans a three-year period between 2009 and 2011 and is based on numbers submitted by Tennessee law enforcement agencies to the Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System (TIBRS).

The reported number of crimes that occurred at schools decreased by 5.5% from 2010 to 2011 and there was an overall decrease of 6.7% between 2009 and 2011. There were 12,435 crimes reported at schools in 2011 compared to 13,155 in 2010. This report is based on incidents submitted by law enforcement agencies. Those statistics are compiled in TBI’s “Crime on Campus” report that was released earlier this year.

“School Crimes Report” Quick Facts:

— 2.2% of all crimes reported in the state occurred at a school.

— Simple assault was the most frequently reported crime at 4,593 offenses.

— Crimes against persons decreased by 4.3% and crimes against property decreased by 8.2%.

— More crimes occurred on Friday than any other day of the week and most resulted in no injury to the victim.

— 47% of the time, the relationship between the offender and victim was acquaintance.

— The most reported arrestee gender was male at 73%.

Former University of Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer was inducted into the Hall of Fame Wednesday.  However, he was not celebrating in Nashville, Knoxville, or Memphis.  Instead, Fulmer returned to where he played high school football…Franklin County High School. Phillip Fulmer spoke to the Franklin County Christian Athletes Association annual banquet. “It’s a little bit ironic, because I’m back home where everything started,” he said. “There are so many people here that taught me and coached me and helped me get going on this path. It’s neat to come back and relive some of those memories.”
He honored long time Franklin County head coach Bill Henley, Jim Cunningham, and Tippy Tipps for influencing his future and guiding him.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is increasing its fuel adjustment charge by 0.7% in June.

According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, a typical household power bill will rise 80 cents for the same amount of use. A TVA spokesman said the mild winter that was beneficial to customers allowed the federal utility to credit some of the savings to the monthly fuel charge in February, March and April. Those savings have been used up and the fuel charge for June is more reflective of TVA’s actual costs for producing electricity. TVA said earlier that the mild winter and cheaper natural gas prices lowered its fuel expenses through March by $323 million from the first six months of its previous fiscal year.

Steve Frame

A brother and sister were arrested after they were allegedly found to be in possession of methamphetamines and to be in the process of producing the drug. 34-year-old Madonna Elam of Lavergne Street in Manchester and 32-year-old Steve Frame of Manchester were arrested by Manchester Police while in a room at the Truckers Inn on Hillsboro Blvd. Investigator Yogi Yother notified Captain Victor Jones, Officer Trey Smith and Officer Bryan Eldridge that the two were possibly in possession of meth in the motel room. They reportedly had the drug in a microwave and Frame had some packs in his pocket. Elam was charged with initiation of the process intended to result in the manufacture of meth. She was released after posting a $15,000 bond. Frame is being held under a bond of $200,000 for manufacturing, initiation of the process to produce meth, and reckless endangerment. The rooms on each side of their motel room were occupied at the time of the incident.

Madonna Elam

Church thieves have struck again. This time at the Prairie Plains Baptist Church. According to a report by Deputy Daryl Welch, church pastor Jimmy Parting stated that he went to the church last Saturday and found a back door open. He went in and noticed the doors to the cabinets open and thought a pest control company employee had been in to spray for bugs.  However, when he returned on Sunday, he found the overhead projector was missing. The thieves, according to the deputy’s report, stood on the pews to remove the projector, which is valued at $500. Sheriff’s investigator Chad Partin is investigating the incident. This makes the 5th church building in the county that thieves have broken into in recent days.

Sales tax collections continue to rise all across Coffee County. In Tullahoma April collections in 2011 were $794,795.  Last month Tullahoma collected $922,985, increasing by $127,190. In the county tax collection went up over $11,600 over April 2011. The City of Manchester saw another strong month with $708,253 collected.  Manchester’s tax collection increased $87,919 over the same month last year. Overall county collections were $1.8(M).

Cheaper gas won’t be enough to get many more Americans on the road this summer. They’re still too worried about their jobs and the economy. Economists and tourism experts are expecting only a small uptick in summer travelers. Gas prices are still high enough to keep some lower-income Americans at home. The job market is improving, but still shaky. And household debt remains high. For Memorial Day weekend, auto club AAA predicts that 34.8 million Americans will take trips of at least 50 miles. That’s up 1.2 percent from summer’s opening weekend in 2011. In Coffee County the average price is $3.50 per gallon. Prices are as low as $3.37 in Tullahoma and $3.44 in Manchester. The average in Tennessee is $3.46 per gallon.

The first redesigned Nissan Altima is rolling off the production line in Smyrna, where the best-selling mid-size sedan has been produced for the last 20 years. On Tuesday, Governor Bill Haslam and Nissan officials celebrated the production of the first of the fifth generation of the Altima and the launch of five all-new Nissan vehicles coming in the next 15 months. The plant in Smyrna will also be producing the LEAF electric vehicles and the batteries that power it, as well the next-generation Nissan Pathfinder and Nissan Rogue. The plant employs approximately 5,600 employees and also produces the Frontier, Maxima and Xterra models and the 2013 Infiniti JX. The new Altima will be available at dealerships in June with a retail price of around $21,500. The Altima is also produced in Canton, Mississippi, and its engines are made in Decherd.

Tullahoma Police Dept. yesterday officially promoted two investigators. Jason Ferrell was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and Dale Stone was promoted to the rank of sergeant. Their official promotions coincide with the national police memorial day held nationwide to honor police officers killed in the line of duty. Chief Paul Blackwell noted that the officers have earned the coveted gold shields but with them comes more responsibility.