Category: News

A Murfreesboro teenager drowned Sunday while swimming at Normandy Lake.
Daxton Flannery, 18, of Shelbyville told Coffee County Sheriff’s Deputy Kelly Smith that he and four others were wading in the lake near Barton Springs Boat Ramp and then decided to attempt to swim across the lake.
As they started to swim, the water temperatures caused them to become fatigued and they decided to turn back.
One of the swimmers, Todd Zills, 18, of Greerson Court, Murfreesboro, started to go underwater and he began to yell for help. Several boaters and swimmers attempted to rescue him but were unable to reach him in time.
Officers of the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency and members of the Coffee County Rescue Squad responded to the area and assisted in the recovery of Zills’ body.
Zills was a senior at Shelbyville High School.

A Fayetteville man was arrested Friday by Franklin County authorities on 17 counts of animal cruelty. Arthur Joe Gifford of 14 Riverton Drive was arrested but released after posting a $4,500 bond. He is to appear in Franklin County General Sessions Court May 17.

Monday at approximately 12:45pm a Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Special Deputy was transporting a body to the State Medical Examiner’s Office when the vehicle was struck by an oncoming vehicle. The crash occurred on I-24 just past the Beech Grove exit in Rutherford County. According to reports, the oncoming vehicle stuck the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office vehicle in the rear causing the sheriff’s vehicle to roll and exit the interstate into the median. The operator of the Sheriff’s Office vehicle, Special Deputy L.J. Smith, was later transported to Southern Tennessee Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries. The operator of the second vehicle was released at the scene. The Tennessee Highway Patrol is conducting the investigation.

The first of three workshops on agricultural marketing to restaurants and grocery stores is Thursday in Chattanooga.
The workshops will focus on packaging, pricing, invoicing, certification or audit requirements, insurance requirements and other needs of these potential customers.
They continue Friday in Nashville and Saturday in Memphis. The workshops are coordinated by the University of Tennessee Extension Center for Profitable Agriculture and funded, in part, by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.

TDOT is concerned about a growing number of deaths on Tennessee roads. The state is well above last year’s numbers.
The car crash death toll is 288 since the beginning of 2012. That’s 27 more deaths compared to the same period last year.
TDOT and the THP are starting a new campaign they say will target behaviors that make accidents worse like texting or not wearing a seatbelt.
To get the word out, the electronic road signs will start carrying messages about safety, including a tally of how many people have died in crashes.

Arnold Air Force Base Services Youth Programs will host a Miss AEDC Pageant for ages 5-18 at Arnold Lakeside Center May 5.

The event is open to the public and will be held from 12-6 p.m. Cost to enter is $25 and each division winner will receive a crown, sash and flowers. Second, third and fourth place winners in each division will receive flowers. All entries will receive a participation certificate.

There will also be a People’s Choice winner who will receive a goody bag and sash. Divisions include Little Miss AEDC for ages 5-8, Preteen Miss AEDC for ages 9-11, Junior Miss AEDC for ages 12-15 and Miss AEDC for ages 16-18.

Participants will need to provide a copy of their birth certificate or driver’s license upon registration to ensure entry into the appropriate division. Little Miss and Preteen divisions will be judged on poise, beauty and personality. Junior and Miss divisions will be judged on poise, beauty, personality and onstage question.

Each participant is allowed one person backstage to assist in getting ready, but they must return to the front before the pageant begins. Participants should arrive no later than 30 minutes prior to start time with hair and makeup complete. There will be a designated area for changing into dresses.

Cost to attend the event is $5 and Arnold Lakeside Center will have a deli buffet for $8 ($5 for age 10 and under). Any attending may vote for the People’s Choice winner for only $1 per vote. Deadline to enter the pageant is May 3. Call Holly Jones at 454-3415, to register or for more information.

Bonnaroo has announced an additional act for this year’s festival headlined by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Beach Boys, and Phish.  Now legendary music icon Kenny Rogers has been added. Rogers has recorded 24 No. 1 songs and has starred in movies. Bonnaroo runs June 7-10 in Manchester.

A man accused of killing a Manchester mother and her two children in 2010 is set to appear in Coffee County Circuit Court May 23. The appearance of Matthew Perkins will be for the court to learn whether or not his attorneys have been able to get his mental evaluation completed. Perkins is accused of murdering Stephanie Hershman, 27 and her two sons, Jaylon Lee Hershman, 23 months and Jathan Hershman, 3, in September 2010 at her residence on Skinner Flat Road in Manchester.
Since his arrest, Perkins has been held in the Franklin County Jail for his safety under a $6 million bond.

A Tullahoma man was arrested Friday morning after local and state authorities found what they said was a moonshine still operating in downtown Tullahoma.
The arrest came after police received information from a resident about moonshine possibly being produced at a neighboring residence.
Tullahoma police Lt. Jason Ferrell notified State Alcoholic Beverage Commission agent Heath Luttrell of the operation. According to the police report, around 10 a.m. investigators from the police department and Luttrell went to 300 Edde Street, where they obtained permission to search the property from 34 Anthony Lindsey. The report states that when searching an outside shed, the officers found three 25-pound bags of sugar and a 50-pound bag of shelled corn, as well as a half-gallon jar of what appeared to be moonshine. They also found 2 stills in the shed. According to police reports, Lindsey was arrested late last year and charged with contributing to the delinquency of three teenage girls. He allegedly had given the teenagers moonshine and was “drinking with them.” He served 30 days in jail on those charges and was released on probation. On Friday, Lindsey was arrested and booked into the Coffee County Jail on charges of possession of a moonshine still and possession of untaxed liquor.

Three Coffee County residents have been sentenced for their part in the distribution of steroids in Ohio. Jason Sherrill, 30, Stephanie Sherrill, 26, both of Tullahoma and Kenneth Freeman, 43, of Manchester were arrested late last year as part of an alleged steroid drug distribution ring that was operating in Warren County, Ohio. The trio was accused of purchasing drugs in powder form from China and mixing the substance into injectable form to sell. They were accused of engaging in corrupt activity and trafficking in drugs. Freeman appeared March 21 and pled guilty to trafficking drugs and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. He was sentenced to four years in prison. Jason Sherrill appeared in court in Ohio on March 8 and pled guilty to trafficking in drugs and engaging in pattern of corrupt activity. He was sentenced to serve two years in prison for trafficking in drugs and five years in prison for engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
Stephanie Sherrill appeared in court on March 8 and pled guilty to trafficking in drugs.