Coffee County Sheriff’s Department is asking for help locating a stolen truck.
According to officials, a 2014 Dodge Ram 3500 Commercial Truck was taken from the Summitville area in the early morning hours of April 5. It is white in color.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call CCSD Investigator Brandon Reed at 931-570-4191 – tips will remain anonymous. A reward is being offered for the arrest and conviction of the individuals responsible.
Coffee County Highway Department has announced that crews have begun mowing ditches in certain areas of the county for the spring season.
Motorists should stay back at least 150 feet from these mowers to be safe and avoid accidents.
Manchester Street Department has announced that it will discontinue leaf vacuum service on April 23.
The leaf vacuum service will resume again in the fall, near the end of October.
Leaves put out for disposal after April 23 must be placed in paper recyclable bags that can be obtained at local retail stores. Grass clippings should be placed in these bags year around. All leaves and grass must be recycled according to state and federal regulations.
All leaves placed out to be vacuumed must be free of any sticks, rocks, limbs or other debris that could harm the equipment. Anyone with questions should call 931-728-6903.
The murder trial involving the death of Terry Barber will be heard in a Rutherford County Courtroom next year (2022). 68-Year-old Barber was a long time Rutherford County resident who was well known for selling college memorabilia and SEC clothing. Barber was also a well known high school umpire, including dozens of games called in Coffee County.
In June of 2019, a friend of Mr. Barber went to his Christiana home to check on him, which is when Barber was found deceased. Detectives from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office were called to the residence on Walnut Grove Road and discovered that Barber had been beaten and robbed. Barber’s lifeless body was located on the floor of his home and reported that his hands and feet were bound together.
Arrested and charged with Barber’s murder were 20-year-old Devan Jacob Gailey, 21-year-old Brent Donavan Ross and 39-year-old Vernice Darlene Farrar. All three live in Murfreesboro. Court documents show the trio reportedly drove to the victims home where detectives say they worked together in robbing Barber, who they allegedly tied up and strangled to death.
Again, the trial has been tentatively scheduled to take place between March 21st through March 25th of 2022.
–Story written by news partners at WGNS Radio
(Upper photo: Three murder suspects. Lower photo: Terry Barber)
Coffee County Middle School teacher Roy Slaughter has been nominated for Tennessee Lottery Teacher Educator of the Month.
Anyone wishing to vote for him can do so by clicking here:
Organizers with The Bonnaroo Farm have announced an addition to its Concerts on The Farm Series.
Multi-Platinum entertainer Jason Aldean will return to the live music scene for the first time in over a year with two nights at The Bonnaroo Farm in Manchester – May 14 and 15.
The three-time ACM “Entertainer of the Year” will host a limited number of fans in socially distanced four-person pods, starting at $99 a pod. Score your tickets at http://JasonAldean.com and http://BonnarooFarm.com, with $1 from each ticket benefiting the Bonnaroo Works Fund.
Bonnaroo Farm announced last month the start of a series of concerts at the property. Billy Strings will perform May 28 and Jon Pardi on May 29. The Avett Brothers will do a three-night set on July 2, 3 and 4. Get tickets for those concerts at www.bonnaroofarm.com
The annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival will be held Sept. 2-5.
Tennessee lawmakers passed legislation protecting victims of aggravated statutory rape and statutory rape by an authority figure in the House last week.
House Bill 326 adds aggravated statutory rape and statutory rape by an authority figure to the list of offenses for which an offender will be prohibited from having custody or inheritance rights with regard to a child born as a result of the offense and for which any visitation will be conditioned on the other parent’s request. Tennessee General Assembly adds protection for rape victims
Present law removes parental rights from a rapist who is convicted of a crime. This legislation removes parental rights from a rapist who is convicted of or pleads guilty or no contest to a lesser offense.
House Bill 326 protects a child from a questionable outcome in a civil custody battle by giving power to the victim of a rape and child of a rape to decide if and when a child will be around the father. House Bill 326 heads to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk for his signature.
After declining for the first time this year, the Tennessee gas price average rose two cents, on average, over last week. The Tennessee Gas Price average is now $2.69 which is nearly 14 cents more than one month ago and 99 cents more than one year ago.
The National average is $2.87. Meanwhile, the average price is Coffee County is $2.68, which is just a penny below the state average and 19 cents below the national average.
“We anticipate demand will continue to increase throughout the month as vaccinations become more widely available and weather turns warmer,” said Megan Cooper, spokesperson, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “Drivers can expect fluctuation at the pump throughout the spring driving season.”
Quick Facts
· 79% of Tennessee gas stations have prices below $2.75
· The lowest 10% of pump prices are $2.51 for regular unleaded
· The highest 10% of pump prices are $2.96 for regular unleaded
National Gas Prices
Gasoline demand measured 8.9 million b/d in the Energy Administration’s (EIA) latest weekly report, up nearly 4% from the week prior. Because of the jump in demand, gasoline supplies tightened to 230.5 million bbl, the lowest level this year, and state gas prices averages saw major fluctuations. On the week, states saw pump price changes ranging from an increase of 15 cents to a decrease of 3 cents.
Today’s national average is $2.87, which is more expensive on the week (+1 cent), month (+12 cents) and year (+94 cents).
One factor that may help to keep the national gas price average below $3/gallon is the price of crude, which accounts for nearly 60% of the price at the pump. After hitting a 12-month high of $66/bbl last month, crude has been priced mostly at the $60/bbl mark recently. If it stays low, even with demand increasing, it will contribute to less frequent pump price jumps. However, at the end of last week, crude started to see higher movement following a production announcement by Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Plus (OPEC+).
National Oil Market Dynamics
At the close of last week’s formal trading session, WTI increased $2.29 to settle at $61.45. Crude oil prices saw gains at the end of the week following the OPEC+ announcement that they will modestly increase production by 350,000 bbl starting in May. The production increase is less than the market expected, but enough to send crude oil prices higher. This week prices are likely to fluctuate, but not spike.
By Elena Cawley
The confidential nature of child abuse cases presents a problem: people forget child abuse exists. False. Child abuse plagues Coffee County. But the community can help by raising awareness
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Joyce Prusak, executive director of the Coffee County Children’s Advocacy Center, works to provide abuse-free future for children. According Prusak, the advocacy center received 348 referrals for child abuse last year, with the numbers increasing compared with 2019.
As taxing as the job is, she finds satisfaction in helping children find healing.
“Dealing with witnessing the trauma builds up and it’s hard,” Prusak said. “Last year we saw some of the worst cases. When you think you’ve heard the worst of the worst, and then something worse happens, it’s hard.”
The advocacy center becomes involved with the cases through referrals from the Department of Children’s Services.
“The process depends on the severity of the case,” Prusak said. “If it’s a sexual abuse case, we get an interview scheduled here at the advocacy center. We do it at the center so the child will tell the story one time. DCS and law enforcement can watch the interview and have their questions answered. The most important thing is that we are talking to the children in a way that’s comfortable to them and in a way that doesn’t lead them. They should tell their story in their own words.”
The advocacy center provides a neutral environment. Children feel more relaxed at the center.
Having the advocacy center as a place for the interview is much more comfortable for the child than school offices or police departments. The center provides a homey atmosphere, where Forensic Interviewer Rachel Fuller can spend time with the child and build a rapport, said Prusak.
“It’s important to have someone who is trained in talking about experiencing trauma, especially sexual trauma,” Prusak said.
The advocacy center also offers a safe space for medical professionals to conduct examinations.
If it’s a sexual abuse case, the children are examined at the center by experts, said Prusak said.
“We have specialists that come here for the medical exam,” she said.
Often, the victims are very young.
“Last year, 0 to 6 was the most common age,” she said.
Most often the advocacy center sees children younger than 6. And that’s one of the challenges because it’s hard for young children to explain what happened and describe the mistreatment. Often, they don’t realize they’ve been abused.
Sometimes, the parents of the victims have been trapped in a vicious cycle themselves.
“We see a lot of moms that were abused themselves as children,” Prusak said. “They are not necessarily abusing their children but are making choices that are putting their children at risk. They may let children stay with people they don’t know very well, for example. And those situations sometimes open up more opportunities for abuse.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a spike in child abuse cases, with parents having to look for childcare.
“We have seen more cases,” Prusak said, adding the reason for the increased number may be due to more people reporting child abuse.
Earning the trust of the child is essential. Overcoming the mistrust of the child is one of the biggest challenges.
“About 90% of the children are abused by someone they love and trust, and that’s really hard,” she said.
Children often think they will betray the person they love if they reveal the truth. Additionally, they face fear of punishment, as well as stigma and embarrassment.
Raising awareness
While child abuse is rampant in Coffee County, people don’t know about it because of the confidential nature of the cases. Even though child abuse cases represent a significant part of the cases law enforcement deals with, those cases are not reported to the public. Furthermore, people prefer to avoid the topic because of stigma. However, raising awareness is exactly what’s needed to curb child abuse.
“The biggest challenge is lack of awareness,” Prusak said. “Raising awareness would help. It’s hard because these cases are confidential, and we can’t even talk with family members about them.”
The community can also help the advocacy center by providing financial support.
“We need funding to help kids,” she said.
As a nonprofit organization, the advocacy center relies solely on donations, as well as private and state grants. Most of the funds come from private donations. The pandemic has limited the opportunities for fundraising.
“We do a lot of fundraising, and with COVID it was scary,” Prusak said.
Numbers have increased
• Child abuse in Coffee County has seen an increase. Overall, the Coffee County Children’s Advocacy Center had 348 referrals in 2020, compared to 336 in 2019. The advocacy center conducted 184 forensic interviews in 2020, compared to 170 in 2019. The center performed 46 medical exams in 2020, compared to 41 in 2019.
• In 2020, 84% of the cases were allegations of child sexual abuse – a higher percentage than usual (usually around 70%)
• 6% of the cases were severe physical abuse; 4% severe lack of supervision; 3% severe psychological harm; the remaining cases made up of children that were severely drug exposed or possible child abuse deaths. The advocacy center is involved with the severe cases. “Severe” is defined by the State of Tennessee, and child sexual abuse allegations are automatically severe.
• In 2020, of the total referrals received for services, 67% of the children were female and 33% male. 40% of the children were 6 years of age or younger, 36% between the ages of 7 and 12, and 24% were between 13 and 18.
(Information provided by Joyce Prusak, executive director of the Coffee County Children’s Advocacy Center)
As a further indication the state of Tennessee’s economic turnaround continues, unemployment rates for February 2021 dropped in nearly every county, according to new data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Ninety counties experienced lower unemployment during the month. Four counties recorded an increase in unemployment, while Smith County’s February rate remained unchanged from the previous month.
Unemployment rates are less than 5% in 39 of the state’s 95 counties and under 10% in the remaining 56 counties.
In Coffee County, the unemployment rate stands at 4.6 percent. This is down slightly from 4.7 percent in January and slightly higher than the 4.0 percent in February of 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. This makes Coffee County’s unemployment rate just 0 .6 of a percentage point from pre-pandemic levels.
Williamson County continued to have the state’s lowest jobless rate in February at 3.1%, down 0.1 of a percentage point from January.
Moore County recorded the second-lowest rate for the month at 3.4%, a 0.4 of a percentage point drop, followed by Wilson County’s rate of 3.7%, which was down 0.3 of a percentage point.
At 8.6%, Lake County had Tennessee’s highest unemployment rate in February, which was a 0.3 of a percentage point increase from January.
While Cocke County recorded the second-highest rate of the month at 7.8%, that was a 0.7 of a percentage point drop from the previous month. Perry County’s rate of 7.5% was also down month-to-month by 0.5 of a percentage point.
A complete analysis of Tennessee’s February 2021 county unemployment data is available here.
Statewide, unemployment dropped to 4.9% in February, down 0.2 of a percentage point from the previous month.
Unemployment also decreased across the United States during the month. The national February rate was 6.2%, a drop of 0.1 of a percentage point.
There are currently more than 215,000 job openings posted on Jobs4TN.gov. Tennesseans looking for work can find programs to help remove barriers to employment by visiting the virtual American Job Center at www.TNVirtualAJC.com
