Category: News

We have a scam that you should be aware of. The Coffee County Sheriff’s Department claims they have received several complaints from people stating they have received phone calls from personnel at the sheriff’s department asking for bond money for individuals that are in jail. The perpetrators are spoofing the sheriff department’s phone number to make it appear as if the call is actually coming from the sheriff’s department, but these are not actually sheriff’s department employees. 

The Coffee County Sheriff’s Department will not call anyone asking for bond money for someone in jail, officials say. If you receive a call from someone stating they are with the sheriff’s department, tell them you will call them back, hang up the phone and call the Sheriff’s Department on the non-emergency line at 931-728-3591. 

Tennessee is one of three states in the country with the sharpest drop in Medicaid enrollment between 2017 and 2018. 

According to a report by the consumer health care group Families USA, the number of Tennesseans enrolled in Medicaid fell by nearly 10%, and more than 100,000 people lost coverage. 

Eliot Fishman, senior director of health policy at Families USA, says that since 2013 the state has been struggling to bounce back from a massive software failure linked to TennCare, the state’s Medicaid program.

“The way that Tennessee handled that was to mail out a hard copy – I think it was close to 80 pages – mandatory form to keep their Medicaid,” he relates. “And not surprisingly, a lot of people did not fill that out.”

Additionally, more than 50,000 children have lost coverage. 

Fishman says that earlier this year, the state began using a new eligibility system that allows people to apply for or renew coverage online or over the phone. 

He says it remains to be seen whether or not these changes prevent low-income Tennesseans from losing coverage.

Tennessee isn’t the only state dealing with Medicaid debacles. Paperwork hurdles and other bureaucratic difficulties caused more than 1.5 million people across the country to lose Medicaid coverage last year. 

Fishman says these challenges are putting the health care system’s dysfunction in the spotlight, on the heels of the next presidential election.

“That dynamic is a significant factor in the momentum around moving to a national, more federal, more automatic system, that you are seeing both in polling data and in the early stages of the Democratic presidential primary,” he states.

Fishman says confusion surrounding the eligibility process is an old problem in Medicaid, but he says federal laws put in place by the Affordable Care Act were supposed to streamline the procedure. 

However, some states still are not complying with the new rules.

The Decherd Board of Mayor and Aldermen is accusing Decherd Mayor Robin Smith of inappropriately receiving health insurance benefits paid for with city funds totaling $26,000. 

Robin Smith

According to the Herald Chronicle, aldermen claim that members of the board and the mayor are not eligible to receive insurance benefits from the City of Decherd. Alderman Roy Partin said that Mayor Robin Smith has been receiving insurance benefits since 2016. According to the Herald Chronicle, Mayor Smith said that former city administrator Mike Foster added him to the insurance program because he thought under the Affordable Care Act that Smith could be added. The Mayor said that when he found out he was not supposed to be on the plan he told the city to drop him from the plan. Vice Mayor Tammy Holt said that she thinks the mayor has basically stolen $26,000 worth of insurance premiums from the City of Decherd

The board plans to address the issue further at its next board meeting. 

On Monday, the Coffee County School Board officially entered into a contract with Dr. Charles Lawson to become the next Director of Schools for Coffee County. The board held a work session to negotiate contract terms Monday afternoon, followed by a regularly scheduled school board meeting. The board voted unanimously to

Dr. Charles Lawson

enter into the contract with Lawson. His first day as the new director will be Wednesday, July the 10th. The three-year contract pays Lawson $115,000 per year to be the director of the school district, which includes the following schools: New Union elementary, North Coffee Elementary, East Coffee Elementary, Hillsboro Elementary, Deerfield Elementary, Hickerson Elementary,
Coffee County Middle School, Raider Academy, Koss Center alternative school and Coffee County Central High School.

Lawson is a native of Hillsboro and a 1989 graduate of Coffee County High School. He earned his Bachelor of Science from MTSU, Masters and EDS in administration from Tennessee Tech and his PHD from from University of the Cumberlands. He brings 16 total years of teaching experience, with stops in Idaho, Alaska and Tennessee.

His most recent stop as the principal at East Middle School in Tullahoma.
Lawson takes over for Dr. LaDonna McFall, who served as director of schools from 2012 through June of this year.

She took a position as director of schools in Roane County after opting not to pursue a contract extension in Coffee County. Joe Pedigo served as interim director during the transition.

The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office has created a new interactive web
tool that provides important information about Tennessee’s Tax Relief
program.

The Tax Relief program began in 1973 and provides property tax relief
to qualifying low-income elderly and disabled homeowners, as well as
disabled veteran homeowners or their surviving spouses. In tax year
2018, more than $41 million dollars was appropriated by the General
Assembly to serve more than 140,000 homeowners across the state.

The new web portal combines important information with images and
interactive maps. The portal displays key data, eligibility
requirements, and local city and county contacts that will be helpful
for anyone interested in learning more about the program.

“The General Assembly has prioritized property tax relief payments for
Tennessee’s most vulnerable citizens and disabled veterans,” said
Comptroller Justin P. Wilson. “This new web portal allows us to use
visual communication and interactive maps to share even more
information about this program.”

If you are interested in applying for tax relief in 2019, you can
apply with your county trustee after you receive your 2019 county
and/or city property tax bill. If your property is within city limits,
you may also contact your city collecting official to apply.

In Coffee County, you can call trustee John Marchesoni at 931-723-5128.

To view the Comptroller’s new Property Tax Relief portal, go to:
https://comptroller.tn.gov/office-functions/pa/property-taxes/property-tax-programs/tax-relief.html

If you suspect fraud, waste or abuse of public money in Tennessee,
call the Comptroller’s toll-free hotline at 800.232.5454, or file a
report online at:
http://www.comptroller.tn.gov/hotline<http://www.comptroller.tn.gov/hotline

The City of Tullahoma will hold a public meeting on Monday, July 22 at 4:00

p.m. at City Hall located at 201 West Grundy St. Tullahoma, TN. The purpose

of the meeting will be to discuss the HOME program. The City of Tullahoma

has been awarded a grant from the Tennessee Housing Development Agency

(THDA) for the purpose of rehabilitating owner-occupied homes for low-income

residents. All residents of Tullahoma interested in the program should

attend this meeting.

The program will be explained at the meeting and applications may be picked

up at the meeting or at the City Hall following the meeting. Applications

must be submitted back to the City Hall by August 26.

The South Central Development District worked with the city of Tullahoma to obtain a $500,000 HOME grant that will cover the costs of approximately 7-9 projects.

The grants are available to low-income homeowners living in substandard

housing and are used to bring properties up to code compliancy only, not for

beatification purposes. For example, the grant funds would not cover new

windows for beautification but would fund them if the existing windows were

broken or missing. These funds are strictly used to bring the home up to

code. There’s a limit of approximately $60,000 on any given project. If

renovating the home would exceed that amount then rebuilding the home may be

an option.

Applicants for the program must be of low or very low income, defined as

below 80% of the area median income, and must have lived at their property

for at least one year.

If you have any questions about this meeting, please contact Kandi Higgins

at 931-379-2957.

A state lawmaker plans to introduce a bill that would ban traffic cameras in the state of Tennessee during the 2020 legislative session. 

Andy Holt, a republican from Dresden says the cameras are “all about generating revenue.” 

Approximately 16 Tennessee cities use red light cameras, and 13 use speed cameras, according to the insurance institute fo rhighway safety.

Manchester does not have such cameras, but you can find them as closely as Murfreesboro. The bill is expected to be met with heavy opposition from camera companies and local governments, alike.

The Tennessean first reported this story. 

The Coffee County Board of Education will hold a work session today at 3 p.m. at the Board of Education Building at 1343 McArthur Street with the intent to negotiation a contract with Dr. Charles Lawson to become the next director of schools for the Coffee County School System.

Dr. Charles Lawson

The board voted last Monday to enter into negotiations with Lawson, who is currently the principal at East Middle School in Tullahoma. The board will need to agree to a contract and a super-majority vote is needed to extend the offer to Lawson – meaning 5 of the board’s seven members will need to vote for it.

The school system is searching for a new director after the resignation of Dr. LaDonna McFall last month. McFall took a job as director of schools in Roane County, Tennessee. She served as director of Coffee County Schools since 2012.

The public is welcome to the open work session and board meeting today at the administrative plaza.

Photo provided by winchester-tn.com

The City of Winchester has been awarded an award for Excellence in Economic Revitalization from the Tennessee Municipal League for its downtown revitalization efforts.

The revitalization of downtown Winchester began back in 2005 when the city received grant funds through former Governor Phil Bredesen’s courthouse revitalization pilot project act, which established a tax-rebate zone in downtown areas.

The Winchester downtown program corp started soon after in 2008. Winchester obtained Tennessee Main Street community status in 2014 as the focus continues on downtown improvement in the area. (You can see the downtown Winchester website by clicking here)

The city also received a TDOT Raodscape grant designed to create an aesthetically pleasing, pedestrian friendly gateway to downtown and a TDOT alternative grant for sidewalks, landscaping, underground utilities and lighting in the downwind district, according to the Herald Chronicle.

Over the past five years, Winchester has invested $4.2 million in downtown, that includes $2.2 million in private contributions and nearly $2 million in public assistance.

Shelbyville also received an award from the TML for excellence in police services.