Category: News

Information is needed about the homicide of Terry Wayne Barber, 68, whose body was found Wednesday night at his Walnut Grove Road home, said Rutherford County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Todd Sparks.
“Barber sold SEC memorabilia and was very involved in area sports,” Sparks said. Barber umpired many softball games over the years on the high school level including many at Coffee County High School.
Anyone with information about Barber’s death is asked to leave a message for Detective Steve Brown at 615-904-3052, Detective Ryan Huggins at 615-904-3032 or dispatch at 615-898-7770. (WGNS Radio)

The Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network has launched a smartphone app that helps connect users to local mental-health resources.
On average, three people die by suicide each day in Tennessee. It also is the second-leading cause of death for children and teens in the state, according to the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network’s latest “Status of Suicide” report.
Joanne Perley, who leads statewide initiatives for the organization, said the app is part of an effort to de-stigmatize suicide and make information on warning signs, hotline numbers and suicide-prevention training easily accessible.
“The intention of this app is to have local resources available to everyone,” she said. “We’ve all got a phone now. To be able to click a few buttons, and know that, ‘Hey, I need to reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number’ – this is that phone number.”
Perley said a sense of shame surrounding suicide and mental illness sometimes may result in family members claiming a suicide death was accidental or from natural causes. However, she noted that as the stigma lessens, more suicide deaths are being identified correctly. Tennessee’s suicide rates are highest among white males in midlife. In app stores, look under the initials TSPN to find the app.
Perley said groups such as hers are always seeking new ways to help people who may be having thoughts of ending their lives.
“Gov. (Bill) Lee has put a lot of focus on suicide prevention and mental health,” she said. “But despite that, the numbers keep increasing. So, we keep working to reduce those numbers – that’s always the ultimate goal – but working towards prevention in different ways as well.”
It’s been documented that suicides increase during tough economic times, including recessions. A 2012 study found the U.S. suicide rate increased four times faster between 2008 and 2010 than it did in the eight years prior to the recession.
In 2008, suicide officially entered the top 10 leading causes of death by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and has remained there ever since.

Dr Joey Vaughn will be the director of schools for Manchester City for at least the next four years. Dr Vaughn and the Manchester Board of Education signed a four-year agreement.
Vaughn’s contract is for $117,000 per year, plus travel expenses of $5,000 a year for regular travel to surrounding counties. The travel money will be considered reimbursement and not taxable income.
The board also approved vacation, sick leave and personal days.
Dr Vaughn had this to say to WMSR News:

On July 14, 2016, Tullahoma resident Joe Moon was killed in an automobile accident in Tullahoma. The two people that were in the vehicle that was being pursued by Coffee County deputies and collided with Moon, Kayla Brooke Hickey, of McMinnville, and Charleston Dakota Ortega, of Rock Island, were sentenced recently to 10 and nine years, respectively, in a Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) facility for the high-speed chase that resulted Moon’s death.
According to an accident report from the Tullahoma Police Department, a 2005 Chevrolet operated by Kayla Brooke Hickey, ran a traffic light at the viaduct in Tullahoma during a police pursuit in the early morning hours and T-boned 66 year-old Joe Moon’s 2009 Ford Pickup truck, Moon was pronounced dead at the scene.
A Coffee County deputy attempted to stop Hickey’s vehicle for a traffic violation near the Summitville community around midnight on July 13, 2016.
The Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves said the reason that the driver was being stopped by the deputy was a busted license plate light and the passenger acted suspiciously by trying to hide from view of the deputy. He says another reason the pursuit continued was that Hickey attempted to hit a deputy head-on at the Hwy 41/55 intersection in Manchester.

Sometime between Monday evening at 5 pm and Tuesday morning at 10 am, Brothers Implement Company located on the Hillsboro Hwy (Hwy 41) had a 2009 white Dodge Ram 1500 work truck with a small utility trailer stolen. The truck has Brothers Implement/Case IH decals.
If you have any information that can help in this investigation please contact Coffee County Sheriff’s Department Investigator James Sherrill at 931-570-4404.

As we told you yesterday, Adam Braseel of Grundy County was convicted of killing Malcolm Burrows of Tracy City 12 years ago. He was back in court on Wednesday asking for a new trial or his case dismissed.
Part of that testimony included that of former Grundy County Investigator Mike Brown, who was first on the scene of the murder in 2006. It was the first time he has testified about this case since it happened. He was never called to testify in the original trial.
Brown testified that records from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation showed no blood evidence in Braseel’s car.
He says he saw a lot of blood at the murder scene, and that whoever killed Burrows and used their car after the murder, that car would have had a lot of blood evidence in it.
Brown said other officers’ reports did not match what really happened at the scene.
He said his report has apparently gone missing.
When asked by Braseel’s attorneys if the county purposely lost the report, Brown said that is likely.
The crowd then erupted in cheers and applause, causing the judge to call for order in the court.
Later, after it was determined that both sides in the case had witnesses who were unable to appear at Wednesday’s hearing, the court adjourned until July 31st.

The Tennessee Historical Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, has announced 32 Federal Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) grants totaling over $750,000 awarded for various historic preservation and archaeological projects throughout the state. The grants are awarded annually for projects that support the preservation of historic and archaeological resources. “This program is one of the main ways in which our office helps protect historic places and contribute to the preservation of Tennessee’s heritage,” said Patrick McIntyre, Executive Director and State Historic Preservation Officer.
The federally funded matching grants provide 60% of project funds from the HPF and 40% of project funds come from the grantee.
In Coffee County, the Tennessee Division of Archaeology received $9,300 to fund an archaeological survey of Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park.
In Grundy County, the City of Coalmont will receive $9,000 to fund the restoration of the National Register-listed Coalmont Bank Building.

Tennessee’s state average gas price is $2.38 per gallon for regular unleaded, making it the seventh lowest average price in the nation. The price is 3-cents higher than last week. Today’s national average is $2.67, which is one cent less than last week.
AAA spokesperson Stephanie Milani said the national average dropped one cent on the week even as U.S. gasoline demand hit its highest level since the Energy Information Administration began publishing data in 1991.
Prices jumped in Coffee County on Tuesday afternoon. The low price in Manchester is $2.35 per gallon for gas and $2.44 in Tullahoma.

Adam Braseel of Grundy County was convicted of killing Malcolm Burrows of Tracy City 12 years ago.
He will be back in court Wednesday.
He was convicted on circumstantial evidence– largely centered around the victim’s family identifying Braseel as the killer.
Back in March, Grundy County Sheriff Clint Shrum said the case wasn’t investigated properly. He suggested new evidence may show an innocent man has spent the last 12 years behind bars.
Sheriff Shrum said, “Why did it take 12 years to get a fingerprint back from the TBI crime lab. Why? Let’s answer some of those questions,”
One other big question is why the first investigator on the scene was never asked to testify? He will on Wednesday.
In 2015 Judge Justin Angel granted Braseel a new trial and he was released from prison. One year later the Appeals Court upheld the conviction and Braseel was returned to prison. The same judge will be on the stand on Wednesday.
His family is confident this time he’ll go from prisoner to a free man.