Category: News

Deb Wimberley is a 7th Grade Teacher at Coffee County Middle School. Wimberly was recently selected to participate in the highly competitive Tennessee Educator Fellowship by the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) organization.
The Tennessee Educator Fellowship is a yearlong program that equips teachers, school counselors, interventionists, and librarians to learn about education policy and advocate for their students and profession. Since the inception of SCORE’s Educator Fellowship program, cohorts have led new education initiatives, advocated for high-quality instructional materials, engaged community stakeholders in conversations centered around literacy and post-secondary opportunities, along with amplifying the voice, presence, and support for educators.

Grundy County Sheriff Clint Shrum says Jacky Wayne Bean is in custody as of Thursday night. Bean was wanted for aggravated sexual battery and false imprisonment of a child.
The man was out of jail on probation after pleading guilty to felony reckless endangerment.
Bean was found late Thursday in Franklin County.
He was previously arrested and sentenced in 2017 after a deadly car chase in Grundy County. Bean was driving with 20-year-old Shelby Comer in the car when Grundy County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Holmes tried to make a traffic stop. Officials said Bean failed to stop and led a chase. The TBI reported that Grundy County Deputy Mike Holmes fired on the vehicle several times as Bean drove past, and one bullet hit and killed Comer.
Bean was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to felony reckless endangerment, this after he agreed to testify in a separate murder trial. Bean has agreed to testify, if necessary, in the state’s murder case against Daniel Chandler. Chandler is accused of killing his wife Samantha Kathleen Chandler. Her body was discovered in Grundy County.

Tennessee’s statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May 2019 inched up slightly to 3.3 percent after remaining at an all-time historic low for three consecutive months, according to data released by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).
May’s preliminary rate of 3.3 percent is 0.1 of a percentage point higher than the previous month’s rate. Since February, unemployment across the state had held steady at a record 3.2 percent.
When comparing year-to-year statistics, the current rate is 0.3 of a percentage point lower than it was in May 2018.
Total nonfarm employment in Tennessee grew by 3,900 jobs between April and May. The most significant amount of growth occurred in the accommodation/food services and nondurable goods manufacturing sectors.
In a year-to-year comparison, employers created 47,400 nonfarm jobs between May 2018 and May 2019 with the leisure/hospitality, trade/transportation/utilities, and manufacturing seeing the most jobs added.
Nationally, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.6 percent.

Nearly 1,800 high schoolers from rural America packed their suitcases and boarded airplanes and buses bound for Washington, D.C., to learn about the political process, meet elected officials and gained an up-close understanding of U.S. history as they toured numerous monuments and memorials and visited renown sites in and around the D.C. area.
It’s all part of the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour, and DREMC sent students from its coverage area to the event, which ran June 14-20 for Tennessee participants. With around 2,000 national participants, including 10 from DREMC’s service area, and about 250 are adult chaperones, this year’s Washington Youth Tour (WYT) brought unforgettable excitement and education to these young adults.
Scout Bryan and Melanie McKelvey attended the event from Coffee County.

A strong storm with straight-line winds passed through Coffee County Wednesday night causing power outages affecting approximately 3,500 members in the northeast part of the county. At least seven poles were broken, five of which were in a row, and damage was reported in several other areas.
With Duck River Electric Membership Corporation’s (DREMC) alternate line feeds, all but approximately 750 members were restored quickly. Pole replacements are time-consuming; therefore, extended outages remained for several hours.
DREMC brought in five contract construction crews immediately to aid in power restoration.
As of Thursday morning, about 200 DREMC members remained without power as crews continued to work to replace the fallen poles and downed lines.
Several trees were down, and cars damaged during the storm near Batesville Casket Company in Manchester.
Around 11:20 pm trees were reported down in the Ragsdale, Asbury, Old Woodbury and New Union areas.
At 12:55 am Thursday morning, Ragsdale Road was closed between New Hope Road and Wiser Road.
Duck River Electric Membership Corporation reported power lines down and the Coffee County Highway Dept. reported several broken poles.
No major injuries were reported.

In July of 2018, the body of a prominent Atlanta, GA attorney Gary Farris was found in a wooded area in Cherokee County, GA.
After several months of testing, it was determined by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that Harris had been shot. His body had been severely burned. At least one .380-caliber bullet was recovered from Farris’ body.
Farris’ wife, Melody Farris, 59, was arrested at the home of an acquaintance, in Tullahoma, TN on Tuesday night. She is charged with murder with malice, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and concealing the death of another.
Farris’ body was so badly burned that it was several weeks before GBI crime lab technicians could identify him.
She’s was housed at the Coffee County Jail until early Thursday morning when she was transported back to Georgia.

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Dunlap Police, and other local law enforcement need your help finding a Hamilton County man wanted for aggravated sexual battery and false imprisonment of a child.
The Dunlap Police Department says Jacky Wayne Bean is believed to be in the Dunlap-Sequatchie County area.
Bean was previously arrested and sentenced in 2017 after a deadly car chase in Grundy County. Bean was driving with 20-year-old Shelby Comer in the car when Grundy County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Holmes tried to make a traffic stop. Officials said Bean failed to stop and led a chase. The TBI reported that Grundy County Deputy Mike Holmes fired on the vehicle several times as Bean drove past, and one bullet hit and killed Comer.
Bean was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to felony reckless endangerment, this after he agreed to testify in a separate murder trial. Bean has agreed to testify, if necessary, in the state’s murder case against Daniel Chandler. Chandler is accused of killing his wife Samantha Kathleen Chandler. Her body was discovered in Grundy County.
Right now, officers with Dunlap Police, Grundy County Sheriff’s Office, and others have joined the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in searching for Bean.
If you have any information on Bean’s whereabouts, please notify the Sequatchie County 911 Center at 423-949-9912.