Category: News

A $13 million proposal to install cameras on school buses in order to catch drivers who properly fail to stop when students are being dropped off is advancing in Tennessee.
House members cleared the bill on Monday allowing school districts to purchase, install and operate cameras on the exterior of school buses. The bill must now pass the Senate.
Tennessee has an estimated 8,700 school buses. Installation costs are expected to be $1,500 per school bus.
According to a fiscal review, more than 1,100 illegal passes were observed by roughly 2,750 Tennessee bus drivers in a single day during the 2017-18 school year. However, overall statewide numbers are expected to be higher.
Supporters argue the bill’s $50 fine for violators could boost revenue to cover the cameras’ cost.

The Tennessee House has advanced a proposal that would keep the state on daylight saving time year-round.
House members voted 86-5 on Monday for legislation that would scrap the twice-annual time shift – but only if Congress first passes a federal law allowing states to observe daylight saving year-round and the proposal was later adopted by te Tennessee General Assembly. The bill must still pass the Senate.
Other states are considering similar conditional legislation. President Donald Trump also likes the idea of permanent daylight saving nationwide.
Daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday of March, when clocks move ahead by one hour to allow for more daylight in the evening and less in the morning. Clocks then move back an hour on the first Sunday in November.

A campaign designed to encourage people to use greater caution at railroad crossings has been relaunched.
The campaign – which costs $5.6 million and is called “Stop. Trains Can’t.” – is spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration.
According to a release from the Department of Transportation, 270 people were killed at railroad crossings alone. 99 of those deaths were after drivers attempted to go around lowered crossing gate arms, which USDOT points out that this is a ten-year high.
The number of people who have died while trying to cross railroad tracks over the last five years reaches 798.
The “Stop. Trains Can’t.” advertising runs through May 12. (WTVF-TV)

An already contentious voucher-like proposal took a dramatic turn in Tennessee as Republican leaders refused to acknowledge a vote spiking the proposal on the House floor and Senate leaders advocated for a drastically different version.
Tuesday’s action marked the latest evolution stemming from Gov. Bill Lee’s education savings account proposal – known as a voucher-style program allowing families to take public dollars to pay for private school tuition and other expenses.
In the House, Speaker Glen Casada refused to accept a vote tally spiking the voucher bill by just one vote. Instead, he held the floor for more than 30 minutes until a fellow Republican flipped his vote.
Casada’s action sparked outcry from Democrats, who argued the decision likely violated the state’s constitution.

According to Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott, Tullahoma Police Chief Paul Blackwell pled to a no contest (not admitting guilt) on Monday. This was in reference to tampering with evidence. Blackwell resigned his position from the City of Tullahoma and gave up his police certification.
He received a four-year sentence that is deferred, meaning he will serve that sentence on probation. He can have his record expunged if his record is clean after that period of time. District Attorney Craig Northcott had originally told WMSR News that Blackwell pled to Class C felony but later corrected that information:
Former Police Captain George Marsh who had resigned his position with the city earlier has now given up his certification and received no time.
An investigation continues into the now former police chief’s son that was involved in an automobile accident in the fall of 2018.

WMSR News reported earlier this month that the Roane County school board had selected Coffee County Director of Schools Dr. LaDonna McFall to be their next director.
On Monday afternoon the Coffee County School Board, on a 6-0 vote selected former Deputy Director Joe Pedigo as interim director. Esther Sims was absent from the meeting.
McFall will continue as director until May 9 and Pedigo will take over at that time. Pedigo will begin work on May 1 as deputy director until May 9 and then will become interim director. The length of his term will be on a month to month basis until the board selects the new permanent director.
McFall is in her seventh year as Director of Schools in Coffee County. Pedigo served over 40 years in the system before retiring with some of those as deputy director.

On Friday (April 26, 2019) James Richard McCoy, Jr., will be in court for a bond hearing. McCoy’s attorney Doug Aaron will be asking for a bond to be set. He has been housed with no bond at the Coffee County Jail since his arrest for 1st Degree Murder, Tampering with Evidence, Domestic Violence and Abuse of a Corpse.
On September 9, 2018, 46-year-old Lisa McCoy of Manchester was found deceased by Manchester Police. She had been shot several times at her home on Duck River Road. The woman’s husband, 54-year-old James Richard McCoy, Jr., was charged with the crime.