Category: News

The Coffee County Sheriff’s Department is seeking information from anyone who has bought any utility trailers, lawnmowers, tools or any other related items from Anthony Tyrone Dalton. Dalton has allegedly been driving a stolen Ford F-350 truck. The truck was reported as stolen from Antioch, TN.
The sheriff’s department and several surrounding law enforcement agencies are working active theft cases allegedly involving Dalton and his sons.
If you have any information that might help authorities, contact Coffee County Sheriff’s Department Investigator James Sherrill at 931-570-4404 or jsherrill@coffeecountytn.gov.

Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma), co-sponsor of legislation to allow Tennesseans to receive medical cannabis under the care of a physician and pharmacist, expressed her continued support for the medical benefits it will provide. Bowling made the statement after testimony critical of the bill was heard by the Senate Health and Welfare Committee from law enforcement officials.
“This legislation is about arming doctors and patients with an effective tool to treat a range of medical conditions and increase Tennesseans’ quality of life to successfully manage pain without the use of opioids,” said Sen. Bowling. “Opioids are highly addictive and are deadly. We were not in the committee to talk about the marijuana industry. We were there to present a bill on medical cannabis that will bring positive, life-altering treatment to people who are suffering. For them to conflict and conflate the two different issues and then to accuse lawmakers who support this bill of being untruthful, is inaccurate.”
Bowling added, “Studies published by the American Medical Association found states with medical marijuana programs experience nearly a 25 percent drop in opioid-related deaths. The opioid epidemic is a health crisis and medical cannabis bill can help combat it. The polls establish over 80 percent of Tennesseans want medical cannabis and we are elected to act on their behalf. I look forward to seeing this bill back before the committee this week and will continue to wholeheartedly support its passage.”

The Sportsmen and Businessmen Charitable Organization (SBCO) donated $10,000 to Coffee County and Manchester City Schools Family Resource Center. “It is a mission of SBCO’s to support programs that directly assist the children in our community. We are proud to contribute to Coffee County Schools’ Family Resource Center’s ‘Coffee County Student Expo’ program and Manchester City Schools’ Family Resource Center’s ‘WeCare’ program. Both are outstanding student support initiatives that continually address the barriers hindering the social, personal, physical, and academic well-being of students,” said Carter Sain, SBCO President. The Sportsmen and Businessmen’s Charitable Organization has been serving the Coffee County community for 36 years.

An indictment was handed down Friday in connection with the murder of 33 year-old Darius Michael “Reese” Bishop. Bishop was shot to death the night of January 11th, 2019 at his home on Lind Street in McMinnville.
The Warren County Grand Jury has issued indictments against James Wells Jr. Wells faces charges of first-degree murder, especially aggravated robbery, four counts of aggravated assault and aggravated burglary. Wells has been taken into custody and is being held under a $1.1 million bond.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says the state will temporarily revert to paper assessments for elementary and secondary students next school year.
Testing for this year begins Monday (April 8) in some schools. They will be using the online version of the test as scheduled. Lee’s office said in a news release that 100% of districts reported they met the criteria for technical readiness to give the online assessment.
This is the last year with the current vendor. Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn said in the news release that using paper testing for one year will give the new vendor time to make sure the staff is in place and the assessment is ready.
The release said legislative leaders expressed support for the move.
The online test experienced widespread delays last year, causing some districts to cancel testing.

Tennessee lawmakers have signed off on a $40 million proposal to improve school safety.
The bill sailed through the House and Senate on Thursday. It now heads to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk for his signature, where it’ll almost assuredly get his approval because his administration pitched the idea.
According to the bill, the funding would be distributed as safety grants to help pay for school resource officers and other priorities. Schools would provide matching funds to get grants.
Despite the support, multiple lawmakers have noted the money allocated is not enough to fund a school resource officer at all of Tennessee’s roughly 1,800 schools.
In Tennessee, $10 million was already budgeted for school safety for the upcoming fiscal year. Lee’s plan adds an additional $30 million to that amount.

Earlier this week some misleading information was making its way around social media (FaceBook) and door hangers on homes about the quality of the water in Manchester. Randal Braker who is the Duck River Utility Commission general manager was on WMSR’s Lunch & Learn program talking about the misleading information and said the pictures being shown are not those of pipes the water system uses. He says that the people doing this are wanting you to call for a free water test at your home. Braker says that someone will show up at your home and try make you believe they are performing a chemical test. After the test, he says this company will mislead you to think something is wrong with the water. Braker says what they are really wanting you to do is to buy a water filtration system for your home that could cost as much as $5,000. He says there is no problem with the drinking water in the area they serve, and the costly filtration system is not needed. Braker stated that to say there is a problem with the water in Manchester is ridiculous. The water received a perfect score from the state on the quality report. He said the water supplied by the Duck River Utility Commission has won awards, even from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and won an award for excellence for the entire southeastern United States.
Braker also provided the following information:
The Duck River Utility Commission can be contacted at (931) 455-6458.