Category: News

The Manchester-Coffee County Conference Center is set to lose less money this fiscal year that last. The losses for 2017-18 were $366,692 and the losses for the conference center for 18-19 will be around $307,000 about $59,000 less. All expenses, including losses, are split between the Coffee County government and the City of Manchester.
January 2019 was a busy month, the center hosted 22 events, bringing in $54,404. This is over $15,000 more than expected. Year-to-date, the center has generated $420,324.
The Manchester-Coffee County Conference Center has been open since 2002 and has lost around $3 million in just under 17 years of operation.

A scam involving the United States Postal Service is circulating in Tennessee.
It’s asking residents to update their address in an attempt to steal information.
Jim Winsett of the Better Business Bureau says scammers have gotten more creative over the years.
People say they have been getting letters in the mail that appear to be from the post office telling them they need to update their mailing address.
The problem is there are two ways to file a change of address: online or in person at the post office.
The Postal Service says the first move should be to take the mail to the post office right away and have them look it at.
They can immediately bring this letter to the attention of their fraud department.
Postal workers encourage people to also reach out to U.S Postal Inspection Service if they receive or see any suspicious activity.

Two Tennessee lawmakers introduced a new bill that could affect abortion access across the state on Wednesday morning in Nashville.
The “Human Life Protection Act” is going to get a lot of attention in the halls of the state legislature.
The legislation would only go into effect if passed and if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Unlike previous bills, this one doesn’t challenge current law.
Four other states — Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota — already have similar laws on the books.

On Wednesday, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced the Future Workforce Initiative to increase science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) training in K-12 schools as part of his first-year legislative agenda for education.
“Our agenda advocates for increased access to career and technical education for K-12 students and a key part of this includes prioritizing STEM training,” said Lee. “The Future Workforce Initiative is a direct response to the emerging technology industry and making sure our students are first in line to be qualified for technology jobs.”
This investment in STEM-focused early college and career experiences supports the Tennessee Department of Education’s “Tennessee Pathways” Certification process, as well as the STEM School Designation partnership with groups like Tennessee STEM Innovation Network and Code.org.
The Future Workforce Initiative aims to put Tennessee in the top 25 states for job creation in the technology sector by 2022 through three areas of emphasis including:
1. Launching new CTE programs focused in STEM fields with 100 new middle school programs and tripling the number of STEM-designated public schools by 2022.
2. Growing the number of teachers qualified to teach work-based learning and advanced computer science courses through STEM teacher training and implementation of K-8 computer science standards.
3. Expanding postsecondary STEM opportunities in high school through increased access to dual credit, AP courses and dual-enrollment.
“58 percent of all STEM jobs created in the country are in computing but only 8 percent of graduates study computer science in college,” said Lee. “By exposing Tennessee students to computer science in their K-12 careers we are ensuring our kids have every chance to land a high-quality job.”
In his presentation to the legislature, the Governor will recommend a $4 million investment to implement the Future Workforce Initiative.

Motlow State Community College student Clair Mason, a sophomore from Tullahoma, was selected as an institutional finalist and invited to compete at the state level for the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) Outstanding Achievement & Recognition (SOAR) Student Excellence Award for community colleges in Tennessee.
Mason was nominated by Motlow State faculty and attended the Tennessee Leadership Training Institute in November. She becomes one of only three regional finalists selected from the Middle Regional Competition to advance to the state level.
The SOAR Regional competition was held Feb. 6 at TCAT Smyrna. She will compete at the state competition Wednesday, March 19, at the Doubletree Hotel in Nashville. Winners will be announced at the SOAR Awards Banquet on March 20.

Last week we reported that Coffee County Director of Schools Dr LaDonna McFall told the school board that she was seeking other job opportunities. Her contract runs until June of 2020.
This year’s evaluation committee has been formed. School board members serving this year are Shannon Duncan, Gary Nester and Pat Barton.
The evaluation will include leadership and culture, policy and governance, communications and community relations, organizational and human resources management, curriculum planning development, instructional leadership, and ethical leadership. Added to the evaluation process this year includes the district’s five-year plan and add in how well the director met specific goals in the plan.
The deadline for board members to have their evaluations completed by is March 1.

We have an update on an apparent homicide in Grundy County. Early Sunday morning around 12:20am Grundy County deputies were called to Lockhart Town Road in Coalmont. When they arrived, 38 year-old Bradford Orion Meeks of Coalmont was found shot to death.
Reports indicate an altercation at a residence led to the death of Meeks.
While information is limited, investigators for Grundy County and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation say that an argument had ensued on Saturday night between Meeks and his girlfriend Brandy Shrum at the residence. Meeks left the residence but returned a short time later and another argument ensued.
At some point during this argument, shortly after midnight, Shrum’s father, George “Junior” Byers arrived at the house. An altercation between Byers and Meeks took place leaving Meeks dead.
The investigation is ongoing, and no arrest has been made at this time.