Category: News

Will the Manchester-Coffee County Conference Center (MCCCC) be sold? Some people have voiced that opinion for a long time because the center has had financial troubles for many years.
In a twist that some leaders did not see coming, County Mayor Gary Cordell wants to see if the City of Manchester would take on the center. Question is, who makes the decision to sell?
According to the agreement signed in November of 2000 between Coffee County and Manchester the two parties agreed to fund on an equal basis the construction and operation of the conference center. According to the contract, upon completion of the construction, “legal title to the real property, improvements located thereon, and the personal property located within the conference center shall be transferred to and vest to the Public Building Authority.” The 2018 audit report on the PBA, completed by the Winchester accounting firm of Bean, Rhoten & Kelly, PLLC, also states “the PBA owns and operates” the center.
If the city did buy out the county’s portion, Manchester would take on all debt and that did not go over well with some city leaders.
One alderman stated that the city should sell to the county. One said schools are more important because of the growth inside the city.
Mayor Cordell has said that he believes Manchester, in time, would have more opportunity to make money on the center than the county ever would.
Some other county officials say Manchester benefits from the MCCCC because of the hotel-motel tax collections. The county does not have a hotel-motel tax in place at this time. The county is attempting to implement such a tax, but it would be on hotel and motels outside the city limits of Manchester and Tullahoma.
WMSR News will continue to update you on the ever-growing saga of the MCCCC.

 

Shelbyville Police report that one of two men charged with robbing a Shelbyville convenience store last week is a convicted murderer.
Leslie Lamont Coleman, 51, and Deontre Farris, 18, who share a Landers Street apartment, were arrested Wednesday by Detective Lt. Charles “Chucky” Merlo and Detective Cody Swift of the Shelbyville Police Department. The suspects allegedly robbed the Circle K convenience store, Madison Street and Wartrace Pike, at knifepoint around 1 a.m. last Monday.
Coleman is on parole after being found guilty of first-degree murder and especially aggravated robbery in 1991 in Nashville. The Nashville incident is similar to this week’s robbery in Shelbyville.

Coleman, then 23, and his stepbrother, Kenneth Robinson Jr., then 17, robbed several businesses in the Harding Mall-Nolensville Road area of Nashville in the summer and fall of 1990, according to reports in The Tennessean’s archives.
The 1990 victim had given the men free sandwiches before they shot her to death, hid her body in the store and left in her car with less than $100 in cash, a similar amount to that taken last week in Shelbyville. (Shelbyville Times-Gazette)

The Tennessee Department of Education says that 76.1 percent of the state’s public high school class of 2019—53,478 students—participated in the department’s third ACT Senior Retake opportunity in October 2018, the state’s highest participation rate on record. Of those seniors who retook the ACT in 2018, more than 50 percent increased their composite score from their junior year score, a 10.2 percent point increase from 2017. Also, the average ACT composite score increased by 0.5 points for students who took the ACT during their junior year and through the ACT Senior Retake in 2018.
Additionally, 3,825 seniors raised their composite score to a 21 or higher, allowing them to access more than $61 million in HOPE Scholarship funds that provide each student up to $16,000 to help pay for college in Tennessee. This number is up from 2,333 students in 2017.
The 2018 ACT retake also resulted in more students hitting the ACT college-readiness benchmarks across-the-board in each of the four tested subject areas: math, English, science, and reading.

Girl Scouts in Middle Tennessee are learning important life lessons about goal setting, decision-making, money management, people skills, and business ethics as they take part in the 2019 Girl Scout Cookie Season.
The Girl Scout Cookie Program is the largest financial investment in girls annually in the United States and teaches entrepreneurship for the next generation of female leaders. Girls from kindergarten until 12th grade learn about developing a successful business and reaching their goals.
With 100% of the net proceeds staying local, Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee (GSMIDTN) is able to do amazing things in the community. Girl Scouts can use their proceeds to attend summer camp or take part in exciting Girl Scout Programs. They also give back to the community by donating food to local food shelters, purchasing toys for animal shelters, or create essential bags for the homeless.
GSMIDTN is able to maintain camps and properties and reach girls in hard-to-serve areas with the help of the Girl Scout Cookie Program.
Girl Scout Cookie sales began on December 26 and you can find Girl Scout Cookie Booths near you from February 3 until March 3. Prices will range from $3.50 to $5 per box.

Last month the Coffee County Compensation and Personnel Committee brought up an issue concerning a policy about nepotism. Members discussed the possibility of doing away with the policy.
During the most recent meeting of the committee, they voted to keep the nepotism policy but add a section of a wavier in certain situations.
Member and County Commissioner Joey Hobbs said that he wanted to keep the policy, but he thought the county should add a section to the employee manual that would allow for an exemption to the nepotism policy for an individual with unique skills and qualifications. That suggestion was approved.
Current employees that have already disclosed relationships that could potentially create a conflict of interest and have received prior approval to work will not be affected by the change.

Special Agents with the Drug Investigation Division of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation were part of a multi-agency arrest round-up in Franklin County this week that resulted in the arrest of 12 people on a variety of drug-related charges.
On January 7th, the Franklin County Grand Jury returned indictments charging multiple people with a variety of charges stemming from incidents from 2017 through 2018. This week, TBI Agents joined law enforcement officers with the Middle Tennessee Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, the Winchester Police Department and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department in locating and arresting twelve of those people.
Among the individuals who were arrested and charged as a result of the indictments:
• Brandon Joe Padget (DOB 02/21/1996), Winchester
• Jason Ray Clark (DOB 04/10/1981), Winchester
• Steve Wayne Francis (DOB 09/09/1957), Decherd
• Jason R. Hunt (DOB 12/27/1982), Decherd
• Justin Ray George (DOB 06/28/1984), Decherd
• Mary Jane Yates (DOB 11/09/1990), Estill Springs
• Timothy Campbell (DOB 04/13/1989), Winchester
• Ruth A. Crain (DOB 11/21/1960), Winchester
• Chadwick Michael Baker (DOB 07/26/1983), Belvidere
• Adam Gifford (DOB 10/10/1991), Belvidere
• Matthew Christopher Roden (DOB 07/31/1979), Estill Springs
• Laquisha Reshawn Calleja (DOB 11/05/1981), Tullahoma

The Tennessee man federal prosecutors say was the ringleader in a conspiracy to burglarize nearly 70 pharmacies across 11 states over a five-year period, including two in Corbin, Kentucky, and several in Tennessee, was sentenced to seven years in prison on Tuesday.
Robert Nunley, of Tracy City pleaded guilty in March to two counts of burglary of a pharmacy and one count of conspiracy to distribute Schedule II controlled substances, to include oxycodone.
Based on the results of the investigation, which took into account multiple factors including his criminal history, and the nature and circumstances of the offense, the federal sentencing guidelines set a sentencing range of 78 to 98 months for Nunley.
The federal judge noted that while Nunley had no extended criminal history and no history of violence, the nature of the crime and its effect reached far beyond the business owners.
Nunley received credit for the time he has served while awaiting the outcome of the case.

Experience the spectacular celestial event of a Super Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse and take a midnight hike through the ancient Native American ceremonial mounds located at Old Stone Fort in Manchester. This will be the first and only lunar eclipse of 2019 and the last one to grace the skies of the US until 2022. Join the park to learn about the occurrence and science of lunar eclipses and how the Native Americans who once inhabited this area may have interpreted this event. You’ll hike along the 1.25 mile Enclosure Trail stopping from time to time to examine the progress of the moon as it becomes eclipsed by Earth’s shadow. As the hike continues participants are asked to come prepared by wearing clothing appropriate for the weather, closed toed shoes and to bring a flashlight. Please feel free to arrive early to witness the eclipse in its entirety.
Ranger Leigh Gardner tells us more:

Cost is $10 and children six and under are free.
Penumbral eclipse begins Sunday January 20th at 8:40pm, Partial eclipse begins 9:30pm, Full eclipse begins 10:40pm.

Congratulations to Student of the Week -Hayden Garr!!! Hayden, the son of Darryl Collins and Allison Collins is an eighth grader at Coffee County Middle School. Hayden’s favorite subject his social studies, because he loves history. Hayden is quite the athlete. He plays basketball for CCMS as a forward. Hayden is 3rd baseman for the CCMS baseball team and has already received college offers for baseball. Hayden hopes to one day have a Major League Baseball contract.
Rosalyn Partin, owner of the Manchester H&R Block, has been inspired to recognize great kids in our community all through hockey season. What does hockey season have to do with our local students? Well, H&R Block gives each Student of the Week a set of Nashville Predators Hockey tickets, a commemorative plaque, as well as a special letter of recognition.
Pictured with Hayden is Rosalyn Partin of H & R Block and Coffee County Middle School Vice Principal, Eric Keith.

An earthquake shook an area near Shelbyville Tuesday night around 8:30pm
According to the United States Geological Survey, the quake hit 13 km east of Shelbyville.
The nighttime quake was a 2.8 magnitude. Multiple people reported to the USGS that they felt the quake including people in Tullahoma, Manchester and Winchester.
No reports of damage have been made.
This comes a little over a month after a 4.4 magnitude earthquake in Decatur. According to the National Weather Service office in Morristown, the largest earthquake on record in East Tennessee was a magnitude 4.7 near Maryville in 1973.