Category: News

A crash on Monday night injured the female driver of the only vehicle involved.
The woman was injured after her vehicle went off the road and hit an outbuilding at a residence in the 2000 block of Turkey Creek Drive near Tullahoma on Monday night.
According to reports, the vehicle was traveling on Linda Lane going through the intersection and off Turkey Creek Drive, hitting the building behind a home.
Since the location was inside Franklin County, their deputies and the North Franklin County Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene.
The unidentified woman was taken to Harton Hospital for treatment of her injuries.

At the direction of President Donald J. Trump, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced on Wednesday a plan to ensure that low-income families in Coffee County and throughout the country have access to the nutrition they need. The plan provides full benefits for participants in USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for the month of February.
When USDA’s funding expired on December 21, 2018, SNAP benefits for January were fully funded. States have already received that money and have been distributing it to participants. Since the lapse in appropriations, USDA has been reviewing options available to the department for funding February benefits without an additional appropriation from Congress.
To protect SNAP participants’ access for February, USDA is working with states to issue February benefits earlier than usual. USDA will rely on a provision of the just-expired Continuing Resolution (CR), which provides an appropriation for programs like SNAP and child Nutrition to incur obligations for program operations within 30 days of the CR’s expiration. USDA will be reaching out to states to instruct them to request early issuance of SNAP benefits for February. States will have until January 20th to request and implement the early issuance. Once the early issuances are made, the February benefits will be made available to SNAP participants at that time.
USDA has also ensured the other major nutrition assistance programs have sufficient funding to continue operations into February. The child nutrition programs, including school meals and after-school programs have funding available to continue operations through March. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) has prior year funding which USDA will begin to provide states this week to facilitate February benefits. Other FNS programs, which provide critical assistance to our nation’s food banks, the elderly, and Tribal nations, may continue to utilize grant funding provided prior to the lapse in appropriations. Commodity deliveries to those programs will continue.

Out of 100 restaurants across the country, the review website, Yelp, listed two Tennessee restaurants as two to try.
In its 6th annual restaurant review, the Mountain Goat Market in Monteagle was listed number 51 in the top 100 in the country. Nick’s Grill in Pulaski was also listed at number 64.
The list is comprised of eateries from across the US that were so highly ranked by users that they earned the status of “must try this year.”

The lineup for the 2019 edition of Bonnaroo was released Tuesday, and as usual, it boasts a diverse set of acts and artists spanning a wide array of tastes and styles.
Nashville’s iconic Grand Ole Opry gets top billing in the multi-day event on night number 1, Thursday June 13.
Other performers include the Maren Morris, Avett Brothers, Phish will headline Friday and two shows on Sunday June 16. Other performers include Cardi B, Post Malone, Trampled by Turtles, The Lonely Island, Childish Gambino, Kacey Musgraves and John Prine.

A man wanted in Franklin County and suspected of stealing an expensive truck from Grundy County has been arrested in Marion County.
35-year-old Nicholas Brady was taken into custody Monday in Monteagle, the city’s police department said.
According to Monteagle police, Brady was wanted on at least one active warrant in Franklin County and, at some point, he reportedly stole a flatbed work truck with a crane, valued at more than $100,000, from a location in Tracy City.
Brady was transported to the Grundy County jail.
Brady is charged with theft of property, but his bond is unknown at this time.

Tennessee lawmakers have officially voted in their top legislative leaders to oversee the House and Senate for the next two years.
On Tuesday, House Republicans and a small handful of Democrats elected Rep. Glen Casada as the chamber’s next speaker. He replaces outgoing Speaker Beth Harwell.
Over in the Senate, Randy McNally was elected as speaker. The Oak Ridge lawmaker first became speaker in 2017.
Former Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris – who is now a federal judge in Memphis – swore in McNally as speaker and the members who were voted in last election.
Rush Bricken who takes over as our local state representative for Coffee County and a small portion of Warren County was also sworn in.
Tuesday marked the first day of the 111th General Assembly, where lawmakers were sworn in and other top legislative leaders were elected.

The Tennessee Coalition To End Domestic and Sexual Violence is working with lawmakers to file a bill ending the statute of limitations for felony sex offenses.
Executive Director Kathy Walsh says the coalition’s goal is to remove any statute of limitation for felony sex offenses. Currently, felony sex offenses must be reported within three years for the statute of limitations to be removed. If not, certain offenses have ‘expiration dates’ on how long a victim has to seek prosecution.
Such offenses include rape, aggravated rape, rape of a child, sexual battery by an authority figure, indecent exposure, and public indecency.
Walsh says the current draft of legislation was spawned from previous work with lawmakers on Tennessee’s rape kit backlog. While rape victims who report to hospitals can have the kit turned over to law enforcement, not every victim might do so. Some of the victims could be experiencing trauma, shock, fear, or other reasons to not have the kit turned over.
In these instances, the victim can have the kit stored with a number and not their names. The kits are then stored for a minimum of three years. This hold period is another issue where the coalition wants to see time barriers removed. Walsh says, “Given advances in DNA testing if the evidence is there, there should be no statute of limitations.”

The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development unveiled its official 2019 Tennessee Vacation Guide on Tuesday. Designed to inspire travel, the magazine-style guide features 194 pages of Tennessee’s music, scenic beauty, creative spirit, culinary excellence and history is distributed to nearly 500,000 visitors annually.
The hand-illustrated cover depicts a quilt with the seven styles of music that call Tennessee home: blues, bluegrass, country, gospel, rockabilly, soul and rock ‘n’ roll. The so-called quilt represents the historical impact of music throughout the state and is a nod to the recently launched Tennessee Music Pathways. In Tennessee, nearly every city, town and hamlet has a musical connection and story to tell; a birthplace, iconic radio station, museum, still-thriving venue, festival, a studio, a home or resting place.
The guide also offers insight into Tennessee’s growing food scene, the important historical journey along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, adventures on water, making memories in a top-five destination nationally for weddings and a perfect place for family reunions, family-friendly experiences and driving tours throughout the state’s 95 counties on the Discover Tennessee Trails & Byways. Stunning photography and noted writers profile the places, people and events that attract more than 113 million visitors to Tennessee each year.
The 2019 Vacation Guide is available for free at any of Tennessee’s 16 Welcome Centers and can also be ordered or downloaded online at www.tnvacation.com.

According to Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott, Tullahoma Police Chief Paul Blackwell and Captain George Marsh were placed on administrative leave on Monday by City of Tullahoma Administrator Jennifer W. Moody.
A news release from the City of Tullahoma states that the city has begun an internal investigation into the police department management. As a result of this investigation, Police Chief Paul Blackwell and Captain George Marsh have been placed on administrative leave with pay until further notice.
This internal investigation is not related to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s (TBI) ongoing investigation. Any action regarding the internal investigation is considered a personnel matter and cannot be discussed until due process. The investigation is not considered complete until any potential disciplinary actions and appeal processes have been exhausted. As a result, we cannot provide any further information at this time.
The Acting Police Chief is Lieutenant Jason Ferrell, who has been with the Tullahoma Police Department for thirty years.
In the case unrelated to this issue, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has been investigating a complaint involving alleged official misconduct at the department.
TBI confirmed to WMSR News that at the request of 14th District Attorney General Craig Northcott, TBI Agents began an investigation.
The complaint stems from the department’s handling of an investigation of a motor vehicle crash involving Chief Blackwell’s son in November.
When information is released concerning the reason for the two men being placed on administrative leave, we will have that information on our radio news and website.