Category: News

While live Christmas trees make people’s homes look and smell festive this time of year, they must also be handled with care.
Baylie Scott, assistant director of communications and marketing for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, says this year’s early Thanksgiving could be contributing to extra fire danger – because Christmas trees are being enjoyed longer in many homes. That means they’re drying out faster.
“Usually people put up their Christmas trees directly after Thanksgiving, which means they are up longer this year than they normally are,” she points out. “So, we want to remind consumers that if they have picked a live Christmas tree, to make sure that they are watering it every day. And once needles start to fall off when you touch it, it’s time to dispose of the tree.”
Scott adds it’s important to use decorations that are flame resistant or flame retardant. And she recommends placing trees or any type of decorations at least three feet from heat sources such as fireplaces, space heaters or heat vents.
Scott says not all holiday lights are of the best quality, so avoid overloading electrical outlets and if you burn candles, do so with caution.
In Tennessee over the last five years, candles have been the cause of almost 400 residential fires, eight deaths, 28 injuries and six firefighter injuries – resulting in $13 million in fire damages.
“Some people still decorate their Christmas trees with candles, and we want to remind people that that’s never a good idea,” Scott stresses. “We also want to remind people that are using candles as decorations to choose a sturdy place to put that, away from children and pets, so that they’re not easily knocked over.”
The Tennessee State Fire Marshal says it’s important to never leave holiday lights unattended and to turn off all Christmas lights and blow out candles when you leave or go to bed.

The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office has released a performance audit of the Tennessee Department of Education detailing many of the problems that led up to the difficulties in executing the spring 2018 TN Ready tests.
The online student assessment tests were plagued with numerous issues including login delays, slow servers, and software bugs.
The audit’s findings included the department’s lack of sufficient, detailed information on its work plan with Questar rendered it less effective as a monitoring tool to ensure Questar met all deadlines. Questar’s decision to make an unauthorized change to text-to-speech software contributed to the online testing disruptions. And a failure to track, document and provide status updates to districts to let them know when students’ tests would be recovered left districts unaware if their students completed the required tests.
The Comptroller’s Office presented its findings to the General Assembly’s Education, Health and General Welfare Joint Subcommittee of Government Operations in a meeting Wednesday.

The Sportsmen & Businessmen’s Charitable Organization (SBCO) has awarded over $10,000 to local educators across Coffee County, Manchester City, and Tullahoma City Schools through its Educational Enrichment Grant opportunity. SBCO’s Educational Enrichment Grant encourages local educators to submit innovative, outside-the -box opportunities for their students and schools that may encompass STEM, literacy, physical activity, social/emotional, to fine arts or career readiness. “This year’s selected recipients, through a highly competitive grant application cycle, represents our continued interest in and support of the outstanding work educators do for their students and our community,” said Carter Sain, SBCO President. This year’s grant recipients are as follows:
Coffee County Schools:

Coffee County Central High School
• Forensic Anthropology Skull & Bone Lab – Chris Little, Teacher
• Beauty Is In Giving Back Project – Cosmetology – Sandy Lewis, Teacher

• Just Cause Café Project – Lisa Wiggins James, Teacher
• Monarch STEM Butterfly Lab – Priscilla Van Tries, Teacher

Coffee County Middle School:
• Classroom Literacy Materials Library – Deb Wimberley, Teacher
Hickerson Elementary School
• School Wide STEM Program – Angela Rider, School Nurse/ STEM Coordinator

Manchester City Schools:

College Street Elementary
• STEM/ AV Program, Kent Barnard, Teacher
• Nashville Symphony Learning Field Trip, Allison Beachboard, Teacher

Westwood Elementary School
• ESL Project – Jennifer Raulston, Teacher
• STEM Program – Kathleen Roper, Teacher
• Zearn Headphones Project – Connie Rynd, Teacher

Tullahoma City Schools:

Jack T. Farrar Elementary School:

• Water Filtration Wellness Stations, Ashley Nutt
Bel Aire Elementary School
• Flexible Seating School Wide, April Norris, Principal

Since 1984, the Sportsmen & Businessmen’s Charitable Organization (SBCO) has been serving the Coffee County community through various philanthropic efforts. Those efforts include financial assistance to those in need with health, medical, dental, vision, food, education, transportation, shelter, and other expenses. In addition, they have successfully implemented several programs directed at assisting the children in our community.
For questions regarding this program or learning more about how to support the organization, please contact us at (931) 728-5048 or via email sbco1986@gmail.com

The Cabell County Sheriff’s Office in Huntington, W.Va. says a Manchester, TN man is facing charges following a stabbing earlier this week.
Jeffrey Meadows, 56, of Manchester, TN was charged with malicious assault and domestic battery, according to jail records.
Sheriff Chuck Zerkle said the stabbing happened about 2 a.m. Tuesday at a home on Hughes Branch Road in Huntington. Zerkle said Meadows was staying with the victim, Lowell Ward, 53, of Huntington, when the two got into an argument. Zerkle said Ward was stabbed multiple times and was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center.
His injuries are considered non-life threatening.
Meadows was taken to the Western Regional Jail. Story courtesy of (WCHS/WVAH)

Tennessee has made a new top 10 list, but this isn’t one we necessarily want to be on.
According to the study, the Volunteer State is ranked No. 8 in the country for most holiday thefts.
The study tallied the number of thefts committed in each state between Nov. 1 and Jan. 30 over the past five years. The numbers were obtained from the National Incident-Based Reporting System, which is maintained by the FBI.
Researchers then divided the tallies by each state’s estimated 2012 population to find the holiday theft rate per capita.
According to the study, Tennessee had an average of 67.7 thefts per 10,000 residents during the holiday season over the past five years.

Middle Tennessee Association of Realtors, in partnership with local real estate agencies across Coffee County, partnered together to host a coat drive for Coffee County, Manchester City, and Tullahoma City Schools.
Taylor Rayfield, Coordinator of Family Resource for Coffee County Schools said, “We appreciate the Middle Tennessee Association of Realtors, local real estate agencies, and members of the Coffee County community for rallying together to ensure every child in need has a warm coat this winter.”
To learn more on how to help students in need or donate warm coats to schools, contact Taylor Rayfield – Coffee County Schools – rayfieldt@k12coffee.net; Leslie Brasfield – Manchester City Schools – lbrasfield@k12mcs.net; or Gina Bumbalough – Tullahoma City Schools – gina.bumbalough@tcsedu.net.

Employees of the second shift at Fischer USA Group in Manchester donated to Coffee County Schools Family Resource Center to assist students and families in need during the holiday season. “We are grateful for the support and generosity from Fischer USA Group employees. A true testament of our community going above and beyond to take care of our students and families in need right here at home,” said Taylor Rayfield, Coordinator of Family Resource for Coffee County Schools.
Coffee County Schools Family Resource Center exists to address the problems with the home and community environments which impede or create barriers to a child’s ability to learn and grow successfully. Coffee County Schools Family Resource Center provides educational support, resources, and programs that strive to engage and empower families.
For more information on how you can get involved or contribute to the program that is aiding students and families in need, contact Taylor Rayfield at (931) 222-1066 or rayfieldt@k12coffee.net.

Evans Baird, age 79, of Manchester, who is out of jail because he agreed to the bond conditions, faced another battle in court this week in Coffee County.
Baird served as band director for 30 years at Westwood Junior High, now Westwood Middle School, in Manchester.  He has been charged with one count of aggravated sexual battery against a 12-year-old. That is a Class B felony in the state of Tennessee.
Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott says Baird broke his bond condition on December 9. According to a motion filed by the DA’s office, Baird was found to be present at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Tullahoma where one of his alleged minor victims was present. Further, the State says that Baird knew or should have known that one or more of his victims would be present at the church as they are regular attendees. In a separate incident on the same date, December 9, 2018, Baird attempted to contact one of the victims’ mother, and she reported the incident to Manchester Police.
In a hearing this week, the district attorney office presented several witnesses, and the defendant testified on his own behalf. After hearing the evidence, the court refused to revoke Baird’s bond. Instead, he was placed on a GPS monitor at Baird’s expense. Under this agreement, Baird cannot have any direct or indirect contact with any witness or other person associated with this case. He is not to be at any school, church or park. The condition that he have no contact with anyone under the age of 18 also continues. Judge Jere Ledsinger strongly warned Baird to comply with these conditions or be subject to the full penalty of law should they be violated.
Baird continues to be free because of the original bond and conditions.

Donald M. McCoy, 52, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was arrested Friday by federal and state agents and charged with two counts of healthcare fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee.
According to the criminal complaint, McCoy is a licensed psychologist by the State of Tennessee and is an authorized TennCare provider who provides individual psychotherapy and family psychotherapy services to patients—usually minors—in the care of the Department of Children’s Services (“DCS”). The complaint alleges that between January 2014 and December 7, 2018, McCoy billed for more hours of services than can physically be provided in any given day and received over $2.16 million from TennCare based on those claims.
The complaint alleges that an investigative analysis conducted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation determined that on multiple occasions, McCoy submitted claims for psychotherapy services that totaled more than 24 hours per day, some even exceeding 48 hours and 72 hours per day.
If convicted, McCoy faces up to 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine on each count.