Category: News

With only a few weeks remaining, tnAchieves, the partnering organization that administers Governor Haslam’s Tennessee Promise in 84 counties, needs 4,500 more mentors to meet its goal of providing every Tennessee Promise applicant from the class of 2019 with a local support system.
tnAchieves asks mentors to give one hour per month to high school seniors as they transition from high school to college. The organization provides a one-hour training, a handbook and weekly communication to ensure the mentor is fully equipped to serve his/her students. The deadline to apply is November 30, 2018. The application can be found at www.tnachieves.org. For information on tnAchieves, contact Graham Thomas at 615.604.1306 or graham@tnachieves.org.

Murfreesboro will be the scene of Firehouse Expo 2018 National Conference taking place October 16-18, 2018. Firefighters from across the nation will be attending seminars in Murfreesboro and Nashville.
Several Middle Tennessee fire agencies are hosting hands-on training exercises this week as part of the Firehouse Expo 2018 National Conference. The exercises include live burns on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 16 and 17, at the Doug Young Public Safety Training Facility located at 701 Bridge Avenue.
Instructors from all over the United States will lead these courses. (WGNS Radio)

The new traffic signal at the intersection of Highway 41-A, Publix and William Northern Boulevard in Tullahoma will go into service at 9 a.m. Monday, October 15.
“Motorists are urged to be cautious at the intersection of 41-A and William Northern Boulevard in front of the new Publix where a new traffic signal is being turned on Monday, October 15,” said Tullahoma Police Chief Paul Blackwell.
The light is designed to alleviate traffic congestion at this intersection as the new Publix opens. The scheduled Publix opening date is October 31, according to Store Manager, Tim Hastings.
This is a temporary light, and a permanent light with cross walk and striping will be installed later in 2018.

Late last week, Moore County Deputy Dustin White conducted a traffic stop on Highway 50 near the Moore/ Lincoln line.
Deputy White began questioning the driver, and noticed the driver was acting suspicious. Deputy Jerod Bradford, K-9 Dabbs, along with Lt. Gary Tankersley came to assist in the stop. As the driver was being asked to step out of the vehicle he fled the scene and evaded the deputies at a high rate of speed. The driver eventually lost control of his motor vehicle and crashed just across the Lincoln County line.
Upon arriving at the crash scene, Deputies were unable to find the driver, as he had fled on foot. K-9 Dabbs was utilized to search for a scent on or about the vehicle and did alert the Deputies to the suspicion of Narcotics.
Upon further investigation, a short distance from the scene, Deputy Dustin White recovered a small duffle bag that he had seen in the vehicle during the initial traffic stop. The bag contained 212.5 grams of Methamphetamine “Ice” and drug paraphernalia.
The case is still under investigation, with charges pending.

A federal judge is hearing arguments in a class-action lawsuit that claims delays in processing TennCare applications have left thousands of low-income Tennesseans without timely access to medical care.
TennCare applicants testified in court in Nashville on Tuesday in a lawsuit that was originally filed in 2014 after the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. At the time, the state’s computer system was unable to handle a new method of determining TennCare eligibility.
Attorneys for the state say the problem is fixed and now less than 1 percent of applications are not resolved within the 45 or 90 days required by law, depending on the type of application.
Attorneys for TennCare applicants say the problem is ongoing and the court should order the state to respond to applications more quickly.

Manchester will be the home of River Romp to be held from 3-7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 13. The first-ever event will be held at Rotary Park and along the greenway in Manchester and will feature live art work, vendors selling their art, plus handmade arts and crafts. River Romp will feature food trucks, Yoga, acoustic music and more. Event partner L&H Distributing Company, Inc. will also provide a craft beer truck featuring some of Tennessee’s best craft beer.
Manchester’s Scott van Velsor and wife Kristin Luna put together the event to promote local artists. Luna explains more about River Romp;

River Romp is designed to be a fundraising vehicle for current and future mural installations in Manchester. Luna says the new mural is being designed under the bridge on the greenway. She said it should be completed during the event on Saturday.
Luna told us about the entertainment that will take place;

The event is free and open to the public. Folks are invited to bring lawn chairs, family and pets. Parking will be available at the Manchester Parks and Recreation Complex lot and overflow parking is also available at Fred Deadman Park.

Attention all Harry Potter fans out there, check out this FREE event that the Coffee Children’s Advocacy Center is putting on! This will be tons of fun for the little wizards in your family.
The School of Wizardry Fall Festival will take place on Saturday at the Church @ 117. All wizards and want to be wizards are invited to join all the fun from 1pm-4pm.
Admission is free for the School of Wizardry Fall Festival brought to you by the Coffee Children’s Advocacy Center.
The Church @ 117 is located at 117 East Fort St in downtown Manchester.
See the advertisement on the front page of our website for more information on the event.
The Children’s Advocacy Center provides forensic interviews of child victims, child and family advocacy services, mental health services, prevention services and partners with Our Kids to bring specialized medical exams to children who are victims of sexual abuse. All services are provided free of charge.

The 7th annual ONE DAY OF HOPE cc will also take place Saturday Oct. 13, 2018 at the Coffee County Fairgrounds from 9am-2pm.
ONE DAY OF HOPE cc is a day to reach out to our community in the name of Jesus to provide clothes, food, coats, shoes, various FREE services (medical/dental, haircuts, family portraits, groceries, etc).
Many volunteers will be on hand to assist people in various ways, such as helping to carry items for those in need or to just simply answer questions.

The trial of former Coffee County High School baseball coach Brad Weir will not take place as a plea agreement was agreed to between all parties on Wednesday. Weir was facing a 16-count indictment after being charged with having sex with a 15-year-old Coffee County student in 2015. He pled guilty to 3 counts. The arrangement means that Weir, age 47 could serve up to 8 years in state prison. Six years is to be served at 100 percent.
District Attorney Craig Northcott says Weir agreed to the charges of statutory rape by an authority figure, aggravated statutory rape, exploitation of a minor (possession of child pornography). Northcott statement:
Weir is also facing charges in Hamilton County after allegedly hitting a man with the car he was driving. Later that night Weir was being served an arrest warrant for the alleged aggravated assault. He was later charged with resisting arrest and assault of a police officer.
Weir has served the last five months in the Coffee County Jail. He will be transferred to state custody.

Vernita Davis, the current Election Administrator for Coffee County announced earlier this year that she would be retiring by the end of the year.
The Election Commission began to take applications for the job. During that time around 20 people applied with 5 being named finalist.
On Tuesday afternoon the commission of 5 people; Chairman Sandra Soesbe, Secretary Frances Powers and members Bill Bates, Emily Thoma along with Barbara Arp voted in a secret ballot to give the position to current Coffee County Government Purchasing Agent Andy Farrar.
Farrar will begin training before taking over as Election Administrator.