Category: News

On Saturday, Coffee County Sheriff Deputy Larry McKelvey responded to a call of hogs running at large and damaging property on Old Murfreesboro Road. Deputy McKelvey attempted to make contact with anyone at the residence but was unable to locate any subjects on the property. Later in the day at approximately 2:45pm, Deputy McKelvey again attempted to make contact with the resident and observed a subject walking on the property. McKelvey talked to man that advised he was a friend of the neighbor and was there to locate the hogs as well.
As Deputy McKelvey was walking next to a dark green metal building located behind the main residence, he smelled something that was similar to the smell of marijuana. Deputy McKelvey called Sergeant Stephen Sharketti to the scene and he confirmed the same. Deputy McKelvey retrieved his K-9, Yoshi from his patrol vehicle. The K-9 indicated a positive alert. The nearby home was determined to be unoccupied.
Investigator Brandon Reed arrived, and he said he also smelled marijuana.
A search warrant was issued and executed. Investigator James Sherrill cut the lock on the building and sheriff personnel entered. Inside the building they located three grow rooms, one with 33 marijuana plants, grow lights, 20″ circulation fans, water lines, sifting screens, electronic scales, fertilizers, PH chemicals, black plastic plant containers, intricate electric panels, transformers, and a humidity trough. The rooms were lined with foam insulation, sealed joints and air intake ducts.
In plain view inside the building was a Chevy Camaro and Sergeant Sharketti located a one-gallon sprayer and an oil extract and a natural organic pest control product consistent with marijuana grow operations. The vehicle was also seized.
The marijuana plants were secured and transported to the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department and submitted to evidence. Other items associated with the marijuana grow were inventoried, transported and secured.
Sheriff Steve Graves said he was really proud of McKelvey’s response. Sharketti added, “If you smell it, investigate it.”
The street value of the marijuana is valued at over $100,000.

Saturday night the A.T.F and an Army E.O.D team were called to Tracy City, TN due to two WWII mortar rounds being found. The mortar rounds were within close proximity to a roadway and walking trail.
Upon arriving, the Army E.O.D looked over the mortars and discovered that due to the condition of the items that they needed to be destroyed and could not be transported safely. The mortars were removed and taken to a designated area for safety and were destroyed.

Many veterans fought to protect their country on foreign soil, and now it’s their homeland they want to protect.
According to the Vet Voice Foundation, the Land and Water Conservation Fund helps keep the outdoors open to everyone and especially is important for veterans who use the land as a place to recover after their service. However, it will expire at the end of September if Congress doesn’t vote to reauthorize it.
Paul Eaton, a retired Army major general and managing director of Vet Voice, said the LWCF has protected parts of the Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge, Chickamauga National Military Park and more. He said these are places where all Americans can recuperate.
“A way that is at once inexpensive and very efficient to deal with a stressor, to work your way through a personal problem, is through introspection and in an environment where you see just how beautiful life can be,” he said.
The program receives funding from energy-company royalties paid for oil and gas drilling. Funds also are used to build playgrounds, trails, parks, swimming pools, urban bike paths, soccer fields and more. More than 41,000 projects have been supported by the fund since its creation in 1965, including at least $81 million for Tennessee.
Eaton said he learned how to swim in a pool funded by the LWCF. He praised the program for facilitating outdoor activities for kids and said Congress has a chance to continue to help young people if the program is reauthorized.
“They have in their hands the opportunity to instate, in permanence and full funding, an instrument that has helped more young Americans become better citizens than any other instrument that I can think of for a high return on investment,” he said.
Funds also have helped preserve historic military sites, battlefields and monuments.
More information about the foundation is online at vetvoicefoundation.org.

Forecasts indicate that Tuesday’s temperatures will be one of the hottest afternoons of the month. Projected afternoon highs could produce a monthly peak for Duck River Electric Membership Corporation.
The electric co-op plans to activate Beat the Peak™ and implement other power conservation measures to lower the impact of spiking Tennessee Valley Authority wholesale rates during the hour of greatest demand. The cost of electricity purchased by DREMC can increase to almost $10 per kilowatt-hour during peak.
The Beat the Peak™ alert window on Tuesday, August 7 is from 4:00 – 6:00 PM.
The peak alert doesn’t mean there is a power supply emergency. It is a reminder that high demand increases the cost of wholesale power and affects what DREMC must pay TVA.
When the peak period has passed, normal electricity use can resume.

Taylor Byford age 21 of North Polk St in Tullahoma was arrested on Friday for aggravated sexual battery and assault.
Tullahoma Police Officer Jason Maloney responded to a disturbance call on East Moore Street. According to the arrest warrant, several witnesses told the officer that the Byford had kissed a 12-year-old male and then the victim hit the woman. The warrant goes onto to state that witnesses said Byford then hit the victim in the face. The officer was told the female left the area. The witnesses told the officer the woman’s name, gave a clothing and vehicle description, and the direction of travel.
Another officer stopped the vehicle on an unrelated traffic stop. Officer Maloney recognized the name of the subject. When Maloney arrived at the scene he said the female was dressed as the witnesses had described. The officer talked with the subject and she admitted to being at the location on East Moore Street. Byford reportedly told the officer that no kiss occurred, but the juvenile had hit her, and she left. She also apparently denied hitting the juvenile.
Byford was booked in at the Coffee County Jail under a bond of $27,500 and her court date is August 23, 2018.

Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott was recently selected by the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference to be a member of that’s group’s legislative committee. This group advises the Tennessee General Assembly of laws and issues, concerning criminal justice and public safety that are being considered by the General Assembly. This is the second year that Northcott has been asked to serve on the committee.
The D.A. tells us more about the group’s duties.

Northcott was chosen to be the chairman of the Capital Punishment committee. They are tasked to review the laws that would impact the death penalty. The D.A. explains.

Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference is set for their yearly meeting in June of 2019.

With schools now open again, motorists in school zones should be aware that talking on a cell phone with the device in hand is now illegal in an active school zone.
That not only includes talking on a phone, but texting or reading texts
The law states that it’s an offense – Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $50 – for a person to knowingly operate a motor vehicle in any marked school zone in this state, when a warning flasher or flashers are in operation, and talking on a hand-held mobile telephone while the vehicle is in motion.
However, the offense is not committed if the telephone is equipped with a hands-free device, for drivers 18 years of age and older.
A driver under age 18 is breaking the law talking either using a hands-free or handheld phone while driving through an active school zone.

DREMC Director voting for Zone 5 including Marshall and Giles counties will begin Monday, August 13, in the contested election for a seat vacated with the retirement of Kenneth Stacey, who has served on the DREMC board for 15 years.
The DREMC Nominating Committee has named two candidates to fill the vacated seat of Stacey: Will Wilson and Lyn Stacey. Only co-op members residing in these counties may cast ballots.
Three sitting directors were unopposed in this election cycle. They include Brent Willis, Zone 1 (Coffee and Warren counties); Nelson Crouch, Zone 2 (Franklin, Grundy and Marion counties) and Wayne Tucker, Zone 4 (Bedford and Rutherford counties).
Election results will be announced Saturday, August 18 during the 2018 Duck River EMC Annual Membership Meeting at the Manchester Coffee County Conference Center. Registration starts at 8:30 a.m. with the business session scheduled for 9:30 a.m.