Category: News

Robert Arnold intake photo.

Former Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold is back in the news, this time he is asking President Donald Trump for a presidential pardon.
Former Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold sent a copy of his letter to the Daily News Journal. In the letter, Arnold says he’s a political prisoner who never took tax dollars in operating his JailCigs business. Prosecutors say he illegally profited from sales to inmates at the Rutherford County Jail in Murfreesboro. In the letter he asked President Trump, “Please pardon me,” claiming he is a political prisoner. He insists he did nothing wrong, that he never meant to break the law.
Arnold plead guilty to wire fraud and extortion for the illegal sale of e-cigarettes at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center. He is nearly halfway through his four-year sentence, behind bars in an Alabama federal prison.
Arnold plans to move back to Tennessee when he is released from prison.

A Tennessee mayor and his son have been charged with theft.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said agents alleged that the two men were responsible for theft through unlawful payment of wages from 71-year-old Smithville Mayor Jimmy Wayne Poss to his son, 50-year-old Anthony Wayne Poss, from August through March.
The mayor is charged with official misconduct, and both men are charged with theft over $2,500.
A DeKalb County grand jury indicted the men Monday, and they were arrested Tuesday. Bond was set, and online jail records indicate the men were not in custody Tuesday afternoon.

Gas prices declined for the tenth consecutive day on Sunday. Gas prices in Tennessee declined 2 cents during the past week. The average price for gasoline in Tennessee is $2.61 per gallon. Sunday’s state average was a half cent less than a month ago and 56 cents more than this time last year.
AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said although gas prices are lower, there is still volatility at the pump as gasoline demand remains high during the summer driving season and global supply concerns persist.
The national average price of gasoline declined 4 cents during the past week. Sunday’s average of $2.84 is 2 cents less than a month ago and 56 cents more than a year ago.
Gas prices are dropping in Coffee County this week. The low price per gallon in Manchester is $2.49 and in Tullahoma the price is down to $2.50.

Sylvia Ogle, 70, of Winchester, was killed after she and her husband were allegedly hit by a drunk driver in Bedford County late Saturday.
The driver of the other vehicle, Kyle Nevison, 24, of Chapel Hill was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide, DUI, simple possession of a Schedule VI drug and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The crash occurred on U.S. Highway 41 in Shelbyville just before midnight.
THP officials said Nevison, was pulling a boat behind his Chevrolet Silverado on the northbound side of Hwy. 41 when he swerved into oncoming traffic, striking Sylvia and Jerry Ogle head-on in their Ford Escape.
Jerry Ogle and Nevison were also injured in the accident.
Officials said a blood test revealed Nevison had both drugs and alcohol in his system at the time of the crash.

Coffee County young farmers AJ and Valerie Teal were named Tennessee Farm Bureau’s Outstanding Young Farmer and Rancher Achievement Award winners. The results were announced during the Tennessee Young Farmer Summer Conference held at the headquarter offices of the Tennessee Farm Bureau in Columbia, Tenn.
The young row crop and livestock farmers from the Morrison community competed against 13 other county contestants across the state to be named state winners and have the opportunity to compete for national honors in January.
AJ and Valerie won based upon farm growth, as well as their leadership on their farm, in their community and Farm Bureau. They farm 1,200 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat and run a small dairy herd. They also provide custom harvesting for local farmers.

A man and woman were arrested in Grundy County when deputies busted a meth lab over the weekend.
P.J. Thomas, 38, and Jonah Elaine Morris, 31, were arrested when deputies approached them in the parking lot of the Elk Meadow Apartment Complex.
Deputies found around 4 grams of meth, a handgun and an operational meth lab.
The Dangerous Drug Task Force helped contain the lab.
Both Thomas and Morris are charged with Promotion and Manufacturing of Meth and Possession, Sale & Delivery of Schedule II drugs.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips have released the statewide unemployment rate for June 2018 and it marked an entire year the jobless figure in Tennessee has been 3.5 percent or lower.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June is 3.5 percent, which is unchanged from the May 2018 figure. In a year-to-year comparison, the June rate is 0.1 of a percentage point lower than it was in 2017.
Throughout the last 14 months, Tennessee has continued to experience historically low unemployment. Since May 2017 the statewide unemployment rate has been at or below 3.8 percent. April 2017 was the last time Tennessee’s rate was at 4.0 percent.

The Tennessee Lottery says it had record sales last year.
The lottery said in a statement that it had gross total sales of $1.7 billion last fiscal year. The statement says it will return nearly $422 million to education programs, which is 9 percent more than the previous fiscal year.
The state had record sales for both instant tickets and drawing-style games such as Powerball. Lottery President Rebecca Hargrove says the results are “incredible” and help the state provide a strong foundation for education.
The Tennessee Lottery has generated more than $4.6 billion for education in the state since it began on Jan. 20, 2004.

Director of Coffee County Schools Transportation Tim Morris announced on Monday that this week is the deadline to sign up for bus service for Coffee County students. Parents can call 723-5157.
A new Facebook page has also been launched with more information on bus transportation for county schools.

https://www.facebook.com/Coffee-County-School-Bus-Garage-Manchester-TN-1950267001939007/