Category: News

The Grundy County school board voted to part ways with Director of Schools Jessie Kinsey on Friday night.
The board voted 5-3 in favor of buying out Kinsey’s contract at a price of $105,000.
The system has been dealing with several issues since June of 2017. Kinsey and former board member Robert Foster filed a defamation of character and intentional inflection of emotional distress lawsuit against board member Kasey Anderson in June. Anderson herself has been arrested three times since June.
Tension among board members rose in October after investigators charged five Grundy County High School football players with attempted rape. The coach was let go and after several months a new coach was named.
In November, board member Chris Grooms said that someone may have mishandled money at the concession stand of football games.
Someone then spray painted Grooms’ truck and poured cooking oil in its gas tank.
Also, former school bus driver Terri Tate is suing the Grundy County School Board and Director of Schools Jessie Kinsey. She says she was not paid a promised bonus. Tate is the mother of Kasey Anderson.
School board chairperson, Phyllis Lusk says that another special meeting will be held on Tuesday to discuss who will be the Interim Director.

Investigators with the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office were contacted on Thursday (May 17, 2018) by the student resource officer at Shelbyville High School about some information received out of state about an adult who had made a threat online against the school.
Upon investigating the information, Bedford County Sheriff’s Office investigators contacted the Board of Education, as well as the Shelbyville Police Department, in order to make them aware of the investigation.
During this time, they were able to verify that a threat involving the use of firearms had been made by a white male, who is 20 years old, named Cody Peoples of Shelbyville. Upon further investigation, Peoples admitted to making the threat online.
Peoples was charged with one count of Filing a False Report and booked into the Bedford County Jail with a $25,000 bond.
Sheriff Austin Swing thanked his department as well as the Shelbyville Police Department and Board of Education for working together on this threat.

A new Vanderbilt study says more and more teens are thinking about taking their own lives.
In fact, the number of teens has more than doubled in the last decade.
Some common factors are school related stress, and social media. Nearly 2/3 of trips to the emergency room for attempted suicides are girls, and the most are among 15 to 17-year-olds.
Scott Ridgway is executive director of the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network. He said some warning signs parents are told to look out for include: Verbal warnings & statements, changes in mood, appetite & appearance, increase in alcohol or drug use, and lack of interest in academics & activities.
Experts attribute this to academic pressures and cyberbullying through social media.
Each day, three Tennesseans are lost to suicide. There is help available, and people are available to listen.

Rising temperatures have made Tennessee more hospitable to armadillos over the past three decades.
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Agent Barry Cross said the mostly nocturnal animals are not native to Tennessee, and are instead migrants from the west and the south, including Alabama and Georgia.
Cross says the animals are largely harmless to humans, with the holes they dig posing the biggest threat.
According to the department’s website, armadillo spottings are rarer in the eastern part of the state, but the animals are expanding their range. The department also notes that they often end up as roadkill, because of poor eyesight. Some have already been seen or been killed by vehicles here in Coffee County.

On Wednesday (May 16th, 2018) Tullahoma Police Sgt. Michael Wilder responded to a disturbance on East Moore Street. Upon arrival while speaking to the parties involved they told officers that James Randall Goff age 24 of Estill Springs was involved and had ran off as the police arrived.
Information was given to Wilder that Goff was at a location on East Grizzard. The officer received consent from the resident homeowner to search, there officers found the Goff allegedly hiding in a closet. According to the arrest warrant, Wilder knew the man had active arrest warrants and placed him in custody.
As the officer was placing Goff into his patrol car he ran away from the officer in handcuffs but was brought back into custody. Goff then allegedly told the officer he knew where he lived, and Sgt. Wilder asked if he was being threatened and subject allegedly said no, but he knew people.
Goff was booked in at the Coffee County Jail under a bond of $38,500 and his preliminary court date is set for May 21, 2018.

The Estill Springs Police Department is investigating a burglary that occurred at the Montana Drive-In located on Tullahoma Hwy. The burglary took place on May 8, 2018 sometime between 1:00 am-3:00 am. It is believed that two males entered the concession area.
Anyone with any type of information would be greatly appreciated, you can call Franklin County Dispatch at 931-967-2331 and ask to speak with an Estill Springs Officer. You can ask to be anonymous.