Category: News

School Officials Hope to Renovate North Coffee Elementary

North Coffee Mascot

If the Coffee County Commission approves a proposal by the Coffee County school system, North Coffee Elementary School will be remodeled.
The project will renovate the existing space and add about 20,000 square feet of new space.
The Coffee County Budget and Finance Committee Members approved $5 million for the project. Now the proposal will go before the Coffee County Commission’s agenda in April.
A tax increase will not be necessary to cover the costs, according to the committee.
Refinancing a loan from 2008 and some funds from the Rural Debt Service Fund, will allow county officials to borrow about $5 million on a 20-year term without a tax increase.
A cafeteria, kitchen, gymnasium and library will be constructed. The existing gym, library and cafeteria will be renovated into classroom and office space.

Update on Officer Involved Shooting in Tullahoma

Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott

We have an update on the officer involved shooting in Tullahoma.
According to Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott, police responded to a residence on South Franklin Street at approximately 5 p.m. on Friday in response to a reported assault. Upon arrival, officers encountered 47 year-old James Shelton, who allegedly became combative with police outside the home. Northcott said Shelton went inside and returned moments later, allegedly brandishing a large knife. According to the district attorney, officers told Shelton to drop the knife, but he refused. The officers then used their tasers on Shelton, to no effect, Northcott said. Shelton then allegedly tried to go back inside the house when the officers used a taser on him a second time, again to no avail. According to Northcott, Shelton then allegedly began approaching the officers, still holding the knife, when one of the officers shot him in the arm. The name of the officer who fired the weapon has not been released by authorities.
Shelton was taken to Tennova Healthcare-Harton and was later flown to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville for treatment. According to the district attorney, the preliminary investigation indicates the officer fired in self-defense, but the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is conducting an investigation.

Man Charged with Criminal Homicide in Warren County

A joint investigation into the circumstances of a homicide last week has resulted in the arrest of the victim’s roommate in connection to the crime.
TBI Agents joined investigators from the Warren County Sheriff’s Department in investigating the homicide of Stephen Pohl, who died last Tuesday from an apparent gunshot wound at his home in the 400 block of Lewis Road. During the course of the investigation, authorities developed information leading to Pohl’s roommate, 61 year-old Gregory Koller as the individual responsible for the crime.
On Thursday evening, TBI Agents arrested the McMinnville man and charged him with one count of Criminal Homicide and one count of Tampering with Evidence. Authorities booked him into the Warren County Jail on a $1,025,000 bond.

Officer Involved Shooting in Tullahoma

At the request of 14th District Attorney General Craig Northcott, TBI Agents continue to investigate the circumstances involving an officer-involved shooting this evening in Tullahoma.
Preliminary information indicates the incident occurred when officers from the Tullahoma Police Department attempted to interview 47year-old James Bradford Shelton in connection to an assault investigation in which he was the alleged perpetrator, at his home at 940 South Franklin Street. During the confrontation, the subject reportedly would not cooperate or comply with officers. An officer reportedly deployed a stun gun unsuccessfully in an attempt to subdue Shelton. The situation further escalated and resulted in at least one officer firing upon Shelton, striking him in the arm. Shelton has been hospitalized. No law enforcement officers appear to have been injured in the incident.
Shelton was taken to Tennova Healthcare-Harton and was later flown to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville for treatment. According to the District Attorney Craig Northcott, the preliminary investigation indicates the officer fired in self-defense.
TBI Agents continue to gather any and all relevant evidence, interviews, and information. Throughout the investigative process, findings will be shared with the District Attorney General.
The TBI does not identify the officers involved in these types of matters.

Fire Burns Hillsboro Home

On Friday afternoon around 5:30pm the Coffee County Sheriff Department personnel and all county volunteer fire departments were dispatched to the Winchester Highway for structure fire. The house was fully engulfed when Deputy Tim Cooper arrived.
The Hillsboro Fire Department arrived at the scene and began to fight the fire. It was unsure at the time if anyone was inside the home. After speaking with the home owner, who was not at home at the time of fire, contact was made with all resident of the home and everyone was accounted for and safe.
Red Cross representatives arrived at the scene to assist the residents. Coffee County Sheriff’s Department Sargent Dwayne Mullins is investigating.

Two Franklin County Jail Escapees Captured

Michael Dale Cyree

Michael D. Cyree, 906 E. East Lincoln St., Tullahoma and Timothy J. Poe, 2585 Old Alto Highway, Decherd escaped the Franklin County Jail on Thursday, but were brought back into custody on Saturday.

Timothy Jerald Poe

Authorities from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office located Cyree around 3:45pm and he was transported back to the jail in Winchester.
About an hour later Franklin County Sheriff’s Office personnel along with officers from the Decherd Police Department were able to apprehend Poe.
Cyree and Poe are being held without bond, and court dates remain to be set.

Unemployment Rate Up in All 95 Counties

Unemployment figures for January show the unemployment rate increased in all 95 counties in Tennessee. State officials say because of seasonal employment trends, Tennessee typically sees a slight uptick in county unemployment at the start of the year.
Coffee County increased to 3.6 percent in January, up from 3 percent in December.
Warren County’s unemployment rate went up nearly a full percentage point from 3.2 percent to 4.1 percent.
Bedford County jumped to 3.8 percent from 3.1 in December.
Franklin and Moore counties went up a half of a percent each. Franklin County going from 3.1 in December to 3.6 percent in January and Moore County going up from 2.5 to 3 percent.
Grundy County went from 4.2 to 5.0 percent and Cannon County went from 2.8 to 3.4 percent.
Williamson County had the state’s lowest unemployment rate at 2.5 percent, while Houston County and Rhea County had the highest at 6.8 percent.

TBI Crime Report for College Campuses

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has released to the public its annual crime study detailing the volume and nature of crime on the state’s college and university campuses. ‘Crime on Campus 2017’ compiles data submitted to TBI by the state’s colleges, universities, and law enforcement agencies through the Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System (TIBRS).

Among the report’s findings:

Overall, crime reported by Tennessee’s colleges and universities decreased by 2.8% from 2016 to 2017.

In total, 26.8% of all 2017 offenses reported were categorized as Larceny/Theft.

Robbery offenses decreased significantly, by 55.2%, from 29 in 2016 to 13 in 2017.

Assault Offenses decreased by 13.7% year-to-year.

The overall category of “Sex Offenses-Forcible” decreased by 26% in 2017. There was a 27% decrease in reported Rape offenses, from 63 in 2016 to 46 in 2017.

Reported DUI offenses increased by 60.9% year-to-year.

As always, the TBI strongly discourages the comparison of one institution’s statistics to another.

2018 Coffee County FBLA State Competitive Event Results

The

Coffee County FBLA chapter that attended the Tennessee FBLA State Leadership Conference on March 11-14 in Chattanooga, Tennessee… Photo provided.

. The chapter came home with some great results:

Weston Hargrove-Installed as the 2018-2019 Tennessee State Reporter
Brooke Freeze-Who’s Who in FBLA Recipient
Gold Seal Chapter Award of Merit
Taylor Hulvey-Jared Michael Bryant Scholarship
Coffee County High School= 3rd Largest Chapter Membership

1st
Harley Hinshaw-Accounting II
Tatum Baldwin, Maddie Creek, & Brooke Freeze-Broadcast Journalism
Camryn Eaton-Business Financial Plan
Anna Gann, Weston Hargrove, & Chloe Spry-Graphic Design
Jared Johnson-Impromptu Speaking
Andres Cavalie-Introduction to Information Technology
Grey Riddle-Local Chapter Annual Business Report
Reid Lawrence-Electronic Scrapbook

2nd
Emilee Roberson & Kathryn Welch-Introduction to Business Presentation
Kayleigh Harris, Harlee Holton, & Allison Williams-Hardcopy Scrapbook
Alexcia Barnes, Kelsie Carter, & Taylor Hulvey-American Enterprise Project
Tatum Baldwin & Brooke Freeze-Community Service Project
Books for Literacy Campaign

3rd
Nathan Stem-Business Communications
Bryson Hullett-Client Service
Nicholas Johnson-Introduction to Business
Savannah Nippers-Personal Finance
Morgan Henley, Jack Beachboard, & Samuel Prater-Publication Design

4th
Tyana Fenton, Zach Vaughn, & Cameron West-Business Plan
Cameron Kistler, Reid Lawrence, & Grey Riddle-Entrpreneurship
Allie Amado-Health Care Administration
Morgan Henley, Anna Gann, & Chloe Spry-Partnership with Business

5th
Garrett Booth & Colton Prater-Global Business
Corey Walker-Impromptu Speaking
Karen Chavez, Kady Hancock, & Vanessa Pedroza-Marketing
Taylor Hulvey & Ashlee Young-Social Media Campaign

Leader Award Recipients
Jack Beachboard
Nathan Brown
Cade Davis
Chase Davis
Weston Hargrove
Kayleigh Harris
Morgan Henley
Bryson Hullett
Alisha Jennings
Abby Morgan
Samuel Prater
Chloe Spry
Jordan Winton

Two Fugitives from Justice Captured in Coffee County

Brian Patrick McMonagle… Photos provided by the CCSD.

On Sunday (March 11, 2018) in Manchester, Coffee County Sheriff’s Department Cpl. Blake Simmons approached a vehicle driven by a male subject at 174 Pocahontas road for a Kentucky tag being expired. The man was unable to provide identification. According to the arrest warrant, upon consent Simmons began a pat down the male subject for weapons and that’s when man apparently ran from the scene. After a struggle, Simmons was able to place the man in custody. The warrant goes onto say that Simmons found a substance in his pocket that appeared to be meth. The man was later identified as Brian Patrick McMonagle age 35 of Covington, GA.
Bridgett Lynn Jones age 34 of Manchester was a passenger in McMonagle. They were run through the National Crime Information Center and both were found to be fugitives from justice out of Denver, Colorado. Jones is also wanted out of Georgia.

Bridgette Lynn Jones


McMonagle was charged with being fugitive from justice, schedule II drug violation and 2 counts of resisting arrest. His bond was set at $115,000. Jones was charged with being a fugitive from justice and her bond was set at $100,000. Both are set to appear in Coffee County Court on April 9, 2018.