Category: News

One man is dead, and another is in custody following a shooting Tuesday night at a residence on Harrison Ferry Mountain.
According to the Warren County Sheriff’s Department, 57 year old Steve Pohl was shot to death following an altercation at a residence on Lewis Road. 61 year old Gregory Allen Koller is in custody. No charges have been filed.
Authorities say the two men were both Florida natives and had been living in Warren County for only a short period of time. Officials say both men were intoxicated when they got into an argument and shots were fired. Officials also say it’s possible both men were armed.
The TBI and Warren County Sheriff’s Department are still investigating the incident.

Advance Fee Fraud is a very real threat on Facebook. There are many variations, but the main lure is a claim that the target has won a large sum of money. On Facebook, this in the form of lotteries, promotions and sweepstakes.
Usually, a hacked Facebook account is used to contact someone on their friend’s list. This sneaky trick brings an element of social engineering into the mix. The unsuspecting user receives a Facebook message from a friend, and this could lower their suspicions.
Here is an example of one such message from a recent scam victim:
“She messaged me on Facebook saying, ‘Did you hear the good news?’” The intended says, “I said, ‘What news?’ The scammer says, ‘I got some money and you are on the list.”
Any time you are asked to pay a fee up front for a prize you have supposedly won, you should be very suspicious. If you had really won a cash prize, why couldn’t they just deduct any fees and forward you the rest?
For a lot of users, this seems like common sense, but scammers often prey upon the naive and less tech savvy crowd. Make sure your friends and loved ones are aware of this threat.
Always remember that just because a message comes from a Facebook friend doesn’t mean it’s legitimate. Hacked accounts are often used to spread scams, spam and malware.
Recently a local person fell for a similar scam that cost the person $300. Coffee County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Jason Dendy says he wants to warn the public that this is scam. Make sure who you are talking to is truly someone you know. Dendy added that you should never give out personal information or send money to anyone you don’t know. This particular scam asks you to send money by Western Union.
If you think you have been scammed contact law enforcement.

Social media posts began Tuesday night about possible violence at area schools. School system personnel and law enforcement began an investigation into the threats. Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves said that none of threats were found to be credible.

With the threats being made, area schools that had planned to do assemblies concerning school safety were cancelled.

Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves stated that he was very pleased with the way Coffee County school system employees handled the situation. The sheriff said that a very small number of students walked out at Coffee County Middle School, but school personnel quickly got the students to return to the building. No other schools in the county reported students walking out.

Sheriff Graves went on to say that he and his staff had already planned to have extra deputies at the high school, Raider Academy and Coffee Middle in case any difficulties arose.
Manchester Police Chief Mark Yother said he was pleased with the coordination between his department and the sheriff’s department.

Dr Ladonna McFall Director of Coffee County Schools said that everyone worked together to insure the safety of all students.
Absenteeism was up at the three Coffee County schools, with the high school reporting over 550 absentees and early checkouts combined. Coffee Middle and Raider Academy reported higher than normal absentees.

The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance’s Division of Consumer Affairs reminds Tennesseans to remain diligent when it comes to reporting fraud and other scams. A newly released report from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission shows Tennessee now has the 10th highest rate per capita in the U.S. for reports of fraud as well as other complaints.
The cost of fraud was steep: Tennessee’s total consumer losses topped $13.7 million last year. According to the report, the top three complaint areas for Tennesseans are debt collection, imposter scams and identity theft. When it comes to reports of identity theft, Tennessee now ranks 24th in the country. The top three forms of Identity theft in Tennessee are credit card fraud, employment or tax-related fraud, and bank fraud. To check the status of a collection agency’s license, visit verify.tn.gov.

The Coffee County Emergency Management Agency has received numerous calls in the last year regarding citizens looking for somewhere to take shelter during severe weather such as tornados. Typically, the request was residents not feeling comfortable in their own dwelling during these times. Therefore, over the last 6 months their agency has been working with local churches throughout the county on a solution. The churches they have spoken with so far have come on board, received training and are ready to open their doors to shelter seekers during these times of need. These shelters are intended to be opened in a timely manner prior to a tornado warning and close when the threat passes. CCEMA personnel work very closely with the National Weather Service as well as utilize in house radar and lightning detections systems to make a determination on opening a shelter.
Each Church in the program will be in contact with Emergency Management when severe weather is expected. If the decision is made to open, a notice of which shelters are open will be sent out to the public in various media formats to include Radio stations, Text Message Alerts and Social Media.
Residents of Coffee County are encouraged to make a plan for severe weather. Many guides can be found online or on their Facebook page to help you with this process. You can also go to Ready.gov for information on preparedness. Please like and follow CCEMA on Facebook for alerts and information at www.facebook.com/CoffeeCountyEMAHS
To receive text alerts, sign up at: local.nixle.com/register/
If your church would like to get involved give call (931) 570-2282 or email info@coffeetnema.com

The Current List of Church Shelters is as follows:
1. Hillsboro First United Methodist
305 Winchester Hwy, Hillsboro, TN 37342
2. Summitville Baptist Church
488 Summitville Rd., Manchester, TN 37355
3. Lakewood Baptist Church
619 Ferrells Loop Rd., Beechgrove, TN 37018
4. Forest Mill Church of Christ
3388 McMinnville Hwy., Manchester, TN 37355
5. St. Bedes Episcopal
93 St. Bedes Dr., Manchester, TN 37355

On Saturday (March 10th, 2018) Coffee County Sheriff’s Department Cpl. Blake Simmons observed Dakota Cheyenne Brown age 20 East Lincoln, Tullahoma at 1429 East Lincoln Street in Tullahoma. The officer knew the man had an active warrant for violation of probation.
Brown drove to a convince store and walked in. After he came out of the business Simmons attempted to stop the man as he came out of the store, so they could speak, at this time Brown allegedly took off running. The officer gave chase and caught the man after a short foot pursuit. After walking back to Brown’s vehicle, the officer noted a smell of marijuana allegedly coming from the man’s vehicle. According to the arrest warrant, Brown consented to a search and Simmons found a small amount of green leafy substance believed to be marijuana weighing less than a gram and a small amount of white methamphetamine weighing approximately a gram.
Brown was charged with driving on revoked/suspended license, schedule VI and II drug violations, violation of probation and evading arrest. He was booked in at the Coffee County Jail under a bond of $23,000. He is set to appear in court on April 4, 2018.

A resident of Ray Moore Lane in Estill Springs was arrested March 9 for possession of several drugs.
According to a report by Tullahoma Police Officer Brooke Earhart, Jennifer Sue Short, 32, of Estill Springs was charged with possession of schedule IV, schedule V, schedule VI, DUI, failure to maintain control of her vehicle and open container violation.
The arrest was made after officers received information that a red Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck had hit several mailboxes on Lincoln Street. The officer was at the traffic light at the intersection of Westside Drive and West Lincoln Street when she spotted the vehicle. In a report the officer stated that the driver was “unable to maintain her lane of travel and almost struck a vehicle in the other lane of travel.
When the officer stopped the driver she allegedly “had a smell of alcoholic beverage” and her eyes were blood shot. When Officer Earhart searched Short, she allegedly found a metal tin inside the woman’s bra that contained a plastic bag and 3 grams of marijuana, 9 red and white Lyrica capsules, one and a half Xanax bars and 6 Valium pills. According to the report, the woman stated that she had taken two or three Valium pills and three shots of whiskey just before being pulled over. According to the police report, Officer Jason Maloney found half a bottle of whiskey in the front passenger seat.
Short was booked into the Coffee County Jail under a $9,000 bond and is to appear in Coffee County General Sessions Court April 5.

Drivers visiting the gas pump today will find prices that are cheaper than a week ago. Tennessee gas prices declined 1.5 cents last week. The state average of $2.31 is 8 cents less than a month ago, but 26 cents more than this time last year.
AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said gasoline should slide a few more cents this week, based on last week’s decline in wholesale prices. However, gas prices are still forecast to rise 20 cents in the coming months as demand climbs and refineries switch to summer blend gasoline.
The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded is $2.52.
The low price per gallon as of Tuesday afternoon in Manchester was $2.23 and in Tullahoma the low price was $2.22.

State parks throughout Tennessee will offer free, guided hikes later this month.
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation said Monday that 56 state parks including Old Stone Fort will host free hikes on March 24 “to highlight the amenities and programming available during one of Tennessee’s most beautiful seasons.”
Join Old Stone Fort State Park Rangers at 9AM as they hike the Enclosure and Forks of the River Trails for Tennessee State Parks Annual Spring Hike event. This will be the first of two hikes hosted March 24 and will be open to all visitors. During this hike they hope to see many of our native wildflowers in bloom, including trillium and blue bonnet. They will also discuss the history of the Old Stone Fort as well as the Native American mound structures found on the park. You will hike near three waterfalls and see where the Little Duck River and Big Duck River merge. This hike is considered easy-moderate. Meet at the museum at 9am to begin the walk.