Category: News

Tennessee State Parks are encouraging everyone to begin the new year on a hiking trail with one of their First Day Hikes on New Years Day. Old Stone Fort State Park in Manchester and the 55 other Tennessee State Parks are offering the 2018 First Day Hikes, which are designed for all ages and abilities and are offered at different times of the day.
Tennessee State Parks First Hikes of 2018 are part of America’s State Parks First Day Hikes initiative in all 50 states.
The First Day Hike on January 1st at Old Stone Fort will start at 1:00 pm. Meet at the park museum and the hike will last approximately two hours covering two miles. The ranger will lead you on a hike along the Big Duck River to the confluence of the Big Duck and Little Duck Rivers on to the Backbone/Little Duck River Loop Trail. The Backbone Trail offers one of the best vistas on the park overseeing the entire Native American Enclosure from a high elevation. There is no better way to start the year. Call 931-723-5073 for more information.

(December 27, 2017) Forecasts indicate that Thursday morning’s temperature will be one of the coldest mornings of the month so far. Morning lows in the midteens on Thursday, December 28, combined with higher electricity demand due to home heating, could produce a monthly peak for Duck River Electric Membership Corporation (DREMC).
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 (TVA) wholesale rates during the hour of greatest demand. This is when the cost of electricity purchased by DREMC can increase to almost $10 per kilowatt-hour.
The Beat the Peak™ alert window on Thursday is from 6-8 AM.
“This is when our temperature and electric load forecasts show the possibility of highest demand,” says DREMC Member Services Manager Carol Garrette.
Beat the Peak™ is a network of thousands of residential households that are sent peak alert warnings via email, text message and ads broadcast on local radio stations. Members voluntarily reduce their electricity use during the time when demand is highest.
Co-op members are asked to set heating system thermostats down at least three degrees, turn off lights in unoccupied rooms, avoid using ovens and dish washers, delay doing laundry (especially running the clothes dryer) and reduce hot water use during the two hours when the peak could occur.
When the peak period has passed, normal electricity use can resume.
“Demand reductions lessen the impact of higher wholesale power costs, which eventually must be passed on to the membership through rates,” Garrette says.
To sign up for Beat the Peak™ emails and texts, go to www.dremc.com and click on the “My Account” tab, or contact your local DREMC office.

Four people were arrested after deputies found drugs in a residence in Manchester.
Coffee County deputies Kevin Smith and Ben Sneed went to a home on Rayburn Street with an arrest warrant for Leeann Trail, 41.
When the deputies arrived, they talked with Trail at the door and they say in their report they smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from the residence. Trail allegedly told the officers that she had just finished smoking marijuana. The deputies received permission to search the residence and found two Tramadol pills and a green powder substance which Trail told the officers was Kratom an opioid.
According to the warrants, Deputy Jennifer Curbow and K-9 Max then searched the residence and discovered a dark liquid substance identified as marijuana oil.
Trail was taken into custody on charges of manufacturing/delivering/selling/possession of controlled substance, two counts of schedule I drugs and possession of schedule II. Her bond was set at $41,000. She is to appear in Coffee County General Sessions Court Jan. 29.
While there the deputies found three other people in an outside building, allegedly with drugs.
The deputies obtained permission from the property owner to search the building. They allegedly found a pink bag with a crystal-like substance believed to be methamphetamines and needles.
Jeremy McGowen, 40, of Lynchburg allegedly had two needles in his possession but he, Donnenne Scott, 40 of Sale Creek, Tennessee nor Jason Parker, 39, of Sale Creek, Tennessee claimed ownership of the pink bag and drugs that were in it.
Scott, McGowen and Parker were all charged with unlawful drug paraphernalia uses and activities and schedule II drug violation. Their bonds were set at $9,000. These three people will also appear in Coffee County General Sessions Court on Jan. 29.

We are continuing to follow the story on an officer-involved shooting in Grundy County.
Jacky Wayne Bean (32) from Soddy Daisy, TN. was driving a Ford Mustang when he was pulled over by a Grundy County deputy. The deputy exited his vehicle and ordered the suspect out of the vehicle. The suspect brandished a firearm. The deputy engaged the suspect and fired shots as the vehicle began speeding toward the deputy and struck his patrol car. Bean was later arrested after crashing his car.
At the crash scene, a 20-year-old female was transported to the hospital and later pronounced dead. She has been identified as Shelby Comer from Beersheba Springs. Her body was taken to the medical examiner’s office in Nashville for an autopsy. We can now report that 12th District Attorney General Mike Taylor says that TBI investigators have told him an autopsy of Shelby Comer revealed she had a gunshot wound. But it’s still unclear if she died from that wound.
Neither the Sheriff’s Office nor the TBI has said how Comer and Bean knew each other.

Back in November, Special Agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation obtained an indictment for a deputy of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, who was accused of misusing information in a criminal investigation. During the investigation, Agents say they developed information that Timothy Martin Tyler provided a suspect with information about his impending arrest. Charges against Tyler for allegedly tipping off a suspect about a pending arrest have been dismissed, according to Sheriff Tim Fuller
Fuller said Wednesday the charges were dismissed due to a lack of information to prosecute the case.
Tyler, 47, was put on administrative leave without pay by the sheriff’s office when he was indicted.
An internal investigation is continuing, and Tyler is on desk duty.

Officials say Tennesseans that participated in a national prescription drug disposal initiative turned in a record number of unwanted or expired medications.
The Drug Enforcement Administration said in a news release that Tennesseans turned in more than 68,000 pounds (30,845 kilograms) of unwanted or expired medications during the DEA’s 14th National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day Initiative on Oct. 28. That was the highest total ever collected in the state, surpassing each of the 13 previous events. More than 6.5 million Tennesseans contributed.
The Tennessean newspaper reports that the state also surpassed the combined take-back totals of Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio.
Nationwide, the DEA’s take-back day netted more than 912,000 pounds (413,680 kilograms).
Count It! Lock It! Drop It, a community program that raises awareness about ways to keep drugs out of abusers’ hands was created by the Coffee County Anti-Drug Coalition. The program has spread to 63 counties in Tennessee. It is funded in part by the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation.

The Bedford County Sheriff’s Office and Shelbyville Police Department kicked off Operation Safe Christmas this December and have seen significant success.
Operation Safe Christmas was the collaborative effort of the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office and the Shelbyville Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division working together to assure a safe Christmas for the counties most vulnerable children.
Earlier this month, investigators with both agencies began monitoring the internet for suspected child predators. Detective Cody Swift of the Shelbyville Police Department discovered an ad on Craigslist that led investigators to believe the poster was looking to have sex with an underage female. Investigators replied to the ad posing as the mother of a 13 year-old daughter. The conversations progressed and ultimately led to the arrest of Jeremy Stahlhood, age 23, of Manchester, Tennessee. Stahlhood drove to Shelbyville with the intent to have sex with a minor, but was apprehended by law enforcement as he entered a local residence used for the operation. Stahlhood was charged with Criminal Attempt to Commit Aggravated Statutory Rape.

This past Saturday night a Grundy County sheriff’s deputy observed a gray Ford Mustang traveling at a high rate of speed near the Coalmont Elementary School. An attempt to stop the vehicle was made near the intersection of Hwy. 56 and Morgan’s Ridge Road but the vehicle fled. Deputies gave chase which took them to B-Mine Road in the Flat Branch Community. The suspect vehicle pulled off the road in an attempt to turn around. The deputy exited his vehicle and ordered the suspect out of the vehicle. The suspect brandished a firearm. The deputy engaged the suspect and fired shots as the vehicle began speeding toward the deputy and struck his patrol car. The suspect vehicle went a short distance down the road and crashed.
The suspect fled on foot and later attempted to get a ride with a local resident but was unsuccessful.
At the crash scene, a 20-year-old female was transported to the hospital and later pronounced dead. She has been identified as Shelby Comer from Beersheba Springs. Her body has been taken to the medical examiner’s office in Nashville.
The suspect has been identified has Jacky Wayne Bean (32) from Soddy Daisy, TN. Deputies found Bean hiding in the woods near the scene around 8:00am on Sunday morning. He was transported to the hospital for evaluation. He is currently being held at the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office and has no bond. A bond hearing will be set this week. Bean is charged with Attempted First-Degree Murder, Evading Arrest, 3 counts of Reckless Endangerment, DUI and Violation of Implied Consent. More charges are expected later this week.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is assisting in the investigation of the case.

The Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office is celebrating a successful year.
In all of 2017, they’ve certified nearly 4,000 firefighters to serve across the state. They’ve also worked nearly 400 fire investigations, including five explosions and more than 100 arson-related fires.
They’ve also completed 1,065 training classes and had 62 new firefighter recruit graduates at the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy in Bedford County.
They’ve issued over 120,000 electrical permits and over 1,000 residential permits.
The number they’re most proud of is the 25,000 smoke alarms that have been distributed to neighborhoods across the state as part of the “Get Alarmed, Tennessee” program. Since 2012, the program has distributed more than 161,000 alarms and saved more than 190 lives.
The Fire Marshal’s Office has received a $266,667 grant from FEMA to keep the program going into 2018.

A new law will change who enforces marijuana laws in Tennessee.
A law taking effect in January removes the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission from the Governor’s Task Force on Marijuana Eradication.
The push to remove the commission began in 2012, when law enforcement discovered what they believed to be marijuana in the home of the commission’s director. Police never did a criminal investigation and the director retired in 2012.
Still, state Sen. Bill Ketron pushed to have the commission removed from the task force. His bill passed in May 2017 and will take effect on Jan. 1.
A representative for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation noted the commission had nine agents assigned to the task force, work that must be absorbed by other law enforcement agencies.