Category: News

The Coffee County Sheriff’s Department sent out information to the public on Wednesday morning that they were investigating a theft of property case. The theft apparently took place around Thanksgiving in Hillsboro. The sheriff’s department was needing to identify two male subjects.
By thanks Wednesday afternoon the sheriff’s department sent out a release to thank the public for its help. The case was solved, and charges are pending.

An alleged attack on an inmate has led to the firing of a correctional sergeant at the Bedford County Jail.
Sgt. Ronald Wayne Crowe allegedly punched Levi Wheeler, 18, once in the face on Dec. 5. Wheeler’s injuries were described as “minor” by officials.
Crowe, 32, of Fayetteville gave Bedford County detectives no specific reason for his alleged actions.
Wheeler was being held in restraints at the time of the attack, according to Sheriff Austin Swing.
Crowe had worked at the jail for six months and had no disciplinary actions on his record. He has no previous law enforcement experience.
Wheeler is serving time for rape of a child and assault.
Swing added that the Bedford County Jail was built for 68 inmates and is currently housing between 165-170 daily. (Shelbyville Times-Gazette)

Road construction will not delay travelers during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The Tennessee Department of Transportation is again halting all lane closure activity on interstates and state highways in anticipation of higher traffic volumes across the state. No temporary lane closures will be allowed for constriction on Tennessee roadways beginning at 8am Friday until 6am Tuesday, January 2nd.
AAA predicts holiday travel will increase 3.1 percent in Tennessee this year, with over 2.4 million motorists expected to travel by automobile in the Volunteer State between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. According to AAA, 107.3 million Americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more, with a record 97.4 million expected to drive to their holiday destinations.

A report says insufficient warning by Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials contributed to dramatically less time to evacuate during a deadly Tennessee wildfire in November 2016.
The outside review ordered by the city of Gatlinburg and Sevier County says more timely and accurate communication from park officials would have helped the city prepare sooner.
It says reliance on limited information from the National Weather Service and park officials meant the predicted speed and severity of the impending firestorm was inaccurate.
Park Superintendent Cassius Cash said his team looks forward to reading the report and addressing findings alongside local agencies.
Hurricane-force winds blew embers several miles from the park into Gatlinburg and downed powerlines to spark more fires, killing 14 people and damaging or destroying about 2,500 buildings.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam says he has exonerated a man whose convictions for rape and robbery were set aside by a court in 2009 and who was released after more than three decades in prison.
Haslam said in a news release Wednesday that he respects determinations by the court and prosecutor that Lawrence McKinney was not guilty of crimes he was convicted for in 1978 and wouldn’t have been prosecuted if DNA testing results were available during his trial.
Last year, a Tennessee parole board voted against recommending McKinney for exoneration, saying the absence of his DNA following a rape was not conclusive evidence of innocence.
McKinney had been accused of rape and burglary in 1977 in Memphis.
His exoneration makes him eligible for compensation of up to $1 million.

The Coffee County Sheriff’s Department K-9 division recently received a very nice donation from the Tullahoma Kennel Club.
The donations of these training devices will help the dogs learn better techniques to help discover illegal drugs.
Deputies Larry McKelvey and K-9 Yoshi, Jennifer Curbow and K-9 Max along with Sgt. David Grosch and K-9 Jarka received the donations and said how much they really appreciated the Tullahoma Kennel Club.
Sheriff Steve Graves said he would like to thank the club for its support. He added that the work done by the deputies and their K-9’s continue to be a great asset to the citizens of Coffee County.

The new police station to be built for the Tullahoma Police Department will cost an estimated $3.2 million, according to city officials.
At its Dec. 11 meeting, all Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Alderman voted in favor of a budget amendment for FY 2018 to the tune of $3,250,000 for the engineering, construction and “project contingency” of the new police facility, which will be located on West Grundy Street.
The loan sets up $238,875 for the engineering of the facility, $2,848,625 for the construction of the facility and a “project contingency” cushion of $162,500.
The land for the site of the new police station is being donated by Dan and Fran Marcum.
According to City Administrator Jody Baltz, the donation has been partially processed as of Dec. 11. Approximately half of the land donation has been approved, he said. The remaining half of the donation will take place in January.

More than two billion packages are headed out this holiday season, destined for the doorsteps of friends and family around the world.
If you still have some gifts to order, your best (and cheapest) bet is to take care of business right now.
Wednesday is the deadline for FedEx Two-Day delivery, UPS Second-Day Air and USPS Priority Mail.
Thursday is the final day to ship via FedEx overnight and UPS Next Day Air.
And if you really want to gamble, USPS says it will get your shipment to its destination by Christmas as long as you ship by Friday.
Of course, you’ll want to double-check shipping times before you order to ensure your gift will make it on time.

There are more than 90 species in Tennessee on the Endangered Species list and legislation introduced late last week in Congress would help states make sure no additional species need those protections.
The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would provide funding to states to ensure the survival of wildlife before species become endangered.
Mike Butler, CEO of the Tennessee Wildlife Federation, says the Volunteer State has much to gain from the funding.
“Tennessee is the most biologically diverse inland state in the United States,” he points out. “We have several species of mussels and plants that only occur in the state of Tennessee.”
Butler says aquatic life and songbirds would likely receive the most focus on the preventive funding, if it were allocated.
The legislation would be funded by an existing tax paid by oil, mining and other similar industries for the right to develop resources on federal lands.
The tax generates more than $10 billion annually that currently is placed in a general fund.
The bill would dedicate just $1.3 billion of that to the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program, which its supporters say is currently underfunded.
Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, says addressing depleting species before they’re on the Endangered Species list is a smarter way to preserve wildlife.
“The goal is to invest in proactive conservation, primarily at the state level, to try to save species before they require the Endangered Species Act,” he states. “And it’s a way to bring partners together for collaborative and voluntary efforts upfront rather than having the emergency measures where you end up in these horrible court battles and very onerous regulations. We can avoid a lot of that if we did more proactive work.”
Butler says the legislation would also be a smarter use of state resources.
“You’re leveraging funding and you’re doing it on pennies on the dollar compared to what it costs when things are on the Endangered Species list,” he states.
The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would provide 75 percent of the funding for conservation programs and only require states to pay for a quarter of the cost.