Category: News

Bluegrass Underground has moved on, but it doesn’t mean there won’t be live music at Cumberland Caverns. Cumberland Caverns in Warren County, along with RCS Productions, has announced a new concert series called Cumberland Caverns Live, it will kick off on February 3rd. At least six shows have already been booked from February through May. Additional shows will be announced in the coming weeks.
Tickets will go on sale on December 15th via Cumberlandcaverns.com.
Promoters are promising a smoother check-in experience, improved seating options and updated menu items in the concession stand.
The Volcano Room at Cumberland Caverns was the home of Bluegrass Underground for eight years until it was announced that promoters were moving the concert series to a new venue near Pelham in Grundy County.

A Tullahoma man was arrested after trying to sneak drugs into the Coffee County Jail in an unusual way.
Octavius Isiah Wooten, 27, of Rickenbacker Drive, Tullahoma was charged with having contraband in a penal institution after corrections officers at the Coffee County Jail found drugs hidden in his dreadlocks.
Wooten reported to the jail on December 8 to serve time for a drug sanction sentence. When the correction officers searched him they allegedly found two full strips of Suboxone, 2.06 grams of marijuana and four Hydrocodone pills hidden inside his hair. According to warrants, Wooten had the drugs “tied” to his dreadlocks.
He now faces a charge of contraband in a penal institution. His bond was set at $50,000 and he is scheduled to appear in Coffee County General Sessions Court on January 8, 2018. He remains in jail.

The Motlow State Community College Testing Center will administer the Residual ACT exam on Jan. 4, 2018, from 8:30 a.m. – noon, and Jan. 10, from 12:30 – 4 p.m. The test will be administered in room 1043 of the Crouch Center on the Moore County campus.
The Residual ACT is for individuals under 21 years of age who are planning to attend Motlow State and were unable to take the ACT on a national test day. A Motlow admission application must be on file prior to taking the Residual ACT.
To be eligible to take the test, applicants must complete the ACT application, and pay the $45 registration fee and provide a picture identification the day of the test.
Any student who plans on attending another college must take the National ACT, or take the Residual ACT on the campus of the prospective college, as scores for the Residual ACT cannot be transferred to another college or university.
For more information or for test registration, visit the Motlow Testing Center website at mscc.edu/testing, or call 931-393-1763 or 800-654-4877, ext. 1763.

Officials say they’ll close Fall Creek Falls State Park Inn, restaurant and conference center in April of 2018 for a $25 million rebuilding.
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation spokesman Eric Ward tells the Chattanooga Times Free Press state officials met with employees last week about April 2 closure plans.
Officials will demolish two structures and build one inn with roughly 85 rooms, a restaurant and conference center.
The project should take 1 1/2 to two years.
Ward noted severance will include $3,200 per full-time hospitality staffer, $1,000 for part-time; two years of tuition assistance at state higher education institutions for full-time, one year for part-time; potential unemployment benefits; and for full-time workers, one year on a list eligible for state work.
Thirty-one full-time and potentially 27 part-time jobs are at stake.

We have an update on two females missing in the area. We can now report that a 15 year-old male, Nicholas Brazier of Manchester is missing as well.
As we reported earlier, the two females are Katrina Lynn Blackburn is from Coffee County and Kaylee Lenoria Stephens is from Cannon County. The three teenagers are possibly traveling together in a 2000 4dr Toyota Corolla, tan in color with a Tennessee tag number of 3G9 9H6.
Blackburn, age 16 is white standing 5’7” weighing 115 lbs with brown hair and hazel eyes.
Stephens, age 16 is white standing 5’3” weighing 140 lbs with brown hair and blue eyes.
Brazier, is white male age 15 from the New Union community in Coffee County, standing 6ft weighing 120 lbs with black hair and hazel eyes.
The three missing teenagers have been seen in Florida, but were possibly spotted in Chattanooga, TN. They were last seen in Coffee County on November 30, 2017.
If you have any information please call the Coffee County Sheriff’s Dept. and ask for Investigator James Sherrill, Investigator Kelly Smith or Deputy Brandon Reed at 931-728-3591.

On Sunday afternoon Manchester Fire-Rescue crews responded to a structure fire on Woodrow Street. When crews arrived on scene, the front of the structure was fully involved. Crews began resetting the fire from outside the home. Once the fire was reset, crews entered the area attacking the fire on the left side of the home. Once the fire was under control, crews then began knocking down hot spots on the first-floor from the exterior of the home. Firemen then went up to the second-floor of the home to check for any fire extension into the second-floor area. There was a lot of heat and smoke in the second-floor, but the fire didn’t penetrate the second-floor area.
Fire Chief George Chambers thanked Coffee County EMS, Manchester Police, Coffee County Communications Center and off-duty firefighters that provided excellent assistance throughout the fire.
There were no reported injuries to occupants or firefighters during the fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The Motlow State Community College Public Safety Department was recently awarded a $2,500 grant through the Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO), according to Ray Higginbotham, director of public safety at Motlow. The grant funds will be used as part of THSO’s mission to reduce traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities through local highway safety initiatives.
The Department faced stiff competition from traffic safety advocates, non-profit organizations, emergency response personnel, law enforcement, district attorneys’ offices, and other state agencies across Tennessee seeking funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) through THSO. Grant recipients were required to meet data-driven criteria and highway safety standards.
The grant money will be used to purchase an electronic speed monitoring sign to be used on the well-traveled county road that goes through the Moore County campus. This should have a positive impact on motorists, and will help make the area safer for everyone by increasing driver awareness. Motlow security’s goal is to slow motorists down through this congested, high foot-traffic area.
The Department can also use data collected from electronic speed monitoring signs to apply for future grants.

Accused killer Connie Sanders King and her and her husband Troy King were in court Friday morning in Manchester.
The King’s were charged with the Nov. 13, 2012 murder of Thomas Colucci of Manchester at a residence in the Pocahontas Road area of Manchester.
After entering a plea of guilty, Connie King was sentenced to 15 years in prison for second-degree murder, four years for filing a false report and one year for accessory after the fact. The sentences are to be served concurrently for a total of 15 years in prison.
She will not be eligible for parole, but could see her sentence reduced up to 15 percent for good behavior.
Troy Lynn King pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Colucci’s death in 2015 and was sentenced Friday to 20 years in a Tennessee Department of Correction facility following Connie King’s plea hearing.