Category: News

Coffee County Children’s Advocacy Center held its 10th annual “Safe on the Square,” on Tuesday. The yearly event is a safe and family friendly trick-or-treating event for area children around the historic Manchester Square. A tremendous amount trick or treaters (2,500+) filled the Manchester Square to celebrate Halloween.
CEO/Executive Director Joyce Prusak of the Coffee County Children’s Advocacy Center would like to thank everyone including the nearly 90 businesses who came together to make this event possible for our community!

The verdict in the Bryan Cooke murder trial in Warren County was announced late Wednesday afternoon. The case went to the jury Tuesday afternoon and a guilty verdict was given around 5pm Wednesday.
Bryan Cooke was charged in the murders of his in-laws, Gary and Gail Dodson, in June of 2015. Their bodies were found inside their home in the Fairview Community. The Dodsons were owners of Gary and Gail’s Pit Stop on Beersheba Street in McMinnville.
Cooke was arrested in Florida and brought back to Tennessee.

Hazing at the University of Tennessee Knoxville has led school officials to form a team to address and help mitigate incidents.
University administrators tell the Knoxville News Sentinel the Hazing Prevention Team includes students, faculty and staff. The newspaper reported on Wednesday the team met for the first-time last month.
University associate dean of students Danny Glassmann says hazing incidents that recently occurred around the country have made addressing similar issues unavoidable.
University Sorority and Fraternity Life office assistant director Trey Robb says hazing is most common in varsity athletics, fraternities and sororities.
The university began posting a history of fraternity and sorority conduct online in fall 2016. The newspaper reports during the 2016-2017 school year six instances of disciplinary sanctions were taken against fraternities in response to hazing.

David Pennington and his son Bryan are back on American Pickers. Pickers is a reality television series that premiered on January 18, 2010 on the History Channel.
The show follows antique and collectible pickers Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz who travel around the United States to buy or “pick” various items for resale, for clients, or for their own personal collections.
On June 5, 2017 the TV program featured the Penningtons. And now the Father and son are part of a special 3-hour show featuring highlights from various episodes. David says this program will show additional footage that was not on the first program.
David is the host of WMSR’s “Let’s Talk Antiques,” that has aired for 18 years on the station.
The new American Pickers show featuring the Penningtons airs at various times on the History Channel, check your local listings.

The state medical examiner has informed Franklin County investigators that it may be a week before they can identify a body found last week in the Estill Springs area.
Tullahoma Police Lt. Jason Ferrell and Investigator Tyler Hatfield received information that a body could possibly be in the wooded area. When the investigators arrived, they found the body and notified Franklin County Sheriff’s Investigator Todd Hindman. They then summoned the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Crime Lab for assistance in gathering evidence. The body was then sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy and positive identification.
Investigators say they suspect that the body is that of David Steele, who had been reported missing to Tullahoma Police. According to investigators, Steele had not been heard from since Oct. 3.

A traffic stop last week by the Tennessee Highway Patrol on I-24 near Manchester, Tn., has led to smuggling charges against Jesus Andres Lujan Jr. During the traffic stop it was discovered that the man had 16 Hispanic people in a 2004 Chevrolet Express van that authorities said were being smuggled into the U.S.
According to the Chattanoogan online paper, Lujan said he believed all 16 individuals were in the U.S. illegally.
He said he was being paid $50 each to transport them from Houston, TX and was taking them to Doraville, Ga. or possibly Charlotte, N.C.
Three of the Hispanics said members of a smuggling organization had threatened them multiple times and on occasions had taken their shoes to prevent them from escaping. The Hispanics were released to federal authorities.
They said Lujan had not threatened them, but they said he appeared to be very familiar with how the smuggling operation worked.

The open enrollment period to purchase health insurance on the federal marketplace begins today (Nov. 1, 2017), and consumer advocates want to make sure Tennesseans understand the importance having coverage.
This year, the federal government has cut funding for the health navigator program as well as payments to states to offset the cost of premiums. But Kinika Young, director of children’s health at the Tennessee Justice Center, said it’s still important to make sure you and your family are protected.
“I think it’s important to remember that you want to make sure that you’re covered in the event of some health emergency or situation,” Young said. “So even though the Marketplace could use some stabilization, it is still the most prudent thing for people to have insurance, because you never know when you’re going to need it.”
Young said it’s also important to remember that the open enrollment period is shortened this year from three months to 45 days.
Premiums in Tennessee are expected to increase because federal financial support for the states was eliminated by the Trump administration. Eighteen states are suing the administration to prevent the cutoff of subsidies. Tennessee is not one of them.
Young said it’s possible premiums will be adjusted if the lawsuit against the Trump administration is successful in securing federal support for the Affordable Care Act.
“It is entirely possible, if the states that have sued the administration prevail and the payments are resumed, then insurers should be called upon to have that reflected in their rates,” she said.
To schedule an appointment with a health navigator or access help in enrollment over the phone, you can call 844-644-5443. In Tennessee 234,000 people enrolled through the Tennessee health exchange this year – 13 percent fewer than the year before.