Category: News

According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, there were 275 incidences of hate crimes against people or their personal property between 2015 and 2016, the most recent data available. But numerous reports from independent groups say hate crimes are on the rise.
One such group, in partnership with at least 100 media outlets across the country, is working to collect the data. Rachel Glickhouse with the Documenting Hate Project explained what they’ve been hearing so far.
“What they found is that, all over the country, kids are using either racist and anti-Semitic language to bully other students and also making reference to certain policies like ‘Build a wall’ or ‘Trump is going to deport you,’” Glickhouse said.
The Documenting Hate Project is a project of the progressive media website ProPublica. There are three-thousand hate crimes reported nationwide.
Glickhouse said the hope is that the data they collect can be used by policymakers to understand what’s happening in their communities, and where there are opportunities to enact change.
“We hope that in reporting on this issue and trying to get a better sense of data, that policy makers and stakeholders in this particular area can take action,” she said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is required to collect data about hate crimes, but Glickhouse said more reporting is needed by local law enforcement agencies.

The City of Manchester, Street Department provides leaf vacuum service to all city residents from Fall to Spring of each year.
The Leaf Vacuum Service will resume again this fall. All leaves and grass must be recycled under State and Federal regulations.
All leaves placed out to be vacuumed must be free of any sticks, rocks, limbs, etc. or any other debris that would obstruct or harm the equipment.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact their office at 728-6903 Monday thru Friday, 6:00 am to 4:00 pm.

There was a one-vehicle crash on Interstate 24 that blocked traffic westbound for several hours and slowed traffic as well through Manchester on Tuesday.
According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), a 1996 Ford Explorer driven by Wendell Rogers JR age 39 of Smyrna exited the interstate westbound into the Manchester Scales at mile-marker 116 apparently believing it was a rest area. A Trooper approached the vehicle were it had stopped to check on the driver. At this time the Trooper observed the driver to allegedly be under the influence with the driver refusing to exit the SUV and left the scale complex at a high rate of speed.
A second Trooper was nearby and located the vehicle and pursued the vehicle for a short distance where it crashed at mile-marker 109. The vehicle overturned ejecting the driver and partially ejecting passenger, Jamie Hiles age 35 of Woodbury. Both individuals were flown by air ambulance because of their injuries. Rogers went Vanderbilt Medical Center and Hiles was transported to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga.
The THP report says that the individuals were not wearing seatbelts.
Charges are pending.
Two other non-life threating accidents occurred during the clean-up of the first crash. One near Exit 114 and the other near Exit 110.

A crash involving a school bus sent 12 fourth graders to the Emergency Room on Tuesday. Officials say the students from Hickory Creek Elementary School in Warren County were returning from a field trip to Bridgestone when the accident happened.
Witnesses said the school bus was making a left turn from Bridgestone Drive on to Highway 55 when a car driven by Veronica Scott, which was westbound on 55, crashed into the side rear panel of the bus.
Scott’s vehicle was totaled, but she was not seriously injured and was not transported. School officials said 12 students were transported to River Park Hospital in McMinnville, although none were believed to be seriously injured. The remaining students were loaded on to another bus and were taken back to school.

A Hillsboro man is free on a $35,000 bond after he was arrested on charges of raping a Tullahoma woman.
Cory Thomas Keeling, 25, of Amy Road, Hillsboro was arrested Sept. 22 in connection with an alleged rape that occurred on Ridgelawn Place in Tullahoma.
According to a warrant obtained by Tullahoma Police Investigator Rana Pawlowski, on Sept. 13 a woman reported that her friend took Keeling to the victim’s residence. The warrant alleges that the friend and Keeling arrived at her residence “very intoxicated.” Then the friend left but left Keeling at the residence.
The warrant alleges that after the friend left, Keeling “attempted to kiss the woman and she refused.” The warrant alleges that he then placed his hands around the woman’s throat and attempted to choke her.
The female, according to the warrant told the investigator that Keeling then forced her to perform a sexual act.
The warrant states that the victim had marks consistent with what she told the officer.
According to the investigator, the victim did not know Keeling.
Keeling is scheduled to appear in Coffee County General Sessions Court on Sept. 28.

A Tullahoma man was arrested Sept. 26 for possession of meth by deputies from the Bedford County Sheriff’s Department.
Michael Dale Cyree, 42, of East Lincoln Street was charged with possession of schedule II and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Cyree’s arrest came after he and another man, who was not arrested, made residents in Normandy suspicious. Around 6 a.m. the two were going to houses in Normandy asking to use the phone while he was seen carrying a working cellphone.
A report by Bedford County Sheriff’s Deputy Jared Featherstone states that when he arrived, Cyree told him that he was trying to find a tool to fix a flat tire. The officer ran a criminal record of Cyree and learned that there were warrants for him from Coffee County for possession of schedule II, a felon in possession of a weapon and failure to appear in court.
When he was asked by the deputy if he had any drugs, Cyree told the officer that he had meth. A search of the man revealed 2.85 grams of crystal meth in five bags, $292 cash, a glass pipe and a knife in Cyree’s clothing. Cyree was carrying a duffel bag that contained ammunition, syringes, knives, scales, a car stereo, iPod, Kindle Fire and a Samsung Glaxy Note cellphone.
Cyree was booked in the Bedford County Jail under a $30,000 bond.

State Rep. Judd Matheny (R) of Tullahoma is running for U.S. Congressman, 6th District. We now have a candidate running for Matheny’s seat in the state house, Coffee County Commissioner Rush Bricken (R).
Bricken said he plans to focus on limited government, good jobs, quality education and better roads.
Bricken is a Certified Public Accountant, bank executive with Coffee County Bank and represents the 21st district on the county commission.

Area police reported to Westwood Middle School in Manchester on Tuesday afternoon around 1pm to investigate a threat. The threat was allegedly written on a restroom wall.
Manchester City Schools Director Lee Wilkerson and school leaders placed Westwood Middle and Elementary schools on lockdown. The elementary school was placed on lockdown because of the proximity to the middle school.
The lockdown was lifted about an hour later after was is being called bathroom graffiti was investigated by Manchester Police, who determined there was no credible threat.

Former Tullahoma High School co-band director Martin McFarlane, 31, of Castle Walk is free on a $30,000 bond after his arrest by the FBI. He will be monitored by a monitoring device.
According federal court documents, McFarlane appeared before a federal magistrate on Aug. 24 on charges of transportation of child pornography and possession of child pornography.
The indictments allege that McFarlane transported by the internet pornography of “minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.” He is also accused in the federal indictments of “knowingly possessing child pornography” that had been “mailed and shipped and transported” by computer.
According to the federal court documents, McFarlane faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 if convicted.
He cannot possess any type of computer while awaiting a trial.
According to the court documents, all motions in the case are to be filed no later than Oct. 3. If a plea bargain is reached on the charges, it will be heard on Oct. 17. If not, then a final pretrial Status conference will be held on Oct. 23 at 3 p.m. EST. If no agreement is reached then a trial will be held in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga on Oct. 31. At 9 a.m.
If he is convicted of the charges, McFarlane will be required to forfeit two cell phones, computer, a laptop and a tablet.
McFarlane is represented by a Federal Public Defender. Assistant U.S. Attorney James Brooks is prosecuting the case.
The FBI along with the Tullahoma Police conducted a search of his residence on Castle Walk on May 11 in search of the pornography. While conducting that search they allegedly found marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He appeared in Coffee County General Sessions Court on the drug charges and was given a suspended 11 months 29-day sentence, a $250 fine, court cost and report to the Coffee County Probation office. He resigned from his job at the school.

The Murfreesboro man convicted in the Valentine’s Day 2013 murder of his newlywed wife saw his appeal denied by the Court of Criminal Appeals in Nashville this past May. This month, the courts have once again shot down his case.
Jacob Pearman originally argued six reasons his conviction should be overturned this past May. Some of the stated arguments included the trial court denying his motion for a change of venue and another suggested the courts abused their discretion in declining to strike a juror for cause. All six motions were denied by the appeals court in Nashville.
Pearman choked and beat his wife, Carla, to death in 2013. Carla Pearman was the former Carla Dillard of Manchester and was a 2002 graduate of Coffee County High School. He admitted to how he killed her during a police interview after he was arrested.
He was sentenced to life in prison by Circuit Court Judge David Bragg after the jury found him guilty of first-degree murder in early 2015.
On Thursday, September 21, 2017, the Tennessee Supreme Court denied his appeal from moving forward. Ironically, that denial fell on Pearman’s 35th birthday.
Pearman will remain behind bars for life. He will be eligible for parole at age 90 in year 2073. (WGNS Radio)