Category: News

Early Wednesday morning Coffee County Sheriff’s Department Corporal Harmon Campbell responded to a house fire at 3203 Blanton’s Chapel Road. Upon arriving the flames were coming from the roof area. North Coffee Fire Department and other volunteer departments arrived and started fighting the fire.
The owner of the home was not at home at the time of the fire, but he was contacted by phone and responded to the house.
A Hummer SUV that was parked at the home received minor damage from the heat on the passenger side.
The home and contents were valued at over $100,000. The house was a complete loss.

American Pickers is an American 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.
This coming Monday, June 5, 2017 the TV program will feature two people from Manchester. WMSR’s “Let’s Talk Antiques” host David Pennington and his son Bryan will be on the program talking about their wide range of antiques and collectibles. Will David and Bryan sell any of their items to Mike and Frank…? You’ll have to watch and see. The show will air at 8pm Monday night on the History Channel.
Bryan Pennington said they really enjoyed hanging out with the hosts of the very successful television program and were honored by this opportunity.

As thousands of Tennessee children rejoice at the beginning of summer break, roughly one in four also will struggle to find enough to eat when school is out.
More than 25 percent of children in the state are considered “food insecure,” according to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. The gap in resources is driving programs around the state, gearing up to supply some of those kids’ nutritional needs during the summer months.
Sam Compton, youth programs manager for the Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee, said the need is greater than you might imagine.
“Everyone knows that there is a problem with hunger; I think people don’t realize the scale of the problem,” he said. “We’re just trying to meet those needs, and if you don’t have anything to eat, you’re not going to do anything else well.”
Compton said his food bank alone serves 12,000 children during the school year with food for weekends. The goal is to reach at least half that many during the summer through camps, church programs and other community events. Tennessee has the 14th-highest child food-insecurity rate in the country. Hardeman, Haywood, Lake, Lauderdale and Shelby counties rank at the top of the list.
It costs about $25 per child to provide food through a summer program. While donations of food and money always are appreciated, Compton said they’re also looking for new sites and partner organizations to help distribute the food.
“This program’s in place and we’re doing great things. We already have a lot of great partners, but we need more,” he said. “We’re interested in hearing from folks that might be serving an at-risk population that would benefit form having some food sent home from that program.”
The state of Tennessee helps administer a summer feeding program, and last year helped provide 3.6 million summer meals. Multiple studies have shown that hunger creates chronic health, psychological and behavioral conditions.
Coffee County Schools will for the first time will have a summer feeding program this year, to offer breakfast and lunches to all area kids during June and July.
The food program will operate out of New Union Elementary, where hot meals will be served, but will also travel to certain locations in the city and county to provide for other kids as well. The program will run now until June 30 and from July 10 to July 21. Breakfast will be served from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., and lunch from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Those of you living within the Wayside Sewer System area will begin to pay more for the service beginning July 1, 2017.
Coffee County Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority voted to double the rates of the homeowners using the system.
Some homeowners and lot owners in the area who are not currently connected to the system will also start paying.
Coffee County Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority serves the area of Wayside, Country Air and Deer Range, located off State Route 55 in rural Coffee County.
Fifty-nine homeowners using the system will start paying $114 as of July 1, up from the current monthly rate of $57.
Four lot owners in the Wayside circle, who are currently not paying anything, will see a $45 fee for wastewater service as part of their utility bills in July.
In addition to that, 17 homeowners in the Wayside Circle, currently not using the system, will have to also start paying $45 a month. These homeowners will have the option of connecting to the sewer system at a cost of $5,000. Those who chose this option will be responsible for the $114 monthly fee once that connection is made. However, those who opt out will be charged the $45 wastewater service fee.

A motorcycle crash on Monday left one man dead from his injures. The single vehicle crash occurred on Awalt Road inside Franklin County on Monday morning.
According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Sean Allen Musick, 28, who is from West Virginia was driving a motorcycle and was found dead when emergency crews arrived.
Tennessee Highway Patrol and other law enforcement personnel investigated the scene. According to Franklin County Sheriff Tim Fuller, there was clear evidence that Musick had lost control of his motorcycle around 24 hours earlier and died upon impact.

Grundy County Sheriff’s Department has identified a person of interest accused of stealing items from gravesites.
37-year old, Misty Melton-Jackson is wanted in connection with the thefts at Clouse Hill Cemetery. Officials say Melton-Jackson fled from deputies on a green ATV earlier Tuesday as they tried to interview her.
Misty Melton-Jackson is described as:
Cut and dyed hair
Wearing a bright orange tank top with a purple bandana on her head
5’1” and about 145 pounds.
If you know of her whereabouts, you can contact the Grundy Co. Sheriff’s Office at 931-692-3466 ext. 7. You can remain anonymous.

Al White Motors and WMSR (Thunder Radio) are teaming up to honor those who serve that thin blue line, our local law enforcement. Each month someone in law enforcement will be honored as a Hometown Hero. Our hero for the month of May is Manchester Police Investigator Brandon Tomberlin. Investigator Tomberlin was born and raised in Coffee County, Tn. He graduated from Coffee County High School in 1996. He has attended Motlow State C.C. and is a 1998 graduate from the Tn. Law Enforcement Training Academy Basic Police School. Investigator Tomberlin began his law enforcement career at Manchester Police Department in 1998. He was employed with Manchester Police Department from 1998 to 2006 leaving with the rank of Corporal. From 2006 to 2011 he was employed with Dyncorp and PAE United Nations as a Mentor / Police Advisor including training Police Officers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Haiti. In 2016, Tomberlin decided to return to Manchester Police Department. He returned to Tn. Law Enforcement Training Academy in 2016 for the POST Transition School and in 2017 was promoted to Criminal Investigator with Manchester Police Department. Investigator Tomberlin has completed several specialized schools during his career including Firearms Instructor, Sniper School, Narcotics training and he has completed basic and advanced DUI certification training.
Manchester Police Department leaders say they are very fortunate that Investigator Tomberlin decided to return to MPD to serve the citizens of our community. He has an excellent work ethic and a positive attitude.
We are continuing to ask for the public’s help for more hometown heroes. Go to our Facebook page or the Al White Ford Lincoln Mercury Facebook page to nominate a law enforcement official. Tell us why you think someone that serves Coffee County in law enforcement deserves to be chosen as a “Hometown Hero”. The man or woman that is selected each month will be recognized on WMSRradio.com and receive a nice surprise from Al White Motors.
Thank you to all that serve and protect us, our Hometown Heroes.

Coffee County Trustee John Marchesoni was named recently the “Trustee of the Year” for Middle Tennessee for outstanding service and commitment to Coffee County.
Marchesoni was chosen among 43 trustees in Middle Tennessee.
Trustee John Newman of Madison County was honored for the West Tennessee region and Trustee Scott Graves of Blount County was honored for the East Tennessee region.
They were awarded the honor during the Tennessee County Trustees’ Association Spring Conference May 9-12 in Murfreesboro.
Coffee County voters elected Marchesoni to be the Trustee in August 2014.
The trustee’s primary responsibilities are to collect property taxes, account for and disburse county funds and investing temporarily idle county funds.
Representatives from the state of Tennessee County Technical Advisory Service, the Tennessee State Comptroller’s Office, and the Tennessee Department of Revenue provided training and information at the conference.

The Industrial Board of Coffee County has officially launched a search for a new executive director.
Current Director Ted Hackney has served in that capacity for many years and will stay on until a committee decides on their next move, if any.
A committee has been formed that will look into the possibility of replacing Hackney by the end of the year. The decision to keep Hackney or replace him will be the choice of the full Industrial Board of Coffee County.
According to one representative, the search reflects the board’s interest in moving in a new direction.

Education Commissioner Candice McQueen has announced that 18,340 students in 917 classrooms across the state will benefit from the Voluntary Pre-K (VPK) program in the 2017-18 school year. Nearly 95 percent of districts in Tennessee will receive VPK funding designed to serve 4-year-olds who are at-risk. A list of preliminary funding amounts by district and the number of classrooms that funding supports is located on the department’s website.
The application process was strengthened this year to ensure the program provides children with a high-quality opportunity to develop school readiness skills and a strong foundation for learning. Pursuant to the requirements outlined in the Pre-K Quality Act of 2016, this year VPK funding was awarded on a competitive basis in order to provide consistently high-quality VPK programs that prioritize serving students from low-income families.
Coffee County schools will receive $647,398, Manchester City schools, $277,456 and Tullahoma schools $369,942.
Moving to a competitive application process is the first of many targeted updates the department is undertaking to ensure VPK funding is utilized to support high-quality pre-K programs across the state. As the department continues to make pre-K program quality improvements, they will continue to partner with districts across the state to measure program quality and to provide strategic professional development and support.