Category: News

Nashville based FirstBank recently announced its intent to merge with Clayton Bank & American City Bank.
Jim Clayton founded Clayton Bank through the 2002 purchase of First State Bank of Henderson, Tennessee, the main bank of Jim’s childhood home. In 2004, Friendship Bank of Friendship, Lexington and Covington, and American City Bank of Tullahoma and Manchester were added. Clayton Bank expanded to Knoxville and Cookeville in 2005 and operates branches in downtown Knoxville, West Knoxville, Farragut, Clinton Highway and Alcoa. With more than $1 billion in assets and 31 offices in 20 cities, the Clayton family of banks satisfies the banking needs of more than 60,000.
FirstBank’s decision to merge with Clayton Bank & American City Bank was based on its long-term growth strategy and the desire to expand its Tennessee presence especially in the Knoxville and Tullahoma markets.

McMinnville Police are looking for three men who robbed the C and A Market and assaulted two of the clerks.
Police say the three Hispanic men entered the store Thursday afternoon. One of the female clerks was held at gunpoint, while two other female clerks were struck on the head.
The men got away with an undisclosed amount of cash. The two clerks who were assaulted were taken to River Park Hospital, where they were treated and released.
Anyone with any information that might be helpful in apprehending the three people is asked to call McMinnville Police at (931) 473-3808.

In a move that surprised many involved in local sports, on Friday, Tullahoma City Schools Director Dan Lawson announced that Tullahoma High School Head Football Coach John Olive has been named athletic director for the 2017-18 school year, replacing longtime AD Jerry Mathis.
Lawson and Mathis both said they met with THS Principal Kathy Rose on Jan. 27 to discuss the future of the AD position. During that meeting, they discussed candidates to take over Mathis’ position in the future.
Mathis has served as athletic director at the high school for 18 years, taking over after retiring from coaching in 1999. Mathis stepped into the AD position after spending 29 years at helm of the Wildcats’ baseball program, winning two state titles, the first coming in 1974 and adding one more in 1990.
Mathis said he had hoped to stay at the school as AD for 2 more years. (Tullahoma News)

Throughout this past fall, Future Business Leaders of America members at Coffee County High School, officers, and advisors, along with special volunteers, spent many hours organizing the “Team Up to Tackle Breast Cancer” event. FBLA members sold t-shirts and Otis Spunkmeyer breast cancer cookies, and hosted a “pink out” game where the football team wore pink jerseys sponsored by Farm Bureau Insurance and all other participants at the game sported pink. Funds raised from these activities have totaled $8,000. The donation was presented to the Tennessee Breast Cancer Coalition with all funds set to benefit breast cancer patients in Coffee County. FBLA would like to thank everyone who participated in the various activities and donated so that one day a cure may be found!

Tullahoma Wal-Mart was evacuated Thursday afternoon due to smoke in the building. Store officials got all customers and employees out of the building. The Tullahoma fire department made a search of the building and up on the roof of the building but no fire was found. The smoke was coming from the back of the building in the area of the offices. It was allegedly a central heating unit causing the problem.
No one was injured and shoppers were allowed to return to the store after about 30 minutes.

There’s a new tax scam.
The IRS is warning taxpayers to be alert for tax return preparers who promise inflated tax refunds.
IRS officials say if a preparer promises an extremely large refund based on credits or benefits you’ve never been able to claim in the past you should use caution.
Scammers usually search for people who don’t have a filing requirement, like the elderly or people with a low income.
Con artists may also file a false return in their client’s name, and the client doesn’t know that a refund was paid.
Experts say if a preparer is promising something that sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
This scam is just one of several on the annual list of tax scams released by the IRS known as the “Dirty Dozen.”

Repeal or replace the Affordable Care Act.
As discussions about the future of the ACA continue at the national and state levels, the Tennessee Medical Association is weighing in on how to improve the quality of health care.
The TMA has released new recommendations for how its members believe the country should move forward with heath care.
The association’s president, Dr. Keith Anderson, says it starts with a focus on wellness.
“Wellness is the whole idea of reducing health care costs, not paying for wellness and preventative care, probably ultimately costs us money on the back end as well,” he points out.
The TMA recommends the federal government eliminate out-of-pocket charges for preventive care and continue to reduce barriers to patient care.
That includes prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage to people with preexisting conditions, and allowing parents to keep children on their health insurance plans until age 26.
Anderson maintains lawmakers should look to work within the existing structure of the Affordable Care Act, instead of starting from scratch.
“If they do repeal the process, they’re going to have to put something in place pretty quickly,” he stresses. “The first Affordable Care Act was kind of rushed in because of political reasons, and we don’t want to see that happen again.”
The TMA also recommends that the federal government maintain adequate provider networks, scrutinize mergers that create monopolies for health plans, and improve processes for reducing fraud and abuse.

The Tennessee Treasury Department returned 41,827 claims of Unclaimed Property in FY 2016, marking a 28% increase over the year prior. This is the highest number of claims ever returned by the Department. More than $34 million was returned last year with an average claim amount of $817.
Unclaimed property is money that has been turned over to the State by businesses and organizations who cannot locate the rightful owners. Every year, millions of dollars are turned over, and the Tennessee Treasury Department works to get that money back to whom it belongs. In Tennessee, there is currently $789.2 million in unclaimed property still waiting to be returned.
The types of unclaimed funds that may be held include stocks, bonds, gift certificates, checks, unclaimed wages, refunds from utility or other companies, life insurance annuities that could not reach the beneficiary, and more. In Tennessee, the Unclaimed Property Division does not include real estate or physical items.
The Unclaimed Property’s website: ClaimItTN.gov. This searchable online database contains all unclaimed property in Tennessee dating to the beginning of the program. You can visit www.ClaimItTN.gov to search for your name, and can file your claim online. Treasury recommends searching for common misspellings of your name and addresses as well.

The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office says it has arrested two men and two women for trading and distributing prescription pills out of a Tracy City home. Sheriff Clint Shrum says deputies found small children in the home while serving a search warrant, and believe these children were present during drug transactions.
Those arrested, and their charges, include: Amanda Nichole Irvin age 30 – Criminal conspiracy, child neglect and drug paraphernalia.
Robert Aaron Irvin age 20- Criminal conspiracy, child neglect and drug paraphernalia. Susann E. Irvin age 51- Criminal conspiracy, child neglect, drug paraphernalia and Kenneth D. Nunley age 47 – Criminal conspiracy, child neglect and drug paraphernalia and possession of schedule VI drugs.
Sheriff Clint Shrum explained that investigators began the case after receiving info that Susann E. Irvin was selling, trading and distributing prescription pills from the residence located at 3150 DR 56 In Tracy City.
Sheriff Shrum said that charges of TennCare and EBT Fraud are expected to come from the Office of Inspector General. The Department of Children’s Services has been assigned to the case.