Category: News

Two people were killed Wednesday afternoon in a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Highway 70 and Old Rock Island Road.
Killed in the crash were 39 year old Kelly Campbell of Quebeck, TN and 47 year old Michael McQuiston of Carthage, TN.
According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Campbell was attempting a left turn from Highway 70 onto Old Rock Island Road when her vehicle collided with a semi pulling an empty cattle trailer. The semi was westbound on Highway 70. Campbell and McQuiston were dead at the scene. The driver of the semi, 40 year old Bradley Creek of Hillsboro, TN was not injured.

The Tennessee Valley Authority reports that last weekend’s cold snap, which dipped down to below 10 degrees in some areas, ranked fourth in the utility’s “Top 10” winter weekend power peaks. Preliminary numbers show TVA’s power peak of 28,863 megawatts occurred on Sunday, January 8. Sunday’s peak was about 4 percent off the utility’s all-time winter weekend high set on January 9, 2010.
TVA says Saturday morning’s peak of 27,575 megawatts is the ninth-highest winter weekend peak. The company also reports that consumers in their seven-state service area used 621,364 megawatt hours in a 24-hour period, which is also the utility’s fourth highest weekend energy day—enough electricity to power the city of Las Vegas for 10 days.
Because electricity demand is driven by temperature, TVA uses a meteorologist who monitors the weather across the region.
On January 5, TVA started asking to prepare for the weather by issuing tips on how to conserve electricity to reduce their power bill.

Tennessee drivers on major roads across the state are seeing a set of new billboards as part of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s efforts to address the issue of human trafficking.
The billboards, part of the agency’s ongoing ‘IT Has To Stop’ campaign, are designed to encourage people to visit www.ithastostop.com to learn more about crime of trafficking and how it impacts Tennessee, along with the warning signs, the state’s laws, and how to help in the fight against it. This is the second year the TBI has embarked on an electronic billboard campaign in its effort to educate the public about this issue. January is also National Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
The billboards, funded by a grant from the State of Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Programs, will be posted in a variety of places through the month of June.

Emma and William are the most popular names chosen by new Tennessee parents for their babies born in 2016. Names chosen for babies are recorded and tallied by the dedicated team in the Tennessee Department of Health’s Office of Vital Records, which registers some 240,000 new records of births, deaths, marriages and divorces every year.
William has remained the top name chosen for baby boys born in Tennessee for a decade, coming in as the most popular choice for ten straight years. Emma has been the most popular name for Tennessee baby girls since 2011. There are ties for the top choices in three slots on the list of boys’ names this year.
The top 10 names Tennessee parents chose for their new babies born in 2016* are as follows:

Rank Girls
1 Emma
2 Olivia
3 Ava
4 Harper
5 Isabella
6 Amelia
7 Elizabeth
8 Ella
9 Charlotte
10 Abigail

Rank Boys
1 William
2 Elijah, James (tie)
3 Mason
4 Noah
5 Jackson, Liam (tie)
6 John, Michael (tie)
7 Benjamin
8 Aiden
9 Jacob
10 Carter

The Coffee County Sheriff’s Department recently recognized Reserve Officer Bob Ritch as ‘2016 Reserve Officer of the Year’. The award is presented each year to an officer in recognition of their having demonstrated character, professionalism and dedication in their service to the citizens of Coffee County.
Officer Ritch is a three year veteran of the program. He is very proud for the opportunity to serve the citizens of Coffee County through the Sheriff’s Department Reserve Program and looks forward to continuing his service.
Bob is married to his wife Linda and they have one daughter, three sons, six grandchildren and one great grandson. He is a 1976 graduate of Waterloo High School in Atwater, Ohio. Bob retired after serving twenty-six years in the U.S. Army and retired a second time after serving thirteen years with U.S Customs and Border Protection on the Mexican border in El Paso, Texas. Bob and Linda are enjoying retirement and being back in Linda’s hometown of Manchester.
The Coffee County Sheriff’s Reserve program is made up of men and women who volunteer to take time out of their lives to give back to their community. They serve as a supplemental force that augments the regular Sherriff’s Department personnel. These officers train for a minimum of 40 hours annually to meet Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) requirements in areas such as defensive tactics, ASP, taser, domestic violence, child abuse, drug identification, police procedures, and many other topics.
Reserve officers serve in various roles throughout the department including; assisting the corrections and patrol divisions, doing prisoner transports, and serving as security during Bonnaroo, the county fair, local schools and many other community events. Each year, the Reserve Officers contribute upwards of 3,500 hours to the Sheriff’s Department and are definitely an asset to the department as well as the county.
Sheriff Graves is very appreciative to have the type of dedication that these officers demonstrate states Sgt. Morris Vanattia, who serves as the Program Supervisor.

Tullahoma Police Officer Rocky Ruehling arrest an East Moore Street man on charges of being a fugitive from justice.
According to the Officer Ruehling’s report, Jeffery Langlitz, 54 was arrested and charged after a warrants check was made for warrants on the man and it was learned that he was wanted for parole violation in Wisconsin.
Langlitz was booked into the Coffee County Jail and will face extradition to Wisconsin to face the charge.

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program is offering free help to area residents to fill out their 2016 income tax returns.
The start date is Monday, January 23, 2017 and it will extend through mid-April. The returns will be prepared on Mondays and Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Tullahoma Lannom Library, 312 N. Collins St, in Tullahoma.
The service is sponsored by the IRS and locally administered by the South Central Human Resources Agency.
To make an appointment call 931-433-0075.
All volunteers are IRS-certified tax preparers, and must pass the various certification tests annually. In addition to the basic and advanced levels, some volunteers are certified to prepare military returns, rental income, some debt cancellations, and health savings accounts. Certification includes tax aspects of the Affordable Care Act.
Taxpayers should bring picture IDs of themselves (and spouse where applicable) and Social Security cards for all including dependents. Returns are normally filed electronically with direct deposit of refunds. Option to file paper returns by mail is also available.
This is the tenth year that the Tullahoma Library has offered its facilities for this service. Over 200 returns are prepared and filed each year. This is the only VITA site in Coffee County.

Bonnaroo announced that U2 will be headlining the 2017 music festival in Manchester earlier this week and Wednesday more performers were announced.
This will be the U2’s first performance at a music festival this year in the United States.
Other performers include the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Weeknd, Chance the Rapper and more.
Tickets are on sale for $299.50 plus a $39.50 fee. After the first tier of tickets is sold out, prices will go up.
The festival will be June 8-11. For a full list of performers or ticket information, visit Bonnaroo’s website, bonnaroo.com.