Category: News

Blood Assurance is currently in critical need for blood donations of all types, most urgently O negative and O positive. In the event of a crisis situation, the low blood supply would not adequately meet the demand for blood from patients in need. This low blood supply is attributed to the increased usage from local hospitals as well as the low number of donations over the holidays. Blood Assurance is asking the community to please help replenish the low blood supply as soon as possible. The organization thanks all community members who choose to give the gift of life with each blood donation.
To be eligible to donate blood, you must be at least 18 years old (17 and 16 years old with parental consent), weigh 110 pounds or more and be in good health. Donors are asked to drink plenty of fluids – avoiding caffeine – and eat a meal that is rich in iron prior to donating.
Blood Assurance supplies blood to all area hospitals.
Local Donor Center:
TULLAHOMA 604 North Jackson St

All Motlow State Community College campuses – Moore County, Fayetteville, McMinnville and Smyrna – will be closed part of the day on Jan. 12, to permit faculty and staff to attend spring assembly. All campuses will open at 1:30 p.m. Faculty and staff from all Motlow campuses will meet on the Moore County campus for the annual assembly, during which preparations are made for the spring semester. The assembly agenda includes welcoming remarks by Dr. Anthony Kinkel, president of the college, introduction of new employees, updates on college programs, recognition of faculty and staff accomplishments, and divisional meetings. The final day that applications will be accepted for the spring 2017 semester is Jan. 11. Regular classes on all campuses begin Jan. 17.

On Tuesday morning (01/03/16) at approximately 12:30 AM, two white males committed an armed robbery at the Hilton Garden Inn at 2631 Highwood Blvd in Smyrna.
The men entered the business and first inquired about a room. They then approached the clerk with a folding box cutter type knife and demanded all the cash at the desk. The clerk complied and was then taken to an office where he was bound with duct tape.
One of the men was described as being in his 40’s and approximately 5’6″ with brown and grey hair.
The other subject was described as being approximately 6’3″, having a brown goatee and wearing a black ball cap. He was described as being in his 20’s or 30’s. This subject initially was unmasked but pulled some sort of white cloth over his face during the robbery.
Both subjects left the area in a dark colored sedan.
Authorities in Rutherford County are also searching for two women accused of robbing two hotels on Tuesday.
Police said the clerk at the Fairfield Inn in Smyrna was robbed at gunpoint around 3 p.m. About an hour later, the Sleep Inn in Murfreesboro was robbed by what is believed to be the same suspects.
Police said during both robberies, one woman entered the hotel to ask about a room. She left and the second woman entered the hotel armed with a handgun and demanded cash.
The first suspect is described as a white female in her 30s who was about 5’1” tall with shoulder length, wavy brown hair. Police said she had a piercing next to her right eye.
The second suspect is a white female in her 30s. She was wearing a stocking cap, sunglasses and a bulky blue coat. She was armed with a small semi-automatic hand gun.
The suspects are believed to be traveling in a gold Ford or Mercury minivan.
Anyone with information about these crimes is asked to call Smyrna police at 615-267-5433, or Murfreesboro police at 615-893-2717. (WGNS Radio)

You may remember that on December 15, Manchester Police responded to a call at the Hampton Inn on the Woodbury Highway. The call was concerning an Attempted Armed Robbery at the hotel.
The suspect was seen on surveillance video as being a black male, wearing a black and red hoodie and blue jeans. He is possibly traveling in a 4-door sedan.
This case is still being investigated.

There will be a special called Manchester City Board Meeting on January 6, 2017 at 12:30 afternoon for the following ordinance:
3rd reading of an ordinance amending a zoning ordinance of the City of Manchester, Tennessee, to amend that ordinance and zoning map to provide that real estate owned by Robert Stroop, Stephen Threet, Dianne Vaughn, and James H. Threet, III, be rezoned as R-4 residential from C-2 commercial; Sponsored by Alderman Swan.
If approved the land would be used for a 264 unit apartment complex. Some residents have shown concern over possible traffic problems on Kimberly Lane and Truckers Lane.

The Motlow State Community College honors program was recently awarded a $1,000 grant from the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC), according to Dr. Scott Cook, vice president, Quality Assurance and Performance Funding and Honors Program director at Motlow.
“This grant will allow the Motlow State Honors Program to continue its tradition of excellence while improving the freshman student experience and its ‘Big Geek!’ sophomore mentoring program,” said Cook. “Started in 2014, Big Geek! pairs every incoming freshman honors scholar with a dedicated sophomore to assist freshmen with the transition to college and to acclimate them to the honors program, its requirements, and honors activities.”
The grant is part of the NCHC Portz Fund. Portz Fund grants for innovations in honors programs and colleges are awarded twice a year. Grant recipients are required to submit a written report of outcomes to the awarding committee by Dec. 31, 2017, and the receiving programs will present the project at the NCHC annual conference.
Motlow State students have won the NCHC Student of the Year three consecutive years. Robin Keel won in 2014, Caitlin Tripp in 2015, and current student JuliAnna Dykes received the award in 2016.

A fire that destroyed a house under construction is under investigation on Johnson Lane by the Tullahoma Police Department.
The Tullahoma Fire Department arrived at the fire around 5:50 a.m. Monday morning and found the house that was under construction fully engulfed with flames. According to Fire Chief Richard Shasteen, the firefighters battled the blaze and kept it from spreading to nearby houses.
The chief stated that the house was under construction and since the house was under construction no one was living there at the time. “The fire appeared to have started in the floor of a bedroom,” the chief said. “It then spread up the walls and into the attic.” He said that the flames then spread throughout the house.
There was no power to the house.
Detectives Rana Pawlowski and Tyler Hatfield are investigating the fire.

A Tullahoma woman was arrested Jan. 2 after she allegedly bit a Tullahoma Police officer.
Roxana Rita Burns, 32, of Glendale Place was charged with aggravated assault, assault, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and public intoxication.
In an arrest warrant Officer Jeremiah Kirk states that when he arrived on Glendale Place he found Burns and another individual fighting in the front yard. He attempted to break up the fight and the woman allegedly bit him on his hand.
The warrant states that while she was being placed under arrest, she became abusive and resisted arrest. After arresting her, Kirk alleges that Burns had a strong odor of an intoxicant and slurred speech.

The New Year began with increased gas prices reaching an average of $2.34 per gallon.
The national average has moved higher for 34 of the past 35 days, largely due to market reactions to last fall’s OPEC deal. Compared to a week ago, pump prices have risen 4 cents in Tennessee to an average of $2.13 per gallon.
The low price in Manchester is $2.09 and in Tullahoma the low price is $2.08 per gallon.