Category: News

We have an update on the tragic fire that occurred Monday morning around 8:30am on Blue Creek Road in Tullahoma inside Franklin County.
When authorities arrived, deputies say bystanders helped pull three children from the home. Tragically 4-year-old Sophie Burks died from her injuries after being taken to Southern Tennessee Regional Healthcare in Winchester.
The two others are 1-year-old Landon Burks and 6-month-old Leah Tigue. They were flown to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville where they remain in the burn unit.
A spokesperson for Vanderbilt stated Tuesday that Landon was in critical condition while Leah is in stable condition in the Monroe Carell Children’s Hospital.
There is an ongoing investigation into the fire by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in conjunction with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and state bomb and arson investigators.

Coffee County Schools has a graduation rate topping 91 percent, an average composite ACT score of 19.1 and spends $9,230 per student which is a little over $200 less than the state average per student, according to information released yesterday as part of the annual Tennessee Report Card.
The state average ACT score is 19.9 and the graduation rate is 88.5 percent.
Students received their best scores in Coffee County in Biology 1 with 45.8% on track of proficient and 13.2% mastering the subject.
Students in high school did take end-of-course exams last spring, and as such, the report does include achievement and growth data for those students. However, the accuracy of the data is suspect because the Department of Education announced the tests would not count toward the students’ final grades.
The Tennessee Department of Education and the state Board of Education also established higher score thresholds that students must meet to be considered proficient when taking end-of-course exams.

This past Saturday (December 10) Manchester Police responded to a roll-over accident on Doak Road. The man driving the vehicle, according to three witnesses had left the scene. Timothy Dewayne Sanders age 40 of Hills Chapel Rd Manchester was located the KFC Restaurant on the Hillsboro Highway.
Officer Jamie Norris indicated in the arrest warrant that Sanders had a strong odor of an intoxicant about his person. The warrant says the man had blood shot eyes and slurred speech and the officer said he was unsteady on his feet. Apparently Sanders refused to perform and field sobriety tests nor would he consent for a blood alcohol test. A search warrant was obtained and Sanders was taken to Unity Medical Center for a blood alcohol test.
Sanders was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, failure to report an accident, DUI 3 offense and driving on revoked/suspended license 3rd offense. Bond was set at $17,000 and a court date of Feb. 28, 2017.

$500 million is the latest figure of how much it will cost to repair all of the damage caused by the Smoky Mountain wildfires.
Sevier County officials held a news conference on Tuesday and reported the fires have been 100 percent contained.
The focus has now completely shifted to rebuilding efforts.
The wildfires have been devastating, not only to the residents who lost their homes, but also to the families of the 14 people who were killed.
During Tuesday’s news conference, park rangers broke down their response day by day. They say they were fighting a severe drought paired with 87 mph winds, which made for a disastrous time for the firefighters trying to contain them.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Deputy Superintendent Clay Jordan said he believes that no amount of firefighters could have stopped the blaze in such extreme wind conditions.

A tragic fire occurred Monday morning around 8:30am on Blue Creek Road in Tullahoma inside Franklin County.
When authorities arrived, deputies say bystanders helped pull three children from the home. Tragically one child died after being taken to Southern Tennessee Regional Healthcare in Winchester.
The two others were flown to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville where they remain in the burn unit.
There is an ongoing investigation into the fire by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in conjunction with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and state bomb and arson investigators.

If you smoke in your home and you live in public housing, soon you’ll be required to stop smoking or you’ll have to move.
Public housing developments nationwide, including all those in Coffee County will be required to provide a smoke-free environment for their residents.
The new U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rule, set for full implementation by August 2018, requires each agency administering public housing to ban lit tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars or pipes) and waterpipes (hookahs) in all living units, indoor common areas, administrative offices and all outdoor areas within 25 feet of housing and administrative office buildings.
Beginning Feb 3, 2017 more than 3,100 agencies across the country will have 18 months to implement the required smoke-free policies.
According to HUD, this rule improves indoor air quality in the housing; benefits the health of public housing residents, visitors, and staff; reduces the risk of catastrophic fires; and lowers overall maintenance costs.

A Tennessee congressman has introduced a school bus seat belt bill designed to help protect school children.
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, who represents Tennessee’s 9th U.S. Congressional District around Memphis, is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Cohen introduced the Bring Enhanced Liability in Transportation for Students (BELTS) Act to help protect children who ride on school buses.
The bill would create federal grants to purchase new school buses with lap/shoulder seat belts or equip existing ones with such belts and creates federal grants to equip school buses with motion-activated detection systems, according to a news release.
The bill would also direct the Secretary of Transportation to withhold federal-aid highway funds if the state has not enacted a law that requires the employer to conduct background checks before hiring school bus drivers.

Medical marijuana will again be a topic of discussion in the Tennessee state legislature as Rep. Jeremy Faison plans to introduce a bill during the next legislative session.
Faison’s office said Friday a formal announcement about the bill proposal would come Wednesday. Specifics about the bill will be discussed at that time.
Faison said in October he planned to introduce a medical marijuana bill after meeting with several families who moved from Tennessee to Colorado to get treatment they can’t get here.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle would admit that there is room for improvement for the Affordable Care Act and the Health Exchange, but a growing number of Republicans are calling for repeal of the legislation.
While starting over sounds logical to some, a new report from the Urban Institute finds that would come at a significant cost to millions of Americans.
Michele Johnson, executive director of the Tennessee Justice Center, says before a repeal, lawmakers must have a plan in place.
“Rural Tennesseans are going to be impacted by a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, unless there’s a replacement, and that’s why it’s vitally important that if there are problems that politicians have with the plan, that they fix those problems, that they don’t drive the car off the cliff just because it needs its oil changed,” she stresses.
According to the report, the number of uninsured people would more than double to 59 million by 2019. Additionally, 82 percent of the uninsured would be working families.
In Tennessee, there would be a 79 percent increase in the number of uninsured, and families receiving tax credits under the ACA would lose more than $5,000 a year in assistance.
Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University, says it’s important that citizens pay attention to what is being proposed in the new year in Washington before it’s too late.
“Congressional leaders are moving very quickly to try to do this in January as soon as they return from the holidays so people are not aware that this could happen so quickly and also they’re not aware of the consequences,” she points out.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee is among those calling for fellow lawmakers to create a replacement for health coverage before the ACA is repealed.
Johnson says others should follow suit.
“That’s folks who are interested in governing and who basically care about the real Tennesseans who are sitting at their kitchen tables trying to figure out how do they make their budget this week and this month and how do they make sure that their children have a bright future,” she states. “Playing political games is fine. It’s really, really harmful in this context. The stakes are too high for Tennesseans. ”
Opponents of repealing the ACA point out that Congress has voted numerous times to repeal the act, but in six years have yet to agree on a replacement.