A student was removed from Westwood Middle School Friday morning after he was found to be in possession of what administrators describe as an “airsoft BB gun.”
According to Manchester City Schools Director Dr. Joey Vaughn, another student saw the BB pistol and reported it to teachers. The gun was taken up and the situation has “been dealt with,” according to Vaughn.
Vaughn said the school is allowing students to call and/or contact their parents to let them know that everything is OK.
“The student has been removed,” said Vaughn. “It was an airsoft pistol. Students weren’t in any danger. But that obviously is not appropriate at school.
“We wanted to let our students call and contact their parents individually because if it were me I would want to hear directly from my child that they are OK.”
Saturday one of three remaining signup days for Taylor-Graves Christmas charity
Sign ups and drop offs for the Gene Taylor – Steve Graves Christmas Foundation continue – with three dates remaining.
If you need Christmas assistance, you can sign up between 1-4 p.m. on Dec. 4, 1-4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10 or 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11. Sign ups at the Coffee County Rescue Squad at 2270 Murfreesboro Highway.
In order to sign up, you will need to have proof of residence in Coffee County (such as a driver’s license) and birth certificate of the child / children (or custodial papers). No phone calls.
If you wish to contribute items to the foundation, you can bring a new, unwrapped toy or canned food item to the rescue squad building on these same dates.
Warren County Sheriff’s Department asking for help finding missing man
Warren County Sheriff’s Department is attempting to locate Richard “Rick” McCormick.
He has been reported missing. He was last seen walking in the Campaign / Rock Island area of Warren County.
If anyone has seen McCormick or has knowledge of his whereabouts, contact the Warren County Sheriff’s Department at 931-668-7000.
H&R BLOCK STUDENT OF THE WEEK – Audri Patton
Join us at Thunder Radio and Rosalyn Partin of the Manchester H&R Block and congratulate our student of the week – Audri Patton.
Audri is an 8th grader at Westwood Middle School. She was nominated by her teachers and administrators. Audri is the daughter of Wendi and Jason Patton. Her favorite subject is science. During her free time, Audri enjoys playing basketball, shopping and this spring she will play softball. She is a member of the FCA.
After she graduates high school, Audri has plans to be an architect.
All students of the week are selected for their work ethic and excellent attitudes in and out of the classroom.
Rosalyn Partin, owner of the Manchester H&R Block, has been inspired to recognize great kids in our community all year long. H&R Block gives each Student of the Week a commemorative plaque, a special letter of recognition and two tickets to Lake Winnepesaukah Amusement Park.
Job well done, Audri!
Four days remain to visit Manchester Trees of Christmas display
Manchester Parks and Recreation Department presents 2021 Trees of Christmas – themed “Christmas Through the Years.” This event will return this year for its 45th Anniversary. The display will run Monday, November 29 – Sunday, December 5. The display will be open Monday from 12-6pm, Tuesday through Friday from 9am-1pm and 3-6pm, Saturday and Sunday from 12 noon – 5pm.
The Christmas Tree is one of the world’s most beautiful and expressive holiday themes. View decorated trees at this delightful holiday event. The theme “Christmas Through the Years” lends itself for one to imagine how Christmas was (or will be) celebrated in another time. The event is free and will be held at the Ada Wright Center located at 328 N. Woodland St., Manchester, TN. All are welcome to partake in this wonderful family-oriented display.
For more information you may contact the Manchester Parks and Recreation Department at 931-728-0273 or email Claire Jolley, cjolley@cityofmanchestertn.com or Becki Johnson, bjohnson@cityofmanchestertn.com.
Free pictures with Santa at Southland Pharmacy this Saturday
Santa Clause is coming to town this Saturday, Dec. 4, and everyone is welcome to come visit and have your photo taken.
Southland Pharmacy, 482 Interstate Drive (across from Unity Medical Center) will be welcoming Santa from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Everyone is welcome to come and have a professional photo taken – free of charge. Digital copies of each photo will be emailed.
New mural going up in Coffee County
This week, Tullahoma residents will see a new mural pop up in the downtown corridor. Last summer, nonprofit DMA-events applied for and received an Arts Build Communities grant through the Tennessee Arts Commission on behalf of the Coffee County Literacy Council. Ascend Federal Credit Union stepped in to provide the additional funding needed to move the project forward.
“Ascend has always had such a big presence in this community and does a lot of good for so many local organizations,” says DMA-events President Kristin Luna, a Tullahoma native. “We’re thrilled to team up with the company on this positive piece promoting literacy in both my hometown and theirs.”
The Literacy Council was founded in 1988 with the guiding purpose to provide education for those who don’t have a high school diploma, as well as supply resources and materials like books to the schools in Coffee County. Two years ago, the council launched a program in the county jail to provide classes to the incarcerated, many of whom were without a high school diploma. To date, more than 100 inmates have successfully completed the course and graduated; when they leave prison, they have a credential to help them get a job, which aids their families and the local economy while simultaneously reducing recidivism.
Due to a mall renovation, the Book Shelf—the public-facing arm of Coffee County’s Literacy Council that funds many of the nonprofit’s efforts—was relocated to a city-owned building with low visibility along the railroad in April 2021. In September, Luna and her partner Scott van Velsor put a fresh coat of paint on the secondhand bookstore’s building and adjoining cinderblock wall, which is owned by Sharon and Norman Blair of Memories Antiques. The Blair’s have been partners in previous mural projects and have again donated their wall for this community public art. In turn, DMA tapped Eric “Mobe” Bass to paint a literature-themed mural as a way to spread awareness about the work the Book Shelf is doing for literacy.
“Ascend’s hometown is Tullahoma, and we have tremendous pride in this city,” said Caren Gabriel, president and CEO of Ascend Federal Credit Union. “This mural makes our downtown area even more beautiful and encourages literacy, a worthy and beneficial cause. Ascend is also committed to educating Middle Tennesseans about financial literacy and the benefits of money management, budgeting and investing.”
About Eric Bass
Eric “Mobe” Bass is one of the most prolific artists in the Southeast. His artistic process began as a child rooting from real life experience and heartbreak; now, his primary source of inspiration for his richly diverse subject matter comes from being a father, as well as exploring nature, hiking and rock climbing.
His art is characterized by realistic portraiture and a playful use of light sources. Mobe’s works are displayed in several private residences throughout the world, as well as on hundreds of public walls in Nashville and other cities across the United States. This will be his third mural in Coffee County for DMA-events.
About DMA-events, Inc.
Kristin Luna and Scott van Velsor started 501(c)(3) DMA-events in May 2018 as a way to harness and inspire the imaginative spirit found in all of humanity by removing some of the barriers to entry of the creative process. In April, DMA-event’s Walls for Women program was awarded the Daughters of the American Revolution’s state public relations and media award for commitment to historic preservation, education and patriotism consistent with the DAR mission. Filmmaker Colin Shuran also made a documentary about the program titled Walls for Women that has been accepted at festivals like the Toronto Independent Film Festival.
For more information, interviews and images, please contact DMA-events President Kristin Luna at kristinluna@gmail.com or 931-808-9165.
Coffee County Sheriff revoked video review access for Manchester, Tullahoma police after Amacher incident
(This story contains language that may be considered by some to be racially sensitive. Discretion is advised).
Coffee County Sheriff Chad Partin revoked privileges for Manchester Police Department and Tullahoma Police Department to remotely view video visitations at the Coffee County Jail after an investigator with MPD and an assistant district attorney allegedly posted snippets of visitation video to social media.
The incident, which occurred in March, has led to a lawsuit filed by Jenna Amacher that is seeking $1.5 million in damages from the City of Manchester, MPD investigator Trey Adcock and Coffee County Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Craighead.
The lawsuit claims that Adcock and Craighead accessed Coffee County Jail video visitation with their government access and then posted portions of the video to social media in an attempt to defame Amacher. She was visiting with the father of her child, who was incarcerated at the time. The video portion taken and posted to social media allegedly shows Amacher using the phrase “nigga.”
Upon learning of this incident in the spring, Partin promptly cut off access for Manchester City Police Department to have remote access to the system. He also cut off Tullahoma Police Department. If those departments want to view video for a criminal case, they can go to the jail and watch in person or file a request for information.
“They can go through our office here at the jail if they need to watch something, or one investigator at the District Attorney’s office has access,” explained Partin. “But as far as individual access so they can sit around and watch like it is Entertainment Tonight, that’s not going to happen.
“I was really disappointed in a Manchester Police Department detective an an assistant district attorney because that was an investigative tool for them … or should be.”
Partin said when Amacher alerted him to the issue, he investigated and immediately contacted District Attorney General Craig Northcott and MPD chief Mark Yother.
“I know General Northcott was not happy,” added Partin. “Once I found out they were abusing that for something else and to try and taint someone else’s reputation, I had that access cut off.”
THE ORIGINAL STORY FROM THIS LAWSUIT PUBLISHED ON MONDAY, NOV. 28 IS BELOW:
Tullahoma Alderman Jenna Amacher has filed a lawsuit in the United States Eastern District Court, listing the city of Manchester, Manchester Police Department Investigator Trey Adcock and Coffee County assistant district attorney Jennifer Craighead as defendants.
Amacher is seeking $1.5 million dollars in damages for what she claims in the lawsuit to be “emotional distress” and “defamation,” among other things. Amacher claims this is a case of abuse of power, official misconduct and misuse of government resources and power. The lawsuit is dated Nov. 19, 2021. Thunder Radio News has thoroughly reviewed the suit and other evidence provided by Amacher. This lawsuit only speaks for the Plaintiff (Amacher) and does not offer any defense from Adcock, Craighead or the City of Manchester.
At the center of the litigation is a video posted to social media from a visit Amacher made to an inmate at the Coffee County Jail. According to the lawsuit, Amacher was having a video visitation with Waymond Brian Riddle (the father of her child) at the Coffee County Jail on March 3, 2020. During this visitation, the plaintiff used the word “nigga.” According to the lawsuit, this “must be taken into context with the entire conversation. Both plaintiff and Mr. Riddle are Caucasian.”
Unknown to Amacher, Adcock and Craighead allegedly accessed this video visitation using their “governmental authority, positions, resources and equipment.” Subsequently, one or both allegedly took a personal cell phone video of the plaintiff and published the video on social media. Amacher’s lawsuit claims that “the defendants did not view the visitation under the pretense of any investigatory authority or reasonable purpose.”
Amacher claims that after the video was posted, “an internet mob gathered against her.”
Amacher provided Thunder Radio with an open records request made to the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department that shows that someone by the username of “tadcock” and someone with the username of “jrcraighead” did access the video visitations in question on March 3 (see that letter at the bottom of this story).
According to Facebook profiles, Adcock and Craighead are listed as “in a relationship.”
“This case is clearly an abuse of power, official misconduct, misuse of government resources and power. None of our government employees should be on the clock taking personal cell phone videos of information they are privy to with the INTENT to use it for purposes outside the scope of their employment,” Amacher said in an emailed statement to Thunder Radio. “This was used to maliciously attack and defame me and by individuals that should know better and be held accountable. At some point in our lives, many of us will find ourselves in a position that we would rather not be in, for instance, with a loved one in jail dealing with addiction and the wreckage that is left behind. No one in a position of power should be using this as an opportunity for a smear campaign. Such practice is predatory, demeaning, and it can cost a lot of residual damage. There is a proper way to retrieve the information that was released; these individuals did not choose to adhere to such, instead they acted with reckless disregard to the ethical standards that should be adhered to.
“Both police departments, the DA’s office, and the Sheriffs department have access (remotely) to view the visitation video logs. I believe some individuals have been using this privilege for conduct that is outside the scope of their employment… and possibly as “Days of our Lives” entertainment as such in this case. This practice is unprofessional, unacceptable, and absolutely deplorable.
“I want policies and procedures in place that prevent future misuse of government resources and time as well as safeguards that protect citizen’s privacy when information is obtained that falls outside the scope of an investigation or some legitimate reason for its release through proper channels.
“I will not stand for the abuse of power and I will continue to fight against it in my professional and personal capacity.”
Trees of Christmas continues through this week
Manchester Parks and Recreation Department presents 2021 Trees of Christmas – themed “Christmas Through the Years.” This event will return this year for its 45th Anniversary. The display will run Monday, November 29 – Sunday, December 5. The display will be open Monday from 12-6pm, Tuesday through Friday from 9am-1pm and 3-6pm, Saturday and Sunday from 12 noon – 5pm.
The Christmas Tree is one of the world’s most beautiful and expressive holiday themes. View decorated trees at this delightful holiday event. The theme “Christmas Through the Years” lends itself for one to imagine how Christmas was (or will be) celebrated in another time. The event is free and will be held at the Ada Wright Center located at 328 N. Woodland St., Manchester, TN. All are welcome to partake in this wonderful family-oriented display.
For more information you may contact the Manchester Parks and Recreation Department at 931-728-0273 or email Claire Jolley, cjolley@cityofmanchestertn.com or Becki Johnson, bjohnson@cityofmanchestertn.com.
Woodbury, Tullahoma Christmas parades are this weekend
If the Manchester Christmas Parade this past Saturday didn’t give you enough holiday cheer, you can catch a pair of Christmas parades taking place nearby this weekend.
This coming Saturday, December 4th is the day for the Woodbury Christmas Parade. The parade is a community project of the Woodbury Lions Club.
Parade entries will assemble at 11am and the parade will begin at Noon in nearby Cannon County.
The parade will start on Adams Street, head down Highway 70 and then to Highway 53 and eventually to College Street in Woodbury.
Meanwhile, the 65th annual Tullahoma Christmas Parade will happen at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3. There are already over 100 entries and more being accepted. The theme is “A Cartoon Christmas.” Anyone wishing to enter can visit the Tullahoma Chamber in person before noon on Friday.
