Category: News

On Saturday, October 29, at Wagonner Park in Tullahoma, the community came out to have fun and raise funds for the Tullahoma Animal Shelter’s medical funds. But this year’s fund raising is not complete. A generous anonymous donor is asking if the community can raise an additional $1,100 to fully fund their $5,000 match.
The Tullahoma Animal Shelter is asking the public to please send checks to PO Box 807, Tullahoma, TN 37388. Checks can be made payable to Tullahoma Animal Shelter Medical Fund. Concerned citizens may also bring donations to Public Works at 942 Maplewood Ave or to Tullahoma City Hall at 201 West Grundy St.

So far so good for Coffee County, but in nearby counties like Franklin and Grundy they are experiencing a severe drought and other counties around the state are described by the U.S. Drought Monitor as “extreme” to “exceptional.”
Tullahoma Utilities Authority (TUA) and the Duck River Utility Commission (DRUC) are monitoring our water levels and currently there are no problems with water supplies in our area.
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) has asked the public in counties having issues to limit water usage for non-essential purposes as water systems coordinate efforts to share resources to ensure continued drinking water services.

A former Grundy County school teacher is headed to prison for the statutory rape of a former elementary school student. Thomas (Scooby) Andrews has been sentenced to serve three and half years in the Tennessee Department of Corrections. Andrews was convicted of two counts of Aggravated Statutory Rape (one count of sexual battery and one count of statutory rape were dismissed).
Andrews is a former assistant football coach at Grundy County High School.

Dr. Candice McQueen, Commissioner of Education for the state of Tennessee will be visiting Coffee County High School on Friday, November 4th.
Dr. McQueen will tour the school and student representatives will show her around, observe classes, and lead a round table discussion with several students focusing on career and college readiness.
Due to a schedule change she will not be visiting Westwood Middle School.
Dr. McQueen was sworn in as Tennessee’s commissioner of education on January 17, 2015.

State officials say Donald Trump would be the next president if Tennessee students were casting real ballots. 165,968 students representing 479 schools from 90 of the state’s 95 counties voted in the first statewide student mock election. Republican candidate Donald Trump won the mock election with 88,208 votes at 53.1%. Competitor Hillary Clinton received 56,935 votes at 34.3%. Independent candidates split the remainder of the votes with Gary Johnson taking the most at 5%.
Students in preschool through high school from public and private schools as well as home school associations in Tennessee participated.

What began as an experiment to create innovation through charter schools has become a movement to privatize public education, according to a new report.
Stan Salett, the study’s co-author, spent more than four decades in public education and helped launch the nation’s Head Start and Upward Bound programs. In the past two decades, he said, a small group of billionaires – including News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch, who once called public schools an “untapped $500 billion sector” – have worked to assert private control over public education to make money.
“And that’s what’s at play now,” Salett said. “You’ve got a lot of money on one side going in to create a privatized school system that becomes part of the new marketplace for hedge funds and Wall Street investors.”
Tennessee recently received $20 million from the U.S. Department of Education to expand high-performing charter schools. There are approximately 35 charter schools in the state.
The Independent Media Institute study found that 40 percent of the nation’s 6,700 charter schools are part of corporate chains or franchises. Salett, president of the Foundation for the Future of Youth, said many charters do good work and are operated by and accountable to their communities. However, the report recommends a national moratorium on their rapid growth until the industry’s governing structures and business models can be assessed and improved.
The study outlined how public tax dollars follow students who enroll in charters, taking money away from already struggling public systems. Salett said most major U.S. cities now are divided into private and public tracks, and argued that the future of one of the nation’s few institutions where people from diverse backgrounds come together is at risk.
“Different language backgrounds, cultural backgrounds, racial backgrounds,” he said. “The aim of public schools has always been to create a place where the so-called ‘melting pot’ can occur.”
Salett said companies frequently mix nonprofit and for-profit wings to win taxpayer subsidies, further boosting profits. Some charters also have successfully lobbied to eliminate democratically elected boards, public oversight and accountability, he said.

Congratulations to Student of the Week -Ella Helms!!! Ella, the daughter of Greg and Susan Helms, is a fifth grader at New Union Elementary School. Ella was chosen to be honored because “she consistently shows up each day, ready to do the work of a fifth grader”, says Eric Keith, a fifth grade teacher at Ella’s school. Ella wants to be a first grade teacher when she grows up! Rosalyn Partin, owner of the Manchester H&R Block, has been inspired to recognize great kids in our community all through hockey season. What does hockey season have to do with our local students? Well, H&R Block gives each Student of the Week a set of Nashville Predators Hockey tickets, a commemorative plaque, as well as a special letter of recognition. Check back here every Friday for H&R Block’s next Student of the Week award!

Pictured with Ella is Rosalyn Partin of H & R Block

On Monday afternoon at approximately 5:50pm deputies were dispatched to 236 Pratt Road in reference to a structure fire. Dispatch advised the garage was on fire and the Hillsboro Fire Department was in route. When emergency crews arrived a garage was fully engulfed in flames.
When they arrived the home owner was asked what had happened. According to the police report, the man advised at approximately 5:30pm, he was in his garage working on his generator near the shop light. He then advised that he went inside his residence to fix him something to eat.
The report goes onto say that a short time later, he heard someone knocking at his front door. The homeowner went on to tell the deputies that when he went to the front door he found a white male standing there telling him his garage was on fire and he had already called for help. The owner says the man told him he was going to leave before emergency personnel began to arrive.
The amount of damage/loss is unknown at this time.

Early voting ends Thursday in Coffee County voters. In Manchester, residents can vote at the Coffee County Administrative Plaza, which is located at 1329 McArthur St., Suite 6. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. In Tullahoma, voters can cast their ballots at the C.D. Stamps Community Center, located at 810 S. Jackson St. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Election Day is this coming Tuesday, November 8.
On the ballot:
President
United States House of Representatives
(6th Congressional District)
Tennessee State Senate
(16th Senatorial District)
Tennessee House of Representatives
(47th House District)
The total number of registered voters in Coffee County is more than 32,000.
So far over 11,000 people have voted early in Coffee County. In Tennessee over 1.5 million people have voted early so far.
Live Election Day coverage begins at 6pm Nov. 8 on WMSR.