Category: News

Coffee County leaders have approved $83,000 to renovate the jail annex located adjacent to the Justice Center in Manchester.
According to Tennessee Corrections Institute (TCI) representative Bob Bass, closing of the annex is not a feasible option because the inmates would have to be moved to the main jail, which is almost at full capacity. Building of a new jail annex would lower long-term expenses but would cost approximately $1.2 million to build.
Because the annex does not meet TCI requirements for certification, three options were possible for its future: closing the facility, renovating it, or building a new annex next to the new jail.
The renovation will take 60-90 days.

The Monteagle, Sewanee, and Tracy City Fire Departments battle a blaze in Monteagle around 5am Friday morning. The fire destroyed a beauty shop and heavily damaged the Mountain Clinic of Manchester’s Dr Jay Trussler.
Trussler says, for the next 1-2 weeks all patients will be seen at his main office in Manchester. He added that he will personally stay at the office until every patient who needs me gets seen no matter how late.
Preliminary reports suggest possible arson targeting the business adjacent to Trussler’s.

The Coalmont Methodist Church was burglarized last week in Grundy County. The thieves took the same type of equipment that was taken in the Orange Hill church burglary we told you about. Investigators were able to get what they believe is a partial print.
Grundy County Sheriff Clint Shrum is asking church leaders to do their best to secure their buildings. Many churches have already begun installing security systems.
Anyone having any info that can help in this case is encouraged to contact Grundy County Sheriff’s investigators @ 931-692-3466 ext. 5.

Grundy County High School basketball coach Jerry Brown resigned his position as head boys’ coach late last week following an incident that caused him to be suspended.
In a statement from the school system:
On July 28, 2016, Jerry Wayne Brown, Jr. the basketball coach at Grundy County High School, left five students unattended following the conclusion of a basketball camp. While these students were unmonitored, one of them was injured. Even though Brown had told the parents that camp ended around noon and that he would not be providing supervision after that time, Grundy County Schools expects its teachers to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its students.
Brown chose to resign his employment with Grundy County Schools to pursue other opportunities.
Brown was an assistant boy’s basketball coach at Coffee County a few years ago.

With the seasonal closing of schools, county unemployment rates for June show the rates increased in all 95 counties.
Coffee County went up drastically from 3.7 to 4.9 percent. 1,220 workers are now without work in the county.
Warren County’s unemployment rate for June was 5.3 percent, up from the May rate of 3.7 percent. Bedford County rose from 4% to 5.6. Franklin County jumped up from 3.9 percent to 5.4. Down in Moore County the unemployment rate for June went up to 4.2% from a May rate of 3%. Grundy County increased from 4.8 to 6.8 percent, and Cannon County went from 3.7 to 5.0 percent.
Davidson and Williamson Counties had the lowest unemployment in the state at 3.8 percent, while Hancock County had the highest at 8.8 percent.

Nashville International Airport is embarking on a $1.2 billion renovation aimed at changing virtually every aspect of a traveler’s experience.
The Tennessean reports projects planned in the next five to seven years include new parking, more security lines, larger baggage claim and ticketing areas, expanded concourse space and a hotel.
Airport leaders said the renovation is in response to a record-breaking number of passengers coming through Nashville – 12.2 million for the fiscal year ending June 30.
The projects are funded through the airport’s existing revenue streams, which come from bond sales, aviation grants, parking and concessions revenue and rental fees.

Manchester Police Department is investigating a credit card theft. Property was stolen from a vehicle at First Baptist Church on Hillsboro Blvd. Suspects used the credit cards from the victim at Walgreens and at Peoples Bank ATM Tuesday night. Police are trying to identify the subjects, they are both persons of interest.
If you have any information regarding the identity of either of these people, please contact Investigator Butch Stewart at 931-728-2099.
All persons pictured are innocent until proven guilty.

A Franklin County deputy sheriff is on administrative leave with pay following a shooting Wednesday evening on Circle Dr in Estill Springs. A deputy attempted to serve a warrant for felony failure to appear in court to start serving a sentence of 10 years. 33 year old Michael Sean Adams of 1230 Pleasant Grove Road, Estill Springs started to run and the deputy followed him and attempted to stop him. Adams allegedly turned around and charged the deputy with a knife. The deputy fired his pistol killing Adams.
According to Sgt. Chris Guess with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, he believes the deputy was wearing a body cam and that there is video of the incident, but it’s part of the TBI investigation and will not be released at this time.
The deputy will remain on leave until the TBI completes the investigation into the shooting. The state agency spent some 12 hours at the scene investigating the shooting and gathering evidence. The TBI is charge of the investigation, which is standard procedure for officer-involved shootings.
According to the sheriff’s department spokesman, Adams had warrants for felony to appear as he was supposed to have reported to jail to start serving a 10 year sentence for rape of a child. A check of records at the Franklin County Jail reveals that since 2011 Adams has been in the Franklin County Jail 29 times.
Franklin County District Attorney Mike Taylor who will determine if there will be prosecution.

Early voting will end on Saturday in Coffee County. Voting is taking place at the election commission located at the Administrative Plaza in Manchester and at the C.D. Stamps building on South Jackson Street in Tullahoma.
Early voting can be done today (Friday) 8:00am-4:30pm and Saturday 8:30am-NOON in Manchester and Tullahoma from 9am-4:30pm and Saturday 9am-NOON. Election Day is August 4.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there had been 1,941 early ballots cast, according to the Secretary of States web site. Also statistics show that 71 percent of those voting have declared themselves as republicans.