Category: News

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, Tennessee’s largest non-profit law firm has announced that it has launched its Gilbert Family Fellowship, a program that will provide free civil legal services to children and young adults.
The program is made possible by a $100,000 donation from Harris A. Gilbert, a longtime supporter of Legal Aid Society and an attorney with Wyatt Tarrant & Combs LLP, with support from his children. The funds will be used over a two- to three-year time period to build a program across 48 counties that identifies legal issues children and young adults face and provides free civil legal assistance to them.
The fellowship will be the first legal assistance program in the state of Tennessee specifically targeting children and young adults in both urban and rural communities.
Gilbert Family Fellowship areas of assistance will include:
• Securing necessary and appropriate health services, particularly mental health services, for children and young adults who need them, but do not have them.
• Identifying eligibility for special education and related services for school-age children.
• Preventing unfair exclusionary discipline of students that causes loss of important instructional time and opportunities to succeed.
• Working with juvenile courts to identify youth who are at risk and in need of services.
• Advocating for young adults exiting the custody of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services and/or those who are receiving post-custody services.
A growing body of research shows that many young adults face significant obstacles as they “age out” of the foster care system. Such challenges, and other adverse childhood experiences often encountered by at-risk youth, can have serious and negative impacts on their adult lives—including homelessness, mental illnesses, incarceration and unemployment, among others.
“Our Gilbert Family Fellows will identify the chronic issues that unjustly plague at-risk youth in schools, in homes and in the community, and will become their legal advocates to overcome obstacles so they can experience a path for success,” said Gary Housepian, executive director of Legal Aid Society. “We could not do this important work without the generosity of Mr. Gilbert and his children, and we look forward to building healthier, successful lives for some of our region’s youngest citizens.”
Nine Legal Aid Society attorneys have been named Gilbert Family Fellows including Rae Anne Seay—Tullahoma office.
Legal Aid Society Skadden Fellow Vidhi Joshi, who focuses her practice on helping low-income individuals with criminal records, will provide additional assistance to Gilbert Family Fellows.
“When children fall through the cracks of justice, our future begins to crumble,” Gilbert said. “So it is my honor to work with Legal Aid Society and its team of Fellows to expand access to justice to our region’s youth. As a lawyer and as a parent, there is no better mission. And for our children, there is no better gift.”
Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands advocates for fairness and justice under the law. The non-profit law firm offers free civil legal representation and educational programs to help people in its region receive justice, protect their well-being and support opportunities to overcome poverty. It serves 48 counties from offices in Clarksville, Columbia, Cookeville, Gallatin, Murfreesboro, Nashville, Oak Ridge and Tullahoma. Legal Aid Society is funded in part by United Way. Learn more at www.las.org, or by following the firm on Facebook.

In a continuing effort to locate people that are wanted by authorities, the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department ask for the public’s help.
On Tuesday we posted and the media stated that authorities were looking for Devan Marquez Porter. The 21 year-old was brought into custody by the Tullahoma Police Department. The sheriff’s department thanks them for their help. Also a thank you goes out to the public and the media for your assistance as well.

Local authorities say 46 year-old Tracey Parton of M.G. England Rd in Manchester was driving a box type truck on Tuesday afternoon that reportedly forced some vehicles off the road in Manchester, sideswiped vehicles near the Coffee/Warren County line and allegedly struck a pedestrian in Coffee County.
In what is being reported as a low-speed pursuit ensued. The pursuit went through a small portion of Coffee County and then moved into Warren County, Cannon County, possibly DeKalb County and back into Coffee County before law enforcement got the vehicle stopped. Officers used spike strips to punctured tires, but the man continued to drive before finally stopping.
At one point during the pursuit, it went into McMinnville where city policemen followed Parton out to Lucky Road, where Warren County deputies took up the pursuit. The man then drove into Cannon County and possibly DeKalb counties before eventually returning to Coffee County with state troopers also in pursuit.
Parton was finally stopped and taken into custody near Bryan’s Livestock Barn on Highway 55, but not before he allegedly threatened law enforcement officials with a baseball bat. He was then tazed by authorities.
Authorities say that Parton has a lengthy criminal history and is now facing charges in Coffee and Warren counties. The list in Coffee County includes; 2 counts vandalism, 2 counts aggravated assault, leaving the scene of an accident, immediate notice of an accident, reckless driving, evading arrest, resisting-stop-halt-frisk-arrest and driving on revoked/suspended license 4th offense.

Bradley Newton Weir who is the former head baseball coach at Coffee County High School will return to the county for a court appearance next month. The 45 year-old Weir is accused of having sex with a student. The discussion about his case will take place on Aug. 10.
He was indicted by the Coffee County grand jury on one count of statutory rape by an authority figure, one count of aggravated rape, one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, seven counts of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
After being arrested Weir made bond.
Weir worked for the Coffee County Raider Academy as a teacher and was head baseball coach at the high school. He was hired as baseball coach in late May of 2014.
Weir also faced trouble when he was arrested on charges that were the result of an alleged incident that occurred last year at the Bluegill Grill on Tims Ford Lake. Weir’s domestic violence charge was dismissed after a conference with the victims.
He longer lives in the area.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency participated in the eighth annual Operation Dry Water weekend which has been held the weekend prior to the July 4 holiday since its inception. Operation Dry Water is a national weekend of Boating Under the Influence (BUI) awareness and enforcement campaign directed toward reducing alcohol and drug-related accidents and fatalities. It is held at this time to give BUI enforcement high visibility during the peak boating season. Reports from the TWRA’s four regions indicated 10 boating BUI arrests across the state, the same number as recorded in 2015 during the weekend. TWRA boating officers inspected 4,078 vessels, issued 175 citations, 113 warnings, and assisted 94 boaters. There were four injury accidents and three property damage accidents reported.

Tennessee drivers can no longer cruise in the fast lane. The state’s new “slow poke law” took effect Friday and officers are enforcing it. Tennessee Highway Patrol says the law could help ease traffic backups and improve safety.
The law prohibits the operation of vehicles in a passing lane on interstates or multi lane highways except when passing.
If you’re caught, it’s a misdemeanor and a $50 fine.
There are exceptions to the slow poke law. The slow poke law will not apply if inclement weather or an official traffic control device makes it necessary to drive in the passing lane, if there are obstructions in the non-passing lanes or if highway design makes it necessary to drive in the passing lane to exit or turn left.

Coffee County FBLA represented Coffee County High School with 24 members attending the National Leadership Conference recently in Atlanta, Georgia. Hayden Proffitt placed 2nd in the nation in the Business Financial Plan event, and Andy Dong placed 10th in the nation for his preparation of the Local Chapter Annual Business Report.
The chapter was recognized at the Southern Region meeting for achieving the following awards: Outstanding Local Chapter, Gold Seal Award of Merit, Chapter Challenge, Super Sweeps, Nonstop November, and Action Awareness.  The following eight members became Microsoft Office certified in either Word or PowerPoint:  Jaia Barrett, Tyler Reynolds, Catelyn Millaway, Hayden Proffitt, Baylee Nester, Cameron Carter, Holli Smithson, and Boone Riddle.

The Coffee County Commission has voted to lower the speed limit on a portion of Wattendorf Highway from 55 mph to 35 mph. The commission’s action followed a recommendation by the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
The speed limit will be reduced for a 0.2 mile from north of the Volunteer Parkway intersection to just north of the I-24 interstate ramp. According to TDOT, the reduction of the speed limit is in the best interest of Coffee County residents. Not only will it protect locals but it will also protect drivers passing through the area crossing the highway near the interstate intersection.

It took firefighters several hours to put out a house fire in Winchester on Monday.
The fire on Windtrace Road started around 1:30 a.m. and rekindled later in the day, so firefighters were called back out. Firefighters found several bunnies and rabbits trapped inside the home. They rescued four of them, but one of them was having trouble breathing and did not survive. The 4th District Fire Department, the Winchester Fire Department, the Decherd Fire Department, the Cowan Fire Department, the Belvidere Fire Department and the Broadview Fire Department all assisted with the fire.