Category: News

On Sunday while conducting a perimeter check Coffee County Deputies found a male subject outside the back fence in the woods behind the Coffee County Jail. The man was dressed in all black, with a hood covering his head and he had on gloves. The arrest warrant shows the man identified as Troy Lee Young age 30 of Ballard Rd Manchester was on county property and did not have permission to be there. The warrant says Young was found to be in possession of a small bag of loose tobacco which was wrapped up in electrical tape, two pairs of cutting pliers, a small multi-purpose tool and a cell phone.
Young was charged with Criminal Trespass and Implements for Escape. Bond was set at $12,500 and a court date of May 16.

Micro Craft of Tullahoma has been awarded $25,000 in Incumbent Worker Training Grants from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Commissioner Burns Phillips announced last week. According to company officials the grant is to mainly update people’s skill or to add new skills if there’s new software out there on the market that we buy for programming or drafting.
The company will target its newest employees for training first, beginning with those hired directly from Tennessee technology centers.

Williamson County made headlines when the district’s public defender said her assistants will not be taking on new cases because of their existing case load.
The Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference – charged with filling the state’s obligation to provide a lawyer to those who can’t afford one in criminal cases – says the problem exists throughout the state.
Paige Edwards, the conference’s assistant executive director, says she hears from many who are overwhelmed with cases.
“The fact that more courts have been created and you only have limited staff to go to all those courts, it’s stretching the staff thin,” she explains.
Edwards says population growth has added to demand and more state attorney positions haven’t been added since the 2007 budget year.
In instances when a public defender is not available to be appointed as counsel, the judge can appoint a lawyer from the private bar. The bill is then paid through the Indigent Defense Fund using state tax dollars.
Edwards says while the Indigent Defense Fund fills the gap, it’s not always cost efficient since attorneys are then paid hourly and may not have the experience with the criminal court system that public defenders do.
“It goes back to the Sixth Amendment,” she states. “It goes back to Gideon v. Wainwright – to a person’s right to council when their liberty is at stake – and it’s a constitutional right. It’s a necessity for the administration of justice, for the protection of the community.”
Other jurisdictions in other states are also experiencing a shortage of public defenders.
Earlier this year the American Civil Liberties Union filed a class action lawsuit against the New Orleans Public Defenders Office over its placement of new clients on a waiting list for representation.

This week the Tennessee Military Department, Tullahoma and surrounding counties will once again be experiencing the Ice Storm of 1998.
In an effort to improve communication and coordination between local and state agencies, the Tennessee Military Department including the Tennessee Army National Guard, the Tennessee Air National Guard, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) and the Tennessee State Guard – will conduct a series of maneuvers across the state, the likes of which have not been seen since World War II.
Rather than preparing to fight a war, though, the department will be conducting one of the largest statewide disaster preparedness exercises in its history, including more than 50 Army and Air National Guard units that will be training alongside fire departments, hospitals, law enforcement agencies, paramedics and a host of other emergency organizations.
Called “Tennessee Maneuvers 2016,” the exercise will be highly visible throughout Middle Tennessee this summer, with the first exercises beginning around Tullahoma on May 13.
Following the May event in Coffee County, the next major exercise window will see missions of escalating difficulty across the state.

After a long grueling process the Manchester Board of Education decided in a 4-1 vote to offer Dr. Don McPherson a two-year contract for Director of Schools.
The contract will include an $110,000 annual salary for McPherson the former superintendent of Alabama’s Coffee County Schools.
The Coffee County, Alabama Board of Education and McPherson agreed to a separation agreement in July of last year, which resulted in the superintendent’s term ending after 4 ½ years, with 4 years remaining.
McPherson’s attorney, Thomas Brantley, reportedly called the situation a witch hunt.
The Manchester Board of Education hopes to have a contract signed with Dr. McPherson by mid-June.

Four men were arrested last week with sex crimes by Franklin County authorities, including two that live in Coffee County.
Ryan Nathan Henley, 1478 Hurricane Road, Tullahoma, was arrested for aggravated rape, aggravated sexual battery, rape, sexual battery, commit rape, commit aggravated sexual battery and commit sexual battery.
Daniel Paul Barbeau, 70 Turkey Creek Drive, Tullahoma, was charged with facilitation to commit aggravated rape, facilitation to commit aggravated sexual battery, facilitation to commit rape, facilitation to commit sexual battery.
Eddie Lee Hatfield, 412 S. Main St., Estill Springs, has been charged with rape of a child less than 13 years old, aggravated sexual battery, rape, sexual battery, aggravated statutory rape and sexual battery by an authority figure.
Johnny Wayne Crowe, 155 Nash Lane, Estill Springs, has been charged with rape of a child less than 13 years old, aggravated sexual battery and sexual battery.
Barbeau and Henley have both been released on bond, while Crowe and Hatfield were at last report still be housed at the Franklin County Jail.
All four men are scheduled to appear in court on May 13.

An AMBER Alert is still in effect for 9-year-old Carlie Marie Trent. Carlie was removed from school last week by her uncle by marriage, Gary Simpson, under false pretenses. He has no custodial rights to Carlie. Currently their whereabouts are unknown. Carlie is 4’8″ tall, weighs 75 lbs with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a black and grey tank top and blue jeans. Simpson is a 57-year-old white male, 5’10” tall, weighing 157 lbs. He is balding and has brown hair and eyes. He was last seen wearing a brown cap, a dark colored shirt and jeans. He was last seen driving a white 2002 Dodge Conversion Van with TN registration 173GPS. The van has a dark stripe down the middle with light gold running boards and paint is chipping off of the hood. Warrants have been issued for Simpson for Kidnapping. If you have seen the child, subject or vehicle, please call the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND. On Saturday, the girl’s pediatrician told authorities that he will offer a $10,000 reward for information leading to the safe recovery of the child.

The University of Tennessee recently honored Coffee County Trustee John Marchesoni as a Certified Public Administrator.
To achieve the designation, Marchesoni completed 80 credit hours in the County Officials Certificate Training Program. The program is administered by the UT County Technical Assistance Service.
“This is a unique program that offers a broad spectrum of training to county officials and employees to provide them with the knowledge to better serve their constituents,” said Robin Roberts, executive director of CTAS.
Each program is designed to aid county government officials in performing their jobs and efficiently administering county services.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the selection of communities that will participate in the Cool & Connected planning assistance program, an innovative initiative to help people use broadband service for downtown revitalization and economic development.
Partner communities will receive direct technical assistance from a team of experts to develop strategies and an action plan for using planned or existing broadband service to create connected, economically vibrant main streets and small-town neighborhoods.
Tullahoma will receive technical assistance to market downtown Tullahoma as a free Wi-Fi zone and develop a physical work-share space to complement new infrastructure investments, and add to the growth of downtown businesses.
“The expertise that this grant will bring to the table will help Tullahoma better utilize its gigabit fiber to the premise network to grow jobs and improve the quality of life for our residents and visitors.” Brian Skelton, General Manager of Tullahoma Utilities Board.
Through this Cool and Connected process, we will not only explore assistance to market downtown as a Wi-Fi zone and work-share space, but we will also look to develop a plan for our other target sectors that include aerospace, medical, retail and technology. We will be inviting the partners that represent these sectors to join in this process that is scheduled for late September,” said City of Tullahoma Mayor Lane Curlee.

On Wednesday morning around 11:30 A.M. Coffee County Deputy Aaron Miller was transporting Allison Summer Gipson age 22 of North 8th Avenue in Decherd from the court house to the Coffee County jail.
Gipson was at her scheduled probation appointment and was drug tested and failed. She was then taken to Circuit Court where Judge Craig Johnson revoked her bond. After taken into custody, Gipson was patted down by Deputy Janice Taylor and was found to be in possession of a bottle of prescription medication that was allegedly taken from her probation officer in the hood of her clothing. Gipson was then escorted to Deputy Aaron Miller’s patrol car by Miller and Deputy Taylor.
While in route to the jail, Gipson rolled down the back passenger side window and jumped out of the moving vehicle in front of Dotson’s Produce on the Hillsboro Highway. Miller stopped the vehicle and made a U-turn to go back around to where the woman had jumped out of the window. Upon his arrival Gipson was still trying to escape but was being held by two civilians who had witnessed the event.
An ambulance was called to the scene for transport because Gipson had sustained unknown injuries due to the speed of the vehicle and jumping from the window. She was transported to Unity Medical Center for treatment.
She was booked in at the Coffee County Jail on Thursday morning and is facing a charge of escape and 2 counts of theft of property with a bond of $28,000. She’ll be in court on May 19, 2016.