Category: News

A resident of Bedford County is charged with TennCare fraud involving prescription drugs.
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced the arrest of Sonya Marie Leverette, 31, of Shelbyville.
Leverette is charged with three counts of fraudulently using TennCare to obtain a controlled substance by doctor shopping for prescriptions, using TennCare as payment. District Attorney General Robert Carter will prosecute this case.
“Prescription drug fraud is a significant burden on the health care system and on communities across the state, “Inspector General Manny Tyndall said. “We’re committed to eliminating this crime in the TennCare program, and local police and providers across the state are working with us in this effort.”
TennCare fraud is a Class E felony carrying a sentence of up to two years in prison per charge.
The OIG, which is separate from TennCare, began full operation in February 2005 and has investigated cases leading to more than $3 million being repaid to TennCare, with a total estimated cost avoidance of more than $163.6 million for TennCare, according to latest figures. To date, 2,612 people have been charged with TennCare fraud.
Anyone can report suspected TennCare fraud by calling 1-800-433-3982 toll-free from anywhere in Tennessee, or log on to www.tn.gov/tnoig/ and follow the prompts that read “Report TennCare Fraud.”

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has identified the body found Sunday in Grundy County as that of 26-year-old Samantha Kathleen Chandler of Gruetli-Laager. Investigators have ordered an autopsy on her body.
Chandler’s body was found in the Ross Creek area by people riding four-wheelers.
The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office says that the female body was discovered Sunday afternoon around 12:30 p.m.
We will continue to update this story as information becomes available.

Kevin Scott Wright age 35 of New Hope Rd in Manchester has been arrested on two counts of theft of property. In two arrest warrants items were found at KK’s Pawn Shop in Manchester that were allegedly taken from in a home burglary at 1230 Ramsey Rd in Morrison on April 27.
Items were identified by the victim and allegedly pawned by Kevin Wright. Items were valued at $200.
A few days before Tullahoma Police learned that supposedly Wright was staying at a home after he left the victim she found several items of jewelry missing along with cash, items valued at $ 2,100.00. Some items were located at KK’s Pawn in Manchester where Wright allegedly had pawned them.
He was booked in at the Coffee County Jail on Friday April 29 under a bond of $12,500. His first court date is May 12, 2016.

There has been a 17 percent increase in calls to poison control centers across the country in the last couple of years because of children eating laundry or dish-washing soap, according to new research. Donna Seger, medical director with the Tennessee Poison Center, says they may be convenient for parents, but the popular pods can wreak havoc in a child’s system. “They can aspirate them or the pod,” Seger says. “When it hits some kind of liquid, it kind of explodes, so they get granules into their lungs.” The latest two-year study says poison control centers got more than 22,000 calls because of children either eating or inhaling laundry pods, or accidentally squirting the contents into their eyes. There are reports of injuries to the lungs, burns to the skin and in the most severe cases children have required intubation or experienced cardiac arrest. Study co-author Henry Spiller with Nationwide Children’s Hospital says researchers looked at both laundry and dish-washing soaps, and by far the most dangerous were the laundry pods because they’re very colorful. “You know, bright little two and three year olds running around their house, and these are very pretty, and they put them in their mouths,” says Spiller. “And they kind of bite into it thinking it’s perhaps candy, and it squirts into the back of their throat, and they get sort of a blast of this.” Manufacturers have added warning labels to containers, and some have child-resistant caps, but Spiller urges them to consider changing the formulation or appearance of the laundry packets as well. He notes many are sold in plastic resealable bags that could resemble food pouches. Seger says it’s best to keep the pods out of sight and out of mind, for young children. “They definitely need to be kept out of reach,” Seger says. “If they’re going to have them in the house, they need to be where the children can’t get them, can’t climb to get ’em, can’t get anywhere close to get them. It’s a preventable injury.” Children younger than age three accounted for about three-quarters of the total poisoning cases in the study.

A Cannon County woman who was allegedly under the influence of drugs was arrested recently for aggravated burglary.
According to Cannon County Sheriff’s Department Reports, Investigators were called to a Fowler Road residence about a possible theft. The home owner stated that the female suspect Mandy Jernigan was crawling through an open window in the living room when she was caught going through a pair of pants and wallet which were sitting next to the chair the man was sleeping in.
Jernigan had been living in a camper next to the residence. Investigators went to the trailer and after a few minutes of trying to wake Jernigan, noticed she was under the influence of some type of drug. Jernigan stated she went over to the residence to talk but that the owners would not answer the door. That’s when she noticed a window was open and pulled the screen off the window and crawled inside.
Jernigan was arrested for aggravated burglary and will answer to the charges June 7th in Cannon County General Sessions Court. (WGNS Radio)

The National Park Service says Great Smoky Mountains National Park provided nearly $874 million in economic benefit to communities near the park last year and supported more than 13,000 jobs in the area.
A report from the National Park Service said more than 10.7 million visitors traveled to the park and spent time in local communities for lodging, meals and entertainment.
Nationwide, the report said there was $16.9 billion of spending by 307.2 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. The spending supported 295,000 jobs nationally, with a cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy of $32 billion.

17 year-old Eli Grow last year’s starting Quarterback for the Tullahoma Wildcats died tragically in an automobile accident in Normandy around 4:30pm Saturday afternoon.
In a Tennessee Highway Patrol report, Grow was driving a Nissan pickup and was traveling south on Hwy 41A and allegedly crossed the center line and struck another Nissan truck driven by 48 year-old Clint Hahn of Chapel Hill head-on. Grow’s vehicle burst into flames after impact. 48 year-old Lisa Hahn was a passenger in the Hahn truck and both were injured.
We are deeply saddened to report the death of Mississippi College football signee Eli Grow of Tullahoma, Tenn., who passed away on Saturday evening.
“This is a terrible tragedy,” said head coach John Bland. “I don’t know that we had a kid coming in that was more excited to be a part of this program than Eli. He was just here a couple weeks ago and could not wait to be a Choctaw. He will be truly missed, and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.”
Eli was a quarterback from Tullahoma High School, where he was a team captain and named the team’s “Hardest Working Player.” He is the son of Tony and Cassy Grow.

Brittany Evans, 28, is charged with second degree murder in the death of her newborn baby as well as assault which resulted in the death of the baby and two counts of aggravated assault. Authorities allege that the baby lived a very short time after she was born on April 3, 2015.
The attorney for the woman accused of killing her new born baby is asking that the charges be dismissed.
Prosecutors allege that Evans took methamphetamines while pregnant and even took some the day before the little girl was born.
According to Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott the body of the child was transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office where an autopsy was performed to determine the cause of death. The District attorney says that the autopsy showed that the baby had a high level of meth in her system and that was the cause of death.
Both attorneys filed motions in regards to the case and Judge Jackson will review the arguments and issue a ruling later.