Category: News

More than 17 million people — including thousands of Tennesseans — are victims of identity theft each year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The most common type of identity theft is the unauthorized use of credit and debit accounts. One of the best ways to protect yourself, experts say, is to shred paperwork instead of just throwing it in the trash. According to attorney Alan Marx of the King and Ballow law firm in Nashville, one discarded piece of mail can give a scammer enough information to call you and fish around for the information needed to steal your identity. “In my view, what they’re trying to do is build confidence that they really are who they say they are,” he said. “If you throw documents away instead of shredding them, it’s easier for somebody to go out there.” Now is a good time to do some paper purging, Marx said. Next week, AARP of Tennessee will sponsor ShredFests in Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville, providing large-capacity shredding equipment for each consumer to shred up to three boxes of paper documents. The event is open to the public. A complete list of locations is online at AARP.org/TN. Nationwide in 2014, the most recent data available, identity theft cost more than $15 billion. While many credit cards and banks offer protection against unauthorized charges, Marx said the time and stress can weigh heavy on victims for months. “It’s just a nightmare. It can mess up your credit rating. It can make it difficult for you to get bank financing,” he said. “You really have to prove you’re you and that whoever said you were you wasn’t — and that’s not easy. “The number of people age 65 and older who are victims of identity theft is on the rise, with 2.6 million impacted in 2014. That’s an increase of 500,000 since 2012. In addition to shredding, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has advised consumers to protect online passwords and make sure those passwords are changed regularly. More information on ShredFests is online at states.aarp.org.

The Manchester Board of Education will be conducting interviews with the two finalist for the director of schools position on Monday May, 2. The interviews will take place at College Street Elementary School beginning at 5 p.m.
The finalist are: Dr. Sharon Harper, executive director, Southeast CORE, for the Tennessee Department of Education and Dr. Don McPherson former superintendent of Alabama’s Coffee County Schools.
The school is located at 405 College St in Manchester.

The sponsor of the so-called transgender bathroom bill has pulled the bill for the year.
Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mt. Juliet, was sponsoring the controversial bill in the House. She said Monday that the bill should be rolled until next year due to time constraints.
Lynn said lawmakers do not have enough time to address some of the issues with the bill. She said Gov. Bill Haslam expressed concerns about the timeline and implementation.
The bill would require students in public schools to use the bathroom and locker room of the sex on their birth certificates.
Lynn said after the attorney general released an opinion saying the state could lose federal funding if the bill passed, they began to look at the issue more closely.
Lynn said the majority of schools are already doing what the bill would require.
She said she and Haslam agreed there is not a legal problem currently and they don’t want to create one.

Coffee County School System and Trane have teamed up to conduct a light switch plate design contest for Coffee County School students. Every student in the district can participate in the design contest that will conclude at the next school board meeting on Monday, May 9 where an elementary student, a middle school student and a high school student will win a new iPad from Trane. Deadline for entries, at the school level, is April 26.
One of the goals of the school district is the education of all facility users in the wise use of energy. Joe Pedigo, deputy director of CCSS, said “The district has a great relationship with Trane and we are like-minded in that we are both tuned into using energy wisely and saving money when we do that. It’s a district-wide effort. This contest from Trane should get students involved in being mindful of turning lights out when we leave a room. Plus, three new iPads are being given away so this is a great incentive to be involved.”
The contest will involve students creating a design for a light switch plate sticker that reminds all to turn off lights in unoccupied areas. All of the students’ entries will be required to be hand drawn and may be computer drawn as long as the entry is original artwork. There will be a preliminary round of judging at each individual school on April 27 that will produce two entries. Next, a team of judges will decide upon one final winner from each elementary, middle and high school entries April 29 – May 2. Criteria for art design are artistry, creativity and originality, overall impression, and communication of a clear and positive message to turn off the lights in unoccupied areas.
The winning design for each school level will be printed as a sticker to be used on light switch plates in all schools of the respective winning level. The grand prize winners will be announced at the next Coffee County School board meeting on May 9 at 4:30 p.m. where students will receive their iPad.
Visit us online at www.coffeecountyschools.com

On Saturday a female was allegedly observed by personnel and on video taking approximately $190.60 worth of merchandise from Wal-Mart in Manchester and exiting the store without paying for the items. Manchester Officer Daniel Ray located the woman a short time later in a vehicle in the parking lot of Logan’s Restaurant. The arrest warrant says Katrina Lyn Russell age 32 of Brandy Lane, New Port Richey, FL was attempting to cook methamphetamine. The warrant goes onto say Russell was observed with a green plastic bottle of a liquid substance and remnants of pills. The officer says that tubing, lithium batteries, ammonia nitrate, Drano cleaner, coffee filters, lighter fluid, funnel, a glass cup with residue and a pipe cutter were found, all items known to be associated with the manufacturing of methamphetamine.
Russell was charged with intent to manufacture methamphetamine, unlawful drug paraphernalia uses and activities, schedule IV drug violation, theft of property and driving on revoked/suspended license. Her bond was set at $58,000 and she’ll be in court on May 24, 2016 to face the charges.

On Sunday Manchester Police responded to a call at the Scottish Inn in reference to a welfare check of children in the parking lot past midnight. Roman Cortez Cooper age 20 East Grundy St Tullahoma who was in a vehicle in the parking lot and is the boyfriend of the mother of the children, allegedly took off behind a dumpster with a backpack as officers were investigating their complaint. After officers stopped Cooper they say inside the backpack was a cloth bag allegedly containing approximately 7.18 grams of a white substance that tested positive for methamphetamine. Also in the police report officers say they found in the backpack numerous small plastic bags, a set of digital scales, a grinder with residue and a set of brass knuckles.
Manchester Officer Kenny Sullivan charged Cooper with manufacturing/possession/selling/delivering of methamphetamine. Cooper’s bond was set at $50,000 and he has a court date of May 3, 2016.

The Tennessee Lottery says it returned a record $119 million for education funding during the first quarter of the year, a 27 percent increase over the previous quarterly record.
Lottery-funded programs include 12 different scholarships and grants, multiple after-school programs, an energy-efficient schools program and Tennessee Promise, which offers eligible high school seniors the chance to go to community or technical college without paying tuition.
Lottery President and CEO Rebecca Hargrove said the record adds to what was already becoming an all-time high fiscal year. The previous record of $93.6 million was set during the third quarter of 2015.
The quarter also broke records for instant ticket sales with $355 million, draw-style sales at $125 million and the three top selling months for total sales since inception.