Category: News

The executive director of Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam’s free-tuition program says it has contributed to the spike in students pursuing a higher education. Tennessee Promise offers eligible high school seniors free tuition to a two-year community or technical college. According to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, 50,699 first-time freshmen enrolled in a public higher education institution this year, compared with 46,030 last year. Tennessee Promise Executive Director Mike Krause said Thursday that of the 21,706 students enrolled in community colleges, 16,291 are in the governor’s program. Krause says the numbers are “reflective of a culture and attitude change in Tennessee about going to college.” Tennessee Promise is a key component of Haslam’s “Drive to 55” initiative to increase the number of Tennesseans with a postsecondary credential to 55 percent by the year 2025.

The Manchester KOA has earned the prestigious 2016 KOA President’s and Founder’s Awards from Kampgrounds of America Inc., the world’s largest system of family-friendly, open-to-the-public campgrounds. The awards were presented last week at KOA’s Annual International Convention in Daytona Beach, Florida. KOA is celebrating its 53rd Anniversary in 2015. The KOA President’s Awards are presented annually to campgrounds that receive high scores in customer service from their campers, and also receive high scores in KOA’s annual Campground Quality Review. The KOA Founder’s Award is named in honor of Dave Drum, who founded KOA on the banks of the Yellowstone River in Billings, Montana in 1962. It is given to those KOA campgrounds that attained the very top scores in both customer service and the KOA Quality Review. KOA surveys hundreds of thousands of campers each year regarding their KOA camping experience, and those surveys are used as a basis for the awards.

Those trying to call 911 Thursday afternoon were not getting through to the Coffee County Communication Center due to problems with AT&T.
“All of our 911 calls were then routed through Franklin County Communication Center,” Steve Deford head of the Coffee County Communication Center said Thursday. He said that the center lost service around 1 p.m. and had no idea how long it would be down. Late Thursday afternoon AT&T service was back to normal operation.
According to the director, the outage was in the Manchester area and had land lines down in Manchester only.
Coffee County thanks Franklin County for their assistance through the afternoon.

A circuit court judge denied a request for a new trial by a man sentenced to life without parole in the state prison Wednesday in Coffee County Circuit Court. John O’Keefe Varner was convicted of the charges in July by a Coffee County Circuit Court jury on charges of criminal attempt to commit first degree murder, aggravated assault and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Varner was on the TBI’s Most Wanted list when he was arrested in October 2014 in Las Vegas. He was accused of shooting a Manchester resident following a verbal altercation and Varner continued shooting at the victim as he ran away.
He had previously been convicted of two separate murders from the early 1990s.

Tullahoma Police officers arrested three people Wednesday on charges of possession of drugs and paraphernalia.
Arrested were Amy Renee Glasgow, 37, of 707 South Franklin Street on charges of theft of property, unlawful drug paraphernalia and two counts of manufacturing/delivering/selling a controlled substance.
Ronald Demerius King, 31, of 707 South Franklin Street was charged with theft of property, unlawful drug paraphernalia, two counts of manufacturing/delivering/selling of a controlled substance and unlawful carrying of a weapon and unlawful possession.
Andrew Levi Jefferson, 34, of 302 Linden Street, Tullahoma faces the same charges as King.
The arrest occurred after Tullahoma Police Officer Tommy Elliott received a call of a fight in the middle of South Franklin Street. When he arrived, witnesses told him that those fighting were inside of the residence at the 707 South Franklin Street. Elliott went to the house and spoke with Glasgow and while talking with her, he allegedly detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the residence.
Elliott asked for permission to search the residence but was denied access so he obtained a search warrant. According to the arrest warrants obtained by the officer, while searching he alleges that he found a white plastic bag between two mattresses in the children’s bedroom. Warrants obtained by Elliott states that he found 109 grams of marijuana in the bag as well as 38 grams of white powder cocaine. He also found a .380 Ruger pistol, which was reported stolen in Spalding County, Georgia. None of the three admitted to knowing anything about the drugs or the stolen weapon. Elliott also allegedly found $732 in cash from Glasgow’s wallet. He also found two sets of digital scales.
Glasgow was booked into the Coffee County Jail on the charges and her bond was set at $78,500. King and Jefferson were also booked into the Coffee County Jail under a bond of $81,000 each. They are to appear in Coffee County General Sessions Court Dec. 10.

This week, Tennessee joined at least 27 states whose governors have opposed settling Syrian refugees, in light of the recent attacks in Paris. Underlying their concerns is the fact that one of the attackers entered France by posing as a Syrian refugee. Legal experts assert there is legal precedent that the federal government sets immigration and refugee policy, and states cannot refuse a specific group of people. Holly Johnson, state refugee coordinator for the Tennessee Office for Refugees, says it’s important to note the suspected terrorist in France had registered himself as a refugee but had not been given refugee status, and the U.S. has a much more stringent screening process. “Their screening process is not the same as ours,” says Johnson. “I have 100 percent confidence that our process would have weeded him out, should he have been screened to come to the U.S.” Johnson and others acknowledge that states can deny their resources to the federal government and potentially make the resettlement of refugees more difficult. So far, 1,500 Syrian refugees have been accepted into the United States since 2011, but the Obama administration announced in September the country would accept 10,000 next year. Many of the Syrians who are seeking refugee status are fleeing a region controlled by ISIS. For that reason, Johnson says Tennesseans have something in common with them. “The true Syrian refugees are running from the same stuff we are,” she says. “Like we’re on the same side against terrorists.” Gov. Bill Haslam is asking the federal government to suspend placements of Syrian refugees in Tennessee until the states can become “more of a partner in the vetting process.”

A child who was missing from Winchester has been found safe, according to the TBI.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said 7-year-old Philip Whitten was taken by his non-custodial father, Philip Roberts, from a home in Winchester around noon on Tuesday.
Roberts has a criminal history and was wanted by Winchester police for custodial interference. Roberts is now in police custody.
Winchester Police Chief Dennis Young said the child was found in the Skinner Flat Road area in Manchester just after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Roberts was arrested in a mutual aid effort with the Manchester Police Department after suspect Philip Eugene Roberts, Philip’s non-custodial father, was pursued into a wooded area.
Young said a woman in the area notified authorities after seeing reports of the missing child.
Young stated that Roberts has been arrested 41 times since the year 2000 with serious charges including aggravated stalking and aggravated burglary.