Category: News

The Coffee County, Tenn., Air Evac Lifeteam base has been selected as the company’s 2015 Base of the Year. Program Director Julie Ward and members of the crew recently accepted the honor at the national awards banquet in St. Charles, Mo.
The Base of the Year Award is presented to the base in the Air Evac Lifeteam system that best exemplifies the company’s mission, including community service, education, and scene work. Jeff Davis, regional director of base operations, said the Coffee County base has accomplished great things over the past year.
“The Coffee County base has worked closely with its customers to create an open-door environment through continuing education, community involvement and great customer service,” Davis said. “In May, the base received the Tennessee Star of Life award along with Grundy County EMS and Beersheba Springs Fire and Rescue.”
Coffee County Program Director Julie Ward said she is grateful to work with such a dedicated group of employees.

Tennessee high school seniors who complete their Tennessee Promise application by Nov. 2, and graduate from high school next spring, will have the opportunity to attend Motlow College tuition-free beginning with the fall 2016 semester.
The Tennessee Promise is available to Tennessee high school seniors throughout the Motlow College 11-county service area without an academic or income requirement. Complete information for future Motlow College students who will attend utilizing the Tennessee Promise is available at TNpromise.mscc.edu.
In order for current Tennessee high school seniors to participate in the program, they must meet several requirements and deadlines:
Apply for Tennessee Promise by Nov. 2, 2015, at TNPromise.gov.
Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at fafsa.ed.gov and a Motlow College application by Feb. 15, 2016.
Complete two mandatory mentor meetings by April 15, 2016, and eight hours of community service by Aug. 1, 2016.
Enroll full time at Motlow College for the fall 2016 semester.
For more information about Motlow College and the Tennessee Promise please visit TNpromise.mscc.edu.

Organizers of this past weekend’s Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, AOPA, say considering that there was rain and clouds this Friday night and Saturday there was a good turnout for the event. There were 300 planes to fly in, according Tullahoma Airport Manager Jon Glass. He said that considering the rain, were pleased that we had that good of a turn out” The airport manager had anticipated 600 to 700 people for the event. Tullahoma Airport board member Karla Smith said that there were people here from all over the United States attended this year’s event.

Students of Becky Buller’s Music Studio will be performing at the Community Market on the square in downtown Manchester. Becky is the co-host of Bluegrass Crossroads on Thunder Radio, heard each Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Their performance will take place at 9am on October 24.
This is being done to raise money and food donations for the Good Samaritan Food Bank in Manchester.
Becky says she wanted a low key and fun event that her students could play at and give back to the community.
Click below to hear comments from Buller.

30-year-old Earl Antonio Taylor, a fugitive who was recently added to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted list has been captured in Coffee County.
Taylor, of Winchester, was found late Sunday night at the Scottish Inn Hotel in Manchester and taken into custody without incident.
Taylor was wanted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office for Criminal Homicide in connection with the shooting death of Angela Kibble that occurred in Shelbyville on September 14th. He was added to the TBI’s Most Wanted list on October 8. Kibble was found dead the same morning that her son, Michael Domonic Sales, was arrested for murdering a Lincoln County man. According to Shelbyville Police, investigators believe the two cases are linked.
Taylor was booked into the Coffee County Jail and later he’ll be transferred to Bedford County.
Last week, David Darrell Fletcher of Winchester was arrested in connection to the shooting death of Angela Kibble. Fletcher, 30, was booked into the Bedford County Jail, where he is being held on a $2,000,000 bond. Fletcher was picked up at the Coffee County Jail, where he was serving time on separate charges.

A Lewisburg man was transported to Unity Medical Center in Manchester on Monday morning after falling off of the Little Duck River Bridge on the Murfreesboro Highway.
Roberto Jimenez, 40, told Manchester Police Officer Daniel Ray and Major Bill Sipe that he was attaching wire to the rebar and slipped and fell to the ground below. Officer Ray said that one of Jimenez’s obvious injuries was to his jaw.
When the officers arrived Jimenez was not wearing harness or helmet, the officers said they didn’t know if he was wearing those at the time of the accident or not. Personnel from the Coffee County Ambulance Service, Manchester Police and a deputy from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department carried Jimenez up an embankment to a waiting ambulance.

A state Republican lawmaker is proposing legislation that would ban teaching Tennessee public school students “religious doctrine” until they’re in high school.
The Tennessean reports the proposal from Rep. Sheila Butt of Columbia would prohibit the teaching of anything deemed religious doctrine unless the course is taught in 10th, 11th or 12th grade.
The measure comes on the heels of complaints from some parents in several communities as to what their children are learning in middle school about Islam.
The concept of “religious doctrine” is never defined in Tennessee law. There is a reference to the concept in a portion of the law related to using the Bible in school.
The law says the Bible may be used in class, as long as the course doesn’t include “teaching of religious doctrine or sectarian interpretation of the Bible or of texts from other religious or cultural traditions.”

Pre-K isn’t producing positive impacts on academic achievement in later grades, according to a recently released study from Vanderbilt University.
Researchers found that students who participated in state-funded pre-K benefited significantly at first, but by third grade those students tested worse in academics and behavior.
Lysa Parker, co-founder of Attachment Parenting International, says the results can be attributed to a lack of emphasis state programs place on early investment in children and parent support.
“Parents are their children’s first teacher,” she points out. “They should be supported as well. I think our culture creates numerous obstacles for young parents to be able to give their children what they really want.”
Parker says studies show that parent involvement in early learning and the act of soothing and holding a child is valuable to early development.
Researchers say more analysis is needed, and others argue that the results could be impacted by the quality of pre-K programs.
Gov. Bill Haslam has said he was waiting for the results of this 5-year study before deciding whether to increase the early childhood education budget.
Attachment Parenting International has programs available across the state to help support parents in bonding and nurturing their child, which Parker says is more cost effective that investing additional money in pre-K. She adds that parent connection is what fosters good behavior as children grow.
“One thing that’s been successful, besides parent education classes and home visits – teaching parents how to stimulate their children, talking to their children, singing to their children,” she points out.
Tennessee’s Voluntary Pre-K program operated with an $86 million budget in 2013 to 2014. At that time 18,000 children were enrolled.

The Franklin County sheriff’s department is investigating an interesting case.
A Franklin County resident went to Unclaimed Freight in Scottsboro and bought a pair of shoes. When he got home, he put the shoes on and started to walk when he did the shoes ripped open and out came about 2,000 Ecstasy pills.
Sgt. Chuck Stines talked with a Jackson County investigator and they decided that there was nothing they could do as they did not know who owned the shoes. The soles of the shoes had been hollowed out and a bag of the pills was placed in each shoe.
The victim is out a small amount of money and some drug dealer is out several thousand dollars.