Category: News

RUNAWAY/MISSING JUVENILE: Branson “Isaiah” Freeland of Shelbyville was last seen at approximately 4:00 p.m. on July 23, 2015. Branson was last seen wearing gray shorts, whitish gray T-shirt, gray vans shoes and white baseball cap. Direction of travel is unknown.
Isaiah is 17 years old, white male, approximately 6 feet tall with brown hair and hazel eyes. If you know the whereabouts of Isaiah please call the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office at 931.684.3232 or Crimestoppers at 931.685.4300. You can remain anonymous. You can also call 1-800-TBI-Find.

If you are headed toward Lynchburg Saturday be aware that the Metro Moore Emergency Management and other agencies will be conducting an exercise on August 1 from 8am-noon.
According to EMA Director Jason Deal, Motlow Barn Road will be closed to thru traffic during this time. The most concentrated place will be directly behind the Lynchburg Nursing Home. You will see lots of emergency vehicles and staff on site during this time.
Please do not be alarmed, THIS IS ONLY A DRILL!!!
Please pay attention to Moore County Public Safety Facebook pages for more information.

On July 24, 2015, members of the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office arrested Robert J. McBride, of Bell Buckle, for Aggravated Sexual Exploitation of a Minor. McBride’s arrest comes after a joint investigation with the Winchester Police Department’s ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) Unit. Investigators from both agencies executed a search warrant at McBride’s residence and recovered numerous items of evidence that included child pornography.
McBride was booked at Bedford County Sheriff’s Office under a $100,000 bond.
Members of the Winchester Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force discovered an IP address to which the files were being downloaded with a computer in Bedford County, then subpoenaed an area telephone/Internet provider to link the address to McBride’s computer.
The Winchester investigators downloaded 71 files from McBride’s computer during the first half of April, officials said.
In the report, McBride’s computer, compact discs, a SD card and a thumb drive were confiscated along with two expensive life-size dolls of 4-and-5-year old children, a rifle and ammunition.

101 new correctional officers will graduate from the Tennessee Corrections Academy in Tullahoma on Friday.
The corrections officers will work in 11 different correctional facilities across Tennessee.
Cadets spend two weeks working in their assigned facility, four weeks training at the Tennessee Corrections Academy and then two more weeks job shadowing.
The academy consists of extensive training in self-defense, conflict resolution, health and gun certification.

TNStars® 529 College Savings Program is pleased to announce the success of the first qualifying period for Tennessee Investments Preparing Scholars Program (TIPS). Introduced in September 2014, TIPS provides a 4-to-1 matching contribution for middle to lower income families who have set aside money in their child’s college savings account. TIPS applicants had from October through June 30, 2015 to open a new account and to save for the match. During the initial nine-month qualifying period, new TNStars® accounts were opened for 163 Tennessee children from families with an average household income of $33,196.14 per year thanks to the TIPS program.
The new qualifying period is set to begin August 1, 2015 and to end June 30, 2016. To qualify for the TIPS matching grant program, the family’s household Adjusted Gross Income must be less than 250% of the federal poverty level. With TIPS, if a qualifying family opens a TNStars® account and contributes just $25, the Tennessee Treasury Department will put $100 in an account for the designated child. If the family saves a total of $125 in the account by the initial qualifying period, Treasury will contribute $500. For the first qualifying period, the average family contribution was $347 per account, and 140 accounts received the full $500 matching contribution.
TNStars® and TIPS are programs of the Tennessee Treasury Department, under the leadership of State Treasurer David H. Lillard, Jr. The TIPS program was introduced to help encourage those who have traditionally not taken advantage of 529 College Savings accounts to receive tax-free earnings on savings for their children’s higher education expenses. The TIPS program is available to the first 2,000 applicants who qualify.

Fifty RockTenn paper and packaging plant employees will soon be looking for work. The Tullahoma plant on East Carroll Street will closing next month.
The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s Dislocated Worker Unit received notification of the closure on July 15, just two weeks after a completion of a corporate merger of Norcross Georgia-based RockTenn and Richmond Virginia-based MeadWestvaco Corporation. The combined corporate entity now operates under the name West Rock. (From TUB)

The national average price for gasoline dipped 4 cents last week, and prices in the southeast fell even further. Pump prices in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee are down 5 cents compared to last week, after falling for 18 consecutive days.
“Motorists are finally getting some consistent relief at the pump thanks to declining oil prices,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “By this fall, prices could creep closer to levels seen at the beginning of this year, possibly even below $2 a gallon in some markets, as long as oil remains low.”
Compared to peak prices in mid-June, the current state average is down 16 cents in Tennessee.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed below $50 per barrel, for two consecutive days this past week, for the first time since April, due to a surplus in crude inventories and speculation that the market will remain oversaturated in the near term. At the close of Friday’s formal trading on the NYMEX, WTI settled at $48.14 per barrel.
In Tennessee the current average price ($2.42) is 5 cents cheaper than last week, 14 cents cheaper than a month ago, 89 cents cheaper than this time last year. In Manchester the low price as of Tuesday afternoon was $2.28 per gallon and in Tullahoma the low price is $2.30.

The We Care Committee is pleased to announce that their efforts have finally resulted in a portion of Highway 41-A being named in honor of Crosby Dewitt Stamps (C.D. Stamps). The segment of U.S. Highway 41-A in Tullahoma from West Carroll Street southward to the Franklin County line will be designated as The C.D. Stamps Highway. This bill was sponsored by Senator Janice Bowling, Representative Judd Matheny and Representative David Alexander.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) will place signs along Highway 41-A near the CD Stamps Community Center and the Franklin County Line. The public is invited to the unveiling and dedication on Saturday, August 8, 10am in the vicinity of 41-A and West Carroll Street.

The Tennessee Department of Health is issuing a public health advisory urging residents to increase their awareness about Hepatitis C, a life-threatening disease spread by direct contact with blood from an infected person. The rate of acute Hepatitis C cases in Tennessee has more than tripled in the last seven years, and the steadily increasing number of cases may only represent “the tip of the iceberg” of the state’s Hepatitis-C epidemic, according to the TDH Commissioner. In addition to reported cases of acute Hepatitis C it is estimated that more than 100,000 Tennesseans may be living with chronic Hepatitis C and not know it.
Early symptoms of Hepatitis C infection can include fatigue, abdominal pain, itching and dark urine. Many people, however, are not aware they have the disease until the virus has already caused liver cancer or liver damage.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends all individuals born from 1945 to 1965 be tested, as well as individuals of any age who have any specific risk factors, including a history of injection drug use or unsanitary tattooing or piercing. If chronic Hepatitis C infection is present, a doctor can recommend treatment options. The sooner an infection is identified and treatment started, the better a person’s chances are for recovery.
TDH has facilities in all 95 counties and provides direct services for more than one in five Tennesseans annually.