Category: News

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a wide-ranging civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on a disability. On Wednesday the ADA Legacy Tour is due to make a stop in Nashville. The tour includes information on how the landmark legislation has changed the lives of Americans like Carol Francisco of Nashville, who is blind. She says the ADA gives her a resource “in her corner” as she pursues accessibility in her hometown. “You do what you have to do,” she says. “It’s just that you get tired of fighting all the time. You really do. But the ADA has made it easier to fight.” While things have improved since President George H. W. Bush signed the ADA into law in 1990, Francisco says Tennessee communities – including Nashville – have a long way to go. According to Francisco, the installation of additional sidewalks and crosswalks with voice-assist could help her navigate the city more safely. Another Nashville resident, Emily Hoskins, was paralyzed at birth because of a tumor in her spine. She now works for the Center for Independent Living of Middle Tennessee, and helps educate businesses and individuals on the importance of having an accessible workplace. “Unless you are directly impacted by disability,” she says, “meaning you have a disability, or you have a family member or friend with one, you don’t notice those things a lot.” While the ADA now mandates schools provide an education for people with disabilities, Francisco notes that wasn’t the case in her youth, in her hometown. “The high school could and did say, ‘Okay, we’re not taking you,'” she says. “That meant that I had to go away from home and stay at the School for the Blind, which I didn’t really want to do. I wanted to stay at home and be with my family.” The ADA protects people in areas of employment, public transportation, accommodation and telecommunications services. Last year, more than 25,000 complaints were filed nationwide under the ADA with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Of those, all but about one thousand were resolved. The ADA Legacy Tour will stop at the East Park Community Center in Nashville on Wednesday, April 15, from 1 to 3 p.m.

A Coffee County woman is facing charges after nearly 100 small to medium dogs and several cats were found suffering and dying on her property over the weekend in Coffee County on Hickory Grove Road. The animals were found in cages rusted shut and covered with cobwebs, some matted to the wire and unable to move. Carolyn Irby has been charged with 10 counts of animal cruelty.
Local authorities found they were living in “extremely neglectful conditions.” Coffee County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Danny Ferrell said, “It was immediately obvious that we were going to need assistance in removing this large number of animals and getting them to safety as quickly as possible.” He added, “Animal Rescue Corps was the only organization who could help us both document the scene and safely remove the animals.”
The animals are being cared for at a Lebanon, TN animal clinic.

On Monday morning, April 6, the Tullahoma Police Department began receiving reports of vehicle burglaries in the Colonial Acres, Brookfield Estates, and Macon Manor subdivisions. As the officers began completing the reports and listing the stolen property, information from citizens and businesses started coming in. As a result of the information, suspects were identified and an investigation by the patrol and the investigations division led to the recovery of a large amount of possible stolen property.
Detective Tyler Hatfield was assigned as the primary investigator and began notifying victims that some property had been recovered and discussed making arrangements to identify their items. Hatfield and Evidence Custodian Darrell Richards began the task of separating the property and trying to match it to a report. The property recovered consisted of: electronics, computers, tools, wallets, cosmetics, clothes, and other miscellaneous items.
Detective Hatfield obtained arrest warrants for Chelsea Nunley, of Tullahoma. Nunley is alleged to have committed the offenses of Burglary (6 cts.) and the Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card (1 ct.), after attempting to complete transactions with credit cards that had previously been reported stolen from the burglarized vehicles. Nunley was processed into the Coffee County jail with a bond of $17,500, and has court date of April 20. As the investigation continues, additional arrests are anticipated, additional charges, to include several counts of Burglary, will be presented to the next Coffee County grand jury.
The Department would like to thank the citizens and business owners that assisted in this investigation and the quick resolution.
In all the reports completed by the officers, the vehicles from which the property was taken were unlocked.

Tennessee is the only state in the nation to have two rivers listed as “endangered” by the environmental group American Rivers.
The Holston River, in the northeast part of the state, ranks third on the list and the Harpeth River in middle Tennessee is listed ninth out of 10.
Erin McCombs, associate conservation director for the organization, explained why it’s important that citizens and municipalities use the information included in their report released this week to protect the rivers.
“What I think is unique about having two listings in Tennessee,” she said, “is that right now there is a real opportunity to really use the Clean Water Act and make sure that our regulatory agencies are keeping our rivers clean.”
The Holston River makes the list because of toxic chemical pollution and the Harpeth River is listed because of sewage pollution and overuse. The Edisto River in South Carolina and the Pearl River in Louisiana were the other two southeastern rivers listed in the report, called “America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2015.”
The Holston River provides drinking water for tens of thousands of Tennessee residents, as well as water for industry and recreation. McCombs said much of the damage done to the river is from a chemical called RDX, a toxic explosive and possible carcinogen that’s released by the Holston Army Ammunition Plant in Kingsport.
“What’s kind of alarming about this,” she said, “is that they’re finding really high levels of this, much higher than the EPA guidelines are, and they’re finding them very far downstream.”
A spokesperson from the U.S. Army, which contracts with the Holston plant, said the “Army is working closely with the operating contractor and regulatory agencies to reduce RDX wastewater discharges at the plant.”
The Harpeth River made the list because of the city of Franklin’s sewer plant and the region’s excessive water use. American Rivers is calling on state officials and the federal Environmental Protection Agency to take steps to ensure the city uses the latest technology to reduce pollution to the river.
“During the summer, when we have really low periods of flow, the entire volume of the stream is sometimes up to around a third of effluent coming from the wastewater treatment plant,” McCombs said, “and oftentimes we have elevated levels of pollutants.”
A spokesperson for the city of Franklin said the city recently created a water resource plan and is in the process of implementing a sewer plant upgrade. The spokesperson said the health of the Harpeth River is impacted by other factors upstream before it flows through the city.
The report is online at act.americanrivers.org.

Reporters may soon have to get permission from a judge any time they want to bring a cell phone, laptop or other digital device inside a courtroom.
Officials with the Administrative Office of the Courts said Friday those requirements are part of a proposed Tennessee Supreme Court rule that regulates media coverage in the courtroom. AOC officials said permission would be required even if the reporter were not Tweeting or streaming video from the courtroom but simply wanted to use a laptop to take notes or have a silent phone on hand.
Reporters would have to make a written request to a judge at least two business days in advance of any hearing they wanted to cover.
The Supreme Court is encouraging comments on the proposed changes.

Nearly 100 small to medium dogs and several cats, suffering and dying in cages rusted shut and covered with cobwebs, some matted to the wire and unable to move were rescued in Coffee County from a home in the Fountain Grove community early Sunday morning.
Local authorities found they were living in “extremely neglectful conditions.” The dogs, which were a variety of breeds including Golden Retrievers, Yorkshire Terriers and Border Collies, were found very thin and living in complete darkness.
The remains of 10 other dogs, wrapped in sheets were found on the property.
The Animal Rescue Corps (ARC) assisted the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office in taking the 90 adult dogs and puppies and seven cats, which were surrendered by the property owner.
The Animal Rescue Corps is calling this rescue, Operation Midnight Run, because after receiving a call late Saturday night from Coffee County authorities, they drove all night, to reach the animals in less than 12 hours. The team worked throughout the day on Sunday to get the animals the medical and other care they needed.

Scammers are hard at work in Coffee County. Coffee County Sheriff’s Investigator Jason Dendy contacted WMSR News on Friday to issue a warning about a new scam that is making its rounds in the county.
Dendy says that scammers are calling people claiming to be with the Internal Revenue Service and say they have money for them. They also ask for the person’s bank account number and their social security number.
Some people have provided the criminals with personal information, costing them hundreds of dollars.
The investigator warns that the IRS does not do this. People should not give out their social security number and bank account to callers. He also said that the IRS would have your social security number and would not have to ask for it.
If anyone has received one of these calls or have fallen victim to the calls or have questions about a possible scam to contact him at the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department 728-3591 or 723-3028.

A rental home belonging to Ronnie Givins in Hillsboro suffered severe damage on Friday afternoon around 2:45pm.
According to Hillsboro Fire Chief Jerry Brown, the cause of the blaze was a possible electrical fire in a bedroom. Three rooms were destroyed and the other rooms in the home at 461 Fred Lusk Road were heavily damaged by smoke and water.
The Hillsboro Volunteer Fire Department fought the fire with assistants from other volunteer departments.
No injuries were reported.

A fire Saturday morning at 65 Walnut Lane in Manchester caused a small amount of damage. The fire call came in around 5:30am at the home Brent Desalvo. Manchester Fire Department responded to the small fire and contained it to the front porch area of the home. No injuries were reported as a result of the fire.

Jeremy Woods, fire investigator for Manchester said Sunday afternoon the fire remains under investigation. He said the bomb and arson unit of the State Fire Marshall’s office and Manchester Police will assist in the investigation this week.
Manchester Police and Coffee County EMS also responded to the scene.

For the second straight day, Warren County High School was evacuated after a threat was received at the school on Thursday. Students were kept on campus this time as authorities searched the building.
Later in the day the Warren County Sheriff’s Department made an arrest in connection with Thursday’s bomb threat at Warren County High School.
Sheriff Jackie Matheny said Marlene Madewell, who is a custodian at the school was arrested Thursday, just hours after the school was evacuated for a second straight day.
Matheny said Madewell told investigators she was angry with the Principal when she wrote the threatening message on the walls of a boy’s bathroom. Authorities are still investigating to determine if she was also responsible for the message that prompted Wednesday’s evacuation.
Madewell has been charged with filing a false report. Matheny said she was the one who reported Thursday’s threat. The sheriff said investigators are working to determine if more serious charges can be filed.
Bond for Madewell was set at $30,000.
Police say an 8th grader has confessed to scrawling a bomb threat on a bathroom wall at Warren County Middle School on Thursday. That school was also evacuated. The youngster was taken to the Warren County Sheriff’s Department for questioning.