Category: News

A joint drug operation between Manchester Police Department and Coffee County Sheriff’s Department investigators was taking place Wednesday afternoon at Walgreens when things got turned crazy.
Manchester Police Department Assistant Chief Adam Floied told WMSR News the drug operation involved two suspects from out of town. When police began to surround the suspect’s Chevrolet SUV the driver then allegedly put the car in reverse, jumping curbs and entering Highway 55 toward Tullahoma.
According to Floied, officers with Manchester Police Department, Coffee County Sheriff’s Department and Tennessee Highway Patrol pursued the vehicle.
Around the 911 Communication Center on Hwy 55 the suspects crossed the median into oncoming traffic. At that time Manchester officers were told to disengage. Floied added, “Right as we called to disengage the suspect collided with a state trooper’s vehicle from the rear.”
According to Floied, after hitting the trooper’s vehicle, the suspect began to back up toward an investigator and the state patrolman and a sheriff’s investigator opened fire.
The suspect then backed through the median and, with a flat tire, came to rest in the westbound lanes near Rose Hill Memorial Gardens.
Floied said, “The driver had an abrasion on his leg but we aren’t sure where that came from at this time.”
The two suspects, Cordarious Tramell and Carlon Bowman, were taken into custody without incident. The addresses are unknown at this time..
Floied said charges are pending from the three agencies involved. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is now the leading authority because of officers being involved in a shooting.
Highway 55 was shut down while state investigators reconstructed the scene.

A man’s throat was cut before he was run over with a car Monday in Warren County following an argument with another man.
31-year-old Abel Torres, was taken into custody following the brutal attack and is facing numerous charges.
Warren County Sheriff Jackie Matheny says Torres and two other men were inside a car Monday when an argument broke out. After pulling into the parking lot of a business, Torres allegedly took out a knife and cut the victim’s throat.
The victim, who has not been identified, got out of the car and Torres reportedly drove into him, throwing him several feet into the air.
The victim was flown via LifeFlight to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville with critical injuries.

A 10-month investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) ends with indictments against the Grundy County Schools Maintenance Supervisor.
The TBI began investigating Ricky Meeks in May 2014.  During a meeting of the Grundy County Board of Education, a witness saw Meeks change a company’s bid for work at one of the schools so the company could win the bidding process.
He was suspended without pay.
On Monday, the Grundy County Grand Jury returned indictments for Meeks, charging the 51-year-old Altamont man with one count of Forgery, two counts of Official Misconduct, and one count of Tampering with Government Documents.
Tuesday, Meeks turned himself in to authorities at the Grundy County Jail, where he was booked and then released on a $15,000 bond.

Gas tanks in Tennessee may remain full for longer periods of time thanks to the availability of fuel-efficient vehicles, but the glass is half-empty when it comes to declining gas tax revenue. Federal transportation dollars are down, and the federal Highway Trust Fund is set to run out at the end of May. Susan Mattison, a research analyst for the State Comptroller’s Office of Research and Education Accountability, recently conducted a study of Tennessee’s fuel tax revenue. “Our taxes have become stagnant,” she says. “Unless something is done, they will not fund our transportation needs over time.” State leaders recently opted to delay debate on raising the state’s relatively low gas tax, despite the findings of the State Comptroller’s study. The U.S. Transportation Secretary was recently quoted as saying that Congress was close to reaching an agreement on long-term infrastructure funding at the federal level. The federal government typically spends $50 billion annually on infrastructure, but revenue from the federal gas tax brings in $34 billion of that amount. David Goldberg with the Washington, D.C.-based organization Transportation for America says the shortfall is making it hard to compensate for delayed projects in the wake of the Great Recession. “There’s a big backlog of maintenance and a pent-up demand for new transportation projects to deal with population growth in places like Nashville, which has been growing a great deal,” says Goldberg. Mattison says while Tennesseans may be reluctant to pay more at the pump in taxes, the funding is necessary to maintain a daily need for the population. “It’s important we have sufficient highway revenues,” she says. “Those fund the maintenance of existing highways, as well as construction of new roads that meet the demands of the population growth and the economic development of the state.” One alternative discussed as a way to collect taxes on the use of roads is a per-mile tax that could be calculated using current technology available in cars. President Obama is also promoting his GROW America Act, which would provide financial funding to states to establish long-term transportation plans, instead of relying on fluctuating funding.

The governor’s office has launched a program that focuses on improving health at the local level.
State officials announced on Wednesday that nine cities and counties across the state will pilot the Healthier Tennessee Communities program.
The initiative promotes physical activity, healthy eating and staying away from tobacco with an emphasis on community-led change.
In Tennessee, one in four adults smokes and that moved officials to make a change.
Tullahoma and Franklin are just two of the cities already involved.
Leaders say they hope this will improve the overall health of the state and it comes at no cost to the local community.
Tullahoma Mayor Lane Curlee said, “When you think about it, nothing is more important to us than the health and well-being of the people who live here. By participating in the Healthier Tennessee Communities program, we are improving the lives of so many people in Tullahoma by encouraging physical activity, better nutrition, and fewer people using tobacco. ”

The case involving the shooting of an 18-month old boy last week by his 3-year-old brother will be presented to the April term of the Coffee County Grand Jury. The decision was made last week by District Attorney Craig Northcott after evidence in the case was presented to him by Coffee County Sheriff Sgt. Danny Ferrell.
According to Ferrell, on March 3 the three year old found a .25 caliber pistol and shot his brother in the head. The incident occurred at a residence on A Street in Hillsboro.
The child was transported to Manchester Medical Center and later transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville where, according to Ferrell, he is in stable condition. The child may be released soon from the hospital.
Ferrell reviewed the evidence with the DA Friday afternoon and the determination was to present the evidence to the April term of grand jury and let them review the evidence and decide if any criminal charges should be filed.
Martin Anderson and Brittany Cargille are the parents of the children.
A spokesman for the Department of Children’s Services said the 3-year-old brother has been removed from his home in the Hillsboro community, and the younger brother will be placed in foster care when he is released from the hospital. (Tullahoma News)

Tullahoma Officer Sam Campbell found more than he expected when he answered a noise disturbance call March 6.
When the officer arrived at an apartment on East Moore Street, he allegedly heard loud music coming from the apartment.
When the officer knocked on the door and the occupants opened the door he allegedly saw a James Stewart sitting in a chair with a bag of marijuana filling a glass pipe.
Stewart gave the officer permission to search the apartment. An individual of the apartment Adam Walden, 23, of Garden Place, Manchester allegedly confessed to having a small bag of marijuana in his jacket pocket. He was arrested and charged with simple possession. He was released from the Coffee County Jail after posting a $2,500 bond.

The Jail Review Committee has developed a timeline for opening the new state-of-the-art facility on Hillsboro Highway. The tentative date where officials will be moving inmates to the new location is scheduled for May 4th. Committee Chairman Tim Morris said last week that an open house and Boy Scout sleepovers will take place the weekend of April 25th to ensure that everything is working properly in the facility. Boy Scout sleepovers are common in new jails.
Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves said that officer training would take roughly six weeks and sees no problem in having everything up and running smoothly by the time Bonnaroo rolls around in June.
However, there have been some lingering hiccups. Maintenance Director Robert Gilliam has expressed concern that the new facility’s electric bills have been running between $9,000 and $12,000 per month, depending on whether crews are in the building working. He has suggested replacing fluorescent lighting with high-efficiency bulbs to help shave down that monthly expense. (LightTUBe)

The national average price for a gallon of gasoline declined for the first time in 40 days. The U.S. average rose 42 cents since January 27, but dipped four-tenths of a cent Sunday.
“Motorists are beginning to see some relief at the pump after prices rose in response to increased oil prices and refinery maintenance season,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA – The Auto Club Group.
Since oil prices plunged in the past year, concerns of a slowdown in domestic oil production caused oil prices to rise, having a direct effect on prices at the pump. The price of WTI rose more than $8 a barrel from January to mid-February, peaking at $53.53. Since that time, oil prices have swung up and down by a few dollars, but settled at $49.61 on the NYMEX Friday – a decline of 15 cents from the week before.
The national average price of gasoline is $2.45, 4 cents higher than last week, but $1.04 cheaper than this time last year. The average price in Tennessee is $2.22, 3 cents more than last week, but $1 cheaper than a year ago.
In Manchester the low price is $2.10 per gallon and in Tullahoma it’s $2.09.

The snow and ice may be gone, but the damage they left behind is still evident.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation says crews headed out on Monday to patch potholes on roadways and will stay busy all week.
Burel Tidwell with TDOT told WMSV that work crews are “a little overwhelmed” at the job ahead of them. According to media reports there are pothole problems all over the Midstate. Some are about as big as a basketball while others are the size of a small car.
TDOT spokeswoman Heather Jensen told WTVF-TV that heavy rain might slow the process, but it won’t stop it. She said crews are trying to fill as many holes as possible, even in the rain, because there are so many.