Category: News

Get Fit! Tullahoma is pleased to announce that they are planning for the fourth Community Health Fair and Fitness Expo Saturday, March 14, from 9 am to noon at Northgate Mall.  Admission is free and visitors will find fitness and nutrition tips, health screenings and much more. Please join in and learn how you can move more, eat well and get fit. The purpose of Get Fit! Tullahoma is to encourage more healthy and active lifestyles among Tullahoma and Coffee County citizens. Unfortunately, Coffee County citizens rank 38 out of 95 counties in our level of fitness (countyhealthrankings.org). More than a third of Tennesseans and Coffee County residents are obese, and the trend needs to be reversed. “Tullahoma’s overall fitness is a reflection of each individual’s fitness,” said Community Development Director, Winston Brooks. “We are inviting anyone interested in displaying their products or services that relate to health and fitness to take part. There is opportunity to have a booth and we are looking for people interested in doing short demonstrations on stage.” Visitors will have the opportunity to speak with local doctors, take advantage of free health screenings, and obtain other preventative health care information.
“Learning how to manage diabetes effectively is one of the keys to maintaining optimal health,” said HRMC’s Marketing Director, Ava Lynch. “We, along with the City of Tullahoma, other healthcare professionals and vendors, want to provide the community with the knowledge, tools and resources needed to manage diabetes.  By implementing lifestyle changes, others will have information and resources which could help them prevent or reduce their risk for type 2 diabetes.”
“One of the goals with this Expo is to highlight all the different types of fitness activities available in our community,” said Mayor Lane Curlee. “I want to encourage citizens to make everyday changes to eat healthier, be more physically active and quit tobacco use.”
If you have a fitness related product or service, please consider hosting an exhibitor table. There is no charge. Please contact Winston Brooks if you are interested in being a vendor. Booths can be reserved up until February 18. He can be reached at 455-2648 or wbrooks@tullahomatn.gov.

A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report says there were more Tennessee residents charged with driving under the influence in 2014 than 2013.
The report, which is submitted to lawmakers, says law enforcement agencies arrested 29,544 around the state for the offense in 2014. That’s 639 more people arrested for DUI than in the previous year.
Officials say in some cases, the increase is due to new techniques that include analytic software to predict when and where drunken drivers might crash and focusing more efforts around establishments that serve alcohol.
Manchester Police Chief Mark Yother says his officers made 63 DUI arrests in 2014. Tullahoma Police Chief Paul Blackwell says in his town there were 64 DUI arrests made last year.

Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves says scammers are back at work in the area.
A number of individuals across the county are getting calls from an individual who claims to be from the sheriff’s department and that he has a warrant for their arrest for various things. He then tells his intended victim that they can avoid being booked into jail if they send money via a Green Dot credit card. Graves stated that these calls are definitely SCAMS, please do not fall for this. The sheriff added that this time scammers are using actual deputies’ names.
Call authorities if you think someone is scamming you.

Motlow College nursing graduates have once again exceeded the state and national pass rate on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for registered nurses, according to Pat Hendrix, interim director of nursing at the College. Motlow’s 2014 nursing graduate pass rate was 96.92 percent, while the state average was 87.44 percent and the national average was 81.79 percent. Sixty-three of Motlow’s 65 graduates in 2014 passed the test. While the state average is one of the highest in the nation, Motlow’s 2014 NCLEX pass rate was the highest of all the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) programs. Compared to the TBR Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs, Motlow ranked second in pass rate. The TBR is among the nation’s largest higher education systems, governing 46 post-secondary educational intuitions. The TBR system includes six universities, 13 two-year colleges (including Southwest) and 27 colleges of applied technology, providing programs across the state to more than 200,000 students. For more information about Motlow’s nursing program, contact Pat Hendrix at 931-393-1664 or phendrix@mscc.edu.

Those Tennesseans who have resolved to make a difference this year are being encouraged to consider becoming mentors to young people. There are a variety of mentoring programs in cities statewide that match at-risk children with caring adults, but many more youths are in need of strong role models. Sarah Beatty, director of events and communications with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee, says these relationships really can have a positive influence. “Children most commonly in our program improve in their scholastic competence, but one of the forgotten areas people don’t think about is children’s attitudes toward risk behaviors,” says Beatty. “Never beginning to use alcohol or never beginning to smoke.” Beatty says there are both community and school-based programs across Tennessee, and mentors are generally asked to commit to about an hour or so each week over the course of a year or school year. January is National Mentoring Month. Beatty notes, while there is a need for all types of people to become mentors, there is always a greater need for more men to get involved. “Most commonly it is a single mom raising a son,” says Beatty. “She really needs a positive male role model in that child’s life.” It’s estimated of the more than 9 million kids considered “at-risk” across the nation, only about one-third will have a mentor in their lives.

Haven of Hope, an area shelter for victims of domestic abuse, is seeking volunteers to work with its sexual assault program. Volunteers must be 21 years of age with the availability for on-call shifts who can attend regularly scheduled meetings and assist victims to the hospital. Potential volunteers should be able to work in a crisis situation and be able to support victims during medical exams and when giving their reports to police. For more information, call 728-1133.
If you are in danger, please use a safe computer or call 911. Local Crisis Line is 1-800-435-7739 for Coffee, Moore, Bedford, Marshall, Franklin and Lincoln Counties of Tennessee. (Portions of this story from LightTube Cable)

Three Kentucky men, Alphonso Mucker, Michael Tompkins and Christopher Graham were arrested on drug charges after a traffic stop on Interstate 24 in Coffee County.
Officials with the Tennessee Highway Patrol said a vehicle was stopped last week for speeding in a construction zone on Interstate 24 near mile marker 115.
27-year-old Mucker was driving the vehicle and according to reports was apparently behaving strangely and told a state trooper the men were traveling from Georgia back to Kentucky. He denied officials consent to search the vehicle.
The trooper found out that Tompkins, age 37, and 31-year-old Graham, who were in the car were both convicted felons.
A K-9 was called to the scene and discovered more than a half pound of crystal methamphetamine in two plastic bags inside the glove compartment.
Another bag of meth weighing 20 grams, two ounces of marijuana, five meth pipes and three marijuana pipes were also found, along with marijuana grinders, digital scales, several plastic bags used for resale, $1,093 in cash and a loaded 9 mm handgun.
Mucker is being held on a bond of $95,000. While Tompkins and Graham are being held under bonds of $120,000. All three are scheduled to appear in Coffee County General Sessions Court on March 24.

Thursday night’s joint meeting of the Manchester Board of Education and Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BOMA) ended without a clear agreement on the city’s next step regarding a possible transfer of schools.
Interim schools director Sandra Morris, who is serving the schools while Dr. Keith Brewer is on medical leave, predicted the dire consequences of a transfer referendum.
Alderman Lana Sain was quick to confirm the quality of education offered by the system, but challenged the overall wisdom of having three separate systems in the county.
Cuts in administration is said to be the large portion of $1.2 million that the board of education foresees reducing in the 2015-16 school budget, but the details of the cuts were not given.
No official decision has been made on the referendum issue. (Thanks to the Manchester Times)

A resident of Coffee County has been charged with TennCare fraud involving prescription drugs.
Nickolas Dewayne Ferrell is charged with TennCare fraud for using the program to obtain prescription drugs and later distributing the drugs to others. Ferrell, 35, of Tullahoma, is accused of using TennCare to obtain the painkiller Hydrocodone, later selling a portion to an undercover informant. Tullahoma Police assisted with his arrest.
“Prescription drug fraud is a significant burden on the health care system and on communities across the state,” Inspector General Manny Tyndall said. “We´re committed to eliminating this crime in the TennCare program, and local police and providers across the state are working with us in this effort.”
District Attorney General Craig Northcott is prosecuting the Coffee County case.
The Office of Inspector General, which is separate from TennCare, began full operation in February 2005 and has investigated cases leading to over $3 million being repaid to TennCare, with a total estimated cost avoidance of over $163.6 million for TennCare, according to latest figures. To date, 2,274 people have been charged with TennCare fraud.
Through the OIG Cash for Tips Program established by the Legislature, Tennesseans can get cash rewards for TennCare fraud tips that lead to convictions. Anyone can report suspected TennCare fraud by calling 1-800-433-3982 toll-free from anywhere in Tennessee, or log on to www.tn.gov/tnoig/ and follow the prompts that read “Report TennCare Fraud.”