On Friday April 24th, Richard Skipper who is the Career and Technical Education director at Coffee County High School was presented the Pioneer Award from the Tennessee Association of Career and Technical Education. TACTE (Tennessee Association of Career and Technical Education) gives out 2 awards annually. The Pioneer Award is presented to an outstanding CTE director in the state of Tennessee with 5 years or less experience. Last year Richard was the Middle TN nominee but finished second overall. Skipper is currently the president of the South Central Region of CTE directors and will be starting his second term...

A man nicknamed the “Cross-Country Cowboy” is traveling across the U.S. on horseback. Over the past few weeks Tod “Doc” Mishler has been staying in Manchester at the home of former Coffee County Mayor David Pennington and his wife Nancy. Doc was a recent guest on Thunder Radio’s “Let’s talk Antiques” program talking about why he does what he does. The 79 year old Mishler, who has a PHD in Philosophy is on a mission to shed light on the starving children in the world. Doc said recently on WMSR, “My message is that we have the money to...

Two local dealerships in Manchester have had cars stolen from their lots recently. At Lawrence Family Motors they discovered missing keys about 2 months and thought they were misplaced. On Monday (April 27) morning the owners discovered a red 2012 Hyundai Veloster missing from the dealership. The Hyundai has around 30,000 miles and valued at nearly $17,000. In a surveillance video, an unknown subject walked onto the lot Monday morning around 7:15am. The person used what appeared to be a key-fob (original key) got into the vehicle and left. As the vehicle traveled north on the Hillsboro Blvd., it...

A man convicted of abducting a Tullahoma woman on Jan. 1, 2013 after a New Year’s party was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Billy Joe Nelson was convicted March 25 on charges of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated rape, carjacking and robbery. The conviction came at the end of a three day trial held in Coffee County Circuit Court. He was charged with abducting the woman from the parking lot adjacent to the 41 Bar and Grill located on Hillsboro Boulevard in Manchester in the early hours of Jan 1, 2013. Nelson was sentenced to serve 20 years for the...

Tennessee honey bees are feeling the sting of a variety of environmental factors. According to estimates from the University of Tennessee Extension, bees have seen as much as 50 percent of their population decline in recent years. Professor John Skinner, an apiculturist at the University of Tennessee, says recent rain and cold snaps this spring are making things more difficult. “They have a lot more mouths to feed, and if we get hit by weather patterns that are rainy for a solid week or 10 days, the bees can consume all of their additional food in the colony and...

On Tuesday morning a student at Coffee County High School found a threatening note and notified school administration. Dr. Ladonna McFall, Director of Coffee County Schools, said, “We had someone write on a wall ‘threatening the building.’” Students were evacuated just after 11am from the school via a fire drill. Manchester Police and the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department searched the building as a precaution. Authorities gave the building the “all clear” around 12:30pm and students were allowed back in the building and returned to their classroom. An investigation into who left the note is ongoing. Shelbyville Central High School...

A Coffee County woman is charged with TennCare fraud involving doctor shopping or using TennCare to go to multiple doctors in a short time period to obtain prescriptions for controlled substances. So far in April, 36 people have been charged with TennCare fraud by the Office of Inspector General (OIG), more than any month since the agency began in 2005. The OIG announced the arrest of Terri L. Shearon, 42, of Hillsboro. The Coffee County Sheriff’s Office assisted in this arrest. Shearon is accused in a Coffee County indictment with three counts of doctor shopping for controlled substances, using...