The Tullahoma school board is to meet in special session Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. to consider whether Dr. Dan Lawson’s employment should extend beyond its June 30, 2013, deadline. According to board chairman Pat Welsh the board will consider a request from member Kim Uselton to consider the contract extension. Uselton has said that she felt compelled to move forward with attempting to extend Lawson’s contract. She explained that she feels that Lawson has been a great fit for the city and for the school...

The Coffee County grand jury will be meeting tomorrow to consider 117 cases. Of those cases there are 87 that have been forwarded to the panel from Coffee County General Sessions Court and 30 first time cases. Those first time cases are being presented by law enforcement and have not been through the court system, they are usually drug...

The March of Dimes of middle Tennessee recently named Jessica Stewart, a Tullahoma registered nurse, “Critical Care Nurse of the Year” for 2012. She works as charge nurse in the Critical Care Unit at Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro. The recent awards ceremony was held at the Marriott Cool Springs in Franklin with about 300 in attendance. Stewart said that she was shocked, but pleasantly surprised. Nurses from 30 Middle Tennessee counties were nominated by their patients, doctors, supervisors and colleagues and were then sent a list of questions to submit answers to. A volunteer committee from the...

Tullahoma resident Billy Joe Nelson, 31, of 1209 East Lauderdale Street, has been charged with carjacking in connection with the abduction of a Tullahoma female. Authorities are continuing to work on the case and say they expect additional charges to be filed. Nelson had a court appearance Thursday, but he did not have to appear as attorney Eric Burch informed General Sessions Judge Jere Ledsinger that he had been retained to represent Nelson. Nelson is being held in the Coffee County Jail under $250,000 bond. Eric Burch is representing Nelson and Assistant District Attorney Jason Ponder is prosecuting the...

People with unpaid Coffee County real property taxes who appear on the sale list have until 4:30 p.m. Jan. 11, 2013, to pay their taxes and prevent their property from being sold, according to Chancery Court Clerk and Master Charlotte Broyles. The properties will be auctioned on Saturday, Jan. 12, in the first floor courtroom at the Justice Center on Hillsboro Blvd. in Manchester, beginning at 10:01 a.m. According to Broyles, people wanting to bid on property should arrive early. She stated that as of December 31, 2012, there were 25 parcels remaining to be auctioned in the delinquent...

The Tennessee Department of Transportation will begin displaying fatality messages on overhead interstate signs on a weekly basis instead of daily. TDOT first began displaying the fatality numbers on the overhead signs in April after an increase in fatal accidents in the first quarter of 2012. Commissioner John Schroer said, “We feel the fatality messages have been extremely successful in increasing awareness about highway deaths across the state this year, and may have helped us stop the dramatic increase we saw early in 2012″. He continued, “We have also heard from drivers who say the messages have caused them...

Tennessee is working to renew efforts to curb drug abuse throughout the state in 2013. According to the latest statistics, Tennessee ranks second in the nation for over-utilization of prescription pain medications. Adults 18 to 25 have the highest rate of prescription drug abuse. For the last two years, unintentional drug overdose is the number one cause of death in Tennessee over motor vehicle accidents, homicides or suicides. In 2011, more than 1,000 people died from drug overdoses in Tennessee. A new state database, which is now a requirement for all pharmacies to use, reveals which Tennesseans have prescriptions...

Area fire departments were summoned early Thursday morning to a fire on Highway 130 in Franklin County, just outside of the Tullahoma city limits. When the North Franklin County firefighters arrived at the Bewley Cabinet Company they found a workshop of the business fully engulfed with flames. The firefighters then requested assistance from the Tullahoma, Estill Springs, Winchester and Broadview Fire Departments with the fire. Because of the wood and chemicals stored in the workshop, firefighters were kept busy for some four hours before being able to contain the blaze. According to firefighters the fire was contained to the...