The murder trial of Jeffrey Smithson continues in Coffee County Circuit Court today. Smithson is accused of murdering his 81-year-old aunt Virginia White in August 2011 at her residence at Ingram Apartments in Manchester. The case expected to go to the jury today. Yesterday testimony was presented by experts from the TBI Crime Lab concerning DNA samples derived from evidence. Also presented was evidence from Smithson’s cellphone of where he allegedly texted an individual wanting morphine after the death of White. The state medical examiner testified yesterday...

The assistant manager of a Manchester restaurant has been arrested for fraudulent use of a credit card. Tracy Jewel Edwards, 28, of Allie Boynton Road in Manchester was arrested Tuesday by Manchester Police Investigator Stuart Colwell on the charges. According to a police report, Sherrie Decker of Hillsboro Boulevard stated that she used her debit card at Kentucky Fried Chicken on Nov. 29 to purchase $10.47 of items. She told officers that she did not get her debit card back or give her a receipt. Decker said that she called the store and spoke with the assistant manager, Edwards,...

The Coffee County Commission last month has approved the issuance of $22 million for the construction of a new 400 bed jail. Yesterday groundbreaking was held on the property where the new Coffee County jail will be built. The current jail is averaging nearly 300 inmates on the weekends and a little less during the week. The new site is on Hillsboro Boulevard beside Fann’s Salvage. Part of the land was formerly used as a mobile home park. Sheriff Steve Graves and construction manager Elvis Butler with Bell Construction Co. said the actual work starts Dec. 18, when the...

A former jailer is suing Bedford County for gender discrimination, claiming she was fired for the escape of a male prisoner earlier this year, while a relative of the sheriff kept his job. Virginia Lynn Hall, a correctional officer hired by the county in 2001, filed the suit Tuesday in Bedford County Chancery Court, and is demanding unspecified damages for loss of earnings, front pay compensation or reinstatement, compensatory damages for mental distress, emotional anguish, humiliation, and embarrassment, attorney fees, prejudgment interest, a trial by jury and “other and further...

Gov. Bill Haslam says that while the crime rate is showing an overall decline in Tennessee, instances of aggravated assault, prescription drug abuse and domestic violence remain a major concern for his administration. The Republican governor said at a meeting of more than 400 public safety officials in Nashville on Thursday that domestic violence accounts for about half of all crimes committed in the state each year. Haslam this year introduced and signed into law a measure to require mandatory jail time for repeat convictions for domestic violence. But the governor said it’s too soon to tell if the...

Children’s Christmas Around the World” is the theme of the 56th Annual Tullahoma Area Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade, scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight, Dec. 7. Grand Marshal for this year’s event will be Miss Tennessee, and Tullahoma native, Chandler Lawson. If you are coming to the Tullahoma parade tonight you’re advised to get to your viewing point early because a very large crowd is...

The Miss America Organization is proud to announce your opportunity to vote for a finalist at the 2013 Miss America Competition, broadcast live from Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday, January 12, 2013 on ABC. The Miss America Organization has posted 53 exciting videos made by each of our 2013 contestants, showing off their style and personality and explaining why they should be chosen as the next Miss America!” Cast your vote via one (1) of the following two (2) methods: Vote for your favorite contestant’s video via this link: http://www.missamerica.org/videocontest/ OR Visit the “Video...

Day 2 of the murder trial of Jeffrey Smithson on Wednesday (Dec. 5, 2012) saw a call from defense attorney Margo Kilgore for a retrial. Kilgore made the request after a Manchester Police officer testify that he was told by a friend of Virginia White who was found murdered in her apartment that Jeffrey Smithson had just been released from prison, when in reality he had been out of prison for some time. Kilgore stated that the statement was not true and would prejudice the jury. But District Attorney Mickey Layne argued that the judge could instruct the jury...