A Tullahoma man was found guilty of a number of burglaries in Bedford County. 20-year-old Austin Lawrence Tomes was found guilty of ten counts of aggravated burglary, nine counts of theft of property under $10,000, and on one count of theft of property under $500. He faces as much as five years in prison on each count. Tomes had already pled guilty in Moore County and faces similar charges in Coffee...

On Thursday Franklin County Sheriff’s Office personnel responded to a residence on Carson Lane in reference to a house fire. Upon arrival, law enforcement officials along with volunteer fire departments discovered the body of a male subject inside the residence. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in conjunction with the State Fire Marshall Bomb and Arson Division is conducting an investigation into this matter. Franklin County Sheriff Tim Fuller identified the man as 85-year-old James Steele. An autopsy was performed by the State Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the cause of...

Tullahoma is banding with three other similar-sized school systems to strive to get a $20 million federal grant that would move them all into the digital textbook age. Tullahoma City Schools and the systems from Lawrence, Lincoln and Warren counties have signed a letter of intent to collectively apply for a U.S. Department of Education Race to the Top district grant that would fully pay for the effort in the first four years. Then, it would be up to the individual systems to fund the programs from then on. Dr. Dan Lawson, Tullahoma City Schools director, said that the...

Accusations of horse abuse at the Walking Horse Celebration grew louder on Friday as federal inspectors disqualified more horses. The Humane Society of the United States called the event a conspiracy and a cover-up. This has been the most contentious celebration in years partly because insiders in Shelbyville sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the way it inspects horses. The USDA has the final say in inspections. This year it disqualified dozens of horses. In response Friday morning, the industry defended itself. “Reform in this industry, it is serious. There are serious people doing serious things,” said Jeff...

Coffee County Sheriff’s investigators say a Hispanic festival at St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Manchester Sunday resulted in an accident. According to information that investigators gathered at the church, each year during the festival, people climb an old utility pole. This year was no different, but apparently too much weight was put on the pole, and it fell. The pole landed on Mary Morales, 31, who was taking pictures of the activities. According to Sheriff Steve Graves, when the pole fell it struck the woman in the head. When paramedics arrived at the church and checked Morales’ injuries they...

The University of the South was given approval last week by the planning commission to tear down the existing Sewanee Inn and rebuild it with a 47,000 square foot facility. Work is expected to start this month in the small Franklin County town of Sewanee. The University of the South is also redoing the golf course behind the...

As you can imagine, the magnitude of love and support shown after Rod’s passing is far-reaching. My family would like to begin thanking the people of Manchester and others by a simple message. I would like to say, “To the good people of Manchester, Central Funeral Home, the employees of the City of Manchester and Manchester police dept. and the employees of Coffee County and the Coffee Co. Sherriff dept., all Coffee County volunteer fire Depts, Tullahoma Fire Dept., AEDC Fire Dept and most of all, Manchester Fire and Rescue, Mrs. Rod Ballard (Bonnie) and the Ballard family thank...

The man accused of murdering two men in a Tullahoma motel in October 2010 is scheduled to go on trial January 3rd in Coffee County Circuit Court. Marcus Wade is being held in the Coffee County Jail under a $1,000,000 bond on the charges. Wade is accused of murdering 34-year-old Timothy Wayne Gill and 50-year-old Richard Wayne Elliott in a motel room on North Jackson Street. In addition to first degree murder, Wade is also charged with two counts of aggravated robbery of the two...