A Noblitt Lane man has been charged with aggravated assault and booked into the Coffee County Jail under bond of $100,000. Melvin Lee Southern, 46, was arrested Nov. 29 by Tullahoma Police Officer Tim Brandon following an incident East Grizzard Street. According to the officer’s report, Southern stabbed Scotty Brawley with a wooden handle pocket knife. According to the report, Brawley was stabbed in the chest and forearm. After the stabbing incident, Southern left the area and went to his residence on Noblitt Lane. Southern was booked into the Coffee County Jail on the charges and is to appear...

A resolution brought before the Coffee County Legislative Committee last month to change the county from partisan primaries has been stopped. The Coffee County Legislative Committee approved a motion recently not to send the resolution forward to the full Coffee County Commission for consideration. A resolution creating nonpartisan county primaries would require a two-thirds vote by the full county commission in two consecutive meetings. After that requirement is met, the resolution would move forward to the state level for approval as a private act of the Tennessee General Assembly. According to some officials, nonpartisan county elections would cost less...

A clerk at Quik Mart on South Jackson Street reported to Tullahoma Police Officer Willie Young that a counterfeit $10 bill was passed at the store. On Nov. 29 Jessica Brinkley reported to Officer Young that between 4:30 and 4:45 p.m. a white male entered the store and gave her the bill for a roll of quarters. The clerk did not realize the bill was fake until after the man had left the store. Tullahoma Detective Johnny Gore is investigating the...

Tullahoma Police are investigating the vandalism of a church building on East Grundy Street. Don Newson reported Nov. 29 to Officer Donnie Burnett that when he arrived at the Church of Christ building he found two upside down crosses painted on the front door of the building. There was no other damage found to the building. If you have any information that could help, please call Tullahoma Police at...

Inland flooding poses the greatest risk to the Volunteer State in future years and earned the state a “D” for preparedness against the threat in a report titled, “States at Risk: America’s Preparedness Report Card” by Climate Central and ICF International. Joanne Logan is a member of Climate Knoxville and an associate professor at the University of Tennessee. She says the state is vulnerable to inland flooding from extreme rain events because of recent land development. “If we start having more issues with washouts, you combine that with over exploitation of our resources like over-cutting the forest that will...

Rep. Beth Harwell, Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives, made a brief stop in Tullahoma last week to meet with Mayor Lane Curlee. They discussed issues facing the upcoming Legislative Session. Mayor Curlee said he appreciated Speaker Harwell stopping by his office and expressing an interest in Tullahoma. At the Keep Tennessee Beautiful conference last month, Mayor Curlee ran into Speaker Harwell and invited her to visit Tullahoma. A couple of weeks later, a staff person from her office called and said she would like to stop by. Curlee and Harwell served together in the Tennessee General Assembly...

Three Coffee County Volunteer Fire Departments assisted the Rutherford County fire department with a semi fire on Interstate 24 Thursday. The fire occurred at mile marker 96 close to Beechgrove around 1:50 p.m. According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol the right lanes were blocked to westbound traffic and drivers were diverted to alternate routes. Drivers along the busy interstate experienced delays in traffic due to the fire. The North Coffee, Summitville and New Union Fire Departments along with fire departments from Bedford County assisted the Rutherford County Fire Department. Officials said that there were some 15 firefighters involved in...

Manchester Firefighters responded to MTEK in the Interstate Industrial Park for a structure fire on Wednesday. The fire was contained to the area of origin, the sprinkler system activated in that area of the facility and contained the fire until Manchester Fire and Rescue could extinguish it. An onsite investigation was accomplished and the cause of the fire was determined. Off duty firefighters manned the main fire station in the city and provided additional manpower on scene to extinguish and investigate this incident. Coffee County EMS and Coffee County EMA provided...