We have an update on the two deputies with the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department that were shot at the county justice center on Monday afternoon. Wendell Bowen is at Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga where he underwent over 5 hours of surgery Monday night and is still in the intensive care unit, while Wade Bassett is at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville awaiting surgery on his hand, which at last report is planned for some time this week. Yesterday afternoon District Attorney General Craig Northcott said an inmate identified as 37-year-old Michael Eugene Bell was in the courthouse for...

According to a report by Tullahoma Police Officer Matt Pruitt, he was notified by the communication center on June 10 that a burglary had occurred at North Jackson Wine & Spirits. When the officer arrived he found a front window had been broken out. When owner Brian Uselton arrived they reviewed the security video and saw an individual attempt to break a front window but was unsuccessful. The thief then moved to another window and smashed it with a cinder block. Once inside the store the thief took six bottles of whiskey. Security video shows a white male wearing...

The Tullahoma Police Department is continuing to ask for the public’s assistance identifying a female subject. The individual is a suspect in a theft case. The theft took place recently at the Celtic Cup located on N. Anderson St. in Tullahoma. Anyone with information regarding this person’s identity, please contact Tullahoma Police Investigator Johnny Gore at 931.455.0530 or by emailing...

Close the book on this year’s legislative session in Tennessee: Gov. Bill Haslam has no more bills or resolutions awaiting his consideration. The governor signed all the 524 measures sent his way this session, declining all calls for vetoing bills. Others had unsuccessfully lobbied Haslam to veto a bill that allows people with handgun carry permits to be armed on all local government properties unless city and counties use metal detectors, hire security guards and check people’s...

Scammers who use a fake caller ID now face harsher punishment thanks to a new Tennessee law. The new legislation hopes to crack down on a practice known as caller ID spoofing, which is now classified as a Class A misdemeanor. It involves sending inaccurate or misleading caller ID information with the intent to defraud, harm or steal. That could mean up to a $10,000 penalty per violation. Commerce and Insurance Commissioner Julie Mix McPeak said, “These new protections give law enforcement more ways to punish perpetrators and, hopefully, prevent scammers from hurting our senior population.” Even though scammers...

Two deputies with the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office have been injured in a shooting at the county justice center. The incident occurred Monday afternoon at the Coffee County Justice Center in Manchester. District Attorney General Craig Northcott said an inmate identified as 37-year-old Michael Eugene Bell was in the courthouse for a scheduled hearing on charges of domestic-related kidnapping, evading arrest and other charges. After court, Deputy Wade Bassett was escorting Bell to be transported back to the Coffee County Jail. Northcott said Bell then attacked the deputy, and a scuffle ensued. Bell was able to wrestle away Bassett’s...

Coffee County Sheriff’s Department employees were on the scene and assisted other law enforcement officials searching for two escapees from Georgia in Rutherford County Thursday night. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continues to investigate multiple incidents connected to the capture of the escapees. Donnie Rowe, 43, and Ricky DuBose, 24, allegedly killed the two correctional officers in Georgia while they were being transferred to another facility by transport bus. Ongoing investigative efforts continue to indicate the pair, forced their way into a home in Shelbyville at approximately 2:00 PM on Thursday afternoon. Dubose and Rowe held the couple hostage...

Tennessee’s unemployment rate for the month of May was 4.0 percent. That’s according to numbers from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The 4.0 percent rate is down from the April rate of 4.7 percent. The national unemployment rate is at 4.3 percent, a drop of one-tenth of a percentage point from April. Officials say the May rate is the lowest Tennessee has seen in about 20 years. In a year’s span, Tennessee’s unemployment rate has decreased six-tenths of a percentage point from last year’s 4.6 percent. The national rate fell less than half a percentage point...