Latest Headlines
State Reminds Employers about Working Teenagers
As students across Tennessee look for summer jobs, state Department of Labor and Workforce Development officials are reminding employers about child labor laws that ensure teens are safe. State officials say students as young as 14 can work on a limited basis in Tennessee. When school is out, teens ages 14 and 15 can work as much as eight hours a day, 40 hours per week, but they aren’t allowed to work after 9 p.m. Labor and Workforce Development officials say teens who are 16 and 17 can work up until midnight when school is out of session, but...
Motlow Receives Grant
Motlow State Community College was recently selected to receive a Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) Student Engagement, Retention, and Success (SERS) grant for the 2016-2017 academic year in the amount of $25,000. The SERS grant is based on a TBR initiative that focuses on institutions using high impact practices (HIP) identified by the American Association of Colleges and Universities. The Motlow State grant is titled “Empowering Student Success: Engaging High Impact Practices through First Year...
Coffee County Sheriff’s Department Searching for Wanted Woman–Decent Captured
The Coffee County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help once again. Authorities are searching for 30 year-old Candace Marie Walker, last known address Goosepond Rd Manchester. Walker is wanted for aggravated burglary, theft of property over $1,000, forgery under $500 and failure to appear. If you have seen Candace Marie Walker or know her whereabouts please call the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department at 931-570-4011. She is known to frequent Tullahoma and Decherd. They ask you to leave a detailed message if no one answers because investigators could be working other cases. As always the Coffee County Sheriff’s...
Tullahoma Female Facing TennCare Fraud Again
Vicki Hargrove, 34, of Tullahoma, is charged in Moore County with fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance by doctor shopping. In addition, she was charged with obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. District Attorney General Robert Carter will prosecute. Hargrove was arrested just three months ago, in February, on an indictment in Coffee County for TennCare fraud in connection with fraudulently obtaining the painkillers Hydrocodone and Oxycodone by means of doctor shopping. She has since plead guilty and was placed on two years’ probation. District Attorney General Craig Northcott prosecuted the Coffee County case. TennCare fraud is a Class E...
Man Accused of Killing His Child to go on Trial in August
A trial date for Robert ‘Blaine’ Roper, 27, has been set for Aug. 8 according to court officials. Roper and his wife Carol Michelle ‘Keri’ Roper, 21, were arrested in November 2014 and charged with killing their newborn child following an investigation by the TBI in conjunction with the Metro Moore County Sheriff’s Department. The pair will be tried separately; no trial date has been set for Keri Roper at this time. According to Sheriff’s Department officials, both Keri Roper and Blaine Roper are being held in a Nashville correctional facility, each under a $1 million bond. Jury selection for...
Unemployment Down in most Counties
County unemployment rates for April 2016 show the rates decreased in 90 counties, increased in two, and remained the same in three counties. Tennessee’s preliminary unemployment rate for April was 4.3 percent, down two-tenths of a percentage point from the previous month’s revised rate. The U.S. preliminary rate for April was 5.0 percent, unchanged from the previous month. Coffee County unemployment rate fell from 4.0 in percent March to 3.8 percent April. Warren County’s unemployment rate was 3.7 percent, down from the March rate of 4.0 percent. Franklin County stayed the same in April, 3.8 percent. Bedford County dropped...
Memorial Day Event held in Manchester
The Coffee County Veterans groups (American Legion Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post and Disabled American Veterans Chapter) held the annual Memorial Day event on the square in Manchester on Monday morning. The guest speaker was Dr. David Black, a Vietnam Veteran and businessman. He is the husband of 6th District Congressman Diane Black, who also spoke. Rob Moreland, the master of ceremonies for the event says the event is an opportunity for citizens to remember the 646,568 Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice, fighting for and dying defending our freedoms. Download Thunder Radio’s broadcast of Monday’s...
Coffee County Jail Inmate Found Deceased
David Arch Bass age 55 of Allen St Tullahoma was found deceased in his cell at the Coffee County Jail on Thursday morning. He was being housed on charges of aggravated assault and setting fire to personal property. Since the death occurred in a penal institution the investigation has been taken over by the TBI. According to a TBI spokesperson, the investigation is being conducted following a request made by 14th District Attorney General Craig Northcott. Bass was discovered by Coffee County Jail employees unresponsive around 7:30am Thursday morning. His body was taken to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Nashville...
