2016

Shots were fired outside the home of Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold. The gunfire was reported Monday night and both Murfreesboro Police and the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office responded to the incident Monday night around 9. There were no injuries. We’ve learned the sheriff, his wife and children were home at the time of what’s being described as a drive-by shooting. Authorities from multiple agencies are investigating the incident, but again, no one was hurt. In fact, the sheriff posted on his Facebook page the following:
Thank you for all the family and friends that have called to check on us. We are all OK.
Report from the Sheriff’s Office:
Several rounds from a firearm were fired at Sheriff Robert Arnold’s house but the sheriff and his family were not harmed.
The family was home off Memorial Boulevard when the sheriff heard the sound of gunfire about 8:30 p.m. He notified sheriff’s deputies and Murfreesboro Police.
“We are thankful Sheriff Arnold and his family were not injured,” said spokeswoman Lisa Marchesoni.
Murfreesboro Police are handling the investigation.
(Newspartner: WGNS)

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam Friday announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension, arrest and conviction of the person or persons involved in the murder case of William “Gregg” Hawkins on October 16, 2015.
“We encourage anyone with information related to this case to come forward and contact authorities,” Haslam said. “We want whoever is responsible for this crime to be brought to justice.”
Hawkins, a 53-year-old employee of Nissan, was found murdered at a boat ramp in Rutherford County.  He had been fishing with his daughter and was walking to the parking lot presumably to get to his trailer.
Evidence suggests Hawkins came upon a crime in progress, resulting in the murder.
Hawkins leaves behind a wife, Janet, and two daughters. There were no witnesses to the murder, and there were no video cameras. Investigators do not have a primary suspect.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Det. Kyle Norrod at 615-904-3043 or knorrod@rcsotn.org or the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at 615-898-7916, or District Attorney General Jennings Jones at 615-898-8008 or jhjones@tndagc.org.
 

Two Virginia Tech freshmen charged with kidnapping and murdering 13-year-old Nicole Madison Lovell from Blacksburg, Va., communicated with her online through the popular messaging app Kik. 

Kik and anonymous apps like it have been linked to a growing number of child sexual abuse cases that the Rutherford County and Cannon County Child Protective Investigative Teams have been working, said Child Advocacy Center director Sharon De Boer.

“Most parents and grandparents in our community know about Snap Chat and Instagram, but they are not familiar with Kik and Yik Yak,” De Boer said. “The Child Advocacy Center’s concern is that Kik and apps like it are anonymous and pedophiles are finding and communicating with our children through these anonymous apps.”

Kik estimates that 40 percent of American teenagers are using their app.  Kik and Yik Yak shield the user from view which makes it difficult for child abuse investigators to know who is using it and how they use it. In the Virginia homicide, Kik cooperated with the FBI in the investigation that led to arrests of David Eisenhauer, 18, and Natalie Marie Keepers, 19, both from Maryland who were enrolled at Virginia Tech.

“Every day we talk to parents and grandparents about the sexual abuse of their child,” De Boer said. “When we talk to them about Kik and Yik Yak, it is typically new news to them.  When they look at their child’s phone they discover that the Kik app has been on their child’s phone for months. This has allowed a pedophile to have anonymous access to their child.”

Kik was founded in Canada in 2009.  It offers free texting, e-commerce, and content delivery.  The appeal to pedophiles is privacy and anonymity.  It allows pedophiles to find children and communicate with them anonymously. 

“We want to encourage parents and grandparents to go through their child’s phone,” De Boer said. “If you see the Kik or Yik Yak app, talk to your child about who they are anonymously communicating with. Inform your children that pedophiles use these apps to target children and victimize them.  For their safety, you and your child need to remove this app from their phone.”

For more information on how to protect your child from child sexual abuse, contact Ryan Wallace at the Child Advocacy Center and schedule a “Darkness to Light” child sexual abuse prevention training for your church, business, civic group, PTO, women’s group, or men’s group.  Wallace can be reached at 615-867-9000 or ryanawallace@bellsouth.net.

The Cannon County Lions and Lionette basketball teams ended the regular season Saturday with an afternoon game hosted by the Livingston Wildcat basketball teams.  In the girls game Livingston’s press paid off as the Lady Cats scored 26 unanswered points to begin the game and led at the end of the first quarter 36-9.  Since the game was out of reach so early Livingston played their second and third string in the second and fourth quarters and wrapped up a 67-34 win against the Lionettes.  Maleah Scott scored 15 for the Lionettes in the loss.  Lionettes finish the regular schedule 10-19 with a 4-10 District 8-AA record.  Their next game will be Friday at the Hooper Eblen Center at Tennessee Tech against Smith County.  Game time will be at 4:00 in the afternoon

A college gymnasium atmosphere might help the Cannon County Lions boys basketball team out.  A college floor takes more depth perception and that might just work to the advantage of the Lions sharp shooting three point takers as the Lions struggled throughout this year on the high school floors.  Saturday night in Livingston, the Lions looked to shake off Friday night’s loss and get back to possibly claiming one more win in the district before Tuesday’s tournament game.  The Lions played the home team close as the score ended up tied 33-33.  Cannon stayed with Livingston leading by three at the end 53-50 but in the fourth quarter Livingston post player Dylan Linder had 6 points and Livingston hit their free throws to win 68-63.  Austin Martin netted 24 for Cannon County.  The Lions finish the regular schedule with a 9-20 record and 2-12 in District play.  Their next game will be Tuesday against Dekalb County at the Hooper Eblen Center at Tennessee Tech.  Game time will be at 7:30
 

A vandalism involving a mailbox was  recently reported to the Cannon County Sheriff’s Department but ended up in no charges being filed.  According to Sheriff’s Departments reports, Deputies upon arrival met with the victim Morgan Smith.  Mrs. Smith stated that Dustin Sissom had came by her house as the passenger in a blue Hyundai Accent and that he had leaned out of the passenger side window and hit her mailbox with a baseball bat, causing damage to the mailbox and causing the whole mailbox post to fall over.  Mrs. Smith stated that she observed other people in the car but that she could not make out their descriptions.  Mrs. Smith stated that she followed the blue Hyundai and a gold Toyota Prius to Parsley’s Market.   Smith stated that she suspected that Mr. Sissom had damaged her mailbox as he has a grudge against her former husband but that she believes Mr. Sissom is not aware that her and her ex husband aren’t together anymore and that her ex-husband no longer lives at the residence. No charges were filed.

A Cannon County man is in trouble for domestic violence days before Valentine’s Day after he allegedly pinned his wife to a wall.  According to Cannon County Sheriff’s Department reports, Thursday, Deputies were dispatched to a residence on Doolittle Road for a report of a domestic assault.  After arrival deputies spoke with Mr. Jeffrey Philhower who at first denied anything going on.  After deputies entered the residence, they spoke with the victim.  The victim at first stated that nothing had happened, but after further questioning, the victim then stated that she and Mr. Philhower were both fighting.  The victim told police continously that she did not want to press charges but stated that Jeffery pinned her against the wall and slapped her.  Mr. Philhower contended that he was trying to keep the victim from hitting him.  Based on statements, and Mr Philhower’s agitated state, he was placed under arrest and charged with domestic violence.  He is set to appear in Cannon County General Sessions Court March 15th to answer to the charge.

 Motlow State Community College incoming freshmen who required remedial coursework achieved impressive results in their college-level courses in the Fall 2015 semester.
Almost 70 percent of Motlow incoming freshmen require remedial instruction in math, reading or writing. Prior to the fall 2015 semester, students had to complete remedial courses before enrolling in the associated introductory (gateway) college course. Consequently, very few of these students ever enrolled in, much less completed, gateway courses in math and English. Due to this lack of progression, less than 10 percent graduated.
Beginning in the fall 2015 semester, Motlow implemented a new co-requisite remediation, or learning support, model. Students enrolled in remedial math also enrolled in gateway math during the same semester. Students enrolled in remedial writing also enrolled in gateway English. With the implementation of the new model, the remedial students’ success rate in the college-level math course nearly quadrupled, improving from 17 percent to 66 percent in one semester. The success rate of remedial reading and writing students in the college-level English course doubled. This success has resulted in hundreds more students completing gateway courses as compared to previous semesters.
These dramatic improvements coincided with another important milestone: the Tennessee Promise Scholarship program resulted in the highest freshman enrollment in Motlow’s history. Subsequently, there was a record number of students who needed remedial coursework, making the improvements all the more impressive.

A Coffee County Woman has been arrested and charged with Tenn Care Fraud
    Vicki L. Hargrove, 33, of Tullahoma, is charged with TennCare fraud for fraudulently obtaining Hydrocodone and Oxycodone by doctor shopping, using TennCare as payment.

“Prescription drug abuse hurts individuals, families and communities, and we’re intent on finding and prosecuting these cases when TennCare is involved,” Inspector General Manny Tyndall said.

TennCare fraud is a Class E felony carrying a sentence of up to two years in prison per charge.  District Attorney General Neal Pinkston is prosecuting the Hamilton County Case.  District Attorney General Craig Northcott will be prosecuting the Coffee County case.

The OIG, which is separate from TennCare, began full operation in February 2005 and has investigated cases leading to more than $3 million being repaid to TennCare, with a total estimated cost avoidance of more than $163.6 million for TennCare, according to latest figures. To date, more than 2,525 people have been charged with TennCare fraud.

Through the OIG Cash for Tips Program established by the Legislature, Tennesseans can get cash rewards for TennCare fraud tips that lead to convictions.  Anyone can report suspected TennCare fraud by calling 1-800-433-3982 toll-free from anywhere in Tennessee, or go to www.tn.gov/tnoig/  and follow the prompts that read “Report TennCare Fraud.”
 

The Cannon County Lionettes are going to have to fix their ball handling issues if they want to survive past the first round of the upcoming District Tournament.  The Lionettes handed the ball back to Page High School during Senior Night in Woodbury on 19 different occasions and as anyone would expect with that high of a turnover ratio, the Lionettes lost their last regular season game in front of the home crowd 45-41.  Maleah Scott led all scorers with 22 points for Cannon County.
The Cannon County Lions have to find consistency.  One night after blowing out Dekalb County, the Lions couldn’t answer the Patriots attack of three point shots as the team from Franklin claimed a 77-60 win over Cannon County.  Austin Martin put the entire Lion team on his back scoring wise as he was the only player in double figures with 23 points.  Three players on the Page side scored in double figures including Stewart Ringstaff who scored all 18 of his points by hitting three point shots which opened the sizeable lead for Page.
Today it’s back to District 8-AA basketball as the teams will travel to Livingston for the last regular season game.  Tipoff is set for 2:00.  You can hear the games live on AM-1540, FM 107.9 WBRY and streaming live through wbry.com.

1999.  That was the last time the Cannon County Lionettes lost to a Dekalb County Lady Tigers team.  Although the streak was bound to end sometime, the Lady Tigers did it in a heartbreaking last second layup kind of way.  After Cannon who trailed by no more than 5 points at any point of the game went up with nine-tenths of a second left.  Dekalb drove the full length of the floor and after an inbound pass, the game winning shot was made giving Dekalb the win 46-45.  Maleah Scott scored 16 points in the loss.  
The Cannon County Lions won their second district game of the year as they pounded the Dekalb County Tigers 69-48 in Woodbury Thursday night Charlie Parrish got hot from the field hit 5 of 6 from the field in the first quarter that helped get the Cannon County Lions running and they never stopped.  The Lions moved to 8-19 on the year.

The second game of three consecutive games to end the season takes place tonight at Robert A Harris gymnasium.  Tonight is Senior Night as the home portion of the regular season comes to a close.  The Cannon County ball teams welcome the Page Patriots and Lady Patriots.  The Lady Patriots are 9-14 overall and have not played since last Saturday.  The Page Patriots haven’t been much better at 11-12.  The Cannon County Senior basketball players, and cheerleaders will be recognized at the game.  Tonight’s tipoff is at 6:00 You can hear the broadcast on AM1540/FM 107.9 WBRY and streaming online at wbry.com