Commercial Truck Insurance in Tullahoma, TN

TULLAHOMA, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Tullahoma High School student is suing his school. The student was suspended for posting satirical memes of his principal on Instagram, and he says that suspension violates his First Amendment right.

“What a student posts on their own time, on their own social media account is between them and their parents,” said attorney Conor Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick, with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, filed the complaint Wednesday. It names Tullahoma City Schools, the principal, and the assistant principal.

“We are seeking for the student’s suspension to be expunged from his record. He was engaging in expression protected by the First Amendment, and never should have been suspended for it,” said Fitzpatrick.

In one meme, the student satirizes Principal Jason Quick as an anime cat wearing a dress; the second meme shows the principal holding a box of vegetables; and the third shows the principal hugged by a cartoon bird. The student was suspended for three days for those Instagram posts.

“People have been making fun of their principal and their teachers on their own time, away from school as long as there have been schools. And the fact that it’s on social media does not change the underlying First Amendment principles,” said Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick said the school cites its handbook, where students are prohibited from posting video that “embarrasses, demeans, or discredits the reputation of any student or staff,” or posting any social media that is “unbecoming of a wildcat.“

“The problem with that is it is also vague. What does it mean to behave like or unlike a wildcat? Presumably, they do not mean an actual wildcat that frequently does not use social media,” said Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick said the Supreme Court decision in Tinker v. Des Moines, where the court decided students can wear armbands at school protesting the Vietnam War, supports this case in Tullahoma High School.

“The Supreme Court held that as long as the student’s private expression does not significantly disrupt the school day, the school has no business acting as a censor.”

News 2 reached out to the director for Tullahoma City Schools, the principal and assistant principal for a comment. Communications Specialist Zach Birdsong said the district “does not comment on pending litigation.”

TULLAHOMA, TN (WKRN) — A private jet had a close call with the Tullahoma airport in Tennessee on Wednesday, according to airport officials.

Tullahoma Municipal Airport Manager Jon Glass said the private jet crashed into the fence between the airfield and the terminal building Wednesday morning, coming to a stop only feet away from the facility.

Glass told Nexstar’s WKRN the jet was at the Tullahoma airport on a fuel stop from Texas, but its brakes failed while the pilot was parking. The pilot pulled the emergency brakes, but only one set deployed, prompting the plane to turn and roll toward the terminal, Glass said.

The cause of the jet’s brake failure was undetermined as of Wednesday.

The aircraft suffered minimal damage, including damage to a wingtip, after clipping a parked plane while rolling across the tarmac.

All six people on board were uninjured.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board notified and interviewed the pilot by phone, but did not send any officials to Tullahoma as no injuries were reported.

Español:

TULLAHOMA, TN (LPL/WKRN) — Un avión privado estuvo muy cerca de estrellarse en el aeropuerto de Tullahoma en Tennessee el miércoles, según funcionarios del aeropuerto.

El gerente del aeropuerto municipal de Tullahoma, Jon Glass, dijo que el jet privado se estrelló contra la cerca entre el aeródromo y el edificio de la terminal el miércoles por la mañana y se detuvo a solo unos metros de las instalaciones.

Glass le dijo al noticiario WKRN de Nexstar que el avión estaba en el aeropuerto de Tullahoma en una parada de combustible desde Texas, pero sus frenos fallaron mientras el piloto estaba estacionando. El piloto accionó los frenos de emergencia, pero solo se activó uno, lo que provocó que el avión girara y rodara hacia la terminal, dijo Glass.

La causa de la falla de los frenos del avión estaba indeterminada hasta el miércoles.

El avión sufrió daños mínimos, incluido daño en la punta de un ala, después de chocar con un avión estacionado mientras rodaba por la pista.

Las seis personas a bordo resultaron ilesas.

La Administración Federal de Aviación y la Junta Nacional de Seguridad en el Transporte notificaron y entrevistaron al piloto por teléfono, pero no enviaron a ningún funcionario a Tullahoma ya que no se reportaron heridos.

Photo: WKRN/Nexstar

Record low temperatures Wednesday morning and record high electric usage led to blackouts around Tullahoma area as much of the Mid-South stayed frozen in the remnants of the seven-inch snowfall that continued to cause headaches on the roadways through the week.

According to the National Weather Service observance at Tullahoma Airport, the low hit -9 just before 1 a.m. Wednesday morning and with wind chill, the bone-chilling low felt like -13. The temps didn’t crest zero again until 8 a.m. Wednesday. The cold weather is being blamed for six deaths in Tennessee since the snap began. The record lows not only locked in the frozen precipitation on the ground but it also put a huge burden on the power grid across the entire Mid-South.

TVA officials issued a statement and said that TVA had set a preliminary all-time, record peak of approximately 34,500 MW at 4 degrees at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17. The previous TVA all-time record was 33,482 in August of 2007.

“We’re grateful to our employees, as well as our local power company partners, who are working to keep everyone safe and warm,” TVA officials said. “We also greatly appreciate the energy conservation efforts across the region.”

With the drop in temperatures, reaching to -9 degrees in Tullahoma, according to the US National Weather, Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Tullahoma Utilities Authority (TUA) asked customers to reduce their electrical use as much as possible, without sacrificing their safety, to help extend available power supply.

However, residents experienced power outages, and TUA put out a statement to customers letting them know that the crews were actively working to address the issues.

“(TUA) provides power to our customers using a three-phase electric system,” TUA officials said. “Extreme temperatures can cause our feeder to be loaded much differently than under normal operation. We have protection in place that will prevent system damage if the feeders are significantly out of balance.”

Per TUA officials in a statement, on Jan. 17 at approximately 12:45 a.m., one of the protection schemes operated, causing power to be interrupted to a large portion of customers.

“A quick reconfiguration of our system by our TUA lineman allowed for continued operation for the remainder of the morning,” officials said. “In addition, TUA linemen worked through the night restoring a few minor outages all related to the extreme cold and the higher than normal loads.”

They went on to say that the health of TUA’s electric system remains “reliable, resilient and robust.”

“Despite these temporary disruptions, our team promptly addressed the situation and necessary measures have been taken to ensure the reliability of services. We understand the importance of uninterrupted service for our customers, and we are committed to maintaining a high standard of reliability. Thank you for understanding, and please be assured that we are here to assist you with any concerns or inquires.”

Tullahoma City Schools announced that its schools and Kool Kids would remain closed through the week due to the continuing freezing temperatures. The announcement means the snow has eaten up all of TCS’ stockpile days.

"With below-freezing temperatures continuing, much of the snow and ice from the last couple of days has yet to melt," TCS officials said in a statement. "To ensure safety in traveling, TCS will remain closed through Friday. We hope to welcome everyone back on Jan. 22."

County and state offices also reopened Thursday at employee discretion as, although most main roads were passible with enhanced caution, most secondary and residential roads continued to be slick pending the first above-freezing day of the week on Thursday.

While the latter part of the week saw a slight warm up, lows were expected to be in the teens again Saturday night before temperatures are expected to moderate with highs climbing into the 60s late this week.

Ministries of Hope, a longstanding spiritual cornerstone in the community, has announced its relaunch as Redemption to the Nations Church - Tullahoma Campus. This transformation signifies a pivotal moment in the church's history, highlighting a refreshed commitment to those they serve and a renewed vision for the future.

According to the church, the desire to come under the leadership of Redemption to the Nations and Senior Pastor Kevin Wallace of Chattanooga, comes after extensive prayer, involvement with RTTN Church and the Ruach Global Network conferences, and the desire to meet the evolving needs of the congregation and the community at large. Pastors Mike and Teresa Ervin in collaboration with its Board of Directors, unanimously celebrate this transition of leadership, partnership, and alignment. God is on the move!

Pastors Mike and Teresa Ervin have served faithfully and successfully in their role as Senior Pastors of Ministries of Hope. The health and vitality of the church is a testament to their exemplary leadership. They are thrilled to serve as members and volunteers at RTTN Tullahoma. A new Campus Pastor will be announced and installed in the coming weeks.

The community is invited to celebrate the official launch of RTTN Tullahoma with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, at 4 p.m. located at 808 S Anderson Street, Tullahoma, TN, followed by a catered dinner for all in attendance.

Redemption to the Nations is a non-denominational church based in Chattanooga, TN, committed to making disciples of Jesus Christ and demonstrating the Kingdom of God as they aspire to be the most loving church in the world. Their Tennessee campuses are in Athens and Cleveland while their international campuses are located in Bulgaria, Guatemala, and Uruguay. RTTN Tullahoma offers a diverse fellowship of all ages in a welcoming environment for Christian spiritual development, connection, and service.

Visit rttn.church or contact office@rttnchurch.com for more information. RTTN Tullahoma meets on Sundays at 10:30 am CST and Wednesdays at 6:30 pm CST at 808 S Anderson St, Tullahoma, TN.

The Coffee County Farm Bureau celebrated National Ag Day Tuesday, March 19 by providing an educational opportunity for the county’s youngest residents.

“It is important, farmers are a dying breed and there is no other way to grow future farmers other than to get these kids involved in agriculture and let them learn about where their meat comes from and where their milk comes from, their eggs come from,” Agency Manager Brad Davenport said.

The event helps teach those that believe everything in their home kitchen originated at a grocery store see the earlier stages of where their food comes from.

“We wanted to celebrate an Ag Day to give them an opportunity to come out here and learn a little bit about it and give them a chance to drink some MTSU Creamery Chocolate milk,” Davenport said.

Different mockup displays were set up in the Farm Bureau’s Corral Room, including model trees where children could pick apples, see how to milk a cow and gather eggs from the henhouse.

Elaine Weaver was on hand with a scale-model of a modern pig barn. Weaver and her family are longtime farmers in the county, raising pigs and sheep as well as row crops.

“Agriculture makes life possible,” Weaver said. “Without agriculture we wouldn’t have food, clothing, shelter and so we need to teach our younger generation where their food comes from because there are not as many farmers as there used to be.”

“They just need to know that we grow a healthy product to help make life possible,” she added.

Jania Richards said her mom Penny Howe works at Coffee County Farm Bureau and she decided to bring her two sons to the event.

Page Howe said he believes having activities that introduce kids to farming is important.

“I think it is a great chance to teach people about how all the food that we eat at a restaurant comes from the store comes from the ground somewhere,” he said. “We have to keep this stuff going and people learning about it.”

The event also featured a selection of tractors and other farm equipment on loan from TriGreen Equipment, allowing kids to get an up-close look at some of the tools of the trade, while live animals were also a part of the event.

Farm Bureau Board member Mack Raper said the pigs and sheep were on loan from Weaver Farms for the day, while the calves were loaned by A.J. Teal.

“I’m just trying to be here to help support the kids and teach a little about agriculture,” Raper said. “So many kids don’t understand where it all comes from and seeing the baby animals and stuff gives them an opportunity to see some life.”

Raper said education is a major objective of the Farm Bureau.

“That is our big thing, we want to put the education out there,” he said.

Due to popular demand, comedian Henry Cho’s annual stop in Tullahoma will include two sets on Fri, Jan. 19, as part of his “From Here to There” tour.

Showtimes for both shows are 7 and 9 p.m. and tickets are $25 in advance and $27 at the door. According to South Jackson officials, only a few tickets for single are left. Tickets at the door will be limited. Originally, Cho’s show was one set at 7 p.m. this Friday, but due to seats selling out a month ahead of the show, South Jackson officials announced they were adding a second show later this Friday evening.

Cho has been performing stand-up comedy for nearly 40 years, and is known for being a “clean” comedian, where he abstains from using profanity and objectionable material in his acts. His clean routine has earned him the nickname “Mr. Clean.”

Cho’s work can be heard throughout the week on XM Radio’s Channel 151, Laugh USA, Sirius Radio’s Blue Collar Radio Channel 103 and Pandora Radio’s PG Comedy Radio Channel. Cho was the keynote entertainer for the 59th Annual Radio & Television Correspondents’ Dinner and has worked extensively with various acts like Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Willie Nelson, Carrie Underwood, Reba and many others.

Cho has been featured on many television shows including “The Arsenio Hall Show,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.” In 2006, he had his own Comedy Central special entitled “Henry Cho: What’s That Clickin’ Noise?” which is available on iTunes and Apple TV.

He has also appeared in the feature films “Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation” in 1992, “Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit” in 1994, “McHale’s Navy” in 1997, “Say It Isn’t So” in 2001 and “Material Girls” in 2006. Some of Cho’s recent works include films like “Saving Faith” in 2017, which he co-starred and co-produced, “The Farmer and the Belle: Saving Santaland” in 2020 and appearing in the television show “Stand Up Nashville!” in 2020.

In addition, Cho was inducted to the Grand Ole Opry in 2023 as the 229^th member. He and comedian and musician Gary Mule Deer were invited to become members during a Facebook livestream where the two were talking with musician Marty Stuart about what makes comedy special at the Grand Ole Opry.

“After Marty surprised me with the invitation, someone asked if this was a dream come true. I had to say ‘no way!’” Cho said after being invited. “Because I’ve never even imagined this happening, not in any realm. I love performing on the Opry stage and it’s going to be really incredible to continue performing here, but now as a member of this historic organization.”

For more information about tickets, call 455-5321 or visit southjackson.org. For more about Cho and is current tour visit henrycho.com or follow Cho on social media for updates.