In Shelbyville, Harris Middle School teacher’s assistant accused of slapping a special education student made his first court appearance Wednesday.
According to the Shelbyville Times-Gazette, W. Bret Lawrence, 53, of Lantern Lane stood before Bedford County General Sessions Judge Charles Rich, and at first stated he would represent himself, but then later told prosecutors he would hire his own attorney.
Lawrence, who is charged with two counts of simple assault, will make his second appearance before Rich on June 26.
According to Bedford County Sheriff’s Department Detective Sgt. Charles Kimbril, the teaching assistant was charged earlier this month with one count of assault after he admitted slapping the child in response to foul language.
Following Lawrence’s first arrest, he allegedly said to investigators he had given the student “a pop on the side of the mouth” to get his attention.
A second count of assault was filed after the student’s father told authorities he had been bruised by the teacher.
Lawrence has no previous record of such accusations, records show.
Also appearing in court Wednesday was Sonya Schmidt-Heischberg — the special education teacher whom Lawrence was assisting. She is accused of failure to report abuse due to accusations she allegedly knew of the slapping incident and didn’t immediately notify authorities. Her next court date is set for June 24.
Both are currently suspended without pay from the school system. The school board has recommended that Schmidt-Heischberg be dismissed.

County unemployment rates for April 2013, released this week, show the rate decreased in 62 counties, increased in 23, and stayed the same in ten.
Tennessee’s unemployment rate for April was 8.0 percent, which increased two tenths of one percentage point from the March revised rate of 7.8 percent. The national unemployment rate for April 2013 was 7.5 percent, decreasing by one tenth of one percentage point from the previous month.
Williamson County had the states lowest rate of 5.3% and the highest was in Scott County at 16.1.
In Coffee County our unemployment rate went up from 7.2% in March to 7.6% in April, meaning 2,020 Coffee Countians are without a job. Bedford County dropped from 8.3 to 8.1 while Cannon County went up slightly from 6.4 to 6.5. In Franklin County the unemployment rate stayed the same at 7.1%. Upon the mountain in Grundy County they fell from 9.7 to 9.4. Down in Moore County the March unemployment percentage went from 6.9 to 6.8 last month and in Warren County the unemployment rate dropped from 9.6% to an April rate of 9.3%.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol will be conducting sobriety checkpoints in Coffee County on Saturday May 25. The scheduled checkpoints are contingent upon manpower and weather conditions. There will also be a number of officers out this Memorial Day weekend patrolling making sure the roads are safe. The THP will be watching for drunk drivers and those not using seatbelts. Remember “Booze it and Lose it” and “Click it or Ticket”.

We have more on the Van-Rob Manufacturing expansion in Manchester. Company and state officials said Wednesday the company is spending $16.8 million to increase manufacturing in Manchester. Van-Rob makes vehicle components, including fuel doors and cross-car beams.
The first expansion phase will allow the company to consolidate two plants under one roof with a 42,500-square-foot addition, expected to be completed this year. A second phase will add 36,000 square feet to the press shop, allowing for larger presses for future growth. That work is expected to be completed by 2015.
Again Van-Rob will add 104 jobs.