Southern Middle TN Today News with Tom Price 8-16-24

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Daily News from MuleTown to Music City and beyond. Listen to Tom Price read the news of the day from Kennedy Broadcasting, WKOM & WKRM Radio.

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Southern Middle Tennessee Today
News Copy for August 16, 2024

All news stories are aggregated from various sources and modified for time and content. Original sources are cited.
We start with local news…
O Blood Needed (Press Release)
Blood Assurance is experiencing a critical shortage of O-negative blood, with only 10 units available as of August 13, 2024. O-negative blood is the universal blood type, making it vital in emergencies where the patient’s blood type is unknown.
In addition to O-negative, the nonprofit is urgently calling on donors of all blood types to schedule an appointment immediately. Recent months have seen a significant decline in donor turnout, but the need for blood remains constant.
As a thank-you, all donors who give blood this month will receive an exclusive “Save 3 Lives” tote bag, a small token of appreciation for their life-saving contribution.
Donors can schedule an appointment at www.bloodassurance.org/schedule, call 800-962-0628, or text BAGIVE to 999777.

Maury County Waterway Cleanup (MSM)
A federal grant to assist with restoring waterways damaged by May’s tornado was the subject of discussion by Maury County’s Safety Committee during its Aug. 6 meeting.
Maury County Mayor Sheila Butt filed an application in late May for federal assistance under the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program. The program is designed to restore damages and impairments and to remove imminent hazards of life and property caused by the tornadic storms to streams, bridges, roads and culverts.
Maury County Director of Emergency Management Jeff Hardy said four defined areas had been approved for funding, according to a letter received by the mayor’s office. A site on Tom Osborne Road has been approved for $116,000, a Kedron Road site for $127,700, a Cathy’s Creek site for $50,625 and a Bear Creek Pike site for $627,000. In all, Maury County is eligible for $921,325 under the program.
“This is the money that would pay to clean up the identified streams and waterways that were affected from the tornado,” Hardy told commissioners. “The USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) would pay 75 percent of that, so that would leave about $230,000 that Maury County would be responsible for.”
Hardy said his office was in the process of getting signatures from landowners, granting permission to access their property. Some owners live out of state, making the process take longer, he said.
Hardy noted that the sites will have to go out for bid and that the estimates were just that, adding that the costs could exceed the listed amounts.
Commissioners Tommy Wolaver asked if Maury County had received all the federal money it could expect from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) on that project. Hardy said that was the case, but that the county had applied for additional assistance to individual property owners. That application was initially rejected but is being appealed, Hardy added.
“As far as the federal and state dollars, so far, yes, we’ve gotten all that we’ve been able to get,” Hardy said.
Wolaver asked if FEMA funds might reimburse Maury County for its expenditure on the project, but Hardy said that was not the case.
“It’s two separate pots of federal money we’re dealing with. This pot of money, we have a deadline. It looks like it’s close to the end of this calendar year we have to spend that money by, and they will cover 75 percent of the cost,” Hardy said.
Hardy did say Highway Department or other county personnel could be used to offset some of the cost.
Kathey Grodi asked if USDA money would be spent first or county money. Hardy replied that the county would fund the entire amount initially but that the USDA reimbursement would be a quick one.

Battle Creek’s New Facilities (CDH)
Battle Creek High School, Maury County’s newest school in Spring Hill, opened its doors last week and the Grizzlies’ athletic programs are well under way.
Football, volleyball, girls soccer and cross country have been practicing and the teams finally have a place they can call home. The school and athletic facilities were expected to take up to two years to build, but were completed in around 15 months.
Here’s a look inside the athletic facilities at Battle Creek.
The gym will be home to the Grizzlies’ volleyball and basketball programs. Volleyball will play its first home game in the new gym on Aug. 28 against Giles County.
The gym is two stories with the second level providing a view down onto the main court. The second level holds an additional practice basketball court and bleachers are planned to provide additional seating.
The baseball and softball fields are adjacent to each other and each feature full artificial turf. Battle Creek is the only high school in Maury County with fully turfed football, baseball and softball fields.
Not only does fully turfing the fields cut out on maintenance, but the fields will be much better equipped to handle rain.
Located behind the baseball and softball fields is a grass practice field with field goal posts installed, which is expected to be utilized by the football and soccer programs.
The stadium field sits adjacent to baseball at the bottom of a hill, overlooking the Battle Creek campus. The track surrounding the field has been striped.
The stadium field features Battle Creek’s grizzly mascot sprawled across 20 yards at mid-field along with Battle Creek’s navy blue in each end zone.
The Grizzlies’ football team plays its first home game in the new stadium on Aug. 26 at 6 p.m. against Columbia Academy.
While the finishing touches are still being put on Battle Creek’s weight room and locker rooms, the athletic facilities are ready to be broken in and the Grizzlies’ athletic programs are eager to do so as the TSSAA fall seasons get under way.

Columbia FFA Honored (MSM)
The Columbia Future Farmers of America Chapter has been recognized in the 2024 National Chapter Award Program from the National FFA Organization.
The program recognizes outstanding FFA chapters from throughout the country that actively implement the mission and strategies of the organization. These chapters improve chapter operations using the National Quality FFA Chapter Standards and a Program of Activities that emphasizes growing leaders, building communities and strengthening agriculture. Chapters are rewarded for providing educational experiences for the entire membership.
Chapters that received star ratings during judging this summer will be recognized at the 97th National FFA Convention & Expo from Oct 23-26. All star-rated FFA chapters receive honors made possible by corporate sponsor John Deere and New Holland.
“New Holland is proud to recognize and celebrate the exemplary FFA chapters that are part of the National Chapter Award Program,” said Mark Lowery, Director of Network Development at New Holland. “They are successfully enriching their communities and preparing FFA members to be the future leaders of our company and industry, which is important work that we are honored to support.” 
The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 1 million student members as part of 9,235 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

New Doc at Maury Regional (Press Release)
 Dr. Darshini Patel, DO, has joined the medical staff at Maury Regional Medical Center. She is associated with Vanderbilt Heart-Columbia.
 
Dr. Patel received her medical degree from New York Institute of Technology, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Old Westbury, NY and completed a residency in internal medicine at Baylor, Scott & White Health, Temple, TX. She completed a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at HCA Florida Brandon Hospital, University of South FL, Morsani College of Medicine, Brandon, FL. Dr. Patel is board certified in internal medicine.
 
Vanderbilt Heart-Columbia is located in Suite 401 of the Maury Regional Medical Center Pavilion at 1220 Trotwood Ave. in Columbia. For more information, call 931.388.8622 or visit MauryRegional.com/Heart.
 
With the addition of Dr. Patel, the medical staff at Maury Regional Health includes 15 heart specialists with expertise in general cardiology, interventional cardiology and electrophysiology. The Heart Center offers a vast array of cardiac services ranging from diagnostic and interventional procedures to pacemaker and defibrillator implants, and recently invested $1.9 million to enhance cardiac services, which included new state-of-the-art technology in its cardiac catheterization labs.
 
The medical center has been recognized as a Chest Pain Center with PCI by the American College of Cardiology and holds certification in the treatment of heart failure from The Joint Commission. In addition, U.S. News & World Report has recognized the medical center as a high performing hospital for heart attack treatment for 2023-2024.

Maury County’s Athletic Fields (CDH)
Maury County is in the midst of the largest athletic facility improvement project in the county school system's history.
Last year, the Maury County school board drew up a deal that would have the Maury County Commission borrow $28 million in funding for Maury County Public Schools for athletic facility improvements that the school district would then pay back.
The proposal was approved by the County Commission and the money immediately became available for use. MCPS has 20 years to pay back the borrowed sum and it has become a regular item in the school district’s budget.
“When you think about our athletic programs, our athletic facilities, you know, that's our front porch to the world,” MCPS superintendent Lisa Ventura said.
Upon approval of the funding last year, a list was created to address the most pressing needs of facilities across the county.
“So we created a list of priorities, ADA, Title IX things that needed to be addressed first, and the things we could do easily we went ahead and did,” said Eric Perryman, Maury County assistant superintendent of operations. “But (we) really started planning for the larger projects, which led to stadium renovations, which led to turf, which led to different types of things that have come along.”
Every Maury County high school has had its gym floors redone, while all middle and high schools have also had storage facilities built for athletic equipment. There are plans to add artificial turf at every Maury County public high school baseball, softball and football field in the county.
In addition to each school getting artificial turf, here is what else the money is paying for:

Mt. Pleasant football had locker rooms renovated. The softball facility was renovated entirely. New basketball goals added to the gym and new dugouts for baseball and softball.
Columbia Central's back gym and locker rooms will be renovated while each sport will soon be getting its own locker room. Baseball received new dugouts and softball will be getting an indoor facility.
Santa Fe's weight room was renovated and new basketball goals were installed in the gym, which was renovated ahead of this project.
Culleoka is planning a new indoor practice space for basketball and Hampshire will be getting a second outdoor practice space. New dugouts for baseball and softball at the schools are also being planned for the future.
Spring Hill was able to finish renovations to its gym, while bigger renovations are set to be underway soon.
“(There are) so many projects still in the works that our campuses are transforming," Maury County Schools district athletic director Chris Poynter said. "And it's showing you that there's so much more to Maury County Public Schools ... and it also shows how much our district cares about our communities and providing them with that quality space, place and an experience when they go to our campuses.”
Not included in the facilities project is the new Battle Creek High's athletic facilities, which include baseball, football and softball fields all complete with artificial turf.
Currently the most high profile projects this money is being used for are at Columbia Central, Mt. Pleasant and Spring Hill.
Columbia Central and Mt. Pleasant will each be getting artificial turf for their high school football fields. The turf project at Mt. Pleasant was completed just before the school year's start, while the turf project at Columbia is being planned for the offseason.
Along with those upgrades, Spring Hill’s athletic facilities are set to be totally revamped. Spring Hill already had its grandstands and lighting upgraded ahead of this project and the additional funding will allow for a handful of needed changes.
Spring Hill’s fields sit at the bottom of a hill below the school and water drainage has been a continual issue, primarily affecting the softball field. Part of the county's funding includes a massive draining improvement. The softball field at Spring Hill will also be relocated to further ensure it remains above water.
Further renovations are planned for the football stadium field, including new restrooms and concession stands as well as new lights and turf, essentially creating a whole new facility. The renovations at Spring Hill are expected to be completed by next year.
Maury County school officials say there is about $12-14 million left in the budget with bids open on two large projects.
“We still have a continuous running list (of projects) … but it all is predicated on the cost of the project before, and so it's kind of a domino effect," Poynter said.

Maury County Fair (MauryCountySource)
The Maury County Fair will return on Thursday, August 29th and run until Monday, September 2nd, 2024.
All the family fun and entertainment you love will soon be back!
This year, the fair festivities begins with a Rodeo, taking place on Thursday of Fair Week. Several other popular events will be happening like the junk car jump and run and the Saturday motocross races.
In addition to the back arena fun, all your favorite animal shows and exhibitor competitions are back this year too! The kids zone will see a variety of live, exotic animals and science shows that will amaze kids of every age.
Address: Maury County Fair & Exposition
1018 Maury County Park Dr. Columbia, TN 38401
For more on the fair and updates, visit maurycountyfair.com.

State of Education Panel Discussion (Press Release)
Join Maury Alliance on Wednesday, August 21 at 11:30 am for their annual Education Lunch featuring a State of Public Education and the 2024 Education Report.
 
During this year's event Maury Alliance President & CEO, Wil Evans will lead a panel discussion with representatives from Maury County Public Schools. They will discuss the current state of public education, Career and Technical Education (CTE) Programs and the Inaugural 2024 Education Report, which will be released during the event.

Panelists include:

Lisa Ventura, MCPS Superintendent

Amy Roberts, MCPS Career & Technical Education Supervisor

Michelle Gilbert, MCPS Director of Teaching, Learning & Assessment

For more information and to register, visit www.mauryalliance.com. Registration closes on Monday, August 19th a noon.

And now, Your Hometown Memorials, Sponsored by Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home…
Cheryl Lynn Powell Church, 71, retired Clerk & Master for Maury County, and resident of Columbia, died Wednesday, August 7, 2024 at Maury Regional Medical Center.
A Memorial service will be conducted Saturday, August 17, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. at Riverside United Methodist Church with Rev. Tony Brown officiating. The family will visit with friends Saturday, August 17, 2024 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Riverside United Methodist Church.

R.E. Duncan Jr., 84, former resident of Duck River TN, passed away on August 14, 2024 at NHC Maury Transitional Care after an extended illness.
A memorial service will be conducted Sunday, August 18, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. at Oakes and Nichols Funeral Home with Judge Bobby Sands officiating. The family will visit with friends beginning at 1:00 p.m. until service time at the funeral home.

Henrietta Smith Dooley, 89, former owner and operator of Henri’s on the Square, and resident of Columbia, TN, died Wednesday, August 14, 2024 at NHC Columbia.
A Memorial service will be conducted Friday, August 23, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. at Graymere Church of Christ. The family will visit with friends Friday, August 23, 2024 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Graymere Church of Christ.

Now, news from around the state…
Nashville: Bitcoin City? (Tennessean)
Bitcoiners in Nashville will soon have access to a new workforce development grant from the state of Tennessee aimed at cultivating workers with skill sets needed to thrive in the crypto industry. 
The Department of Economic and Community Development has confirmed it is in conversations with leadership at Nashville-based Bitcoin Park, an exclusive Nashville-based membership business that offers training and community events for Bitcoiners. 
ECD Commissioner Stuart McWhorter teased a partnership with Bitcoin Park during the Bitcoin2024 conference in Nashville last month, when he told a room full of hundreds of Bitcoiners that he’s working closely with Gov. Bill Lee and several lawmakers on a new grant incentive program focused on recruiting the crypto industry to Nashville.
“We’re Music City. We want to be Bitcoin City,” McWhorter said, adding that more specifics on the new program would be rolled out in the coming months. 
McWhorter said the origin of the idea came from a visit to Bitcoin Park in Nashville a few months ago.
“We’re going to partner with Bitcoin Park, focused on workforce. We’re going to provide grants to really attract the talent that needs to be here,” he said. “It’s something that we’re very excited about.”
In response to inquiries about the pending partnership, department staff characterized McWhorter's comments as “a general statement regarding ECD’s mission: to make Tennessee the best place to live and run a business.” The department also confirmed discussions of grants specifically involving Bitcoin Park. 
The company’s co-founder Ron Roudi indicated in a social media post that the partnership would support “new meetups, nuclear development support, freedom tech adoption, and much more.” Roudi founded Bitcoin Park in 2022. 
The Department of Economic and Community Development has declined to provide any details about the forthcoming grant program, citing confidentiality laws that allow the agency to keep those discussions secret. 
“The grant to Bitcoin Park has not been fully executed at this time and is therefore confidential,” department spokesperson Chris O’Brien told The Tennessean in an email. 
The department has also declined to answer questions about where the idea for the grant program was initiated, what lawmakers the administration is working with, or when the grant partnership conversations began. 
“Learning more about open-source software development and rising interest in Bitcoin Park has certainly helped spur conversations around new recruitment and training opportunities,” O’Brien said. “We are always working to recruit businesses who are interested in Tennessee, predominantly because we have the workforce that meets their needs. To continue successfully attracting and growing companies here, we are always thinking of ways to recruit and train talent locally.”
Grant funding for the Bitcoin Park partnership will be allocated from existing funds in the department's budget designated for workforce development projects. 
Gas Prices (MSM)
Tennessee gas prices fell six cents, on average, over last week. All but four of Tennessee’s metro areas now have metro averages below $3 per gallon. The Tennessee Gas Price average is now $3.01 which is 11 cents less expensive than one month ago and 42 cents less than one year ago.  
“Tennessee drivers saw a slight break at the pump over last week, with several areas of the state seeing pump prices below $3/gallon,” said Megan Cooper, spokeswoman, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “We’re still seeing some uncertainty in the market, so fluctuations in our local gas prices cannot be ruled out this week. However, if market conditions persist, we could see our state average drop below $3 per gallon this week.” 
Tennessee is second least-expensive state in nation for gas prices.

Final Story of the Day (Maury County Source)
As the summer season begins to wind down and the new school year gets back in session, Premier Chiropractic in Spring Hill wants to throw one last bash.
Premier Chiropractic, 2040 Reserve Blvd., will host a special Back to School Bash starting at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The event will feature more than 15 different vendors, as well as food, coffee and dessert trucks onsite.
A kids area will feature a balloon artist, bounce houses, a dunk tank, as well as a slip n' slide and water balloons.
Vendor booths and the kids zone will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
This weekend will be a great opportunity to visit the Columbia Arts District.
Not only can you enjoy the district's latest public art installations along South Garden Street, but also pay a visit to one of the area's local businesses celebrating its first year.
Bradley Mountain, 1202 S. Garden St., will host its one-year anniversary starting at 4 p.m. Saturday.