Southern Middle TN Today News with Tom Price 8-19-24

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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 19, 2024

All news stories are aggregated from various sources and modified for time and content. Original sources are cited.
We start with local news…
Previti Will Not Seek Chairmanship (CDH)
Maury County Commission Chairman Eric Previti announced this week that he would not be seeking a third term for the position of chairman, though he will remain on the board for two more years of his elected term.
Previti, who was first elected chair in 2022 and again in 2023, said he never intended to put his name in the hat for a third time, and it's time for someone else to take the reins.
"I believe that there's a time and place for everything, and I have accomplished what I set out to do," Previti wrote in a letter to The Daily Herald. "That said, I know that there are others that would like to be chairman as well."
Some of the accomplishments achieved under Previti's tutalege include the completion of the new Maury County Justice Center, expanding the Maury County Archives, transferring the Agriculture Extension Center to Yanahli Park where new offices and a welcome center are under construction and implementing pay for volunteer county firefighters.
Previti also added a piece of advice to whomever chooses to pursue the position.
"Being chairman takes a lot of time and a lot of meetings," he said. "I’ve heard it said you are only a commissioner when you are in a meeting. That’s incorrect.
"It should be your only power is in a meeting when you are in the commission room. You are a commissioner every time a constituent calls with a question or problem. You are a commissioner at the outside board meetings, or committee meetings you are part of. You’re a commissioner all the time."
Previti's term as chairman is set to expire Aug. 31. The new chairman, as well as a chairman pro tem and various committee members, will be selected the following Tuesday, Sept. 3 via a majority vote.
Previti will remain on the commission for the remaining two years of his current term representing Maury County's 2nd District.
However, while he won't be seeking the chairman's seat, Previti said his duties as a public servant are far from over, whether as commissioner, as president of the Maury County Historical Society or simply as a concerned citizen giving a voice to local issues.
"I fully intend to continue to serve the people of the second district. I believe that when you talk the talk you should walk the walk," Previti said. "I choose to walk the walk. Believe me, I will still be everywhere listening and helping where I can. Maury County has many issues to deal with."

Spring Hill Breaks Ground on Fire Station (TheNewsTN)
Spring Hill broke ground on its future fire station, named in honor of the late Spring Hill firefighter Mitchell Earwood, which is expected to open in 2025.
City, county and other community leaders broke ground on Fire Station No. 4 —the Mitchell Earwood Memorial Station on Aug. 5, located at 2932 Duplex Road.
“This is going to improve our response times across the city 25-30 percent almost instantly the moment we staff it,” Spring Hill Fire Department Chief Graig Temple said.
Spring Hill City Administrator Pam Caskie called it a “monumental project” for the city.
The $10.5 million project was approved by the Spring Hill Board of Mayor and Aldermen earlier this year and is expected to take 12-14 months to complete.

Jamboree (MSM)
Weather, unfortunately, was the most dominant force in Friday’s Maury County Jamboree at Mt. Pleasant, as the unveiling of the facility’s new artificial turf surface was overshadowed by a series of lightning delays that wreaked havoc with the night’s schedule virtually from start to finish.
As a result, the four matchups – each originally designed to consist of two 20-minute periods with a running clock – each saw some sort of interruption or alteration.
Still, all of the programs managed to get some work ahead of their upcoming Week 1 regular-season openers.
In other sports-related news, John Moore, who has been an off-and-on member of the Columbia Central football coaching staff since the program’s run of state championship game appearances earlier in this millennium, was stripped last week of his offensive coordinator title and was not on hand for the team’s appearance in Friday’s Maury County Jamboree at Mt. Pleasant.
His status for Central’s season opener Friday at Marshall County is undetermined.
“Right now, Coach Moore is not with us at the moment,” second-year Lions coach Tra’Darius Goff said when contacted Saturday regarding the matter. “We’re just working with what we’ve got and we’re going to keep working to make this thing right.”
Moore’s absence is related to an undisclosed mid-week practice occurrence, resulting in receivers coach Dre Hall taking on the fulltime OC responsibilities heading into the jamboree matchup with Christ Presbyterian Academy.
“Right now, me and Coach Hall have been working on the offense, sticking to the plan,” Goff said. “The kids are responding and buying in and playing hard for us. You see a pep in their step. We tell them, adversity happens; you’ve got to look it in the face and keep moving.”
Goff, a member of the 2010 team (along with Hall), would not directly address the circumstances resulting in Moore’s absence or any possibility of a return for the veteran coach, deferring to the school’s administrative team.
“I want to wait till it plays out, respect my athletics director (Gerard Randolph) and principal (Shanda Sparrow-Lang) and let them work through the issues and see where it goes from there,” he said. 
Randolph declined comment when contacted. Attempts to reach Moore for comment were unsuccessful.
In addition to his role with the 2010 Class 5A state championship squad, Moore was an assistant under Vance Belew when the Lions advanced to the 2009 title game in Class 5A as well as in 2012. Moore also served as offensive coordinator under Jason Hoath in 2019 before a midseason departure.
Moore served as Columbia Central’s interim coach in 2021, following Hoath’s dismissal as the team entered preseason workouts out of the TSSAA-mandated dead period. The Lions finished 7-5 and advanced to the second round of the Class 5A state playoffs, before former Lewis County coach Bobby Sharp was appointed in February 2022 to take the helm.
Goff took over for Sharp in May 2023.
“Coach Moore is a good coach,” Goff said. “Other guys are having to step up and come together. It’s helping every coach on the staff to grow and have to work together to make up for the knowledge and years of football he has brought to the team. I give my offensive staff a lot of credit. We’re going to work on getting things smooth and getting everybody on the same page.
“There’s a lesson in every crisis. Find it. ”

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.

Bear Creek Widening Project (CDH)
Columbia City Council is taking another shot at partnering with Tennessee Department of Transportation to begin the long-awaited Bear Creek Pike widening project.
The project would widen 7.2 miles of the highly-trafficked road from U.S. Highway 31 to the Interstate 65 interchange's ongoing $29 million in upgrades.
However, the Bear Creek project has experienced numerous delays, denials and other setbacks over the years.
These have included new laws for roadway projects that didn't exist at the time of the Bear Creek project's initial approval, such as additional requirements for right-of-way acquisition.
On Thursday, council members voted to reapply for a potential partnership with TDOT to address the changes, get an upgraded design and, hopefully, break ground within the next few years.
"I did not anticipate a turnaround for a reapplication so quickly, and so this came as a nice surprise," Mayor Chaz Molder said. "Hopefully, this second time request will be the charm, or at least the second time within 12 months anyway. This is more like the 12th time we have attempted this."
The city had previously applied for the TDOT partnership in 2023 but was not included in the state's 10-year grant program, stating the city had committed $4.5 million for the project and asking TDOT to provide $10 million over the next 10 years.
However, despite the 2023 application not being granted, City Manager Tony Massey said the city "wasn't going to give up."
Prior to last Thursday's vote, Bob Graham, a Columbia resident living off Bear Creek Pike, shared his concerns about the project, specifically regarding turn lanes from nearby businesses onto the road.
Graham cited the left turn lane out of McDonald's located just off the U.S. 31 intersection as one example, and how it already presents a safety hazard for drivers.
"Vehicles are allowed to come out of McDonald's and turn left, and there is even a left arrow painted on the ground there," Graham said. "That intersection is less than 100 feet from where they are being allowed to turn, and they cross over two sets of double yellow lines. The intersection has become very dangerous ... and someone has to look at this situation."
Molder said concerns regarding the left turn lanes like the one at McDonald's have been brought to the city's attention and will be addressed as the project takes shape.
"There are improvements at that intersection that have been underway, as well as design and engineering, for quite some time now," Molder said.
Massey added that "This has been brought to our attention and we are looking into it."
City Engineer Glenn Harper shared details about what now stands in the way of getting the project off the ground, as well as an estimated start date if TDOT were to accept the application.
Harper said the project is currently in its right-of-way process, which due to recent changes, is a main reason for the latest delays.
"When this project started, we were not required to get right-of-way for the driveway ties, but that changed," Harper said. "When you have to acquire easements to tie in the driveways, that adds another 24 months to the project because of the appraisal/reappraisal process. That's where we are at."
Harper added that the project will also include eliminating concrete medians allowing left turns out onto the road, which could potentially cause issues with traffic flow during construction.
"It is illegal to turn left across the double yellow lines, and so we can do that with enforcement. We can reach out to the McDonald's and see if they will put a right turn out only. That used to be the case where that median was hatched at one point, but during a repaving project the hatching was removed and now it's just a double yellow turn lane."
Harper also said a big part of the ongoing delays is due to the process and approvals required when state and federal money is involved.
"It's just the process for federal funding, that's all," Harper said. "We are fully funded for construction at this point, and were given next to $9 million to do so."

And now, Your Hometown Memorials, Sponsored by Oakes & Nichols 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…
Supreme Court Upholds Title IX (Tennessean)
A divided Supreme Court on Friday left in place lower court orders blocking changes to sex discrimination rules for schools in about half the states while new protections for transgender students under Title IX are being challenged.
The Biden administration, in an emergency request, had argued the court orders were too sweeping and some of the updates should be allowed to take effect as scheduled on Aug. 1.
But the GOP-led states, including Tennessee, and conservative groups challenging the new rules said the components can’t be easily separated.
"Schools would have to work out how the Rule functions without its key provisions, amend their policies, and train their staff accordingly—all by next week—and then do it all again after judicial review," lawyers for Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents a Louisiana school board, told the court last month.
Five of the court's conservative justices sided with the states and Justice Neil Gorsuch joined the court's three liberals in dissenting.
The majority said the administration had not shown that the provisions being challenged could be easily separated from the rest of the requirements.
Writing for the minority, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said it’s the states that failed to explain why blocking enforcement of the entire update is necessary.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti hailed the court's decision to stay the rule as the case proceeds.
“I am grateful that the Supreme Court of the United States agreed that no part of the Biden administration’s Title IX rule should go into effect while the case proceeds,” Skrmetti said in a statement Friday. “This is a win for student privacy, free speech, and the rule of law.”
The Biden administration, in April, finalized sweeping changes to the rules including stating that Title IX protects LGBTQ+ students.
The updates also include protections for pregnant students and reverses Trump-era guidelines for adjudicating sexual harassment and assault cases on campus, which had given more rights to alleged perpetrators of sexual assault and harassment.
"While we do not agree with this ruling, the Department stands by the final Title IX regulations," Education Department spokesperson Vanessa Harmoush said Friday, "and we will continue to defend those rules in the expedited litigation in the lower courts."
The rules apply to K-12 schools and colleges that receive federal funding, under the 1972 civil rights law originally passed to protect women from discrimination in education.
The changes were swiftly challenged by conservative groups and 26 states.
Opponents argue the Biden administration is attempting to redefine “sex” in federal law to include “gender identity.”
“The rule adopts a controversial worldview about `gender identity,’ orders schools in every state to conform their policies to it, and threatens dissenters with the loss of billions in federal funding,” lawyers for Tennessee and other states challenging the rule said in a filing.
The administration had argued that the courts’ injunctions should apply only to provisions that would allow transgender students to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity and that bar harassment based on gender identity.
"Those provisions raise important issues that will be litigated on appeal and that may well require this court’s resolution in the ordinary course," Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the court in asking that the rest of the changes be allowed to move forward.
Organizations serving pregnant students and new parents likewise asked that protections for those students be allowed to proceed. Those include requiring schools provide lactation spaces and "reasonable modifications" such as larger desks and excused absences for prenatal care.
But courts have blocked all the updates from going into effect in 26 states, as well as at hundreds of colleges and thousands of K-12 schools, as the challenges are litigated.
The legal wrangling has resulted in a patchwork of standards, with some schools still abiding by Trump-era rules, while others operate under Biden-era regulations. 
For schools affected by the new regulations, the Education Department has advised schools to update their nondiscrimination policies and ensure accommodations are in place for students to use restrooms consistent with their gender identity.
"We look forward to working with school communities all across the country," department spokesperson Harmoush said in a statement, "to ensure the Title IX guarantee of nondiscrimination in school is every student’s experience."

Final Story of the Day (Maury County Source)
Columbia Parks and Rec is hosting an evening of fun and excitement at an upcoming Bingo Night!
Happening on August 22 at Dr. Christa S. Martin Community Center (871 Iron Bridge Road, Columbia) from 5 PM to 7 PM, this event promises lively games and great company. Plus, don’t miss your chance to win a fabulous summer-themed door prize!
Bring your friends, your lucky charm, and get ready for a memorable night.
Learn more at www.columbiatn.com/196/Parks-and-Recreation.