All news stories are aggregated from various sources and modified for time and content. Original sources are cited.
We start with local news…
School and Other Closings
Due to the freezing rain passing through Middle Tennessee, several school districts have closed today. In our listening area, they include: Giles, Hickman, Lawrence, Lewis, Marshall, Maury, and Williamson Counties. In Maury County, all twelve-month employees in the school district may use discretion regarding reporting to work. All Boys & Girls Clubs will also be closed. Columbia State Community College locations will open at 9:30.
Maury County Government offices will open at 10:00 today.
New Retail Residential at Historic Site (CDH)
A new addition to expand one of Spring Hill's many historic landmarks is currently under review by the city's planning commission.
The proposed expansion to historic White Hall, 2536 Duplex Road, includes a concept plan featuring two 12,500 square-foot mixed-use buildings, which would include general office space and retail, as well as apartments and other multi-family developments. The concept plan was presented last week to the planning commission for review but did not include a vote.
Originally completed in 1844, White Hall was built for Dr. Aaron C. White, a local physician and planter, with construction overseen by his brother, Henry White.
Perhaps White Hall's most significant place in local history was its use as a military headquarters for General Earl Van Dom of the Confederate States Army. The home was later used to treat wounded soldiers, following The Battle of Franklin in 1864.
Dmitri Danylov, representing applicant Rubin Group LLC, said he and his team are excited to bring this new addition to the historic city site.
"I don't believe anybody has lived at this property in almost 15 years, and has used it as an event place," Danylov said.
Spring Hill Associate Planner Jake McQueen recommended that, given the site's proximity to historic land, the proposal be reviewed by the city's Historic Commission prior to a planning commission vote.
"This would be in conjunction with talking with the current White Hall landowner in order to discuss potential impacts to the site once the site plan has been submitted," McQueen said.
McQueen added that the applicant would also be required to submit a traffic impact study at the time of site plan, in addition to more details regarding the use of approximately 218 parking spots among the two structures.
Alderman Matt Fitterer suggested the developer also consider creating a possible pedestrian connection to Walnut Street, including the nearby skate park.
"You've got a city park, that's primarily a skate park now, to the south of [the property], and the city is actively looking at a couple of other uses on that property as well," Fitterer said. "Certainly, if you can get an internal pedestrian connection, your residents can get access down there to a city park versus having them go up to Walnut Street and come down. That only benefits you."
Danylov said consideration for better pedestrian access to the nearby park is definitely in the plans as the project continues to develop.
Planning Commission Chair Jonathan Duda advised the applicant to get in touch with the city's Historical Commission "sooner rather than later." Duda also addressed the number of proposed parking spaces, which he and Fitterer said they consider "overparked," and that there could be a better use for the area.
"I think there is an opportunity to create a private space between these buildings, which can serve as a community space for the buildings themselves, whether it's through landscaping, hardscaping or other ways to make an amenity out of this little area" Duda said. "You could gain more tenants if you have more flexibility, as opposed to buildings in a sea of asphalt."
Since the item was merely a concept plan review, there are no future votes scheduled regarding the White Hall addition. The purpose of the review was only to receive input from planners as to what the best step forward will be prior to any preliminary or final plans.
World Wide Stages Opens (MauryCountySource)
Worldwide Stages LLC (WWS) unveils its massive entertainment complex – located in Spring Hill. WWS has already provided state-of-the-art facilities to multiple facets of the entertainment industry including tour rehearsal facilities for musical stars, production facilities for diverse content creators to produce live-streaming events, music videos, commercials, episodic television series, and feature films.
“It feels like opening ‘Disneyland’, but for entertainment production professionals and A-list stars,” said Kelly Frey, CEO and President of WWS. “The first word we hear from artists and production companies visiting our facility is ‘Wow.’ We wanted to create not just a functional production environment but also a safe-haven for A-list entertainers. We even designed a Speakeasy around a vintage 1920’s era solid wood bar that our guests can use for meetings, events, or relaxation onsite,” added Mr. Frey. “Forget about the warehouses and industrial soundstages of the past. WWS is much more like a five-star hotel venue that happens to have the soundstages and ancillary production space A-list performers and international production companies need to produce their entertainment content securely and in comfort.”
WWS acquired the former world headquarters of Saturn and invested millions of dollars into a complete renovation. The result is a beautiful, unique entertainment production complex with production services and amenities customized to provide a high-end experience for each client.
The luxury entertainment campus provides:
Thousands of square feet of luxurious production facilities, green rooms, and professionally decorated artist suites
A variety of stages ranging in scale for music tour rehearsals, TV, and film production – designed to provide an exceptional experience
Beautifully decorated gathering spaces that exude luxury and exclusivity; including opulent atriums designed to impress and inspire. Perfect for entertainment professionals and industry events
Private 70-seat theater with state-of-the-art audio equipment that is ideal for screening dailies or creating intimate performances
Acres of private parking for personnel and production equipment with easy access to major Interstate highways
Onsite medic and security personnel supported by state-of-the-art technology (including campus-wide facial recognition cameras and software-driven access)
“Tennessee is home to a thriving entertainment industry, and we support companies such as WWS that invest in growing our state’s footprint in entertainment,” said Stuart McWhorter, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.
“The opening of WWS signals Tennessee’s trending growth and competitiveness in the entertainment sector on both a local and national level,” said Bob Raines, Executive Director for the Tennessee Entertainment Commission. “WWS will not only leverage Tennessee’s internationally renowned music industry, but also service the influx of television and motion picture professionals interested in producing the next generation of entertainment content.”
“Spring Hill is excited to welcome WWS and its CEO, Kelly Frey, into our community,” said Jim Hagaman, Mayor of Spring Hill. “This investment from WWS will create an impact far beyond job creation and economic growth.”
WWS is already planning expansion, adding additional soundstages onsite in Spring Hill in response to industry demand while investigating expansion to other entertainment-centric cities in need of the luxury-branded facilities curated by WWS.
New and Lost Businesses (CDH)
One of the more exciting aspects of starting a new year is looking back on all the new businesses, restaurants and retail stores that have opened in the previous year. It's also a time to reflect on some of those businesses that might have closed their doors for good and/or relocated to new locations.
The downtown Columbia square continues to be the site for many of the city's most popular businesses, and last year was no different.
Perhaps Columbia's latest business, The Tilted Mule, 102 Depot St., brings a new addition to the city's nightlife, which opened in December.
The former Tuck's Place promises to be more of the same dive bar atmosphere people know and love, but with bar food favorites with a fresh gourmet twist like Shepard's pie, fried green tomato burger, Scotch eggs, Reuben eggrolls for a limited time and oversized soft pretzels, in addition to a wide selection of craft beers.
The dive proudly boasts itself as "Muletown's finest dive bar," carrying several local beers on tap from local spots like Asgard brewery of Columbia, Yazoo and Czanns of Nashville.
Beyond the square in the New South Marketplace, Grinder's Switch Winery, 510 N. Garden St.,opened its first Columbia location in November.
"We are excited to have what we call our newest 'tasting lounge.' We've been looking at Columbia for a number of years and were just waiting for the right time to come in," General Manager Jodie Morgan said.
"As a kid of the 80s and 90s from Centerville, you always come to Columbia, and once it started growing and becoming a much more interesting place, we wanted to open a place that's closer to home."
For the lunchtime crowd, travel a little further up the road to the Columbia Arts Building, where you can pick up a tasty sandwich from Ollie & Finn's sandwich shop, 307 W. 11th St., which also opened in 2022 and has developed a wide following, especially its Saturday crowd.
A Nashville staple entered the downtown square in December 2021 — Big Shake's Nashville Hot Chicken, 822 S. Main St., which opened in December of 2021 and has grown as a weekly gathering spot for live music and good, hot food.
Other businesses have spent much of 2022 relocating, renovating and reopening in new spaces.
Farmstead Cellar wine-tasting parlour, 803 S. Main St., once known as the popular Vintage Winery formerly located at 616 N. Main St. rebranded, moving further down the street, south of the courthouse, but is still offering the same fine wines.
Its sister shop Farmstead Community Marketplace (now at street level below the Farmstead Cellar), once located adjacent to the previous winery location on North Main also has a new look, selling locally-sourced items such as meats, artisan cheeses, olive oil, breads, jam, honey and more. Both shops, as well as, Wine in the Fork in Leiper's Fork in Williamson County, are farm-to-table ventures of Farmstead Vineyards in Culleoka, owned by the Evans family.
There is also Buck N' Board, at N. Main and East 5th streets, the popular charcuterie wine bar formerly on East 6th St. reopened at the former Cranky Yankee site. Buck N' Board's former location will now be used by Wolf & Scout coffee shop, which operated in the Columbia Arts Building at 307 W. 11th St. and is preparing to open at its new location on 6th Street.
Unfortunately, in 2022 patrons were forced to say "goodbye" to some of their favorite eateries in Columbia.
Vanh Dy's Restaurant, which has been serving up a unique blend of Asian fusion cuisine since 2018 becoming one of the most popular restaurants in Columbia, announced in December that it would no longer be operational come 2023 due to the owners closing the eatery to spend more time with family.
Wok-N-Grill, which operated for 32 years as a staple Asian take-out eatery, announced it would also close in January so that the owners could spend more time with family.
Marcy Jo's Muletown, which opened its Columbia location off East 6th Street in 2019, also announced it would make the difficult decision to close in 2022 after struggling with staffing and rising food costs amid the pandemic and inflation.
Still within its first year of business, The Cranky Yankee was another business that made the decision to close in 2022. Owners Paul and Chrissy Jensen, who have also owned and operated other local businesses like The Dotted Lime brick and mortar eatery and were previous co-owners of Lime & Loaf, said they wanted to focus more on their other business ventures, such as catering and their current The Dotted Lime Bakery, 1806 S. Main St., which can be visited from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Columbia, though the shop is closed on Sundays.
Muletown Coffee Roasters has been hard at work expanding its downtown site into an adjacent space in the historic downtown building, 23 Public Square, to make room for a deli/eatery, in addition to coffee.
Downtown Columbia is also set to welcome a new Mexican restaurant sometime later this year. Columbia Arts District coffee shop Wolf and Scout will soon be relocating to East 6th Street. It's distinguishing hunter green brick exterior can be seen on 6th Street, though the new shop's interior is still in progress. An opening date will soon be announced.
In addition to new businesses, the Columbia Arts District is also set to receive a new facelift along South Garden Street as part of a new streetscape project. The project will consist of repaving and restriping the road, as well as creating a more walkable, pedestrian-friendly environment.
MRMC Wear Red (Press Release)
Maury Regional Medical Center (MRMC) is encouraging individuals to help promote awareness of cardiovascular disease by participating in National Wear Red Day on Feb. 3.
The annual event provides an opportunity to show support for heart health by wearing red. Cardiovascular disease remains the No. 1 killer of both American men and women, accounting for more than 800,000 deaths in the U.S. every year, according to the American Heart Association. Here are more facts:
∙ Cardiovascular disease is responsible for one in three deaths in the U.S. every year
∙ About 11% of American adults have been diagnosed with heart disease
∙ 90% of women have one or more risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease
∙ Since 1984, more women than men have died each year from heart disease
∙ The symptoms of heart disease can be different in women and men
∙ Most cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by addressing behavioral risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet and obesity, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol
“Increasing awareness about the threat of this disease is imperative to changing these statistics,” said Maury Regional Health (MRH) CEO Martin Chaney, MD. “Both men and women should be aware of the signs and symptoms and contact 911 immediately if they think they may be experiencing a heart or stroke-related problem.”
Cardiovascular disease can often lead to heart attacks and strokes, where symptoms can sometimes be hard to spot and can even present themselves differently in women than men.
Warning signs of a heart attack include tightness or pain in the chest, discomfort in other parts of the upper body such as the back or jaw, shortness of breath, unusual fatigue and nausea. Women can be more likely than men to experience shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting, or back or jaw pain.
The most common symptom of a stroke is sudden weakness of the face, arm or leg, most often on one side of the body. Other signs include sudden confusion, trouble seeing or blurred vision, dizziness or loss of balance, and a sudden severe headache with no known cause.
Anyone who thinks they might be experiencing heart problems should call 911 immediately. Emergency responders are equipped to begin treatment immediately and relay vital information to the hospital while in route to the Emergency Department. Physicians and staff are then waiting for the patient and can begin treatment immediately. Treatments may include intervention in the cardiac catheterization lab to open the blocked vessel or, in severe cases, open heart surgery.
MRMC’s average door-to-balloon time — the time between a patient’s arrival at the hospital to when a blocked artery is opened — is 53 minutes, according to Maury Regional Health Administrative Director of Cardiovascular Services and Assistant Chief Nursing Officer Cathy Malone. That is 37 minutes ahead of the standard time recommended by American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association guidelines (90 minutes).
“We’re extremely proud of our door-to-balloon time and the work our staff does to treat patients quickly and effectively,” Malone said. “If you’re experiencing symptoms of a heart attack or stroke, call 911 immediately. Getting care as soon as possible is critical to recovery when dealing with a cardiac event, and every minute counts.”
MRMC is 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. Learn more at MauryRegional.com/heart.
And now, Your Hometown Memorials, Sponsored by Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home…
Ms. Jean Ann Moubray Outland, 85, retired employee of K-Mart and resident of Columbia, died Sunday, January 29, 2023 at Maury Regional Medical Center. Funeral services for Ms. Outland will be conducted Wednesday at 2:00 P.M. at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home. The family will visit with friends Wednesday from 12:00 P.M. until service time at the funeral home. Graveside services will be conducted Friday, February 3, 2023 in Mayfield Memory Gardens in Mayfield, Kentucky.
Mr. Gerald Ray Walters, 79, retied conductor for CSX Railroad and resident of Columbia, died Saturday, January 28, 2023 at St. Thomas Mid Town. Funeral services for Mr. Walters will be conducted Saturday, February 4, 2023 at 10:00 A.M. at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home. Burial will follow in Santa Fe Cemetery. The family will visit with friends Friday from 4:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M. and Saturday from 9:00 A.M. until service time at the funeral home.
Ms. Sara Katherine Duncan Parks, 69, died Saturday, January 29, 2023 at Novant Health in Huntersville, North Carolina. Funeral services for Ms. Parks will be conducted Saturday at 1:00 P.M. at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home. Burial will follow in Polk Memorial Gardens. The family will visit with friends Saturday from 11:00 A.M. until service time at the funeral home.
…And now, news from around the state…
MTSU Breaks Ground on New Stadium (thenewstn.com)
Middle Tennessee State University broke ground Thursday on the school’s new Student-Athlete Performance Center — a $66 million facility to be built next to Floyd Stadium on Greenland Drive in Murfreesboro.
Serving as the new home for the Blue Raider football team, the three-story, 85,500-square foot venue will also house athletic training, weightlifting and nutrition areas in addition to office spaces for coaches.
The Parent Company Inc., a Brentwood-based general contracting company, will oversee the construction of the facility, while Goodwyn Mills Cawood Inc. and HOK are overseeing the design of the project.
“Once completed, this new facility, along with an enhanced Murphy Center, will be part of a new gateway into our campus and will stand as a visible reminder of our commitment to athletic success,” MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee said in a release. “Today's groundbreaking publicly reaffirms our commitment to maintaining a nationally competitive athletic program.”
The SAPC will feature three floors of amenities, including:
A nutrition station, a strength and conditioning room, an athletic training room with hydrotherapy pools, plus the new football locker room, player’s lounge and equipment room on the first floor
Offices for the football coaching staff, plus several meeting areas, a team meeting room, position rooms and coaches meeting rooms on the second floor
A student-athlete dining hall, which will also offer dining for fans on game days, on the third floor
Additionally, MTSU will be upgrading the video board in the south end zone of Floyd Stadium, the video boards inside the Murphy Center and adding a control room inside the Murphy Center to allow the school to produce its own live television broadcasts.
“The Student-Athlete Performance Center is transformational for our department, the university and for our community,” MTSU athletic director Chris Massaro said. “We will be able to better develop our players, attract top-notch recruits and make our student-athlete experience second to none.”
Added MTSU football coach Rick Stockstill: “With the upgraded facilities, so many new doors will be opened for the Blue Raiders to continue to build off of the legacy of our past players and coaches.”
Final Story of the Day (MauryCountySource)
The Antiques & Garden Show of Nashville, one of the largest antiques and horticultural events in the country, makes its highly anticipated return February 3 – 5, 2023 at the Music City Center in downtown Nashville with keynote speakers of the lifestyle brand AERIN and Alice Naylor-Leyland of the tablescape company Mrs. Alice.
Co-chaired by Kathryn Saunders and Beth Kost, the Show draws more than 16,000 attendees annually to experience its impressive showcase of antiques from more than 150 dealers, world-class landscaped gardens, and opportunities to engage with some of the nation’s top names in design and horticulture through educational lectures, panel discussions and book signings. Two special events will be held outside of Show hours: The Preview Party, an opening night gala to shop the Show early, and the Bourbon Party, an evening featuring crafted bourbons and live music on the Show floor.
For tickets, schedules and additional information, visit antiquesandgardenshow.com and follow the Antiques & Garden Show of Nashville on Instagram (@antiquesandgardenshow). The Presenting Sponsor for the 33rd Annual Show is Northern Trust
Comments