WKOM/WKRM Radio
Southern Middle Tennessee Today
News Copy for January 20, 2025
All news stories are aggregated from various sources and modified for time and content. Original sources are cited.
We start with local news…
Melton Steps Down from Spring Hill Chamber (CDH)
Spring Hill Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rebecca Melton has announced her resignation from the position in a message issued Wednesday after serving in the role for eight years.
"This decision comes after eight years of working with the staff, Board and Ambassadors to provide optimum service and benefits to the membership while building our brand and reputation in the community," Melton wrote.
"My departure is not an easy decision because of the deep relationships formed over the years that I truly value. I took this position not knowing what it would bring personally and professionally but I knew that I wanted to make the membership proud to be a part of this organization.
Spring Hill Chamber of the Board Rodney Holliman described Melton's role over the years has been vital in shaping and leading the organization into what it is today.
"Becca's vision, dedication and unwavering commitment have been instrumental in our success, and her leadership will be deeply missed," Holliman said. "The board of directors is committed to finding a candidate who will uphold these high standards and help the organization thrive in the years to come."
Melton added that the organization was able to make "great strides" due to its willingness to take risks, and that she will continue to work with the Chamber Board, staff and volunteers to ensure a smooth transition in filling her position.
The Board has always given me encouragement and flexibility to make decisions based on what is best for all involved," Melton wrote.
"I have greatly appreciated the opportunity to grow professionally in this position. I am also a much better person because of the great people that have poured into me over the years. I will forever be grateful for my time with the Spring Hill Chamber of Commerce."
The Chamber is currently seeking referrals for its next executive director at www.indeed.com.
Battle Creek Interim Principal Named (Press Release)
Maury County Public Schools is proud to announce the appointment of Laura Duncan as Interim Principal of Battle Creek Elementary School. Ms. Duncan, who most recently served as the district’s Elementary Coordinator, brings over 25 years of educational experience to this leadership role.
Laura Duncan's journey in education spans diverse roles, including Principal and Assistant Principal at Spencer Elementary School and Elementary Coordinator for Maury County Public Schools. She also held the position of Instructional Leadership Manager at the Tennessee Department of Education, where she worked to improve instructional practices statewide. Additionally, she was the inaugural Principal at Battle Creek Elementary, serving from its opening in 2019 until 2021. Her extensive experience has been recognized with accolades such as Van Buren County Principal of the Year and multiple grants for innovative teaching strategies.
Upon her appointment, Ms. Duncan stated, "I am honored to return to Battle Creek Elementary as Interim Principal and work with the amazing Cub Crew once again. I look forward to collaborating with the dedicated staff and families to ensure that every student has the tools and opportunities to succeed."
Ms. Duncan holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and both Master of Arts and Educational Specialist degrees in Instructional Leadership from Tennessee Technological University. Her professional expertise includes curriculum development, data-driven decision-making, and literacy initiatives, making her uniquely positioned to lead Battle Creek Elementary to continued success.
"We are thrilled to welcome Laura Duncan back to Battle Creek Elementary," said Superintendent Lisa Ventura. "Her leadership and dedication to education have made a lasting impact on students, staff, and the community. I am confident that she will continue to foster a positive and thriving environment at BCES."
The Arts in Columbia (Livability.com)
The Maury County arts scene offers plenty of room for makers to leave their mark, including opportunities galore for artists, collaborators, curators and all-around artsy people.
Columbia Arts District is an emerging city district that boasts anchors like the Columbia Arts Building, where local creatives can access cool shops, studios and gathering spaces.
For Quantagus McFall, talking about art – specifically to young people – is a real passion. He is a Columbia native and multimedia artist who started his art career drawing and painting.
“As a young person who grew up in a small town that didn’t have a lot of outlets to express myself, I want to try and break some new ground or [create a] platform for my kids,” McFall says. “So, if they want to do something artistically, they have options.”
That means being involved in many different art spaces, from chairing the Columbia Arts Council (which is developing the Columbia Arts District) to working with local schools to develop vital in- and after-school arts programming for elementary and middle-school students in the county.
McFall has conducted art workshops that focus on using unconventional materials to create art. “I showed the kids how to use vegetables after their expiration date by using them as brushes,” he says. “Believe it or not, celery is great for watercolors.”
He’s also worked with local Boys & Girls Clubs as well as local businesses like Spring Hill’s Ghostlight Books to provide arts activities.
“There are a ton of homeschool families in Spring Hill,” he notes. “We are bringing resources to kids who don’t have a chance to find them elsewhere. We want to give them a chance to immerse themselves in something.”
Transplant Joanna Kica arrived in the area in summer 2022, when she and her family relocated from Michigan to Spring Hill, thanks to a business opportunity for her spouse. The couple are avid art collectors, so when the opportunity arose to open Gallery 48 in downtown Columbia, she jumped at the chance.
“Columbia has the most beautiful historic downtown in Tennessee, with the Maury County Courthouse standing proudly in the center of Columbia’s Town Square. It is a quaint yet vibrant town,” she says.
The fine art gallery opened its doors in September 2023, and currently represents both local and international artists: seven from Tennessee (four in Columbia and three in surrounding towns) as well as outstanding talent from Florida, Michigan, Alabama and Poland.
“One of the most rewarding things about owning the gallery,” Kica says, “is the gift of sharing the talent and beauty of paintings and artisan handmade items with the community and art collectors. I love meeting new people, hearing their stories and talking art.”
Kica also shouts out Columbia’s many local cultural events. Monthly First Fridays combine live music, food trucks and vendors in the city’s historic downtown square, with folks showing up from neighboring towns to participate.
During the summer months, Cars and Coffee brings out hundreds of classic American cars to line downtown streets every month (along with – you guessed it – coffee purveyors). The city’s most well-known event, though, is Mule Day, a weeklong event celebrating Columbia’s historic mule market, which began in the mid-1800s.
Today, mule races, shows and parades take center stage, along with traditional Appalachian food, music, dancing and crafts.
Donna Wisener immersed herself in art after a 27-year career in the information technology field.
After nearly three decades of living in her hometown of Columbia and commuting to Nashville for her corporate career, Wisener decided to retire and took a watercolor workshop on a lark. She was immediately hooked.
“It just sparked something – all of a sudden, I felt creative,” Wisener says. “The more I painted, the more I loved it. I knew this was my passion.”
Now, Wisener works full time as a contemporary abstract artist and operates the brick-and-mortar storefront Art at 101, a gallery and studio space inside the Factory at Columbia.
In addition to boutiques and retail shops, eateries, and a yoga studio (owned by Wisener’s daughter), the Factory also hosts Second Saturdays, an indoor analogue to First Fridays, to showcase local artisans and bakers.
Wisener recalls a Second Saturday vendor, whom she had previously met and urged to follow her heart and creativity, saying to her, “I’m painting and selling art now, and I wouldn’t have done that without your encouragement.”
Bear Creek Fire Department Causes Stir (CDH)
Discussions about constructing a new Maury County fire station off Bear Creek Pike were brought before the county's budget committee this week, with concerns stemming from its potential cost.
The proposed fire hall, which would be located at the site of the former Marcy Jo's Mealhouse near the intersection of Bear Creek and Highway 431, appeared Monday on the committee's agenda regarding a $147,700 contract with 906 Studio, PLLC for architectural design.
However, much of the discussion focused on the entirety of the project itself with the proposed funding being a little more than originally anticipated.
"I support the idea of a new fire station there, but I don't support the idea of a $5 million or $6 million fire station there," said District 8 Commissioner Gabe Howard, who represents the district in which the fire hall will be located. "We were presented a range of $3 million to $6 million. I wouldn't support spending $147,000 if the number that's going to come back is $5 million or $6 million."
According to 906 Studio's proposal, the new fire hall would consist of a two-story wood frame "fire house" with a separate 6,420 square-foot pre-engineered metal apparatus bay.
Howard added that other fire stations at Carters Creek Pike and Hampshire Pike, both also designed by 906 Studio and completed within the last five years, only cost roughly half the amount.
"One of the things I heard about Hampshire was that it was $1.8 million," Howard said. "I get that the land and setup is different, but we were presented $3 million to $6 million, and I don't think I can support this tonight if that's the thought process moving forward."
Maury County Finance Director Douglas Lukonen responded.
"If it's the same footprint, I don't see how it would be $5-$6 million," he said.
Although there could be other issues county leaders haven't been made aware of yet.
"I don't know if the fire department has a specific plan, a larger building, or if in geotechnical studies they found major issues with the land that are going to cost a lot more in site work," Lukonen said. "There are more details to really determine."
Howard later corrected himself, saying the estimate was actually closer to $4-$6 million. He also made a motion for the item be sent to the Maury County Building Committee for further research and information gathering, which was seconded by District 10 Commissioner Tommy Wolaver.
"It appears to me you are spending $147,000 for the architectural drawings on a building we've already got, folks," Wolaver said. "That's ridiculous, and I'm sorry, but we need to be better stewards of people's money than that. We need to tell them how much money they've got, tell them how to build it and that's it."
The resolution was ultimately voted to be sent back to the building committee.
Maury Regional Airport to Undergo Upgrades (MSM)
When Maury County’s leaders had finished building their new Regional Medical Center in 1953, they found themselves with a pile of leftover bricks and no idea what to do with them. The bricks ended up in an unusual project: a general aviation terminal just north of Mount Pleasant, the first in the state of Tennessee, which opened in the late 1960s. For airport chairman Tom Apker, that terminal helped establish Mount Pleasant as an air-traffic hub, but it hasn’t been updated since 1974 and doesn’t do justice to the airport’s importance for the county.
“[T]he terminal [has] received only the minimum investment to keep the doors open,” Apker stated. “It presents a tired, outdated image; a reminder of the long-gone days of the heavy chemical industry… which used to dominate the county.”
When structural engineers finally judged the old terminal too dilapidated and out of code to renovate, Apker’s Mount Pleasant Airport Authority resolved to build one that would inspire municipal pride and attract more commercial air traffic.
The Mount Pleasant Airport renovations will begin on Feb. 1, last until March 2026 if the current schedule holds out, and cost $4.5 million according to the architects. The Tennessee Aeronautics Division will give the airport a $500,000 grant for the project after it passes a five-year review, and bonds issued by the County Commission will pay for the rest.
“The Airport Authority is most grateful to Maury County for including approximately $4-4.5M for the Airport’s terminal in their last bond issuance,” Apker said, and his agency will pay the county back “with interest” out of their yearly FAA disbursements.
The changes to the new terminal will be pretty minor, all things considered. It will be ADA-compliant, especially the bathrooms and walkways, and comply with current regulations that separate high-voltage power junctions from other parts of the facility. The parking lot will be expanded and updated for security, vehicle maneuvering, and ADA access.
“Other than the ADA and code deficiencies of the existing terminal building, the airport has done an excellent job of meeting our obligations as the federal and state requirements have changed over the years,” Apker said.
Even with its aged terminal, the Mount Pleasant Airport still attracts high traffic volumes and even higher revenues. It boasts the only runway more than 6,000 feet long, capable of landing a Boeing 737, in the territory between Nashville and Huntsville and west of I-65. General Motors, Ultium Cells and more than 30 other local employers fly their cargo into the airport, and company executives and entertainers look more and more to avoid the hassles of BNA by taking private flights into Mount Pleasant. The airport sold a quarter-million gallons of fuel in 2024, making it one of the busiest in Tennessee after those in the four major cities.
“[T]he airport makes the first impression for Maury County on the travelers mentioned,” Apker explained. “The new terminal will not be ornate or flashy. It will be modern, clean and solid, while honoring the county’s historical presidential homes with a rotunda lobby with pillars displaying the history of Maury County.”
The FAA has recognized the airport’s importance by investing about $15 million in its runway, taxiways and ramp over the last seven years. That may sound like a lot, but Apker says it generated $13.5 million in commercial impact one year in the early 2020s. Since then its traffic has doubled, owing to growth in and outside the county, and he expects it to double again by 2030. He praised the Industrial Development Board and Maury Alliance for wisely fostering local businesses, with whom the airport is doing 50 percent more business now than at the beginning of the decade. To accommodate all this air traffic, the Airport Authority just bought 8.2 acres next to its current campus, where they plan in the next three years to build 12,000 square feet of hangars to accommodate corporate and private jets.
This may sound extravagant, but Maury County is just beginning to wake up to its potential as a commercial hub. “Maury County is on fire,” said Greg Martin when he informed the County Health and Environment Committee of the renovation in November.
Martin, who used to serve as chairman of the Airport Authority and is now its liaison to Columbia, said he was proud to watch the area grow into its natural lineaments. Spring Hill is also planning to build an airport to service its own industrial demands, but Apker expects the approval and construction of that airport to take at least ten years, by which time the new Mount Pleasant Airport will be – so to speak – well off the ground.
“Should the Spring Hill airport ever get built, the Maury County Regional Airport does not expect it to affect our operations,” he said.
Sobriety Checkpoint (Press Release)
The Tennessee Highway Patrol will be conducting a sobriety checkpoint on Friday, January 24, 2025, from 10pm until midnight. The location is State Route 50 East, .2 miles east of the 19mm.
And now, Your Hometown Memorials, Sponsored by Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home…
Mary Aliene Fann, 89, retired elementary teacher for Nashville Metro Schools, and longtime resident of Nashville, died Sunday, January 19, 2025 at Morning Pointe Senior Living of Columbia.
Funeral services are incomplete, and will be announced later by Oakes & Nichols. The family suggest memorials may be made to Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort 410 Allied Dr, Nashville, TN 37211. Online condolences may be extended at www.oakesandnichols.com.
And now, news from around the state…
Blackburn at Inaugural Festivities (Fox17.com)
Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn celebrated in Washington DC on the eve of the inauguration.
Blackburn posted to social media on Sunday that she had breakfast with President-elect Donald Trump, and fellow Republicans.
The senator later attended the MAGA victory rally at the Capital One Arena with Singer Billy Ray Cyrus, who is scheduled to perform.
Performers from Tennessee who performed at the rally included Lee Greenwood, Kid Rock, Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean and Chris Janson.
Schwinn Picked for Deputy Sec. of Education (CDH)
President-elect Donald Trump has named former Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn to serve as Deputy Secretary of Education in his new administration, a move that surprised some hardline conservatives in Tennessee.
Trump announced the pick on Truth Social late Friday evening.
“Penny has a strong record of delivering results for children and families,” Trump wrote. “A former teacher herself, Penny became the founding principal of a charter school, because she believes in the power of School Choice, and is committed to delivering the American Dream to the next Generation by returning Education BACK TO THE STATES.”
If confirmed, Schwinn would serve directly under Trump's Education Secretary nominee Linda McMahon.
Schwinn announced her resignation as Tennessee Education Commissioner in 2023. Since her departure, she has served as vice president for K-12 education at the University of Florida.
Gov. Bill Lee praised Trump’s decision as “another strong choice to further his education agenda – delivering school choice & finally returning power back to the states.”
Schwinn, a Sacramento native, was an early appointment in Gov. Bill Lee's administration and took the post in 2019.
Before coming to Tennessee, Schwinn held several top roles at the Texas Education Agency, and before that, served as Assistant Secretary of Education in Delaware and on the board of education for Sacramento County. She has an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkley, a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. from Claremont University.
During her five-year tenure leading Tennessee's Education Department, Schwinn led the department through floods, tornadoes and the COVID-19 pandemic, championing policies aimed at combatting learning loss. She also helped resolve five troubled years of technology issues with the state's TNReady testing system, established the early literacy Reading 360 program, established permanent summer school options, implemented the state's first school choice program, and oversaw a radical restructuring of the state's K-12 education funding formula.
But it wasn't always smooth sailing.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Schwinn backed a policy of initiating wellbeing checks for school aged children in collaboration with the Tennessee Dept. of Health, seeking to send government workers to homes to check on children during the coronavirus pandemic. Reports of the policy sparked outrage among lawmakers and residents at the time ― and even talks of a "no confidence" letter. The policy was terminated before it began.
Final Story of the Day (Maury County Source)
Springer Mountain Farms “Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman” returns to Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium for its 31st year starting Tuesday, June 17, and continuing on Tuesday nights through July 22. The 2025 series begins with Dan Tyminski and concludes with a performance from Country Music Hall of Fame Member and 14-time GRAMMY Award-winner Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder. Other featured acts include Rhonda Vincent, Mighty Poplar, East Nash Grass with AJ Lee and more to be announced.
Season passes for all six shows are available now, with new passes available for purchase after Friday, Feb.16. Single tickets go on sale Friday, Feb. 21, at 10 a.m. CT. Season passes are priced at $190 for renewing pass holders and $200 for new purchasers until the first show. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit ryman.com/bluegrass.
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