Southern Middle TN Today News with Tom Price 10-29-25

WKOM/WKRM Radio

Southern Middle Tennessee Today

News Copy for October 29, 2025

All news stories are aggregated from various sources and modified for time and content. Original sources are cited.

We start with local news…

Columbia Wastewater Treatment Plant (MSM)

The new Columbia wastewater plant is the largest capital project in the city’s history and is intended to serve for the next 50 years.

Leading personnel from the Columbia Wastewater Department and the company in charge of building the $97.5 million facility recently took city leaders and officials on a tour of its progress.

Work began on the facility in July 2024, and by the time of the tour 11,000 feet of concrete had been poured. It will come online in April 2027 and will have a total of 20,000 square feet of concrete when it is completed in June 2028.

The treatment facility will have four concrete canals, 400-feet long, 40-feet wide and 18-feet deep, that spiral into one another. As Director of Wastewater Donnie Boshers and treatment plant Superintendent Cory Jenks explained how the whole facility will work, Boshers’s voice echoed all the way down the empty first canal.

“These are massive, so we’ll be able to handle big flow spikes without any problem because of the redundancy,” Jenks said.

The “oxidation ditch” features a motorized paddle which moves wastewater through the chambers and permeates it with oxygen. As the waste progresses through the basins, specially chosen cultures of microbes digest the waste. Part of the cleansed wastewater is injected back into the front end, to reintroduce the microbes there.

“Basically, what we do is the same process that occurs naturally in a stream,” said Boshers. “We just manipulate the process to complete it more quickly.”

At the end of the chain, the water goes through UV purification and a “clarifier” which filters out the last solids; the clean water is then pumped back into the Duck River a little after the 127-mile marker. CPWS recently told Main Street Maury that Columbia Wastewater’s effluent is so clean that they can’t process it in their treatment plant for reuse; they’ll let Columbia Wastewater’s product float downstream for several miles, mixing in with Duck River water, before taking it in at their new Williamsport valve.

Boshers was especially proud of the plant’s cocktail of bacteria, fungi and microalgae, which remove organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus and ammonia, chemicals which cause harmful algal blooms in the Duck River. The state requires wastewater utilities to eliminate ammonia and nitrogen, and is applying more pressure to do the same for phosphorus. They already use microbial digestion, and will seed the new plant’s wastewater with microbial “sludge” from the current one, but they will lean even more on the power of nature and less on mixing and straining machines in this new plant.

“This will be so much less labor-intensive, [and] the amount of mechanical equipment is so much less than at the old plant,” Boshers said. “Now, where we can handle 24-25 million gallons during a rain event, we’ll be able to handle 35-38 million gallons.”

The increased volume will also help them to meet the state’s purity requirements. TDEC caps the amounts of substances allowed in Columbia Wastewater’s effluent, and their permit doesn’t allow for more even during high-volume rainstorms; they can better control their process and purity levels by keeping the wastewater in the chambers with the microbes for as long as possible.

“Our permit limits will never go down, regardless of how much our flow increases,” explained Boshers. “So this will help us meet those limits that are coming.”

“We’ll have a lot more consistent effluent numbers with this plant than [with] the other plant,” agreed Jenks.

Marshall Medical Center Accredited for MRI (Press Release)

 Marshall Medical Center was recently awarded a three-year term of accreditation in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) following a review by the American College of Radiology (ACR). 

Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, is a noninvasive, diagnostic test that uses a magnetic field and radio waves to create detailed images of the inside of the body to help physicians diagnose and treat an array of medical conditions.

The ACR gold seal of accreditation represents the highest level of image quality and patient safety. It is only awarded to facilities meeting ACR practice parameters and technical standards after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. Image quality, personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs are assessed.

“Marshall Medical Center is committed to providing advanced imaging services and exceptional care to our patients,” said Phyllis Brown, CEO of rural hospitals for Maury Regional Health. “This accreditation follows our investment in advanced MRI technology and reflects our team’s dedication to delivering the highest quality diagnostic care for our community.”

Marshall Medical Center recently installed a new uMR®680 state-of-the-art magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system from United Imaging. The new uMR 680 system is a 1.5T MRI scanner designed to enhance clinical diagnostics, patient comfort and workflow efficiency. With its advanced imaging technology and use of Artificial Intelligence, the machine delivers exceptional image quality with faster scan times. The scanner also features Qscan noise reduction, an ultra-wide bore and a unique in-bore starlight environment creating a more comfortable patient experience.

MRI is among a range of diagnostic imaging services offered by Marshall Medical Center including computed tomography (CT), nuclear medicine, 3D mammography, ultrasound and bone densitometry. Imaging studies are conducted by skilled radiologic technologists, with results interrupted by board-certified radiologists on the Maury Regional Health medical staff.

To learn more about the services provided at Marshall Medical Center, visit MauryRegional.com/MMC. Imaging services vary by location. Some exams require a physician's referral. To schedule an imaging study at any Maury Regional Health location, including Marshall Medical Center, call 931.380.4044.

Trump Endorses Ogles (Fox17.com)

President Donald Trump has endorsed U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles for re-election in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.

President Trump issued the endorsement on Oct. 25 in a Truth Social post and followed up with a formal announcement on Monday. He praised Ogles’ work on issues including the economy, federal regulations, border security, and support for military members and veterans.

“Congressman Andy Ogles is doing a fantastic job representing the incredible people of Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District!” Trump said in the statement. “Andy is a Conservative Warrior who has strong support from his Community. In Congress, he is fighting tirelessly to grow our Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations, promote MADE IN THE U.S.A. and American Energy DOMINANCE, safeguard our Elections, keep our now very Secure Border, SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, strengthen our Military/Veterans, and defend our always under siege Second Amendment."

Ogles responded in a written statement saying he is grateful for the support and plans to continue aligning himself with Trump’s agenda.

“I am honored to receive President Trump’s Complete and Total Endorsement. From day one, I have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with President Trump to put America First, defend Tennessee values, and restore our American Republic,” said Ogles. “The fight for the soul of America is raging, and President Trump needs warriors who will never bend, never break, and never sell out. I will not let him or the people of Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District down. America First to the end,”

Ogles, a former Maury County mayor, was first elected to Congress in 2022 after a court-ordered redrawing of Tennessee’s congressional map reshaped the 5th District.

The endorsement comes as Ogles faces scrutiny from some local leaders over his call for federal troops to assist with public safety in Tennessee’s largest cities. In September, he urged the deployment of National Guard forces to Nashville, citing concerns about violent crime. The push drew opposition from Nashville officials and protest groups who say crime rates are falling and federal intervention is unnecessary.

Ogles has defended his stance, calling parts of Nashville and Memphis “war zones” and arguing that the federal government should act if local leaders do not.

CPWS To Move Intake Valve (MSM)

The leaders of Columbia Power and Water Services (CPWS) will start work soon moving the main water intake valve from the downtown dam to Williamsport. The new valve will have a drawing capacity of 32 million gallons of Duck River water per day, which will travel through 17 miles of pipe to reach the CPWS treatment plant on the Nashville Highway. It should be completed about three years from the time they hope to break ground next spring.

The current intake sits above the old dam on Riverside Drive, where 15-17 million gallons is drawn every day on a permit that allows for 20 million gallons per day (MGD), serving the water systems of Maury County and its municipalities. TDEC has already approved their requested permit increase for a maximum withdrawal of 32 MGD, but the new valve will start out drawing only as much as it now does, according to demand.

To treat the larger volume of water, CPWS is arranging to demolish the old American Legion Post 19 building next door to their current facility. There they will build a $170 million water-treatment plant capable of processing 12 MGD, to complement the currently operating plant next door, which can handle the 20 MGD on their old permit.

Reasons for moving the intake

According to CPWS officials, the valve isn’t being moved out of strict necessity; in fact the intake at the old dam can bring in 32 MGD per day. CPWS plans to keep that straw in the Duck for redundancy, in case an environmental or technical emergency forces them to temporarily close the new valve.

Instead, the Williamsport intake offers other advantages. For one thing, it is believed it will better preserve the ecological health of the Duck River. The state Fish and Wildlife agency found that the mussel population around the dam is far higher and more diverse than that in Williamsport, and the mussels at the dam would fare better in a severe drought if CPWS weren’t drinking millions of gallons of their water each day. The new intake will also be shielded by a conical screen, to keep from sucking in fish and other wildlife.

CPWS communications specialist Chris Yow has said the new intake’s “turbidity” (stirring of the water) might even help the ecosystem at Williamsport, by bringing oxygen into the water in a way that would sustain more aquatic life.

“Williamsport is well-equipped for a sleepy intake that nobody notices,” CPWS President Jonathan Hardin said.

CPWS also stands to capture and reuse the purified wastewater from the new intake. Hardin explained that right now, Columbia’s clean effluent — about 60 percent of the water they supply to the city — floats downstream without being used again in Maury County; the lower intake valve offers them the chance to capture and reuse every gallon they draw up to two times.

CPWS started planning and applying for the project in 2015, and after years of studies and inquiry, final regulatory approval was received in spring 2025. Other groups with a stake in the Duck River, from environmental agencies to advocacy groups like the Duck River Conservancy, weighed in during the appeal and review processes, and Hardin reported that all parties were reasonably satisfied with the Williamsport intake plan; he was “grateful” that they gave their honest input at the opportune time.

“With all certainty, we have a plan that has passed all rigor to be protective of the Duck and responsive to our customers,” Hardin said.

Costs and funding sources

CPWS Vice-President Matt Wheeler estimates that construction costs will come in a little below $500 million, and with “soft costs” like purchasing and permitting the total should come up to about $520 million. He reminded the public that without additional pipelines and treatment facilities, all the new water they can pump in — whether from a raised Normandy Reservoir, the Cumberland River pipeline, a reservoir in Columbia or any other source — is useless to the consumers of Maury County. Whatever the chosen solution to the growing water needs of Maury County, it must include the costs of transportation and treatment.

“None of those other projects bring drinking water to people’s faucets without an intake and treatment plant expansion,” he said.

CPWS stands to get generous federal and state loans to fund the project, since those governments’ agencies approve of the environmental benefits of the new $280 million valve and pipeline. They plan to take out a WIFIA (Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act) loan from the EPA for 49 percent of the whole project, which will allow them to spread the cost of repayment over 40 years, with low interest rates and no repayment at all for the first five years. A $135 million Revolving Fund Loan from the state and general bond market loans will cover the rest of the initial costs.

“The balance of the project will be from general bonds and direct revenue payments,” Yow stated. “Repayment of those will come from those state and federal funding options we are pursuing, as well as a combination of impact fees and possible rate increases.”

Wheeler said that generous loan terms are necessary: according to the rate study which is now underway, customers would see an “eye-watering” rate increase without WIFIA, especially when compounded by high construction inflation. The rate study is expected to conclude, with a number they can confidently publish as the projected increase to consumers’ water bills, at the end of the year.

“Rates [are] the last knob you turn,” Hardin reassured CPWS’s customers: whatever means they would use to pay for these improvements, whether debt, impact fees, grants or bonds, they would try to exhaust them all before raising rates.

What the new water sources enable

The new water source would enable some of the local development that is now chafing at environmental and infrastructural restraints. The water could provide for somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 new households — at the most extreme growth projections of 3.5 percent year over year — and robust industrial growth, including factories that would use 2-3 MGD apiece.

CPWS doesn’t influence growth patterns on their own: they can only report on whether they can deliver the water that a given developer requests, and state law binds them to do whatever they can to supply the requested water. Nonetheless, they expressed appreciation for the pickiness with which Maury Alliance is now choosing and courting new industries, particularly those which agree to bring high-quality employment, minimize their environmental impact, or reuse or clean their used water.

“I applaud Wil Evans, Travis Groth and their staff… they do a wonderful job,” Hardin said. “If we are providing our resources to a business… [Maury Alliance makes sure] we’re getting equal or greater value in terms of jobs.”

Finally, the new permit, intake and treatment facility provide a stopgap solution that should last for up to two decades after it comes online. In the time this project will provide, CPWS’s leaders want everyone, from rate payers to regional stakeholders, to be willing to find Maury County a water supply that can last the next 100 years. Hardin evoked the Greatest Generation, who (he recalled) came home from World War II to build the dam in Columbia, the water systems and other critical infrastructure that we enjoy today, and asked the people and utilities of the region to think and build for as far into the future as they did.

“CPWS is still looking to help find the best long-term project past the downstream intake because we know how long it will take to study, plan, and permit any long-term option… We and our partner stakeholders will continue to explore those options,” Yow said. “In the meantime, we look forward to completing this necessary linchpin project that has been more than a decade in the works.”

Youth Education Foundation Awards Grants (Press Release)

Maury County Public Schools (MCPS) is excited to announce that the Youth Educational Foundation (YEF) has awarded $29,750 in grants that will fund 27 educational projects across the school district! MCPS educators who applied for the grants detailed how their project idea would help their students grow academically or emotionally, teaching them lifelong skills, or empower ownership and confidence. YEF reviewed all applications to determine winners and funding.

“We are deeply grateful for the generous financial support from the Youth Educational Foundation,” said Lisa Ventura, Superintendent of Maury County Public Schools. This funding will bring 27 creative, hands-on learning projects to life across our schools—directly benefiting students in every corner of our district. Investments like this empower our teachers to innovate and inspire, helping us provide every student with meaningful opportunities to learn, grow, and succeed.”

YEF, a local 501(c) (3) was established in 2013 to raise funds in support of better educational opportunities for students in Maury County. In the 2024-2025 academic school year, YEF awarded more than $72,000 to 42 projects and programs to 22 different schools and organizations in Maury County.

“YEF is proud to support Maury County Public Schools and thankful for our generous donors,” said Travis Groth, Youth Educational Foundation Board Chairman. “We hope these grants will provide enhanced opportunities for teachers to enrich the education of students across Maury County.”

And now, Your Hometown Memorials, Sponsored by Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home…

Mrs. Patricia Porter Thomas, 65, passed away Friday October 24. The family will visit with friends on Wednesday, October 29, from 12:30 to 1:30 at St. Georges Episcopal Church in Nashville. The service will follow at 1:30 in the main chapel.

Now, news from around the state…

Blackburn Supports SNAP Funding (Tennessean)

With days to go before federal food aid for 690,000 needy Tennesseans is not paid, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn has signed on to support a last-minute funding effort by Senate Republicans to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program afloat amid the federal shutdown. 

About one in 10 Tennessee residents rely on SNAP to keep food on the table. Benefits are income-limited to families making $3,483 or less per month for a family of four, and the average family receives $340 per month in aid.

The Senate remains at an impasse over funding for COVID-19-era Medicaid tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year. Senate Democrats have repeatedly blocked a Republican funding measure to reopen the federal government through Nov. 21, demanding negotiation on the expiring tax credits.

Over the weekend, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency responsible for administering SNAP, published an unsigned message on the agency’s home page blaming Senate Democrats for not funding the vital program. 

“Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food stamp program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),” the website states. “Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01.”

Last week, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, introduced a bill to temporarily use unallocated federal funds to pay out November SNAP benefits. Companion legislation has been filed by Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks in the House.

Hawley’s bill is cosponsored by six other Senate Republicans, including Blackburn. 

“Roughly one in 10 Tennesseans receive SNAP benefits for food assistance, and they shouldn’t have to worry about where their next meal will come from because the Democrats are holding government funding hostage to appease their far-left base,” Blackburn said in a statement. “Our Keep SNAP Funded Act would ensure Tennesseans do not miss a meal during the Democrats’ shutdown.”

Sen. Bill Hagerty’s office did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. 

Gov. Bill Lee has warned Tennessee SNAP recipients to expect a lapse in benefits if the federal government does not reopen by November, as Tennessee officials will not use more than $2 billion in state emergency reserves to help fill the funding gap. Tennessee House and Senate Democrats have condemned the state’s lack of action and called for a special legislative session to allocate funding for SNAP.

Final Story of the Day (Maury County Source)

Live Nation announced, via social media, that a new venue called The Truth will open in Nashville.

Stating, “Step inside Nashville’s new stage: The Truth. Built for songwriters, dreamers, and 4,400 fans—coming to Music City in 2026. A new stage inspired by a timeless promise: ‘All you need to write a good song is three chords and The Truth.’”

“Our goal is to create a space that could only exist here — where raw, honest music meets world-class production, and where fans and artists from across all genres can connect in a way that feels unmistakably Nashville.”

The Truth represents a significant investment in Nashville. The venue is projected every year to generate $74 million in economic impact, support 430 jobs, and contribute $6 million in state and local tax revenue.

The new venue will be located in the Wedgewood Houston neighborhood, according to the venue’s website, joining Pastis, Hermes, Soho House, and more.