Southern Middle TN Today News with Tom Price 10-7-25

WKOM/WKRM Radio

Southern Middle Tennessee Today

News Copy for October 7, 2025

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

We start with local news…

Spring Hill Discusses Capital Improvements (MSM)

The Spring Hill Board of Mayor and Alderman held a special meeting last week to discuss capital improvement plans and road closures in the city. 

City Administrator Carter Napier presented a review of the city’s 10-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), outlining $480 million in projects to be distributed over the next 10 years. 

The four-page plan divides projects into categories and highlights funding status, contractors and progress. 

CIP Director Missy Stahl reviewed the first page of the plan to the board, which included five sections of projects: completed projects, projects currently in progress, committed but not allocated, not committed and not allocated and developer-funded projects. 

Stahl focused on the “ not committed and not allocated” section, which are various department heads’ requests on what they’d like to see in 10 years. The lengthy section included Fire Stations 1,5 and 6, City Hall basement renovations, Port Royal Road Widening and Derryberry Lane passive park design and engineering, and more. 

Committed but not allocated projects include a new library building, police training facility, Hurt Road park land and the Buckner Road widening project. 

On Sept. 30, staff sent two surveys to board members, asking them to rank the projects in both the “not committed and not allocated” and the “committed but not allocated” categories in order of priority. The surveys are due Oct. 20, staff will consult and view the results and present it at the Dec. 1 BOMA work session. 

The goal is to have the final resolution adopted by Jan 5, 2026. 

The contractor for the south segment of the Buckner Lane widening project is asking for a short-term closure to speed up construction.

The request is to close the section of Buckner Lane during Williamson County Schools’ fall break, Oct. 9-10, with Oct 11 as a backup date in case of weather delays. The road would be closed at 9 a.m. and reopen at 3 p.m. each day.

The current project requires three different one-lane closures to install two stormwater pipes and a pipe across Buckner Lane. The closure would allow the team to complete these items in one shift, which would ensure a faster completion rate and less impact on traffic and travel for school and residents. 

The contractor has also included a detour plan that would route traffic from Spring Station, through Wade’s Grove and Chapman’s Retreat then reconnect at Duplex Road. Stahl noted that the chief of police has agreed to utilize extra patrols on the detour routes for the two days. 

Message boards would be placed at the end of each project site a week in advance to notify residents of the closure and detour information. This request was forwarded to the consent agenda at the Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting. 

Commissioners Jennifer Mason and Guy Carden II, District 3 of Spring Hill, shared grant funding approval for College Grove Park during Monday night’s citizen comment portion. 

The grant passed, allocating more than $10 million for pickleball courts, baseball fields, walking trails and a stage for concerts.

Safe Haven Baby Box (MSM)

The City of Columbia officially unveiled its first Safe Haven Baby Box on Wednesday at the newly renovated Fire Station 1. Columbia joined a growing network of Tennessee communities working to protect newborns by installing baby boxes.

The Safe Haven Baby Box at Fire Station 1 is part of Tennessee’s Safe Haven Law, which allows birth mothers to safely surrender unharmed newborns at designated facilities.

Parents in crisis now have a safe, legal, and confidential option to surrender a newborn, ensuring infants are given the best possible chance at a safe future.

When a baby is surrendered into the climate-controlled box, a silent alarm summons emergency responders to take him or her to the hospital. Since 2001, more than 140 babies have been surrendered at Safe Haven’s 25 baby boxes across Tennessee.

The city thanked the Junior League of Maury County, who raised $8,000 for the installation, and Safe Haven Baby Boxes for their partnership and dedication. For more information, visit www.shbb.org or call the 24-hour Safe Haven Crisis Hotline at 1-866-99BABY1 (1-866-992-2291).

CFR Recognized (MauryCountySource)

The City of Columbia proudly announces that Columbia Fire & Rescue was honored with the 2025 Excellence in Risk Management Award by Public Entity Partners.

The award was presented during the Excellence in Risk Management Luncheon on Thursday, October 2, as part of the annual Risk and Insurance Symposium.

This recognition celebrated the department’s innovative efforts to enhance firefighter wellness through the introduction of Darby, an emotional support service dog stationed at Fire Station 3. Darby provides comfort and support to first responders, helping them manage the stress and trauma that often accompany emergency response situations.

The award underscores Columbia Fire & Rescue’s ongoing commitment to protecting not only the community but also the health and well-being of its firefighters. By embracing forward-thinking approaches to risk management and wellness, the department continues to set an example for fire service agencies across the state.

CSCC STEM Within Reach (MSM)

Columbia State Community College will host a STEM Within Reach event in an effort to promote and encourage young people’s knowledge and access to science, technology, engineering and math careers, on Oct. 25 at the Columbia Campus.

“STEM Within Reach is more than just a science outreach event – it’s an ongoing passion project of Columbia State faculty and staff who love science,” said Ryan Badeau, Columbia State educational services coordinator for the Williamson Campus and associate professor of physics. “STEM Within Reach is a full-day Saturday event, held every other year at the Columbia Campus, with the goal of bringing novel hands-on science activities and experiences to middle school boys and girls right here in Middle Tennessee. We believe in inspiring upcoming students to not only learn more about the natural world, but also how they can use that knowledge to pursue future careers that benefit themselves, their families and communities.”

STEM Within Reach is a one-day STEM forum open to all sixth, seventh and eighth graders that will offer interactive, hands-on activities as well as encourage early student success in STEM, provide awareness of STEM careers available in Tennessee and promote the scientific and technological understanding of such fields.

The workshops at STEM Within Reach are designed to teach middle school students about the different opportunities in STEM-related careers as they begin to think about their futures.

Stations will be set up around campus for the students to observe and participate while Columbia State faculty and guest presenters guide them through an interactive, hands-on experience.

Topics include animal science, astronomy, biology, chemistry, engineering, math, technology and more. 

“Our last event was held in October 2023, and included stations that explored drone flight, chemistry flame tests, an introduction to Python and game development, cow eyeball dissection, live animals and agricultural science and more,” said Bobbie West, Columbia State associate professor of engineering and physics. “We partnered with the Columbia Police Department and Columbia Fire & Rescue to showcase how they use technology in keeping our communities safe. We also had a guest workshop sponsored by Ultium Cells on the science behind batteries. 

Parents and teachers are invited to a tour with information on how their children can pursue resources and careers in a variety of STEM fields. Complementary Wi-Fi and lounge areas will also be available throughout the event.

The event will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Waymon L. Hickman building on the Columbia Campus. There is a $20 registration fee, with limited financial assistance opportunities available via the scholarship application made possible thanks to lead sponsor, the Tennessee Valley Authority. Seating is limited.

“We are looking forward to this year’s event which will bring back many of our favorite science activities and workstations and add some new ones!” Badeau said. “I’m personally excited to see the return of the game design event (that was very well received in our last event) and a new activity related to cloud chambers.”

STEM Within Reach is made possible through the volunteer effort of Columbia State’s faculty and staff, the donations of community partners like the Tennessee Valley Authority, and volunteer community presenters like the Columbia Police Department and Columbia Fire & Rescue.

For full details and to register for the event or apply for scholarship funds, please visit www.ColumbiaState.edu/stem-within-reach.

For more information on Stem Within Reach, please email stemwithinreach@ColumbiaState.edu.

Dobbins Honored By CPJI (MSM)

At the Columbia Peace and Justice Initiative’s fourth Legacy Night, the civil-rights organization presented its lifetime-achievement Legacy Award to Barbara Dobbins, a career-long teacher and administrator in local schools.

Dobbins’ most celebrated terms of service were her decades as vice-principal of Whitthorne Elementary School, where the state Education Association once recognized her as Susan B. Anthony Principal of the Year, and her leadership on the boards of several nonprofits. She was at various times a member of the Delta Kappa Gamma Teachers’ Society and the Maury County Library Board, and chairwoman of the county Education Association, the local chapter of the American Association of Women, the Columbia Housing Authority, and the local NAACP, for which she was the first female leader.

Barbara Tansil grew up in Martin in West Tennessee, where she worked through school, picking cotton and cleaning houses and washing dishes, to buy things that she wanted and needed. She graduated high school in 1958.

“At an early age, there’s one thing I learned,” she said: “if you want to have something, you have to work hard. If you don’t work, you won’t have it.”

To enable and reward her hard work, the local Rotary Club awarded her a scholarship that allowed her to attend Tennessee State University. Seventy-odd years later, at the Legacy Night, her eyes still grew misty as she remembered this gift and the doors it unlocked for her.

“The inspiration and the incentive that it [gave] to me, I will never forget as long as I live,” she testified. “I [prayed] ‘Oh God, if ever I am able, I will do in kind,’ and for 30 years I have given a child a scholarship to go to school. I gave them the push that they needed, because someone had done me that way.”

“One of the blessings of this evening is the establishment of the Barbara Dobbins Legacy Scholarship,” said Demetrius Nelson, pastor of Carmack Boulevard Church of Christ.

The scholarship will dispense the same sort of gift that made Mrs. Dobbins’s life and career.

She graduated in three years with a Bachelor’s degree in Home Economics and married Maurice Hardison, then moved with him to Maury County, where she’s lived for 65 years.

After her first two years as a teacher, the schools integrated and she was hired at Whitthorne Middle School, where she served as vice principal until 2007. She presided over the middle-school careers of uncountable thousands of students — two of whom helped honor her at the Legacy Night.

“Let me tell you, that walk to Mrs. Dobbins’s office… still brings back tears,” joked Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder, who had to report to her when he and some friends misbehaved in their Whitthorne days. She set him a fair and constructive penance, and in return never told his parents about the incident.

“Someone once said, ‘The mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates, but the great teacher inspires,'” said Dr. Trent Ogilvie, her former student, who helps lead the Columbia Peace and Justice Initiative. “We are here tonight to celebrate Mrs. Dobbins because she inspires.”

Dobbins was famous for her grave comportment and high expectations, but what undergirded those was her genuine respect and concern for her students.

“I used to tell my students to write on the board on the first day, ‘Respect,'” she recalled. “And I’d say, ‘Oh no, I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about myself. I’m going to respect you.”

When he was in seventh grade, young Oglivie was preoccupied with his mother’s cancer struggle and allowed his grades to slip; he missed the honor roll by one point and was disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to show that achievement to his mother. When Dobbins saw him walking the halls glumly one morning, he told her why, and she asked the teacher who had given him the subpar grade to allow him to make it up somehow.

“You never know what people… [or] children might be going through,” Ogilvie said. “Having someone like Mrs. Dobbins take the time to speak into my life at that moment was very critical for me.”

The fruit was obvious in the lives of both men: Ogilvie came to lead the Housing and Development Authority, on which he and Dobbins sat at the same time, and she paid a poignant visit to Molder once in his office at City Hall.

“How full-circle that moment was,” the mayor said: “Barbara Dobbins sitting across the desk from me.”

Dobbins mentored and inspired adults as well as children, in and beyond Whitthorne.

“That very first day she came into my classroom and said, ‘I’m Mrs. Dobbins, I am the vice principal, and you will report to me,'” recalled Whitthorne teacher Ladelle Smith. “But she said it with such love and smiles and admiration that I just adored her from the very beginning.”

“I would not be the woman that I am today,” said Dr. Rose Ogilvie-McClain, the first black student at McDowell Elementary, “had I not wanted what she had… [and] she shared that with me.”

“The reason so many people in this city have accomplished what they have, and are living in the conditions that they are, is because of her goodness and her kindness,” said Louvonia Pillow-Wilson, the favorite niece of Dobbins’s husband Maurice Hardison.

“Mrs. Dobbins has been my other mom,” said Dr. Christa Martin, who used to sit on the Columbia City Council (as vice-mayor) and the Library Board. “I can’t tell some of the things we’ve done together, and some of the things she’s corrected me on.”

Her presence and approach were a tonic, and a panel of three local principals, all black women like Dobbins, agreed that the county’s schools today would benefit from it.

“One of the biggest challenges I see is low expectations we place on ourselves, on our students,” said Shanda Sparrow-Lang, the principal of Columbia Central High School. “We have to start demanding excellence again.”

“Unfortunately, a lot of individuals have written off our students,” agreed Dedra Dawson, the principal of Horace O. Porter Alternative School. “But showing [up for] them, supporting them, and getting to open that door for them financially is a blessing.”

“It’s amazing to have people in the leadership space that look like me,” said Dr. Renata Powell, the principal of Spring Hill Elementary.

As a Memphis transplant, she found Maury County a little tough to break into, but Sparrow-Lang’s mentorship helped her adjust to professional life here.

“Mrs. Dobbins reminds me of several of my aunts, who pushed me and my… two sisters… to do this work and dedicate… and be confident in [ourselves],” she said.

Mrs. Dobbins herself took the stage at the end and thanked everyone for attending the Legacy Night. She cited the opening line of John Keats’s poem “Endymion.”

“‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever,'” she quoted, and thanked her students, bosses, colleagues, family and friends in attendance. “That’s the way you have treated me this evening, being here and recognizing me.”

Spring Hill Chamber Awards (Press Release)

Join the Spring Hill Chamber for their annual Excellence in Business Gala on Friday, November 7th at the UAW Hall located at 125 Stephen P. Yokich Parkway. This premier black-tie event celebrates outstanding leadership, innovation, and community impact across our local business community. Guests will enjoy an elegant served dinner, open bar, and live entertainment from an Old-School Motown Revue Band, The Compozitionz.

Please join us as we recognize this year’s distinguished nominees:

Business of the Year

• Light Hill Meats

• Grecian Family Restaurant & Bakery

• The Awaken House

 Non-Profit of the Year

• Friends of the Spring Hill Library

• The Well Outreach

• Community Baptist Church

PLUS, Woman and Man of the Year!

We look forward to an inspiring evening of celebration, connection, and community pride as we honor those who make Spring Hill a thriving place to live and do business.

Tickets are limited and expected to sell out — reserve your seat today!

https://business.springhillchamber.com/events/details/tonight-business-excellence-awards-gala-36855

Maury County Clerk Satellite Office (Press Release)

The Maury County Clerk’s office can now help residents with renewals of license plates or placards each Wednesday from 8am to 3:30pm at the Maury County Senior Center located at 1020 Maury County Park Dr.

Please drive around to the back of the building and look for the car tag renewal sign near the back door.

Forms of payment include credit/debit card or check – no cash.

Any Maury County Resident can use this office.

All other transactions will still need to be done through the main office located at 10 Public Square.

Also, you can renew online at TNCountyClerk.com or at kiosks in Spring Hill City Hall or Mt. Pleasant Courthouse.

Now, news from around the state…

Two Tennessee Cities Rank Best Nationally (Tennessean)

While Nashville has grown by leaps and bounds, so have its smaller surrounding cities, as people flock to the suburbs, eager to enjoy small-town charm while staying close to the conveniences of a major metro.

Two Nashville suburbs were recently ranked as two of the best small cities in the U.S. by personal finance company WalletHub.

To determine the best small cities, WalletHub compared more than 1,300 U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 based on 45 key indicators of livability, ranging from housing costs to school-system quality to restaurants per capita.

“Moving from a bustling metropolis to a small city could drastically cut down your cost of living," wrote WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. "On top of that, the best small cities offer strong job markets, high-quality education, good health care, safe living conditions and plenty of local flair to help you achieve a high quality of life."

"While small cities may lack some advantages of big cities, like robust public transportation systems, they make up for these shortcomings in other areas,” he added.

Brentwood and Franklin each cracked the top 20 in WalletHub’s ranking, landing at No. 7 and No. 15, respectively. Both cities ranked in the 99th percentile, placing them among the top 1% of small cities nationwide.

Taking the top five spots were Carmel, Indiana (No. 1), Brookfield, Wisconsin (No. 2), Lexington, Massachusetts (No. 4), and Westfield, Indiana (No. 5).

Other Tennessee cities that made the list include: Spring Hill, Mount Juliet, Hendersonville, Maryville, Gallatin, Lebanon, Smyrna, Oak Ridge, Germantown, Bristol, Johnson City, Cookeville, Columbia, La Vergne, Cleveland, Kingsport, Collierville, Morristown, Jackson, and Bartlett.

Final Story of the Day (Maury County Source)

Enjoy a fun, family-friendly trunk-or-treat event at the Columbia Powersports Supercenter (800 South James Campbell Blvd, #A2, Columbia, Tennessee 38401) on Friday, October 24th, 2025, from 5-7 pm!

The dealership will have decorated cars & SXS trunks filled with candy and treats for the little ones, giveaways, and festive activities!

More information can be found on the Columbia Powersports facebook page.