WKOM/WKRM Radio
Southern Middle Tennessee Today
News Copy for February 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…
School Closures (WKOM)
Due to several secondary, rural and neighborhood roads still impacted with snow and ice, all Maury County Public Schools will be closed on Thursday, February 20. Twelve-month employees should report.
The Boys & Girls Clubs will be open at the following locations:
• Wayne Street
• 8th Street
• Marvin Wright Elementary
• Mt. Pleasant Elementary
All Columbia State Campuses will open at 9:30am today.
Besides Maury, Giles, Hickman, Lawrence, Lewis, Marshall, and Williamson County Schools are closed.
Bill to Open Development on Duck Opposed (CDH)
A proposed bill that could remove a two-mile boundary between natural rivers and proposed landfills has drawn attention among preservation advocates, including those who have fought for the health of the Duck River.
House Bill 0895, sponsored by District 73 Rep. Chris Todd, R-Jackson, was introduced earlier this month.
The proposed bill, as currently written, challenges the previous bill passed in 2023 by the General Assembly expanding the Duck River's scenic status.
"As introduced, removes the two-mile buffer between class II scenic rivers and new and expanded landfill sites. — Amends TCA Title 11, Chapter 13 and Title 68," the proposed bill currently states.
However, Todd said his intention is to amend the bill to "grandfather" the Duck River's Class II Pastoral River status passed last session.
The bill would also affect other rivers in Tennessee.
Todd said the bill's purpose is to protect property rights, and how the current law reads could be interpreted as violating them by limiting certain development near rivers.
"My intention around this bill is to correct something in the law around our Scenic Rivers Act that has been used in the past as a weapon in other situations to really infringe on property rights when it was never intended to be that," Todd said.
"I don't intend for this to be retroactive and affect anything in the past, it is strictly moving forward that the way it would be used in the future would strictly be a designation of a scenic river and wouldn't have any stipulations around that, restrictions or otherwise."
All of Maury County’s state legislators are opposed to Todd’s bill as are county and municipal leaders.
In 2023, the Tennessee General Assembly approved bipartisan legislation protecting a portion of the Duck River in Maury County, with 30 river miles designated as a Class II Pastoral River area.
Securing the designation was a grassroots community effort to protect the health of the river as well as block Louisiana-based Trinity Business Group from implementing a solid-waste landfill in Columbia at the federal superfund site of the now defunct Monsanto chemical plant.
The Duck River touches seven counties and is the most biodiverse river in North America, ranked among America's Most Endangered Rivers® of 2024, according to a 2024 American Rivers report.
Todd's proposed companion bill, Senate Bill 0725, was assigned to the Senate's Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee this week. Todd sits as chairman of the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee.
The proposed bill also states, "It is also not the intent of this chapter to circumvent a law, zoning ordinance, or binding legal precedent related to property rights, expansion of boundaries, or land acquisitions."
Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, said the full committee would likely not pursue the bill until next year, and that it would be a while before it goes before a final House and Senate vote.
"I don't think [Todd] is going to try and move it this year, but certainly it's something we need to watch," Hensley said.
Hensley said if it were to go before a full Senate vote, he would "adamantly" oppose it.
"It would undo [as written] the work we did to pass the Duck River as a scenic river," Hensley said. "There is also another part of the river in Hickman County that we are trying to make a scenic river too. But this bill would allow a landfill to be placed on the Duck River if it passed."
Save The Duck, a grassroots activist organization key in passing the 2023 Duck River scenic river bill, now appears to be prepping for another battle.
"We are going to fight it and will have another grassroots effort," Save The Duck board member Gale Moore said. "We want the Duck River to be designated a scenic river for many reasons, and not having a landfill on the river is the big one."
Moore added that a fight against the bill is not only an effort to preserve the Duck's natural waterscape, but for all Tennessee scenic rivers.
"It would mean all of our rivers and all of our creeks," Moore said. "It's bad for all of our waterways."
Todd said if the bill moves forward, his intention is not to undo the past.
"First of all, I will say the way the bill is written probably could be retroactive, and I have no intention of running it that way," Todd said. "If I continue forward, it will be amended so that it's very clear that anything in the past is grandfathered in, this is not affecting anything that's happened previously, it would be, again, forward-facing only."
City Approves Whataburger (MSM)
On Wednesday night, Feb. 12, the Columbia Planning Commission approved plans for a Whataburger on James Campbell Boulevard.
City Planner Austin Brass explained that it would be built in the central plot on the site of the old Sloan Ford dealership and would feature a segment of the sidewalk the city has wanted to build along James Campbell for a long time. Mayor Chaz Molder asked only that developers make sure the sign wasn’t taller than regulation, and claimed that the city wanted to be mostly hands-off about the development.
“The thought on this body was that we could give staff some greater… ability to make things a little more business-friendly instead of having to come for approval here,” Molder said. “So I think this is a good example of [that idea] at work.”
Spring Hill Candidate Events (MSM)
The Spring Hill Chamber of Commerce will continue its pursuit of an informed electorate in 2025 with two candidate events featuring those running for seats on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
Each election cycle, the chamber focuses on the hyperlocal candidates to Spring Hill, which executive director Rebecca Melton says is vital to the process.
“These events provide a critical platform for our residents to connect with local candidates and gain insight into their policies and leadership styles,” she said. “We encourage all community members and business leaders to participate in these discussions to make informed choices in the upcoming election.”
The first of the two events will be held during the chamber’s monthly business luncheon event. This month’s luncheon will be on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 11:15 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the UAW Hall in Spring Hill. This structured forum will feature Spring Hill’s mayoral and alderman candidates, moderated by Jeff Graves of the COPA Committee. Attendees will gain insights into the candidates’ priorities and leadership visions while enjoying a networking luncheon.
Another opportunity for citizens to speak with candidates will be a public forum held on March 18 at Community Baptist Church on Port Royal Road. The event will begin at 6 p.m. This public forum offers a more intimate setting where community members can ask direct questions and hear unfiltered responses from the candidates. It is a valuable opportunity for voters to engage in meaningful discussions about the future of Spring Hill.
The forum is free and open to the public, but registration is required for the luncheon event with limited seating available. For additional information on each candidate, visit the chamber’s Spring Hill Election Central website.
The election will be held April 10, 2025, with early voting from March 21 until April 5. The last day to register to vote is March 11, 2025.
Candidates include: Mayor: Jim Hagaman (incumbent), Matt Fitterer, John Canepari and Rick J. McCreadie; Alderman Ward 1: Teri Mai and Alex Jimenez; Alderman Ward 2: Greg Groninger, Jaimee Davis, William Pomeroy (incumbent) and Scott Wernert; Alderman Ward 3: Erinn Hartwell and Diane Cochran; Alderman Ward 4: Trent Linville (incumbent) and Kimberly Hughes
A Kid’s Place Opens New Facility (MSM)
A new branch of A Kid’s Place, an advocacy agency that helps rescue children from abusive situations, opened last week with a ribbon-cutting ceremony off Hatcher Lane in Columbia.
Executive director Charlsi Legendre and assistant director Kate Archer spoke about the agency’s mission. When law enforcement or a tip-off informs A Kid’s Place of a potential abuse situation, they schedule a “forensic interview” where the child victim can describe what’s happened to them, to build a legal case against the abuser. A Kid’s Place then assigns the child a therapist and an “advocate,” who works with their supportive parents or guardians to help the child recover from the abuse and grow up psychologically healthy.
“When they walk through our doors, their lives have been completely turned upside down. They don’t know where to go, they don’t know what to do,” explained Legendre. “We’re going to do needs assessments, crisis assessments… just make sure that that family feels loved, supported and heard.”
A Kid’s Place also raises awareness by hosting programs in schools and in the larger community, to let victims and bystanders know that someone is on their side and how they can get help. This awareness-raising has already helped many children in the real world.
Assistant director Archer told the story of a grandmother who came to believe that her daughter was trafficking her elementary-age granddaughter, in order to get money for drugs. Though the grandmother asked the state for emergency custody, the daughter began exerting opposite pressure to get the granddaughter back. The grandmother was at a loss to protect the young girl until she saw a poster for A Kid’s Place at a restaurant. A single call to the agency got the daughter placed with CPS, where she finally got legal protection and the forensic examination that could establish facts for a case.
Archer ended the story with a pitch to “sell” signs (for a small donation) for people and businesses to hang in public.
“When we’re asking you to buy a sign… that sign makes a difference,” she said. “It’s not just a sign; it saves a life. You never know who’s walking through your doors.”
Municipal leaders including County Mayor Sheila Butt, Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder, Columbia City Manager Tony Massey and Sheriff Bucky Rowland attended the ribbon cutting.
“This place is a place of hope and healing, [which] brings happiness to these children,” gushed Mayor Butt, who was familiar with A Kid’s Place from its work in Lawrenceburg. “There are so [many] services here… Thank you for the work that you do.”
A Kid’s Place will work in partnership with local law enforcement, who will make sure to catch abusers and keep them away from the children they might harm. Law Enforcement Officers from the 22nd Judicial District (which includes the three counties south of Maury) attended the opening as well.
City Defining Short-Term Rental Policy (CDH)
Columbia City Council is currently in the depths of defining its regulations for allowing short-term rentals within the city limits, which has drawn a number of opinions on both sides.
The topic of short-term rentals, or properties typically used for things such as Airbnb or VRBO-type rental spaces, has been a topic of debate for quite a few months.
An ordinance to amend the city's Ordinance 4400 regarding short-term rental regulations, established in 2022, was a focal point of the council's Feb. 13 regular meeting.
"This is a very divided topic, and I don't know in my six years of doing this if I have been involved on an issue where it just seems equally divided," Mayor Chaz Molder said. "No matter what we are going to do, we are going to upset one crowd."
The Feb. 13 meeting began with a public hearing, which included nearly an hour of citizen comments.
"Residents have become concerned about the impact of transient rental accommodations, voicing concerns including traffic noise and mostly safety and security," former Maury County Commissioner Sue Stephenson said. "Who is monitoring, or who is vetting, particularly if it's not under a platform?"
Stephenson added that another concern is that many of these properties are often owned and operated by out-of-town investors, rather than local property owners, while posing a potentially negative effect on neighboring homeowners.
"They are coming in to buy multiple, single-family homes particularly on the north end, in some cases buying up entire blocks to use as short-term rentals for employees that are commuting in and out of town," Stephenson said. "But then there are others in those subdivisions who have bought and invested in homes to build equity, watch the value of their homes appreciate, not depreciate and want to raise a family in those homes.
"They do not want to be surrounded by revolving doors of short-term rentals."
David Gephart, a Columbia citizen in favor of the regulations allowing short-term rentals, said that while incidents do happen, studies have shown the frequency is actually less than people might think.
"I think the record you have established with this [amendment] and the previous legislation is that short-term rentals have fewer issues, are better maintained and have fewer noise and traffic complaints than long-term rentals or sometimes even owner-occupied properties," Gephart said.
"It's the kind of business that brings wholesome tourism to the city of Columbia, inspires investment and the support of local businesses. It's just human freedom, the right thing to do."
Last week's meeting resulted in the approval of the ordinance's proposed amendments, which appeared as the first of two readings.
The second reading, which will likely go before a council vote in March, would be the final vote before the amendments would take effect.
The current ordinance states that properties used as short-term rentals are required to be owner-occupied in certain mixed-use districts. The new ordinance would eliminate that requirement, Development Services Director Paul Keltner said.
"Those would be allowed outright, and so no owner-occupied provisions inside the limited-use standard," Keltner said. "At the same time, open it up to all of the main districts except for heavy manufacturing and civic, and have those as a conditional use."
There are also grandfathering provisions in place, which would allow short-term rentals currently in use to remain, even if the new ordinance does not allow it. However, the grandfather clause would only be granted to those who are registered legally, Keltner said.
Molder added that the districts being considered to allow short-term rentals amounts to about 3,600 acres out of more than 20,000 acres within the Columbia city limits.
"We are approving a small amount, and there is always the ability to open it up and to do more, but it would be difficult to allow it all and go backwards," Molder said.
Columbia Vice Mayor Randy McBroom said he supported the changes as presented, which were recommended by the city's planning commission prior to the Feb. 13 meeting.
"My opinions are that neighborhoods are for neighbors, and not short-term rentals, and that's why I support what the planning commission recommended at this time," McBroom said.
"But everybody is looking at it as if it's right now and not five, 10 or 15 years down the road. I've seen in these cities where they want to pull it back because short-term rentals have taken them over. Columbia is not like that, and we might get like that, but we can always change it later, because once you let it out of the box, you can't let it back in."
The final vote regarding the proposed ordinance's first reading resulted in unanimous approval.
And now, Your Hometown Memorials, Sponsored by Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home…
Richard “Rick” Jenkins, 76, passed away Friday, February 14, 2025, after battling cancer for several years.
The memorial service will be Sunday, February 23rd at Pleasant Heights Baptist Church. The family will visit with friends from 1:00 until 3:00 with the service to follow.
Roy Henry Mitchell, 93, resident of Culleoka, died Sunday, February 16, 2025, at his residence.
Funeral services will be conducted Monday, February 24, 2025 at 2:00 PM at Oakes and Nichols Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Friendship Cemetery in Culleoka with military honors provided by the Herbert Griffin American Legion Post 19. The family will visit with friends Monday, February 24, 2025 from 12:00 PM until the service time at the funeral home.
Donald Lentz “Gator” Galbreath, passed away on February 17, 2025, at the age of 87.
Funeral services will be conducted Sunday, February 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Rose Hill Cemetery with military honors provided by the Herbert Griffin American Legion Post 19. The family will visit with friends Saturday, February 22, 2025 from 4:00 PM till 7:00 PM with a Masonic Service to follow at 7:00 PM, and on Sunday from 1:00 PM till the time of service at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home.
Glenn Delton Nix, 80, retired fire fighter with the Columbia Fire Department for 22 years, died Tuesday, February 18, 2025 at Maury Regional Transitional Care.
Funeral services will be conducted Friday, February 21, 2025 at 3:00 PM at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home with Eric Swann officiating. Burial will follow in Polk Memorial Gardens with honors provided by the Columbia Fire Department. The family will visit with friends Friday from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at the funeral home.
And now, news from around the state…
Tennessee Launches Summer Food Program (Tennessean)
Tennessee will direct $3 million toward food assistance in a few rural counties this summer, though the benefit will reach just a fraction of the children in need who previously received assistance from a federal program that Gov. Bill Lee declined to participate in this year.
The Tennessee Department of Human Services on Friday announced the plan to give a $120 one-time payment to eligible children — those already eligible for SNAP and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families participation — in 15 rural counties this summer.
“With this innovative step, we will go even further to provide food security to Tennessee children,” Tennessee Department of Human Services Commissioner Clarence Carter said in a statement. “This approach will deliver a fiscally responsible strategy to reach families in underserved communities in the summer months.”
The new state program mimics a federal program that in recent years has given direct cash payments to nearly 700,000 Tennessee kids to help cover summer grocery costs.
But the majority of those kids will not benefit from the program this summer, after Lee declined to participate in the federal program going forward. In opting out, Tennessee effectively left more than $75 million in federal funding on the table.
"I don't see how they've done anything innovative here," said Signe Anderson, a senior director at the Tennessee Justice Center. The group made a last-minute push in recent weeks to lobby Lee to reverse course on the federal program.
"They've just limited the reach of a program that could have served all of the families with kids that are struggling with food insecurity during the summer," Anderson said.
Last year, Tennessee officials cited administrative costs as part of the reason for not moving forward with the program, though Democrats have criticized Lee and others for opting out over political optics. The summer cash program was widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic under the Biden administration, though it actually dates back as far as 2011. Tennessee first participated in an expanded pilot program in 2018 under the first Trump administartion.
Tennessee's administrative costs to administer the federal program, now called SUN Bucks, came to about $5 million in 2024. The state's share was likely to decrease in 2025, advocates said. Tennessee could also have been eligible for an additional grant to help offset some technology costs, had it opted in to the program before the deadline.
But even with the state's administrative outlay, the federal program had a significant return on investment for Tennesseans.
With Tennessee paying about $5 million to help run the program, every dollar the state paid into the program essentially drew down more than $14 to help feed Tennessee kids. The Food Research & Action Center also estimated those federal dollars generated at least $114 million in economic impact across the state.
With the new program, Tennessee is now paying more than half what it paid to adminster SUN Bucks while reaching far fewer Tennesseans.
With the $3 million allocation and $120 grants, the state's program could only serve a maximum of 25,000 kids, less than 4% than were served by the federal-state partnership.
Final Story of the Day (Maury County Source)
Music City Irish Fest and Irish Network Nashville present “Nashville Shamrock Celebration,” kicking off March 1st and running through March 22nd with special events daily and special events highlighting the St. Patrick’s Day weekend.
Nashville Shamrock Celebration highlights more than 200 years of traditions as Nashville was founded by Scots-Irishmen, John Donelson and James Robertson.
One of Nashville Shamrock Celebration’s goals is to continue to raise awareness of the city’s rich music history which came by way of Scots-Irish immigrants who settled in the Appalachian Mountains, bringing their songs and tunes with them. Over time, these styles became what we now know as bluegrass, folk, and country music.
A full list of information on how and where to celebrate, including participating venues, locations and a music playlist is found at www.musiccityirishfest.com.
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