Southern Middle TN Today News with Tom Price 4-10-25

WKOM/WKRM Radio

Southern Middle Tennessee Today

News Copy for April 10, 2025

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

We start with local news…

Operation Impact I-65 (MauryCountySource)

On Saturday, April 12th, State and Local Law Enforcement agencies will partner with the Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) for “Operation Impact I-65” to reduce traffic fatalities on Interstate 65. From midnight on April 12 until 11:59 p.m., state troopers, deputies, and officers will increase traffic enforcement from the Kentucky-Tennessee state line to the Tennessee-Alabama state line. Agencies will crack down on distracted driving, speeding, seat belt use, impaired driving, and other hazardous moving violations.

Lieutenant Michael Foster says, “By uniting the efforts of state and local law enforcement, we can create a stronger, more effective strategy to combat traffic fatalities on I-65. This partnership allows for better coordination, enhanced visibility, and a shared commitment to the safety of all travelers. Together, we will implement targeted enforcement and community education efforts to reduce wrecks and save lives.”

The Tennessee Highway Safety Office provides grant funding to support State and Local agencies for increased enforcement during this campaign. For more information about the THSO, please visit http://www.tntrafficsafety.org.

Centerstone Opens New Facility (MSM)

After more than 50 years in a side building in the parking lot of Maury Regional Medical Center, Centerstone Behavioral Health has finally got its own space: the whole first floor in the Surgical Center building on Westover Drive. Many thanks were given at the ribbon-cutting ceremony last week, mainly from Centerstone administrators to the state and local officials who made the move possible.

“We are really privileged to be a part of a community [that] accepts us,” said Centerstone regional CEO Ben Middleton, “that understands the need for behavioral health services.”

Regional Vice President Dan Mansfield read off the history of mental-health services in Maury County. They were first offered at the county medical center in 1964 and expanded over the next decade under the direction of George Spain (later the CEO of Centerstone) and Dr. William Orr (former head of psychiatry at Vanderbilt). The newly named Columbia Area Mental Health came to have facilities in eight surrounding counties, with Dr. Ralph Barr as its first medical director.

In the 1990s, Columbia Area Mental Health came together with the Tennessee Highland Rim Health Care Coalition and the Harriet Cohn Center in Clarksville to create a mental-health group called Pinnacle, which then joined with the Dede Wallace Center in Nashville and became Centerstone in 1997. Regional VPs Rudy Gregory and Ken Stewart (Mansfield’s predecessor over southern Middle Tennessee) kept Orr and Spain’s vision going.

“I find it imperative to honor and revere our history and our predecessors, and I am humbled to be a part of this great history and the impact that Centerstone has had on this community,” Mansfield told the attendees. “I see this new location as building upon the past 60 years, as a reaffirmation of our commitment to serve for 60 more years and beyond.”

With the post-COVID spike in mental illness and the expiration of its 50-year lease on the old building, Centerstone saw both need and opportunity to expand its work in Maury County.

“We saw such increases over the last three years of anxiety, depression, addiction,” explained Marie Williams, commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. “We’ve been talking about this need for increased access to services in this community and communities across this state.”

“It has not been easy… coming out of the pandemic over the past few years, but they have rebuilt and restored this team to its former glory,” Mansfield said of the team leaders. To the staff he said, “[As] the crew of this mighty vessel, you are the heart of what happens here every day.”

In the much larger new facility they offer behavioral health services of all kinds: parent-child interactive therapy (under the guidance of a therapist), spaces for group therapy and support, psychiatric and nursing and telehealth stations, and “crisis rooms” where people having episodes or difficulties are welcome to emote and seek help for a few hours. The center is also a base for external operations including grant-funded programs, school counseling, in-home therapy and case management.

“I would say that 60 percent of what we do is in the community, not in this facility,” Middleton said. Centerstone ends up helping with many material needs as well as mental ones, and going into people’s homes as well as doing business at their new facility. “At the end of the day, all that [people in crisis] need is support, and we’re here to do that too.”

Dr. Martin Chaney, CEO of Maury Regional Medical Center, mentioned the long history of mutual support between the behavioral-health clinic and the branches of the hospital. As a doctor versed in the quality literature, Chaney doesn’t believe in a strict separation of mental from physical health.

“They’re like this,” he said. “We [in the ER or hospital] will work with [Centerstone] to stabilize patients [medically]… and then they’ll come back here for the behavioral health.”

Severely disturbed or suicidal patients are generally monitored by ER security until they’re not a threat to themselves or others.

“When you walk in here you feel a sense of comfort… of peace… of hope,” Williams said of the new building, where such hospital patients can go when they’re ready for behavioral-health treatment. “And all that matters so much, as you all know, because often first impressions are lasting impressions.”

“Everyone… that actually works for Centerstone, thank you for what you do,” she continued, talking now to the staff. “Because we know that when people have that ability to heal and… a strong foundation, what happens? Not only do their lives get better, but their families’ lives… [and their] communities’ lives get better, and even more importantly… [their] children grow up and learn [that] you can recover from whatever life has given you.”

Centerstone can be contacted directly for services, either by logging onto its website at centerstone.org or by walking in at the Westover location.

City Receives Grant for Siren Project (MSM)

The City of Columbia announced last week that it has had been awarded a $420,000 grant for public tornado safety, through the 2024 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Imminent Threat Program.

This critical funding will support the installation of a state-of-the-art emergency siren notification system across the city. Twelve tornado sirens will be placed strategically throughout the city. Nine of them emit the standard siren wail and three also have the capability to broadcast voice alerts.

The project will improve Columbia’s emergency-response efforts and ensure timely communication during severe weather or other emergencies. The city thanked the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and the South Central Tennessee Development District for supporting the effort to get the sirens and will provide further updates as they make progress.

Water Pressure Problem for Fire Department (MSM)

As Columbia expands along the highways out of town, new infrastructural challenges arise. One of the most pressing is the increased demand for a high-pressure water supply with which to put out structure fires, said Columbia Fire Department Chief Chris Cummins and Deputy Chief Nick Brown.

Water flow has always been low at the edges of town, and as demands on the city water grid increase, the amounts of water delivered out there have even started to fall to the point that the classic red hydrants (indicating a flow of 500 gallons per minute or less) have become unusable for firefighters. Developers are required by Columbia Power & Water to write a “fire modelling letter” for their projects, which contains a contingency plan for a structure fire at their development. City building codes require large structures over a certain square footage to have an internal sprinkler system, and every building to be within 500 feet of a fire hydrant delivering at least 1,000 gpm of water. (Gallons per minute is the problem, not pressure as firefighters can juice the water pressure with the pump on a truck, provided the water is there.)

“This is something new for us, a town that’s used to having water,” said Cummins, who became city fire chief in mid-2024. “I’ve been back almost a year, and it’s become a very hot topic.”

Deputy Fire Chief Nick Brown said the flow dropped “noticeably” during the development of the city’s outer limits, where pressure had always been low but usable.

“Now it’s at the forefront because developers aren’t able to build a certain size [of] house, because [the system] doesn’t have that [required] gallons per minute,” he explained. Low gpm is also partly to blame for losses like the Parks Plus industrial-building fire of December 2023, which couldn’t be extinguished because the water flow at the south end of Columbia gave out, or a house fire in Mount Pleasant which required help from the county tankers since the nearest hydrant was red.

“It is not just development, it’s folks that have been here for years… it’s about 50-50,” Cummins added, because lack of water even prevents the redevelopment of existing zones. “Let’s say a home burns on Trotwood. They go back, they look at the water availability, and [it’s] not there for them to [re]build it.”

Columbia officials have said they intend to make permanent improvements to the city’s water supply in the future. The fire department began brainstorming stopgap solutions before bringing one to the City Council in early 2025.

Getting aid from Maury Fire

At the February study session, Chief Cummins told the council of Columbia Fire’s plan to “supplement the shortfall of water we have in certain places.” The city was asked to buy a 2,000-gallon tanker truck to deliver water to fires where hydrant flow is known to be less than 1,000 gpm. Cummins also proposed that the city sign a mutual-aid agreement, binding Columbia Fire and the Maury County Fire Department, to send their three total tankers to every remote structure fire.

“This… brings that water availability back up, [making] an area [one] that they’re authorized to build a house [in],” Cummins said.

Since its founding in the 1970s, the county department has always fought fires with tanker trucks because it would be too difficult and expensive to lay a water grid all throughout the rural county. The historically volunteer-run department parks six (soon to be seven) tankers at stations all around the county, awaiting any fire alarm that might need a response.

“Part of our folks… and I have been doing this for years in the rural department,” Cummins, a 20-year veteran of the county department, said proudly. “We’re used to driving tanker operations.”

Together, the county and city tanker trucks will hold about 7,000 gallons of water, from which the department hopes to spray 600-700 gallons per minute. Columbia’s tanker will be parked at Fire Station #1; the Maury tanker parked at the Mapleash Avenue station will likely respond to most calls, and the other county tanker will come from whichever station is closest to a particular fire.

Together, the departments will protect an additional 9,000 structures on either side of Columbia’s urban-growth boundary. They also expect to put out vehicle fires along roads which have no nearby grid, like the SR 243 bypass that circles Columbia.

“The spirit of it is, we never want a fire station that is near a house fire to not respond,” said Richie Schatz, deputy chief of Maury County Fire, “no matter if it is in the city lines or the county lines.”

When the first tanker arrives at the scene of a remote fire, personnel “drop” its 2,000-3,000 gallons of water into a holding tank within 30-60 seconds. The empty tanker then speeds to the nearest water source, either a hydrant on the grid or a pond or lake, where it “drafts” more water. Then it returns to the fire site to relieve the other two tankers, which by that time have probably “dropped” their water and gone to search for more.

Deputy Chief Brown estimated the typical distance to a different water grid at only half a mile within the urban-growth boundary, but to mitigate risk, their plans count on a full mile.

“We based the formula off of a 1,000-gallon… hydrant being nearby,” Brown explained. “[On] Nashville Highway, Bear Creek… and anywhere in the city, you’re going to be close to a major main. So we’re pretty confident: within a mile and probably less than a minute.”

Brown also praised city fire’s quick response times and the reliability of Maury County’s water-shuttling operation.

This round-robin method, Chief Cummins says, can provide 600-700 gallons per minute for at least two hours. The gpm and speed requirements are also meant for worst-case scenarios, in which a building at least as big as a house is absolutely engulfed in flames; structure fires that are smaller, or only partial, will be put out much more easily.

“[And when] we [start to]… put that fire out, the required gallons per minute to mitigate that fire starts coming down,” Cummins added. The required fire modelling documents will also help the firefighters anticipate any water-supply shortfalls in whichever part of the grid they’re dealing with.

The city council came to like the idea, though councilman Charlie Huffman initially questioned the prospect of spending half a million dollars on a truck that would carry two or three minutes’ worth of water. Mayor Molder appreciated the idea as an example of collaboration among public entities. They ultimately signed the mutual-aid agreement and purchased the truck for $468,100.

Mutually beneficial deal

Columbia already has automatic-aid agreements with Spring Hill and Mount Pleasant to send and receive fire engines as needed, but this mutual-aid agreement is the first that the city has made with the county fire department. Maury County Fire also benefits from Columbia Fire’s help: to deal with recent growth, they’ve had to hire their first full-time firefighters.

“A volunteer department is hard to run anymore,” Cummins said, “especially in [a county of] this size… as we continue to grow… This is a win-win for everybody.”

“We are sending them water capacity, and they are sending us the closest fire engine,” said county Deputy Chief Schatz. “It’s good for the citizens and it’s good for each fire department… each time we can stop a fire from getting any bigger.”

The tanker itself was delivered quickly. Custom-designed fire trucks can take three years to build, but by ordering from their supplier’s templates, Columbia Fire received theirs in three months. It’s currently parked at Fire Station #3, waiting to go to its permanent home while Station #1 is being remodeled. It’s also the first of several lasting changes to the city fire fleet.

“The engines that we buy in the future will have 1,000-gallon tanks,” Chief Cummins revealed, and the tanker trucks will also have pumps with which to fight fires. When two of these tank-carrying fire engines and the mutual-aid tankers are combined, Deputy Brown explained, “we’re going to have almost 10,000 gallons on the road, going to a house that’s on fire, without even hooking up to a hydrant.”

Fire engines last 10 years on the front lines; one truck in the city’s stable will be replaced in two months, as will two or three others over the next five to seven years. Over time, this tanker truck likely marks a permanent change in how Columbia will fight fires for the foreseeable future.

Spring Hill Election (MauryCountySource)

The mayoral and aldermen election will take place in Spring Hill on April 10. Citizens will be able to vote on the city mayor and four aldermen seats on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

Incumbent mayor Jim Hagaman faces three challengers as he vies to claim his second term.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day. Only Spring Hill residents are able to vote in the election.

Find your voting precinct here: https://web.go-vote-tn.elections.tn.gov/

Columbia Clean-Up (Press Release)

The City of Columbia is pleased to announce the launch of its Clean Up Columbia campaign in recognition of Litter Awareness Month this April. This initiative highlights the critical importance of community collaboration, education, and proactive efforts to create a cleaner, more sustainable environment for all residents.

“We are thrilled to bring the community together to participate in Litter Awareness Month,” said Mayor Chaz Molder. “The Clean Up Columbia campaign reflects the importance of teamwork and education in fostering a cleaner Columbia. We encourage everyone to join us in these efforts to reduce litter and help protect our local environment.”

As part of the campaign, the City is partnering with local litter mitigation organizations, Keep Maury Beautiful and the Triple C’s (Columbia Community Clean-Up Team), to host two community clean-up events in Columbia:

East Columbia Clean-Up

Date: April 12, 2025

Time: 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Meet-Up Location: County parking lot - corner of E 7th St. and Woodland St.

Columbia Arts District Clean-Up

Date: April 26, 2025

Time: 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Meet-Up Location: Maury County Public Library - 211 W 8th St.

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

Mr. Garry Lewis Farris, 71, resident of Nashville, died Saturday, March 29 at TriStar Skyline Medical Center. Funeral services will be conducted Saturday at 2:00 PM at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home. Entombment will follow at Polk Memorial Gardens. The family will visit with friends Saturday from 12:00 PM till 2:00 PM at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home.

Mary Louise Gray Young, 87, died Tuesday, April 8, 2025 at her residence surrounded by her devoted family.

Funeral services will be conducted Sunday, April 13, 2025 at 3:00 PM at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home with Pastor Lane Ingram officiating. Burial will follow in Rose Hill Cemetery. The family will visit with friends Sunday from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home.

And now, news from around the state…

Nissan Changing Strategy Pending Tariffs (Tennessean)

Executives at Japanese auto giant Nissan are rethinking their Tennessee production plans as changes to tariff policies continue to shake up the global economy.

Back in January, the company's North American arm headquartered in Franklin announced that it was cutting shifts in its Smyrna, Tenn., and Canton, Miss., factories. Nissan offered workers in both factories buyout packages and planned to slash production of the Rogue and the Altima.

But a lot has changed since January.

This month, the Trump Administration enforced a 25% tariff on all auto imports into the U.S., and a new CEO took over at Nissan. Ivan Espinosa replaced Makoto Uchida on April 1.

On Wednesday, Trump issued a 90-day "pause" on most tariffs, saying he is continuing negotiations with many countries.

The company said that it will no longer cut production at the Smyrna factory in an effort to keep "more localized volume in the U.S. that is free of the new auto tariffs."

"We are reviewing our production and supply chain operations to identify optimal solutions for efficiency and sustainability," a company spokesperson said in a statement. "Our objective is to implement the most effective industrial strategy to offer Nissan and Infiniti customers great product and strong value."

More than half of the U.S. sales volume is sourced from the two plants in Tennessee and Mississippi, but Nissan said production of some models to be sold in the U.S. will continue in Japan and Mexico "based on market needs." 

The two Mexico-made models that Nissan has stopped further U.S. orders on are the Infiniti QX50 and QX55.

In November 2024, Nissan said it needed to drop global production capacity by 20% and let go of approximately 9,000 employees. While layoffs have already occurred globally and some employees have opted into buyout packages, it's unclear whether Nissan is still maintaining those goals under the new CEO.

While many auto experts predict massive upticks in vehicle prices as a result of Trump's tariffs, Nissan decided to drop the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Prices on two of its most popular models, both made in Tennessee: the Rogue and Pathfinder.

"Pricing reductions across all grades for both models will boost affordability for customers facing a challenging car-buying landscape," the company said in a statement.

The lowest sticker price on the Rogue is now $28,590, down $640 from 2024 pricing, and the most expensive package is $39,990, down $930 from 2024.

Meanwhile, the lowest-cost Pathfinder is $36,400, which is $670 less than in 2024, and the highest is $50,640, which is down $1,170 from 2024.

Final Story of the Day (Maury County Source)

Multi-platinum-selling artists Amy Grant and Vince Gill have announced their return to Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium in 2025 for their 15th annual “Christmas at the Ryman” residency. The 12-concert run at the Ryman is scheduled for Dec. 10-11, 13-14, 16-17 and 19-20 and will once again feature matinee and evening performances. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 11 at 10 a.m. CT exclusively at ryman.com.