Southern Middle TN Today News with Tom Price 5-14-26

Maury Regional awarded apprenticeship grant (MSM)

Maury Regional Health has been awarded $226,000 through the State of Tennessee Rural Healthcare Workforce Development Initiatives grant program to establish a Registered Apprenticeship Program aimed at strengthening the health care workforce across southern Middle Tennessee.

The funding will support the development of structured career pathways for up to 183 Maury Regional Health employees, focusing on essential entry-level roles in three critical departments: environmental services, food and nutrition and medical assisting. The program is designed to address workforce shortages while creating long-term career advancement opportunities within the organization.

“This apprenticeship program represents a meaningful investment in our workforce and the future of health care in our region,” said Maury Regional Medical Group President Nathan Miller. “By creating clear, supported pathways for career growth, we are not only strengthening our teams but also ensuring continued access to high-quality care for the communities we serve. This funding allows us to remove barriers, expand opportunity and build a more sustainable health care workforce.”

Through the program, apprentices will be employed with Maury Regional Health while completing a 12- to 24-month structured training model, earning industry-recognized credentials in their fields, completing on-the-job training and receiving technical instruction.

Maury Regional Health plays a critical role in both health care delivery and economic stability in the region. The apprenticeship program will help to support apprentices’ career development through the elimination of financial barriers, advancement pathways and mentorship.

The program is supported by key regional partners, including the Southern Middle Tennessee Local Workforce Development Board, Columbia State Community College and TCAT Hohenwald, which will assist with training, recruitment and credential alignment.

Redistricting Divides Maury (MSM)

A special session of the state legislature last week passed a new map of U.S. Congressional districts for the state of Tennessee, which Gov. Bill Lee signed into law.

On the new map, Maury County has been divided into two redrawn Congressional districts.

At the state level, the new District 5 includes the western border strip and northwestern border counties of Tennessee. The new District 9 includes all of the southern border counties (except for part of Fayette and most of Shelby) in the lower western half of the state.

The dividing line through Maury County runs jaggedly on the west side of I-65 to Bear Creek Pike, where it projects out to put most of the central, eastern and southern parts of the city of Columbia in District 9, and it travels south to the county line east of Pulaski Pike, seemingly on top of the line that separates Maury County’s internal Districts 8 and 10.

The new map followed quickly upon the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision, in Louisiana v. Callais, to exclude racial demographics from unconditional consideration during the drawing of federal electoral districts. President Donald Trump soon reported having “a very good conversation” with Gov. Lee about “correct[ing]” the Congressional map of his state, which was redrawn and passed the week after the Louisiana decision.

Republican State Sen. John Stevens said in session that the new map was meant to reflect the prevalence of Republicans in the state, while the map’s opponents argued that the new districting was meant to nullify the political power of Memphis, the only major city with a black majority in Tennessee, as well as its only remaining Democratic seat in Congress. In the new districting, each half of Maury County will share a U.S. Congressional Representative with a part of the city of Memphis.

Chairman of the Maury County Republican Party Jason Gilliam pointed out that this isn’t the first time Maury County has been represented by more than one member of Congress, and he and other commentators saw this arrangement as offering its own benefits. He also pointed out that the map will make new political candidacies possible: the day it passed, District 31 State Sen. Brent Taylor announced his campaign for the new Ninth District, and was endorsed by both of the sitting U.S. Senators for Tennessee.

“I would like to think that having representation from two congressmen in Washington could be a benefit, having two advocates instead of just one,” he said. “It will be interesting to see which candidates in the Fifth and Ninth Congressional Districts will remain, and if any new candidates will emerge to represent us in Washington… We’ll make the best of it, and I think Maury County would be represented well, no matter which congressional candidates win in the Fifth and Ninth Districts.”

“I believe it will provide better opportunity for Maury to have a greater voice in Washington… [When Maury County was last] represented by two Congressmen[,] Green and DesJarlais… [we] were able to secure grants and programs for our county,” District 64 Rep. Scott Cepicky told Main Street Maury. “I look forward to working with both new Congressmen as we move forward, continuing to keep them abreast of the needs of our district. I was not part of the drawing of the map, but let House leadership know the concerns I had [with] splitting Maury County [between] more than two congressmen.”

“I believe it [will be] bad for our representation in Nashville and Washington, D.C.,” countered James Dallas, the chairman of the county Democratic Party and a candidate to be District 4 Maury County Commissioner. “Splitting [Maury County] in two will result in two legislators representing us part-time, rather than one representing us full-time, and I think that will likely result in a lower quality of representation… [And] Memphis has unique issues, and may now be represented by people hundreds of miles away who don’t understand their issues.”

“The other districts seem to be geographically correct… [but Congressional Districts 5 and 9] are just so out of whack,” said District 9 County Commissioner Jerry Bridenbaugh. “How one individual can represent the interests of Middle Tennessee and a small segment of counties down the Mississippi River, is beyond my comprehension… and the same goes for representing [eastern Maury County], the [rural and sparsely populated] counties down the southern border, and [urban, affluent] eastern Shelby County.”

Bridenbaugh and District 8 Commissioner Gabe Howard also pointed out that the candidates for both races would now have to campaign at the opposite ends of their new 200-mile-wide districts, trying to reach voters who may have never even heard of them, less than four months before the August primary elections.

“I never liked these political games with redistricting… and now it’s just obvious,” he said. “I think doing it this close to the August primary election was bad timing. It shouldn’t have been done.”

“Maury County should not be treated like a chess piece on a political board,” said Howard. “Changing the lines less than 90 days before Election Day may be politics as usual, but that does not make it right.”

All Congressional candidates have been given a deadline, at noon on May 15, to announce their electoral intentions: whether to join a race, drop out, or stay the course. Dallas told Main Street Maury that the Supreme Court has ruled in the past that candidates need not live in the district they’re running for, so the redistricting hasn’t forced anyone to move house or else drop out.

Two of the local politicians most affected by the redistricting are Charlie Hatcher and Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder, who have been campaigning to become the Fifth District Congressman.

“I am extremely disappointed in the results of the recent re-districting and Maury County citizens are among its biggest losers. Not only did Maury County get split into separate congressional districts, even the city of Columbia is now divided. Columbia State is now in a different district than Maury Regional Hospital. Ridley Park and Woodland Park are no longer in the same congressional district,” Molder told Main Street Maury. “This will dilute our influence in Washington and our ability to obtain necessary federal funding to assist with important infrastructure projects. Our taxpayers, our citizens, and anyone paying attention should also be disappointed.”

Hatcher said in a statement that while his home is a few hundred yards away from being inside the district, he intends to continue his race against current representative Andy Ogles.

The new Congressional districts don’t change anything about the electoral politics of state and local representation in Maury County. However, several previously unified state and local districts are now divided between two U.S. Representatives, including the 28th State Senate District, Maury County Districts 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 and 9, and Wards 2, 4 and 5 of the City of Columbia. The split between Congressional districts does visually resemble that between State House Districts 64 and 71, which runs through Maury County in a similar if not identical way.

“I’m disappointed that… my constituents in county commission District 5 may now be voting for candidates that they may not even know,” said Commissioner Scott Sumners. “Most of Maury’s issues will remain at the local and state level, but having U.S. Districts 5 and 9 so spread out… could affect the way Maury Countians are represented at the federal level. This redistricting will not alter my commitment to District 5 and Maury County.”

“City-wise, it doesn’t affect me… [or] the city wards at all,” said Columbia City Councilman Brian McKelvy, whose Fifth Ward is slightly divided by the line.

“I think many residents are concerned that dividing Maury County [congressionally]… could weaken the county’s unified voice on multiple issues… Communities function best when people feel their needs are understood as part of a whole community, rather than as fragments of a broader political strategy,” said local leader Bethany Torino, whose work to aid the homeless and housing-insecure depends to a great extent on federal funding. “I hope our elected officials remain focused on practical collaboration, and representing the real needs of the people who live here, over national political theater.”

The Secretary of State’s website has an ARC-GIS map which shows the user their new Congressional district when they type in their address. Gilliam encouraged voters to look up their residential addresses in the map to see which district they’d been sorted into.

Bill eliminates requirement to notify voters with new polling places in new congressional districts (TCOG Column)

A bill that passed through Tennessee House and Senate committees on Wednesday and is expected to pass on both floors Thursday would eliminate voter notification requirements of changed local voting districts.

T.C.A. § 2-3-105 requires county election commissions to mail a notice to each active voter whose polling place and precinct has changed information on the voter’s new polling place and precinct number. It also requires the county election commission to publish the changed boundaries of any precinct in a newspaper of general circulation in the county.

But SB7001 and HB7001, as amended, preempts those requirements, and instead requires county election commissions to only publish notice of the redrawn congressional districts on their “official website, if one exists.” The secretary of state is also required to publish on its website the revisions to congressional districts.

The elimination of the requirement to mail voters information about where they are supposed to vote and their new precinct, if they have one, is likely tied to the cost and time it takes to produce that information and mail it. Publishing detailed information in the local newspaper is likely also a cost that the state wants to avoid.

A list of actual local voting districts (LVDs) for each new congressional district was added to the Legislature’s website overnight. Yesterday, committees voted to approve redrawing congressional district lines without the specific local voting district descriptions, admitting they were voting on a picture of a map and the detailed information would come later.

Several of the local voting districts are split in the new congressional maps, putting some block numbers of a local voting district (LVD) in one congressional district, and other block numbers of the LVD in another.

In a memo to all county election commissions on Monday, Mark Goins, the state coordinator of elections, told local election officials that local voting precincts may, under the legislation, legally contain more than one congressional district and said some counties may choose to adjust precinct boundaries to reduce the number of split precincts.

“Adjusting precinct boundaries may also trigger additional notice and publication requirements, including mailing notices to active voters whose polling places have changed,” Goins said.

But in the same memo he hinted that “there is a possibility that certain publication requirements may be modified due to the compressed deadline.”

And indeed, that’s what happened. By Wednesday, an amendment was introduced on SB7001 and HB 7001 that eliminated the requirements of mailing voters their new precinct or polling place location, among other notices.

Whatever happens, election officials, coming fresh off local elections this week, are expected to be facing a compressed schedule to prepare for early voting that begins July 17 for the Aug. 7 primary in the U.S. House races.

Additionally, new candidates may apply to run in entirely new districts. The bill sets May 15 as a new qualifying deadline for candidates to file. The current qualifying deadline to run for Congress in Tennessee has long past (March 10) and campaigns are well underway. The changes will most certainly scramble these races, causing existing candidates to file in new districts, some to withdraw, and new people to file.

TCOG reached out to legislative leadership yesterday to note concern about not mailing active voters their new precinct and polling place, if their those change, and not publishing new boundaries in local newspapers.

When polling places or precincts are changed, more effort should be made to reach affected voters, not less.

Columbia Power & Water Systems to Seek City Council Approval for $75 Million Low-Interest Infrastructure Loan (Release)

Columbia Power & Water Systems (CPWS) will appear before the Columbia City Council tonight to request formal approval to pursue a $75 million loan from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) State Revolving Fund (SRF).

The $75 million request represents the first of two anticipated loan packages aimed at funding "Community H2O," a comprehensive multi-year capital improvement program designed to ensure a sustainable and resilient water supply for the rapidly growing Maury County region.

By securing funding through the State Revolving Fund rather than the open bond market, CPWS stands to save local ratepayers an estimated $50 million in interest costs over the life of the project, representatives told city council at the study session last week. The TDEC loan offers a highly competitive 3.1% interest rate, significantly lower than current market rates for traditional municipal bonds.

About Community H2O

The Community H2O program was developed in response to significant regional growth and the need for increased system redundancy. Key components of the project include:

Treatment Expansion: Increasing the capacity of the Columbia Water Treatment Plant by 12 million gallons per day (MGD), bringing the total capacity to 32 MGD.

Supply Expansion: Construction of a new raw water intake on the Duck River and a corresponding transmission main to enhance reliability during drought conditions and extreme weather events.

The City Council meeting will take place this Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. CPWS officials will present the project details and answer questions regarding the financing structure.

For more information on the project and its impact on the community, visit www.communityh2o.org.

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

Mary Jane Scott Sparkman, 66, a lifelong resident of Columbia, passed away peacefully at her residence on Wednesday, May 6, 2026.

A memorial service will be held Thursday, May 14, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home with David Morris officiating. The family will visit with friends on Thursday from 12:00 p.m. until the time of the service at the funeral home.

Archie Lee Farris, 88, longtime employee of Middle Tennessee Bone & Joint Clinic and resident of Columbia, passed away peacefully on Saturday, May 9, 2026.

Funeral services will be conducted Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 11:00 AM with Dr. Barry Farris officiating. Burial will follow at Polk Memorial Gardens. The family will visit with friends and loved ones on Wednesday, May 13, 2026 from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM at the funeral home. Condolences may be extended online at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home.

And now, news from around the state…

Driving News: Pain at the Pump (AAA)

Tennessee drivers are feeling the squeeze this week as gas prices continue their volatile ride. After surging 12 cents over the last seven days, the state average has landed at $4.15 per gallon. While we did see a slight dip over the weekend from a high of $4.21, we’re still paying roughly 25 cents more than just last month.

The Local Breakdown

If you’re filling up in Nashville, you’re seeing the highest prices in the state, averaging $4.19. Knoxville and Jackson aren't far behind at $4.18 and $4.17. If you're looking for a relative bargain, head toward Johnson City, where prices are sitting lower at $4.05.

Looking Ahead to Memorial Day

AAA is warning that this could be the most expensive Memorial Day weekend for travelers since 2022. With nearly 800,000 Tennesseans expected to hit the road for the holiday, be prepared to pay about $1.40 more per gallon than you did this time last year.

Why the Spike?

AAA spokesperson Megan Cooper says while optimism over international negotiations helped prices ease slightly this weekend, the market remains "highly volatile." Nationally, the average has climbed to $4.52, so while Tennessee remains below the national mark, the trend is still pointing upward as we head into the summer driving season.

Final Story of the Day

Giles County Launches America 250 Celebration (Pulaski Citizen)

Giles County is kicking off its America 250 celebration with a lineup of events, a new website and official merchandise that invite the community to be part of this once-in-a-generation milestone. The celebration marks the 250th anniversary of the United States and brings together events happening across the county, ranging from festivals and live music to agricultural traditions, history-focused programs and family-friendly activities.

A new website, GilesCountyAmerica250.com is now live and serves as the go-to place for event listings, updates and ways to get involved. More events and details will continue to be added throughout the

year.

In addition to events, the Chamber has launched an America 250 store featuring themed merchandise for those who want to show their local pride and take part in the celebration in a tangible way.