Southern Middle TN Today News with Tom Price 6-16-26

WKOM/WKRM Radio

Southern Middle Tennessee Today

News Copy for June 16, 2026

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

Two Rescued from Sinking Boat (MauryCountySource)

Maury County firefighters responded Thursday evening to a sinking boat incident along the Duck River, safely rescuing two people who became stranded on a cliff after making it to shore.

According to the Maury County Fire Department, crews were dispatched at 7:38 p.m. on June 11 to the Duck River near the 145-mile marker following reports of a sinking boat.

Officials said the boat’s two occupants had safely reached shore but became trapped on a cliff face and were unable to move. Firefighters launched a rescue boat while additional responders made their way to the area on foot to reach the stranded individuals.

Boat 21 successfully retrieved both occupants and transported them back to the Iron Bridge boat ramp. No injuries were reported.

The partially sunken boat remains in the river and is expected to be recovered at a later time.

The fire department also highlighted the role of the 911 center during the response, noting that dispatchers provided responders with the caller’s exact location to help crews quickly and accurately navigate to the scene by both land and water.

City Acquires Police Tactical Vehicle (Press Release)

The City of Columbia has strengthened its public safety capabilities through the addition of a new tactical response vehicle for the Columbia Police Department and a new fire engine for Columbia Fire & Rescue. The investments represent the City's continued commitment to equipping first responders with the resources necessary to protect residents, respond to emergencies, and maintain the highest level of public safety service.

“Every day, our police officers and firefighters answer the call to serve and protect our community,” said Mayor Chaz Molder. “Providing them with modern equipment and advanced resources is one of the most important investments we can make. These additions strengthen our ability to respond to emergencies, protect lives and property, and provide peace of mind for the residents of Columbia.”

The Columbia Police Department recently added a Ford Transit 350 HD 4x4 tactical van to its fleet. The vehicle, which seats up to 12 personnel and features A9-level ballistic protection, was purchased for $259,200 through funding provided by the State of Tennessee’s Violent Crime Intervention Fund (VCIF) Grant. The tactical van will support SWAT Team deployments, narcotics operations, violent felony arrest and search warrants, and other specialized law enforcement missions. It will also be featured at community events, providing residents an opportunity to learn more about the department’s specialized equipment and public safety operations.

“As we make advancements in today's Law Enforcement World, it is imperative to provide advanced protection for the men and women who are responsible for protecting our citizens and community,” said Police Chief Jeremy Haywood. “This tactical van does just that, and I am thankful to our Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of council, and City Manager for seeing the need for this level of protection for our men and women, and approving this new addition to our fleet.”  

Columbia Fire & Rescue has placed into service a new $925,000 KME Panther pumper designed to support fire suppression, rescue operations, and a wide range of emergency responses. The apparatus is equipped with a 1,000-gallon water tank, a 1,500-gallon-per-minute fire pump, and a Class A foam system, providing firefighters with enhanced capabilities when responding to emergencies throughout the city.

“This new apparatus is an investment in both our firefighters and the community we serve,” said Fire Chief Chris Cummins. “As Columbia continues to grow, it is important that we provide our personnel with reliable equipment and modern technology. This new engine will help us respond more effectively to emergencies while continuing to provide the high level of service our citizens expect.”

City Manager Tony Massey said the investments underscore the City’s ongoing investment in emergency services.

“These investments support the first responders who serve our community every day,” said Massey. “They reflect our commitment to preparedness and the safety of our residents.”

Together, these additions enhance Columbia’s emergency response capabilities and reinforce the City’s commitment to continuing to provide reliable, professional public safety services to residents and visitors alike.

Lipscomb Joins Columbia Mayoral Race (MSM)

Nonprofit founder, realtor, community advocate and Columbia native Jai Lipscomb sat down with Main Street Maury to talk about her campaign to be mayor of Columbia, emphasizing her familial and personal commitments to community service.

Lipscomb has been a realtor since 2005, and her professional experience has given her insight into both regional market dynamics and residents’ needs and concerns.

“Professionally I’m a realtor, which has given me the opportunity to help families through some of the most important moments of their lives,” she said “And through that work, I’ve been able to talk firsthand to families about some of the needs here, some of the concerns, and some of the challenges they face.”

In 2008 she also started working for Veterans’ Affairs, serving the country’s largest population of veterans at the Tennessee Valley Health Services hospital, and worked for the department for ten years.

“When I meet a veteran, I still ask them, ‘Do you get all your benefits?'” she said. “And I still try to connect them to those benefits.”

Lipscomb’s experience helping veterans and her family members prompted her to start the local nonprofit All Hands on Deck, which was launched at the Dr. Christa Martin Community Center in Fairview Park and now operates across the city. “A.H.O.D.”, as she calls it, helps people by distributing necessities, mentoring young people and running regular registration clinics to get people’s criminal records expunged and their voting rights restored.

“I had a relative that I had recently lost. I felt like if he’d had a second chance, the trajectory of his future would’ve been different,” she said. “So I started calling folks and saying, ‘Hey, let me create a second opportunity for you. Let me expunge your record.”

Lipscomb credits her family for forming her public spirit. Columbia Power and Water Systems displays a picture of her great-grandfather, Kenneth Walker, in the lobby for his role in planning and building the city’s water system. Her grandmother Janie Walker Lipscomb did extensive service to Carmack Boulevard Church of Christ and was renowned in the neighborhood for her generosity.

“She has helped shape who I am in so many ways [through] her service in the community,” Lipscomb recalled. “She had an open-door policy where anyone could come in and eat. I never knew how she did that on a very limited income — I mean, my grandparents had fourteen kids.”

Caring for her grandmother for the six months of her last illness in 2011 was also deeply instructive, Lipscomb said.

“That experience taught me that it’s not about leadership… and titles… it’s about showing up for folks at the time of need. And that meant a lot to me… it taught me patience, compassion and the importance of putting people first.”

Lipscomb has volunteered with several political campaigns in the last millennium, for candidates on both sides of the aisle. In 2016, with help from the current Republican Congressman Andy Ogles, Lipscomb successfully petitioned the city of Columbia to celebrate Juneteenth before it became a federal holiday.

“My campaign is more about putting people before the politics, not just negotiate… or have friends on one side,” Lipscomb said proudly. “We need people who can actually get things done in Columbia, and that means that you can talk to both sides… and I’ve been able to do that successfully all of my career.”

Among her policy priorities are infrastructure public safety, and on the economic front, she wants to keep Columbia affordable, facilitate living wages and attract college graduates back to their hometown.

“I love Columbia and I believe our city has incredible potential. We’re experiencing tremendous growth, and with that growth comes both opportunities and challenges,” she explained. “I often hear people say that we need to ‘stop growth,’ [but] we can’t… and honestly, growth is a sign that we’re doing something right here in Columbia… I want to ensure that growth is managed responsibly, and that the people that already call Columbia home have a voice in shaping its future… That means making growth pay for growth. Our longtime residents shouldn’t be footing the bill for new [infrastructure and services]… That’s not their responsibility.”

Lipscomb also wants to maintain the town’s character and community.

“This is family. This is where I grew up; when you ride down the street, everyone waves at you and the first thing they ask you is, ‘Who are your people?'” she said. “I want us to get back to that community and those connections and not be divided. We can embrace growth while still protecting the character, history, and sense of community that make Columbia special.”

“As I often say,” she summed up her campaign, “‘Alone, I can go a mile, but together we can take Columbia the distance.'”

Lipscomb joins the field with two other candidates, County Commissioner Eric Previti and financial advisor Stewart Parker.

Adventurer John Guider Recount Duck Trip (MSM)

The PBS documentary Down the Duck River with John Guider was screened at the Mulehouse in Columbia on Friday night, drawing an estimated 500 viewers to the nearly full venue. Attendees included members of the Duck River Agency, Maury County Mayor Sheila Butt and Maury County Commissioner Gabe Howard. The film can also be watched on PBS’ website at pbs.org/video/down-the-duck-with-john-glider-Zhri0T/.

Guider, a photographer and author, has been navigating North American rivers in motorless boats and documenting his travels for 26 years.

“I really love nature, it’s a spiritual encounter for me,” he told Main Street Maury, “the world God created.”

Though he lives in Nashville and has boated much longer rivers, Guider had never made the full Duck River journey before filming Down the Duck. At a conservation meeting held in Columbia by the Harpeth Conservancy, he was inspired to finally tackle it.

“The Duck has always been something I wanted to travel, but because of the number of dams, it would have been a very difficult solo journey,” said the 77-year-old Guider. What made this trip possible was the Harpeth Conservancy, whose members offered to help him portage his craft and gear over the five dams along the Duck. He started his 265-mile journey above the Normandy Reservoir in fall 2024.

“I wanted to start higher, at Old Stone Fort, but the water was so low it wouldn’t float a canoe,” Guider said. People from preservation organizations like the Harpeth Conservancy and the Friends of the Duck River boated or drove along with him, filming the journey and offering help or a place to stay when needed.

The trip took 28 days, with Guider traveling a maximum of 15 miles a day, usually less. Obstacles would hinder him, bad weather would force him to stop, or he’d just find a perfect camping spot and decide to not go any further.

“The neat thing about being on the river, with the banks so high, [was that] you feel like our forefathers felt on their discoveries,” he enthused, “because you go along stretches where you can see nothing but nature.”

Down the Duck, filmed by the Duensing brothers’ Nashville-based media company Archaea, is full of “money shots” of the Duck River: bird’s-eye views of its flow, close-ups of water running over pebbles, encounters with wildlife from deer to snakes to fish to mussels. The first credit that rolls at the end of the film is “Starring the Duck River,” followed quickly by “with John Guider.”

“We can all agree that the river is the main character of this story… and the more time you spend with it, the more it reveals,” said Marie Campbell, who leads community engagement for the Harpeth Conservancy.

Guider had one serious accident west of Centerville: his canoe turned after getting caught in branches, and the force of the current threw him out of the boat and slammed him into a fallen tree. He lost much of his gear, including all of the photos he had taken up to that point. His friend John McEwen, who later pulled Guider’s canoe and gear out of the river, said it was a “very scary, difficult spot” where he capsized; Sarah Gilliam, of the Friends of the Duck River, said she had friends who “did not recover from” similar boating accidents.

Even this, Guider said, turned into another occasion for people’s help and generosity, to make friends at the cost of mere stuff. Guider thanked McEwen for his retrieval work, the Goff family for finding him on the side of the road and taking him in for the night, and Jess Martin of the Harpeth Conservancy for taking him home afterwards. Guider also made friends with the people who live on the river, among whom he listed Dan Elrod, Doyle Toddy and John McEwen. He thanked Jessica Martin, David Fox and Sarah Gilliam for helping him out and the Harpeth Conservancy for accompanying him to make the film.

“I think it will bring awareness to a very special feature of Tennessee’s landscape,” he said. “It’s something that really needs to be known, and people who live in the cities aren’t as apt to get out and about as they have in the past. So just to bring awareness to the river and its needs. It needs to be protected, it’s very important to me.”

After the film was shown, a panel met and discussed what’s happened to the Duck River since the 2024 documentary was made. April Grippo, TDEC’s Director of Water Resources, estimated that the number of people dependent on the Duck has risen from the figure of 250,000 given in the film to somewhere between 275,000-300,000.

“With that fast population growth comes challenges,” said Grace Stranch, CEO of the Harpeth Conservancy. “This happens everywhere… especially when you don’t have very detailed zoning ordinances or rules that have thought about that massive growth.”

Grippo praised the state’s conservation efforts since the making of Down the Duck, which include the creation of the Duck River Watershed Planning Partnership, $90 million in protection appropriations, and a Class II Scenic designation that prohibits the degradation or major development of the river and its environs. Other watersheds, states and conservation organizations, she said, are watching the Duck River’s progress to learn how to pursue their own preservation goals. She and Stranch hinted, however, that at least some of the Duck’s protections are going to be “challenged next session” in the General Assembly.

Asked what he hopes the Duck River will be like in 25 years, Guider said he hopes it exists as it does today, especially for the sake of future paddlers.

“Ever since I’ve been on the river, between the exercise and the spirituality, my health has just [improved] exponentially. And I’ve come back after a month or two on the water, stronger and healthier and more optimistic than when I left,” he said. “And that’s what keeps bringing me back.”

Road Closure (MSM)

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) has announced they will conduct ramp closures on State Route 396 in Maury County.

Beginning Friday, June 12, TDOT crews will conduct a full closure of the State Route 396 (Saturn Parkway) eastbound and westbound off-ramps to Port Royal Road due to concrete repair operations. This work will take place from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekdays and a continuous closure on weekends. This work will tentatively be completed by Sunday, June 22.

Signage will be in place, alerting motorists of this closure. 

All work is weather-dependent. As always, drivers are reminded to allow additional time, slow down, and move over when traveling through a work zone. The Move Over Law was passed in 2006. The penalty for violating the law in Tennessee includes the possibility of up to 30 days in jail and a maximum fine of $500.

Columbia Expands Street Paving Plan (MauryCountySource)

The City of Columbia is pleased to announce a $1.2 million investment in roadway improvements as an expansion of the City’s FY 2024–25 paving plan, further enhancing transportation infrastructure and improving driving conditions for residents and visitors throughout the community.

City Manager Tony Massey said the expanded plan will allow the City to complete a record amount of street paving this fiscal year.

“We decided to expand this year’s City street paving plan after our contractor agreed to honor the 2025 bid. The additional $1.2 million represents a total of $5.7 million in street paving this fiscal year, said Massey. “Upon completion, 6.7 miles will have been paved. This is the most street paving the City of Columbia has completed in a 12-month cycle.”

A comprehensive list of streets was developed using field observations and the City’s Street Database Program, supported by advanced technology that utilizes machine learning and high-resolution cameras to evaluate pavement conditions. This process identified streets with the most significant deterioration, followed by field verification by City staff to confirm conditions and ensure the final list addressed areas of greatest need. All wards were evaluated to ensure the most effective use of available funding. The approved paving list includes roadways previously identified through the City’s paving plan.

Work will be performed by Volunteer Paving on behalf of the City of Columbia. Construction is anticipated to begin in June 2026 and conclude by August 2026, weather permitting.

“This investment represents our continued commitment to maintaining and improving the infrastructure that residents rely on every day,” said Chaz Molder. “Well-maintained roads contribute to public safety and quality of life, and we are proud to continue making these improvements across our community.”

As work progresses, residents may experience temporary traffic delays, lane closures, and brief driveway access restrictions. Properties along scheduled routes will receive advance notice through orange door hangers outlining anticipated work dates and a resident preparation checklist. Schedules may shift due to weather or other conditions. Residents can view the paving map and street list on the City’s website at www.ColumbiaTN.gov.

The City of Columbia appreciates the patience and cooperation of residents throughout the project and looks forward to continuing to deliver roadway improvements that benefit the community.

For more information and to view the complete paving list click here or contact the City of Columbia Engineering Department at 931-560-1039 or development@columbiatn.gov.

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

Mrs. Julia Hargrove Cutter Church, 95, passed away on Tuesday, June 9 at The Lantern at Morning Pointe in Louisville, Kentucky. Funeral services will be conducted Wednesday at 2:00 P.M. at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home. Burial will follow in Rose Hill Cemetery. The family will visit with friends Wednesday from 1:00 P.M. till the time of service at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home.

Mr. Ronald Everette Young, 81, of Pelham, Alabama, passed away peacefully on June 7. A private graveside service will be held at Rose Hill Cemetery in Columbia, Tennessee. A memorial service will be conducted at 3:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, June 21 at New Hope Presbyterian Church, Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Mrs. Monnette Fulcher Bruner, 62, passed away Thursday, June 4 at Camden General Hospital. Memorial services will be conducted on Sunday, June 28 at 4:00 PM at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home. The family will visit with friends on Sunday from 2:00 PM till the time of service at the funeral home.

Mrs. Helen Marie Jones Coble, 60, a resident of Santa Fe, TN, passed away peacefully at her home on Tuesday, June 9. A Celebration of Life will be conducted on Sunday, June 28 at 2:00 PM at Santa Fe Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The family will visit with friends on Sunday from 12:00 PM until the time of the service at the Church.

And now, news from around the state…

Roots Back on Shelf in Knox (Tennessean)

In May, the Knox County School District pulled the historical novel "Roots" off the shelves, sparking a statewide debate and confusion over Tennessee's current law.

Confirmed on May 14, the decision based on Tennessee's Age Appropriate Material Act drew criticism from officials and citizens alike. The 1976 novel by Alex Haley, whose presence in Knoxville inspired a sculpture of the author, was one of the first pieces of popularized fiction that recounted the transatlantic slave trade.

School district leaders cited a rape scene in chapter 84 as the reason for its decision, Knox News reported.

Following backlash from the community and the school board, Superintendent Jon Rysewyk announced the book would be put on KCS shelves. "Removing any book from circulation is – and should be – an immense decision. Our intent will always be to err on the side of access, which is the decision I have made with regard to 'Roots,'" Rysewyk wrote in a memo shared with Knox News.

The back and forth surrounding the novel has led to a desire for clarity in Tennessee's Age-Appropriate Material Act, which passed the General Assembly in 2022. At the beginning of June, the KCS board passed a resolution urging lawmakers to amend the act, arguing that a book shouldn't be banned merely for certain passages.

Now, Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville and Rep. Sam McKenzie, D-Knoxville are eyeing potential amendments to the legislation as a result of the controversy, reported Knox News.

Tennessee's Age-Appropriate Materials Act governs what books can be kept in K-12 public school libraries.

The act can ban a book if a scene includes "nudity, or descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sadomasochistic abuse."

Governing bodies of public-school districts and public schools can adopt their own policy, but under state law the policy must include a development procedure for the library that ensures the books are age appropriate, a feedback system for students, parents or guardians and periodical reviews ensuring the library's content is appropriate.

After a parent, student or school employee requests a review, a local school body will review the book in question. If the district then decides whether it meets the standards of the Age-Appropriate Materials Act. If it doesn't, the book must then be removed from shelves.

The district is generally required to make a decision in 60 days. The State Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission will intervene if a decision isn't met within that timeframe or if an appeal is filed.

Final Story of the Day (Maury County Source)

Twisted Copper Brewing Company celebrated a ribbon-cutting on June 11, 2026, for its new location in downtown Columbia. The brewery is now open and ready to welcome residents and visitors looking for live music and a wide selection of craft beer. 

The new Twisted Copper Brewing Company location is at 104 E. 5th St. in downtown Columbia. It joins the local downtown business community, adding another option for residents and visitors looking for a place to relax and enjoy good company.