Southern Middle TN Today News with Tom Price 6-24-25

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Southern Middle Tennessee Today

News Copy for June 24, 2025

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

We start with local news…

Childers Case to Go Before Grand Jury (CDH)

The case against Byron Childers will be submitted to a grand jury following his June 20 court date regarding the May 31 Columbia shooting which killed two neighbors and injured another.

Maury County General Sessions Court, with presiding Judge Bobby Sands, heard the case last week, which included multiple witness testimonies of the events of that day, including the surviving spouses of the two victims killed, 46-year-old John Bidle and 51-year-old Stacie Wright.

At the time of his May 31 arrest, 46-year-old Childers was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of aggravated assault, one count of assault, firearm use in association with a dangerous felony and carjacking. 

After nearly two hours of testimonies and arguments by attorneys, it was decided the case would be submitted to a grand jury, with the defense seeking an evaluation of Childers' mental state. Two of the initial charges, attempted first-degree murder and firearm use in association with a dangerous felony, were also dropped.

The dropped charges were related to the incident's third victim, ice-cream truck driver Mandu Johnson, who also received gunshot wounds. He was not present at the hearing due to surgery related to his injuries, Assistant District Attorney Pamela Anderson, representing the prosecution, said.

"[Judge Sands] bound over the cases, and there were charges related to Mandu Johnson," Anderson said. "Those were dismissed but can be added back to the grand jury. The judge found probable cause, and so the case will now be submitted to the grand jury of Maury County."

Metro Police Detective Jason Lyons, who was also involved in the May 31 incident, took the stand first.

Lyons, who was off duty at the time, but lives in the north Columbia neighborhood, went to investigate after hearing what he at first thought were loud power tools.

"I heard a lot of yelling down the street, and when I saw people running down the street I figured it probably wasn't power tools or hammers," Lyons said. "Something was going on."

Upon investigating at Somerset Lane, Lyons said he noticed Childers approach the passenger side of his truck, with Bidle's lifeless body in the street.

"He dove headfirst into the open window of my truck," Lyons said. "I thought he might be a victim. He was saying, 'Go, go, they are shooting.' With Mr. Bidle's body lying on the ground and a gun lying next to him, I thought we had an active shooter in the neighborhood, but didn't know it was this person."

After driving about 100 feet, Lyons said Childers began punching him in the face and attempting to grab the steering wheel.

"I was able to put the truck in park and get out of the driver's seat, and he fully slid into the driver's seat of my truck, but I grabbed the keys and created distance," Lyons said.

Once officers arrived and subdued Childers, Lyons said he was able to determine Bidle had died.

"I had a med kit with me and observed that Mr. Bidle was clearly deceased, and at that point I was informed Mrs. Stacie Wright had been shot inside her residence," Lyons said.

Amy Bidle, wife of John Bidle, took the stand wearing one of her late husband's mechanic shirts.

"It's what he used to wear as a mechanic, or if he was just out in the garage, and I've worn it every day since," Bidle said. "It makes me feel like he is still here with me."

Bidle said she was inside her family's Somerset Lane home with the couple's 13-year-old daughter and a friend when she initially heard Childers shout, "Give me your [expletive] keys," to her husband, but wasn't sure what the situation was about.

"[John] was outside in the garage working on the porch railing," Bidle said. "He walked in the house ... grabbed the keys and went outside the front door."

After hearing the first gunshots, Bidle looked and noticed her husband's body lying on the ground, with Childers standing over him. A nearby postal worker was standing nearby, with Childers allegedly saying, "I just shot somebody."

"My daughter Melonie said Mr. Childers was banging his gun on the street, and I told her to go upstairs and I went out to the garage," Bidle said.

"I stood and froze, and the mailman said he had to call 911. Mr. Childers turned around, looked at me and said, 'It's all going to be okay, that we are all going to own this,' and asked if I trusted him. I just said, 'Yes,' because at that point in time, I was fearing for my life."

John Bidle, who was an employee at General Motors and a member of the United Auto Workers Local 1853, was honored Saturday, June 14 at the Spring Hill Union Hall.

"It's been an emotional roller coaster, and there's been ups and downs," Amy Bidle told The Daily Herald. "It's been wonderful seeing the outpouring of friends, how he got along with people, loved cars and really knew his stuff."

Sean Wright, husband of Stacie Wright and the hearing's final witness, gave a detailed and sometimes tearful account of the May 31 shooting, which he said was to celebrate the couple's 20th anniversary.

"We had plans to do something that Saturday," Wright said. "I said I was going to take a nap, lay down and get some rest so we could go out to dinner that night. When she came and woke me up, we were just talking, reminiscing about when we met and stuff like that."

While sitting there on the bed, the Wrights received an alert on the front door's ring camera that somebody was outside.

"She went downstairs thinking it was an Amazon package, and I was still lying in bed and my daughter was in her room, and my son was with a friend," Wright said. "That's when we heard what was going on outside where all of the gunshots happened."

When Stacie Wright opened the door, she was met with gunshots.

"I heard her scream, and I jumped out of the bed and my daughter came down behind me. My wife said 'Somebody's shooting," Wright said. "I could see the bullet holes in the wall, the smoke or dust from the drywall ... I thought it was a home invasion, or an attempted home invasion by the way it happened."

With his wife still alive, but badly wounded, Wright said he ran to the garage to see if anyone had broken in.

"I opened the garage door a little bit, and I looked out and couldn't see anything," Wright said. "I saw Mr. Bidle laying on the ground and Amy was talking to the postman. I really didn't know what was going on and ran back into the house to call 911."

Stacie Wright was later transferred to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, where she ultimately succumbed to her wounds.

County Passes Budget and Other Business (MSM)

The Maury County Commission voted last week to give first approval to the 2025-26 fiscal year budget, which was forwarded to them by the county Budget Committee the prior week.

The final budget totals $292,742,691. Schools are by far the greatest expense at $160,935,331 ($73 million of it for general instruction), and the general fund is next, contributing $55,387,002 toward the administration of the county and its departments and services. Most of the other funds will spend amounts in the single-digit millions, except for the $28.2 million debt-service fund, whose surplus was cut slightly to pay for teacher raises. The commission declined to raise the county’s property tax rate, which will remain at $1.91 cents per $100 of assessed value.

County Commissioner Scott Sumners warned the commission against adding to the budget during the fiscal year; additions would increase the planned deficit, which is already over $25 million, though Financial Management Director Doug Lukonen has said he expects his department to manage funds wisely enough to get it down to approximately $5.3 million.

“Going into budget season next year and this year, [we should] be careful about what [budget amendments] we do approve,” Sumners said, adding that the county is at “a tipping point” because of upcoming property reappraisals.

County Mayor Sheila Butt spoke to those in attendance before the commission voted on the budget, asking constituents for grace and understanding.

“Everybody up here would like to give the county everything that they need,” she said, but it’s just not possible with finite resources. “We have to pray for wisdom and try to make the best decisions for the people of Maury County.”

She also asked the public to recognize the good their leaders do.

“I’m proud of this county commission trying to do what’s right and not raise taxes… and the department heads… I’m pretty proud of Team Maury,” she said. “When you see a commissioner who is serving well and trying to do their job, I wish you would give them a compliment every now and again.”

Sumners thanked the mayor for defending the county’s tough decisions and Lukonen’s Financial Management Department for crafting the budget and managing funds.

“We had some long meetings and some really late nights, we put the work in,” he concluded.

Beverly Simmons named to Library Board

At the same County Commission meeting, the county commission picked Beverly Simmons to fill a vacancy on the Library Board. In her candidacy speech, she emphasized the community-service roles she had taken on during her 34 years in Columbia, which included nurse, PTO parent and Cub Scout Den leader. Each time her military husband was transferred to a new post, a good public library was the first amenity she would look for, because of the books, the atmosphere, and the services it would provide her and her two children. She was commended by Butt, Tracey Voyles of the Library Board and another candidate, Michael Fulbright.

“I think our library holds much promise. We’re very blessed to have the library that we have,” she said. “I have no other agenda than to serve the county and the library.”

Her opponent, Clayton Smith, distinguished himself three years ago by leading a public-interest campaign that got some books thrown out of the library, which he and others judged “inappropriate materials directed at minors.”

“The community deserves an opinion on the books the library chooses,” he told the commission during this speech. “I want to personally steer the library in that fashion as a library board member.”

Fulbright was in the running for the position too, but at the meeting he dropped out and asked the commissioners to vote for Simmons.

“The library board has taken on a very adversarial and divisive mood over the last few months. It’s played out in 11-11 votes here numerous [times],” he reminded the commission, who had indeed deadlocked over multiple candidates.

He characterized Simmons as a strong leader, a “humble servant, not involved in pushing any political organization or agenda.”

“I appreciate people like Mr. Smith and their passion and their love for making sure we have a safe place for our children to go,” Simmons said.

Judicial center parking

The county commission also debated a proposed plan to find parking for the Judicial Center, before voting 11-9 against the proposal before them.

Some commissioners supported a plan to lease and improve a lot at 1112 Woodland Street. The tentative lease would have the county paying no rent for the first two years, then $5,000 the next two years, and $5,000 more added to the sum every two years afterwards. The commission would have the choice to purchase the lot anytime for $500,000, and the plan incentivized doing so within the first two years.

Commissioner Jerry Bridenbaugh was the most vocal skeptic of the current plan, saying the proposal would railroad the county into deciding within two years. He also questioned the sum of 32 spots that were promised on the lot, noting he had heard it could only fit 28. He also said a steep slope in the lot would rule out handicap parking; and he wanted to negotiate the quoted purchase price, which he complained wouldn’t include improvements or lease money.

“All you’re voting on tonight is a concept,” Howard replied, clarifying that the commission was only committing to pursue the lead, not to the specific terms of the lease. But he went further than Bridenbaugh, arguing that the county should decide to purchase the lot before leasing it at all. “If we decide on this concept when the lease comes back through, we need to be committed in two years to buy the property, or else we shouldn’t… spend the hard-working taxpayer’s money.”

He added he had heard the 32-spot number from Roads Superintendent Ken McKee, and left it up to the Highway Department to figure out how they’ll all fit.

Commissioner Eric Previti pointed out that the county would have to eat the improvement costs whether they bought or just leased the lot, adding that buying it would at least leave the county with a piece of improved downtown property. He also argued that the parking spots would cost a little less apiece than they would elsewhere, which Bridenbaugh contested.

Commissioner Jerry Strahan saw the conversation as a distraction from the purchase of Melody’s Bookstore, which he claimed would be necessary someday.

“I would suggest that this [Woodland Street lot] is nothing but kicking the can down the road,” he said.

Commissioner Pam Huffman didn’t offer a solution, but expressed her dislike for a piecemeal approach to solving the county’s problems.

“I think all we’re doing is throwing good money after bad,” she opined. “Something better has to come along.”

Drug Dropbox (MauryCountySource)

The Spring Hill Police Department has partnered with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the Tennessee Dangerous Drugs Task Force to provide a prescription drug drop box at their headquarters building at 800 Hathaway Blvd.

This drop box is available from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Drop-off is free and no forms are required – just place the items in the box.

Acceptable items include:

• Prescription Medications (including prescription narcotics)

• All over-the-counter medications

• Pet medications

• Liquid medications in leak-proof containers

• Inhalers

• Pills in any packaging, including glass, plastic container, baggie (Ziploc) or foil

• Items NOT accepted include:

• Illegal drugs/narcotics

• Needles/sharps or syringes with needles

• Blood sugar equipment

• Thermometers

• IV bags

• Bloody or infectious waste

• Personal care products (shampoo, lotions, etc.)

CSCC Topping Out Ceremony (Press Release)

Columbia State Community recently hosted a “Topping Out” ceremony for the Southern Regional Technology Center at the Columbia Campus.

A “Topping Out” ceremony is traditionally hosted to honor the final or top structural beam being added to an important building during the construction process. 

Community members, local officials, Columbia State students, faculty, staff, as well as representatives from the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology, all met at the event to sign the beam and see it be added to the SRTC building.

“The muggy weather can't dampen our enthusiasm today!” said Bethany Lay, Columbia State vice president for advancement and executive director of the Columbia State Foundation. “Many, many people and a lot of work has gone into lifting this beam. It represents opportunity and the future of our communities. It brings the SRTC one step closer to opening!”

This ceremony marks a major milestone in the construction of the SRTC building, a facility that will soon bring expanded educational offerings and help fuel careers that will serve to enrich the local economy.

“As we celebrate today and erect this last beam — it is not just a celebration of the building,” said Dr. Janet F. Smith, Columbia State president. “It's not just a celebration that we finally got here, which it did take a bunch of years to get here, but it is a celebration of what the SRTC will be, what it means for you and all the folks in our community, in our region and what it will mean for students. The opportunities, the careers that will be available, all in this state-of-the-art facility. Through programs offered in the SRTC, students will obtain skills and knowledge that allow them to walk out at completion and walk into an industry, a hospital or wherever, they have the skills they need to be successful in their chosen career.”

The approximately 88,000 square-foot building will serve as a regional hub for education and training, addressing the needs of both citizens and employers. It will be a cornerstone of economic and workforce development, offering the latest industry and healthcare training. Emphasizing partnerships through internships, apprenticeships, program development and job placement, educational offerings will include diplomas, technical certificates and Associate of Applied Science degrees.

The SRTC will house programs such as Medical Laboratory Technology, Nursing, Radiologic Technology, Respiratory Care, Medical Informatics, Engineering Systems Technology (including Mechatronics and Robotics), Veterinary Technology, Practical Nursing (LPN), Automotive Technology, HVAC and Welding.

The SRTC is slated to open for students in fall 2026.

To learn more about donation, partnership and endowment opportunities, please visit www.ColumbiaState.edu/SRTC.

Independence Day Celebration (MauryCountySource)

Columbia Noon Rotary, Columbia Breakfast Rotary, and Kiwanis of Columbia are partnering with First Fridays to host the annual Independence Day Celebration — and this year, it’s happening during First Fridays!

Friday, July 4 | 5–8 PM | Downtown Columbia

Patriotic Parade for Kids

Families are encouraged to bring bikes, wagons, scooters — all decked out in red, white, and blue — so children can lead a festive parade around the square!

Meet at the Lower Parking Garage on North Main at 5:00 PM

Parade begins at 5:30 PM through the First Fridays event space!

Honoring Ceremony

Immediately after the parade, enjoy a special ceremony to honor the men and women who have served and are serving our country — featuring patriotic music, a tribute, and the National Anthem.

Family Fun

Enjoy First Fridays favorites and more:

• Caricature Artist

• Balloon Artist

• 40+ Vendors

• Food Trucks

• Live Music & Buskers

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

Ricky Wayne Hood, 60, passed away Thursday, June 19, 2025 at his residence.

Funeral services will be conducted Saturday, June 28, 2025 at 2:00 PM at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home. The family will visit with friends on Friday, June 27, 2025 from 5:00 PM till 8:00 PM, and on Saturday, June 28, 2025 from 10:00 AM till the time of service at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home. Online condolences may be extended at www.oakesandnichols.com.

And now, news from around the state…

Tina Turner Statue Coming to Brownsville (Tennessean)

Soul, R&B, and Rock icon Tina Turner will be receiving a statue in her hometown, partially funded by Ford Motor Company.

As part of Ford's Good Neighbor Plan for West Tennessee, the car manufacturer will contribute $150,000 towards the creation of a seven-foot-tall bronze statue of the late Tina Turner in partnership with the City of Brownsville. Ford Motor Company is working to build its new BlueOval City in Stanton, Tennessee, a neighboring town of Brownsville.

The monument will be installed in Brownsville's Heritage Park near Carver High School where Turner attended.

“Residents of Brownsville and the surrounding areas tell us how important it is to support programs and places that honor the culture and heritage of the rural West Tennessee region and its people,” said Ford Community Relations Director Gabby Bruno. “We are proud to support this statue in the community where Tina Turner’s journey began. In helping to preserve her legacy, we celebrate all in this region who reach for their dreams.”  

Contributions are still welcome to bring the tribute to life. The West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center's website is taking donations through July 1.

The statue will be unveiled during Tina Turner Heritage Days this September in Brownsville.

Final Story of the Day (Maury County Source)

GRAMMY® nominated artist, songwriter, musician and producer Noah Cyrus has announced details for her upcoming sophomore studio album I WANT MY LOVED ONES TO GO WITH ME, alongside details for her North American fall headline tour, and special album release-day show in Los Angeles at The Ford on July 11. The tour will stop at The Ryman on October 15th.

Tickets for her highly anticipated North American headline tour on-sale at www.noahcyrus.com/#tour.