Southern Middle TN Today News with Tom Price 8-17-26

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Southern Middle Tennessee Today

News Copy for August 17, 2026

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

We start with local news…

Maury Man Charged with Fourth DUI (MauryCountySource)

A man is facing his fourth DUI charge after reportedly crashing into a utility pole Tuesday, injuring a woman and a 10-year-old boy, according to News 2.

Authorities say 31-year-old Dalton Polinski was driving a blue Chevrolet Equinox recklessly along Nashville Highway before the crash. A tow truck driver with a dash camera told dispatchers the SUV was weaving onto the shoulder to pass cars, blowing through intersections, and nearly causing several collisions.

Investigators say Polinski was driving at a high rate of speed when the SUV left the roadway and struck an electrical pole. The crash knocked down live power lines, creating a dangerous scene for first responders and bystanders who stopped to help.

Two people in the vehicle were injured. A woman suffered serious injuries and had to be cut from the wreckage before being airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. A 10-year-old boy was also taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Police say neither victim was wearing a seat belt.

Polinski was not injured. He was arrested and booked into the Maury County Jail on a $200,000 bond.

He faces charges of fourth-offense DUI, reckless endangerment, vehicular assault, driving on a revoked license, and violating the terms of a court-ordered ignition interlock device.

Former Giles County Deputy Charged (WKRN)

A former Giles County deputy has been indicted on several charges following an incident involving a Taser during an arrest, officials said.

On Thursday, Aug. 13, Giles County Sheriff Joseph Purvis announced that Stetson Thomas resigned from his position on July 31 during the early stages of an investigation regarding inconsistent courtroom testimony.

The office of District Attorney General Brent Cooper reportedly investigated the incident and presented the case to a Giles County grand jury on Wednesday, Aug. 12. In addition, the Giles County Sheriff’s Office requested the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission to commence with decertification proceedings.

According to the GCSO, the grand jury later returned indictments charging Thomas with one count of official misconduct, one count of destruction and tamper of governmental records, one count of perjury, one count of aggravated perjury and one count of assault.

Thomas reportedly turned himself into the Giles County Jail and has since been released on bond.

“The Giles County Sheriff’s Office has dedicated employees committed to protecting the community they serve. We are held to the same standards as the public and face the same consequences. Abuse of authority will not be tolerated. I trust and believe in the criminal justice system, and I’m confident that a Giles County jury will determine the appropriate outcome. I appreciate General Cooper and his staff for conducting the investigation,” said Purvis.

Thomas worked with the sheriff’s office from 2019 until he resigned, officials said.

The GCSO said they are fully cooperating with the district attorney’s office during the investigation, which remains ongoing.

No additional details were immediately released.

How Hatcher Beat Ogles in Primary (WilliamsonHerald)

Republican Charlie Hatcher's win over two-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, in Tennessee's 5th Congressional District came as a shock to some.

While it began as a close race in the Aug. 6 state and federal primary, Hatcher — a dairy farmer, veterinarian and former Tennessee agriculture commissioner — took the lead over Ogles and earned 36,544 votes to Ogles' 32,091, according to complete but unofficial results.

The day after the election, Trump said in a Truth Social post that Ogles "virtually had no chance of winning" and called Hatcher a "Great 'Trump' Candidate." Trump then endorsed Hatcher in the general election.

Hatcher will face Democratic nominee and Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder in the general election Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Following the primary, Hatcher told the Williamson Herald the "secret recipe" for his victory.

Trump's endorsement

Reflecting on the start of his campaign in mid-October 2025, Hatcher called the race "hard fought" because of his relentless nine-month campaign, in which he ran as if he were constantly behind.

"It was a hard race for me. I wish somebody would have told me that I had a chance of winning because it sure didn't seem like that from the beginning," Hatcher said with a laugh.

Though he faced the obstacle of Ogles' presidential endorsement, Hatcher leaned on his "workhorse" discipline, directly contrasting it with his opponent's "show horse" campaign, he said.

"Tennessee is very supportive of President Trump, and so am I, but I had to run it without his endorsement in the primary," Hatcher said, highlighting what he described as voters' discernment and their desire for a "common sense approach with work ethic and the ability to get things done."

If he wins the general election, Hatcher said he probably won't agree with Trump on "every single issue."

"My lens will be based on common sense and the Bible and the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. That's my lens that I'm going to look at and make my decisions on," he said.

The grassroots campaign

Hatcher said the strategy that won him a place in the general election was his team's dedication to grassroots campaigning, calling it his "secret recipe" for success. His family, he said, was his "secret weapon," along with old and new friends.

During the campaign, however, Tennessee's 5th Congressional District was redrawn. About 82% of the district's voters were new to the 5th District, according to an Associated Press estimate. Hatcher believed the shift removed much of Ogles' incumbency advantage.

"I can walk out of my house by the dairy barn here … and it feels just the same to me here as it does in West Tennessee, or Hickman County, or Lake County, or Lewis County," Hatcher said. "Those rural counties I can identify with, and they could with me."

The Hatcher campaign also deliberately avoided running on the fear and anger Hatcher said he noticed in other campaigns.

"Many campaigns these days are run on fear and anger, and we made a conscious attempt that we weren't going to do that," Hatcher said. "Our social media showed that, and the way we approached people — meeting them where they were with a grassroots campaign — was really our secret recipe."

As Hatcher looks toward the general election, he said he won't take anything for granted.

"This is going to be a hard general election," he said. "It's a different race. … It's a sharp contrast between the conservative viewpoints that I have and the more left-leaning, liberal platform of the Democratic Party."

Hatcher said he believes he converted some Ogles supporters in the primary and trusts that voters will "show up one more time in the general election to get me across the finish line and get me to D.C. to represent them."

The unexpected call

Going into election night, Hatcher was nervous but optimistic. After seeing the rise in support in Maury County, he realized the odds were in his favor, but the definitive moment came sooner than he expected.

Around 9:10 p.m., Hatcher's grandson approached him with a laptop.

"He came up to me and showed me, and said, 'Look at this, Doc. There's a checkmark beside your name. They've called it,'" Hatcher recalled. "I didn't even know it at the time, and I had just won. It was surreal at that moment."

Before Hatcher addressed the crowd at his election watch party in downtown Franklin that night, he received a call from Ogles.

"He was very supportive of me, and he was very nice and polite, and cordial," Hatcher said. "He offered to help me in any way as we move forward in the transition, and I told him I appreciate that and I would accept his help."

Hatcher's victory marks a rare chapter in the state's political history. The last time a primary challenger defeated an incumbent Tennessee member of Congress was in 2008, when Phil Roe defeated U.S. Rep. David Davis in the Republican primary for the 1st Congressional District.

Hatcher called attention to his Christian faith, saying his victory was the result of more than strategy.

"This primary win is 100% a God thing," Hatcher said. "Because what are the chances of a Republican candidate in Tennessee beating an incumbent with a Trump endorsement? It doesn't happen."

Hatcher said he felt called by God to enter the race and will continue to lean on his faith as he moves forward.

Claire Crowell Takes Reigns at A. Marshall Hospitality (MauryCountySource)

A. Marshall Hospitality has announced a leadership change as founder Andy Marshall prepares to step into his new role as Williamson County mayor. Effective Sept. 1, Claire Crowell will become CEO of the family-owned hospitality company, succeeding her father as he steps away from the day-to-day operations of the business. 

“As my dad steps away from his day-to-day role at A. Marshall Hospitality to serve as Mayor of Williamson County, I’m honored to take on the role of CEO for our family of restaurants,” Crowell said in a statement. “This is an incredible opportunity to build on the legacy my father has established and lead the company forward as we continue on our mission to provide exceptional food and hospitality.”

Crowell was named president of A. Marshall Hospitality in 2024 after spending years working throughout the family business. She is also the founder of Hattie Jane’s Creamery.

Andy Marshall purchased the original Puckett’s Grocery in 1998 and grew the business into A. Marshall Hospitality, which now operates 10 family-owned restaurants across Tennessee and Alabama.

The company’s restaurant portfolio includes Puckett’s Restaurant, Deacon’s New South and Scout’s Pub, among other concepts.

Duck River Partnership Okays CPWS Intake (Muletown Journal)

The piece of Columbia's water financing puzzle that had been sitting in limbo just moved, but it did not move unanimously.

The Duck River Watershed Planning Partnership, the advisory group Gov. Bill Lee convened to sort out how the river's water should be shared across the region, voted Monday, Aug. 10, to formally back the downstream intake and raw water transmission line at the center of Columbia Power & Water Systems' long-term water supply plan. It was the second half of a two-part sign-off: the partnership had already approved the utility's water treatment plant expansion the month before. With both pieces now endorsed, CPWS has the partnership's backing for the roughly $520 million program.

That matters because the state board that actually controls the money, the Tennessee Local Development Authority, had been holding off on CPWS's larger financing request specifically until the partnership weighed in. The TLDA approved a $75 million state loan for the treatment plant in late July but set aside a separate $315 million request tied to the intake and pipeline, waiting on exactly this kind of recommendation before it would act. That federal loan comes through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, or WIFIA.

Not a Clean Vote

Unlike last month's unanimous approval of the treatment plant, Monday's vote on the intake and pipeline was contested. Maury County Mayor Sheila Butt was one of two members who voted no, with two others abstaining, according to Butt's own account of the meeting. She laid out her reasoning at length, and it was not a rejection of CPWS itself.

"I will be voting 'no' today and not because I don't appreciate CPWS and what they do for Maury County," Butt said at the meeting. "They have a lot of dedicated people there who keep us in water. They are my friends and constituents. I appreciate what Spring Hill is doing as well."

Her objection was to the process behind the roughly half-billion-dollar decision, not the engineering. "What I am voting against is a flawed process that allows one city legislative body to make the decision to borrow over $500 million dollars and increase water rates 149% in a County that has thousands of people who were disenfranchised by having no representation in that vote," she said. "Many farmers, rural communities, and cattle producers had no representation. They are Maury County as well and had no voice in that legislative body."

Butt argued the underlying issue is bigger than one project. "Water should not be a privately owned resource," she said. "It belongs to everyone in the State of Tennessee and should be shared and governed equally in the watersheds across the State. Until we make that happen legislatively, the one who gets there first, with the biggest bucket, the most money and the most influence will control this natural resource."

She pointed to a WFX study she said points toward a path to real regionalism, including shared governance and economies of scale across the utilities that draw from the Duck River, and said she intends to pursue legislation to get there. "That is the answer to the blatant disenfranchisement," she said. "Until we do that, we are leaving thousands of Tennesseans across the state without a voice. Today, I am speaking for those people in Maury County who had no voice."

Butt said she raised similar concerns with the state's own funding board a month earlier, warning that without legislative fixes to how water governance works across county lines, Tennessee's brewing "water wars" will end up hurting ratepayers and the state as a whole.

What Happens Next

The partnership's vote does not undo the objection Butt raised, and it does not change what Columbia ratepayers are already facing. City Council approved rate increases of up to 20 percent a year for five years back in January, and those increases move forward regardless of how the rest of the financing shakes out. What Monday's vote does is clear CPWS to go back to the Tennessee Local Development Authority and pursue parity status for its $315 million WIFIA loan, a condition the EPA requires before the loan can close, and the piece of financing that had been stuck without a state decision either way.

The utility's interim president and CEO, Jack Baxter, framed the outcome as validation. "This full affirmation from the Duck River Watershed Planning Partnership validates years of diligent planning and science-based forecasting," he said. "Securing our community's water future while safeguarding the Duck River's delicate ecosystem must go hand in hand." Baxter stepped into the role on an interim basis after Jonathan Hardin resigned for personal reasons.

The intake project itself would raise CPWS's withdrawal capacity from the Duck River from 20 million gallons a day to 32 million gallons a day, giving the utility more water for a growing service area and a backup source if drought or an emergency strained the river elsewhere. Whether Butt's disenfranchisement concerns slow that down at the state level, or simply become a talking point in the debate that follows, is the next thing worth watching.

SRTC Grand Opening (Press Release)

Columbia State Community College, alongside partners, Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology - Hohenwald and Pulaski, will host a grand opening and drone show for the new Southern Regional Technology Center on Friday, Aug. 21.

The community is invited to attend this celebration, which will be packed with innovation, live music and a spectacular 300-drone light show over the Columbia Campus.

“The SRTC reflects what can happen when communities come together around a shared purpose,” said Dr. Janet F. Smith, Columbia State president. “This facility will serve students across southern Middle Tennessee while bringing together Columbia State and our TCAT partners under one roof to create unprecedented opportunities for technical and workforce education. The impact of this investment will be felt for generations through stronger families, stronger businesses and stronger communities.”

The new SRTC will serve as a regional hub for hands-on training and career education in high-demand fields like nursing, welding, HVAC, automotive technology, respiratory care, engineering systems technology and more. 

“TCAT Hohenwald is delighted and honored to be joining the Columbia State SRTC to offer Automotive Technology and Practical Nursing to our region,” said Dr. Kelli Kea-Carroll, TCAT Hohenwald president. “Both TCAT programs are defined as ‘in-demand’ career occupations programs, which offer the competencies, certificates and industry credentialing necessary for student completion and student success to contribute to our southern Middle Tennessee workforce development needs associated with business and industry.”   

Built through a partnership between Columbia State, TCAT Hohenwald and TCAT Pulaski, the center is designed to strengthen workforce development across the region.

“The SRTC represents a transformational partnership that expands access to workforce training where students need it most,” said Mike Whitehead, TCAT Pulaski president. “By bringing TCAT Pulaski's Welding and HVAC/R programs to Columbia, we're removing barriers to education while strengthening the skilled workforce across southern Middle Tennessee.”

The evening will feature:

•    Live music by Merchants of Cool

•    Open house tours of the new facility

•    Celebratory drone light show 

Event schedule:

•    6:30 p.m. — Grand opening ceremony and ribbon cutting

•    7–8:15 p.m. — Explore the new center, enjoy live music and learn about the exciting career programs coming to our region through this partnership.

•    8:30 p.m. — Evening ends with a 300 drone light show celebrating the grand opening, Columbia State's 60th Anniversary and America's 250th birthday! 

Guests should bring lawn chairs or blankets and are welcome to bring food, as they celebrate a special evening that marks a milestone for the region.

And now, news from around the state…

Nashville Sounds Attendance Record (Fox17)

As football season nears and fans await the crisp fall weather, Baseball America is tracking attendance through the heat this summer at Minor League Baseball stadiums across the country.

The Nashville Sounds come in sixth overall with 368,719 total fans as of Aug. 11, per Baseball America.

Baseball America also reports the Chattanooga Lookouts crack the top 25 and have increased attendance by nearly 2,000 fans per game since opening the new Erlanger Park this season.

The Sounds are chasing the Richmond Flying Squirrels, who have drawn 386,140 fans in 2026 at the new CarMax Park.

Gas Prices (MSM)

Gas prices across the state steadily declined over last week, falling 11 cents, on average. The Tennessee Gas Price average is now $3.55 which is five cents more expensive than one month ago and 77 cents more expensive than one year ago.  

“Lower crude oil prices continue to provide relief for Tennessee drivers by helping to push pump prices lower across the state,” said Megan Cooper, spokeswoman for AAA – The Auto Club Group. “However, volatility in the global oil market remains a factor, and any significant shifts could place upward pressure on fuel costs. If crude oil prices remain stable, motorists may see additional savings at the pump this week.” 

Tennessee is currently the fourth least expensive market for gas in the U.S.

Final Story of the Day (Maury County Source)

The 2026 Titans Foundation 5K presented by SeatGeek is set for Saturday, September 26th, 2026; 5K starts at 7:00 AM CT.

A Commemorative shirt and race medal included for all participants. The Finish will take place on the field at Nissan Stadium (1 Titans Way, Nashville, TN 37213), home of the Tennessee Titans.

There will be Appearances by Titans Entertainment!

A Titans game ticket is included with each 5K entry. All participants will receive one game ticket to the Titans vs. Jaguars game on Sunday, November 15, 2026, at Nissan Stadium. Registrants will have the option to purchase additional tickets at a special rate.

The Titans Foundation 5K benefits the Tennessee Titans Foundation impact initiative known as ONE Community, which strives to support communities in three cause areas of Opportunity, Neighborhoods, and Education. Through programs and partnerships, ONE Community’s mission is simple –  to create generational change one person, one family, and one community at a time.

The Titans Foundation hopes to raise $10,000+ in donations from the 5K event to advance programming that empowers the next generation of Titans on the field, in the classroom, and in the community.

The Titans Foundation 5K Auction will be live starting on August 15th. Stay tuned!

More information can be found at www.runsignup.com.