2016

Motlow State Community College will be closed on Monday, Jan. 18, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, according to college officials.
The closing includes all college facilities, including libraries and computer labs, on the Moore County, Fayetteville, McMinnville, and Smyrna campuses. Regular business hours for all sites will resume on Jan. 19.
Spring semester classes begin on Jan. 19 at all locations. Students can register for classes through Jan. 19, although the deadline to fill out a Motlow College application for admission is Jan. 11.
For more information, visit the Motlow website at mscc.edu or call 931-393-1500 or 800-654-4877.

Four Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office deputies who helped save four people trapped inside their car in the Stones River were honored by the NAACP Saturday during the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast.
Lt. Chris Haynes, Sgt. Brian Wright and Deputies Trey Mosby and Mike Farmer received the Jerry Anderson Hero Award.
The award is named for former NFL player Jerry Anderson, who drowned May 27, 1989 saving the lives of two Murfreesboro boys, Brad Logsdon and Josh “Pooh” McFarland. Anderson played football for Central High School, the University of Oklahoma and the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The four Sheriff’s Office employees were among a team of deputies and Rutherford County Fire and Rescue firefighters who saved two children and two women whose vehicle traveled off the Elam Mill slab and into the river in December 2014.
NAACP Third Vice President Mary Wade said they fought the strong current to rescue the family submerged in the Stones River “without regard to their own safety. Everyone was saved” through the team effort with other deputies and firefighters.
Sheriff Robert Arnold said he was extremely proud of the deputies.
 “These deputies risked their lives in the freezing water to make sure the people trapped in the car were saved,” Sheriff Arnold said. “It took a team of deputies and firefighters to safely rescue the children and women. They are true heroes.”
Lt. Haynes said when deputies arrived, the people in the car were in a panic. The deputies didn’t know how much longer the vehicle was going to stay in place.
“Everything just fell together in the fact that Deputy Mosby had the rope, Deputy Farmer had the wits about him to anchor everything down,” Lt. Haynes said.
 Lt. Haynes and Sgt. Wright, accompanied by deputies and volunteer firefighters, rescued the women and children from the car.
After the presentation, Lt. Haynes said he knew Anderson as a child growing up in Murfreesboro and remembered when he left to play football for the University of Oklahoma.“I wanted to grow up like Jerry Anderson,” Lt. Haynes said.
Ironically, Sgt. Wright went to Central High School with Anderson’s daughter, Vicky, and knew both Logsdon and McFarland

Tennessee farmers markets are giving customers what they want:  access to as many fresh local products as possible through the cold weather months. Winter farmers markets and online market options are part of the national movement to make local and seasonal eating a viable choice year round.
Winter markets offer a wide variety of fresh produce that grows well in cooler weather, like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, carrots and cabbage. Autumn produce that stores well is also still available. Hard squash, pumpkins, garlic and all sorts of potatoes are typical winter market fare. Honey, sorghum, cured meats and farm-direct items like soaps made with goat’s milk and other farmed ingredients help fill out the winter market roster. Fresh meats can be purchased throughout the year, and winter markets are ideal locations to find a selection of your local favorites.  
Produce and meat community supported agriculture (CSA) programs often use winter markets as a pick-up site for their members and usually have additional items to sell while there. Some farmers even take orders online so their loyal customers will know how much of an item is available and to make sure those customers get what they want.
Farmers market hours may differ in the winter. Check with your preferred market before you make the trip.
Tennessee CSA’s and the Farmers Markets are listed on the Pick Tennessee site. There you will also find information on other farms, farm direct and artisan products and recipes for all seasons. Follow Pick Tennessee on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
 

The start of the new year means the Cannon County Commission will meet in monthly session on Saturday.  Items on the Agenda include Paul Curless will address the Commission.  The Commission will establish a new Debt Service Fund for Education.  Establish a new fund for Medical Insurance.  The Sheriff’s Department will present a budget amendment for approval.  The Commission will look to approve the lease agreement for the Fire Department contingent upon Comptroller approval and they will look over Resolution 2016-2 which is a resolution to support Governor Bill Haslam’s Insure Tennessee Initiative.  The meeting will take place at 10:00 Saturday morning in the courtroom of the Cannon County Courthouse.
 

The Cannon County Lions suffered a heartbreaking loss Tuesday night to the Upperman Bees in Baxter after a last second shot won the game for the home team.  There isn’t a lot of time to reflect on that loss as the Lions get ready for tonight’s game at Robert A Harris gymnasium against the Livingston Wildcats.  The Lions hope to bounce back in a positive fashion tonight meeting a team they saw during the Christmas break and lost to in a close non district game.  Tonight’s meeting does count in the District 8-AA standings.  Tonight’s set of basketball games starts out with the girls matchup between the Cannon County Lionettes and the Livingston Academy Lady Wildcats.  The Lionettes suffered their worst defeat in recent history and will meet another team that is listed in the Top Ten Poll in the state for the second consecutive game.
Tonight’s games will tipoff at 6:00.  AM-1540/FM 107.9 WBRY will have the live broadcast.  You can also check out the games streaming live on the website at wbry.com and through the smart phones and tablets using the Tune In Radio app.
 

Donny Green, County Executive Director of the DeKalb/Cannon County Farm Service Agency, reports the DeKalb/Cannon FSA County Committee met in regular session on Tuesday, December 8, 2015 to canvass and tabulate the ballots received in the 2015 Local Administrative Area (LAA) # 1 (DeKalb County) and LAA # 5 (Cannon County) County Committee Elections.
In the DeKalb County LAA # 1 election, Steve Officer was elected to serve as Committee Member. Randall West was elected as 1st Alternate Committee person and Bert Driver was elected as 2nd Alternate Committee person. In the Cannon County LAA # 5 election, Bob Melton was elected to serve as Committee Member, and Martin Daniel was elected to serve as 1st Alternate. All elected members began their terms on January 1st
The DeKalb/Cannon FSA County Committee met on January 12, 2016 to conduct its Organizational Meeting. The Committee selected Jack Campbell as the Chairperson, and Javin Fann as the Vice-Chairperson for 2016. R.V. Billings, Jr, Bob Melton, and Steve Officer serve as members of the Committee. The Committee meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 8:30 a.m. at the DeKalb/Cannon County USDA Service Center located at 647 Bright Hill Rd.
Green says that the DeKalb/Cannon FSA County Committee and office staff wishes to express their appreciation to voters in LAA’s # 1 and # 5 who participated in the elections by voting and returning their ballots. “The local County Committees are a very important part of Farm Service Agency’s program delivery and administrative processes,” added Green.
For more information about FSA’s County Committees or other program inquiries, call 597-8225 (extension 2) or come by the DeKalb/Cannon County Farm Service Agency office at 647 Bright Hill Street in Smithville. You can also visit the agency’s web site at:
 www.fsa.usda.gov.
 

Tennessee farmers markets are giving customers what they want:  access to as many fresh local products as possible through the cold weather months. Winter farmers markets and online market options are part of the national movement to make local and seasonal eating a viable choice year round.
Winter markets offer a wide variety of fresh produce that grows well in cooler weather, like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, carrots and cabbage. Autumn produce that stores well is also still available. Hard squash, pumpkins, garlic and all sorts of potatoes are typical winter market fare. Honey, sorghum, cured meats and farm-direct items like soaps made with goat’s milk and other farmed ingredients help fill out the winter market roster. Fresh meats can be purchased throughout the year, and winter markets are ideal locations to find a selection of your local favorites.  Produce and meat community supported agriculture (CSA) programs often use winter markets as a pick-up site for their members and usually have additional items to sell while there. Some farmers even take orders online so their loyal customers will know how much of an item is available and to make sure those customers get what they want.
Farmers market hours may differ in the winter. Check with your preferred market before you make the trip.
Tennessee CSAs and farmers markets are listed at the Pick Tennessee site, www.picktnproducts.org. There you will also find information on other farms, farm direct and artisan products and recipes for all seasons. Follow Pick Tennessee on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
 

The Cannon County Board of Education will meet tonight for their regular monthly meeting.  On the agenda tonight will be the discussion of Quick Scores.  Approval of the Cannon County High School gym bleacher bid.  Bonnie Patterson will update the Board on the medication policy.  The Board will review 5 school policy changes and updates.  Michael K. Jones has sent the following request to review the following.  Hiring teacher process by having a commitee to hire instead of the director of schools doing all the work.  Performance evaluation for the standing and future Director of Schools and Status of School Buses in Cannon County.  Allegedly Mr. Jones states that he followed a bus on Highway 53 recently and it didn’t appear to have working turn signals.  The meeting will be held at the Woodbury Grammar School Cafeteria.

Cannon County Sheriff’s Investigators recovered a stolen rifle at a Manchester Pawn Shop Monday.  According to Cannon County Sheriff’s Department reports, the rifle was last seen about a month ago by the victim Justin Bogard.  After looking in the room where the rifle was kept, Bogard noticed it missing and even asked his father about the gun.  His father stated that it was gone but had no idea as to why.  Bogard did not have the serial number nor did he remember the manufacturer of the rifle.  Bogard  believes that his sister’s fiancee is the one that took it.  The fiancee Derek Aji was questioned but denied even knowing about the rifle and commented to the Sheriff’s Deputy that Bogard wasn’t all there mentally.  Sheriff’s Investigators continued to investigate and Investigator Chris Brown checked with Tolliver’s Pawn Shop out of Manchester.  The manager stated there was gun there that matched the description.  The gun was sold to Toliver’s by Derek Aji.  Aji was charged with theft under $500.  He is scheduled to answer to the charges on February 2nd in Cannon County General Sessions Court.
 

The Cannon County Homeland Security Committee will have their regular scheduled quarterly meeting on Thursday January 14, 2016.  The meeting will start at 4:30 pm at the St. Thomas Stones River Hospital Board Room.