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Circuit Court
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A man was sentenced to three months in jail for leading lawmen on a high-speed chase in which he crashed into another motorist.
The man, Jonathan Ray Pewitt, 26, entered a guilty plea before Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley to charges of evading arrest. He was ordered to serve 90 days of a three-year sentence.
His jail time comes after police found his vehicle sitting on the railroad tracks off Highway 70 Bypass. He fled when police stopped to question him and led them on a high-speed chase on New Smithville Highway.
He struck a motorist while fleeing but refused to stop. Police were able to get his tag number and Cannon County authorities picked him up in their county. He admitted to fleeing because he was driving on a suspended license that had been taken by the state for failing to pay child support.
In other circuit traffic sentences:
• Thomas Edward Glimps was directed to serve 150 days of a four-year sentence, pay $3,000 plus costs and lose his driver license for eight years for seventh-offense DUI, fourth-offense driving a revoked license, and violation of habitual traffic offender status. He must also wear a monitor for 90 days.
• Andrew Chase Cope was ordered to serve 20 days of an 11-month, 29-day sentence, perform 12 hours public service work, pay $500 plus costs and lose his driver license for one year for DUI and third-offense driving on a suspended license.
• Ricky Dwayne Hice was directed to serve 60 days of an 11-29 sentence, perform 40 hours public service work, lose his driver license for two years, and pay $750 plus costs for second-offense DUI.
• Lucas Stoops was instructed to serve 125 days of a three-year sentence, pay $50 plus restitution, and perform 16 hours public service work for second-offense driving on a suspended license and grand theft.
• Michael Frederick Teachout was directed to serve 30 days of an 11-29 sentence, pay $100 plus costs, perform 12 hours public service work and lose his driver license for one year for second-offense driving on a revoked license.
• Keith Loren Prater was instructed to serve five days and pay $50 plus costs for driving without a license.

Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community