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He would have cut her head clean off
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Lacy Garrison
Updated: Apr 19, 2012, 11:41 PM
Published: Apr 20, 2012, 12:41 AM

A Lance Street resident says his wife was nearly decapitated and he was slashed by a sword-wielding man who attacked him on his own porch.
“He swung at her and if she hadn’t moved he would have cut her head clean off,” testified Duncan Carter in the preliminary hearing against the alleged assailant, Jeffery Lynn Thomas, 43, who reportedly appeared on their front lawn with a three-foot long sword. “He kept yelling ‘I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill you.’”
Carter said he grabbed a walking stick when he saw the man swing the sword at his wife and tried to fend off the attack. The victim was interrupted by defense attorney Scott Grissom when he tried to tell Judge Bill Locke about a text Thomas had sent which began the encounter.
“It’s hearsay,” Grissom challenged, a statement which irritated Carter, who was on the stand.
“It ain’t hearsay, he cut me,” Carter countered, noting he suffered a slash to his left shoulder.
Carter went on to say he and his wife barely knew the suspect and had tried to help him in the past.
“You just can’t help some people,” Carter said.
However, Grissom suggested Carter had gotten drugs from Thomas before and it was drugs that was their connection.
Carter maintained Thomas ran away after the initial attack as he challenged him to come back.
“I’m not scared of him,” Carter said. “I’m not scared of him right now.”
Judge Locke bound Thomas to the grand jury on charges of aggravated assault and possession of a prohibited weapon after hearing evidence in the case.
Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Published: Apr 2, 2025, 11:31 PM

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