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Flores gets 8 years for drugs, car theft, leaving accident
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Amber J

A woman who faced a long list of drug charges, and who was also indicted for stealing a car and leaving the scene of an accident, has been handed an eight-year sentence with 10 additional years to be served on probation.

Centertown resident Amber Jade Flores, 30, was handed the sentence by Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley after entering pleas to theft of property over $2,500, third-offense driving on a revoked license, leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, escape, delivery of oxycodone in a school zone, delivery of meth, and delivery of meth in a school zone.

Flores was also fined $8,000 and given 40 hours of community service work.

The charges date back nearly two years and show a pattern of repeated drug dealing and criminal activity.

Flores was indicted for selling drugs four times in the summer of 2019 on the dates of July 18, July 23, July 24 and Aug. 7. She was charged with delivering oxycodone on July 18 and delivering meth on the other three dates.

Flores was charged with escape for leaving the grounds of the Love Lady Center, a treatment facility. She was ordered there for rehab after pleading guilty to a DUI charge, but willingly left on March 21, 2020, according to the indictment.

Two months after leaving her furlough at Love Lady, Flores was indicted for stealing a 2011 Toyota Camry from a local woman. In stealing the car, Flores also committed a traffic offense since her driver’s license is revoked.

On that same day, Flores was indicted for leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident in which she was involved. Over $1,500 in damage was incurred by the other vehicle.

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