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Matheny keeps seat in state House
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State Rep. Judd Matheny will return to the Tennessee House for an eighth term after rebuffing an upset bid by two Republican hopefuls Thursday night.
Matheny breezed to reelection over Tullahoma residents Will Lockhart and Steve Lynn. Since there is no Democratic candidate in the general election, Matheny will resume his office representing the 47th District with his win in the Republican Primary.
The district includes all of Coffee County and about one-third of Warren County.
Matheny waltzes back into office with a landslide win, defeating his nearest opponent, Lockhart, by a nearly 2-to-1 margin of 2,408 votes to 1,296. Lynn finished a distant third with 406 votes.
Matheny carried both Warren and Coffee counties. He more than doubled Lockhart in Warren County, besting him 556 to 240, while Lynn garnered 46 votes.
Matheny said he would like to focus on issues facing the state’s growing senior citizen population when the General Assembly returns to session next year.
“The senior citizen issue is one I believe we have woefully inadequate resources,” said Matheny. “From a medical standpoint, from a housing standpoint, and from a transportation standpoint, we have thousands and thousands of new seniors coming along and we’re unprepared for that as a state.”
Matheny also said he would like for the state to address transportation infrastructure issues and provide more broadband internet access to rural areas.
“Heroin and prescription drug abuse are two problem where I’d like to dedicate more law enforcement resources,” said Matheny.

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