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Sex offender flushed out
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A registered sex offender went from the outhouse, to the courthouse, to the jailhouse Thursday morning.

John Anthony Combs, 61, appeared before General Sessions Judge Ryan J. Moore Thursday for a preliminary hearing for violation of the sex offender registry, and had his case bound over to the Warren County Grand Jury.

The violation charge, one of four counts Combs faced Thursday morning, stemmed from Combs allegedly living in a portable toilet downtown.

According to the original arrest warrant filed by McMinnville Police Officer Maggie Fann, MPD was dispatched to Security Federal’s W. Main St. branch on July 25, after receiving reports of a male suspect living in a rented portable toilet next door to the bank. Fann said she identified the mail as Combs, who is on the sex offender registry due to two counts of rape of a child in 1997 and 1998.

As part of Combs’s status, he is not allowed to set up a residence in the vicinity of a church with a daycare and outdoor playground, the warrant stated, adding he was staying 744 feet from such a location, but is required to be at least 1,000 feet from any facility of that type.

Combs, who is listed as homeless on the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry website, also had a hearing on three counts of violation of probation. He was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days on each violation, sentences which will run consecutively.

In April of this year, Combs pleaded guilty to violation of probation and received a 60-day sentence in jail. He also pleaded guilty to violation of community supervision for life and was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days on supervised probation, plus court costs.

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