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SUV backs off Animal Control driveway
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A motorist escaped injury Tuesday morning after failing in an attempt to back out of Warren County Animal Control and Adoption Centers parking lot.
Lisa Hobbs
Updated: Jul 18, 2017, 11:31 PM
Published: Jul 19, 2017, 12:31 AM

A motor vehicle incident at Warren County Animal Control and Adoption Center is calling attention to the need for a circle drive to the make the facility handicap accessible.
“I told you so,” said Commissioner Blaine Wilcher, who has being urging the county to install a circle drive at the facility. “I told them it was just a matter of time until someone backed over the bank. I’m glad they weren’t seriously injured. Now, maybe, we can get serious about addressing this issue and pursuing the circle drive. It’s a no brainer.”
The facility has parking for two to three vehicles from visitors, as well as the department’s vehicles. However, it is difficult to turn around in the area. Visitors wanting to adopt an animal or drop off a donation of food must back down the winding driveway to get turned around.
On Tuesday morning, one such visitor was attempting to back down the drive and backed off the edge of the embankment. A tow truck was used to pull the vehicle up the embankment.
Commissioners have debated the state of the driveway for years. Consideration has been given to installing a circle drive and removing the need to back down.
Wilcher, a member of the county Health and Welfare Committee, says the incident proves something needs to be done.
“I have spoken about this several times over the last four years when pushing for a circle drive at Animal Control,” said Wilcher. “We held a committee meeting there and one of the commissioners said the men on the committee should have parked at the bottom so the ladies could park at the top. We should be able to park anywhere because that is what the public will do. If we have a difficult time parking, then the public would have a difficult time and we should do something to fix that.”
Wilcher is not alone in his belief. Commissioner Carolyn Miller, a member of the county Building and Grounds Committee, toured the facility in early 2016. During a subsequent meeting in March, she relayed to its members what she witnessed while there.
“I was out at Warren County Animal Control a couple months ago and I saw this lady get out of her car,” said Miller. “She had a walking stick and a bag. When she came back and got into her car, she couldn’t get out. There were too many vehicles. I wish everyone in this room could have seen that lady and the difficulty she was having getting out of the parking lot.”
She motioned to include $50,000 into the next fiscal year budget of Animal Control to be used to pave the gravel driveway, improve parking and install a circle drive to make the facility handicap accessible.
Her motion was approved in committee. The funds were later removed by the county Budget and Finance Committee during 2016-17 fiscal year budget discussions.
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