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New voter law requires photo ID
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Lacy Garrison
Updated: Jul 20, 2011, 1:40 AM
Published: Jul 20, 2011, 2:40 AM

Noting that the new voter ID law could cause some headaches, election administrator Donna Yates said she hopes voter education will curb hot tempers come election time next year.
“People will be complaining I have no doubt,” Yates said of the new state law that requires all voters to present a photo ID when they arrive at the polls.
The voter ID law was passed recently because of fears unqualified people were casting votes, either those who were voting under false names or felons who were voting despite having no right to vote. Lawmakers felt a photo ID presented at the polls would do away with such problems.
However, Yates said the law could cause problems on the other end if voters are not prepared when they vote. The next major election, Yates noted, will be the presidential primaries March 6. For those who do not have a driver license, there is another way.
“The driver’s license testing stations will be giving out government-issued, ID-only cards for free,” Yates said, pointing out it would be best for people who need a photo ID to get it now and not wait until just before election day.
The driver testing station for Warren County is located next to Warren County High School.
As for those who show up to vote without photo ID, they can still vote but it will make things more complicated for both them and election officials.
“If they have no photo identification they can go ahead and vote provisionally and they will then have two days to come back and show us a photo ID,” said Yates, noting that in itself could be a big issue if there are lots of people who show up without photo IDs. “What happens if there’s a few hundred? That could put everything on hold for at least two days.”
There have been past elections where the official outcome remained in doubt while a handful of provisional ballots were confirmed and counted, most notably an aldermanic election less than five years ago where 10 provisional ballots held up a final declaration of the winner.
The only exception to the photo ID will be those who vote by mail or those voting in hospitals or nursing homes.
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