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Officers out in force St. Patrick's Day
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With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, McMinnville Police Department wants to encourage observing the Irish-based holiday and discourage driving while intoxicated.
“Once again, we are not trying to discourage people from having fun during a holiday,” said Lt. Mark Mara. “Go ahead and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. However, designate a driver if you plan on drinking or taking anything that impairs your ability to drive.”
The department will be holding saturated patrols March 14-18 and will be working in conjunction with Warren County Sheriff’s Department and Tennessee Highway Patrol.
On March 17, people will be celebrating the life and work of the most famous Paddy in the world: Saint Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland. Every year, Irish and the Irish-at-heart, observe St. Patrick’s Day. What began as a religious feast day for the patron saint of Ireland has become an international festival celebrating Irish culture with parades, dancing, special foods and a whole lot of green.
Residents can help make the streets safer by reporting vehicles being operated in an unsafe manner to 668-7000 or 911. Please give the dispatcher by giving the street name and a detailed description of the vehicle. It would be helpful to provide the make, model, and color of the vehicle, along with the license plate number.
“We really appreciate motorists who call in reporting individuals driving in an unsafe manner,” said Mara. “It does make a difference. This is a team effort. We need the community’s help and they need ours.”
Operation “Be A Survivor: Get A Designated Driver” has received funding from the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office.

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