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Provisional votes not enough for Roller
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Lacy Garrison
Updated: Aug 10, 2012, 1:34 AM
Published: Aug 10, 2012, 1:36 AM

Optimism is dwindling for a local Tennessee Senate candidate who had hoped provisional ballots might bridge the 34-vote gap between him and apparent Democratic Primary winner Jim Lewis.
“From a poll I did of the other six counties in our senatorial district, the numbers just aren’t there even if each provisional ballot was a vote for Steve Roller,” said Warren County election administrator Donna Yates. “There just aren’t enough votes there.”
After last week’s election, Roller trailed Lewis by 34 votes. Lewis earned 2,935 votes in the seven-county district, while Roller claimed 2,901. Third was Justin Walling with 2,877.
The men are seeking the 16th District State Senate seat left open by the departure of state Sen. Eric Stewart, who is running against 4th District U.S. Congressman Scott DesJarlais in November.
Roller, who lost to Stewart in the Democratic Primary four years ago by 131 votes, had hoped provisional votes would provide the margin he needed to overtake Lewis. However, Smith said the math does not add up.
“We were able to count two of our seven provisional ballots here and one was a vote for Steve Roller,” Smith said, noting the other five provisional were not counted and the result leaves Roller now 33 votes back.
Provisional ballots are votes made by registered voters who did not bring photo ID as required by state law. For their vote to count, the voter had to return with photo ID by this past Monday.
As for other counties, Smith said the provisional ballots add up to just 16, with Grundy County having the next highest total with five. Coffee, the largest county in the senatorial district, has no provisional votes.
In Warren County, the vote will be made official this Monday. Smith says all counties in the district will have their votes official by Wednesday. Any dispute of the outcome could be made at that point.
“We may wait around and see if there is anyone going to contest the election,” Roller said, not revealing if he intends to file an official dispute of the results. His campaign did not file a dispute of the election between him and Stewart four years ago.
If nothing changes, Lewis will face Republican nominee Janice Bowling of Tullahoma in November. She raked in 8,159 votes in a four-candidate field, outdrawing her nearest competitors by nearly a 4-to-1 margin in the Republican Primary.
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