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Roland sues city over billboards
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McMinnville officials are awaiting a ruling by Judge Bart Stanley after being sued by Roland Advertising. The wait could end Monday.
Stanley has heard the case and a ruling is expected within days.
“I heard the case on Tuesday,” said Stanley on Friday. “I may have time today to start working on it, but I have been in an alimony case for five days. It could be Monday.”
Dave Roland filed a case Feb. 22 and another on Sept. 10 against the city of McMinnville claiming the city has “caused and is causing irreparable harm to Roland for which Roland has no adequate remedy at law” for not allowing the business to place digital billboards here.
The Feb. 22 lawsuit stems from a failed attempt by Roland Advertising in 2011 to place a 300-foot digital billboard at one of the busiest intersections in town — Smithville Highway and the bypass.
The business asked the city for permission to place an off-premise sign at the intersection. McMinnville’s codes department denied the request as city code requires these types of signs to be 1,000 feet apart and one existed 500 feet away. The decision was later upheld by McMinnville’s Board of Zoning Appeals.
The Sept. 10 lawsuit stems from a failed attempt by Roland Advertising in 2012 to place a 300-foot digital sign on the corner of Walker Street and N. Chancery Street. After asking the city for permission, the second attempt ended the same as the first.
City attorney Tim Pirtle, who represents the city, says Roland Advertising wants the judge to determine if the city dismissed its requests without actually considering them.
“What they are asking the judge for is his determination if they were summarily dismissed by the city,” said Pirtle. “Both requests were considered, and I believe the city was well within its rights to deny them.”

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