By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support local journalism.
Trump,Clinton win local races
Placeholder Image

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton took one giant step closer to a monumental showdown for President of the United States as each won in Warren County, in Tennessee, and in most of the voting nation Tuesday night.
Both candidates soared to easy victories in Warren County, which mirrored their success throughout the state.
Trump, a Republican, captured 47 percent of the vote in Warren County, easily outpacing Ted Cruz with 24.5 percent and Marco Rubio with 16.3 percent. Ben Carson was a distant fourth with 7.3 percent.
On the Democratic side, Clinton was equally as dominant in securing 64.1 percent of the vote. Bernie Sanders earned 32.6 percent.
Locally, Republicans outvoted Democrats more than 2-to-1. Republican candidates finished with 4,833 votes in the presidential primary while Democrats received 2,055 votes.
On a statewide level, Tennessee Republicans gave Trump an overwhelming victory, despite Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander endorsing Rubio.
With 82 percent of precincts reporting at press time, Trump had 40 percent of the vote, compared with 24 percent for Cruz, and 20 percent for Rubio.
Like her showing in Warren County, Clinton was powerful in Tennessee and throughout the South on Super Tuesday. In addition to a win in the Volunteer State, Clinton won in Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, Arkansas and Texas.
Sanders won in his home state of Vermont and in Oklahoma too.
With the impressive showings Tuesday, the two frontrunners began taking aim at each other.
"The rhetoric we're hearing on the other side has never been lower," said Clinton during her victory rally.
Said Trump during his celebration, "She's been there for so long, if she hasn't straightened it out by now, she's not going to straighten it out in the next four years."
The next big battle will take place in Florida on March 15.

Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
local news.png

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