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Washington leaders now appear ready to compromise on debt deal
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WASHINGTON (AP) — In secretive endgame negotiations, President Barack Obama and House Republican leaders reached anew on Thursday for an elusive "grand bargain" deal to cut deficits by $4 trillion or more and prevent a threatened Aug. 2 government default, officials said.
House Speaker John Boehner declared his rank and file generally stood ready to compromise in order to reach an agreement as a way of "getting our economy going again and growing jobs." Obama, in a newspaper opinion piece, said the talks provided an "opportunity to do something big and meaningful."
Still, 12 days before the default deadline, officials stressed that no compromise appeared imminent. And new hope of one ran instantly into old resistance: from Republicans opposed to higher taxes and Democrats loath to cut Medicare and other benefit programs.
While talks on a major, long-term agreement continued, a fresh, shorter-term backup plan appeared to be gaining momentum. Under discussion among some House Republicans, that proposal would cut spending by $1 trillion or slightly more immediately and raise the debt limit by a similar amount — enough to postpone a final reckoning until early in 2012.
Both sides maneuvered for political advantage and for leverage in negotiations about which little was publicly known.
"At the end of the day, we have a responsibility to act," said Boehner of GOP lawmakers,
Across the Capitol, however, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid blamed some of the same Republicans — "tea party extremists," he called them — of blocking a deal.
The sometimes-conflicting information underscored the frenzied final days before a threatened default, when the Treasury would no longer be able to pay all its bills in full and the economy could go into a tailspin as interest rates spiked.
Some Democrats confided they were worried Obama would sign off on an agreement that cuts benefit programs without raising tax revenue, and they peppered Budget Director Jack Lew — in a closed-door meeting in the Senate — with questions about the high-level negotiations.
In an opinion piece in USA Today posted Thursday evening, Obama restated his call for achieving deficit reduction through "historic" amounts of spending cuts but also through "fundamental tax reform."
It was a stance Reid pointedly emphasized Thursday.
"My caucus agrees with that — and hope the president sticks with that, and I'm confident he will," the Nevada Democrat said.
Later in the day, Reid and other senior Democrats in both houses spent an hour and 45 minutes at the White House with Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
One official said the White House had notified Democratic congressional leaders Wednesday night that Obama and the House leaders appeared to be were closing in on a deal that is said to include $3 trillion in spending cuts but only a promise of higher revenues.
Boehner's office and the White House said that account as overblown in part and inaccurate in part. Some Republicans charged it had been spread to anger Democrats and torpedo any possibility of a deal that would cut Medicare or Social Security.

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