Funeral services for Thomas Hale "Tommy" Hawkins III will be at 7 p.m. Monday at Bills-McGaugh Funeral Home. Visitation is from 2-7 p.m. Monday at Bills-McGaugh. Burial is Tuesday at 11 a.m. in Lone Oak Cemetery. more

By Karen Hall Staff Writer Lots of people were wearing oversize clothes at the Briar Patch in Cornersville last Saturday. It was "I Lost 100 Pounds" night in honor of Thomas Lance - everybody calls her Thomas - who's lost over 100 pounds since she had bariatric surgery last year... more

By Karen Hall Staff Writer A resolution asking for legislation to make the sale of synthetic drugs a felony was unanimously approved by Marshall County commissioners at their meeting this week. Tim Lane, director of the 17th Judicial District Drug Task Force, explained to commissioners why a change in the legislation was necessary... more

By Clint Confehr Senior Staff Writer For Heather Wright and her fiancé, Willie J. Carter, applying for a job through the Goodwill Career Center on Wednesday was like taking a step toward a marriage ceremony. Wright and Carter are postponing their wedding until they feel financially secure enough to move out on their own and then start a family. Both are unemployed. Both live with her father in Petersburg. Both went to Marshall County High School... more

NASHVILLE -- Marshall County's unemployment rate dropped one half of one percent from November to December, according to state figures released Thursday afternoon. These latest figures show that 12.2 percent of the county's workforce was unemployed during December, reflecting a decrease from the November rate of 12.7 percent. more

By Clint Confehr Senior Staff Writer Lewisburg businessman Thomas Hale "Tommy" Hawkins III died unexpectantly Thursday morning. He was 68. Hawkins was the patriarch of Lewisburg Printing, which he turned over to his three children several years ago. He was publisher of the Lewisburg Tribune and the Marshall County Gazette, which he sold in 2005. And he was a founder of First Commerce Bank where he remained active until his passing Thursday morning... more

To the editor: I am astonished by the generosity of the many in this community who have responded to the plight of the Dixie Theatre. It is another example of the volunteer efforts of the people of Lewisburg and Marshall County. Over the years, an untold number of individuals and businesses have given their time and money to make our community better... more

By Clint Confehr Senior Staff Writer Chapel Hill is where two of a number of projects are proposed in a countywide emergency plan that's about half done for state and federal emergency management officials. "One project is to do something about the railroad crossing at Chapel Hill where everybody knows that when it rains real hard, water fills the underpass some 6-8 feet deep," County Emergency Management Director Bob Hopkins said during a public meeting here... more

From staff reports A Chapel Hill woman was still in the trauma unit on Monday afternoon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she was taken by helicopter ambulance early Friday morning from the scene of a one-car crash. Charity Ann Ring, 25, of Chapel Hill, was in stable condition, according to Vanderbilt spokeswoman Ashley Culver who reported one of three passengers of the 2000 Ford Expedition that Ring was driving remained in the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital... more

By Clint Confehr Senior Staff Writer PALMETTO - A Unionville woman acted on advice from a man driving a white Dodge pickup truck Monday when she tried to drive through high water on Mount Road. She didn't make it. "Just don't trust a guy in a white Dodge," Lorra Scales concluded standing on Mount Road while waiting for Steven "Woody" Woodward in the Holder's Body Shop tow truck. "The (white truck) driver said, 'It's not that bad. Come on.'... more

By Clint Confehr Senior Staff Writer Marshall County has hired a Columbia resident with bank experience to be assistant budget director with the anticipation that she might become the director when the current director retires in about a year. While that hiring decision was the responsibility of Budget Director Freda Terry, she pointed out that because she is going to retire, county commissioners should participate in the decision because they must work with her successor... more

From staff reports A sheriff's deputy who "shot himself in the foot" 13 months ago sued Marshall County just before Christmas saying he'd not been told how to use a new holster and, on Thursday, the county denied the allegation he'd not been trained in how to use the holster... more

By Karen Hall Staff Writer Citizens attending a town hall meeting Saturday expressed outrage when only one school board member showed up. Ann Tears got a round of applause for coming to the meeting called by Gary Davis, president of the local branch of the NAACP, and attended by about 35 people... more

From staff reports With hope for another "3 on 3 Tournament" to support the Cops For Kids program, tournament officials report several hundred dollars were raised by the Saturday afternoon event at Lewisburg's Recreation Center. The business-sponsored tournament has been held before, but Saturday was the first time admission proceeds were donated to the Cops For Kids program that provides youngsters with money for Christmas shopping each December... more

WASHINGTON -- Failure to pass a budget should cost congressmen their pay, according to U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, the man who will represent Marshall County if he's re-elected in November. DesJarlais, a Republican, on Tuesday signed onto a bill by Rep. ... more

By Clint Confehr Senior Staff Writer Lewisburg's Water and Sewer Department will have water quality tests conducted for three households on Rock Crusher Road the utility's board decided last week after hearing from a couple living there. "We'll let someone from TDEC (the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation) pull the sample," said utility Superintendent Kenneth Carr, explaining the samples would be sent to Environmental Science Lab at Mt. Juliet for analysis... more

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- State Sen. Bill Ketron announced early Monday afternoon that he's not running for Congress. The Murfreesboro Republican continues to represent Marshall County and others until a reapportionment plan affects representation in January next year... more

From staff reports Selling synthetic drugs ought to be a felony, according to a resolution set for Marshall County commissioners approval on Monday when it could be sent to state lawmakers. "Synthetic marijuana and designer stimulants have created a public health problem," the resolution states, noting city police, sheriff's deputies and ambulance crews have seen the problem... more

By Clint Confehr Senior Staff Writer Jobs, lower taxes, education, the governor, reapportionment and other issues were discussed in Lewisburg Tuesday night by the man who could be Marshall County's state senator because of redistricting. As of yet, there doesn't appear to be Republican rival or a Democratic candidate for the reconfigured senatorial district now represented by Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville) who would succeed Sen. Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro)... more

By Karen Hall Staff Writer School board members are set to interview all four candidates for the director of schools job next Saturday, Jan. 28. The questions to be asked of all candidates were agreed on, and the schedule for the day was confirmed during discussion at a meeting Tuesday... more