CHAPEL HILL -- Town planners reviewed three new books on landscaping at their meeting last week when the rules might have been compared to the porridge Goldilocks tasted at the three bears' house. One was too long and complicated. One was too short and not very specific, and the third seemed to be just right, except the planners weren't sure, so they asked a state adviser to iron out wrinkles so they'd be comfortable with the new rules... more

NASHVILLE - The cosmetics factory in Lewisburg has been awarded a $49,177 state grant to help pay for employee retraining because of new equipment and production of new products next year. Cosmolab's grant was one of 13 grants totaling $381,562 as announced by Gov. Phil Bredesen and Labor Commissioner James Neeley on Friday. Financial viability and payment of all state taxes are among the requirements for the grants... more

From Staff Reports With two Christmas parades in Marshall County last weekend, area residents could easily say they'd celebrated the "Best Little Christmas Ever," especially since that was the title of the festival on the Courthouse Square. Even the prediction of snow came true Friday night as presented in a forecast published here by the City of Lewisburg's listing of events including Christmas at the Dixie Theater where two snow machines churned out real snow flakes on that cold night... more

Access to the new Business Park and the town of Lewisburg from Interstate 65 will be improved by the Tennessee Department of Transportation's plan to widen Mooresville Highway. According an e-mail from TDOT spokeswoman B. J. Doughty, "the SR-373 Project is 3.893 miles long and extends from I-65 to east of SR-417 (West Ellington Parkway). The main section of the highway will be 4 lanes, not divided with a median, within a minimum 150-foot right of way."... more

The Tennessee Department of Transportation has decided to let Lewisburg install traffic control signals at North Ellington Parkway's intersection with Rock Crusher Road and North Fifth Avenue. That crossroads near Lawler's Barbecue, Dr. Carter Woodson's office, a BP station and Stan McNabb's Ford Mercury dealership is widely recognized as congested, difficult to negotiate from side streets, and the site of recurring wrecks... more

Lewisburg's Christmas parade will be coming down West Commerce this Saturday afternoon. It starts at 2 p.m. at Westvue Church of Christ, and ends at the square, where the Best Little Christmas Ever Festival will have been in full swing since 10 a.m... more

Negotiations between the Board of Education and the Marshall County Education Association made no progress on Wednesday night, in spite of both sides expressing a desire to reach agreement soon. "We were sincere about the money," said the Board's lead negotiator Craig Michael. ... more

Judge Robert Crigler sentenced a Moore County man to nine months in prison to be followed by three years probation at a hearing on Wednesday. Norman Henry Litchford, 70, pleaded guilty to three cases of theft from residents of Marshall County. Two cases included burglary because Litchford broke in to buildings in order to steal the items in question... more

Nearly 11,000 people could be affected by a Lewisburg City Council decision next week when it's asked to separate about 4,300 households into north and south garbage collection zones divided by East and West Commerce Streets. Trash days may be different next year when garbage would be collected only once a week, but the expansion of the curbside recyclable collection service to all of Lewisburg is seen as a way to maintain collections twice a week, although only one will be for garbage... more

By Clint Confehr Senior Staff Writer Brief, but decidedly unexpected applause followed one of the routine department reports at the most recent meeting of Marshall County commissioners. "Things have been allowed that cannot continue," said Don Nelson, the county zoning administrator who's been leading the Codes Department as commissioners hired a new building inspector... more

As some Marshall County residents went shopping in the predawn hours of Black Friday, others had local merchants convinced that holiday shoppers are particularly picky this year. The Thanksgiving weekend may not have been the disaster some feared, but unprecedented discounts and tempered buying led to soft sales as a buying binge on Friday fizzled. ... more

CHAPEL HILL -- A Shelbyville contractor may now get a building permit to construct the long-planned ambulance station here because the town's Planning Commission approved site plans on Monday. "We worked with the county on this," Mayor Carl Cooper said while leading commission discussion. "Mary Ann Neill (a county commissioner representing an area to be served by the station) told us of every move... more

Three Lewisburg residents have obtained petition forms toward running for seats on the City Council in the May election and another has done so for the mayoral race. However, Ronald McRady of Second Avenue South is the only one of the four who's filed the petition with verified signatures from 25 registered voters, thereby making him the first candidate in the election... more

OBITS for 3 Dec Sarah Virginia Watkins Sarah Virginia Watkins, 89, of Lewisburg, died Sunday, Nov. 30, 2008, at NHC Oakwood. Mrs. Watkins was a native of Giles County. She was a homemaker and a member of the Cornersville Baptist Church. She was preceded in death by her parents, John Watkins and Lula Mae Roberts Watkins; husband, David "Buster" Watkins; daughter, Martha Ruth Foster; sisters, Pauline Edwards and Christine Watkins; and brothers, J. ... more

By Clint Confehr Senior Staff Writer Marshall County residents seem to be going green, according to their growing use of recycling bins located behind the Walgreen Drug Store at the Nashville Highway and Ellington Parkway. Two bins for recyclable materials such as plastic, paper and metal were placed at that location over the Thanksgiving weekend and Tuesday morning Marshall County Solid Waste Director Morgan Thomas said there was more than he expected... more

Two Marshall County residents are accused of being fugitives from justice and were arrested recently on warrants from other states. Mathew Ryan Carey, 22, of Glenn Avenue, was arrested by Lewisburg Police Detective Sgt. Jimmy Oliver on Tuesday last week, Nov. 25... more

A Lewisburg woman and her friend were arrested early Saturday morning, one charged with driving under the influence, and the other with allowing DUI. "'I am more messed up than her,'" is what … more

Ticketing speeders and drivers who run red lights with information from traffic cameras is a "good idea if it's used appropriately," according to Lewisburg's police chief. "It's inappropriate for any government to look at it as a money making system," Police Chief Chuck Forbis said of a project proposed last month to Lewisburg's City Council by a Phoenix, Ariz.-based business... more

The Marshall County Education Association backed down from their demand to have a fixed percentage of their insurance premiums paid by the Board of Education. They made this significant concession at the negotiating meeting Tuesday night, "It took a lot of effort to switch from a percentage, but we are switching to a dollar figure," said MCEA lead negotiator Kathy Stapleton. "We hope that shows good faith that we are trying to negotiate."... more

The Marshall County School Board's Budget Committee is taking steps to avoid last-minute work sessions and unpleasant financial surprises. Committee members have developed a time-line for getting their numbers in order, and are requesting monthly reports from various departments to keep them abreast of income and expenditures... more