Bruceton’s First United Methodist Church and New Hope Methodist Church of Vale extend a heartfelt welcome to their new pastor, Brother James Ellington, a certified lay minister from Jackson, Tenn. Preaching full time since 2019, Brother James served as pastor of Lester’s Chapel Methodist Church and Mount Carmen United Methodist Church, both of Jackson, and the Montezuma United Methodist Church of Henderson. more

Beta Club members from across the nation have worked for months in preparation for the National Beta Convention this summer. West Carroll Elementary and West Carroll Junior/Senior High School won big this year, with Junior Beta member Aubrey Hammett making history as the first National Junior Beta Secretary-elect from West Carroll. more

CHATTANOOGA — Chase Daffron, a 2019 McKenzie High School graduate, put the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) on the map recently by being named one of the best collegiate players in both Call of Duty and club baseball. more

McKENZIE (July 11) — Williams Furniture celebrated an employee’s milestone retirement last Tuesday, July 11. Peggy Hopper announced her well-deserved retirement after a 42-year long career at Williams Furniture in McKenzie. Williams Furniture owner Phil Williams threw a Hawaiian-themed retirement party for Hopper on Tuesday afternoon, complete with tropical leis and a cake congratulating Hopper on her retirement. more

McKENZIE (July 11) — The 2023-24 school year is a year of change, according to McKenzie Special School District Career Technical Education (CTE) Director Susan Dyer. As career paths and opportunities change alongside vast technological advances, McKenzie schools will begin preparing students for a technologically-saturated world with the help of Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s Innovative School Model (ISM) grant. more

NASHVILLE (July 7) — Leadership Tennessee, a collective with a mission to foster non-partisan dialogue on issues of state importance, has named Carroll County Mayor Joseph Butler to its 2023–2024 Signature Program Class X (class number 10). more

PARIS — Sally Lane’s Candy Farm may have new owners and a new location, but its legacy is stronger than ever. more

McKENZIE (July 6) — Ice bucket challenges were really popular a few years ago. The concept was to fill a five-gallon bucket with iced water and dump that water on someone’s head as a fundraiser. A recent fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital took the concept to the extreme: ice water from the bucket of a front-end loader. That followed a pie in the face by Johnathan St. Clair. Will Walker had the pleasure of operating the bucket as he eased the levers forward to dump the water on Trent Johnson and Trent’s granddaughter, Lila Colvin. more

McKENZIE (JULY 4) — Meet Toby, McKenzie Police Department’s new canine officer. more

Paige Costello, a rising tenth grade homeschooler and member of Carroll County 4-H, is the national winner of the 4-H Beekeeping Essay contest. The contest is sponsored by the Foundation for the Preservation of Honeybees, Inc. more

Kameshia Moxley was new to the pageant scene when she was crowned Miss Bethel University Volunteer in November 2022. When she moved to Tennessee to attend college, walking on the Miss Tennessee Volunteer stage one day did not even cross her mind. more

Addi Poole watched the Miss Tennessee pageants every year. She looked forward to the days when Miss Tennessee visited her school. Miss Tennessee was someone she could look up to and someone who made her feel seen. When Poole attended the Miss Tennessee pageant 2015 to support Paris native Hannah Robison, her entire perspective of the contest changed. Seeing someone from just across the road win the pageant proved she also had a chance to win one day and represent her community and state. more

Emma Martin is no stranger to the Miss Tennessee Volunteer stage, but the beauty queen said this year’s pageant might be her last. more

McKENZIE — After 10 years as President of Bethel University, Dr. Walter Butler announced his plans to retire on December 31, 2023 shortly after turning 70. more

MARTIN — Effective leaders look beyond their immediate surroundings to identify growth opportunities and ways to improve life for others. McKenzie resident Christy Williams, branch manager and vice president of Regions Bank, valued the class sessions, and the people she met established connections that will help turn ideas into action. more

TCAT McKenzie students Eric Flores of Henry and Ryan Chaney of Huntingdon recently earned certifications in Information Technology Systems Management (ITSM). more

Lex Suite is the new principal at Riverside High School, according to Decatur County Director of Schools Chris Villaflor. Suite has 30-plus years experience in education with three of those as assistant principal at Riverside High School. more

GERMANTOWN (May 5) — Kallie Berry, a nurse at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Carroll County was nominated for the 2023 University of Tennessee Health Science Center Nurse Hero Award at the 2023 NightinGala. Berry was one of 60 nurses in the midsouth to be nominated for the Florence Nightingale award. more

Tera Townsend was born to shine on the pageant stage. The Huntingdon native began competing in pageants at as early as six months old, and now she is traveling to Memphis to represent West Tennessee in the Miss Tennessee Pageant June 29-July 1. more

NASHVILLE (June 19) — Allie Chappell placed second in the women’s group and eighth overall in the Music City Juneteenth Freedom Day 5K in Nashville. 160 runners participated in Nashville’s inaugural Juneteenth 5K walk/run, and 111 were women. The event began at Nashville’s historic Shelby Park. more