Year in Review 2022

January 2022

Pace announces resignation

Director of Lewis County Schools, Benny Pace, announced his resignation at a school breakfast meeting on Tuesday morning, January 4, 2022. Pace has served as Director of Schools for 19 years.

"You are my people and will always be my people," Director Pace told the gathering of teachers.

Snow Kicks off the New Year

The holiday weekend started off with the promise of severe storms and temperatures of 70 degrees, but rain quickly turned into snow by Sunday night, making for a winter wonderland.

Our local Tennessee Department of Transportation, TDOT, crew started tending to the roads almost as soon as the snow started to fall. They worked well into the night.

Lewis County Jail receives $200,000 grant

Lewis County Mayor Jonah Keltner recently announced to the County Commission that the Lewis County Jail has been awarded a $200,000 fully-funded grant by the Tennessee Department of Health.

The grant application was successfully written by Captain Christie Moore, and the funds will be used to provide upgrades and make various improvements at the jail, in response to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

High forest covered in snow once again

TDOT started clearing the roads on Wednesday morning, getting ready for snow that would last nearly all weekend long. Danny Atkinson, EMA Director, reported that Hohenwald had accumulated 5-8 inches of snowfall.

The average snowfall for Hohenwald in January is a reported monthly average of around 2 inches.

Twila Pigg, 911 Dispatch Surpervisor, said there were 16 reported wrecks from Thursday to Saturday. They also had calls about a couple fallen trees.

New Lewis County UT Extension Agent

The Lewis County UT Extension office announced a new agent had joined their team. Drew Vannatta from Bell Buckle begin work with UT Extension on December 1,2021 as the full-time ANR position.

Selling Industrial Park

The County Commission had several requests from local individuals and businesses to purchase property at the Industrial Park. The Industrial Park is owned by the County but resides in the City.

February 2022

Coach Bobby Sharp named head football coach for Columbia Central High School

Bobby Sharp, Tennessee Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame member, has been named head coach of the Columbia Central Lions football program.

Coach Sharp served as head football coach in Lewis County for the last 34 seasons.

Hohenwald Police Department's K9 gets body armor donated

The Hohenwald Police Department K-9, Cir, and his handler, Officer Robbie Hooks, were chosen to receive a bullet and stab protective vest, donated by the non-profit organization Vested Interest in K9s, Inc.

"We're a small department so anything that can be donated helps us a lot," said Officer Robbie Hooks, Cir's handler. "He may only need it one time, but that one time means the difference between him being able to keep performing his job."

Lewis County trap shooters selected for national all-stars team

Lewis County students and trap shooters were selected for the National All-Star Trap Team. The shooters selected had to excel both on and off the trap field. The qualifying students had to shoot 190 out of 200 from both State and Regional competitions as well as be great students with a 3.0 GPA or higher. The students selected for this year's team were Zoie Clark, Mercie Ashmore, Chase Carroll, Trase (Tuff) Lindsey and Ryan Tanner.

March 2022

Commission discusses halting the spread of 5G networks

County Commissioners, citizens and members of Leadership Lewis all gathered in the courtroom on Monday night to discuss February's county business.

The resounding hot topic of the night was a resolution brought before the Commission by a citizen regarding 5G mobile network installation and the hope to stop it from coming into Lewis County, pending a study on its health and safety risks.

Joyce Holt Represents Lewis County

Highway Commissioner Joyce Holt has proudly represented Lewis County as Moderator during the two day conference for County Government Day which brings together all county officials to allow them to meet with their legislators.

Davis House Child Advocacy Center Open House

With the vision of David Adcox and the support of the Highland Corporation Charitable Foundation, Davis House Child Advocacy Center recently moved to a newly renovated space.

Davis House provides investigative and healing services to children who are victims of sexual and/or significant physical abuse, as well as other traumatic events. They also provide community education and outreach that makes our towns and civic spaces safer and more resilient for everyone. The new space allows for more privacy for the families, and includes a conference room for staff and community education meetings.

to be continued next week