Josh Peterson

The Coffee County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help identifying a person of interest in an alleged burglary that occurred at a construction site on Blanton Chapel Rd. in Coffee County Monday. 

If anyone has information or knows the person pictured, they are encouraged to contact Corporal Blake Simmons at 931-728-3591. 

The Coffee County Fair continues on Wednesday at the Coffee County Fairgrounds – located at 99 Lakeview Dr. in Manchester.

As it pertains to rides, Wednesday is dollar a ride day. Regular tickets are also available.

For Wednesday night entertainment, By Faith performs at the Grandstands at 7 p.m.

The Coffee County Fair continues through Saturday, Sept. 26. Gate admission on Wednesday is $5.

Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron announced Monday afternoon that the Rutherford County Face Covering Order set to expire on September 30 will instead be lifted on Tuesday, September 22, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. CDT.

In a letter to citizens, Ketron writes, “Your compliance with the order which went into effect on July 22, had a significant impact on our numbers going down. This was hard to ignore. We are encouraged by the data trends and want to continue down that path! This does not discount the fact that the virus is here and not going anywhere anytime soon. Therefore, I am asking that as a community, we revert once more to being #RutherfordResponsible.”

His letter goes on to say, “Multiple opinions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have cited that wearing masks works, though we acknowledge that it could be the combination of wearing masks, washing hands, and other recommended health practices (i.e. social distancing) and not just one specific protective measure. Being #RutherfordResponsible means incorporating all these health practices into your daily routine to continue to effectively slow the spread of the virus in our community.”

Finally, Ketron acknowledges that some community members will choose to mask and others will make the decision not to but implores them to remain respectful of one another. “This does not mean that this difference among citizens should cause discord in the community… Rutherford County is a caring and compassionate community. Do not let this pandemic change that, or you!”

Tuesday, Sept. 22 is the first official day of fall, and it feels like it with high temperatures forecast in the low 70s.

In case you were wondering, we are 65 days away from Thanksgiving and 94 day away from Christmas.

For all of you longing for a return to warmer weather, we are 119 day away from the official start of Spring 2021.

Grundy County Sheriff Clint Shrum has announced that due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in Grundy County, inmate visitation at the jail will be suspended through the end of September.

“The health of our staff, inmates and visitors is important,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement. “We do not have any cases in the jail and prefer to keep it that way.”

Attracting future students to agriculture and MTSU’s Fermentation Science program — that’s the objective of a new U.S. Department of Agriculture grant collaboration between Motlow, Columbia State, and MTSU.

It’s a three-year, $300,000 grant proposed by MTSU’s Tony Johnston, who is partnering with Motlow Chemistry Instructor Nathan Fisher and Columbia State’s Karen Kendall-Fite, with faculty from all three schools participating.
“Our collaboration in this grant award is part of a larger, long-term vision. We are very intentional about our plan to introduce a variety of Fermentation and Distillery Science learning opportunities,” said Motlow President Dr. Michael Torrence. “Our vision includes broadening short-term certificate training opportunities, as well as the development of new degree programs. Those programs will specifically seek to cultivate the success of minority and underserved populations in these fields.”

Motlow STEM faculty will be trained in problem-based learning methods to work with students, and the impact of their students’ awareness of fermentation science as a STEM concentration and career will be tracked. Fisher is a former MTSU student, tutor, undergraduate research assistant, and chemistry adjunct faculty member.

“The awarding of this grant creates an exciting new opportunity for students who want to come to Motlow to study fermentation,” said Fisher. “Fermentation is a growing industry in the Middle Tennessee area, and this grant represents the commitment of the USDA to develop competency among our Motlow students. With the grant funding, some students will attend Motlow to study Fermentation before transferring to MTSU or other programs to receive their bachelor’s degree. Additionally, students may be interested in finishing their studies with the planned Associate of Science degree in Fermentation that Motlow is working towards offering. Both options will open fulfilling career paths that will, in turn, help to grow Fermentation and enhance local food security.”

The grant increases awareness of agriculture and introduce fermentation concepts into lower-division undergraduate math and science classes at Columbia State and Motlow, and drives fermentation science as a career option.
“Students, in general, aren’t aware of what fermentation science is, much less that it’s agricultural,” said Johnston, professor, and director of the MTSU Fermentation Science program. “The grant seeks to get more students interested in agriculture as a career.

“Agriculture is an applied STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) field, but it is not traditionally viewed this way,” Johnston said. “The grant provides an opportunity to connect the dots between STEM courses and agriculture and raise awareness of and increase the potential for a student to become interested in the applied STEM career that is fermentation science.”

Johnston said part of the grant would go toward classroom equipment — smartphones and scientific equipment — for Motlow and Columbia State students to learn about chemistry, biology, and math through applications of Fermentation in their freshmen- and sophomore-level courses.

Another part of the funds will pay Motlow and Columbia State faculty to be trained and MTSU math professor Ginger Holmes-Rowell as an independent evaluator.

For more information about this exciting new opportunity, contact Nathan Fisher, Motlow Chemistry Professor, at 615-220-7879 or nfisher@mscc.edu.

Pictured below: Motlow Chemistry Instructor Nathan Fisher leads a partnership with MTSU and Columbia State in growing the fermentation science field through a $300,000 USDA grant. – Motlow Staff Photo.