Updated Feb. 4, 2010 DO YOU DARE TAKE OUR POLLS? EXPRESS YOURSELF, FOUR NEW POLLS. Take advantage of free response option. We'll post and print your opinions. Keep it printable. RECENT POLL RESULTS!
Do you think red light cameras now activated in MJ are a good idea?
Good idea: 31.8 % Bad idea: 54.5 % Don't care: 13.6 %
Do you think City of MJ should kick in money for access roads to proposed YMCA in exchange for acreage?
Yes: 36.4 % No: 54.5 % Don't care 9.1 % Please note new direct lines
Laurie Everett, Managing Editor 615-758-2277
Jackie Brown, Advertising Executive 615-754-6122
Kim Rollins, Office Manager 615-754-6397
Feb. 3, 2010 In-house editorial - Is Mundy Park a hindrance or a haven? It's hard not to twitch our mouth a bit when we hear of property owners trying to cut deals with the city with the assumption the city has an extra, oh say, $2 million to spend on a land deal to gain more park acreage.
The political shuffle is intensifying as Mt. Juliet Mayor Linda Elam confirms she will run on the Republican ticket for the House of Representatives, District 57, declaring she desires that a "conservative voice" continues to be part of the decision-making process.
GEORGE PAGE • MT. JULIET NEWS / City of Mt. Juliet Public Works Department employees were on top of things to clear streets for motorists.
Mt. Juliet motorists survive winter blast The winter wonderland has turned into a mushy mess with the City of Mt. Juliet faring fairly well through the first significant snow episode in several years.
LAURIE EVERETT • MT. JULIET NEWS/WCHS senior Ashley Parton (left) goes steady on the elliptical machine in the school's new fitness room, which was equipped with funds from a system-wide grant allocation.
Mt. Juliet Police continue investigating a report by a Belinda City woman who said her home was invaded by a man in a gas mask who hit and raped her while her two children slept in the other room.
Part 2 in a series
Coming next week: What is the Wilson County School system doing to keep students in school? An investigation of the measures the system has implemented to keep students from falling between the cracks.
GED worth more than music awards to Wilson
Mega country music star and ninth grade dropout Gretchen Wilson catapulted to superstar status with her “Redneck Woman” hit. She lives in Lebanon and attained fame and fortune with her popular albums.
Financially, she was rock solid and knew she could provide well for her little girl Grace. However, even with the awards and adulation, Gretchen was missing something.
Story 2 Adult High School can provide redemption
Brittney Simmons is a very pretty young woman. On this day she was warmly dressed in a sweatshirt, but there was no denying she was very much pregnant. She attended Lebanon High School, and when she was a senior, she switched to a home school program.
LAURIE EVERETT / Managing Editor
Wilson County Adult High School student Juan Rosas will graduate this spring and hopes to go on to college and become an air traffic controller.
Independence cost Rosas chance at high school graduation
Juan Rosas is a bright young man who dropped out of high school years ago.
Now 28 years old, he’s married with a nearly 6 month old daughter. He’s trying to raise a family as a dropout and he’s fed up.
Editor's Blog / It just ain't right There is something insanely wrong with this picture; careening down hills, barely hugging curves while gripping the side of the door and stomping on a non-existent brake. My right thigh is super toned these days.
In early high school, Lyndsay Cline was in the gifted program. One day in the middle of her senior year at Lebanon High School she woke up, but didn’t go to class.
She never went to high school again.
LAURIE EVERETT / Managing Editor
LAURIE EVERETT • MT. JUILET NEWS / Everett Hurd works at Sally's Beauty Supply in Lebanon, a job he got after he obtained his GED. He's also enrolled in cosmetology school.
Nearly every day Everette Hurd can be found working at Sally's Beauty Supply in Lebanon.
LAURIE EVERETT / Managing Editor
Editor's blog / Sometimes it just takes an image I was eager to hear about the stock market, if any news from Mt. Juliet beat me on the newscast and the latest on the Metro school’s director search. So when I glanced at my flickering mini-television stuck on a shelf in my bedroom – while searching for my daughter’s sweatshirt at the bottom of my closet and trying to figure out how a Velcro curler works without getting stuck – I was taken aback. L. Everett - 3 opinions posted
August 4 Blog update to Vestiges of a vanishing nature blog For those of you who managed to slog through the below blog I penned some time around October, you eventually read about the bedraggled turkey hen that appeared out of nowhere on my place. L. Everett - 1 opinion posted
Part 1 of 4 Fire Alarm: Clearing the smoke on MJ fire protection/Evolution of fire service in MJ Next week: How do comprarable cities provide fire service to citizens and another Firefighter Focus
Mt. Juliet's swelling population caused by unprecedented retail and residential growth has fanned the flames of debate regarding whom should provide the city's fire protection.
In the past 36 years, since the city was incorporated in 1972, Mt. Juliet leaders have juggled to accommodate a swelling population brought about by this growth. LAURIE EVERETT / Managing Editor - 2 opinions posted
GEORGE PAGE • Mt. Juliet News / WEMA Director John Jewell works with the new Mt. Juliet volunteer firefighters at one of multiple meetings orchestrated by Mt. Juliet resident and firefighter Shawn Donovan.
Part 3 of 4/Fire Alarm: Clearing smoke on MJ fire protection/At the scene: The real deal on fire protection,Volunteer Fire Force born out of necessity Lt. David Cross has been a firefighter and emergency medical technician for 32 years. He’s been fighting fires in Wilson County for 20 of those years. He’s seen it all. When he started at Station 3 in Mt. Juliet two decades ago, there were four WEMA personnel working at the station.
“We were short handed then and we are short handed today, still with four people, with the only difference is that we have three other stations west of Highway 109 that would respond to us if needed,” Cross said. LAURIE EVERETT / Managing Editor - 1 opinion posted
DALLUS WHITFIELD • A WEMA firefighter continues to fight the flames at a house fire on Belinda Parkway in Mt. Julet.
Last in the series/Fire Alarm: Clearing the smoke on fire protection/What now? An analysis of - and officials weigh in - on fire protection December 31, 2008 - Two days ago there was a kitchen fire in an upscale home on Noel Drive in Mt. Juliet off Saundersville Ferry Road near the city limits.
The homeowner later reported she left the residence, was concerned she may have left the oven on and went back. She arrived back home to face flames in her kitchen. (The probable cause of the fire was later determined to be from a candle left lit and not the oven.) She called 911 and tried to put the fire out with a garden hose while she waited for help to arrive. LAURIE EVERETT / Managing Editor - 1 opinion posted
December 17 In-house editorial / Now is time to reevaluate need for city property tax for fire protection This week we present the second installment of our investigative series titled Fire Alarm: Clearing the smoke on MJ fire protection. Five peer cities, similar in size and population to Mt. Juliet were contacted and their city officials interviewed about how they provide fire service to their citizens. Four of the five provide their own fire service and the fifth contracts with a private company to provide this service.
3 opinions posted
LAURIE EVERETT • Mt. Juliet News / WEMA firefighter Jamie Luffman takes a breather after fighting a massive two residence fire for about five hours in Mt. Juliet off Saundersville Ferry Road.
FIREFIGHTER FOCUS: In their own words My name is Jamie Luffman and I am a 44 year old husband, father, son, brother, friend, and Sunday school teacher.
I am also a firefighter and an emergency medical technician. I have lived in Mt. Juliet all of my life and truly enjoy raising my family here and providing life safety services for my friends and neighbors.
SUMBMITTED • WEMA paramedic/firefighter Brent Dyer and son Nate.
Firefighter Focus: In their own words My name is Brent Dyer, I am a Paramedic/Firefighter in Wilson County. I began serving Wilson County in June of 2000. Over the past eight years, I have lived in Wilson County for five of them. My wife is a nurse. Fourteen months ago, we were blessed with our son.
Former Lady Bear still big hit at Bluefield College Former Mt. Juliet High Lady Bear point guard Holly Hudson led her Bluefield College, Va., team in scoring, going 6-for-10 from the three-point line and leading with 18 points in a 79-47 victory over Virginia Intermont on Jan. 24.
GEORGE PAGE / Sports Editor
Photo courtesy of the Montgomery Advertiser/Levi Brown is a 2005 Mt. Juliet High graduate and has been named 2009 College Player of the Year by the Montgomery Quarterback Club.
Gurchiek pounces on Panthers GEORGE PAGE • MT. JULIET NEWS
No. 2-ranked Mt. Juliet Lady Bears rolled to a 71-9 win at Portland last Thursday night by holding the Lady Panthers scoreless in the second half. Emily Gurchiek made her first visit back to where she transferred from two years ago. The Lady Bears improved to 21-1 and a perfect 10-0 in District 9-AAA. Caya Williams had 22 points and Britt Bell 13 for the winners.
MJHS Bear Clemmons tears it up GEORGE PAGE • MT. JULIET NEWS
Mt. Juliet senior forward Teraes Clemmons helped the Bears win two big District 9-AAA basketball games by scoring a career-high 43-points at Gallatin and then at Portland last Thursday scoring 22. The 65 total points in the two games also lead the Bears to climb to second place in the district. At Gallatin, Clemmons hit six three-pointers and all 11 free throws in the 75-66 overtime win. At Portland, Clemmons lead the Bears again in scoring in the 45-21 win. The Bears played at district leader Beech Tuesday and return home on Friday against Hendersonville beginning at 6:30 pm.
Part 1: School bullying not a ‘rite of passage’ to be endured “Sue” spent more time in the bathroom at school than in class. Almost overnight the friends she had since kindergarten had turned on her. They excluded her, talked behind her back, made up rumors and called her names. By LAURIE EVERETT - 3 opinions posted
Part 2: ‘Never confuse meekness with weakness' Bill Bond said the murderous episode took only 12 seconds. Three young lives snuffed, five others injured in a brief blip of time at Heath High School in Paducah, Ky., where Bond was principal. By LAURIE EVERETT
Part 3: Bullying in school can lead to life behind bars Lebanon resident James Keeley wore a bright orange jumpsuit when he shuffled into the office of Wilson County Sheriff Terry Ashe. He stuck out his hand for a shake then settled uncomfortably in a chair. A warden stood discreetly in the corner of the room.
By LAURIE EVERETT
Part 4: Cyber bullying emerges as deadly new rage All of the West Wilson Middle School students (who wished to remain anonymous) interviewed by the Mt. Juliet News said the newest rage of bullying is cyber bullying.
Feb. 2, 2010 Obits Ed Bryant,
John Thomas Hagar,
James W. "Hutch" Hutchins,
Joey Michael Key,
Aubrey Gene "Baby" Mitchell,
Danny L. Ostrander,
Joseph Daniel "JD" Ware
