TennGreen Land Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee, and The Conservation Fund have jointly secured another significant conservation victory on the South Cumberland Plateau. The partnership added approximately 550 acres to Head of the Crow State Park in Franklin County through a collaborative acquisition effort made possible by funding from the Open Space Institute (OSI), Tennessee’s Heritage Conservation Trust Fund (HCTF), and Lyndhurst Foundation. The project represents the latest example of how conservation partnerships are protecting some of the state’s most ecologically important landscapes while expanding opportunities for outdoor recreation and public enjoyment.

Head of the Crow State Park protects the headwaters of Crow Creek and encompasses a remarkable collection of forests, caves, streams, and rare species habitat. The park serves as a gateway to some of the most biologically rich landscapes in Tennessee. These lands support federally threatened and endangered species while safeguarding the clean water resources that flow from the plateau into surrounding communities.

As highlighted by State Naturalist Roger McCoy, Director of TN’s Division of Natural Areas, “Head of the Crow straddles both the sandstone-dominated Plateau top that contains acidic bog-like habitats supporting rare orchids and other wetland species. The western edge of the park descends into limestone-dominated Crow Creek Valley with numerous outcrops and caves. These rocky outcrops support species unique to this region including the painted tiger snail, Morefield’s leatherflower, Cumberland rosinweed, and Cumberland pagoda plant.”

Conservation in Franklin County continues to be increasingly important as development pressure affects significant natural resources. The South Cumberland Plateau is recognized for extensive forest cover, dramatic sandstone bluffs, caves, and high-quality streams that all coexist with exemplary biodiversity. Conservation efforts in the region help prevent habitat fragmentation by development and ensure that future generations can continue to experience these unique natural resources through Tennessee’s world-class outdoor recreation opportunities.

“We’re proud to have our partnership add significant acreage into Head of the Crow State Park so current families and future generations can enjoy these forests and creeks,” said Christie Henderson, Deputy Director and acquisition lead for TennGreen Land Conservancy. “This diverse state park will no doubt become another premier park not just for Tennesseans, but for the entire country.”

The newly protected acreage strengthens an expanding network of conserved lands across the South Cumberland Plateau, one of Tennessee’s most celebrated outdoor destinations. In addition to expanding Head of the Crow State Park by 550 acres in 2026, TennGreen, TNC, and TCF also jointly expanded the park by 479 acres in 2025 through the support of Tennessee’s Heritage Conservation Trust Fund.

“As Tennessee continues to experience rapid growth in both population and infrastructure, the significance of places like Head of the Crow State Park cannot be understated,” said Gabby Lynch, Director of Land for The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee. “The decades of land conservation successes in Tennessee’s South Cumberland Plateau region happen only through public/private collaboration.”

“The Conservation Fund is proud to work alongside TennGreen, The Nature Conservancy and our state partners to protect the places that make Tennessee so special,” added Zachary Lesch-Huie, Tennessee state director at The Conservation Fund. “We applaud Tennessee’s conservation leadership and are honored to assist in the creation of a new state park. Projects like this show what’s possible when strong partners come together with a shared commitment to conservation, creating lasting benefits for both people and wildlife.”

By adding these tracts, TennGreen and partners are helping to create a more connected and resilient landscape that benefits wildlife, protects vital watersheds, and enhances public access to nature. The project demonstrates how strategic conservation investments from organizations such as OSI and HCTF continue to deliver lasting benefits for Tennessee’s environment, economy, and quality of life.

“The expansion of Head of the Crow State Park represents a conservation investment that delivers lasting benefits for people and nature,” said Joel Houser, Sr. Director Capital Grants, OSI. “By protecting these forests and strengthening connections across the South Cumberland landscape, this project helps safeguard wildlife habitat, improve public access to some of Tennessee’s most remarkable natural areas, and create new opportunities for outdoor recreation and economic activity in rural Tennessee. OSI is proud to partner with TennGreen, TNC, TCF, and the State of Tennessee to advance a long-term vision for conservation in the Crow Creek Valley.”

This project was funded through the Open Space Institute’s Appalachian Landscapes Protection Fund, which supports the protection of climate resilient lands for wildlife and communities. The Fund is made possible thanks to major support from the Doris Duke Foundation, and additional funding from the Lyndhurst Foundation, Riverview Foundation, Tucker Foundation, and McKee Family of Collegedale.

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

At the July 27 meeting, the Monteagle City Council grappled with a raft of ordinance amendments recommended by the Planning Commission, approving all six, but not unanimously. In other business, the council took up a request for the city to abandon ownership of a portion of two streets.

Arguments challenging two of the amendments reflected concerns about Monteagle having industrial zoning, but no property zoned industrial.

“I’m not going to support this the way it’s written,” said Alderman Grant Fletcher objecting to the ordinance adding light manufacturing and sales as a permitted use in C-3 commercial zoning. “Light manufacturing can mean a lot of different things. The description is vague. We’ve been adamant about not zoning anything industrial in this town and now we’re throwing in light industrial without a real definition. We’ve already been in trouble over the planning commission trying to interpret something that doesn’t exist.”

Fletcher insisted he did not have a problem with the business requesting permission to locate in the area zoned C-3 at the I-24 exit 135. KD3 Construction specializes in custom metal frame buildings and plans to sell building materials, including metal components manufactured on site, to both contractors and the public. The Planning Commission approved the request on the grounds the ordinance allowed the planning commission to “determine whether a proposed use is suitable for the building and surrounding area.” Planning Commission Chair Richard Black voted no at the July 7 planning commission meeting. At the council meeting, Black conceded he approved of the business, as well. Black, however, argued the business should be located in Industrial Zoning. “The definition of C-3 the planning commission abides by is for [uses serving] interstate traffic,” Black stressed.

Alderman Nate Wilson explained the business did not fit Industrial Zoning parameters because the business wanted to do retail sales.

Black countered, “We’re on thin ice by not putting this in industrial. We’re on thin ice anyway because we have industrial zoning and no property zone industrial.”

Fletcher voted against allowing “light manufacturing” in C-3.

The same arguments reared their head in the discussion about the proposed ordinance amendment only allowing data centers in Industrial Zoning as a special exception approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals.

“I think it’s kind of ridiculous when we come up with a use we don’t like we put it in industrial because we have no industrial property,” Fletcher said. “I’m not saying I want a data center by any means. I don’t understand why we aren’t dealing with this by saying, ‘We don’t allow data centers.’”

Wilson conceded, “We could have some problems if someone comes to us and says, ‘We’d like to put a data center here. Would you rezone it industrial?’ The problem is not where to allow data centers, but how to define data centers.”

Explaining the rationale behind the ordinance amendment, Planning Commissioner Katie Trahan said, “[The town planners] are working on a comprehensive state definition for data centers. We were told this would be a good first step.”

“We couldn’t support [a data center], because we don’t have the utilities,” observed Mayor Greg Maloof. [Note: a frequent objection to a data center is the large amount of water needed for cooling. See Messenger, May 29, 2026]

Wilson noted if a proposed data center requested rezoning a tract to industrial to allow it to locate in Monteagle, the request would need to be weighed against five criteria judging all proposals to rezone.

“Would that stop a data center from locating here?,” Fletcher asked.

“Maybe,” Wilson replied.

Fletcher voted against the ordinance amendment regulating the location of data centers. Maloof abstained.

The council unanimously approved four ordinance amendments.

Ordinance 06-26 standardizes the site plan submission process and requires developers to pay a fee to cover engineering costs needed to determine water and sewer availability.

The other three ordinances related to the C-1 commercial downtown corridor. Ordinance 08-26 allows more residential uses on secondary streets. The Downtown Overlay ordinance (09-26) sets new rules to create greater density in residential areas adjacent to the C-1 downtown corridor. Among the changes, the new rules allow for dormitory hostel-style temporary living quarters. Ordinance 10-26 sets new rules for the C-1 downtown corridor. Wilson explained the changes intended to “make the corridor more amenable to commercial development.” Among the changes, the ordinance allows for smaller lot sizes, smaller building sizes, and does not require parking. “Parking was the biggest point of contention,” Wilson acknowledged, but he went on to point out, “Downtown is full of empty lots. A parking problem would be a great problem to have to fix.”

Resident Chris Fox asked the council to abandon ownership of an alley designated on maps as portions of 1st Street and Spur Avenue. Fox argued a section of the alley was on his property and incorrectly designated as city property by a surveyor. The alley borders property owned by Richard Black, Ronald Crabtree, the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly, and Katie and Tim Trahan. Fox explained frequent use by Assembly employees became an issue when the Assembly put in a new parking lot.

All the affected parties attended the meeting, except Crabtree. There appeared to be agreement about how the property would be apportioned if the city abandoned it and about easements to accommodate the affected property owners’ interests. But the council was reluctant to take action without written documentation.

“I don’t feel comfortable with just abandoning it and letting them figure it out. That’s a good opportunity to disenfranchise someone. I want to see an agreement with all adjacent and affected landowners signing it,” Wilson said. Maloof requested a survey identifying the property in question.

Fox will pursue providing the documentation.

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

“AI should help us think better, not think instead of us,” insisted Mel Oliveros who works with school districts throughout Tennessee and the nation helping students learn how to make meaningful use of the AI platform Coursemojo. In her July 23 Monteagle Sunday School Assembly lecture titled “Beyond the Hype: A Practical Look at AI,” Oliveros tackled questions about how AI works, how to make AI work for us, and what to be wary of. Although unaware of it, many people already use AI. The new frontier, the hot potato both celebrated and feared, is generative AI.

Anyone who has used Siri or Alexa, browsed Netflix movie suggestions, taken Google Maps advice on a different route, or relied on email spam filters operating in the background engages with AI. “AI means artificial intelligence,” Oliveros said. “Think about it as a piece of software, but instead of programmers typing up the rules of what it should be doing, AI platforms have been fed an enormous amount of content and information and it learns patterns to figure out what the next thing could be. It learns by example.”

“The main difference in the past couple of years is that AI is now something we can talk to and interact with,” Oliveros stressed. “That didn’t exist as much in the past. We can reason with it, talk to it, give it follow up questions. This new piece is generative AI. It takes the patterns and creates new things.” Guided by the questions and prompts it is given, AI can write anything from emails to novels to computer programs. Oliveros distinguished between a Google search which produces a list of web pages on the search topic and generative AI response to a search prompt or question. “Generative AI has read all the pages,” Oliveros explained. “When you ask [AI] a question, it has this vast amount of knowledge that will help the machine answer the question.”

But Oliveros cautioned, “because it is just thinking about patterns, it isn’t right 100 percent of the time. It can get the patterns wrong. That’s what the term AI ‘hallucinations’ means. AI tries really hard to give you an answer.” How to avoid the ‘hallucinations’ problem? “AI is also really good at following directions,” Oliveros observed. “If you tell it don’t invent and make things up, it is going to follow the direction. Tell it, ‘If you’re not sure, say so. Don’t guess.’”

Popular free generative AI platforms include ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini. Oliveros’s personal preference is Claude. “Claude feels more natural to me. ChatGPT feels robotic,” Oliveros said, but added, “others feel differently.”

“I’m not a software engineer,” Oliveros conceded. “But I’m good at describing what I want to AI. I’ve used AI to create programs and apps.” However, Oliveros always has skilled coders check her work. She has also used other AI platforms to check work she creates with AI. But Oliveros stressed, “Don’t take AI’s confidence for truth. AI pulls data from everywhere, good and bad sources.” She expects AI to get better at what it does. “It’s far better than it was a year ago,” Oliveros observed.

Another caution from Oliveros, “Free AI platforms take the information you give them and use it to train larger models.” Never give AI passwords, social security numbers, or banking information. Paid business and educational AI platforms are told not to use input data to learn. Users of free platforms can, likewise, adjust their setting to tell AI not to use their information to train larger models.

Asked about data centers and their impact, Oliveros conceded, “The environmental cost is a reality. ‘The cloud’ is servers and microchips. They’ve got to be stored somewhere. It takes a lot of space and energy.” A top concern is the energy needed creates heat and vast amount of water can be needed for cooling. Another concern is noise. “Data centers are loud,” Oliveros said. The noise factor was the issue with a data center locating near the Nashville Zoo.

Asked if it was critical for people to learn to interact with AI, Oliveros said, “In the coming months and years, AI may just be happening in the background.” Her advice to users, “The more you tell it, the better answers you’ll get. Be specific about what the situation is, what matters to you, and what format you want the answer in.” Users could variously ask for a report, chart or map. Citing AI’s application in the classroom, students ask AI questions and give it prompts to solve a problem they are confronted with and are rewarded when they find the solution. Attesting to her personal experience with AI, Oliveros said, “AI has made me a better problem solver.”

St. Mary’s Sewanee: The Ayres Center for Spiritual Development invites the community to “Come & See” from 1–4 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 1, at 770 St. Mary’s Lane in Sewanee. This free community gathering offers something for everyone: explore the scenic campus, meet local vendors, and participate in spiritual practice demonstrations led by St. Mary’s Sewanee program presenters throughout the day.

The afternoon will be filled with live music from the Grundy County Jam Kids, Doug Cloniger, and Sarah Douglas, along with barbecue provided by Triple J BBQ. Guests can also get a taste of St. Mary’s Sewanee’s own kitchen, with snacks and the retreat center’s famous gourmet cookies. A variety of local vendors will be on hand selling arts, crafts, jewelry, food, and more. Everyone in the community is welcome to attend this celebration of connection and exploration. For more information or to RSVP, go to <www.stmaryssewanee.org>.

The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) today approved a new policy establishing the approval process for Focused Baccalaureate Degrees, which may provide students with a more streamlined path to completing a bachelor’s degree. Commissioners also approved two new academic programs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and acted on statewide policies related to outcomes-based funding and campus planning at two community colleges.

The Commission approved a new policy establishing the approval process for Focused Baccalaureate Degrees, which may allow institutions to develop bachelor’s degree programs requiring as few as 90 credit hours.

These focused degrees are designed to provide students with a more streamlined path to completing a degree quickly while addressing workforce needs. The policy also creates a common naming convention and provides a framework for institutions seeking approval to pursue a Focused Baccalaureate Degree.

“Tennessee’s new Focused Bachelor’s Degree policy gives our institutions the flexibility to redesign a century-old model while preserving the high standards that define a bachelor’s degree,” said Dr. Steven Gentile, THEC Executive Director. “The true measure of a degree is not the amount of credit hours it takes to earn it, but the knowledge, skills, and opportunities it creates.”

Commissioners also approved two new academic programs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville: a Bachelor of Arts in Civic and Constitutional Thought and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial Design. The Civic and Constitutional Thought program will prepare students with civic knowledge, analytical and communication skills that can transfer across career paths, including government, law, education, journalism, public relations, and management. The Industrial Design program, the first four-year program of its kind in Tennessee, will prepare students for careers supporting the state’s manufacturing, healthcare, and other industries through human-centered design and innovation.

THEC also approved the next steps in the 2026–2030 review of Tennessee’s outcomes-based funding formula, which helps evaluate and fund public higher education institutions based on measures of student success and completion. The review will help ensure the formula continues to support student success and the state’s higher education goals.

THEC highlighted the opening of applications for institutions interested in participating in the Workforce Pell initiative, which will expand access to federal Pell Grant funding for eligible students pursuing short-term workforce training programs. Commissioners also approved campus master plans for Jackson State Community College and Motlow State Community College, supporting each institution’s long-term plans for campus growth and development.

Commissioners also received an update on research conducted by the University of Michigan and THEC examining the long-term impact of the Tennessee HOPE Scholarship. The research found positive academic and economic outcomes for HOPE recipients, including stronger outcomes along four-year degree pathways and greater employment stability. THEC and the University of Michigan began the research through a grant from the Institute of Education Sciences awarded in May 2024. As Tennessee’s largest state scholarship program, the HOPE Scholarship awarded $366 million to students during the 2024–25 academic year.

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

Multiply and divide describes the new-math of the Tennessee State Parks on the South Cumberland Plateau, currently recognized as Fiery Gizzard, Head of the Crow, and Savage Gulf. Formerly, these three parks were one park, South Cumberland State Park, noncontiguous natural areas covering more than 30,000 acres, a two-hour drive from one end to the other traveling by car. The Park Service designated Savage Gulf as a separate park in 2022, and in 2024 the regions encompassing the Carter State Natural Area and Buggytop Cave, the Natural Bridge State Natural Area, Hawkins Cove State Natural Area, and Sherwood Forest State Natural Area officially became Head of the Crow State Park, linked by their affiliation to Crow Creek which emerges from Buggytop Cave. In 2025, the remaining South Cumberland Park holdings, Grundy Lakes, Denny Cove, and the Fiery Gizzard Trail, were rechristened as Fiery Gizzard State Park. So just how big an area do the three Plateau state parks encompass today?

“I can’t get that information from the park rangers because it’s changing so fast,” acknowledged Ned Murray, Friends of the Parks Executive Director. Murray estimated the area encompassed by the parks as 30,000-40,000 acres. Since 2020, 2,354 acres have been added to the Plateau state parks. Another 1,100 acres, 10-15 parcels are in a preservation pipeline process. Friends of the Parks is monitoring another 61 parcels, totaling over 7,300 acres. Support from the Friends figured significantly in the acquisition of an additional 670 acres at Savage Gulf in 2025 and in the 2026 acquisition of an acre tract in Fiery Gizzard to protect the Lone Rock Stockade archeological site at Grundy Lakes. The Friends goal for the parks: to preserve an additional 10,000 acres by 2036. What does that mean translated into dollars? The average price per acre has doubled since 2020. The cost to preserve 100 acres increased from $400,000 to $800,000.

Dividing three natural regions into three parks made sense on multiple levels. The large area of noncontiguous land presented “a lot of challenges,” said Head of the Crow Manager Bill Loewer, long response times when rangers received calls for assistance and navigational difficulty for visitors. The Fiery Gizzard Trail and Buggytop Cave Trail, favorite visitor hikes, were at opposite ends of the park when all three parks were grouped under the moniker South Cumberland. The division into three parks translated into three times as many staff, three times the amount of equipment and number of computers, and a threefold increase in the operations budget which includes funds for everything from trail markers to toilet paper. But Murray pointed out, “That’s three trail systems attracting more visitors and a lot more activity.”

The Friends embraced the challenge, purchasing an off-road, side-by-side vehicle for park staff, an electric wheelbarrow, trail building materials, blazes and information signage, as well as funding trail building and chainsaw certification classes and the construction of a new aviary at Fiery Gizzard ranger station for their birds and reptiles.

Boots-on-the- ground Friends’ volunteers help build trails, install blazes, and serve as ambassadors stationed at popular trailheads to offer information and answer visitor questions about the trail. Even more impressive is the Friends’ outreach to the public schools in the three counties encompassed by the parks, Franklin, Grundy, and Marion. The “Every Child in the Parks” program seeks to do just that. Coordinating park visits with teachers and principals to design a day of learning activities aligned with their curriculum, the Friends took over 400 children on field trips in the 2024-2025 school year. Every third, fourth, and fifth grader in Grundy County spent a day in the parks on a field trip led by a Friends volunteer.

On July 17, the Friends hosted a “fun raiser” at Cravens Hall. Guests browsed displays, sampled hors d’oeuvres, sipped cocktails, and danced the night away to the music of the band Upper Level. Next day activities included a “Creek Crawl” exploring the exceptional biodiversity in the region’s waterways, trail building, and visiting Tom Pack and Buggytop Caves, jewels in the region’s vast cave system. Typical of the Friends version of generosity, the event was sponsored entirely by donations, with 100 percent of ticket sales dedicated to directly supporting the parks. Special thanks for coordinating the event goes out to Tara Houston, Kathryn Kendrick, Jenn Reynolds, and to committee members Gracie Davis, Robin Hille Michaels, Katy Morgan, and Scott Parrish.

What’s new in the parks? The three-mile Sherwood Day Loop Trail accessible from Highway 156 a few miles south of Monteagle, features a visit to the Sherwood Natural Bridge, unique rock formations, and several outstanding overlooks viewing the Tom Pack Hollow and Crow Creek valleys, including one of the longest overlook views in the park, where visitors can see nearly 17 miles into Franklin County.

What’s next? Plans call for a trail system through Lost Cove, protected by a conservation easement and managed by the University of the South, linking to the trail system in Head of the Crow, as well as new trails and more than a half dozen back country campsites in the Crow.

Why do the Friends exist? The mission statement captures it in a nutshell (forgive the metaphor, although apt): “We have experienced and research confirms the spiritual, mental, physical, and cognitive benefits of spending time in the natural world and we want to share that with everyone we can … We believe in the power of nature to change us and our world.”

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

“On the afternoon of June 30, I got an email from the auditor saying they couldn’t do our audit before the end of the year. That doesn’t work,” Sewanee Utility District manager Ben Beavers advised the board of commissioners at the July 21 meeting, apprising them of the difficult circumstance confronting the utility. The audit was due in the State Comptroller’s office at midnight on the day the email arrived. SUD had kept in regular contact with the auditor and Beavers was prepared to call a special meeting for last-minute approval by the board if necessary. “They’ve been stringing us along,” objected Board President Charlie Smith.

The auditor, formerly known as the MG Group, recently changed hands. The MG Group had performed SUD’s audit for several years. Beavers explored finding another auditor. Best-practices guidelines recommend changing auditors periodically, and SUD had some issues with recent audits, including the auditor’s failure to catch what was likely a software error where category totals failed to correspond with entries. None of the local firms Beavers contacted could take on a new client with a midyear deadline, and SUD again retained the MG Group to conduct its audit.

Seeking advice when he learned the auditor could not perform the contracted for service by the deadline, Beavers contacted the comptroller’s office and Buddy Perry, the principal of the firm conducting a rate study for SUD. Beavers received several names and reached out to CPA John Poole from Hendersonville, the geographically closest name on the list.

“Poole was familiar with the situation,” Beavers said. “We were not the first clients of the [former] MG Group to contact him.”

“He’s well qualified,” Beavers commented. Poole holds degrees in accounting, law, psychology, and an MBA. He offered to do SUD’s audit for the next three years for the same fee the utility had planned to pay the auditor they were under contract with and could provide SUD with a draft 2025 audit by the end of August.

The board voted to contract with Poole for the three-year term. “We might have to look all over the state to find someone else,” Smith said. Beavers explained SUD could cancel the contract at the end of the first year if there was a valid “material reason.”

SUD is required by law to have a contract with an auditor on record. Poole will advise SUD on cancelling the contract with its current auditor, now operating under the name Strategic Vision. SUD will not be fined by the comptroller for failure to submit its audit on time.

“I’d like to see if there is any kind of board of responsibility for CPAs,” Smith said.

Beavers agreed. “I’m going to ask that question. If nothing else, I’d like to lodge a complaint about unprofessional conduct. I don’t want this to happen to someone else.”

On another strategic front, Beavers updated the board on plans to flush and flow test the utility’s fire hydrants.

By law, SUD is only required to flush hydrants every five years. Flow testing is not required. For the Sewanee Fire Department to receive the best ISO score, meaning lower homeowners’ insurance rates, hydrants must be flow tested and the caps color-coded to indicate the flow rate available when the fire department hooks a hose to the hydrant to fight a fire. Commenting at the February 2025 meeting on the feasibility of annually flow testing and flushing all its hydrants, Beavers said, “It would take one-third to one-half of one worker’s time over a year plus the water loss.”

Responding to community concerns about both fire protection and demands on the community’s water utility, the University is investigating hiring a private contractor to flush hydrants, test flow rates, and color code the caps. The Alabama contractor under consideration estimated completing the job in two weeks. “That’s an optimistic timeline,” Beavers said. He predicted the project would take as much as three months.

Consistent with past joint projects between the University and SUD, the University will pay 80 percent of the cost and SUD will pay 20 percent. Beavers will work with the contractor hired to coordinate when and where flushing and flow testing will occur so as not to impinge upon water availability.

Commenting on her personal experience with flow testing when she lived in Nashville, commissioner Amanda Bailey said, “The white clothes I was washing turned brown.” Beavers explained the high-pressure surge during flow testing could bust loose iron and manganese deposits. Customers will be notified when flushing and flow testing will occur via The Messenger, Classifieds, and Facebook.

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

Two Sewanee area residents are running for the District Five school board seat in the Aug. 6 General Election. Early Voting is underway through Aug. 1. Read on to learn about Matt Hughes and Sarah Marhevsky, the two District Five candidates.

Among Matt Hughes’ top concerns as a candidate for the District 5 school board seat is what Hughes calls “a disconnect between what is happening in our classrooms and what is often discussed at the board level. Too often, attention is given to political disagreements instead of practical solutions.” True to his ethos, Hughes is running as an independent candidate.

Employed by the district as a part-time field trip bus driver, Hughes increasingly found himself in up-close-and-personal conversations with teachers, coaches, aides, other bus drivers, and other school employees. “Those conversations gave me a firsthand perspective on both the strengths of our schools and the challenges they face,” Hughes said. He began attending school board meetings and making himself informed about the boots-on-the-ground reality.

Hughes cites school funding as a major challenge brought into play by the Education Freedom Scholarship program leading to declining public school enrollment. “When student enrollment declines, so does state funding. The burden often shifts to local property owners to make up the difference through higher taxes. Every dollar should be spent where it has the greatest impact on student success. At the same time, we must focus on attracting and retaining students. Investing in strong academic programs, athletics, fine arts, and extracurricular opportunities makes our schools more competitive and gives families a reason to choose to remain in our district’s public schools.”

“We should be asking how we can make our schools the first choice for families,” Hughes insisted. “One idea is to expand career and technical education opportunities by partnerships with the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology. TCATs provide hands-on training in high-demand careers such as welding, HVAC, industrial maintenance, automotive technology, health care, and many other skilled trades preparing students for good-paying careers right here in our region. Every student should graduate with a clear path forward, whether that path leads to college, the military, a skilled trade, or directly into the workforce.”

Born in Bowling Green, Ky., Hughes spent most of his childhood and graduated from high school in Kingston Springs, Tenn. He met his wife Hannah Barry Hughes when they were both attending school in Knoxville. Hannah hails from a family with long Sewanee-area ties. The eighth generation of Barry’s now lives on the Barry family homestead in Midway. “As I listened to Hannah’s stories about growing up here, it became clear that this was the kind of community where we wanted to raise our own children,” Hughes said. “As a child, I moved frequently and attended six different elementary schools in six years. This is the first place that has truly felt like home. By serving on the school board, I hope to give back to the community that has given so much to my family.”

“I find it disappointing candidates are required to declare a political party to serve on the school board. School board members should be willing to listen, collaborate, and work with everyone, regardless of political affiliation. Our responsibility is to our students, not to a political party.”

“I know public education from the perspective of a student, a teacher, a parent, a community member, and a school board member,” said incumbent Sarah Marhevsky who has served on the school board since 2019. “This variety of perspectives gives me insight into the expectations and challenges each of those groups faces.” Marhevsky seeks election for a third term.

Although born and living for much of her childhood in Ohio, Marhevsky spent her high school years in Pennsylvania. “The arts, particularly band and marching band, played a big role in my school experience. My parents were the first in their families to go to college and stressed the importance of a good education.” Following in her teacher mother’s footsteps, Marhevsky earned a bachelor’s degree in English and German from Wake Forest University and a Master of Arts in teaching English from the University of Chicago. Marhevsky has either attended or worked at 11 public schools. She taught at public schools in Chicago, a suburb of Austin, and in a rural college town in Idaho. In 2010, Marhevsky moved to Sewanee with her husband Matthew Rudd when he took a position teaching math at the University. “We were most recently in Idaho, and we wanted to get closer to family as we were starting our own,” Marhevsky said. “We’ve settled in and happily made this home. I’ve lived here longer than I’ve lived anywhere else.”

One of Marhevsky’s chief roles on the Franklin County School Board is serving as the board’s legislative liaison, working with the Tennessee School Board Association to keep the Board and community informed about current and upcoming legislation. She helps draft resolutions to share with legislators, creating carefully crafted statements presenting the board’s position on pending legislation and explaining why. Under Marhevsky’s guidance the board has adopted resolutions objecting to the third-grade retention law and student testing practices; requesting more funding for universal Pre-K and for teacher education, especially “grow your own” programs; and denouncing vouchers type initiatives such as the Education Freedom Act, tax credits, charter schools, and other programs that take funding away from the public schools.

Marhevsky is quick to acknowledge the state legislature’s role in the local public schools. “Among the challenges the school district faces are legislation that impacts what teachers teach and how they have to teach it, the required testing that is often the sole basis for how schools (and students) are judged, and legislation that allows public money to support private schools instead of better supporting public schools,” Marhevsky stressed. Top on Marhevsky’s wish list: “more classroom freedom to allow teachers to better meet students’ needs and more funding to support smaller class sizes and enrichment like field trips and the arts.”

Pointing to the asset of her varied background in bridging the various groups and communities she represents, Marhevsky said, “I’m an optimist and expect the best in people. I am working for the good of public education not just at the local level but at the state level, as well.”

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

The influence of the state legislature weighed heavily on two items on the July 13 Franklin County School Board agenda. Rachel Brown, Franklin County School District Lead Librarian, updated the board on efforts to comply with the Age Appropriate Materials Act amended by the legislature during the course of the past school year. On the policy front, nine district policies were amended to comply with state law, adding language defining “sex.”

“The implementation of the Age Appropriate Materials Act presented challenges for school districts all across the state,” Brown said. “While the law outlines what is prohibited content, it did not provide a definitive list of titles we should be looking at.” Brown and her staff came up with a list by looking at what books were challenged in other school districts and other states. Books determined to require additional evaluation are quarantined, placed in a holding spot until the evaluation is complete. The “quarantine” system came into play during COVID when books in circulation were potential carriers of the virus. Students can check out quarantined books, but are asked why they want the book.

“Most of the books on the list are not in a lot of demand,” Brown acknowledged. She anticipates many of the books on the list will be back in circulation, in some cases moved to a different age bracket, with elementary school books moved to the middle school libraries and middle school books moved to high school libraries. Brown said her staff would complete their evaluation by Aug. 6. The review resulted in a pre-school age picture book, “No, David!,” written and illustrated by David Shannon, being removed for nudity in an illustration of a person viewed from behind. Brown expects additional legislative action related to the Age Appropriate Materials Act, but is uncertain what direction that action will take. “Some say it is too strict and others say it is too broad,” she observed.

“The common denominator is the definition of ‘sex,’” said board Vice-Chair Lance Williams, commenting on a group of amended policies presented for approval. “This is straight from state law.”

The definition added to the policies reads: “Sex shall be defined as the ‘immutable characteristics of the person’s reproductive system that identify the person as male or female, as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth.’” In all cases, the policies had a clause with the word “sex,” e.g. “race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or disability” or “race, nationality, origin, color, sex,” in policies ranging from Instructional Programs to Sexual Harassment.

“If we’re only defining sex in that way, what if there is a student who identifies in a way outside of that?” asked board member Sarah Marhevsky. “Is bullying still not allowed because it’s bullying?”

“I don’t think our bullying policy says it’s okay to bully anyone,” Williams stressed.

“Anyone being bullied?” Marhevsky replied.

“It’s anyone being bullied.” Williams insisted.

Board member Sara Liechty abstained from the vote.

The board also approved several other policies. The amended Tobacco-Free School policy replaced all the language in the existing policy. The Franklin County Prevention Coalition pushed for the change and urged a comparison to other districts’ policies. “This is a result of our policy not being very strong, and trying to get it stronger,” said Director of Human Resources Jenny Crabtree.

The amended Emergency Allergy Response Plan policy requires “Each school shall maintain epinephrine, either as auto-injectors, nasal sprays, or other forms.”

According to Coordinated School Health Coordinator/Safety Director Chris Hawkersmith, each school will receive two epi pens annually at no cost to the district. Marhevsky asked if the pens “would only be used on students who had a prescription?” “It would be for an emergency if someone got stung by a wasp or had an allergic reaction and their throat was closing,” Williams said. “It would be administered by the nurse.”

All Franklin County school board seats in odd numbered districts are up for election Aug. 6. Sandy Schultz is running unopposed for re-election in District 1; Dave Van Buskirk is running unopposed in District 3 to take the place of Vice-Chair Lance Williams; Sarah Marhevsky, current board member, and Matt Hughes are running for the District 5 seat. Caycee Roberts, current board member, and Ashley Bowers are running for the District 7 seat.

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

At the July 7 meeting, the Monteagle Planning Commission voted to recommend the Monteagle City Council adopt an ordinance severely constraining the location of data centers in Monteagle and to allow a light manufacturing facility in the C-3 interstate commercial interstate district. In both discussions, definitions played a key role: what is a data center and what qualifies as light manufacturing and sales consistent with interstate commercial and public uses?

At the June meeting, the commission tasked Southeast Tennessee Development (SETD) town planner Jonathan Rush with drafting an ordinance addressing where data centers could be located in Monteagle. Rush cited a proposed data center near the Nashville Zoo and concerns about demands on the power grid and water supply. Grundy County passed a resolution calling for a two-year moratorium on data centers locating in the county [see Messenger, May 29, 2026]. Rush pointed out a moratorium had legal ramifications, and the council as a legislative body would need to initiate the action, not the planning commission. The commission approved an ordinance amendment stipulating data centers were allowed only in Industrial Zoning and would need to be approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals as a special exception, significant constraints since Monteagle has no areas zoned for industrial use. Rush maintained a data center did not constitute commercial use since it did not generate sales tax or jobs.

Asked if the ordinance should include a concise definition, Rush said most people understood data centers to have something to do with computers and AI, but all the communities in the region initiating regulations governing data centers had different definitions. “My staff is looking to have a more solidified, in-depth data center zoning ordinance that is consistent throughout the region,” Rush stressed. He added the Institute for Public Service, the state local planning office, was also working on a statewide approach.

“This is a start, and then we could amend it,” said Commissioner Katie Trahan urging approval. The commission unanimously recommended the Monteagle City Council adopt the ordinance.

Other recommendations to the council at the July meeting lacked consensus.

Justin Dirkson, COO of Manchester-based KD3 Construction, requested approval to locate a facility at 850 Dixie Lee Avenue. The business specializes in custom homes, condominiums, shops, garages and other metal frame buildings. Dirkson said KD3 would sell building materials, including metal components manufactured on site, to both contractors and the public. Customers meet with company consultants prior to manufacture of building components. Buildings are not assembled on site. “The building goes out in pieces,” Dirkson said.

Commission Chair Richard Black argued the business did not conform with the definition of C-3 commercial zoning: “to meet specific opportunities and needs of interchanges of interstate highways to serve both public and commercial vehicles as well as addressing unique commercial opportunities and problems created by access to interstate highways, excluding uses or accommodations not directed toward interstate highways.”

“Your business does not meet that criteria,” Black insisted.

Commissioner Alec Mosley disagreed. “[The business] has a connection with the interstate,” Mosley said. “They move things on heavy trucks. It fits here as well as anywhere.”

“I think so, too,” said Trahan. “They’re not putting stuff together like in industrial.”

“I can’t find anything in your industrial use that would allow it,” Rush said.

Commissioner Nate Wilson cited ordinance. “It says ‘the planning commission may determine if light manufacturing is compatible.’ It seems like an appropriate use.”

Black countered the commission needed to define “light manufacturing. It’s a mistake allowing it in C-3.”

“I don’t know why we delay and delay,” said Commissioner Dan Sargent. Alderman Dean Lay concurred, “It’s ridiculous how we treat people who want to do business here.”

Black voted against allowing KD3 to operate a facility at the 850 Dixie Lee Highway site.

In other business, the commission approved the long discussed Downtown Zoning District amendment intended to encourage commercial development in the downtown C-1 corridor. Both Black and Trahan voted no, objecting to no minimum parking requirements.

The commission also approved the Residential Overlay amendment regulating residential development in property adjacent to the C-1 commercial corridor. At the commission’s request, Rush added a provision allowing dormitory-style living quarters, with the stay not to exceed 30 days. Black and Trahan voted no, again objecting to no required parking.

The Woman’s Association of the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly (MSSA) will host its 62nd Annual Cottage Tour & Bazaar on Friday, July 17. The highly popular event will include tours of five historic cottages; the always-tempting bazaar with booths featuring curated artisans of jewelry, home décor, fine art, clothing, plants and more; Butterfly Boutique (resale); bake sale; and lunch options. Go to <https://monteaglesundayschoolassembly.org/programs-events/> to register.

The annual event showcases the Assembly’s unique history and mission, spotlights representative turn-of-the-century cottages, and educates the public about the Chautauqua Movement and the Assembly’s association with the Chautauqua Network. The cottages to be featured this year are: Fleurs de Lis, Amen, Restover, Linger Longer and Cumberland.

Old favorites and several new vendors will bring local arts and crafts and splurge-worthy fine art and jewelry as well as paper, ceramics, art, clothes, plants, leather and more plus specially selected local and regional artisans. The nearby Butterfly Boutique is a bargain-lover’s dream, featuring donated items from members and is in the Writers’ Grove located near the Woman’s Association Winfield House.

Box lunches must be reserved and paid for in advance on the MSSA website. Box lunches include chicken salad on a croissant, kale salad, fruit cup, a lemon bar and cost $20. They can be enjoyed in one of the Assembly’s green spaces. Cottage tour attendees may also choose to dine at Harton Dining Hall. The buffet lunch includes chicken tetrazzini, seasonal vegetable, tomato pie, salad bar and a selection of desserts and costs $20. Check, Venmo, PayPal and Cash accepted. Please note that credit cards are not accepted. Deep-dish tomato pies from Whiskey Business Catering will be available for purchase for $25.

Guests will also enjoy the annual Bake Sale where the Assembly’s best cooks share their sweet and savory specialties. The Snack Shop will be open for popcorn, chilled candy bars, bottled water and souvenir T-shirts.

Be sure to stop by cottage #9A, Little Lexington, a mainstay of the Assembly history and a must-stop shopping destination. In addition to art and gifts, The Gallery is one of a select few to carry award-winning McCarty’s Pottery. Gallery owner Melissa Webb invites cottage tour attendees to stop by, shop, and pick up a raffle ticket for a specially selected 21” x 21” McCarty’s free form candle plate. It retails for $1,625, and tickets are $10 each or 5 for $40.

Schedule of events:

Bazaar: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Butterfly Boutique and Bake Sale: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

McCarty’s Pottery at The Gallery (#9A) 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Cottage Tours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Prepaid Box Lunch Pickup 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Harton Dining Hall: Lunch Buffet available 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Prices for Cottage Tour & Bazaar:

Advanced Purchase Ticket: $25

Day of Entrance Ticket: $30

Prepaid Box Lunches: $20

Free Parking

Organized in 1887, the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly (MSSA) Woman’s Association has played a vital role in the development of the Assembly by providing hospitality, funds and meeting space for all aspects of the summer program. The Association’s cottage, “Winfield,” is the center for many activities during the Season, from Sunday School to parents’ meetings, workshops, children’s story hours, and card parties. It also houses the Assembly library and is staffed by a resident hostess/librarian. The MSSA Culinary Guild, a program of the Woman’s Association, celebrates and supports the local South Cumberland food and farming community and the production and enjoyment of great food. Members maintain the Assembly’s Humphreys-Martin Family Herb Garden and enjoy coming together for food, beverages, and fun several times during the program season. Woman’s Association Motto: Each for the other, all for Monteagle.

From July 14-25, 2026, the University of the South will host the 36th annual session of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Supported by Tennessee Williams and the Walter E. Dakin Memorial Fund, the Conference provides promising writers instruction through workshops and craft lectures in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and playwriting.

Although workshops are limited to Conference participants, lectures and readings are open to the public and free to attend. These events will be held in Guerry Auditorium on the corner of University Avenue and Georgia Avenue.

Masking is required for the first five days of the Conference. If at the end of five days we have no COVID cases, masks will be optional. Otherwise, they will remain mandatory until further notice. Thank you in advance for helping keep our community safe and healthy.

The Conference will feature readings by fiction writers Chris Bachelder, Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, Lydi Conklin, Amitava Kumar, Claire Messud, Margot Livesey, Jill McCorkle, Chinelo Okparanta, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, and Stephanie Powell Watts; poets Marianne Chan, Eduardo C. Corral, Danielle Cadena Deulen, Ananda Lima, Carl Phillips, and Caki Wilkinson; nonfiction writers Jaquira Díaz, Amy Leach, Alex Marzano-Leznevich, and Elena Passarello; and playwrights Brittany K. Allen, Nathan Alan Davis, Anne Washburn, and Lauren Yee.

A complete Conference schedule can be found online at <sewaneewriters.org> and on page 8. Authors’ books are available at the University Bookstore.

The 2026 Sewanee Summer Music Festival is through July 12. For complete information, go to <https://ssmf.sewanee.edu/home/ssmf-2026/>. A list of events is available at <https://ssmf.sewanee.edu/events-calendar/>. All concert tickets for the 2026 season are free for everyone. We will thankfully take any donations in the lobby if you wish to make one. All livestream tickets are also free for the 2026 Season. Links to those concerts will be sent out on our social media platforms the day of the concerts.

Chamber Intensive Showcase, Friday, July 10, 7:30 p.m., Guerry, livestreamed.

Student Chamber Concerts, Saturday, July 11, 2 p.m., Guerry, St. Luke’s Chapel, Art Gallery.

Faculty Artist Series, Saturday, July 11, 7:30 p.m., Guerry, livestreamed.

“A.B.O.P Trio,” Shanyse Strickland

“Create Le bonne chanson, op 61, no 3,” Faure

“Tzigane for woodwind quintet,” Valerie Coleman

“Nocturne for bassoon and Harp,” Allan Blank

“Octet,” Mendelssohn

Festival Brass Concert, Saturday, July 11, 10:05 p.m., All Saints’ Chapel

Cumberland Orchestra Concert, Sunday, July 12, 2:30 p.m., Guerry, livestreamed. The John G. Bratton Concert. This concert is presented to honor the memory and legacy of a true friend of Sewanee, John G. Bratton, C’51. Jherrard Hardeman, conductor.

“Loco-Motion,” Stella Sung

“The Planets: Mars, Venus, and Jupiter,” Gustav Holst

Sewanee Symphony Concert, Sunday, July 12, 3:30 p.m., Guerry, livestreamed. The Martha McCory Concert. Pierre Vallet, conductor

“Symphony no. 9,” Beethoven

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

“The act we were putting forth for establishing this [Monteagle-Tracy City] water authority district got hijacked,” said Alderman Grant Fletcher at the June 29 Monteagle Council meeting, objecting to the state legislature recently passing an act to form a South Cumberland Regional Water Authority which includes Pelham in addition to the water utilities on top of the mountain. “It doesn’t make sense to include Pelham,” Fletcher insisted. For the past nine months, Monteagle and Tracy City have discussed forming a single water utility to serve both communities, a logical next step since Tracy City provides part of Monteagle’s water and Monteagle treats Tracy City’s sewage. For a water authority to form requires an act by the state legislature to ensure the restructuring is not detrimental to residents relying on the service providers. Funded by a grant Tracy City received, research is underway investigating the benefits of Monteagle, Tracy City, Sewanee, and Big Creek forming a regional water authority. The discussion between Monteagle and Tracy City included Big Creek and Sewanee, as service providers who might want to eventually join the regional authority, as well as the state comptroller, and Senator Janice Bowling and Representative Rush Bricken, state legislators who could introduce the bill on behalf of the Monteagle-Tracy coalition. “We were going to move forward with the private act legislation this coming winter,” Alderman Nate Wilson said. “In the meantime, the legislature passed the bill establishing the South Cumberland Regional Water Authority.” No one on the council knows exactly why.

Wilson speculated Grundy County initiated the effort. The county received an $11.2 million grant to provide water and sewer service to the Caverns music venue in Pelham. “They can’t afford to fund the depreciation,” Wilson said. “It’s going to cost somebody a whole lot of money.” A regional authority which included Pelham would get the debt off Grundy County’s books, if the regional authority chose to accept the Pelham water-sewer project. But, Wilson pointed out, the board would not be required to take the project on. Grundy County received a verbal commitment from The Caverns to fund the depreciation, i.e., to set money aside to replace the new infrastructure, a requirement by law; however, there is no written contract with The Caverns. Meanwhile work on the Pelham water-sewer project is already underway.

Wilson will contact Bowling, Bricken, and the comptroller in the hope of gaining insight into the formation of the South Cumberland Regional Water Authority instead of the water authority the Monteagle-Tracy coalition hoped to see put in place.

Monteagle has been asked to appoint a representative to the South Cumberland Regional Water Authority Board scheduled to meet in September. “I am not prepared to appoint a representative,” said Monteagle Mayor Greg Maloof, citing the confusion and uncertainty surrounding the authority’s formation and the Pelham water-sewer project. Several Pelham residents urged the council not to support formation of the authority. “The Pelham residents don’t want the sewer because it doesn’t have enough customers to be cost effective,” Wilson said. “They will pay an enormous amount.”

In other business the council took up an amendment to a task order for rehabilitation of the Waffle House sewer lift station, adding $27,000 to the project budget. Maloof explained a portion of the cost increase funded water-sewer infrastructure beneath Main Street, for a proposed Hampton Inn, an expense the Hampton Inn developers had agreed to pay for; however, Tennessee Department of Transportation rules dictate the utility lines must be a public, not private line, since the infrastructure passes beneath a state highway. Maloof noted there were several ways Monteagle might receive reimbursement for the infrastructure. Asked if the failure to approve the cost increase would prevent the critical lift-station upgrade from moving forward, Maloof replied, “Maybe.” The council approved the cost increase, with aldermen Fletcher and Dean Lay voting “no,” objecting to uncertainty about reimbursement.

Lay also voted “no” on approving the appraisals for the Waffle House lift-station project.

Updating the board on the Imagine Monteagle proposed sculpture and patio at the Mountain Goat Trail entrance across the street from city hall, Fletcher said a grant would fund the sculpture. With the grant for the patio denied, the Imagine Monteagle committee joined with the Mountain Goat Trail Alliance to fundraise for the project, cost $30,000. The effort has received $29,000 in commitments, tax-deductible since the MGTA is a nonprofit. To pledge a donation contact Fletcher <grant@gwfletcher.com> or (615) 481-4076.

Fletcher also announced Imagine Monteagle received a Brownfield grant to identify property in Monteagle that might be the site of hazardous contamination, e.g., buried gasoline storage tanks. Identified sites, whether public or private, are under no obligation to take action to remediate the site.

Fletcher asked for and received approval of withdrawing $3,000 from the Imagine Monteagle budget to pay for bands at Hannah Picket Park July 4 and Harton Park July 26, $1,500 for each event.

July 4, the band will play from 6-9 p.m., with the fireworks scheduled for 9 p.m. At 6 p.m., before the music begins, Maloof will read the Declaration of Independence. He invited community members to join him to take part in the reading.

The council also approved lane-line striping on College Street, estimated cost $2,000-$3,000. The nine-foot lanes would allow for parking options in the future, as well as serving to gauge if reflective striping helped with visibility in fog.

Two alderperson seats and the office of mayor are up for election in November. Forms and nominating petitions are available from the Marion County Election Commission.

The Sewanee Civic Association is inviting individuals, local groups and businesses to help collect donations of elementary school supplies for Sewanee Elementary School.

School supply donations and monetary donations are accepted at Taylor’s Mercantile through July 29. Please make checks payable to Sewanee Elementary School.

There is also an Amazon Wish List from the Sewanee Community Chest for those who want to order school supplies. These will be delivered to Sewanee Elementary School. The link is <https://a.co/0bLwZvEO>. The address will be listed as Allison Dietz, SES.

Sewanee Elementary will oversee the distribution of the available donations to those who need it on Aug. 3 and Aug. 6.

The event is sponsored by the Sewanee Community Chest, the Sewanee Civic Association, and the Sewanee Elementary School.