Local News

Lore Bergman won the Democratic Primary for US House District 6. In the Republican Primary, John Rose won in an uncontested race. Gloria Johnson won the Democratic Primary for the US Senate, she’ll face Marsha Blackburn

7,659 Wilson County residents went to the polls yesterday. Combined with the 8,306 people who voted early and 472 absentee ballots, 16,437 Wilson County residents participated. In the only county-wide race, incumbent assessor of property Stephen Goodall beat challenger Derrik Hammond 11,916 to 4,122 votes. Carrie Hartzog Pfeiffer retained her seat, defeating a challenger for Wilson County School Board Zone 1. Donnie Self beat Brittany Ash for the District 5 school board seat to replace long-time retiring board member Larry Tomlinson—other races before Wilson County voters were unopposed.

The Portland mayor has urged residents to utilize a communication tool that could save lives: CodeRED. That recommendation came in light of a shooting outside Planet Fitness on July 24. The suspect took off after the shooting, leaving the community to worry. The gunman was later found dead near a Kentucky church. The victim is recovering. Portland’s mayor, Mike Callis, said CodeRED is a free alert system that shows up on your phone. In the past, the city used it for severe weather. However, officials have worked together to utilize the system in other emergencies, such as the July 24 shooting. Callis said that he hopes all citizens sign up for CodeRED. He added that it’s a useful tool that could save lives.

Last week, law enforcement raided an Old Hickory home and found pounds of drugs shipped through the mail as part of a joint operation led by the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), the Fairview Police Department, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI). It all began with narcotics officers getting a tip about mushrooms and marijuana being moved through the mail. Williamson County investigators contacted USPS, who flagged an address and watched for packages coming under a fake name. Then, a drug detection dog was alerted to a package containing narcotics. As a result, authorities did a controlled delivery and obtained a search warrant for the home. Williamson County officials, the prime suspect in the Old Hickory case was a 20-year-old man. This suspect allegedly moved large quantities of narcotics through the U.S. mail, typically shipping it from out west to his Old Hickory home under a fake name.