Local News

Members of the Montgomery County community are working together to raise money for a Clarksville first responder and his family after their home was destroyed in a fire Saturday night. According to the Clarksville Firefighters Foundation, Bryan Birkes — a firefighter with Clarksville Fire Rescue who also volunteers with Montgomery County Fire Service at Station 15 in Palmyra — came in from trimming some trees, parked his UTV in the garage, and started playing with the dogs outside when he smelled smoke. He walked around the house and discovered the garage was on fire. Even though nobody was injured in the blaze on Saturday, Aug. 24, the nonprofit said the family of six lost everything. the Clarksville Firefighters Foundation is helping them out until the insurance pays off.

A school bus for the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) pulled over Friday after a student reported to the bus driver that another student had a gun in their backpack. CMCSS public information officer Anthony Johnson said the driver immediately called Dispatch, alerting 911. School administrators were also contacted to report the bus’ location. The bus driver pulled over and took possession of the backpack. After interviews were conducted, it was determined that the accused student showed a picture of a gun to another student on their phone. That image made the student who reported the threat feel like a weapon could have been in the bag.

A new attendance record was set for the Wilson County Fair-Tennessee State Fair, which ended its 10-day run on Saturday. Fair officials said 861,425 people attended the fair in 2024. The previous record was 739,315 set last year.

Births in the United States dropped again between 2022 and 2023. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the national birth rate has been steadily declining for the last 17 years, with a particularly steep drop in births between 2007 and 2009 during the Great Recession. Between 2007 and 2022, the U.S. birth rate fell by nearly 23.