Local News
The City of Springfield has officially broken ground on the William A. Batson Parkway extension. The extension, which is Phase 2 of the Batson Parkway project, will connect Highway 41 South, near Experiment Station Road, to Tom Austin Highway and the Walling Road intersection, providing commuters a bypass of southern Springfield. Currently, the William A. Batson Parkway connects Tom Austin Highway to Backpatch Drive and New Cut Road.
A Clarksville domestic violence shelter is expanding to meet increasing need. Officials at the Clarksville Area Urban Ministries Safe-House say they are turning around 30 to 40 people away each month due to limited space. They are getting a new facility nearly triple the size which houses 42 people instead of the original 16. Ground could be broken on the new shelter next month with donation and raffle options for funding available online.
A Death Row inmate has died at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. According to his lawyer James Dellinger had cancer. Dellinger was sentenced to death along with co-defendant Gary Sutton for the 1992 murders of two people in Blount County.
Good news for Robertson County Citizens who were affected by last month’s travel nightmare. Southwest Airlines says, 90-percent of passengers on canceled flights have gotten their money back and the remaining ten-percent should be refunded in the next few days. Southwest added that all bags with name tags on them have been returned as well. The airline said it will spend more than a billion dollars on system upgrades to avoid another catastrophe.
Pumpkin pie could have more meaning in The Volunteer State soon. Representative Lowell Russell has filed a resolution to make the treat an official state symbol. In the proposal, Russell called it an “iconic American delicacy.” Both the state House and Senate are expected to vote on the resolution.