Warren First 931 February 12th

[00:00:40] We are your host of Warren First 931, alongside with Brian Carr. And again, we are live at the Top's Frozen Yogurt and Metro Deli on this dreary, dark day. I don't know if y'all's attitude feels as much as mine, but every time we have weather like this, especially on a Wednesday for me, it feels like a crappy Monday. Oh, Kelly, I just want to curl up back in bed. I didn't want to get out, man. Wake up around noon.

[00:01:10] But of course, we can't do that because we're here to bring you the stories and the things that you need to know about here in Warren County. So thank you for joining us this morning. Kelly, we got a lot to talk about. We do. We have everything from school closures to breaking news to upcoming events and to just how the weather's going. I mean, it was a packed full event between sports, and now it feels like it's switching to more local stuff. And that's what this show is all about is just staying with what we're hearing and what we're seeing.

[00:01:39] But right now, thanks again to Reddick Brown Ford for being our community weather sponsors. And currently in downtown McMinnville, it is 50 degrees. It feels like 42 outside. But again, the high today is going to be 57 and low tonight is 45. Now, the rain is going to be stopping briefly on and off today. So there's going to be a lot of chance of rain expected all throughout the day for the next like three to six minutes.

[00:02:07] But they are saying it's 100 percent chance of rain until about 11 a.m. And after 11, it's 75 percent chance of rain. But it just looks like it's going to keep going down until 5 p.m. It's 60 percent chance of rain. So, again, really on and off raining all day. And again, one reason that the schools did shut down here in Warren County Schools and with Covenant Academy. Now, I didn't hear anything about Boyd Christian School.

[00:02:33] But, you know, the big the two or the big main thing of why schools closed today was because of the flooding in certain areas that buses cannot get through. And so that's just, you know, driving with caution this morning. Other places got worse than others. And then the other big thing in the Warren County Schools, because they did say it in their spiel. If you're not following them on Facebook and Instagram, guys, you definitely need to because this is how you do it.

[00:03:01] But they're saying due to flooding in our area, as well as a rate of illness in our community. And that's within the school systems. And just hearing back with, you know, and I'm very curious, you know, next time we see Dr. Grant Swallows, I'm curious if he talks to calls around the local hospitals and things like that to see what the ratio is, the rate. Well, it's very interesting.

[00:03:25] And guys, you've got to follow us because we do put school closings on and we have a link to a great source where it talks about area counties. We know. And just our neighbor to the southwest of us in Coffey County, they're shut down. Our neighbors to the north of us and west of us in Lebanon Special School District. Yeah. Several places have been closed because of sickness.

[00:03:53] And look, due to illness, Murray County, McMinn County, Monroe County, Sweetwater City, Warren County has made it to this list. Yeah. And those that are closed for flooding, we've got Hawkins County and Meigs County. And those are right off the Tennessee waterway. And then there's several other counties that are starting a two-hour delay just to give the floodwaters a little chance to recede and get people. Because you've got to remember, these bus drivers start up early in the morning.

[00:04:22] And here at Warren County, one of the things that we've suffered is we've got bus drivers that are sick, too. And so with having sick bus drivers, and I'll tell you, Tanya Rader does such a wonderful job running our busing department here. So shout out anybody who knows Tanya Rader. Please give her our congratulations and thanks for everything that she does. And with Dr. Grant Swallows at the helm, making sure that these proper decisions are made. And I know for those of you who don't know, I get the, I'm sure you get the updates, too.

[00:04:51] But for those that are in need, that need to have that school lunch, the schools are going to be open until 12 o'clock. The cafeterias, anyhow, will be open. So if you're in need of food, send your kid up to the school. They'll make sure that your child is fed. So, man, that is really good stuff to know that our schools care that much. And thank you to our cafeteria staffs across the county for doing that. Yeah, that means a lot.

[00:05:17] I know we love our cafeteria staff at the Warren County Middle School. And so for those of you who don't know, my wife works for the Warren County Middle School, and that's where my twin children go. But I have to let you know on this caveat, they are excited to be out of school. Of course, all of them are. The kids that are not sick. Yes. Let's say that. But we're going to work on education today when Daddy gets home. We're doing IXLs and IReady and anything that we can.

[00:05:44] And we want to encourage you guys, don't just sit there and do anything. The Warren County School System has invested a lot of money into your child. There should be access to Chromebooks and programs. And you need to know about these programs. So hopefully in the future, we'll have some opportunities to talk about these. Talk more about it. And talk with some of the experts on how we can get, because TCAPS, they'll be here in April. They're right around the corner. So now it's time to drill and review. I agree 100%.

[00:06:09] And again, if you want to know about school closures and floodings and any alert messages that is involved in the community and that involves schools and businesses and such, you can actually join our text club. Just text the keyword at Warren931 and then you type in the number 81010. That's the Remind app to get you on there. We sent that out yesterday several times.

[00:06:35] But again, if you can't find this on social media or if you were, I should say, if you used to be like me where I was lazy and relied on someone else, rely on us and we will help you get that information to you as soon as possible. I had parents calling me last night a little after 4 when we heard the schools. And again, I know that Brian probably saw this yesterday. A lot of schools yesterday before schools were closed, it was called the what if scenario.

[00:07:05] What if they call off school because of the weather and the sickness? And so you're going to see a lot between now and before this and hopefully being off from now till Monday, this can all be cleared up. But in case it's not, teachers are going to take the initiative when they hear it from Dr. Grant Swallows that, you know, hey, just in case of send homework home or send the virtual learning stuff home so we can be prepared. You know, you never know.

[00:07:32] Like if the rain lined up, schools might not have been closed. I don't know. But it's called the what if scenario. We all have it. I have a what if when I go and do my stuff. I know Brian probably does too. So don't ever freak out when your kid comes home with, oh, they say, mom, it's an if, you know. And I know we're all human. I'm the same way. I'm like, it's like that scratch. You can't itch. Like I need to know. I need to know. Because that what if just makes you go in hyper mode.

[00:08:01] So with that said, thanks to all the schools and Dr. Swallows and everybody, you know, the teachers getting all this together for the in case of and now it is or what it has become. But again, be a part of our text club. It's on the remind app. It's essentially what it is. And once you go through the steps of adding yourself there, I wait. You got to wait for me to approve. The other thing is real quickly I want to talk about is keeping you updated and informed is our local newsletter.

[00:08:30] We have and actually I can pull it up so you guys can see it. And if you come into Tops, it's hanging out here. Yeah. Now, this one's our old one. This was last week's. This hangs out here all the time. Thanks to Matt and Anna for letting us put our information out there. Yes. As now that I'm trying to find it, I bet I put it on my desk.

[00:08:54] And just about any waiting room that you want to go into downtown and around, especially with our sponsors, you'll find this fine newsletter that talks about all kinds of great stories that's going on. News and information, stuff that you want to hear about. You can subscribe to it. And hey, you can find it on email. We'll send it to you and saves paper that way. There it is. And there's a lot of great articles. It's basically a recap of what's going on and what to look forward to in the future. Exactly.

[00:09:23] And of course, this week we are really showcasing. I want to shout out some love to my cousin, Christy and them. She is the executive director of Families in Crisis. And this whole month, I know that it is a Black History Month, but it's also Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. And do you know the signs? You know, and as parents, unfortunately, we got to be a step ahead of our kids recognizing the signs. There's nothing wrong with re-educating yourself on what to look for and things like that.

[00:09:53] And so Christy and them have put a lot of informational pieces on their social media on Facebook and Instagram. So you need to check that out. And that's where we have pulled this information from that you can read in our article as it's still uploading. But that's the front page this week. It's just making everybody aware about Teen Dating Violence Month.

[00:10:14] And then the other thing is that they're doing for Grundy County and Warren County is they have locations with this prom proposal thing. It's a giveaway, essentially. And I'll pull it up right here so you guys can see it as I'm pulling myself away. Why is it doing that today? What the crapazoid are you doing? Whatever. Okay. We're just going to be evil today.

[00:10:43] But anyways, I adhere to that. I'm going to just go this side of me. You can see that February, that's got a big bold. But there's these boxes, guys, that are around certain locations. And if a teen comes, like if you're struggling to dinner or corsages or flowers or things, you know, to take some of the expense off, they have several people that have donated, like 15 or 20-something vendors or more have donated.

[00:11:12] And if your teen makes a commitment to not do teen dating violence, they can put their name in there. And that's them agreeing to the creed. And they get their name drawn. And they get this prom stuff for free. Wow, that's great. Well, thank you to those sponsors that are doing this stuff. I mean, prom season's right around, just like teen caps. Prom season's right around the corner.

[00:11:36] And I think in youth experiences, where I went to school, and I went to a school about the same size as Warren County High School, we didn't have project graduation and prom like you guys did. You didn't? Well, we had prom, but I mean, it was at a country club. But after graduation, you didn't have a celebration or nothing? No, everybody kind of did their own thing. Oh. People had parties. They trusted y'all way too much. I don't know if that was such a good idea either. But no, that's one of the beautiful things about how close-knit this community is.

[00:12:06] Because my community, they didn't care. No one really did that. But we suffered the bad sides of things, like teen pregnancies, people dying in car wrecks, things like that. So shout out to the project graduation people and the prom committees, the people who do all this stuff for our young people. It's a great thing, especially coming from a guy who didn't get to experience that. Tell me, Kelly, what was your prom like? Well, I was the class president.

[00:12:35] So I was part of it. So shocking news. I'm the party goer. But with that, it was called A Night to Remember. I went with Adam Cunningham was my date. And it was really fun. It was A Night to Remember. I mean, you know, it's a part of your senior memories, right? Like you should go to prom, I feel like. And prom tickets, I also believe, are a part of this. Like they help you buy them.

[00:13:06] But I just, I had a good time with my friends. I had a good time. Instead of, now, the non-traditional, the traditional thing is you go out with a group of people and you go eat. I'm literally a homebody to the core. So, and that's the other cool thing is I like to go out and party, but I also like to be in my roots at the same time. Yeah. So my mom, doing what she does best, she, in one of the rooms, it was like a dining room area.

[00:13:33] And she made it to where it was like for my prom and decorated it up. And she served and she made strawberries that looked like tuxedos. And yeah, yeah. Sharon Walker knows what she's doing when she puts a prom thing together. And so we got to eat there. And then after we ate there, then we went to where we needed to go. Now, I'd like to ask our viewers a question. If you could go back and redo your prom, would you do it, redo it over again?

[00:13:59] Because we just celebrated a 90s prom just this past weekend. And I have to admit, I was a little envious. I would have liked to have taken my wife to something like that. My wife, she homeschooled. And so she didn't get to experience a prom, or at least if she did, she never told me. And I've never seen any pictures. But yeah, I think that would be fun. Yeah, we've got some shout outs to give this morning. Happy birthday to that cute face. Whose birthday is it? Did I miss something?

[00:14:28] I said good morning. Good morning, Miss Debra Jo. Hello, Brian Carr. Howdy neighbors from YouTube. I love it. I love letting folks know. I know you do. Again, shout out to Miss Reetha. Absolutely love her. We got to see Salem taking the birthday boy off. Aww. You tell the birthday boy, Santa says hi. Yes, go ahead and love her little boy. Oh, he's sweet.

[00:14:58] We missed his birthday. Everybody wasn't. Mr. Lee. Yeah, we weren't at our best. We weren't feeling the greatest. So we couldn't make it. But with that said, this is our newsletter this week before we go to our first break of the day. But we're also talking about winter storm season approaches. And that means not just winter. It's also talking about rainstorms, thunderstorms, just severe weather in general. And what you should do as well as not just for your human friends, but your dog friends and your house.

[00:15:27] So I just thought we should put that back in because it's not letting up. And I don't know if Poxatawney Phil is right about six more weeks of winter. You know, I think we need a southern version of Poxatawney Phil. What would we call him? Well, I think. Gritly Lager. No. What I think we should call our, you know, whatever the animal's called. I think it should be a female name because nine times out of, you know, females are always drunk.

[00:15:58] Well, yes. So in honor of Dottie West, I already came up with this. I think we should have a Dottie and she tells us if it's going to snow or spring. Now, does she need to be a groundhog or does it need to be something else? We have groundhogs here. They're kind of. But we used to have a groundhog back at the radio station. The house that was like when you look out the wow studio, there was a house like right there on the corner.

[00:16:28] And I kid you not, there was one there. And I was like, oh, my gosh. And then somebody, I don't know if they scared it off. I don't know. But I felt so bad because when it come out, I would look and watch it come out and be like, all right, spring's coming. And then Duke's like, why would you say that? I'm like, because he's just chilling outside like nothing's scaring him. And then nine times out of 10, he was, you know, he was right. And I was like, okay. But also, too, I can look outside.

[00:16:56] I thought, I'm not really sure, though, because this weather is really, it's true Tennessee weather. Hey, baby. It's the South. And so it's going to change in 15 minutes. You just watch. Right. And then, of course, you know, we're going to, when we come back off break, we got some breaking news as well as, you know, we broke the story about Isha because everybody on social media was reaching out to us. Shout out to Vanessa Miller, which is the one that wrote the article.

[00:17:23] And then, hey, you know, we write about Isha. We talk about Isha. All of a sudden, there's an article in the Southern Standard about Isha. So, yeah. I mean, it's getting around. And I think this is, it's a positive thing. It's not a negative thing. We need, people need to know. And there's so many different media outlets to get out to. And so I think it's great that this is, you know, because they also, they tagged us, the radio station, Ben Lomond in the newspaper. Like, have you heard anything?

[00:17:52] And I reached out to Vanessa and I told her some stuff that we have heard. And then she told me what she's heard. And so I told her when this came up, I'm like, hey, our newsletter's coming up. Would you be interested in writing it? Because she was very informative and she knew the, about the tax return. And so that's all in this article, breaking it down, like what money came in, what money went out to taxes and things like that. And the other thing that I really love about her article, if you guys haven't read it yet

[00:18:22] online, is she, she sparks up some questions that I think as Warren Countyans, we need to think about that. And I'm, I listen, I think it's great that we are ever so growing and expanding and new things are happening because, you know, that that's a part of living, you know, in this community or any community for that matter. But at the same time, I feel the, my biggest thing, and we'll get more into it later, is if you're going to be a part of this community, you need to contribute. Oh, yes.

[00:18:52] To this community. And that's my big thing. Well, and one of the things with 25,000 people, that's, that's half the community right there. So you're growing by, by half. Leads and bounds. And then that, that's a huge drain on all the utilities. You look at, there's going to have to be waterways that are built. There's going to have to be power that's going to have to be supplied. And it takes away from what we already got right now.

[00:19:18] So we're, we're talking about a lot, millions and millions of tax pay dollars. And so we need to know that something's coming back in to replenish that. So I'm all for growing the community, for growing things, but doing it in a right way and not where, you know, somebody has all the luxuries, all the benefits, but they don't have to pay back in. Because they're under an umbrella. But we will get in a big talk on that coming up next. But we have a word from our sponsors and I want to say a big shout out to our newest

[00:19:47] sponsors, Sisson's Tri-County Bank. They are one of our newest sponsors or first bank. Again, I say this all the time. If you are interested in joining our team here at Warren First 931 and wants to sponsor, all you got to do is call, text, Facebook, smoke signals, send a bird, whatever the case may be. And Kelly, in honor of Tri-County Citizens Bank, let's give us a Dow Jones Industrial Average update right now.

[00:20:13] The market is down just barely at 44,177. So look, we've had some up markets. We've had some down markets over the last few days. Over the last five days, it's gone down somewhat. But over the last month, it's still risen. So we got a lot of good things. So thank you, Tri-County Citizens Bank, for being our newest financial sponsor as far as that goes. So we got a lot to look forward with them. We do.

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[00:25:32] And again, you're listening to us here at Warren First 931. I'm Kelly Walker-Slaughter. And I'm Brian Carr. And right now, it is 50 degrees still in downtown McMinnville, but it feels like 45 outside. So just cloudy, 100% chance of rain. I'm just going to say it all day. I'm going to be the weather judge today. So it's going to be a little crummy. Okay. That's why you see me like I am today. I'm not. I woke up. I put my bra on. I did not put no makeup on.

[00:26:00] I brushed my teeth for you guys. So as I say, my mom's going to kill me for saying that, but it is. I want to say shout out to Ms. Pat Basham for asking us, does ISHA pay property tax? Will these $10,000 be exempt? And then Brian, of course, did respond to her. He said, we will continue to look into this matter and find out more about it. And we'll talk more about ISHA after these break. What we got now, we have Melody Krim on the phone with us.

[00:26:29] She is going to talk to us all about these breaking news. Now, if you have not followed us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, that is where you would have seen it. And so, Melody, last night you called me. Like, I thought it was, see, we accidentally, well, I did not. My daughter accidentally called her. And then she just kept calling. And I was like, I text her. I'm like, Melody. That was, sorry. Randy's trying to call you. And then she's like, girl, it's breaking news. So go.

[00:26:58] I know, right? I have not brushed my teeth this morning. And I'm barely functional. So that's why we're doing a phone call. So y'all seeing me. But, yes, I have breaking news on two new businesses that are coming into McMinnville that I am very, very excited about. Well, the first one, we'll talk about that one because that one's a little bit briefer than the other one.

[00:27:22] But over on Spring Street, next to what used to be Kimmy's is I believe where they went. But somewhere on that end of Spring Street is a new business coming in called the Old Oak Mercantile. And it's another little gifty boutique place. Let me see. Let me just check this real quick. It's those ladies that we met on this trip the other day. Yes.

[00:27:52] Well, this is Salem. I can't think of Salem's last name and her husband. And she is actually with the Black House. And she is a delight. And she's a great person. I'm really, really excited for them. I think this will be wonderful. I know that she had a booth at a store up in Cookville for a while.

[00:28:14] And just some really, it says you will find a wonderful variety of antique, vintage, mid-century, and modern treasures around every corner. Okay. They're planning on their grand opening right now. And just follow the page for all updates. And again, that's Old Oak Mercantile. Okay. So, you can find that on the Warren First Facebook page. Follow along. Invite your friends. Let's get the word out.

[00:28:45] Always supporting the new small businesses that are coming up. Yes. 100%. The other big news is there is a food truck out of the Nashville area called Tennessee Tater Cakes. And last night, this is the one I called Kelly about because I did not realize that we were at this point with what was the former Blue Building. My understanding is they are going to change the name, but I have not gotten any word on what that is.

[00:29:12] But Tennessee Tater Cakes put up on their Facebook page that they are moving. They are going to shut down being a food truck. And instead, they will be moving into the former Blue Building with a full-service coffee bar and tap room with a brand-new menu. No word on what that is yet. But they are going to stop being a food truck in April.

[00:29:38] And the new spot in the Blue Building is set to open in June. So, apparently, we will be all picking up and moving over at the Blue Building. Okay. And as we get more information, we will share that with you guys. But right now, that is all that we have. But that is very exciting news. And very excited for Bobby and Lake Kirby and Jewel Hale. They have done an incredible job over there.

[00:30:06] And we've mentioned this before, but I'm just going to mention it again because I do know there is some negativity that's still circulating around about the Blue Building. But let me just tell you guys this. This will be the first time that that building has collected tax since 1900 and something. In over 100 years, that building has not had to pay taxes. And this will be the first time where we will be able to collect taxes on this building. Wow.

[00:30:32] And that is incredible because that is a huge building. It's long. The original plan, now I'll have to double check, but the original plan was that it's going to be long-term Airbnb. So, this will be great. There's a rooftop access. This will bring in tourism, but it will also bring in tax money, which fixes our roads, brings in new things. It's good. So, very, very excited. I love that.

[00:31:00] And again, guys, any of this stuff that you see, you can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and X or Twitter or whatever you want to call it at this point. I'm just going to keep calling it Twitter. I can't call it X. Yeah, it's just different. It's a little wrong. Yeah, X. Sounds a little risque now. Yeah, like it should be as triple X at this point. But with that said, you know, again, all these things that we found and maybe we can get in touch with Melody while you're at home today.

[00:31:31] Message Tennessee tater cakes and just, you know, see if they want to come on or something or call and, you know, get, you know, and they can make a weekly or monthly appearance somehow by phone. And like, just tell us all the new things coming along. Yeah. And from what you can tell in the picture, even though this is Airbnb, this will not just be for the residents. It looks like it's going to have an outside entrance.

[00:32:01] So, this will be for everybody in the community. Right. Which, I mean, of course, Airbnb, if you need a weekend away from your kids, you can go rent one of our Airbnbs and just stay here in town and just get a different perspective, you know? Yes. Not like a vacation. We have a lot of air, you know, it all started with above Evelyn Taylor that has the Airbnbs there. And then Joe O'Neill from Collins River.

[00:32:30] I was going to say Chamber River. I don't know where that's coming from. He's got a job of that space. He has. And then now we have more Airbnbs at other places locally owned by other folks, you know? And now we're going to have the blue building that was nothing. And this goes back to people that have been hating on this. We now have something, a way to make some income for our community.

[00:32:55] Because, you know, if we could get Nolan Ming to talk about the tourism, you know, if you build up your art, we could get Ms. Pupols come in and talk about her, about how this is going to help our community. So, again, before you start hating on something, I always say this, before you go down that rabbit hole, say this a lot on the show, you need to find out the information. You need to find the facts of like, well, how is this going to help us? How's it going to help me? How's it going to?

[00:33:23] Because if we have other businesses coming here and drumming up stuff and bringing more tourism in, that might lower our taxes. Well, it provides other services. You look at what Coffey County has with Bonnaroo. Oh, yeah. Bonnaroo alone. And if you go to Coffey County, their municipalities have the state of the art, everything from fire trucks to police cars to ambulance. Most of the money from Bonnaroo goes into their school system.

[00:33:51] But I was just talking to somebody, but Coffey County schools, oh, I think it was you, Kelly. But those kids don't have to buy school supplies. No. Bonnaroo provides for all of that. Yeah. I found that out a couple weeks ago. Yeah. Most of the money from Bonnaroo goes straight into the Coffey County schools, which that's a great amount of money. It's a lot of money. Yes. Well, it's so much money. I mean, they can't buy a new fire truck every year. They've got brand new ones. They've got everything that they need.

[00:34:19] And if you look at, you know, they've got the indoor pool and everything like that. So Manchester has done really well for having initiatives like that. And being open-minded. And it's like this thing from Ted Lasso. Be curious, not judgmental. That is my saying a lot. Leave the judging to Jesus. Yes. Thank you. Leave the judging to Jesus. Another shirt. I'm thinking. We have so many shirts. It's already a shirt I wore. That's what I was wearing to the basketball game. That is my blue shirt on Friday night.

[00:34:49] Oh, my gosh. I love it. I love it. But speaking of new businesses, I know you've talked about it a little bit on the show. So since the Rustic Daisy is shut down, where can they find Songbird Studios t-shirts? Oh. So we have moved over to Tree City Flowers and Gifts. And he does amazing flower arrangements. I know that it's coming up for cemetery.

[00:35:18] What do they call it? Cemetery Decoration? Decoration Days. Yes. Yeah. Yes. And Robert Farr, who owns this business, he does the saddles. He can do beautiful bouquets for Valentine's Day if your boo's into that. Or just if you really, really messed up and you need an arrangement to make up for it. He can do all of that. And we have moved in there with him. And he is in Gary and Gale's pit stop in that building. What used to be Gary and Gale's.

[00:35:47] And then it became Tio's Italian. Yeah. And now it is. A flower shop. Yes. Tree City Flowers and Gifts. Yeah. And we're the gift portion. So. There you go. So all of that is in there. And we've got good for better things to come. But I did want to say one thing for those. Because we do have a lot of people who have recently moved into town. So before all of the renovations started on that blue building. When it was not shut down.

[00:36:15] I was blessed with the opportunity to sign a waiver saying that if I died I would not hop the place. And if I got hurt I would not sue the place. But I got to go in and do some pictures of what the building looked like before the renovations. Oh yeah. At the blue building. Yeah. Yes. So I am going to go ahead and re-share that to the page. Because it's been a while since we did that. And since we're talking about it. But for those who just moved here. And want to know what that building looks like. So they can really appreciate. Yeah. The progress of what has been done.

[00:36:45] Because it's been incredible. I will share that to our page. So that they can go through that. Okay. I appreciate that. Well. All right. Melody. We're going to let you go and take another break. And then go ahead. All right. I'd love to. Thank you Mr. Kevel. Because somebody who really knows what's going on. Both being a business owner. And a owner of a hotel. Tree City Inn. And the cafe.

[00:37:14] And also I call it the R version of a speakeasy. Yeah. Even though it's not. Yeah. And for those on the podcast that are just listening. It says. This is from Kevel's chef. It says. I just want to throw this in. When I was chairman of the tourism authority. The hotel motel tax. That all lodging. Including Airbnbs have to pay to the county. Does not go towards tourism currently. It goes into their general fund. Then he followed up with. 100% of the lodging tax given to the city of McMinnville. Goes to tourism.

[00:37:44] Okay. So. Well that's good to know. So thank you Kevel. For it. And did somebody just follow in? Oh. Okay. And then Sherry says. I think there were Airbnbs. Way before the ones about Evelyn Taylor. There have been several outside McMinnville City proper. Rock Island. Yeah. That's what I was saying. Like. As far as businesses goes. I know of those specifically. But I knew that there was other Airbnbs. In our county. That's what I meant by that. For a long time. People said there's not a place for people to stay in here.

[00:38:14] Except for some older establishments. Yeah. And that's really helped out. People would not stay in McMinnville when we were doing Bluegrass Underground. That's true. Because we didn't have the facilities. Now we've got all these different Airbnbs that have sprung up. So now we've got to have some events for them. And everything. We've got to have some more events. And I want to say thanks to Kevill and Sherry for letting us know about that. Because when we come up. If Kevill's watching. And Miss Sherry. We're going to talk about Ishanix.

[00:38:41] That's the big hot topic here in Warren County. That people have commented. Posted. Shared with us. Called us. Text us. But keep it here. Oh, we're going to talk about. Oh, I got one more thing to add. Okay, go. So, tater cakes. I know, right? That sounds like a great episode for Derek Eats. Oh, 100%. It does. Tater cakes. I've never had one. Okay, we're going to cut to commercial. And again, thanks to all our sponsors. And then next time, you're going to be seeing a commercial.

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[00:42:44] Hi, guys. We are back. Love Stacey's Wellness Pharmacy and their staff waving. That's such a great shot. So I want to say again thanks to Kev and Sherry for chiming in on the property tax and all that stuff. And then, you know, just another thing to my message just about, you know, keep in mind when you talk about ISHA that the property is located in two counties, which is correct.

[00:43:09] So in the article, it talks about, it does talk about Warren County, but the first paragraph right off the bat, it says, The ISHA Foundation is located atop the beautiful of Harrison Ferry Mountain in Warren County, and the foundation owns property encompassing Warren and Van Buren County.

[00:43:31] So they have two counties that ISHA is on right now because one part's in Warren County, and then they kept buying land, and now it's encompassed in the Van Buren County as well. So this is two counties that is affected by this. It's not just us that this new 25,000 is on that I'm aware of, or depending, I guess, what side they live on at this point.

[00:43:55] But the webpage that we got this information off of, it said currently states that they are expanding to accommodate 25,000 more residents in this area and to continue to bring and expand the tourism in this area. They state they intend to create their own city offering everything from schools to emergency services.

[00:44:22] And so she goes into talking about what does that mean for Warren Countyans, and you know, and you decide after reading this, and this is just one article, the Southern Standard also made an article posted out as well. But it says the ISHA Foundation operates as a 501c3 under the educational institutions and related activities.

[00:44:46] Though this classification does not exempt them from property tax, they do not pay any of the tourism taxes, such as the hotel tax that local businesses and or owners pay. ISHA Foundation guests regularly use U-carts to shuttle between Nashville and Chattanooga airports. This is a service funded by tax dollars.

[00:45:13] Do their guests come into town and shop and eat, creating revenue for locals like us? But if they're creating their own city, like it stated on this website, where they're going to have schools and all that, and we have heard they have opened it up to the public. There's times they open it up to the public where people have gone to visit and they got to eat there. They've saw grocery stores.

[00:45:39] They've seen clothing places like they are an established city. I can't call it a community now. I've always heard this since the beginning time. That was the end game for ISHA. And it didn't bother me at first because just like anybody else listening to this story, I just didn't have, I had my, I guess my head in the sand or in the clouds. I didn't pay attention to, you know, do they pay taxes? Do they pay, you know?

[00:46:06] And now that we have to start doing the show, I'm starting to see who does what and how and when and where. And now that people's brought this to our attention, we're trying to break it down for you guys of what we know as of right now. Right. And so keep going on. It says the following information we have posted here is from their 2023 994. If you want to break that down, Brian.

[00:46:35] ISHA Foundation reports a revenue of $48.4 million in 2023. ISHA Foundation reports assets of $154 million in 2023. So that would be, well, not necessarily assets, but their property tax. That's what they would have to pay on. ISHA Foundation reports total expenses of $17.7 million in 2023.

[00:46:59] And that says in parentheses, the standard for nonprofits is that 65% to 75% of revenue goes to programs. And ISHA Foundation reports this is $18,493,407 in grants and contributions. Isn't that a lot of money? That they received in grant money or contributions for that. So that is a lot of money. That's in one year, guys. That's in one year.

[00:47:27] And that's just for, and again, this is from the information courtesy of our little field reporter, Vanessa Miller. Shout out to her for putting this together. Because she was one of the many people that came up to us and was like, hey, like we were doing the Derek Eats show. And she came up and I was like, I asked her after that. I'm like, do you care to write about this? Because she had a lot more knowledge and factual stuff like, you know, the 990 form.

[00:47:54] And, you know, and then broke it down on the taxes and things like that. And keep on going with that. And apologies. I don't know if I'm going to be able to pronounce this last name. Eli Vinkowski recently stated to a local news source that there will be an influx of population coming here to live.

[00:48:17] There is going to be a hotel, a convention center, and a variety of retail and commercial spaces, which are going to include shops and restaurants. And this is on the property of Isha Foundation. Okay. So. Yeah. Well, we have access to that information when that comes in. These are questions that, you know, we want to ask.

[00:48:43] And we'd really like to know because, again, resources are going to be pulled from the county to supply them with whatever they need. You've got people. You've got to take care of the people. Right. And that's the other thing as you're listening to this. You look into this as well. Double check us. Fact check us. You know, I always like check yourself. But at the same time, we owe it to ourselves to know what's going on. I always love being transparent.

[00:49:10] And if there's nothing wrong going somewhere, why can't we be transparent? That's what I always say. But this says, fellow Warren Countians, where does this leave us? And I'm literally reading this verbatim. Guys, it says, what do these new residents not invest in or not invest in the existing city and county and build private businesses that will benefit the whole country or county?

[00:49:35] And pay tax rates like all other, like you said, like all other private business. That's the thing we have to think of. Or are they, since they are building under on the issue of property in Van Buren and Warren County, I want to say both. Like, is that, are we going to get any tax dollars from that? Are we going to see anything from that? The other question you need to ask yourself, guys, is why is a nonprofit building or a nonprofit building its own city?

[00:50:05] You might ask yourself how you would feel if a local nonprofit bought a thousand acres and started building their own city. It's the same thing. Yes. It's essentially. And what happens when ISHA has their own emergency services and someone who isn't a resident needs help? You know, again, I would hope that if somebody got hurt while on property, they would, I would think they would take care of it. I mean, that's the human thing to do.

[00:50:36] And then what happens or no, why does a nonprofit? This is the other thing because they're saying they're trying to drive tourism on this one. Why does a nonprofit need an 18 hole golf course to drive tourism? That, you know, there's, these are the questions you have to ask yourself, guys. Like if you're a nonprofit and you, you know, and again, you can all look on this. It's on their websites.

[00:51:03] It's on verified news sources on all this. And if you're drawing in tourism, and I would love somebody to kind of chime in on this with us. That's listening. Do Van Buren and Warren County reap some of the rewards of the tourism tax? Well, I mean. Do they follow under the tourism tax after that? I would imagine that any business. I mean, we've got a lot of even businesses that are provided by the state.

[00:51:31] Like you got to fall Creek Falls to go see the golf course up there. That money goes back into the general state fund as far as like how that works. But with a group like this, do they pay a share or the share that any private business would do? So, amen. Oh, there you go, Kev. I love it. I love it. Well, if they have their convenience stores, like they say, you could probably find the beer that you need. You know, I don't know.

[00:52:00] We don't know a lot about the issue as far as like what the standards are, if they're going to allow that for other folks. That's a good comment. Thank you, Megan. Hold on. She just did this. How does, I know what she means, a golf course help with the soil conservation, which they are supposedly all about? Exactly my point. Again, you know, they're saying a lot of things of why they started that. That's, I mean, I remember this. And then now there's a golf course. Yeah.

[00:52:27] So, hey, if anybody knows a representative of issue that would speak to us or somebody who's lived there, please, we'd love to have them on the show. We'd love to pick their brain and find out what it's about because there's a lot of secrecy behind what goes on, especially when they started getting the place during COVID. And they only opened it up during certain times. And then the last, I looked this in, the last time they did World of Day Peace, to my knowledge, that I looked up was 2017. Yeah.

[00:52:55] So, it's been kind of hidden. And so, we're looking forward to finding out more about the place because we want to give everybody their due. I mean, this is all speculation. Whenever things happen, though, especially when we're laying out plans, kudos to them for being progressive. Right. They're doing something right, I guess. Yeah. I mean, there's people coming. Is everybody happy? I mean, who knows?

[00:53:21] I mean, if you've got a school there and you've got children there, are they learning the standards? What are they learning? To the same standard that we are in state. Are they being indoctrinated with some anti-American? Who knows? We don't know. I mean, not to cast shade or anything. It's just, I think it's, we don't know. We don't know. So, we want to get to the bottom of this. I want them to be a part of the community. Well, that's... Not like... I don't know how to even say it. I want them to be a part of the community.

[00:53:51] I don't want them to, like, start their own community. I don't know how to say it. That's not what I mean. And I don't know how to say it. Well, no one wants conflict, ultimately. I mean, we all want to be able to live together. And if we're losing a lot of our services to provide for them, and they're not kicking back into the general fund, if it's not making things better...

[00:54:14] I mean, but hey, they could be our own personal Bonnaroo, 365 days a year that a tax base is built off of. And another question that, you know, something that a lot of people, not just you, Megan, have brought up. She goes, do y'all realize that their entire city is going to run on volunteer labor? I've heard the speculation that that is one thing up there. Well... But we... I don't know.

[00:54:39] And that's why I think we need to have somebody from ISHA to come up and say something. Because this is the thing. It says it's easy to make money when you don't have to pay your employees. And again, we also heard that. Well, and the thing is, their payment may be different than the one we said. It might be room and board. It's like a cast system is what we've been hearing. There's a cast. So, you know, you may have to wear brown scrubs and, you know, be the guy who picks up the trash. Right.

[00:55:06] That's what you do in order to live up there and be part of their... It could be like a cruise ship, you know. Yeah. If you've been on a cruise ship where you see everybody, they have to work. They live in real tight borders. Some people might think it's like the... Yeah. I think they heard about yoga, self-growth, and sustainable living. That's how it's... Okay. So, Miss Tina at our coffee. Look at... Again, all this stuff that we're talking about is in our news article this week.

[00:55:34] And if you are not a part of our news article, you can text the keyword local voice to 931-305-0869, and we will send you a digital copy of that. But they have been established for, gosh, at least 10 years. Kev, if you're watching, help me out, dog. I want to say it's either been right at 10 or over 10 years now.

[00:56:01] Because I remember being in high school and like right at either fresh out of high school when this started. Because that might... And again, I graduated 20 years ago. So, it's been about 10, 20 years. And that's how they started the Isha Foundation as yoga, sustainable living, meditation, conserving our soil, making sure the soil is protected. You know, all those like earth rats. I mean, that's what I always call those.

[00:56:28] And then, as it every year grew, you know, and then we saw Ozzy Osbourne and his son. They did a show and they visited. And you saw all the new stuff that was going. Okay. It's 2008. 2008. I was going to say. It was like fresh right out. Thank you, Kev. But it's just, it continues to grow. And then, you heard that they, after these World Day of Pieces, they were bringing people in and they stayed.

[00:56:56] And then, maybe it was like five or six years ago, two or three people. And this brings me up to my question, and we'll leave you on that with this Isha story, is people that come. And then, I've heard that some people don't get accepted at Isha because of whatever, you know, they don't follow the guidelines or the means. I don't know exactly because I don't have the Isha handbook or whatever they have. Yeah. Well, is this like the Hotel California? You can check out, but you can never leave?

[00:57:25] I mean. I'm making light of it, but still, we want to know our neighbors. That's the whole idea of this program. Yeah. We want to know our friends. I mean, I know that some kids at the daycare at Covenant that my daughter goes to, there's kids that stay at Isha that go there. And it was just, it's really neat. Megan, thank you for adding in. Kev, thank you so much for adding in. Guys, we need your help on this story. And we're going to circle back.

[00:57:55] We're going to put a pin in it for sure. Because it's big, big stuff. Tina, girl, I'll bring you a newsletter. I'll keep you in the know. But on that last note, brings me to this question after we talk about all this. And I know everybody's thinking about it too. What happens to the residents that come to Isha and they don't stay? Because you kind of brought it up with that song. Could this be a part of the homeless problem that we're having? I will leave you on that. Okay?

[00:58:25] Because today has been, I have, we have to actually call it a day. It's so sad. I have to say we got to go because it's, I have, I got to be somewhere at 10 and it's 953. But think about that, guys. You know, dive in like we have. And I want to say thanks again to Vanessa Miller for doing what she's done. She's literally put everything that she's been told or she's found.

[00:58:49] She's found because she's, she's, we're all from calling out all Warren Countyans and Vain Buren County people. If you know people that are from Vain Buren County, tag them in this. Yes, tag them in this. Share them. Tell them to follow us. Tell them to call us. We want to know what people know. I mean, I know that some stories can go a little farce and, you know, but at the end of the day, there is a meaning in each story. Oh, yeah.

[00:59:16] And, and again, I don't want to say that, um, I'm going to say it. I do feel a little concerned as a Warren Countyan that, um, I would like to know. And that's why I'm big. I'm asking if anybody that knows somebody from Isha that could come and represent and call us or, you know, do an interview with us. We would love to, we will go to the Isha property and do a podcast out there. I'll even put that out. Listen, I would be more than happy to go because everybody needs to have their say.

[00:59:47] And we, the biggest thing is, is we need to be cultured, you know, learn how to live together, but learn what's going on with them, see where they're coming from, get their perspective. Look, I'm all for meditation. I'm all for yoga. I do yoga. Listen, I'm all for conserving the soil. I'm not for people getting resources and then not adding back to it because we all have to live collectively. The give back. I'm okay with them.

[01:00:15] I'm okay with the Isha Foundation doing what they do to sustainable living and the yoga and stuff. But I want you to give back to the Warren County in the Van Buren County community. Like, what are you giving back? It's called corporate giving. And if you look at Bridgestone, man, Bridgestone sponsors so many things here in Warren County. They do so much. And they're, you know, next to our school system, our largest employer.

[01:00:40] And with what they do, first off, we know they're providing jobs for people in Warren County. So Warren County is getting, people are paying property taxes to live here in Warren County, but they have jobs that provide. And we've got more jobs coming. They're shutting down their Smyrna plant and opening up more jobs here in Warren County. We see that. We don't necessarily see that with Isha with people coming in. It's closed off.

[01:01:05] They're not getting jobs or at least people aren't being, aren't reporting income and everything. So yeah, very, very interesting how all that's working. So yes, we want to continue to look at this. We're going to continue to look into it. And again, if you know of anybody, like tag us, share us, show them, give them our number. You know, we want to know. We want to know more. And again, we are all open arms. We're very welcoming. Just so everybody knows.

[01:01:34] It's a level playing field here, as I say. But with that, I want to say one more thing. One last thing, because people need to know about this. So this is from the Warren County schools. Yes. Basketball game still on for Thursday, the 13th. Lincoln County versus Warren County. And Friday, Friday, Friday. Yeah. Friday, the 14th, which is Valentine's Day. We've got Cannon County versus Warren County. That is senior night at the Dalt. So make sure you go there.

[01:02:02] And hey, guys, we're going to try to get one of the we've got two big shows coming up at the Park Theater this weekend. Yeah. So we're going to try to get one of the performers on tomorrow. Yeah. John from Forever Abbey Road. And he actually is going to be opening up for the duo that's formerly of Sister Hazel that'll be playing Friday night. So be sure to come get on tomorrow. Make sure to jump on with us. And we're going to go on a little ride and do some talking and tell them some stuff what's going on.

[01:02:32] All right, guys. And remember, Warren County. Keep it firm.