Monday Herald-Citizen The Daily Newspaper of the Upper Cumberland 113th Year — No. 279 Cookeville, Tennessee, November 23, 2015 14 Pages — 2 Sections • 50¢ Weather Community shocked by Vol State takeover of CHEC Tonight Tomorrow By TRACEY HACKETT bring together courses and services of State Community College will assume was scheduled for 11 a.m. today, and HERALD-CITIZEN Staff Nashville State Community College, leadership of the campus in fall 2016. the only item on the agenda was “infor- Tennessee Tech University and Volun- “Making this change will allow the mation and discussion regarding future COOKEVILLE — An educational co- teer State Community College. community college system to deliver plans of CHEC.” operative that was touted as ‘Sharing Community and educational leaders at classes more efficiently and effec- Although that time is just past the Her- the Promise’ looks more like a broken the time were told that it would be a tively,” said Warren Nichols, Vice ald-Citizen press time, it was expected 28º 55º promise today to students, faculty, staff two- to three-year pilot project for edu- Chancellor for Community Colleges for that TBR officials would be present to and even community leaders. cational collaboration, but Tennessee the TBR and former president of Vol officially make the announcement to the Complete forecast, Page 2 The Cookeville Higher Education Board of Regents leaders are expected State. campus at that meeting. Campus partnership began in July to to announce later today that Volunteer A CHEC Advisory Committee meeting See CHEC, Page 2 Sports Just the facts Vigil honors the lost Overpowering By MEGAN TROTTER Tech women overpower HERALD-CITIZEN Staff Lipscomb in back-to-back games /B1 COOKEVILLE — The crowd was full of tears last night as family members shared their heartache at the 23rd annual Candlelight Vigil of Remembrance and Hope for those Living who have lost a loved one to drunk driving or murder. “By FBI statistics, in 2013 there were 14,196 murders in the United States. That’s an average of 38 per day,” said Norris Skelley, co-leader of the Upper Cumberland chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) “According to the statis- tics of highway safety numbers, in 2013 there were 10,076 people killed in alcohol-related traffic crashes. That’s one every 58 min- Bronze utes or 28 a day. “While the general public just sees Cookeville bowler wins these as numbers, we know they two medals in Tennessee were somebody who we loved... Olympics /A6 We’re here today to remember Ty Kernea | Herald-Citizen those lives, to remember those who Preparing for a presentation on medical marijuana are, from left, Bill Gibson, Rachael Howard and Jennifer we’ve lost and to share our loss with Matthews of Power of Putnam. each other, because we’ve learned World throughout the years that the more we share who have known the same loss, the stronger we will get.” The event allowed those gathered Event to present facts to grieve together, to share their pain, but also their hope for the fu- ture. Among those who spoke were 13-year-old Jada Martin and her mother Shannon Hayes. Martin’s on medical marijuana father, Jason, was murdered when she was just two years old. The mother-daughter pair have been at- By MEGAN TROTTER that allow the use of medical marijuana. against allowing the medical use of the tending the memorial event every HERALD-CITIZEN Staff Some would like to add Tennessee to the drug in the state. year since. Paris attacks list, while others are very much against it. “There is a bill in the legislature that is a “I didn’t understand what (the Belgium police arrest 16 COOKEVILLE — There are currently On Saturday, Dec. 5, Tennessee officials suspects /A10 23 states, in addition to Washington, DC, will give presentations both in favor and See EDUCATE, Page 4 See LOST, Page 4 Index Cookeville Abby............................A6 Calendar......................A4 man recalls Undefeated Crossword ...................A7 Living ..........................A6 week of Obituaries ...................A5 Chiyo Prater homelessness Vicky Black By LINDSAY McREYNOLDS HERALD-CITIZEN Staff Delane Jakubowski Donald Roark COOKEVILLE — As tempera- Helen Stidham tures dipped to freezing and below in the past couple of days, a Wanda Fleenor Cookeville man finished up an eye- Nell Reed opening week to raise awareness about the daily struggles faced by Alana Trimble the homeless. Sports ..........................B1 “It was interesting to say the Sudoku ........................A7 least,” Ron Rohrbach told the Her- ald-Citizen this morning. Weather ......................A2 Rohrbach, an outreach coordina- Lindsay McReynolds | Herald-Citizen tor with Mission Accomplished: Putnam County commissioners recognized last week the Upperman Middle School football team for its unde- Stable Housing or MASH/Support- feated regular season before the commission meeting. Kneeling, from left, are Matthew Helm, Dylan Rine, ive Services for Veterans Families Austin Thomas, Nicholas Stacey and Kolbe Crawford. Standing, from left, are Commissioner Cindy Adams, or SSVF, lived Saturday, Nov. 14, County Clerk Wayne Nabors, Commissioner Ben Rodgers, Coach Greg Phillips, Gus Greenwood, Tavarous Collins, Braxton Greenwood, Blake Cushing, Commission Chairman Daryl Blair, Commissioner Cathy Reel, See HOMELESS, Page 2 Commissioner Reggie Shanks and Commissioner Danny Holmes. $500 o Hear better an AGX5, 7, or 9 two-device for the holidays! hearing system, plus a FREE Call today to schedule Bluetooth® streamer—SRP: $375 an appointment. 728 S Jeerson Ave, Ste 8 • Cookeville Offer expires 12/31/15. 888.416.8522 cookevilleaudiology.com A-2 — HERALD-CITIZEN, Cookeville, Tenn. — www.herald-citizen.com — Monday, November 23, 2015 LOCAL READER Cookeville planning welcomes new member tonight SERVICES By LAURA MILITANA A short agenda awaits the commission, The rezoning of property at 398 and Bernhardt on behalf of Betty Berry, HERALD-CITIZEN Staff including three rezoning requests, a 410 Lone Oak Dr. is also up for consid- Dave Whitson and Ruth Speer. How- variance and canceling the December eration. Currently, it is zoned RS-10 ever, Bernhardt has requested this re- Contact us: COOKEVILLE — As the Cookeville meeting. (single family residential) and Larry quest be withdrawn from the agenda. Address: Planning Commission meets tonight for One rezoning request deals with a por- Burgess of Dealmakers is asking it to be Variances to reduce the right-of-way what could be the last meeting of 2015, tion of the junkyard on West Broad changed to CG (general commercial). width and the center line radius on the 1300 Neal St. a new face will join the commission. Street. Apex Towers, LLC is requesting The third request is to rezone approxi- revised preliminary plat of Cross Pointe Cookeville, Tenn. Jim Cobb, director of environmental to place a cell tower in the junkyard, but mately 2.87 acres located on the north- Subdivision will also be considered. safety and compliance at Tennessee the current zoning of RM8 (multi-family east corner of Breeding Avenue and The Cookeville Planning Commission Mailing Address: Tech University, was appointed last residential) and CL (local commercial) Flatt Hollow Road from RS15 (single will meet tonight at 5:30 in Cookeville week and is ready to get down to busi- does not allow it. The request is to family residential) to CL (local commer- City Council chambers. P.O. Box 2729 ness. change it to CG (general commercial). cial), a request submitted by Aaron The public is encouraged to attend. Cookeville TN 38502 Phone: 931-526-9715 Fax: 931-526-1209 HOMELESS: Email: Man learn News [email protected] what it’s like Sports [email protected] From Page 1 Advertising [email protected] to Saturday, Nov. 21, as a home- Living less person in Cookeville. [email protected] “The first night I slept in a Circulation friend’s shop, in a cardboard box, [email protected] to see if it provides warmth,” said Business News Rohrbach, who also slept in his [email protected] car and in a boat during the Church News nights last week. [email protected] “Boats do not retain heat at all,” School News Rohrbach said. “All the cold [email protected] went straight into it. I put a blow- Classified Ads up mattress down and a sleeping [email protected] bag and pulled it over my head, so no one would see me.” Rohrbach ate some meals at the Letter Guidelines Cookeville Rescue Mission, where he also showered and All letters to the editor must dressed for his job at Plateau be signed and include the Mental Health Center. writer’s name, address and “It was hard, but I learned a phone number. Letters are lot,” he said “It’s a lot of work to subject to editing and/or re- be homeless.” jection. A strict 400-word limit will be enforced. Send letters Toward the end of last week, to the mailing address listed Ty Kernea | Herald-Citizen, file Rohrbach also gave up his car to above, or email to gain the experience of having to [email protected]. Gathering to cut the ribbon in July at the Cookeville Higher Education Campus are, from left, Marilyn Miller, CHEC walk everywhere he needed to financial aid; Debbie Pennebaker, CHES assistant to executive director; Bob Thomas, Tennessee Board of Regents; go. Emily Reynolds, TBR vice chair; Dr. Warren Nichols, TBR vice chancellor for community colleges; Johnny Stites, “One thing I realized, it’s a lot Order a Photo state director of real estate process improvement; Becky Hull, CHEC executive director; John Morgan, TBR chan- of work (to be homeless),” cellor; Dr. Philip Oldham, Tennessee Tech University president; Dr. Jerry Faulkner, Volunteer State Community Col- Rohrbach said. “A lot of people Every photograph taken by a lege president; Dr.