By JAMES CLARK / Editor for the Southern Standard A massive earth drill owned by a company based in Trenton, Ga., is slowly driven away from its drilling site on Mullican Street. The machine is capable of drilling a hole 10 feet in diameter and 140 feet deep. (James Clark photo) Can you hear the…

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard Herman Taylor shows off his championship belts, including the IKF welterweight title he won last week in Orlando, Fla. (Photo provided) The championships keep getting bigger and better for McMinnville’s Herman Taylor.Taylor, who has amassed an already impressive collection of awards in the boxing and…

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard It’s hard to come away with any positives from a 47-7 loss.But after last Friday’s season-opening defeat at the hands of Livingston Academy, Pioneer coaches did have a few good things to say, particularly about some of their second-string personnel.Substitutions throughout the game, as well…

By DALE STUBBLEFIELD / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard Jesse Paz of the WCMS soccer team gets taken down by a Franklin County North player during their game Monday at Pistole Park. (Dale Stubblefield photo) The Warren County Middle School soccer team dropped its second game of the year Monday, falling to Franklin North…

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard BROCK As a retired prison worker with a penchant for metal detecting and some time on his hands, Wade Renstrom is among a small group of people allowed foraging rights downtown.The area and who has access to it is fast becoming a topic of interest…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard A 28-person docket was heard Thursday by Judge Larry Ross in General Sessions Traffic Court.Included in traffic court action:• Billy C. Martin was ordered to serve 120 days of an 11-month, 29-day sentence in jail, serve two years on probation, pay $650 plus costs and…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard B. MARKUM A man who ruined Christmas for a pair of Smartt Station families two years ago will likely spend this Christmas in jail after he was convicted last week for a pair of smash-and-burn burglaries.The defendant, Dorris Lee Markum, 30, was found guilty following…

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard The state is continuing its support of Warren County’s efforts to recruit new industry by granting wide latitude in the use of leftover funds from a utilities grant to extend the existing road in Mt. View Industrial Park.“The county and industrial board has about…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard HEATH A baby sitter has reportedly confessed to raping a 3-year-old girl earlier this month.The suspect, Dickey L. Heath, 32, of McMinnville is charged with rape of a child and sexual battery by an authority figure. He remains held under $500,000 bond at Warren County…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard MARTIN He was indicted for armed robbery, his apartment was shot into over the weekend, and now Courtney Martin, 18, faces additional charges of escape following a short taste of freedom Tuesday evening.Martin, who had his bond revoked by the court Tuesday, bolted from custody…