Bruce Williams DEAR BRUCE: I read your column in which you wrote that a contractor should not need to charge 50 percent or so in advance of doing the work. You think such a contractor would be “under capitalized.” Sounds good, but unfortunately around here that’s the custom and it would be very difficult, if…

Advertising is usually a good thing, but I think this borders on desperation. Still, I have to wonder if this guy got any calls.

Charles W. Johnson photo Mary Ann Dodson, 4, feeds one of the goats at the petting zoo Friday as 2-year-old Mackenzie Baughman and her dad Greg give a treat to another of the friendly, and hungry, animals.

James Clark photo McMinnville firefighters check for secondary damage after extinguishing a small blaze Saturday morning at Horner Rausch on New Smithville Highway. The building used to be Kenny Rogers Roasters and Dimitri’s, and fire officials think wiring from a former sign may have caused the fire. It started around 7 a.m.

TODAY, SEPT. 19 The Certain family reunion will be held at Keltonburg CIC in Smithville. Bring a covered dish and musical instrument if you wish. For information call Kathy at 668-3693. Mercy’s Mark Quartet will be at Hampton’s Crossroads Baptist Church at 6 p.m. For information call 931-738-5937. Mt. Elim Baptist Church in Van Buren…

River Park physical therapy assistant David Morton works with patient Henry Adcock in the hospital’s rehab department. The facility is celebrating National Rehabilitation Awareness week with an event scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 21, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. River Park Hospital is conducting a National Rehabilitation Awareness Celebration Kick-off Festival in honor of Rehabilitation…

By AMY SATTERWHITE Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard From left, volunteers Keith Bouldin, Joe Anish, Hershell Foster, Armando Mireles and Terry Kidd work toward building an overlook for the Barren Fork River dam as part of a community project for Breakfast Rotary. McMinnville’s Breakfast Rotary has a lot of work ahead. Its members are…

By WILL STEWART Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard A student’s senior year of high school is full of big decisions: if and where to go to college or technical school, how to apply to such schools and how to pay for them, to name just a few. To help seniors and their parents make…

By WILL STEWART Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard DERRICK CLEMOW After soliciting and interviewing a number of state architectural firms, the school board voted 4-2 for Upland Design Group of Crossville to build a new school at Centertown. “Upland made good presentations. They’ve built schools in DeKalb and White counties and, based on what…

By DUANE SHERRILL Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard Two teens have reportedly confessed to vandalizing a church parsonage, painting graffiti with satanic overtones inside the house as morning services were being held next door. The suspects, Jeremy Bouldin, 19, and Justin Conroy, 16, reportedly still had paint on their hands from the vandalism when…