It was a quiet evening at the February 13th meeting of the Rutherford County Commission. While no reports were given by 5 of the commission’s 7 committees, the Budget, Finance & Investment Committee did approve a contract for the purchase of property at 224 North Walnut Street, the DNJ property, at a value of $600,000.  The property will be used to build a proposed 4-story parking garage for judicial parking, which will accommodate an estimated 400 vehicles. The new parking garage will cost around $7-million to build. 

The deal is not finalized at this point. The property will have to pass an environmental study first and if the study fails to pass muster, the county will not close on the property and they will receive their deposit back. 

Note: The Daily News Journal is downsizing to a new, smaller office location in the near future. 

Christiana Middle School was honored for their forward thinking recycling program, which has yielded big results...

Finally, as she had previously at the Murfreesboro City Council, Laura Beth Payne, representing Read to Succeed for their One Book initiative, revealed this year’s selection, “The Last Policeman” by Ben H. Winter.