What is below the pits? This can’t get much worse. I feel like I’m living on Elm Street. I’m so far down I can’t even see the underside of the bottom of the barrel! And there is not an end in sight. Not one ray of sunlight…. more

We used to explore the mysteries of the universe from the back booth of Frank’s Dairy Bar. As budding teenagers, over a cheeseburger, fries and a cherry coke, we’d discuss relevant and eye-opening topics. Looking back, my favorite might have been the single shoe theory. more

I was raised by my favorite WWII veteran, my father. His generation is often referred to as “The Greatest Generation”. Each of us, who is old enough, knows someone from that generation who made a significant impact on our lives. They were our teachers, our coaches, our pastors, our neighbors, friends, and our mentors. These men and women came home from war and started families and businesses and made this nation a great nation. more

After her separation from Ike, lawsuits for canceled shows compiled into a mountain of debt. To start paying the creditors, she resumed touring. In 1977, she re-emerged with a sexier image and costumes created by Bob Mackie. She headlined a series of cabaret shows at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and took her act to smaller venues in the United States. She then embarked on her first solo concert tour in Australia. more

Well, time has claimed another music legend. This time it’s a more local legend, Tina Turner. I can’t honestly say she was one of my favorites but her music catalog is impressive. Songs like “Proud Mary,” “River Deep – Mountain High,” “Private Dancer” and “What’s Love Got to Do With It” are probably on my playlist somewhere in my iTunes. For me, when you say Tina Turner the first thing that comes to mind is her role as Auntie Entity in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and yes, as I write this synopsis on the Queen of Rock n’ Roll, Thunderdome is playing on my television. more

Forty-four years. That’s how long I have attended and reported from government meetings. At some meetings, I walk in with an agenda that was mailed, emailed, hand-delivered, or faxed to me in advance. Those are city government agencies with a desire to inform constituents. more

The 2023 Weakley County School graduates crossed stages, received diplomas, and took their next steps on paths that may prove to be challenging and we hope will be successful. Before the month is out, a gentleman who crossed the same stage as me back in 1979 will successfully conclude a career in education. Randy Frazier has more than proven he was up for the challenge of serving as teacher, principal, coach and director of schools. When he closes the door at the Board of Education in Dresden for the last time in that role and assumes his well-earned mantle of retiree, if he stays true to his nature, it will be without fanfare. But, I, for one among what I believe are many, want to at least express my appreciation for all he has brought to the school system and the county. more

As a little boy, my parents used Super Drugs as their pharmacy. I can remember walking in the front door and seeing all the little knick-knacks and other gift items which I was not allowed to touch. Barbara Ferguson was usually working the front register. more

We did not celebrate this holiday when I was a kid. And I really don’t know why we didn’t. Lord a’mercy, things moved at such a slow pace back then you’d a’thought nothing could get by us! more

Dad’s “formal” education ended with the third grade. He didn’t quit at that tender age by choice. His father decided he was needed at home more than he was down at the one-room schoolhouse beside Sugar Creek. more

At times I hold the self-proclaimed title of The King of Useless Information. One such example comes with Mother’s Day. The individual who was the ramrod for the creation of the holiday was Anna Jarvis. The interesting part of the story is that not long after her holiday created momentum, she turned against the holiday requesting it be rescinded because of its commercialism. While this story has very little to do directly with Tennessee history, I can’t help but share some of my useless knowledge. more

My Mother wasn’t too smart. Now, I know that is a harsh thing to say. But the facts are irrefutable! more

With time ticking away and deadline quickly approaching, I struggled to find a muse for this week’s story. Thank goodness for Google as a search of "on this date in history” turned up a quote from Tennessee’s Andrew Johnson. On May 9, 1865, President Johnson declared the Civil War “may be regarded as virtually at an end.” This opened the rabbit hole and away I went. more

Working in newspaper business and political area, you come across a huge assortment of folks. The longer you’re in the business you see multiple generations of folks have a tendency to follow in their forefather’s footsteps. In the April 25, 2023 edition of The Banner, local students bore witness to The Tennessee Civil Court of Appeals. One of the justices on the panel was Frank Clement, Jr. son of former Tennessee Governor Frank G. Clement. A few years back while I was a member of the McKenzie City Council, I had the privilege to welcome the former governor’s other son, Bob Clement, to town. more

I met Henry Walter “Hamper” McBee in 1965. He was a mid-thirty, fast talking, skinny guy wearing an out-of-place black vest and sporting a huge, oversized handlebar mustache. He was sitting on a table in Tubby’s Drive Inn singing a song he’d written about a local highway patrolman named Bill Malone. more

The K-25 Plant in Oak Ridge housed the gaseous diffusion apparatus used to partially enrich uranium before it was sent to the nearby Y-12 Plant. K-25 comes from Kellex Corporation, the contractor that designed and built the plant, and uranium-235, often shortened to 25. The plant was a mile-long, U-shaped building making it the world’s largest roofed building at the time. more

I have always wanted to meet the girl that broke Don Gibson’s heart. She musta been extra special for sure! Beautiful, of course, maybe even striking! Thoughtful, kind, loving, smart, a good dancer and probably didn’t have to make her own clothes…I assume she was from Shelby, North Carolina, like Don. And I’m guessing it was one of those “first love” deals. more

You ever ponder on why, when and where you were put on earth. Is it the luck of the draw? A mystic cosmos ordering by some natural selection process! Or simply someone had to fill that hole. Maybe a higher power… more

McKENZIE (April 4) — Lynn Watkins, director of McKenzie Special School District, is retiring on June 30. During the April 4 meeting of the Board of Education, Watkins offered to serve as a consultant to the yet-to-be-selected director of schools, whose term of office begins July 1. more

The four production facility sites were located in valleys away from the town. Site managers believed the valleys provided additional security along with containment in case of accidental explosions. The Y-12 area, home of the electromagnetic plant, was closest to Oak Ridge, one ridge away to the south. Farther to the south and west lay both the X-10 area, which contained the experimental plutonium pile and separation facilities, and K-25, the site of the gaseous diffusion plant and later the S-50 thermal diffusion plant. more