F&M Bank also maintained its number one deposit ranking for the entire Clarksville-Hopkinsville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which includes Stewart County, Tenn., and Trigg County, Ky. In 2009, F&M’s deposit market share rose to 13.74%, up from 13.65% in 2008. Planters ranks number two with 11.12% and Regions rose to 10.24%, taking the number three spot away from BB&T. The FDIC issues deposit market share reports on all federally insured institutions annually.

Sammy Stuard

Sammy Stuard, F&M Bank’s president and CEO, credits the bank’s growth to the community’s confidence. “Even with the negative publicity that has surrounded many banks during these tough economic times, F&M’s solid reputation in Montgomery and Stewart County continues to attract new business,” Stuard remarked. “F&M Bank has strong history here and our employees have earned the trust and loyalty of our customers. Luckily for us, word-of-mouth support for F&M has made a huge difference in garnering new personal and business banking clients,” he said.

About F&M Bank

F&M Bank has grown from a small community bank in Bumpus Mills, Tenn., to one of the premier financial institutions in the Middle Tennessee. Since moving their headquarters to Clarksville in 1989, bank assets have grown from $22 to over $760 million, ranking them among the top 15 independent banks in the state. F&M Bank recently expanded their banking network into Cookeville and opened a mortgage office in Brentwood’s Maryland Farms. F&M Bank has 15 full-service banking locations, including their five Clarksville and two Stewart County offices. Additional information regarding F&M Bank can be found at www.myfmbank.com.

Issues as diverse as domestic abuse, elder care, special education, housing discrimination, rental disputes, salary garnishment and more are addressed at the Legal Aid Society. There is an income-level determination that restricts who may receive services, but every effort is made to provide some level of assistance, even if that is just a referral to a local government entity, organization or attorney. Many free self-help brochures are available for downloading on the Legal Aid Society website (www.las.org).

By entering the quaint little doorway at 120 Franklin Street, many individuals have become clients of the Legal Aid Society. The office recently lost its longtime managing attorney when Attorney Patricia Mock accepted a law school teaching position in Michigan. Staff attorney Kevin Fowler was promoted to managing attorney last month. The Clarksville Office also has the services of paralegals, and victim advocates.

Due to funding restrictions, the staffing of this office is limited. At least two more full-time attorneys and paralegals are needed to bring the office to its desired manpower level. While the Legal Services Corporation does provide some funding, the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands is largely dependent upon grants and donations for its survival. With the recent downturn in the economy and the ever-widening fallout from the upheavals in the financial markets, those traditional revenue sources may be unable to provide their regular support in 2009.

The Legal Aid Society is an IRS certified 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization providing legal advice and service to economically challenged individuals. The organization is facing a considerable shortfall in its funding coffers while at the same time seeing an increase in the need for its services. Private donations are readily accepted and would be greatly appreciated.  Send submissions to: Legal Aid Society, Attn: Donations, 120 Franklin Street, Clarksville, TN 37040; or 300 Deaderick Street, Nashville, TN 37201.

CAMTAN is the local organization assisting individuals affected by the HIV pandemic within our own demographic. an IRS certified local 501 (C) 3 non-profit in need of community support.

As 2008 comes to a close, consider making a tax-deductible donation to this Clarksville-based non-profit. Started by a small collective of local ministerial leaders and lay people, the Clarksville Area Ministers Technical Assistance Network (CAMTAN) seeks to provide assistance, support and education to persons affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the greater community.

While Metro-Nashville has Nashville Cares, MICTAN, the Ryan White Foundation, Operation Stand Down Nashville-Street Front, a transportation funding grant from the Nashville United Way and a array of philanthropic foundations: Clarksville, Montgomery County, Dover, Stewart County, Erin, Houston County, Charlotte, Dickson, Dickson County, Springfield, Robertson County, Cumberland City, and other outlying areas must relay on the limited resources provided by a small collective of churches and a few private individuals, with which CAMTAN seeks to address the physical and psychological stresses that can accompany an HIV/AIDS infection.

Rev. James W. Hill Jr., pastor of Greenwood C.M. Baptist Church, serves as the Senior Executive Director of this all volunteer effort. Rev. Hill has attended numerous training seminars with the Nashville United Way -Ryan White Foundation, Operation Stand Down Nashville, the MICTAN initiative and Tennessee Dept. of Health to become certified as a HIV/AIDS counselor-facilitator.

MICTAN is the much larger and better funded Metro-Nashville equivalent of CAMTAN- a faith-based fellowship ministry to those impacted by the HIV/AIDS virus. These efforts are non-judgmental and focus on assisting the client in stabilizing their lives in the areas of housing, medication, counseling, personal relationships, fellowship and employment sustainability and include a general community health education outreach. Of the five county service area, Clarksville leads with the highest number of STDs and HIV transmission cases. The need for education and awareness is real and growing. CAMTAN is seeking to raise funding so that they can hire a case manager, a secretary and a driver and stabilize their client medical appointment transportation support system.

Rev. Timothy Grant- CAMTAN booth, 2008 African Street Festival

CAMTAN has participated in and sponsored several health fairs over the past years in an effort to increase community awareness of the various and diverse health issues confronting our collective communities. Information is available on cancer- be it either female or male breast cancer, colo-rectal or prostate cancer, cervical cancer or testicular cancer. Additionally diabetes, hypertension, obesity and weight control, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), depression and other mental health issues are all matters that CAMTAN seeks to aide the community in understanding and confronting. All of these health concerns are also of concern to individuals confronting an HIV/AIDS infection, along with issues of homelessness, abandonment and physical or domestic abuse. CAMTAN seeks to educate the community to raise the level of awareness and understanding of these issues and improve the public’s preventive posture addressing these concerns. It also seeks to provide assistance to those confronting an HIV/AIDS infection and/or the consequences of such an infection upon the client or family members.

Donations, both monetary and in-kind services, may be sent to: CAMTAN, 1325 Dodd Street, Clarksville, TN 37040. Receipts will be sent acknowledging all donations for tax reporting purposes. Please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for the return receipt. Rev. Hill is also available to speak with interested groups and coordinate CAMTAN participation in health fairs and other community events. Contact CAMTAN at 931-249-4262/552-3611. Send e-mail to: .

"Write-In Kurita" stickers beside a John McCain figure at Montgomery County Republican Party headquarters

** National Rifle Association, a Key 2nd Amendment group, endorses Kurita in Write-In campaign

**Gray Sasser says the Dems “decided they were not going to let Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and his partisan allies hijack the Democratic Party’s primary process.”

Senator Rosalind Kurita recently annouced she would run a write-in campaign for the state Senate District 22 seat, launching a campaign from new headquarters at 1817 Madison Street.

Kurita won the primary race with a 19-vote edge over challenger Tim Barnes, who successfully challenged that election result and had the victory overturned by the state Democratic Executive Committee. The state body then ruled that the executive committees of the three counties (Montgomery, Stewart and Houston) that comprised Senate District 22 meet and vote on the two candidates. That vote, 61-4, gave Barnes a Democratic slot on the November ballot.

Gray Sasser, chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party, in a statement released today, said:

After all the talk of mythical smoke-filled rooms, the time has come to clear the air. As readers of (this newspaper) already know, the Democratic State Executive Committee, after almost eight hours of testimony at an open meeting attended by the public and press, decided that the District 22 state Senate primary election between Sen. Rosalind Kurita and Tim Barnes was “incurably uncertain.

In citing the factors rendering Sen. Kurita’s razor-thin margin uncertain, Sasser cited:

• Sen. Kurita committed a Class C misdemeanor on primary-election day when she entered a polling place.
• Voters received erroneous or possibly misleading information from poll workers.
• More than 700 Republican voters flooded the Aug. 7 Democratic primary.
• At the behest of Republican leaders, no GOP candidate even bothered to run in a legislative district that any political pundit would consider competitive.

“In fact, the only backroom deal in this long, sordid saga was cut long before the Aug. 7 primary, when Sen. Kurita went back on her word to her Democratic colleagues and supported Republican Ron Ramsey for Senate speaker and lieutenant governor,” Sasser said. “Unfortunately, this process has become marked by accusations and, frankly, falsehoods. Sen. Kurita had the opportunity to present her case at an open meeting of the state executive committee, and according to rules that both sides agreed to before the proceedings.” Kurita was not present when the Montgomery, Houston and Stewart Councty execs met to vote on a candidate for the November ballot. The deliberations of the executive committee were held in the open, and several executive committee members disagreed with the eventual decision.

Sasser continued, “While I appreciate and acknowledge Sen. Kurita’s previous contributions to the Tennessee Democratic Party and our state, we were confronted with an extraordinary nominating situation that warranted a closer look and, ultimately, unprecedented action. In the end, Democrats took a stand. They decided they were not going to let Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and his partisan allies hijack the Democratic Party’s primary process. The 66 elected members of the state executive committee did the right thing, following the law passed in 1972 and signed into law by then-Gov. Winfield Dunn, a Republican, which authorizes both political parties to choose their nominees.”

Local Dems also took note of Kurita’s apparent leaning toward the Republican political view as cause for concern, with some pundits voicing the expectation that any future bids for political office will come on the Republican ticket, an possibility re-enforced by the appearance of Kurita Write-In materials at Montgomery County Republican Party Headquarters at 1820 Madison Street, a few doors down from the Kurita campaign office.

“In spite of what Lt. Gov. Ramsey and his supporters now claim in their fundraising efforts on behalf of Sen. Kurita’s write-in campaign, the Democratic State Executive Committee followed the law. While some (including members of our own party) may not agree with the decision, those claiming this difficult decision was reached behind closed doors simply did not take the time to come watch the proceedings.,” Sasser said.

Even as Sasser made his case for the procedures in the ongoing Kurita/Barnes battle, the NRA (National Rifle Association) spoke out with an endorsement for the incumbent Senator, who, in her last bid for this seat used a series of ads that included an image of her holding a rifle.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has endorsed Senator Rosalind Kurita (D-Clarksville) in her write-in campaign for re-election to the 22nd district in the state Senate.  The group had endorsed Sen. Kurita during her primary victory and has now endorsed her for the general election in November.

“I am pleased at the continued support of the National Rifle Association and their membership. I fully support the constitutional right to bear arms.  It is important that elected officials fight for all constitutional rights, whether they be speech, voting rights or any other of the precious freedoms written into our founding documents.”

~~ Senator Rosalind Kurita

The Write-In effort for Kurita is in full swing both at her headquarters and at the neighboring Republican headquarters. To volunteer for Rosalind Kurita for State Senate, go to http://www.rosalindkurita.com/ or call 931-542-9912

Nan and Jim Robertson offer refreshments for their Obama House Party

Saturday, September 27th, Nan and Jim Robertson opened their Stewart County home to host a Stewart County Democrats for Obama House Party. On the patio garden of the lovely wooded residence, Stewart County Democratic Party officials spoke of reasons everyone feels its time for a change in the way Washington does business. Local citizens are suffering under the wave of neglect and disregard that signifies the Bush Administration’s approach to government.

Jim welcomed the guests to their home and encouraged everyone to incorporate ‘green technology’ and businesses into their daily habits. He spoke of alternative energy and fuels that offer real opportunity to realign our foreign oil dependence equation and help improve the environment while giving a boost to our economy as well.

Stewart County Democratic Party President Thurston Smith stated that Federal and state government cutbacks have a disproportionate impact upon the local population. Economic realities are readily felt here and the citizens aren’t fooling themselves to these real facts. Jobs are not increasing and those that are here are not secure. Benefits are costly and inadequate. He told of how some Dover citizens, who had once confided not being willing to vote for women candidates or a candidate of a different ethnicity, have since come back to declare that they no longer feel that way and that they support and will be voting for Senator Obama in November. Stewart County is a small county, economically speaking, and the economy has soured there.

State Rep. Willie Borchert relayed several instances of rendering assistance to veterans and their families who had been caught up in the web of government indifference and disregard. Be it local, state or federal, government owes its very existence to meeting the needs of the people. Yet that government has turned a deaf ear to the cries from the American people. Veterans see their support systems whittled away, underfunded and simply denied and ask what are they supposed to do now? He cited several cases where Tennesseans had appealed to him for assistance when their veteran family members had been abused by the veterans health care system or administration. Overbilling veterans and local officials pursuing negligent enforcement of lapsed regulations are not aspects of a caring government. Federal withdrawal of education funding can have a disastrous effect on a small town like Dover. Callous disregard for the needs of our veterans runs counter to the American ideal and the promise made to every military service member. Funding ’sweetheart’ contracts to insider companies while denying care to wounded soldiers and veterans and neglecting our infrastructure is not the American way. Borchert ended his talk by quoting a man he admitted he seldom agreed with, Allen Greenspan, “The only reason we’re in Iraq is because we’ve got an oil president and an oil vice president, and they work for Hailburton.”

Adam Haynes, from Clarksville, next addressed the gathering, speaking for two candidates on the November ballot, Bob Tuke and Tim Barnes. He reminded everyone that change is needed beyond more than the White House. Tennessee needs a change in senate representation as well. Bob Tuke is that change. He urged the crowd to cite how Lamar Alexander has helped Dover and Stewart County in his tenure as U.S. Senator. “That silence is reason for you to support Bob Tuke and have a voice that will speak and work for more than just Knoxville, Oak Ridge and East Tennessee.”

Adam also spoke of the turmoil surrounding the state senate District 22 race. He declared, “We now have a candidate in Tim Barnes. The attempts to subvert and corrupt the election process have been addressed and the established rules and regulations have been enacted. Rather than denying citizens their vote, the process worked to protect those very votes against those who sought to manipulate and defeat them. In Tim Barnes, the district will find a candidate who, first and foremost, seeks to serve the people. Tim has no hidden agenda, no personal ambition to use this position to rise to higher office. He is committed to supporting the Democratic Party, working in a truly bipartisan manner and pass legislation to benefit the people of Tennessee.

Rep. Borchert speaks from patio yard

Rep. Borchert reminded the gathering that during the past 18 months, when the state legislature failed to pass the state budget because of Senate Republican opposition, every day the state senate was in extended session cost Tennessee taxpayers an additional $50,000 dollars. Senator Kurita supported the Republicans’ agenda, not the Democratic Party, not legislation to benefit her constituents.

Terry McMoore thanked the Robertson’s for hosting the House Party and sharing their home. He thanked all the speakers and the gathered visitors for coming. He also thanked Jim and Nan for the catered refreshments spread out in the kitchen, encouraging everyone to help themselves. He complimented the beauty of Stewart county and the wonders he had found in Dover. He ended saying that Montgomery county needs to follow Stewart County’s lead in being an Obama County.

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[Non-cited photos by Turner McCullough Jr.]

The Veterans Upward Bound program at APSU is looking for veterans. A flood of veterans, actually. Veterans who do not have a baccalaureate degree (BA/BS) are eligible for their services. The veterans college/technical school prep outreach seeks to assist veterans return to higher education studies. Dr. Arthur Neal heads up the operation, which is located on 219 Castle Heights Drive along the rear boundary of the APSU Intramural Sports Field.

The program provides academic, counseling and cultural events services for veterans. Assessment testing, remedial skills building techniques, computer-aided instruction and testing and personal counseling are all part of the outreach program’s structure to help veterans in their return to higher education and college studies. If the veteran did not graduate high school, assistance in obtaining a GED is also available for those needing it. Once the GED requirement is met, the technical school or college admission and education pursuit process can begin. Guidance and counseling continue as the veteran pursues his/her studies. The objective is to aid the veteran to a successful graduation.

Veterans in Montgomery, Stewart, Dickson, Chetham, Robertson, Metro-Nashville/Davison, Houston and Humphreys counties in Tennessee, and Christian and Todd counties in Kentucky, are included in Veterans Upward Bound’s service area. For more info, visit them at 219 Castle Heights, Clarksville, TN 37044; or call- Phone: (931) 221-7600, Fax: (931) 221-7598. Contact them today! Get YOUR future on.

Five years ago, a meeting of local area ministers resulted in the founding of the Clarksville Area Ministers Technical Assistance Network, CAMTAN. A non-profit group organized to provide mental, physical, and spiritual assistance to those confronting an HIV/AIDS infection. CAMTAN also seeks to provide capacity building faith-based responses to HIV/AIDS. The organization furthers seeks to combat this disease with a prevention education outreach campaign as well.

Dispelling the vast amount of misinformation and simply false data about this disease that is circulating within the community takes a considerable amount their time. CAMTAN’s client service area includes the city of Clarksville; Montgomery, Robertson, Chetham, Dickson, Stewart, Houston and Humphreys Counties. Clarksville is the central operation base.

Pastor James Hill is the executive director. For those dealing with actual infection, support services range from transportation to medical appointments, job interviews or medication pick-ups, to weekly community meals, consultations and fellowship. Coordination and networking with larger organizations in the Metro-Nashville area is also a part of the program. Applying for grants is a major funding objective. IRS regulations require the organization to demonstrate continued viability before being accorded a non-provisional 501(c) (3) status. Many grant funding entities require that non-provisional status to qualify for their large supporting grants.

Several pastors, local churches and private individuals have pledged monthly contributions that enable the program to function in its current limited capacity during this probationary period. This level of support is vital to CAMTAN being able to sustain its operation and meet its mission. While all area ministers have been invited to participate, at a minimum, in a financial support capacity, not all contacts have been favorably received. Sadly, some pledges have failed to materialize and that has had a serious negative impact on the program’s ability to meet its principle objectives. As a non-profit, CAMTAN draws no government funding to execute any of its programs.

Nashville Cares, MICTAN and The Ryan White Foundation do not cover Montgomery County or our neighboring areas. Clients served by CAMATN must rely on the meager resources which CAMTAN can muster to meet its mission. An eight-passenger van, administrative office support located at Greenwood CM Church, a telephone/fax line and email address and a regular community luncheon with fellowship are primary support facets of CAMTAN. A social worker provides case management on a limited basis.

Although several coordination efforts have been attempted, the Montgomery County Health Department and its AIDS Coordinator has not able to meet with CAMTAN clients or participate in past health fairs hosted by the organization. While CAMTAN manned an information table with health brochures and T-shirts, the Health Department was noticeably absent at the August 8th PCA 6th Annual African Street Festival at Fairgrounds Park. This prevented blood pressure checks and diabetes screenings from being part of the community-wide outreach.

Pastor Hill attends several conferences and workshops in the course of a year. Information on infection rates, medical updates, medicinal breakthroughs and adverse reaction alerts, grant writing guidance and grant opportunities are just some of the benefits gained from these gatherings. Ofttimes, the expense of these conferences is borne out of his own pocket because CAMTAN’s funds cannot cover the cost and meet its clients needs. Public education is a major component of the awareness outreach. The impact of health irregularities of all kinds are the focus of community health outreach efforts. For CAMTAN, these ministries are vital in alleviating community health challenges.

CAMTAN is always in need of and appreciative of cash donations. Be it personal, business, organizational or house of worship in origin, financial donations are welcome. For more info on how you can help, write them at: CAMTAN, 1325 Dodd Street, Clarksville, TN 37040. Call at 931-647-5777.