Lipscomb University will launch its first satellite campus in early 2012 as it opens a new facility in the Cool Springs area in Williamson County. University officials recently finalized a lease on a nearly 5,000-square-foot facility located at Cool Springs Boulevard and Aspen Grove Drive in the Thoroughbred Village III Professional Plaza.

The facility, which will be referred to as “Spark,” is designed to create an environment for innovative ideas in learning, business, faith and the community. A technology-rich facility, Spark will offer flexible space and innovative delivery systems for Lipscomb graduate, adult learning and certificate students as well as for corporations and community organizations in the area who are looking for a meeting venue that encourages fresh thinking.

“Spark represents the next generation of growth for the university as well as progressive thinking about education space. Spark is part of the university’s larger strategy to take innovative education and professional development opportunities to prospective participants in surrounding areas, offering them access to Lipscomb’s mission and purpose without them having to be physically located on our Nashville campus in Green Hills,” said Lipscomb President L. Randolph Lowry. “It will enable Lipscomb to expand its academic programming and offer a convenient option that echoes the programming on the Nashville campus to residents and businesses in the Williamson County area as well. This site allows us to promote and grow our existing programs into a new market and provide a much-needed service to this region.”

Last year, the College of Education began offering graduate education classes at Blackman High School in Murfreesboro and at Battle Ground Academy in Franklin and has tripled enrollment in those cohorts in just two years. The SPARK facility will be the first university-operated satellite campus.

Spark will be led by John Lowry, assistant professor of business at Lipscomb, who will manage the day-to-day operations of the facility. Lowry, who helped establish Lipscomb’s recent programs in executive education, corporate training and an MBA fellowship program, will also continue to work on special projects for Lipscomb’s College of Business.

“Our research has found that the demographics of Williamson County and the surrounding area make it one of the best counties in the country to offer graduate education. Fifty-two percent of people living in the vicinity of Spark have college degrees and tend to be younger and more affluent than average. Williamson County leaders are excited about Lipscomb University being a part of their community and partnering with us as we seek to serve its residents just as we have the Nashville community. This facility also benefits from the university’s experience in hosting numerous successful community and corporate events on Lipscomb’s main campus as it brings this new and innovative meeting space to Williamson County,” said John Lowry.

Williamson County leadership said they look forward to Lipscomb’s presence in the county.

“Lipscomb’s presence here brings more opportunities for Williamson County residents to pursue higher education and all of the benefits that goes with it. Having more higher educational opportunities in the county along with an extremely strong public school system makes this an even more attractive place for families and businesses to move,” said Rogers Anderson, county mayor for Williamson County.

“This non-traditional, state-of-the-art campus in the heart of the Cool Springs business community will offer flexibility and convenience for those who need to pursue a degree program around a work schedule as well as an environment that will spark creative thinking for community and corporate groups using the facility. This is yet another example of how Lipscomb University is creating opportunities to serve the community,” said Cindi Parmenter, president of the Brentwood Cool Springs Chamber of Commerce.

The academic programming to be offered at Spark includes degree work from several colleges and institutes at the university. Most of those classes will take place in the evenings and on weekends. When the space is not being used for academics—primarily during the daytime—it will be open to businesses and organizations looking for off-site options for meetings and other events. Construction on Spark will begin in the next few weeks with anticipated completion in the spring.

Lipscomb’s new facility will be a multi-purpose space providing the physical capability to accommodate various learning needs. It will consist of three learning spaces, each accommodating 24 to 36 participants depending on group size needed. Walls may also be reconfigured to create one large space. The result is a flexible space for event and academic activities that can quickly accommodate a need as small as one-on-one meetings or as large as a 125-person lecture. Additional spaces include a catering kitchen, a workspace area, a video conferencing room and two conference rooms along with a pre-function entry space that can be branded to participant use and is designed to hospitably welcome students, professionals and visitors.

This video was filmed at the Cool Springs Mall :)

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Franklin Tomorrow's Vision Fair is continuing, with a set of the
Vision Fair boards being placed in the lobbies of Cool Springs’ area office buildings
for the next two weeks.

Through the Vision Fair, citizens can have their say in a shared vision for the future
of Franklin.

“One of the reasons to take the boards to a series of office buildings in Cool Springs is because we
define citizens as those who live, work and play in Franklin,” said Dan Ryan, Franklin Tomorrow
president. “People often spend as much of their day at work as they do at home and therefore, we
think our corporate citizens can offer a unique perspective on the goals and strategies which are
outlined in the Vision Fair process.”

Through today at noon, the boards are installed at the McEwen Building, in the ground-
floor lobby facing McEwen Drive. The community is invited to visit the location as well, with complete
instructions posted for completing the Vision Fair.

On Dec. 5, the Vision Fair boards will move from the McEwen Building to the lobby of Nine Corporate
Centre on Carothers Parkway. Again this location will be open to the public, as well as the corporate
citizens who occupy that building.

Another set of boards continues to make the rounds at various civic clubs and organizations, such as
the Downtown Neighborhood Association, which will have a chance for voting during their Dec. 12
holiday social at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.

If these locations are not convenient, you can still participate in the survey online at
www.franklintomorrow.org.

Hundreds of volunteers have worked over the past year to develop refocused strategies and goals in
the nine areas in which Franklin Tomorrow works — Business, Community Character, Education,
Environment, Government, Growth & Development, Housing, Recreation, and Transportation.

More than 65 strategies have been developed by the volunteers to address the nine goal areas. After
voting concludes in December, a report will be compiled early in 2012 detailing the results of the
process.

This is the third time the goals and strategies of Franklin Tomorrow have been revisited during its 10
years in existence as a local non-profit.

Franklin Tomorrow uses a broad definition for the word citizen, encouraging those who live, work or
play in the city to become involved.

During the Vision Fair, citizens are asked to pick up a strip of five dots and review all nine boards then
select their top five strategies from the 67 suggested.

Those who would like to rewrite a strategy or have a suggestion can use the yellow index cards and
leave them in the brown box. Citizens can also sign up to join one of the working groups on the “YES!
I want to be part of the solution” sheets found on the table.

Franklin Tomorrow is a non-profit community organization that engages the community, fosters
collaboration and advocates for a shared vision for the future of Franklin.

Police Investigating Wednesday Night Robbery in Cool Springs

Franklin TN - Franklin Police are investigating a robbery that happened last night in the parking lot of the Cool Springs Galleria. Wednesday night at approximately 7:30 pm a shopper got into her car parked in the upper level Oasis area of the mall. She was preparing to leave when a man slipped into her back seat, pulled a gun, and then ordered her to drive him to her bank. When they arrived, the suspect ordered the woman to make an ATM withdrawal. When the transaction was complete, he told her to return to the mall area where he ordered her from her vehicle before fleeing in it. The victim was unharmed.

Franklin Police are currently pursuing several leads to get this suspect quickly into custody. He is a young black male with a slim build and possibly has short hair. He was described as having nice teeth. At the time of the robbery the suspect was wearing a beanie type hat and jeans.

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Franklin, TN - A pair of apartment fires broke out in adjacent buildings of the Farms at Cool Springs apartment complex (located at 201 Gillespie Drive) on Sunday November 13th less than four hours apart from each other. According to Franklin Fire Marshal Andy King, both fires were caused by unattended cooking.

King said the first blaze, which started around 11:35 a.m. on the second floor of Building 11, was extinguished by the apartment’s automatic fire sprinkler system. He said the fire started after the occupant left oil heating on the stove. A single fire sprinkler head above the stovetop activated and extinguished the fire. King said there was no fire damage with minimal water damage to two apartments in the three-story 24-unit building.

According to Franklin Fire Captain David Kolak, the second fire, which occurred on the second floor of Building 12 around 2:57 p.m., was extinguished by the resident before the sprinkler system activated. Kolak said a woman began heating olive oil and stepped away from the stove.  “When she returned and found the fire she tried to cover it with a coat and then a blanket but it didn’t work out so well.” Kolak said her actions smothered the fire and extinguished it, preventing the fire sprinklers from activating; but her method of extinguishment also produced heavy smoke. “Smoke had banked all the way down to the floor throughout the apartment,” said Kolak. There was extensive smoke damage throughout the apartment but none of the other 24 units in Building 12 were damaged.

Kolak said apartment management is assisting the displaced residents of both fires while repairs are made. They should be back into the apartments within a few days.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the leading cause of fires in the kitchen is unattended cooking, and most cooking fires in the home involve the stovetop. NFPA offers these tips to prevent cooking fires:

• Be on alert! If you are sleepy or have consumed alcohol don’t use the stove or stovetop.
• Stay in the kitchen while you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove.
• If you are simmering, baking, roasting, or boiling food, check it regularly, remain in the home while food is cooking, and use a timer to remind you that you are cooking.
• Keep anything that can catch fire — oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels or curtains — away from your stovetop.

IF YOU HAVE A COOKING FIRE...

• Just get out! When you leave, close the door behind you to help contain the fire.
• Call 9-1-1 or the local emergency number after you leave.
• If you try to fight the fire, be sure others are getting out and you have a clear way out.
• Keep a lid nearby when you’re cooking to smother small grease fires. Smother the fire by sliding the lid over the pan and turn off the stovetop. Leave the pan covered until it is completely cooled.
• For an oven fire turn off the heat and keep the door closed.

The Franklin Fire Department is teaming up with Famous Dave’s Cool Springs this Saturday, October 22 for a fire safety day.

Firefighters will be at Famous Dave’s, 7086 Bakers Bridge Avenue, Franklin, from noon to 4 p.m. with apparatus demonstrations and information for both children and adults on how to prevent fires and how to stay safe when a fire occurs. The event is part of the department’s October Fire Prevention Month activities.

Firefighters will also sell Franklin Fire pink ribbon t-shirts during the event. Funds raised will benefit patients of the Breast Health Center at Williamson Medical Center.

In addition to pink t-shirts, there are brown, navy and purple shirts with pink lettering available. The cost is $15. Shirts are on sale now at all six Franklin fire stations and City Hall.

Firefighters will wear the pink Franklin Fire Department t-shirts while working on shift October 25-27 in honor of women who battle breast cancer. This year’s slogan is “Passionately pink for the cure!”

The Franklin Firefighters Association purchased the t-shirts for the department to wear and sell. Franklin Fire Engineer Nathan Goodin, who is the Association president, said the initiative is part of the “Cares enough to wear pink” national campaign organized by the Guardians of the Ribbon, a non-profit organization.

For more information contact the Franklin Fire Department at (615) 791-3270 or visit www.franklintn.gov/fire.

Franklin Tn - Last night MLO, Mending Limbs Organization, held a mixer at Loser's 2 Cool Springs to build awareness for the cause and raise funds. Baillie and the Boys played and MLO raised close to $1000; I definitely consider that winning.



Mending Limbs Organization was founded in 2008 by Michelle Gilligan-Prichard and her husband Jared. Mending Limbs was created to educate individuals about the lack of medical insurance coverage for amputees as well as assist in funding prosthetics for amputees.  A law is needed in the state of Tennessee as well as across the nation so amputees can live full independent lives. Yearly events will be held to raise money to assist amputees in paying for prosthetics not covered by insurance. Mending Limbs Organization is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.



You can contribute by attending the next MLO event on November 12th. It is their 4th Annual Benefit Concert and Silent Auction which will be held at the factory. For more information you can visit www.MendingLimbs.org <http://www.mendinglimbs.org/>

With the cost of health care rising at an alarming rate, it is exciting to

Have an affordable option in Cool Springs.

GracePointe Healthcare is an affordable “self-pay” or “insurance-free”

family practice - the first one of its kind in the Franklin/Cool Springs

area. Patients pay for services when they are seen and, if they have

insurance, can submit for reimbursement to their insurance company.

Their motto is “Modern Medicine the Old Fashioned Way”. Similar to the

1950’s, many people are shifting to higher deductibles or catastrophic-only

polices to lower the cost of their health insurance premiums. Often, patients

pay high out of pocket fees for their routine care but not at GracePointe

Healthcare. Office visits are just $69 for an existing patient ($89 for first

time patient) and their labs are the lowest cost around – mono and strep

tests are just $10, a cholesterol test is $15, and a urinalysis is $5. They

also offer Smart Care Plans (that include some basic lab tests and phone

consultations for free) which lower the cost of visits even more.

They offer same day and next day appointments with very little wait time and

individualized, “no rush” care.

They even do housecalls!

Physician Assistant, Rob Tomsett, owns 99% of the practice with Dr. Edward

Leichner owning 1%.

For more information visit their website at www.gracepointehealthcare.com or

call to make your appointment today. Phone 615-293-1906