In an effort to fully include Van Buren County school board members with state and federal grants, Director of Schools Cheryl Cole compared this year’s numbers to next year. Wednesday’s school board meeting was spent reviewing federal COVID money, salaries and instruction grants. Cole said the district’s auditor recommended the discussion for transparency purposes. After review, the school board approved ... Read More »

A Tennessee Tech Mechanical Engineer Assistant Professor has been awarded $500,000 to research solar panel impacts on the climate. Ahmad Vaselbehagh said scientific leaders and policy makers have two goals today: electrifying everything and generating that required electricity through renewable energy. Vaselbehagh said he wants to know how the atmosphere responds to this. “There is a neglected but very crucial ... Read More »

The White County School Board has started the evaluation process of Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger. School Board Chair Jayson McDonald said the purpose is to set goals for the director to achieve while also reviewing performance. “His salary comes up, his contract ends June 31st,” McDonald said. “We do it in April to the evaluation and then we talk ... Read More »

A new law prohibiting the state’s wildlife resources agency from seizing personal property without due process has been signed by Governor Bill Lee. The legislation was pushed through the house by State Representative Kelly Keisling. Keisling said the law focuses on vehicles and trailers. “The way this thing was set up TWRA could just confiscate a person’s vehicle,” Keisling said. ... Read More »

The UCDD Executive Committee approved a 12-month loan program for established child care facilities in the region. Executive Director Mark Farley proposed the item during a Wednesday meeting. Farley said $1 million of funding will be available for the region. “The only reason that were doing that is because in our market and in our region, child care is such ... Read More »

UCDD will offer administrative services to Upper Cumberland counties needing assistance with managing TDEC ARP fund. Executive Committee Chair Randy Heady said in his role as Jackson County Mayor, he does not have the staff to oversee the money. “It is hard to navigate, and I don’t have time to do that kind of work,” Heady said. “So, I’m willing ... Read More »

The Van Buren County Commission has approved about $50,000 to help the county’s volunteer fire departments with maintenance efforts. Mayor Greg Wilson asked the commission Tuesday night to use some of its remaining ARP funding of $128,000. Wilson said one example of need was the Fall Creek Falls Department that dished out over $6,000 for a repair. “We’ve got one ... Read More »

The Putnam County Budget Committee met for the first time approving the meeting dates and leadership of the body. Members appointed Commissioner Ben Rodgers as the chair. Rodgers said the committee will start be reviewing general fund requests from department heads. “Then that gives you any opportunities to ask any questions that you have,” Rodgers said. “We don’t generally make ... Read More »

Monterey Police Chief Bill Randolph said he requested the purchase of license plate cameras to identify stolen or wanted vehicles. Randolph said the cameras are connected to databases. They alert an officer’s phone when reported tags enter the town. “We’ve recovered several of them over the last few years without any car readers just by traffic stops are somebody calling ... Read More »

Changes to UCHRA public transportation’s COVID precautions were made Tuesday. “In accordance to the court ruling and the TSA no longer enforcing the federal mask mandate, face masks will no longer be required for our customers and staff members on our public transportation vehicles and facilities,” Transportation Director Holly Montooth said. Montooth said the decision was made after the Transportation ... Read More »