The Jackson County Board of Education seeing its investment into school materials paying off. The school district spent some $400,000 to adopt a new curriculum for reading two years ago. Director of Schools Kristy Brown said the system overall improved, but Dodson Branch School received the state’s highest rating for academic growth. “In our early grades in literacy and of course, ... Read More »

This week in the Upper Cumberland the Crossville City Council will have a work session Tuesday. The meeting will begin at 5:00 p.m. The Van Buren County Commission has scheduled a special-called meeting Tuesday night. The agenda includes several appointments to committees such as new commissioners enter office. Those include Committee A, B, Audit and Planning. Commissioners will elect its ... Read More »

The Sparta Board of Aldermen wants to improve its sanitation operation through a trailer repair project approved Thursday night. City Administrator Brad Hennessee said up to $25,000 was allocated to bring the city’s second trash compactor trailer up to standard. “To buy one of those new is at least $125,000,” Hennessee said. “The rest of the trailer is reasonably good, ... Read More »

A former Overton County correctional officer pleaded guilty to a charge for criminal misconduct after inmates revealed he had sexual contact with them. According to a release, Jesse Mitchell engaged in sexual contact with three incarcerated females inside the Overton County Jail between the months of July and November of 2021. Mitchell was sentenced to a total of four years ... Read More »

Bridgestone investing $550 million into its Warren County plant expanding its operation to include a new environmentally friendly tire. Plant Manager Tim Painter said the expansion would be like building a whole new plant connected to the existing facility. A 850,000 square foot addition would be constructed with new technology. “It’s one of the premier plants in the Bridgestone organization ... Read More »

A new gym floor and bleachers project at Putnam County’s White Plains Academy expected to be completed by the end of this month. Architect Kim Chamberlin said the gym floor has been installed with the bleachers following shortly after. “They’ll start the sanding process this week and finish up with the final coatings on those,” Chamberlin said. “They anticipate that ... Read More »

The Putnam County School Board passed a resolution Thursday night asking the state to keep student retentions a local decision. The request is in response to a state law that would retain 3rd grade students that do not meet standards on the ELA section on state testing. Director of School Corby King said the law has good intent but is ... Read More »

An accident at the Pickett County K-8 School has caused trailers to no longer be allowed in the student drop off/ pick up line. Director of Schools Diane Elder said a school resource officer was clipped by a trailer carried by a truck earlier this week. “Our SRO was directing the traffic during the student drop off time at the ... Read More »

Warren County has been awarded a $5.5 million state grant for proposed drinking water and wastewater projects. The money comes through the state’s allocation of ARP money meant for water infrastructure improvement. County Commission Chair Blaine Wilcher said a total of five projects are planned. “Feels really good, because if we didn’t have this ARP money to help with this, ... Read More »

Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter reporting another strong month of new construction in August Thursday. The county doubled its construction permits compared to last year. August had 31 permits for $6.7 million of construction. Twenty-three of those were new single family homes. That compared to August 2021 which saw 12 permits for $3 million. Porter said in a release the ... Read More »