Putnam County Commission approved the purchase of additional land next to the Health Department for future expansion. Mayor Randy Porter said this comes as a separate need to the recent addition at the facility. He said the county has to plan for issues with future growth and the need for additional parking. “At some point the next part that will ... Read More »

Bids for new scoreboards at Livingston’s ballpark have come back significantly under budget. Mayor Curtis Hayes said the city had originally budgeted some $12,000 to replace the current scoreboards. He said the low bid opened on Monday was for just over $7,000. “Our scoreboards, we have not had a new scoreboard in about 15 years,” Hayes said. “So ours was ... Read More »

Cookeville’s Public Works Department experiencing difficulty with the city’s mulch pile near Cane Creek Park spontaneously combusting. Director Blake Mayo said the issues started when the state informed the city it had stockpiled more mulch than was allowable. He said they currently have an estimated 20,000 yards of mulch at its facility. “Hopefully the rains this weekend will extinguish the ... Read More »

Upperman High School’s Audio and Video Production class named one of the top 10 Best School-Run Broadcast Teams in the nation. Instructor Susie Dobbs said she decided to enter the Mascot Media competition even though the class is only in its second year. She said Upperman is the only school from Tennessee among the finalists. “Literally we’re up against high ... Read More »

A team of engineers at Tennessee Tech has created a low-cost flood sensor to help communities monitor flood activity. Professor Alfred Kalyanapu began working on the project in 2017 when he was first introduced to the concept at a technology workshop. He said he realized technology being applied to modern smart devices could also be applied to detecting floods. “So ... Read More »

A new exhibit at the Monterey Depot Museum tells the story of a Civil War encounter in the region. Depot Storyteller Dale Welch said Union Colonel William Stokes had tired of guerilla attacks. On March 12, 1864, Stokes’ men invaded Alexander Officer’s home in Overton County a few miles northwest of Monterey.  The Officer family had several Confederate fighters at ... Read More »

Tennessee Tech’s iCube provided technology to improve child safety. Over 60 percent of child safety seats are installed incorrectly. The National Safety Council has trained passenger seat technicians to help parents install those seats correctly. But the council ran into an issue with seat technicians using different reporting forms. The council could not determine which seats had repeat installation problems. ... Read More »

A potential bitcoin mining facility could bring a positive economic impact to a small community like Van Buren County. That’s according to Tennessee Tech Department Chair for Economics, Finance, and Marketing Wesley Pech. Pech said there are potential benefits including increased demand for skilled workers, increased tax revenue, and increased demand for local goods and services. As for negatives, “So ... Read More »

City of Livingston will consider how to implement changes to employee salaries after a recent study revealed a need for increases. Mayor Curtis Hayes said an independent study indicated Livingston’s salary should increase by some four percent to make it more competitive. Hayes said he and the Board of Aldermen are also exploring a salary step increase. “At the end ... Read More »

Putnam County Commission approved moving forward with a new developer to option the old Putnam County Fairgrounds Monday night. E2L Real Estate Solutions is set to spend the first 120 days of the option performing due diligence such as surveying and core drilling. President and Partner Mark Hefferin said they have started drafting concepts for the master plan, and believe ... Read More »