Overton County School System reducing its chronic absenteeism rates, with new statistics indicating the district has gone from 14 percent to 11 percent in just one year. A child is considered chronically absent if they miss at least 18 days, or ten percent, of the school year both excused and unexcused. Attendance Supervisor Cristy Miller said they have tried to ... Read More »

UCDD exploring a potential grant opportunity through the Federal Economic Development Administration that will help the region increase its average number of residents in the workforce Executive Director Mark Farley said the EDA calls it the Recompete Program and is geared toward economically distressed counties. He said it is a unique grant that is designed to get the national average ... Read More »

Cumberland County putting funds towards the creation of its Building Codes Department. County Mayor Allen Foster said there have been codes in the county for years just utilizing the city’s services. He said the county feels its grown large enough and enough people are building that they want to take it in-house. “We just want to make sure we’re providing ... Read More »

The DeKalb County Jail has had its number of certified beds cut by almost half after a recent inspection from the Tennessee Corrections Institute. Sheriff Patrick Ray said the county has been working with TCI for years after learning the jail has structural and square footage issues. He said the inspection resulted in the number of certified beds dropping from ... Read More »

The August Congressional recess is a time to return home to their respective districts and meet with constituents. Tennessee’s 6th District Representative John Rose said so far he has met with residents and business owners to talk about their wants and concerns and how he can help serve them. He said he has heard concerns about everything from inflation to ... Read More »

Crossville Mayor RJ Crawford says a referendum on the indoor recreation center will require a majority vote from city council. Crawford added they are not to that point yet. He pointed to Tuesday’s work session as a way to narrow down and finalize more details of the project. The meeting started with resident Roger Baker asking for a referendum on ... Read More »

Overton County moving forward with an application to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development for site development grant dollars. The commission approved the application at its meeting Monday night. Commission Chair Darwin Clark said the funds will be put towards helping the county increase its availability of land suitable for industrial development. “So we can go to other ... Read More »

Cookeville set to take the next steps forward with its Lemon Farris Industrial Site grant and conduct geotechnical due diligence studies. Community Development Director Jon Ward said the grant was originally awarded in 2022 from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. He said this the $25,000 will be put toward a contract for the due diligence services. “That’s ... Read More »

The Town of Monterey will take over the responsibilities of running Standing Stone Day on October 14th this year. The Board of Aldermen voted in a special called session Monday night. Cultural Administrator Rafferty Cleary said to his understanding, the Standing Stone Day Committee was planning on only doing educational outreach for this year’s holiday and not the secondary activities, ... Read More »

Cookeville City Council will consider an engineering contract to design sewer extension to the South Creek Subdivision. Water Quality Control Director Barry Turner said this will be the first step in providing sewer to the Bunker Hill Road and Lovlelady Road annexation area. He said the annexation agreement promises sewer extension by 2027. “The South Creek subdivision is one of ... Read More »