The Putnam County Election Commission will prepare to hold an election in the time of COVID-19 and social distancing. The commission discussed possible preparations at its Wednesday meeting. Election Administrator Michele Honeycutt said the planning will ensure the health of voters even if conditions change by August. “We have been on conference calls with the state going over a lot ... Read More »

Cookeville will soon upgrade the city’s traffic lights. Public Works Director Greg Brown said new monitors are designed to prevent accidents. “If something happens in the controller where the signal is trying to give greens in opposing directions, Brown said. “The conflict monitor catches that and makes the signal go into a flash mode until you can get that corrected.” ... Read More »

Dekalb County Middle School will soon make improvements to its security protocols. Director of Schools Patrick Cripps said the improvements are needed because of the school’s design. “When you first walk into it, it’s kind of an open concept,” Cripps said. “What we are wanting to put in is a vestibule so that there will be a check-in point when ... Read More »

Suzi Cash Haston has been named the Interim Director of White County’s Emergency Management Agency. County Executive Denny Wayne Robinson said Haston’s experience made her the obvious choice to fill the void in the agency. “She serves currently as our director of 911,” Robinson said. “She was kind of naturally the person to put in as our interim. She’s already ... Read More »

The Cookeville/Putnam County Animal Shelter says adoptions have been steady during COVID-19 even with limited access to the facility. “Intakes have not been as high as they normally would, and our overall shelter population is pretty comfortable,” Shelter Director Jennifer Hutchinson-Tracy. Many worried that pet surrenders would increase because of economic issues for many families. Tracy said that has not ... Read More »

The City of Cookeville will take the next step in the widening of South Jefferson Avenue by relocating utilities. Ronnie Kelly, Director of the Water and Sewer Department, said the $95,000 dollar project will involve Consolidated Technologies working to obtain new easements. Kelly said the city is looking to acquire easements from 14 properties along Jefferson Avenue. “This is a ... Read More »

The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency wants to better manage the state’s population of wild turkeys. Roger Shields is the Wild Turkey Program Coordinator for the TWRA. “There’s a lot of people who care about wild turkeys and we want to make sure that we are appropriately managing them, whether it’s for the hunters or just the wildlife viewer, whoever, we ... Read More »

As the number of people furloughed or laid off rises across the Upper Cumberland grows, knowing how to access unemployment benefits is an important tool. Chris Cannon, Assistant Administrator of Communications for the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development said being prepared is critical when beginning the process. “They need all of their employment information,” Cannon said. “They will need ... Read More »

More than two years of an Upper Cumberland building boom are continuing as best as possible through a March tornado and the current COVID-19 outbreak. Josh Stites, President of J&S Construction, said one of his main problems is getting supplies. “Our supply chain has been disrupted in a few places, and it’s caused supplies we normally get immediately are now ... Read More »

As talks resume, the United Auto Workers strike at Cummins Filtration in Cookeville enters its second month. UAW Local 1407 initiated the strike March 8 after eight weeks of negotiations and two failed ratification votes from the union. Local 1407 President Mark Dyer said at the time the reason talks broke down included unfair labor practices the company was trying ... Read More »