Putnam County Commissioner Kevin Christopher said he does not support the county jail expanding so close to residential areas. Christopher said the jail has reached its capacity within a generation and believes Cookeville will only continue to grow as time passes. Leading Christopher to vote no Monday on a land purchase to expand the jail’s parking. Christopher said the county ... Read More »

A Putnam County home has been completely destroyed by an early morning fire on Turkey Hollow Road. Putnam County Fire Chief Tom Brown said fire crews dispatched Thursday at about 4:00 AM. No one was home at the time of the fire, and had collapsed by the time crews arrived on scene. The fire was discovered by the owners father, ... Read More »

The Putnam County Library is moving into Phase 3 this week and opening up more services. Allowing guests to browse the book stacks and opening up meeting rooms to groups of ten or less. Putnam County Library Director Phil Schaller said letting people find a book in-person during the pandemic could be a nice change of pace. “It’s important to ... Read More »

Jackson County wants all Air BnB clients to make sure they have a business license so occupancy taxes can be collected. In January of 2020 an occupancy tax went into effect for the county. While the tax has brought in $15,000 in revenue, Jackson County Mayor Randy Heady said word of mouth indicates some clients are not paying what they ... Read More »

McMinnville Chief of Police Bryan Denton announced his retirement Tuesday night after nine years. Denton’s final day will be December 31st after spending 40 years in law enforcement. Denton said he hopes to leave the city with enough time to fill his position. “I wanted to make sure there was enough time to do that so we wouldn’t have to ... Read More »

Warren County School Director Grant Swallows said he feels good about moving to a four day in-person school week. The new schedule goes into effect October 12. Swallows said adopting four days instead of five will help keep teachers and students practicing virtual learning in case the system has to go back to the hybrid model.  Swallows said he based ... Read More »

Cumberland County has cancelled its Hazardous Waste Collection Day over COVID-19 concerns. The state was set to come in and help collect things that Cumberland County solid waste cannot usually accept. Cumberland County Solid Waste Director Conrad Welch said people will have to hold on to some of those items in the meantime. “Maybe some kind of cleaners, chemicals that ... Read More »

Putnam County is increasing its $1.00 tire disposal fee if residents get rid of more than eight tires a year. “What we’ve done now is added 29 cents to that, so now it will be a $1.29,” Putnam County Solid Waste Director Keith Street said. “That will generate, going on last year’s tonnage numbers, about an extra $30,000 in revenue ... Read More »

A fired Chief Deputy with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office has reached a settlement with his former employer. Chief Deputy Chris Carter was fired six days after giving a statement to the Tennessee Comptroller’s office. The statement included his knowledge of Jackson County Sheriff Marty Hinson reportedly using a county credit card for unauthorized uses. That’s when Carter filed a ... Read More »

Van Buren County received four sanitizing machines Monday to help with COVID-19 protection. A CARES Act grant paid for the machines. The first two were sent out to ambulance services and the county school system. Van Buren County Mayor Greg Wilson said nine have been ordered to meet the standards residents expect from the county “It’s huge, people will know ... Read More »