The Upper Cumberland needs more than 7,000 day care slots to fill the needs of parents across the region. The UCDD Policy Council heard the first draft Wednesday of a new report set to be presented to state leaders on the problem. UCDD’s Rosa Smith said every licensed daycare facility in the region has a waiting list of at least ... Read More »

The CIRCLES Program, part of the Empower effort to get families out of poverty, will expand to Cumberland County later this month, the second chapter in the state. Putnam County, the state’s first chapter, started last July and is now working with its second group of families. Those sessions began with eight families. Four are now homeowners and three have ... Read More »

After about an hour of discussion Monday night, Putnam County Commissioners approved a new fiscal year budget with an 18.8 cent property tax increase. The county will use some $6.5 million in fund balance to make up the budget deficit, reducing the reserves to about $18 million. That’s still above the Comptroller’s request that a county maintains 20 percent of ... Read More »

The City Of Algood will spend new Violent Crime Intervention Funds on a new training simulator designed to help officers deal with shooting scenarios they might encounter. Police Chief Dale Armour said the device focuses on de-escalation tactics. Armour said he saw it in use at his former agency. “That’s the whole point of this is to make sure that ... Read More »

Putnam County’s new mathematics textbooks will debut in two weeks, with a traditional high school pathway of Algebra, Geometry, and Algebra II. 9-12 Curriculum Supervisor Bubba Winningham said the change is part of the curriculum update done every six years. New math standards will be instituted, but Winningham said the focus in Putnam County will be the traditional high school ... Read More »

City Of Livingston implementing stricter rules to deal with the disposal of brush. Mayor Curtis Hayes said the city will no longer take any brush that is bigger than nine inches in diameter. “The reason being our chipper, that’s the size that it will take to be able to dispose of this brush and other items,” Hayes said. “And we ... Read More »

If you got married at the historic Clay County Courthouse, your story is needed. The Clay County Heritage Days festival next month will feature a sharing of courthouse weddings stories during a “marriage homecoming.” Courthouse Administrator Doug Young said the courthouse has long been a popular spot for people in and out of state. “So people came down across the ... Read More »

Fentress County’s Glenobey Road will soon be closed to begin construction work from the top of the mountain to the Old County Quarry. County Road Superintendent Ryan Reed will oversee the construction project costing around $4 million. Reed said the road is in need of serious repair, with entire sections of it sliding into a dry creek bed below it. ... Read More »

Cookeville continues to market the Lemon Farris site off Highway 111 to prospective industries, but Community Development Director Jon Ward said more work will be done in the months to come. “The grant is still open,” Ward said. “We have not completed the work yet, the due diligence work on the site, but we hope to have that completed very ... Read More »

Van Buren County Commission passed the county’s new budget in a special called meeting Friday night. School Director Cheryl Cope provided handouts to the commissioners showing proof that maintenance of effort and local match tests were met. Cope said the comptroller had informed her that the information was required to be presented prior to passing the budget. Read More »