Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter moved quickly Monday night to replace two county department leaders. The County Commission approved the promotion of Brandon Smith to County EMA Director and Cody Maynard as Parks and Recreation Director. “When I came into office, one thing I made sure of is that we had a succession plan for all our departments,” Porter said. ... Read More »

A Cookeville man stabbed Sunday afternoon after an apparent dispute with a neighbor that included multiple shots fired. 46-year-old Eddy Dyer taken to Cookeville Regional after the incident at 611 South Willow Avenue. The suspect, identified as 31-year old Lee Anderson of Cookeville, surrendered to Cookeville Police. Anderson reportedly stabbed Dyer, then fired several rounds inside the apartment building. He ... Read More »

The Putnam County Budget Committee voted 6-1 Thursday to take the next step with a 27.5 cent property tax increase for county residents. The approved proposal includes fully funding a new pay scale plan for county employees and 91 new employees. Mayor Randy Porter and his team will bring more formal cost estimates to the next committee meeting Monday night. ... Read More »

The Tennessee Tech Board Of Trustees approved $154 in additional tuition and fees for the average in-state student at its quarterly meeting Thursday. The increase is a 2.92 percent increase on tuition, or roughly $135 for a student taking 15 hours. The mandatory fees will increase 2.96 percent or roughly $19 per semester. Claire Stinson is Vice President for Planning ... Read More »

Tennessee Tech current freshmen enrollment numbers are down slightly from last year’s record, despite the highest application and admit numbers in the school’s history. Vice President of Enrollment & Communication Karen Lykins said Tech received roughly 1,000 more applications this year. Lykins said her team continues to study the impact of September’s free application month. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission ... Read More »

White County Sherriff Steve Page voiced his displeasure with the Sherriff office’s 2023-24 budget at Monday’s County Commission meeting. Page said if the department is not better paid, they could be in danger of losing the County Jail. He said if the Jail was to be decertified, taxpayers would end up having to pay to house inmates elsewhere. “I just ... Read More »

Cookeville City Council reappointed Joy Buck Gothard as City Judge and Dan Rader as City Attorney. “Dan’s been our attorney since 2007, and honestly, I couldn’t do it without him,” City Manager James Mills said. “I’m so very grateful that he’s agreed to continue to serve.” The attorney serves a two-year term, expiring in 2025. “I want to thank everybody ... Read More »

The Putnam County Budget Committee voted Thursday night to consider a new employee pay plan which would top out salaries faster. The idea: to improve retention and increase wages. The plan gets employees to their top pay by year ten for emergency services, 15 for all other county jobs. It also incorporates the marketplace adjustments suggested by the recently-completed wage ... Read More »

The City Of Livingston proposing a four percent raise for city employees in the new fiscal year budget unveiled Monday night. The budget, approved on first reading by the council Monday night, includes an 11-cent property tax increase. Mayor Curtis Hayes said he started with an even greater increase for employees but found the city could not afford that level ... Read More »

Putnam County’s new fiscal year budget could require a 50-cent property tax increase if budget committee members funded every request. Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter told the committee Monday night the pre-discussion budget draft shows general fund expenditures of some $58.4 million. That is some $10.2 million over projected revenues. Committee Chair Ben Rodgers told the committee they need to ... Read More »