Tennessee State Parks will be hosting public meetings on park business plans at four Upper Cumberland state parks this month. The public meetings will allow community members to hear about current and future park improvement projects and provide comments. The first meetings to be held April 19th at Edgar Evins State Park and Fall Creek Falls State Park beginning at ... Read More »

The Upper Cumberland Council on Children and Youth helped bring more awareness to Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome during an event in Cookeville Wednesday. NAS is a problem where babies are exposed to opiates from a mother during pregnancy and born with withdrawal symptoms. Blue Care Tennessee Chief Medical Officer Jeanne James said more can always be done to tackle the NAS ... Read More »

Fentress County’s State Route 85 has reopened to traffic. Six miles of the roadway closed between Grimsley and Wilder last month after heavy rains caused the pavement at mile marker 6 to slide and give way. Tennessee Department of Transportation spokesperson Jennifer Flynn said the work went beyond replacing the pavement. Crews had to rebuild the road base in order ... Read More »

Tennessee Healthy Parks has awarded a $50,000 grant to the city of Algood. Funding from the non-matching grant will be used to conduct a master plan for the city’s future 22 acre park, which will be located off Main Street just before Thompson Lane. City Administrator Keith Morrison said the planning for the park will center around recommendations from city residents. ... Read More »

Six townhouses are one step closer to locating at the corner of Algood’s Cooper Road and Dry Valley Road under a rezoning ordinance approved by the city council last night. The ordinance rezones the location from R-1 single family residential to R-3 high density residential. Resident Ron Graves urged the council to vote down the ordinance. “The traffic is an ... Read More »

A former Dowelltown insurance producer has surrendered his insurance license for violating several insurance laws. An investigation by the State Department of Commerce and Insurance found that Orvil E. Hendrix forged another person’s name to a document related to an insurance transaction and intentionally misrepresented the terms of an insurance contract. Hendrix has agreed to pay a civil penalty in ... Read More »

The Mustard Seed Ranch will soon break ground on two new family homes. Mustard Seed Ranch Director of Development Brandon Stephenson said the new homes will total 7,800 square feet and provide for a growing need in the community. “We get calls on a weekly basis for kids who are requiring placement or in need of placement,” Stephenson said. “Unfortunately, ... Read More »

A man pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder Monday for firing a gun at his girlfriend’s house in Cookeville last year. 20-year-old Jonathan Reagan Dees will serve a 9-year prison sentence, according the office of District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway. The incident, which involved domestic violence, happened around 2 a.m. December 16th when Dees allegedly drove by his girlfriends home ... Read More »

A number of Baxter residents lost water Tuesday morning after city water department crews accidentally struck a water line near Love’s. Water Department Director John Ramsey said the incident happened as crews were digging for the NAPA Auto Parts store. Crews managed to quickly repair the issue and water was restored to affected customers by 12:00 p.m. Read More »

A man accused of killing his father in Sparta last month will be held in Minnesota’s Blue Earth County Jail for at least another 60 days. 21-year-old Joshua Jordi appeared in Blue Earth County Court Tuesday for an extradition hearing. Jordi faces first-degree murder charges in the death of his father Timothy Jordi March 8th. Jordi allegedly stabbed his father ... Read More »