Latest News

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 »

Grades after the March school closure will not count against Tennessee students. That’s according to Clay County Director Of Schools Matt Eldridge, who said the State Department of Education implemented the decision in a Thursday conference call. Eldridge said his system had already planned to use grades during this online scenario only to help students. The State Department of Education ... Read More »

Power restoration to the Caney Fork Electric service area could cost over $1 million. That’s according to Caney Fork Electric General Manager Bill Rogers. Rogers said he has only received billing from a single contractor thus far and there are still a lot of costs to tally. “We have assembled our internal payroll numbers,” Rogers said. “We had two contractors ... Read More »

The Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber Of Commerce has a nominee to serve as President/CEO of the organization. The committee, chaired by Phillip Baker, met Thursday to make its final decision. Chamber officials confirmed the committee made a final decision, but said the name will not be announced until Monday, citing confidentiality. CEO George Halford announced in 2019 that he planned to ... Read More »

Beginning Wednesday, Putnam County School Nutrition distribution will change. Putnam County School Nutrition will serve a two-day supply of meals each Monday and Wednesday, and then the regular meal distribution will take place on Friday. Meals will not be served on Friday or Monday, April 13 as those days are previously scheduled holidays. Weekend meal service will not be available. ... Read More »

COVID-19 cases continue to increase slowly across the Upper Cumberland with 148 cases reported Thursday. The Tennessee Department Of Health reported 82 Putnam County cases, 34 in Cumberland County, and 7 in Dekalb County. Jackson, Overton and Smith Counties reported 5 COVID-19 cases. Warren and White stand at three positive cases while Clay and Fentress Counties report just two cases ... Read More »

Overton County’s historic Pioneer Day will not return in 2020 because of COVID-19. Chamber Marketing and Tourism Director Shannon Cantrell said cancelling Pioneer Day was the easiest and safest decision for the community. “We didn’t want to do it,” Cantrell said. “We knew under the circumstances and concerns of COVID-19 that we really didn’t have any other options.” The Pioneer ... Read More »

Another 4,892 Upper Cumberland residents applied for unemployment last week. That brings the two-week total to over 9,000 first-time unemployment claims according to the Tennessee Department Of Labor. Statewide, the unemployment claims for the week ending April 4 increased to over 112,400. In four weeks, more than 110,000 people have lost their jobs because of COVID-19. 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 »

The Dale Hollow Dam Road is set to reopen Thursday following its closure March 26 to fix damage. Clay County Highway Commissioner Jason Browning said the road was closed due to rain damage. “Due to the excessive rain, a section of it just kind of slid off into the lake,” Browning said. “We repaired it with shot rock and restabilized ... Read More »