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Cookeville City Council voted on first reading Thursday to close a portion of West 14th Street. Planning Director John Ward said a developer wants to use the property for new housing. “We have a townhouse development proposed for that property and all of the property located North of the T-Mart,” Ward said. “He’s asked for this closure to incorporate it ... Read More »

Cookeville will move forward with the last phase of its water treatment plant expansion plan. Water Quality Control Director Ronnie Kelly said the $15 million project will prep the plant for a rated capacity of 30 million gallons per day (MGD). “We’re currently rated at 15 (MGD), but probably can only push 14 through the plant though,” Kelly said. “But ... Read More »

The Walnut Village renovation project in Cookeville has nearly come to an end. Craig Cobb works for LHP Capital, a firm assisting Highlands Residential Services with the project. He said the last three or four residents affected by the project move back into their units Friday. “That’s about 8 to 10 weeks ahead of schedule on the contract,” Cobbs said. ... Read More »

A Cookeville construction company will build a new public housing complex for Highlands Residential Services (HRS). The HRS board awarded an $8.98 million construction bid to King Construction during Thursday’s meeting. HRS Executive Director Dow Harris urged the board to accept the Oak Tree Towers bid even though it came back a little high. “It light of that, we’ve got ... Read More »

The State Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld a 10-year prison sentence handed down to a man convicted of vehicular homicide and voluntary manslaughter in White County. Lawyers for Steven Dale Davidson Jr. argued that Criminal Court Judge David Patterson committed errors by excluding a complete police video interview of a defense witness. Judge D. Kelly Thomas wrote that lawyers ... Read More »

Putnam County continues to see record setting trends when it comes to issuing residential permits. Mayor Porter reported Wednesday the county issued over 900 permits for single family homes since 2015. “This does not include the housing stats inside our four cities. If you add those, we total over 1,700 new homes since January 2015,” Porter said. Between 2017 and ... Read More »

A Cookeville man will appear in court Thursday for aggravated arson in White County. 27-year-old Richard Hunger was arrested for allegedly setting a Country Club Road house on fire in June 2019. Hunger became a suspect following an investigation by the White County Sheriff’s Office. He admitted to investigators that he committed the crime. According to arrest warrants at least ... Read More »

The Overton County Schools will be closed Thursday and Friday due to illness. Director of Schools Mark Winningham said stockpiled snow days will make up for lost days. “We’ve experienced a very high number of student absences throughout this week and it has continued to increase each day so we made the decision to close the next two days and ... Read More »

The City of Algood will construct a new entrance to Walmart from Big Mac Drive. City Administrator Keith Morrison said a property owner on Big Mac Drive has agreed to the project. “The gain from this is folks who enter Big Mac Drive to go to McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Zaxby’s or Speedway,” Morrison said. “If they can’t get out and ... Read More »

A McMinnville man faces charges stemming from an undercover human trafficking investigation. Authorities in Spring Hill, Tennessee have charged 28-year-old Jordan Millican with patronizing prostitution. The TBI said the investigation focused on identifying individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex acts with minors and adults. Authorities arrested 11 men after placing several decoy advertisements on websites linked to commercial sex. ... Read More »