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Three Dekalb County residents spoke Thursday night about interest in representing the sixth district on the Dekalb County Commission. Danny McGinnis, Andy Pack, and Bruce Parsley each spoke during a public meeting about their interest in the position and their qualifications. County Commissioners expected to make a decision on the open seat during the board’s Monday night meeting. Dekalb County ... Read More »

Pickett County Schools designated by the State Department Of Education as a Needs Improvement School System. The designation means Pickett County’s system scores ranked in the bottom five percent of all districts in the state. Indicators include student achievement, growth as well as areas such as absenteeism. A total of six districts received the Needs Improvement designation based on school ... Read More »

Rolling roadblocks set for early Sunday morning on I-40 through Putnam County. The utility work will impact traffic from 6am-8am, according to T-DOT. The work will be done in both the east and westbound lanes of I-40 between mile markers 290 and 304. T-DOT said delays are expected. “Drivers are encouraged to use caution as they travel through this area,” ... Read More »

Illness spreading through Jackson County Schools this week, especially among faculty and staff. Director of Schools Jason Hardy said he considered closing schools for a day. Hardy said he spoke with other district directors and everyone is closely monitoring the situation. “Our numbers aren’t to that level yet, but we’re going to keep an eye on it,” Hardy said. ” ... Read More »

The Cumberland County School Board will consider the Director of Schools request to renegotiate his contract, following a Thursday night discussion. Billy Stepp asked the board to consider his agreement after receiving a positive evaluation. Stepp said many school systems consider raises and extensions annually based on such an evaluation. Board Member Nicholas Davis said having the discussions make sense. ... Read More »

Designs presented to the Jackson County School Board Thursday night for a new CTE building at Jackson County High School. Maintenance Lead Josh Morgan said the cosmetology lab and HVAC shop have been approved by teachers and are likely represented in the design exactly as they will be constructed. He said the building trades shop could be tweaked before the ... Read More »

Livingston Fire and EMS traveled to Kentucky this week for a helicopter evacuation training course. Livingston Fire Chief Rocky Dial said the department takes the course every two years to maintain awareness of the air evacuation procedures. He said firefighters learned how to create a safe landing zone for helicopters, free of powerlines, trees, and road signs. “They have to ... Read More »

The Algood Park project is moving forward as fast as the city can afford to work on it despite concerns from some local citizens. Mayor Lisa Chapman-Fowler said she understands that some people in the community are unhappy with a supposed lack of progress on the park. Chapman-Fowler said the park was planned from the start to have multiple phases ... Read More »

Could a solar flare reported early Thursday have caused an outage that affected some 70,000 AT&T cell phone customers? Tennessee Tech Associate Physics Professor Mary Kidd said if a flare directed at Earth is strong enough, it can affect satellites and cause blackouts to communication systems and GPS. However, Kidd said it is unlikely that a flare would have affected ... Read More »

160 years later, the Battle of Dug Hill that left some 40 Yankee soldiers dead in the Calfkiller Valley remains one of the bloodiest skirmishes in the Upper Cumberland’s history. The battle happened February 22, 1864 near the White/Putnam County line. Putnam County Historian Dale Welch said Yankee soldiers marched from Sparta to Putnam County looking to stop local “bushwhackers” ... Read More »