Tag Archives: Putnam County

Putnam County officials expect to submit the final report on the March 3rd tornado to FEMA next week. Mayor Randy Porter said the report includes expenses of overtime hours and law enforcement work around $3 million. The Clean-up will cost around $2 million. “We have weekly conference calls with FEMA, and they’ve been very good to help us,” Porter said. ... Read More »

The number of people requesting absentee ballots for the August election has held fairly steady in Overton County but has been much higher in Putnam County. That’s despite rule changes giving those uncomfortable with voting in person because of COVID-19 the chance to vote absentee. Overton County Elections Supervisor Craig Story said he expects the requests to be more in ... Read More »

A TBI crimes report released Wednesday Putnam County crime decreased 24.5 percent in 2019 from 2018. Reported crimes such as aggravated assault and vandalism declined last year. Sheriff Eddie Farris said the community’s involvement attributed to the crime decrease. “That certainly helps us solve crimes, and people know their neighbors,” Farris said. “We have a good group here of people ... Read More »

The Putnam County Budget Committee voted last night to send the new fiscal year budget to the commissioners for approval. The school system budget will be sent separately after Thursday night’s school board meeting. Budget Committee Chair Ben Rogers said the committee felt comfortable with Randy Porter’s status quo budget and had no need to further breakdown the expenses. The ... Read More »

As the Putnam County Commission continues its budget work Monday night at a budget committee meeting, several committee members said they are happy with the progress made so far. District 11 Commissioner Kathy Dunn said she is pleased with the work the county’s department heads have done crafting their budgets. “I think they’ve done an exceptional job keeping in mind ... Read More »

The speed limit along Putnam County’s Highway 70 will return to 45 mph beginning Monday. T-DOT changed the speed limit to 30 mph in the hours after the March 3 tornado between Jackson Street and Baxter. Though cleanup in the area had been completed, the speed limit had remained at 30. The City of Cookeville was conducting a traffic study ... Read More »

The Cookeville-Putnam County Tornado Relief Fund raised $2, 275,474. Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter said the amount donated exceeded all expectations. People and organizations from all around the world answered the need and donated. Porter said the outpouring of support was unbelievable. “We figured if we could do a million dollars, we would just be great,” Porter said. “But to ... Read More »

Putnam County Sheriffs Deputies arrested a Cookeville man for the second time in two weeks on charges of trafficking methamphetamine. 39-year-old Gregory Howard arrested Tuesday after an undercover investigation found he had more than a half a kilo of meth at a Monterey home. The methamphetamine had a street value of some $60,000. Howard also had some $1,200 in cash. ... Read More »

A motor vehicle crash on Interstate 40 has closed the eastbound lanes in Putnam County Tuesday morning. The incident happened just after 5:30am at mile marker 276, near the Smithville/McMinnville exit. The accident is in the Silver Point area. A lifeflight helicopter reportedly is being flown into the area. The duration of the closing remains unknown. Eastbound travelers may want ... Read More »

The new fiscal year Putnam County budget will come in about $500,000 lower than last year’s budget with no property tax increase. County Mayor Randy Porter proposed $40,034,718 in general expenditures during the new fiscal year. Porter said the department heads and elected officials worked hard to create a status quo budget. “There was a team effort put forth by ... Read More »