LOCAL FOCUS
The Tennessee county-by-county report brings you news from each of the Volunteer State’s 95 counties every Sunday. Items are compiled by reporters and editors from across the USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee.
ANDERSON COUNTY: Evolve Renewable Materials, a lithium battery recycling facility, gained approval from the Oak Ridge City Council, the Courier News reports. The City Council approved a change to a zoning code allowing the facility to operate. The plant will need approval from the Oak Ridge Board of Zoning Appeals.
BEDFORD COUNTY: Shelbyville Mayor Randy Carroll expressed concerns that his growing city’s water needs could be made worse by a Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation proposal for a withdrawal cap of 8.35 million gallons a day from the Duck River, the Bedford County Post reports.
BENTON COUNTY: A man and his dog were rescued after falling into a frozen pond. The Benton County Rescue Squad said crews responded to 7255 Highway 641 South, where a man had fallen through the ice in a pond while attempting to rescue his dog that also fell through the ice. A Jon boat and ropes were used to rescue the man and his dog.
BLEDSOE COUNTY: Multiple fire departments were dispatched to a fire at Bledsoe County Correctional Complex, the Sequatchie Valle Now reports. An outbuilding housing lawn equipment was engulfed. Firefighting efforts were hampered by the extremely cold weather and the building was a total loss, but there were no injuries.
BLOUNT COUNTY: Julianne and Mark Leonard signed an easement agreement with the Land Trust for Tennessee to protect 1,048 acres of forestland in Blount and Sevier counties, the Daily Times reports. The property, near Great Smoky Mountains National Park, includes a residential plot, trails, ravines, open spaces, and dense forested area.
BRADLEY COUNTY: New Hope Pregnancy Care Center hosted an open house with a tour of the facility and its services, the Cleveland Daily Banner reports. New Hope Pregnancy Care Center is a free women’s center providing pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, medical and options consultations, pregnancy support, aid and reproductive health resources.
CAMPBELL COUNTY: Remote Area Medical is seeking volunteers for the healthcare clinic in Jellico on March 23-24, reports the Lafollette Press. RAM also needs volunteers to help set up on March 22 and March 24. RAM is a nonprofit clinic provider that delivers quality dental, vision and medical care to those in need without charge.
CANNON COUNTY: Cannon County Schools is asking for feedback through a link on the district’s website about areas of need not addressed in the spending for Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Plan.
CARROLL COUNTY: Baptist Memorial Hospital-carroll County has joined the American Heart Association’s Rural Health Care Outcomes Accelerator to help eliminate rural health disparities. The program provides participating hospitals with no-cost access to Get With The Guidelines quality programs to address the unique health needs of patients in rural areas.
CARTER COUNTY: Elizabethton City School System Board of Education members approved a $457,059 contract, funded through a COPS grant, to install electronic card readers on school doors, the Elizabethton Star reports. The school system also received a $68,000 grant for food services.
CHEATHAM COUNTY: Residents who had uninsured losses from the December 2023 tornadoes can visit open Federal Emergency Management Agency Disaster Recovery Centers in Davidson and Montgomery Counties after several others recently closed across Middle Tennessee, FEMA reported in late January.
CHESTER COUNTY: Fans of Thywordle, last year’s breakout scripture puzzle game developed by Freedhardeman University computer science students, will be pleased to hear that a second version is now available to play at Thywordle.com.
CLAIBORNE COUNTY: Lincoln Memorial University’s Doctor of Occupational Therapy program received accreditation from the ACOTE, the Claiborne Progress reports. LMU is in full compliance with all the ACOTE accreditation standards for a doctoral degree level.
CLAY COUNTY: Clay County Schools is part of a new satellite lending library hub through a grant received by Tennessee Tech University’s Oakley STEM Center. The center’s Lending Library hub includes more than 7,000 items available to be leased for free to support STEM learning.
COCKE COUNTY: Cocke County Sheriff C.J. Ball announced need for a temporary animal control facility, the Newport Plain Talk reports. Ball said the sheriff’s office staff and officers have taken in abandoned horses and puppies in recent weeks.
COFFEE COUNTY: Bridgestone Americas told employees to get a note from the sheriff’s office if they couldn’t make it to work in the wintry conditions, prompting outrage from Coffee County Sheriff Chad Partin, who told the company to believe its employees if they can’t get out of their driveways.
CROCKETT COUNTY: The Crockett County Courthouse in Alamo will be the location for the next LIFELINE blood drive 1 to 6 p.m. Feb. 5.
CUMBERLAND COUNTY: The Putnam County Family YMCA has offered to raise up to $10 million to support development of an indoor recreation center in Crossville, the Crossville Chronical reports. The plans include an aquatic facility, exercise area, gymnasium, childcare areas and indoor walking track.
DAVIDSON COUNTY: The Metro Nashville Council agreed last year to pay out over $5 million to resolve 58 claims against city departments, the highest annual total in the last five years. The majority of the those claims involved car wrecks in which city employees were at fault.
DECATUR COUNTY: Eric Quinn, baseball coach of the Riverside Panthers, was named Sectional Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year by the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association. Quinn has received this award five times.
DEKALB COUNTY: Kenlee Renee Taylor, Dekalb County’s 2023 Fairest of the Fair, competed at the Tennessee Association of Fairs State pageant, with more than 50 Fairest Queens from across the state. Taking home the state title was Ryan Green of the Coffee County Fair, the Smithville Review reports.
DICKSON COUNTY: A driver of a Tennessee Department of Transportation truck was hospitalized after his truck was struck by a semi on Interstate 40 Jan. 17, WSMV Channel 4 in Nashville reports. The TDOT truck was spreading salt at the time of the crash that sent both vehicles through a guardrail.
DYER COUNTY: Dyersburg State will open its softball season Feb. 8 at Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia, Mississippi.
FAYETTE COUNTY: The Industrial Development Board has a new member approved by the Stanton Board upon the recommendation of Stanton Mayor Allan Sterbinsky. Kathy Watts will fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Pat Mann Jr.
FENTRESS COUNTY: The Fentress County Fire Department recently bought an additional truck, a 1995 Freightliner with a 1,500 gallon pump, Chief Larry Cooper said.
FRANKLIN COUNTY: The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation mobile household hazardous waste collection service will be in Franklin County from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 25 at the Recycle Center, 487 Joyce Lane, in Winchester, On Target news.com reports.
GIBSON COUNTY: Hayden Williams will be the new football coach, Humboldt City Schools athletic director George Yarbro announced. Williams succeeds Teddy Pettigrew, who resigned last year.
GILES COUNTY: The city of Pulaski in Giles County experienced water main breaks during wintry weather in midjanuary, leading to water outages, water shortages, boil water notices and water conservation efforts as crews made repairs, raising long-term concerns about water capacity and infrastructure, reports the Pulaski Citizen.
GRAINGER COUNTY: Henderson Chapel will receive $60,000 from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, Grainger Today reports. The AACHA is part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and aims to conserve historic Black churches. The funding will support an architectural assessment and preservation plan to restore the chapel.
GREENE COUNTY: Greeneville-based Forward Air and Texas-based Omni Logistics reached agreement to amend their merger, ending a legal dispute between the companies, reports the Greeneville Sun. Forward Air announced Omni shareholders will receive $20 million in cash, instead of the initially agreed $150 million, under the terms of the amended agreement.
GRUNDY COUNTY: The Grundy County School Board voted 5-3 to extend Director of Schools Clint Durley’s contract by a year after an outside firm found his performance to be “distinguished” in several standards, the Grundy County Herald reports. The board also approved a 5% raise for Durley.
HAMBLEN COUNTY: Students representing Encore Theatrical Company each won a Freddie G Award Excellence in Acting at the 2024 Junior Theater Festival in Atlanta, reports the Citizen Tribune.
HAMILTON COUNTY: The Hamilton County Commission approved
$3.7 million for roof repairs, paving, maintenance projects, and security upgrades at schools, reports the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
HANCOCK COUNTY: Engineman 2nd Class Tysen Sparbel, a Sneedville native, performed maintenance on a seawater pipe aboard the amphibious assault carrier USS Tripoli (LHA 7) during the ship’s maintenance availability, the Rogersville Review reports.
HARDEMAN COUNTY: Hardeman County UT Extension Master Gardeners held its Holiday Awards Banquet honoring members. Ann Zaller was named Master Gardener of the Year.
HARDIN COUNTY: The Tennessee Highway Patrol conducted a sobriety roadside safety checkpoint Jan. 26. The checkpoint began at 8 p.m. on Tennessee 22, north of Hagy Lane.
HAWKINS COUNTY: The county commission approved Styrofoam recycling for Burem Convenience Center, the Rogersville Review reports. The Solid Waste Committee voted to allow a local community member to collect Styrofoam at the center to recycle into raised beds for gardening.
HAYWOOD COUNTY: This year marks the 200th birthday of the city of Brownsville. It kicked off with a Unity Breakfast Jan. 27 at the National Guard Armory.
HENDERSON COUNTY: Bradenhealth announced a $5.8 million investment to upgrade medical equipment across its network of hospitals in West Tennessee. This strategic infusion of capital will significantly enhance patient care at Houston County Community Hospital, Henderson County Community Hospital and Haywood County Community Hospital.
HENRY COUNTY: A possible partnership with an outside health care system to take over management of Henry County Medical Center is one of the ideas the hospital’s strategic planning committee will be taking a closer look at in the coming months.
HICKMAN COUNTY: Following several inches of snow, a man died when he fell 20 feet to a concrete floor through a skylight while clearing snow from a roof, the Hickman County Times. The Hickman County Sheriff’s Office identified Barry E. Rochelle as the man who died Jan. 15.
HOUSTON COUNTY: A recent Tennessee Ridge City Commission meeting appointed commissioner David Woods to the vacant seat of Matthew Williams, who moved out of the city, and received the resignation of Vice Mayor Ray Bradley, who has planned not to run for office again, the Houston County Herald reports.
HUMPHREYS COUNTY: Humphreys County officials declared Jan. 9,
2024, “Roxie Little Day” after lifelong county resident, Roxie Little, celebrated her 105th birthday surrounded by her family and Humphreys County Care and Rehab residents and staff, the News Democrat reports.
JACKSON COUNTY: The Jackson County Utility District increased water rates this year due to increased costs to purchase water, reports News Talk 94.1 FM. Residential water bills are now a minimum of $23.95 a month for 800 gallons and $15.10 for anything over 1,000 gallons, the report says.
JEFFERSON COUNTY: Emmitt Newman, outside linebacker and leading tackler at Jefferson County High School, was selected all-state by Tennessee football coaches and sports writers. The Patriots went 10-2 in 2023, earning their first region title since 1994. Newman’s father, Will Newman, was All-state and All-american in 1993.
JOHNSON COUNTY: Northeast Correction Complex in Mountain City recently announced recruitment efforts to fill more than 50 job openings, The Tomahawk reports. Starting salary for a correctional officer is $44,520 a year, and new hires are eligible for a $5,000 sign-on bonus, said spokesman Robert Reburn.
KNOX COUNTY: Knoxville made a Buzzfeed list of underrated cities worth a second look for travelers, coming in at No. 17 on the list of 19 destinations. One Buzzfeed commenter wrote, “It’s basically a friendlier Asheville.”
LAKE COUNTY: Two teenagers are wanted for murder in Dyersburg after being accused of shooting two 17year-olds, killing one of them. Firstdegree murder warrants have been issued for 19-year-old Jeremiah Lamonte Davis of Humboldt and 18year-old Shaun Anthony Dial of Dyersburg.