Area News

An audit released by the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasure looking at all of Tennessee’s Department of Correction (TDOC), including Bledsoe Correctional Complex (BCCX), revealed the prison system will require “many improvements” moving forward. As for BCCX, the facility had the highest number of allegations of sexual harassment or sexual abuse between inmates and corrections…

The newly-elected City of Pikeville Board of Aldermen and Mayor wasted no time getting to work after being sworn into office on January 2. Immediately after the swearing in, the Board met in a Special Called session and voted to rescind the Zoning Ordinance put into place by the Board in 2018. For more see…

Just after Jessica and Aaron Blevins’ newborn baby was coming out of the Newborn Intensive Care Unit right before Christmas, they received a call their home had been destroyed in a fire in the Bledsoe County community of Lusk. “We were at the hospital after having our fifth baby when the house burnt down,” Jessica…

A young Pikeville man was killed in an accident on U.S. 127 North on Thursday night, January 2. Steve Freeman, 19, succumbed to injuries after the vehicle he and a 17-year-old minor were traveling in rolled over an embankment and landed on Hwy. 127 near the intersection of Freeman Road and Old State Highway 28,…

As her 100th birthday approached earlier this week, Miss Elizabeth Parham Robnett said she doesn’t feel any different. Rather, she said she hates birthdays because they mean “you’re another year older.” It’s not an understatement to say Miss Robnett, named after her great-grandmother, is the most knowledgeable person in Bledsoe County. Her mind is a…

Pikeville residents are closing out this decade with a bang and celebrating Christmas with tons of spirit, lights, and joy. The owners of 12 different homes across the City entered their Christmas set-ups in the The Bledsonian-Banner’s 39th annual Christmas Decorating Contest, making this year’s judging particularly difficult. Judges looked for coverage, attention to detail,…

The Fall Creek Falls Inn reconstruction project is progressing as scheduled, according to the Tennessee Department of General Services. Along with the inn reconstruction, the new Village Green Visitors Center is nearly complete. The Visitors Center looks complete from the outside, with the parking lots striped and painted, ready to welcome visitors to the Park…

Pikeville Alderman Reed Sells was honored for his decades of service to the City of Pikeville with a plaque at the Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting on Monday, December 9. Mayor Philip Cagle recognized Sells for “all his service given to the city of Pikeville from January 1, 1992 through December 2019.” Cagle said…

Bledsoe County Schools will be dismissing at noon Tuesday, December 10, as the National Weather Service predicts snowfall in the area this evening and hazardous road conditions. The Bledsoe County High School basketball games for this evening have also been cancelled.

Pikeville Mayor Philip “Winki” Cagle was re-elected to his position Saturday, December 7, receiving 219 votes to challenger JoAnn Britt’s 126 votes.  For City Aldermen, the top four vote-getters were incumbents Jane Humble, Dale Wheeler, and Senia Anderson followed by newcomer Jeania Lansing. Challenger Suzanne Schoolfield Sapp did not receive enough votes to be elected.…