Area News

The mask mandate for Bledsoe County Schools will officially end on Friday, May 14, after the Bledsoe County Board of Education approved the recommendation by Director of Schools James Ellis during its meeting last week. Ellis recommended the last two weeks of school be without the mandate which has been in place since schools started…

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) announced Pikeville Elementary School (PES) and 175 other schools were selected for the second cohort of trauma-informed schools in Tennessee. According to TDOE, the model trauma-informed school designation recognizes schools for their emphasis on implementing trauma-informed strategies to provide critical support for students. Schools implementing trauma-informed approaches have seen…

The twin brothers who lied to local, state and federal governments to secure grant money and federal contracts as part of a never-realized textile mill in Pikeville were each sentenced Friday morning, May 7, to 50 months imprisonment and ordered to pay $7 million in restitution by Chief District Judge Travis McDonough for the United…

Signs on the U.S. 127 bypass and SR30 East are a bit confusing to motorists, informing them of road work to begin on May 10 and to seek an alternate route, but without details of where the road work is being done. Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Region 2 Spokeswoman Jennifer Flynn said a bridge…

At April’s Bledsoe County Commission meeting, Road Superintendent Robby Roberson spoke of possible money coming from the State early next year to put asphalt down on Old Spencer Road from Pikeville to Griffith Road. Roberson said Old Spencer Road would likely need to be updated before a state project coming to SR30 West, likely next…

Pikeville Summer Nights, the event series held from May through September on the first Saturday of each month, kicked off its 2021 season with a successful event on May 1. The event series is hosted by the Pikeville Main Street Committee. For more information and a schedule of bands see the May 6 issue of…

Crews around Pikeville and Bledsoe County worked to clear debris and restore power after severe weather Tuesday morning, May 4. A large tree briefly blocked Main Street near Pikeville Methodist Church this morning and another tree was reportedly still blocking Cleveland Avenue near the baseball complex. There are reports of trees being downed throughout other…

Several crews from Bledsoe and Cumberland counties worked to rescue a person who fell off a bluff at the end of Holloway Ridge Road in the Hinch Mountain area on Sunday, April 25, according to the Bledsoe County Emergency Management Agency (EMA). For more see the April 29 issue of The Bledsonian Banner.

The Pikeville-Bledsoe County Chamber of Commerce is putting a $50,000 ThreeStar grant to good use by providing an office away from home for businesses and entrepreneurs. The grant was awarded to the County by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (ECD). The project is called Rural Interconnect Outpost, RIO, and is described as…

A minor bus accident on Summer City Road Monday morning, April 26, sent four students to Erlanger Bledsoe for precautionary measures, according to Tennessee Highway Patrol Sgt. Alan Bailey.  Sgt. Bailey said preliminary information indicated the Bledsoe County bus was stopped and had deployed an eight-way lighting system and stop sign when it was hit…