Robertson Co.News

The Tennessee Department of Transportation is preparing roads for travel.  TDOT says it’s moving equipment and personnel from Chattanooga and Knoxville to Middle and West Tennessee to help with clearing and salting state highways due to the winter weather.  TDOT says drivers should be aware of changing weather conditions.  Officials also say travel should be avoided if possible.

A Cross Plains man is facing charges of arson after Portland Police identified him as a suspect in a recent arson investigation. The fire was February 7th at the County Line Saloon. The suspect, 71-year-old Victor Niles of Cross Plains  was booked into the Robertson County Jail on a charge of arson.  He allegedly made statements implicating himself in the crime, at the time of his arrest. He has since been released on$10,000 bond, pending a court date in Robertson County General Sessions Court. 

The Tennessee Department of Health reported one-thousand-347 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, bringing the total since the outbreak began to more than 757-thousand-400.  More than 30 additional COVID-19-related deaths were reported, bringing the total number of coronavirus-attributed deaths statewide to nearly eleven thousand.  Over eleven hundred COVID-19 patients are hospitalized statewide.  In Robertson County there have been 8,484 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. 8,086 have recovered and 107 have died form COVID-19 in Robertson County.

Despite the pandemic and months of quarantine, Robertson County is showing an increase in sales tax revenues for 2020, compared to 2019. County Finance Director Jody Stewart says sales tax revenues are up by nearly 17 percent and officials are hopeful the trend will continue through 2021. Robertson County receives 50 percent of the net collections for each city. Then there is a county trustee administrative fee of one percent on each city’s 50 percent share.