Robertson Co. News

Robertson County Mayor Billy Vogle has extended the mask mandate due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic through December 31^st. The mandate does not apply to children under the age if twelve or people who have breathing problems.

Tuesday afternoon — friends and family said goodbye to Montgomery County Judge Ray Grimes. The longtime juvenile court judge died from COVID-19 on Thanksgiving Day.  Thousands of teenagers appeared before Judge Grimes during his time on the court — ruling on everything from serious crimes to more minor offenses. In lieu of flowers, you’re asked to donate to the Montgomery County Recovery Court that he founded several years ago to help those struggling with addiction.

The Tennessee Department of Health reported five-thousand-693 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, bringing the total since the outbreak began to over 380-thousand.  Three-dozen additional COVID-related deaths were reported.  There have been over 46-hundred deaths attributed to COVID-19 statewide since the outbreak began.

There’s a growing shortage of available intensive care unit beds in Tennessee.  As of yesterday morning, Tennessee has just 186 ICU beds available throughout the state.  That leaves nine-percent of the state’s ICU capacity available.  As of Monday night, there were over 23-hundred patients in Tennessee hospitals with confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The Tennessee Department of Correction is suspending visits at four facilities until further notice.  The suspension is due to coronavirus concerns.  TDOC officials said yesterday that the Morgan County Correctional Complex, Bledsoe County Correctional Complex, Turney Center Industrial Prison and Mark Luttrell Transition Center are no longer admitting visitors.  Officials say they’re monitoring COVID-19 developments and will continue to follow the guidance of the Tennessee Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control.

We were right about Dolly Parton being a National treasure. Former President Obama is admitting to a major “screwup” during his time in office involving a Sevier-County native.  While appearing on CBS’s The Late Show on Monday, Obama told host Stephen Colbert it was a mistake not to award Dolly Parton the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  Obama said he assumed that the country music icon had already gotten one.  The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor.