Local Matters

Ben Rodgers meets with members of the Putnam County School Board Lynn McHenry & Kim Cravens.  They touch on what the criteria is for the grades the area schools received from the state Department of Education, an update of the building projects in Putnam County, what enrollment looks like after the first semester. Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

On today's Local Matters...Sam Brooks is joined by Dustin Baxter, a former basketball player at Upperman High School. Dustin talks about what he would say to upcoming athletes on playing multiple sports, how important AAU was to him in with getting to play against different players outside of the Upper Cumberland, & the biggest difference in playing high school basketball to college basketball. Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

Tiffany Anton visits with Connor Giddens, owner of The Foxhole Wellness Group in Cookeville. Connor discusses the decision to start a business over being a lactation consultant, if there are any surprises with doing the classes versus one-on-one care at home, and one of the newer services that Fox Hole is offering.  Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

Buddy Pearson is joined by Elisha Cade, a 4th Grade teacher from Algood Elementary School. They touch on experiencing the big change going from Jacob's Ladder Preschool to teaching 4th grade, how she deals with discipline issues among her students, and being involved with Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Algood since 2018. Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

Ben Rodgers meets with Taylar Plush, the Visitor's Services Manager for the Cookeville-Putnam County Visitor's Bureau. They talk about if there is a drastic difference in buying for Harley Davidson then going and buying for the Visitor's Bureau, when she began purchasing product for the Christmas season, and three things she would recommend to do for someone to do while they're visiting Putnam County. Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

Sam Brooks sits down with Matt Bragga, the Head Baseball Coach at Tennessee Tech University. Matt talks about growing up in northeast Ohio, how he executes his faith without pushing it upon current and future players, and the process of being recruited and finding his path to playing college baseball. Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

Tiffany Anton talks with Suzy Petty, co-owner of Cookeville Window Tint. Suzy discusses what led to the rebranding at the beginning of this year, how important it is to work with distributor that has a good company culture, and thought process behind sponsoring the Heroes' Ball held last month.  Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

Buddy Pearson is joined by Beau DeBord, an 8th grade Teacher for Putnam County Schools with VITAL. Beau discusses his start in education teaching summer school, if school as a whole was something that he liked when he was growing up, and his involvement with the CyberSecurity with middle school, high school, and county wide. Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

George Halford sits down with Rick Larsen, the founder of Flexial Corporation in Cookeville. They begin with Rick's path from Connecticut to Ocala, Florida and eventually Cookeville, the beginnings of Flexial and working on different grants throughout the years, and opportunities and other passions he has like photography since retiring in 2011. Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

Ben Rodgers is joined by CFO Chris Cassetty of Highlands Residential Services & Jeff Jones, the attorney for Highlands  Residential Services. They talk about what was the deciding factor to make a career move from working as a state auditor to the Housing Authority at the time, the different questions that are asked and answered to see if a project will work, and some of the stories from Chris's 27-year career. Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

Sam Brooks is joined by Girls' Track and Field Coach at Upperman High School Bruce Heady. They talk about a story about one of Coach Heady's former players from his time at Hillsboro, who made the difference in Bruce's life that led him down the path of coaching, and how his experience as a student helper at Tennessee Tech in college opened career doors elsewhere. Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

Tiffany Anton is joined by Cydney Langford, the owner of Wink in McMinnville. They touch on what was behind expanding Wink out of its initial location, how she manages to run a spa in the thick of the Christmas season, the ways Wink has changed the small business, downtown landscape over the last 12 years.  Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

Buddy Pearson meets with Tina Francis-Hodge, the principal of Jere Whitson Elementary and the 2022-23 Principal of the Year for the state of Tennessee. They talk about the process it took beginning a year ago with her winning Principal of the Year for Putnam County, where her 36 year teaching career began, & the neighborhood and specific culture that Jere Whitson has.  Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

George Halford sits down with Amy New, the current President & CEO for the Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce. Amy discusses her journey from growing up in Monterey to working in state government in Nashville then coming back to Cookeville, getting her interests in city & county government from her mother, and one of the focuses today for Cookeville & Putnam County with sports tourism. Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

Ben Rodgers meets with John Sanders, the Putnam County Register of Deeds and Rhiannon Allison, his Chief Deputy. John talks about his first year in office working with an experienced staff, some of the changes that have been made to the office, and how busy the Register of Deeds office has been in 2023.  Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

Sam Brooks sits down with member of the Upperman Girls' Track & Volleyball teams Meiah Moss and Girls' Track Coach Bruce Heady. Meiah discusses the turning point in Upperman's volleyball season, leading up to a pentathlon meet the week before competing in a state championship, & how she handles both volleyball and track essentially year round.  Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

Tiffany Anton talks with Kerri Painton, the owner of Sparta's Sweetzies Freeze Dried Candy. They discuss if Kerri was looking to ever own a business when she bought her freeze dryer, he products they offer from freeze dried skittles to gummy worms, and locations that people can find Sweetzies from Cookeville to Spencer. Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

Buddy Pearson is joined by Eric Brown, Associate Director for Workforce Development CEROC & senior lecturer at Tennessee Tech. They talk about what Eric specifically concentrates on in his role,  some of the issues he is getting into schools starting with the kids in elementary school, and different opportunities he was able to come across from being on the school board to working for the State Department of Education. Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

Ben Rodgers is joined by Mayor of Cookeville Laurin Wheaton & Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter.  They talk about the four Christmas parades that take place in Putnam County, the trees on display for the city and county along with other decorations, and a a city and county update from both mayors. Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart

Sam Brooks talks with Upperman Volleyball Coach Barbie Cook and her three seniors Kaitlyn Foster, Lila Cade, and Kailyn Stevens. They talk about the expectations the three players had going into the season, what some of the top shelf names in Tennessee high school volleyball brought to Coach Cook and the team, & how the team came up with the "eyes up" mantra and the meaning. Listen to the latest Local Matters Podcast… Presented by Office Mart. Visit them at 215 S Jefferson Ave in Cookeville to see what they can do for your office News Talk 94.1 · Presented By Office Mart