The Daily Newspaper of the Upper Cumberland Herald-Citizen www.herald-citizen.com Editorial Golden Eagles set franchise CrasH Voting begins Wednesday, win streak with walk-off cast your ballot. Hockey players killed Record: Page E1 Page A12 Page A4 116th Year | No. 83 | sunday, april 8, 2018 | Cookeville, Tennessee $1.50 Jefferson Adult ed widening changes lives project in for the better TDOT plan BY JIM HERRIN
[email protected] BY LAURA MILITANA
[email protected] John Watkins has a story to tell. The Cookeville resident learned un- Tennessee Department of Trans- expectedly that he hadn’t actually portation’s 2019-2021 improvement earned the high school diploma he plan includes widening Jefferson Av- thought he had received 40 years ago. enue. “I was supposed to have graduated in The three year plan, which was re- 1978,” said Watkins, who went to high leased Thursday, lists widening 2.23 school in Nashville. miles of South Jefferson Avenue from He served three years in the military I-40 to Highway 111 in the construction and spent several years building log phase in 2020. homes on the assumption that he was a The project, which has been dis- high school graduate. cussed since 2003, is estimated to be in The discrepancy came up when he the $20 million range. That cost in- applied for a program at Vol State. cludes right-of-way acquisition and “They said we need a copy of your utilities, not construction. diploma, and I told them I didn’t have “We are very early in the right-of- it, but I’m sure I can get it,” he said.