News

StormReady!

The National Weather Service has recognized DeKalb County for earning accreditation as a StormReady community.

Caleb Cravens, Nashville Incident Meteorologist of the NWS presented the county with a plaque in recognition of the accomplishment during Monday night’s monthly county commission meeting.

County Mayor Matt Adcock asked Commission Chairman Pro Temp Jeff Barnes, who is also a 911 Board member, to accept the award.

“I am here to present DeKalb County with an accreditation that we do with the National Weather Service called StormReady,” said Cravens.

“The National Weather Service is a government weather service agency. We fall under the Department of Commerce and NOAA. There are 122 offices across the US that are in charge of forecasting the weather for the US and issuing all of your watches, warnings, and advisories. When you are at home and you hear a tornado warning or a flood warning that is us issuing those,” explained Cravens. “ Our mission is that we provide weather, water, and climate data forecasts and warnings for the protection of life and property. We also work with local public officials and local emergency managers toward becoming more prepared for all weather extremes”.

“StormReady is a nationwide program that helps build a weather ready nation essentially focused on preparedness,” Cravens continued. “ It’s a grassroots effort across the US to help communities develop and plan to handle all types of weather from tornadoes to winter storms. Its voluntary. It is not required. Its completely up to each county, emergency managers, communities, and schools to participate. There is a standard set of guidelines, and they are not easy to maintain so being able to receive this accreditation is quite an accomplishment,” he said.

“Across the US there are around 3,500 StormReady communities. Before you can become a StormReady community you must have a 24-hour warning point with someone present at all times that can receive our warnings to alert the public. They also have to agree to promote the importance of public readiness through community outreach; have a formal hazardous weather plan; have multiple ways to receive, monitor, and send weather information; have an emergency operations plan and an emergency operations center; and they must also partner with the National Weather Service for safety and preparedness,” explained Cravens.

“DeKalb County has met all those requirements. We have been working with the county for the past several months to reach the ultimate goal of strengthening our relationship between the National Weather Service and the county itself to better prepare for hazardous weather to protect the community”.

“On behalf of the StormReady Advisory Board, I would like to congratulate DeKalb County for being certified as a StormReady community. The leadership and the progressive measures taken by the DeKalb Emergency Management Agency has really been outstanding through the whole process. They are really dedicated to preparedness and protecting this community. DeKalb EMA has put into place redundant methods of monitoring weather, receiving watches and warnings from the National Weather Service and disseminating severe weather warnings throughout the community. DeKalb EMA has also grown and strengthened its relationships with us through this process helping foster that relationship and that collaborative communication. They have dedicated themselves to participating in educational outreach programs and have written severe weather preparedness plans and conducted severe weather exercises. I want to say a special thank you to your Emergency Management Agency Director Charlie Parker. He played a key role in pushing this forward for the county. I also want to thank your 911 Director Brad Mullinax. He also played a key role. I congratulate you for your willingness and hard work in earning this accreditation,” said Cravens.

If you want to rent one of the seven community centers in DeKalb County going forward, you’ll have to pay more.

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the county commission voted to increase the daily rental rate from $50 to $100 at the Johnson Chapel, Belk, Keltonburg, Blue Springs, Midway, Snow Hill, and Temperance Hall Community Centers. The Cherry Hill Community Center is currently under lease. This does not apply to the rental rates at the county complex.

Community center rentals have declined in recent years and so has the condition of some of the centers. The decision by the county to increase the rate is intended to help recoup costs of utilities and upkeep of the centers.

The county received only $6,500 in rental fees from all seven community centers combined in 2024 (140 rentals) and most of that came from the Snow Hill Community Center, which is rented one day each week on weekends by a church group for worship services.

Commissioners have entertained the possibility of selling the centers but are not sure if they can because most of them were funded under the federal model cities program decades ago. Five of them are also used by the election commission as polling locations.

Before the vote to raise the fee, Commissioner Jeff Barnes asked why do that when there is not a demand for rentals now anyway.

“If some of them are not being rented, people may think they are paying too much at $50. I don’t see how $100 is going to make a big improvement in it,” said Commissioner Barnes.

Commissioner Tom Chandler said the county is losing money on the community centers.

“The big reason for doing this is that we have already spent a great deal of money on these community centers in the last year,” said Commissioner Chandler. “We still have a great deal of money to be spent on these community centers in order to bring them up to just basic repair. Even at $50 it is not even half of the estimated cost and at $100 it is still below the estimated expense that sets in front of us. We have eight community centers. One of them is Cherry Hill which we have leased out and we have seven others. Five of them are used as voting precincts. The elephant in the room is that they (community centers) are old. They are in much need of repair. If it wasn’t for the church that is using Snow Hill, collectively these are not getting very much usage. We probably need to be thinking about getting rid of them. Either leasing them out to someone or selling them. The one that might not have an encumbrance on it is Temperance Hall. The encumbrance on the others is that they were built under a federal program that we are probably way beyond the statute of limitations on needing to have it. I don’t understand why we would not at least try to help ourselves in keeping up the maintenance and repairs of these buildings. The alternative to me is to have five other places to have a voting precinct and try to lease or sell them. We have had lots of complaints about the community centers being in bad shape, not cleaned up, etc. To me this is just a stop gap taking this to $100 to help keep these things up but it’s a losing battle,” said Commissioner Chandler.

The election commission will soon have a new home.

The county commission, during its regular monthly meeting Monday night, voted to relocate the election commission headquarters from the first floor of the courthouse to the unused office space at the county complex. A budget amendment in the amount of $110,000 was also adopted. The money will be appropriated from the fund balance of the capital projects fund. The commission had previously considered taking the money from the general fund balance but Commissioner Larry Green said capital projects is a better alternative.

“The general fund balance should be used for year to year expenses. This (relocating the election commission office) is not a year to year expense,” said Green.

Bids will be accepted to make proposed election commission office renovations at the new location along with the purchase of new office furniture, and setup of the IT network, etc. It could take months before the move is complete but election officials want to have the headquarters relocated in plenty of time before the start of the 2026 election cycle.

The reasons behind the move of the election commission office to the county complex are to tighten security at the courthouse while providing more office and storage space for the election commission. Even though the county complex has been in operation for 12 years, this particular location, originally intended for use by the county mayor’s office was never finished and remains unused.

This issue was on the agenda in December but it was postponed after some members of the county commission questioned whether the county might be acting too hastily without considering other factors. There was a discussion at one point about possibly relocating the election commission to the vacant arcade room and history room at the county complex. Others suggested making the history room, where the county commission holds monthly workshop meetings, an actual history room which is what the new county Historian Freddy Curtis has suggested.

Since the December meeting, the county commission has discovered that the arcade room and the history room, in particular, are frequently used by senior citizens and other groups.

Jan Thomas, speaking on behalf of the senior citizens Monday night, asked that the history room continue to be used by seniors and others.

“The history room is used every day by the DeKalb County Senior Citizens,” said Thomas.” We play volleyball three days a week and on Tuesdays we have a cardio upper body strengthening drumming class. On Thursdays we have a Tai Chi and yoga class. The age range that we are currently serving is from age 62 to 99. Today we have over 30 people come to play volleyball. In addition to the activities that I mentioned, the following uses of the history room have happened in the last 12 months: weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, birthday parties, receptions, meetings of the DeKalb Telephone Cooperative, and even the county commission has met there on Thursday nights. The DeKalb County Board of Education has held teacher in-services. Our DeKalb County Senior Citizens are very active in supporting our veterans. The history room has also been used from time to time as an auxiliary lunch area where we have fed the band and chorus on Veterans Day,” Thomas explained.

“I understand that Mr. Curtis is wanting to honor the history of DeKalb County,” Thomas continued. “When I spoke before the public works committee on January 16 I had the suggestion of the following: Cannon County many years ago formed a Cannon County Historical Society. From there they were able to purchase display cases in which they held the treasured items from families in Cannon County. It is my personal opinion that Mr. Curtis would benefit greatly if he would allow a DeKalb County Historical Society be formed to support him and that it be looked into that display cases be placed in the hallway where the current county offices are starting near Mr. Poss (County Clerk Office) and Mr. Seber (Register of Deeds Office) and down the direction toward Mr. Sean Driver (Trustee’s Office) and Mr. Shannon Cantrell’s Office (Assessor of Property). If you have ever been to the DeKalb County Fair in Alexandria you know that many families are very comfortable bringing their precious family items because they are locked in display cases,” said Thomas.

The arcade room and history room will not be used by the election commission

Monday night basketball!

The DCHS basketball teams will step outside the district as they travel to McMinnville tonight (Monday, January 27) to take on Warren County. The girls game tips off at 6 p.m. followed by the boys game. WJLE will have LIVE coverage of both.

DeKalb County will be looking to bounce back from losses at Stone Memorial Friday night, January 24. The Lady Tigers were defeated 70 to 56 and the Tigers fell to the Panthers 70 to 45.

In the girls game, DC trailed 17 to 15 after the 1st period, 31 to 28 at halftime, and 50 to 39 after the 3rd period before losing 70 to 56.

Chloe VanVranken scored 18, Allie Melton 15, Camille Barton 9, Brooklyn Fuson 8, and Avery Agee 6.

The Tigers found themselves behind 20 to 6 after the 1st period of the boys game. DC trailed 49 to 18 by halftime and were behind 74 to 35 after the 3rd period before losing to the Panthers 79 to 45.

Dallas Kirby scored 10, Elliot Barnes 9, Jon Hendrix 6, Seth Fuson, Chase Young, and Logan Duke each with 5, David Wheeler 3, and Jordan Parker 2.

The Lady Tigers drop to 5-17 and the Tigers are 8-14. Both teams are 0-5 in the district.

DeKalb West School has announced the students who made all A’s (Principal’s List) and earned A’s and B’s only (Honor Roll) for the second nine weeks of school.

Named to the Principal’s List from Mollie Bratten’s 8th grade classroom are Gabe Blair, Malachi Gaither, Halia McDaniel, and Kaden Mullinax and on the A/B Honor Roll are Jaretzy Aguilar, Dakota Ferrell, Katelyn Fry, Ezzy Moore, Kylie Pierce, Isaac Scott, and Miley Tays.

Earning all A’s in Dwayne Blair’s 8th grade room are Grant Brown, Cryslan Cecil, Joelle Cool, Mia Hall, Tori Harbaugh, Caroline Neal, and Kaylee Womack and on the A/B Honor Roll are Adam Brown, Kayla Checchi, Levi Cripps, Bella Gonzalez, Yesica Gonzalez, Makenna Lomas, Allie Pedigo, and Kate Pistole.

Making the Honor roll in 7th grade from Leslie Moore’s homeroom: Maks Austin, John Byrd, Landon Holmes, Abram Maynard, Averie Winchester. The Principal’s List recipients are Christian Cripps, Charley Prichard, Emily Roberts, Grady Thomason, and Preston Williams.

The Principal’s List in Wade Dunaway’s homeroom included Lucas Nokes, Levi Reynolds, Bentley Martin, Brylee Key, Masen Hamlet, Zane Griffith, and Alyssa Cecil and on the A/B Honor roll are Sophia Caraway, Jackson Dunaway, Curtis Fox, Joshua Grabovac, Hannah Harbaugh, Kayliegh Ramirez, and Alexandria Vincent.

Named to the Principal’s List in Kayley Curtis’s 6th grade room are Paisley Avera, Wyatt Bain, Oliver Bell, Taelyn Cork, Zara Fox, Caison Grisham, Cash Hancock, Sawyer Hendrix, Cainnan Humphrey, Karlee Pierce, Bradi Turney, and Kensley Womack and on the Honor Roll are Jameson Carter, Samson Chittwood, Jack Fakes, Chase Groshong, Luke Johnson, Bailey McDaniel, Hailey Medrano, and Isabella Scott.

Named to the Principal’s List in Melissa Sliger’s 6th grade room are Leah Chittwood, Jace Davis, Holden Leiser, Karson Mullinax, Jaxson Murphy, Conner Robinson, Turner Stanley, and Honor Roll: Hayden Caraway, Tyler Clemons, Kynlee Griffith, Nixson Hale, Sylar Hickman, Ivy Melton, Zadah Miller, Colton Saso-Varble, Kayla Sebolt, and Lexie South.

Principal’s List honorees from Jeanna Caplinger’s homeroom are Maddison Baratta, Shaniya Bates, Katy Bowen, Jaritzy Camacho, Aniston Cox, Asher Desimone, Harper Hale, Maggie Hendrix, Jonah King, Riley Martin, Carson Maynard, Mary Moore, Cammi Neal, Aler Organ, Mabry Organ, and Savannah Stanley; Honor Roll students were Keiton Adams, Colby Dailey, Xavier Oyugi, and Braylyn Rice.

Principal’s List honorees from Rachel Desimone’s homeroom are Abram Bratten, Eden Donnell, Lila Driver, Waylon Ellis, Annalyn Garrett, Noah Hall, and Molly Reynolds; Honor Roll students were Rylan Bennett, Jordyn Janecke, Kalynn Lattimore, Lileigh Smith, and Emma Thomason
.
Making the Principal’s List from Samantha Woodward’s 4th grade room are Ripley Barnes, Jacob Blair, Claire Cripps, Vaylee Ellis, Jett Nokes, Marley Pyburn, Auna Starnes, and Joey Stoner; Honor Roll recipients are Mason Checchi, Bryer Dickson,

Leyla Garza, and Jameson Gleaves.

Making the Principal’s List from Cathleen Humphrey’s homeroom are Josee Cripps, Axle Janecke, Everly Keith, Katie Jo Prichard, Andrew Savilla, and Ty Vickers; Honor Roll recipients are Deacon Arnold, Kaycie Avera, Kennedy Avera, Aliat Brown, Adella Gibbs, Kayla Hamlet, Addyson Hatfield, Madilyn Kitts, Addison Silcox, and Gavin Tyree.

The DeKalb County High School Lady Tigers snapped their losing streak with a 43 to 35 victory at Warren County Monday night but the Tigers’ slide continued with a 56 to 40 loss to the Pioneers.

In the girls game DC trailed 8 to 3 after the 1st period but grabbed a 17 to 10 lead at halftime and a 30 to 24 advantage by the end of the 3rd period before notching a 43 to 35 win.

Jordyn Agee scored 18 followed by Lillie Young with 12, Avery Agee 5, Brooklyn Fuson 4, and Allie Melton and Chloe VanVranken each with 2.

The Pioneers led 16 to 11 after the 1st period, 27 to 19 at halftime, and 39 to 32 after the 3rd period before claiming a 56 to 40 victory over the Tigers.

Dallas Kirby scored 14, Logan Duke 8, Seth Fuson and Jon Hendrix each with 6, Elliot Barnes 3, Chase Young 2 and Jordan Parker with 1.

The Lady Tigers improve to 6-17 and the Tigers drop to 8-15. DeKalb County will host White County Friday night, January 31 starting with the girls game at 6 p.m. followed by the boys game. WJLE will have LIVE coverage with the Voice of the Tigers and Lady Tigers John Pryor.

The county needs a school traffic officer to fill a vacancy.

Through a longstanding agreement, the City of Smithville, DeKalb County Government, and the DeKalb School District, share in the annual cost of paying two traffic control officers in the school zones mornings and afternoons (during the school year) at Northside Elementary School and at DeKalb Middle School/DCHS. The positions pay $20 per hour. The county makes the hires.

According to County Mayor Matt Adcock, the schedule is approximately an hour and half in the morning and an hour and a half in the afternoon during school traffic hours. It is approximately 25 hours every two weeks. Payment is received bi-weekly. “The county is looking to fill the position immediately. If someone is not hired we will have one school without an officer,” said County Mayor Adcock.

The National Weather Service Monday night will recognize DeKalb County as being “StormReady” during the monthly county commission meeting.

A representative from the National Weather Service will present County Mayor Matt Adcock and the county commission with a certificate officially confirming this designation.

“DeKalb County has been working through a process with 911 and EMA to get DeKalb County storm ready certified,” said DeKalb Emergency Management Agency Director Charlie Parker. “We have met all the requirements. The National Weather Service is coming Monday night to present a certificate of recognition that we have checked all the boxes to become storm ready county. It shows we are working to protect citizens through our local emergency planning committee. We also have some of our factories, businesses, schools, and the hospital on board with this also to do more storm preparedness,” said Parker.

For a county, business, building, or organization to be designated “StormReady” they must have provided emergency managers with clear-cut guidelines on how to improve their hazardous weather operations. To be officially StormReady, a community must:

•Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center
•Have more than one way to receive severe weather warnings and forecasts and to alert the public
•Create a system that monitors weather conditions locally
•Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars
•Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises.

The county commission will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the county complex.

DeKalb County’s local option sales tax collections for December were down from November but stronger than December 2023.

According to the Tennessee Department of Revenue, DeKalb County collected $175,759 in December, down from $182,150 in November but better than $168,325 taken in during December 2023.

Local option sales tax collections in December were up in two of the four towns in DeKalb County compared to November and up in all four towns from December 2023.

In Smithville, December collections were $394,435, down from $399,755 in November but stronger than $392,126 in December 2023.

Alexandria’s collections increased from $32,316 in November to $33,091 in December and were better than December 2023’s collections of $29,672.

Dowelltown brought in $4,135 in December compared to $3,318 in November and $3,510 in December 2023.

Liberty’s dropped from $24,356 in November to $12,961 in December but increased from $12,527 in December 2023.

Net collections of local option sales taxes for the county and cities combined in December were $620,384, down from 641,897 in November but up from $606,162 in December 2023.

December sales tax collections reflect previous month activity.

Crossroads Medical Group is proud to announce the acquisition of Family Medical Center, located at 302 N Congress Blvd, Smithville, TN 37166. This partnership with the provider base and the staff of Family Medical Center reinforces our commitment to delivering exceptional primary care and maintaining continuity of care with the clinic’s trusted local providers and the communities they serve. By investing in our clinics, we continue to advance our mission of expanding patient access and enhancing care quality.

As part of this transition, Crossroads will invest in Family Medical Center across people, processes, and technology to benefit patient care. Crossroads will continue to add provider staff while implementing advanced technology to enhance the digital patient experience. These improvements aim to make accessing and interacting with the clinic more convenient and efficient, supporting our mission to improve access to high-quality healthcare.

“Our goal is to build on Family Medical Center’s strong 30+ year foundation in the community while introducing new resources and technologies to benefit both patients and staff,” said Conor Pocino, VP of Network Strategy and Development. “By investing in people, processes, and technology, we aim to provide an outstanding healthcare experience for the community of Smithville and the broader DeKalb County.”

Patients can expect to receive the same existing services, while having access to
expanded services, including:

• Open provider panels, now welcoming all major Medicare Advantage plans
• Chronic Care Management, tailored to seniors with complex healthcare needs
• Continued coverage from all major payors, including Medicaid
• Flexible appointment options; including walk-ins, same-day appointments, and scheduled visits

Crossroads Medical Group is committed to enhancing access to care in the Smithville community while implementing improvements that benefit patients and staff alike.