Plane Crash on Center Hill Lake
by: Dwayne PageMar 02, 2025
A pilot sustained only minor injuries when his plane went down on the lake in the Holmes Creek area Tuesday afternoon.
Chief Donny Green of the DeKalb County Fire Department issued the following statement:
“Tuesday at approximately 3:53 p.m., the DeKalb County Fire Department and other response agencies were dispatched to the Holmes Creek area of Center Hill Lake for a reported plane crash in the water”.
According to Chief Green, “a nearby fisherman witnessed the aircraft crash and immediately called 911 to report it and proceeded to render aid. The pilot, James Luna of Auburntown, Tennessee, was able to remove himself from the plane, board the fisherman’s boat, and had only minor injuries that did not require medical transport”.
“The pilot was operating an ICON A5 single-engine amphibious aircraft designed to land on water or land. He was the sole occupant of the plane and was attempting to land in the water near the north end of Holmes Creek when the crash occurred,” said Chief Green.
“No fire occurred, and no spills resulted from the crash,” Green explained. “Fire crews responded in Fire Boat 2 from Hidden Harbor Marina. The Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, DeKalb County Emergency Medical Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency also responded to the scene. DeKalb County Emergency Management Agency was also contacted and provided with information that has been reported to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),” said Chief Green.
Inebriated man found sitting alone on steps of a church building
by: Dwayne PageMar 02, 2025
An inebriated man found sitting on the doorsteps of a church was arrested earlier this month for public intoxication.
35-year-old William Justin Goodman of Hodges Road, Smithville is under a $1,500 bond and he will be in court March 6.
Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on Saturday, February 15 a deputy found Goodman sitting on the steps of the Mount Pisgah Free Will Baptist Church. He was apparently there alone. Goodman smelled of alcohol, his speech was slurred, and he was unsteady on his feet. Goodman admitted to having consumed alcoholic beverages and narcotics prior to walking from his home on Hodges Road to the church. He was placed under arrest.
41-year-old Tabatha Marie Pasley of McMinnville is charged with bringing contraband into a penal institution. Her bond is $7,500.
Sheriff Ray said that on February 7 at 4:07 a.m. a female correctional officer at the jail conducted a strip search of Pasley, an inmate and Pasley produced a purple container from her body cavity. The container held 11 peach-colored pills believed to be suboxone.
54-year-old Paul Douglas Shackelford of College Street, Liberty is charged with reckless endangerment. His bond is $7,500 and he will be in court March 13.
Sheriff Ray said that on February 17 a deputy responded to a possible domestic complaint on College Street in Liberty. Upon arrival the officer spoke to all parties involved and determined that Shackelford had displayed a handgun in the direction of another person. He was then placed under arrest.
22-year-old Ricoryon Lammontez Henderson of Murfreesboro is named in a grand jury sealed indictment returned November 19, 2024 charging him with aggravated burglary of a habitation, burning personal property land, theft of property up to $1,000, and assault-threat of bodily injury (2 counts). His bond is $85,000 and he will be arraigned in criminal court March 5.
45-year-old Daniel Derrick Hill of Smith Road, Smithville is named in a grand jury sealed indictment for possession of methamphetamine with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver (2 counts). The offenses were allegedly committed on April 25, 2023. His bond is $100,000 and he will be arraigned in criminal court on April 28.
23-year-old Elijah Thomas Hall of Short Mountain Highway, Smithville is charged with driving on a revoked license (2nd offense). He is under a $4.000 bond and his court date is March 6.
Sheriff Ray said that on February 20 at 6:47 p.m. a deputy was patrolling Short Mountain Highway when he spotted a brown Ford Ranger with its hazard lights on failing to maintain its lane. The officer pulled over the vehicle and spoke with the driver, Hall. According to the deputy, Hall stated that he had a restricted license. After the officer conducted a background check through central dispatch, he learned that the license was revoked and that Hall had a prior conviction on August 22, 2024 due to driving under the influence. Hall was placed in custody.
55-year-old Jeffery Lee Bates of Old West Point Road, Smithville is charged with public intoxication. His bond is $3,000 and he will be in court March 6.
Sheriff Ray said that on February 20 a deputy was summoned to Sparta Highway to do a welfare check on a man lying face down in a ditch. The officer found the man, Bates who became unsteady on his feet and he smelled of alcohol. He was placed under arrest.
26-year-old Kelsey Elizabeth Steinbach of Keltonburg Road, Smithville is charged with possession of a schedule I drug. Her bond is $4,000 and she will be in court March 6.
Sheriff Ray said that on February 23 a deputy went to Walmart looking for Steinbach who had two active warrants for her arrest. After locating Steinbach, he placed her in custody. Steinbach claimed she had acid inside the purse she was wearing at the time of her arrest. The officer searched the purse and found inside a clear plastic baggie a single-colored stamp believed to be LSD.
County Approves Funding for Construction of New Elementary School (View Video Here)
by: Dwayne PageMar 02, 2025
The wait is over!
After 67 years at the current location, Smithville Elementary, the oldest school building at its core in the county, will be getting a new home on property adjacent to Northside Elementary School.
During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting the county commission voted 12-1 to adopt a detailed bond resolution not to exceed $55 million to fund construction of a new 800 student Pre-K to 2nd grade elementary school. The term of the bond is for up to 30 years. The projected cost to build the new 124,207 square foot facility at the latest estimate is $53,414,825.
The new school will be funded only by revenues from local option sales tax money (local purpose/sinking fund) designated for school construction and operation. There will be no need for a property tax increase because the county will not be allocating any property tax money to fund it.
Commissioners voting for the bond resolution were Daniel Cripps, Myron Rhody, Tony Luna, Brandon Donnell, Tony (Cully) Culwell, Greg Matthews, Larry Green, Glynn Merriman, Jeff Barnes, Andy Pack, Beth Pafford, and Mathias Anderson. Tom Chandler voted against it. Sabrina Farler was absent.
Commissioner Chandler gave his reasons for not supporting the new school project.
“Lord knows this is a touchy subject. Let me first acknowledge that the school board has a responsibility to find what school should be built and when and how they should be maintained. But I also acknowledge that the county commission has a fiduciary responsibility to determine not just whether the funds are available to fund the school board’s plans but to also determine if those funds will be spent in the best interest of the county. So I exercise my fiduciary responsibility as a member of this commission to say that I do not think this plan is in the best interest of the county. I do not believe the current enrollment data nor the 10-year growth history in our schools warrants this particular plan of action at least as a first priority,” said Commissioner Chandler.
“I also believe the school board has willingly withheld maintenance and upgrades for Smithville Elementary that would have extended its life because they were determined to build a new elementary school no matter what. On multiple occasions I have said that I would vote for a comprehensive 30-year plan that included a new elementary school if that plan included a broader plan for repairs and upgrades to the middle school and the high school. This is not that plan. This is the same ole tired plan to build a new elementary school. I remind this commission that this school could have been built in 15 years and at a lower cost if the school board had coughed up $2 million 18 months ago,” Chandler continued. “However, I applaud the school board for their plan to build walls around some of the classrooms in the middle school. But you should ask yourselves. Why do we have classrooms with no walls? Open concept learning was bs 50 years ago and its bs today. No, we have classrooms with no walls because it was cheaper than building a real elementary school. It’s the same reason why we have a dormitory instead of a real jail,” said Chandler.
“For decades the infrastructure of this county has been addressed with financially low ball and shortsighted solutions and the public has been willingly led down that primrose path not because it made any sense but because they just didn’t want to pay higher taxes. The piper is at the door, and she is here not just about our schools but also about the courthouse, the jail, the community centers, the roads, the fire department, EMS, the list goes on. Stop and ponder this for a minute. Every child in kindergarten in DeKalb County today will have graduated from high school and for some of them their children will have graduated from high school before this school is paid for. At that point the high school will be 90 years old and the middle school will be 80 years old. That is not going to be an enticement for parents to put their children in DeKalb County Schools. Don’t you think we should have some idea of what the plan is for those schools and what it will cost before we continue down this primrose path” asked Chandler.
While the new school project has been set in motion, it still may take months for development to begin and perhaps as long as a year or more before the new school is ready to open.
“I talked to our architect today and we will get the topographical study done first and then we will go from there. It may take three months or so to get that completed because it is an extensive study. They will be doing core drilling and things of that nature on the property. Its not like building your house but we are excited to get started,” said Director of Schools Patrick Cripps.
The existing Smithville Elementary School, originally built in 1958, is 70,557 square feet in size (including additions over the years), and had an enrollment of 534 students as of August 2024. As far back as 2017, a facilities study by Upland Design Group, concluded that the school, which has mold and other concerns, should be replaced and repurposed for other uses.
According to Upland, the school board’s architect, the new Pre-K to 2nd grade Smithville Elementary School will be 124,207 square feet in size and will be designed to accommodate 800 students with room for future expansion to house up to 300 additional students (1,100) total. The school will be built with 11 classrooms for each grade level of kindergarten, first, and second grade (33 classrooms for 20 students each) along with seven Pre-K classrooms for 20 students each plus four CDC/SPED classrooms as needed. The future expansion will accommodate 15 new classrooms at 20 students each. There will be 189 parking spaces on the campus.