63 year old Jo Ann Hicks of Watertown died Thursday at Alive Hospice at Saint Thomas Hospital. She was born in Lenoir City, Tennessee and was a homemaker. The funeral will be Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at Hunter Funeral Home in Watertown. Elder Leon White will officiate and burial will be in the Jones Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be Friday from 1:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. and Saturday from 11:00 a.m. until the service. Survivors include her husband, Tom Hicks of Watertown. Children, Jimmy and his wife Jane Thompson of Louisville, Kentucky, Joseph and his wife Kim Hicks, Brad and his wife Stephanie Hicks, and Dee Hicks all of Lebanon, and Amy and her husband Elliott Persinger of Watertown. Step children, Christy and her husband Lynn Tisdale of Brush Creek and Betty and her husband Danny Prater of Smithville. Twenty four grandchildren and fifteen great grandchildren. Sisters, Pat and her husband Gary Aikens of Lebanon, Cathy and her husband Stanley Everett and Susie Cobb all of Lenior City. Nieces and nephews also survive along with special aunt and uncle, Dee and Fay Stinnett of Lenior City; special cousin, Linda Presley of Lenior City; and special friend Mary Jo Hicks of Murfreesboro. She was preceded in death by special grandparents, James and Edna Stinnett; her mother, Mildred Louise Stinnett Roberts; a son, David Thompson; and step sons,Randall and Robert Hicks. Hunter Funeral Home in Watertown is in charge of the arrangements.
Author Archive: Dwayne Page
Lucille Medley Fuson
91 year old Lucille Medley Fuson of the Lucky Community of Warren County died Wednesday at River Park Hospital. She was born in DeKalb County, was a homemaker, and the oldest charter member of the Trinity Baptist Church. Fuson was preceded in death by her parents, Christopher Columbus and Pearl Sypert Medley; her husband, Willie J. “Bill” Fuson; a daughter, Dolly Rose Fuson; sisters, Eula Mathis, Bula Maggart, and Ruth Moulton; brothers, Robert Medley, Howard Medley, Floyd Medley, Alfred Medley, and Buster Medley; and a great great grandson, Ethan Foster. Survivors include her daughters and sons-in-law, Billie and Clarence Foster of McMinnville and Deane and Don Crowder of Murfreesboro. Brothers, Joe Medley of Baxter, Kenneth Jared Medley of Smithville, and Gerald Ray Medley of Shelbyville. Grandchildren, Dwayne Foster, Chris Foster, Leigh Anne Steiner, Jarred Foster, Kip Crowder, and Captain Kellye Crowder. Eleven great grandchildren, seven great great grandchildren, and special caregiver, Darnell Fuson. The funeral will be Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at the Trinity Baptist Church. Jerry Smith will officiate and burial will be in the Providence Cemetery. The family will receive friends on Friday from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at McMinnville Funeral Home and Saturday from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at the Trinity Baptist Church. McMinnville Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
Dr. Theodore W. Koss
92 year old Dr. Theodore W. Koss of the Jefferson Community died Wednesday at NHC Health Care Center in Smithville. Love-Cantrell Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
David J. “Wink” Carr
The funeral for 66 year old David J. “Wink” Carr will be Thursday at 11:00 a.m. at the Chapel of Baxter Funeral Home. Burial will be in the Smellage Cemetery. Visitation will be Thursday from 9:00 a.m. until the time of the service. Survivors include his wife, Corina Carr; a son, Harlen Carr a brother, Glenn Carr; a sister, Mildred Anderson; and mother-in-law, Ethel Huddleston. Baxter Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
Bain and Weaver Win Primary Nominations in State Representative Race
Democrat Cleveland Derrick Bain and Republican Terri Lynn Weaver won their party’s nominations for State Representative in Thursday’s Tennessee Primaries.
Weaver swept all three counties, DeKalb, Macon, and Smith, easily beating challenger Nicky Rittenberry for the GOP nomination 2,020 to 547.
Bain did not carry either of the three counties in his primary race, but finished a strong second place in both DeKalb and Smith Counties, and came in third place in Macon County. His total vote in the three counties combined put him on top, beating out Dean Sircy by 135 votes, 1,200 to 1,065.
Gayla Hendrix carried DeKalb County with 696 votes. Sarah Marie Smith won her home county, Smith County with 673 votes, and Sircy carried his home county, Macon County with 729 votes.
District wide, Sarah Marie Smith finished third with 914 votes, while Gayla Hendrix received 900 votes with a fourth place finish.
In DeKalb County Hendrix carried 11 of the 16 precincts in the Democratic Primary along with early voting/absentees, Bain carried three precincts, Smith carried one and Steven Cantrell carried one precinct. In the GOP race, Weaver carried all 16 DeKalb County precincts along with early voting/absentees. Click on www.wjle.com/node/37 to view the precinct by precinct results for each candidate.
The following are the county by county results for Bain:
DeKalb -540
Smith– 525
Macon- 135
TOTAL- 1,200
Results for Sircy:
DeKalb- 88
Smith- 248
Macon- 729
Total- 1,065
Results for Smith:
DeKalb- 78
Smith-673
Macon-163
Total- 914
Results for Hendrix:
DeKalb- 696
Smith- 168
Macon- 36
Total- 900
Results for Steven K. Cantrell:
DeKalb- 78
Smith– 44
Macon- 16
Total- 138
Results for Carl (Hix) Jones:
DeKalb- 3
Smith- 15
Macon- 87
Total- 105
Results for Jeff Barrett:
DeKalb- 43
Smith- 28
Macon- 13
Total- 84
The following arre the county by county results for Weaver:
DeKalb- 456
Smith- 816
Macon-748
Total- 2,020
Results for Rittenberry:
DeKalb- 29
Smith- 76
Macon- 442
Total 547
Bain, Weaver, and Independent candidate Ray Amalfitano of Dixon Springs will square off in the November General Election for the 40th State House seat, which is being vacated by the retiring Frank Buck.
Meanwhile in U.S. Senate Democratic Primary, Mark E. Clayton carried DeKalb County with 277 votes followed by Robert D. Tuke with 211, Gary G. Davis 201, WM Mike Padgett 74, Kenneth Eaton 73, and Leonard D. Ladner with 20 votes.
Sixth District Congressman Bart Gordon was unopposed Thursday in the Democratic Primary and received 1,148 complimentary votes in DeKalb County. He will also be unopposed in November.
U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, also unopposed in the Republican Primary Thursday, received 419 complimentary votes in DeKalb County. He will face the Democratic nominee, Robert D. Tuke in November.
On the retention of state judges, the following are the results in DeKalb County:
Supreme Court Judge William Koch:
Yes- 721, No- 406
Supreme Court Judge Gary Wade:
Yes- 665, No- 394
Court of Appeals Judge Andy Bennett:
Yes- 674, No- 371
Court of Appeals Judge Richard Dinkins:
Yes- 647, No 388
Court of Appeals Judge Steve Stafford:
Yes- 668, No- 393
Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Camille McMullen:
Yes- 670, No- 373
Court of Criminal Appeals Judge D. Kelly Thomas:
Yes- 669, No-367
Evins, Parsley Win School Board Races
W.J. (Dub) Evins III won re-election to the DeKalb County Board of Education from the fifth district during Thursday night’s DeKalb County General Election, while Bruce Parsley unseated incumbent Linda Fuston in the sixth district.
Evins defeated challenger, Larry Evans, 222 votes to 129 votes. Evins carried both fifth district precincts, Smithville Elementary School and Johnson’s Chapel, and also claimed victory in early voting and absentee votes. Evins had 79 early/absentee votes to Evans’ 43. At Smithville Elementary School, Evins had 104 votes to Evans’ 69, while at Johnson’s Chapel, Evins had 39 votes to Evans’ 17.
In the sixth district race, despite losing early voting/absentees, Parsley carried all three precincts in the sixth district to unseat Fuston. Parsley totaled 176 votes to 129 for Fuston. Fuston carried early voting/absentees with 51 votes to Parsley’s 30, but Parsley carried Belk with 46 votes to Fuston’s 15. Parsley also received 39 votes at Blue Springs, while Fuston had 30, and in Keltonburg, Parsley had 61 votes to Fuston’s 33.
All six constable candidates were elected unopposed Thursday. Their vote totals are as follows:
First District: No Candidate
Second District: Reed Edge- 147
Third District: Wayne Vanderpool- 202
Fourth District: Paul Cantrell- 176
Fifth District: Mark Milam- 199
Sixth District: Cantrell Jones- 177
Seventh District: Johnny King- 135
Banks Wins Re-Election In Property Assessor’s Race
Timothy (Fud) Banks won re-election to a fourth term as DeKalb County’s Property Assessor, Thursday night, in the local General Election.
Banks, the Democratic incumbent, carried 13 out of 16 precincts, plus early voting and absentees to defeat Republican challenger, John David Foutch and Independent, Sandy C. Brown. Banks totaled 1,279 votes, which was 58.4 percent of the vote. Foutch finished with 620 votes, 28.3 % while Brown came in third with 291 votes, 13.2%
A total of 2,256 voted including 807 early voters/absentees and 1,449 on election day. Voter turnout was only 17.2% in DeKalb County.
Individual precinct results are available at www.wjle.com/node/37.
Two Arrested on Grand Jury Indictments for Rape of a Child
Two people were arrested Wednesday on sealed indictments returned from the DeKalb County Grand Jury.
Sheriff Patrick Ray says 70 year old Homer Lee Nunley of Belk Road Smithville was arrested on a sealed indictment for rape of a child and aggravated sexual battery. Nunley is accused of raping a child and the aggravated sexual battery of a child under 11 years of age on July 6th, 2008. Bond for Nunley was set at $150,000 and he will appear in Criminal Court on August 18th for arraignment. Sheriff Ray says Nunley was convicted in Florida on April 9th, 1991 on a charge of sexual battery of a child by an authority figure. Nunley is currently registered here in DeKalb County on the TBI’s sexual offender registry.
Meanwhile, in a separate case, 34 year old Freddy S. Stringer of Smith Road Smithville was arrested on a sealed indictment for rape of a child, aggravated sexual battery, and incest. Stringer is accused of rape, sexual battery, and incest of a child under 11 years of age between October 5th, 2007 and November 23rd, 2007. Stringer’s bond was set at $300,000 and he will appear in Criminal Court for arraignment on August 18th.
Final Slate of Candidates Set For DTC Election of Directors
The final slate of candidates is set for DTC Communications’ election of directors next month.
Directors will be elected in three exchanges, including the Milton (273), Norene (286), and Woodbury (563) exchanges.
Incumbents Charles Dwight Vinson, Terry McPeak, and Greg Rogers are running unopposed in the Milton, Norene, and Woodbury exchanges, respectively.
Voting for directors will take place at the cooperative’s annual meeting on Saturday, Sept. 13. Gates to the DeKalb County Fairgrounds in Alexandria will open at 11:45 a.m., with voting from noon until 4 p.m. The business meeting will begin at 4 p.m. or once the last person in line at that time has voted.
Only DTC members may vote, and each member must present identification. For a single membership, only that individual may vote. Either member of a joint membership may vote, but not both. In the case of a business membership, a business affidavit is required.
Thursday, Sept. 4, will be the last day to make changes to your membership for the 2008 election.
For questions regarding membership and voting guidelines, refer to the by-laws section included in the current DTC phone directory, or call DTC at 615-529-2955.
Eight Sentenced in Criminal Court Monday
Eight people were sentenced in DeKalb County Criminal Court Monday.
Judge David Patterson presided.
46 year old Linda Lawson Barrett West pleaded guilty to two counts of sale of a schedule II controlled substance. She received a five year sentence in each case to run concurrently. The sentence was suspended with nine months to serve. She will then be on supervised probation for the balance of the sentence. She must make restitution of $100, perform 100 hours of community service work and pay a $2,000 fine.
33 year old Earnest P. Barnwell pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and theft over $1,000. The burglary charge was dismissed. He received a four year sentence committed to time served. He will be on TDOC probation. Barnwell must perform 100 hours of community service work and pay restitution. He was given credit for 255 days of jail time served.
33 year old Tabatha Shantell Murphy pleaded guilty to three charges of possession of a schedule II controlled substance for resale. All three cases are to run concurrently. She was granted judicial diversion for a period of three years . She will be on TDOC probation. Murphy must make restitution of $188 to the Sheriff’s Department, perform 100 hours of community service work, and pay a $2,000 fine. She was given jail credit of 25 days.
21 year old Kara L. Funk pleaded guilty to sale of a schedule VI controlled substance. She was granted judicial diversion for a period of one year. She will be on supervised probation by DOC and must perform 100 hours of community service work. Funk must also pay restitution of $120 to the sheriff’s department and undergo an alcohol and drug assessment and follow the prescribed treatments. This sentence is to run consecutive to a judicial diversion sentence in another case against her.
26 year old Christina Johnson pleaded guilty to possession of a schedule VI controlled substance for resale. She received a two year sentence, all suspended to time served. She was fined $2,000.
41 year old Barry Ford pleaded guilty to a second offense of driving on a revoked license. He received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days on supervised probation. He was fined $50.
41 year old William Ray “Tojo” Cantrell pleaded guilty to theft of property over $500 and two counts of sale of a schedule II controlled substance. All the cases are to run concurrently. He received a total of five years in these cases to serve in the Tennessee Department of Corrections. He must make restitution of $120 to the sheriff’s department and pay a $2,000 fine. He was given jail credit of 186 days. The five year sentence is to run consecutive to a violation of probation against him in which he must serve the balance of a six year sentence on a previous drug conviction. Cantrell will have to serve a total of eleven years.
25 year old Renee Fields pleaded by information to reckless driving and received a six month sentence, all suspended to probation and a $50 fine.