A 38 year old McMinnville man has been indicted on child sex charges.
Jared Norrod was named in a sealed indictment last week by the DeKalb County Grand Jury charging him with two counts of sexual battery by an authority figure, three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, four counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, and incest.
Norrod is charged with having sexual contact with two juveniles between the ages of 13 and 18, one of them being a relative, taking pictures of juveniles engaging in sexual activity, having such photographs in his possession, and uploading them to a computer.
Norrod is under a $410,000 bond.

DeKalb County students will be taking the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, or TCAP, Achievement Tests starting April 29.
Students in grades 3-8 take the Achievement Test, and high school students take End of Course exams for various subjects. In addition DeKalb County will administer the Achievement Test to students in Kindergarten and Grades 1 and 2 in the areas of reading/language arts, and math. TCAP is a set of statewide assessments given in Tennessee to measure students’ skills and progress.
The Achievement Test is a timed, multiple choice assessment that measures skills in Reading, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. “At present all of our schools are gearing up for our End of Year assessments. TCAP counts 20% toward the students final grade and End of Course for our high school students will count 25% of their final grade in that course. TCAP testing will continue through May 2 and End of Course will be May 5-9. Most of our teachers are already reviewing their students for these assessments,” said Lisa Cripps, Secondary Supervisor of Instruction for DeKalb County Schools.
“April 29 is the first day of testing, which will be our Reading/Language Arts test and on April 30 we will test math. May 1 will be Science and May 2 will finish testing with social studies. That is the 3-8 grade schedule. For kindergarten, first and second grade, the main focus of their testing will be the Reading/ Language Arts, and Math. The high school will take the following test on these days: May 5th Algebra I, and English III, May 6th Algebra II and English I, May 7th English II and US History, and May 8th Biology and Chemistry”, said Cripps
Cripps urges parents to make sure their children are well rested and get to school on time for the testing. “With all of these important assessments at hand, I’d like to encourage each student to get a good night’s sleep and be on time each day for testing. Our school nutrition department will be providing free breakfast for each day of testing other than on the makeup days,” she said.
Director of Schools Mark Willoughby also asks parents to try and avoid any conflicts that would keep your children out of school this week. “During this week that we are giving TCAP tests, we would ask that parents don’t schedule any kind of appointments, such as dental visits. Please reschedule those to another time. Because if you come to school at 9:00 a.m. and want to check your child out of school, if the test is underway we cannot go in and disturb that classroom. We have to monitor that classroom and make sure that everyone in that classroom has a great opportunity to do well on the test,” said Willoughby.

A 26 year old man has been charged with stealing bronze vases from cemetery tombstones and then selling them at a scrapyard.
Gary Christopher Ponder of Old Mill Hill Road, Dowelltown will be in General Sessions Court on April 24 to face one count of theft over $1,000. His bond is $5,000. He was arrested on Tuesday, April 8.
Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on or about March 24, Ponder allegedly took eleven bronze vases from eleven different graves (tombstones) at DeKalb Memorial Gardens. He then took the vases to a scrap yard in Woodbury where he sold them. The approximate value of the vases is more than $1,000. While Ponder has allegedly admitted to taking these eleven vases, more could be missing from the cemetery. Sheriff Ray urges anyone who discovers vases missing from the graves of their relatives to report it to the owners of the cemetery. They will then contact the sheriff’s department.

Two sixteen year old boys accused of forcing their way into the home of a Smithville woman and then assaulting and robbing her in September have been indicted by the DeKalb County Grand Jury.
Robert Brian Callahan, II and Tony J. Starkes, Jr. were indicted last Monday, April 7 on charges of aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping, and theft under $500. They are to be tried as adults in the case. They were arraigned today (Monday, April 14) in DeKalb County Criminal Court.
The boys appeared in DeKalb County Juvenile Court Wednesday, December 11 for a hearing on whether the cases should be transferred from the Juvenile to the Criminal Court.
“I filed a motion to transfer the cases to the criminal court to be tried. We had a hearing and he (Judge Bratten Cook,II) granted the motion. “I asked that these boys be tried as adults due to the serious and aggressive nature of the crimes,” said Assistant District Attorney General Greg Strong in an interview with WJLE.
“The petition was amended to include the charge of aggravated kidnapping along with aggravated robbery,” said Strong.
They have being held at a Juvenile Detention Center in Nashville.
According to Lieutenant Matt Holmes of the Smithville Police Department, the incident occurred around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 18 at the woman’s Smithville residence. He said the victim, who lives alone, heard something outside and when she opened the door to look outside, the two boys, who were wearing hockey masks forced their way in and assaulted her. ” Upon investigation, I found out that the victim heard a noise outside the back of her residence,” said Lieutenant Holmes. “She looked out but didn’t see anyone. She went to open the door. As she cracked the door open, two masked men forced their way into the residence. One of the suspects tackled her to the ground, pepper sprayed her multiple times, and tried to insert a wash cloth in her mouth to keep her from screaming,” he said. “One of the suspects ransacked the house and stole a 38 caliber revolver and multiple other items,” he said. The total value of the stolen items came to around $600.
The woman, though injured in the attack with cuts, scrapes, and bruises, was apparently not seriously hurt and declined medical attention.
Though the two boys were carrying razor knives at the time of the attack, they apparently did not use them on the woman.
“We worked the case until about four in the morning (Thursday, September 19) and started back again later in the day,” said Lieutenant Holmes. We went to Walmart and were able to trace the sale of the hockey masks back to the juveniles who had bought them prior to the incident,” he said.
” We located them (the two suspects) at the high school and placed them under arrest in the classroom on Thursday. Our fear was that they may have brought the gun to school but as it turned out they did not have the gun at school. It was found at their home,” said Lieutenant Holmes.
“We found in the attic of their residence the two hockey masks and a loaded 38 caliber handgun and other items that were taken from the victim’s home. We also found some pepper spray,” Lieutenant Holmes continued.
He said the boys, who lived together in the same household at the time of their arrests, are not related. Neither of the boys is related to the victim. The two boys lived in the same area of the city as the victim but police would not disclose the name of the street or neighborhood where the attack occurred.
Lieutenant Holmes, who was assisted in the investigation by Detective Brandon Donnell and Corporal Travis Bryant said police believe the two boys committed the crimes hoping to find money and drugs.
The two boys also allegedly tried to break into another residence in the same area the night before on Tuesday, September 17 but were unable to make entry.

State Lawmakers have voted to repeal a 1949 Private Act governing the manner in which members of the DeKalb County Democratic Party’s Executive Committee are selected. Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper, in a recent opinion, found the Act to be unconstitutional and unenforceable.
The county commission, in February, adopted a resolution by the required two thirds majority vote asking state legislators to repeal the Act. Jim Judkins, Chairman of the DeKalb County Democratic Party came before the county commission seeking this action.
Judkins explained that the 1949 Private Act, which was amended in 1972, calls for forty members of the local Democratic Executive Committee to be elected by popular vote every two years during the August Tennessee Democratic Primary from nineteen precincts across the county, some of which no longer exist.
The party has chosen instead to re-organize every two years under Tennessee Democratic Party rules, appointing seven members to the executive committee, one from each district.
According to Judkins, party leaders and members want the Private Act to be repealed to avoid a possible legal challenge in the future as to the validity in which the local party organizes.
The legislation to repeal the Private Act was introduced in the State House by State Representative Mark Pody and in the Senate by State Senator Mae Beavers. The vote to repeal was 91 to 0 in the State House and 31-0 in the Senate.
The measure must now come back before the county commission to be adopted again by at least a two thirds majority vote before it can take effect.
The State Attorney General’s opinion basically states that the legislature can’t constitutionally place burdensome restrictions on political parties in how they may organize.
In his opinion, AG Cooper wrote that “the statute (Private Act) constitutionally burdens the associated rights of the Tennessee Democratic Party and its members in DeKalb County and therefore is unenforceable”.
The DeKalb County Democratic Executive Committee was established under Private Acts of 1949, Chapter 771 and was subsequently amended in 1972. The Act calls for forty members to be elected from nineteen different precincts according to the population at those times. Several of the old precincts in the statute no longer exist and attempts by local party leaders to determine the old boundaries proved unsuccessful. It has been several years since anyone ran for the executive committee in DeKalb County on the primary election ballot, something the Private Act requires every two years, and the Act does not provide for reapportionment in redrawing the precincts.
Instead of electing members to the executive committee, as the Private Act calls for, the party sought an answer as to whether members could be appointed under the Tennessee Democratic Party Rules. Without a compelling state interest, Cooper’s opinion basically finds that the party may determine for itself how to organize, a right protected by the U.S. Constitution.
In seeking the AG opinion on the enforceability of the Act, local party leaders posed the question as to whether the DeKalb County Democratic Party could cease following provisions of the seemingly antiquated private act, which remains the law for DeKalb County, and hold a reorganization convention pursuant to Tennessee Democratic Party rules, organizing every two years under the general statutory law for the purpose of conducting business.
In his opinion, Attorney General Cooper wrote that “A political party’s determination of the boundaries of its own association, and of the structure which best allows it to pursue its political goals, is protected by the United States Constitution”. He cited a California case in which the U.S. Supreme Court found unconstitutional several California statutes restricting the organization and composition of political party committees. The high court ruled that the restrictions limited a political party’s discretion in how to organize itself, conduct its affairs, and select its leaders and that because these were constitutionally protected associational rights, the state of California’s restrictions could only be upheld if they served a compelling state interest. In that case, the court ruled California had not shown a compelling interest.
Under the DeKalb County Act, the State Attorney General opined that “the General Assembly directed that the DeKalb County Democratic Executive Committee have forty members elected in the Democratic Primary from a list of precincts, some of which apparently no longer exist. Members must be elected to two-year terms. The Act thus sets the size of a single county executive party committee, the method by which its members must be elected, and the terms they must serve. The Act clearly imposes restrictions limiting the Tennessee Democratic Party’s discretion in how to organize itself, conduct its own affairs, and select its leaders in DeKalb County. This Office is unable to identify any compelling State interest “necessary to the integrity of the electoral process” that these restrictions serve. For this reason, the Act unconstitutionally burdens the associational rights of the Tennessee Democratic Party and its members in DeKalb County and is unenforceable,” wrote AG Cooper.

Spring and summer mean having fun in the sun and enjoying many outdoor activities. Keeping your family safe is also important. The Tennessee Department of Health reminds Tennesseans that preventing exposure of people and their pets to the rabies virus is a priority, especially during this time of year.
Keep vaccinations up-to-date for all dogs and cats, as required by Tennessee law and local ordinances. Owners are urged to have their dogs (3 months of age or older) and cats (6 months of age or older) vaccinated. Store purchased vaccines are not legally acceptable.
Vaccination clinics will be held on the following dates and locations:
Animal Clinic of Smithville, 440 East Broad Street (Dr. Mark Burke) In the office:
April 16: 8:00 a.m. to Noon.
April 17: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
April 18: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
April 19: 8:00 a.m. to Noon.
DeKalb County Animal Clinic, 1020 West Broad Street (Dr. Scott Little) In the office:
April 16: 8:00 a.m. to Noon
April 17: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
April 18: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
April 19: 8:00 a.m. to Noon.
Wheeler Veterinary Clinic, 690 North Congress Boulevard (Dr. Anthony Warlick) In the office:
April 16: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
April 18: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
A fee of $7.00 will be charged for each innoculation.
For more information contact an Environmental Health Specialist at the DeKalb County Health Department at 597-7590.
Humans can be exposed to rabies when attempting to assist, feed or handle wild animals. If a wild or domestic animal is seen as ill or acting strangely, it should be reported to your local animal control agency. Bats in particular should not be handled. If a bat is found inside, in a swimming pool, or brought home by your pets, use precautions and consult your local health department.
Rabies is a deadly virus transmitted through the saliva of an infected animal. Rabies infection occurs primarily in wildlife in Tennessee, but it can be transmitted to any mammal, including humans and family pets. Bites are the most common means of transmission; contact with saliva from an infected animal can also be a concern.
Citizens can take the following actions to help prevent the spread of rabies:
Keep your pets under direct supervision so they do not come into contact with wild animals. If your pet is bitten by a wild animal, seek veterinary assistance for the animal immediately.
Keep children away from any wild or dead animals. Educate them not to touch or attempt to pick up, feed or handle any wild or unfamiliar domestic animals, especially those that are or appear to be sick or injured.
Do not disturb bats. Instead, consult your local health department or animal control agency for assistance in dealing with potential exposure to bats.
For more information or assistance with a potential rabies exposure, call your local health department or the Tennessee Department of Health emergency line at 615-741-7247.

Older voters in DeKalb County are much more likely to show up at the polls on election day than younger voters.
According to information obtained from the local election commission office, DeKalb County has a total of 8,662 registered voters ages 41 and over versus 4,299 between the ages of 18 and 40. Among active voters, only 3,097 persons age 18-40 regularly vote compared with 6,876 ages 41 and older.
Females outnumber males among registered voters 6,859 to 6,101 and 5,263 to 4,709 in the group of active voters.
Here’s how the number of registered voters and active voters break down by age group:
Ages 18-20:
667 registered/ 667 active voters
Ages 21-30:
1,769 registered/ 1,160 active voters
Ages 31-40:
1,863 registered/1,270 active voters
Ages 41-50:
2,192 registered/1,617 active voters
Ages 51-65:
3,635 registered/ 2,909 active voters
Over age 65:
2,835 registered/ 2,350 active voters
Here’s how the number of registered voters and active voters break down by district:
1st District:
1,919 registered/1,518 active
2nd District:
1,889 registered/1,455 active
3rd District:
1,842 registered/1,446 active
4th District:
2,107 registered/1,646 active
5th District:
1,883 registered/1,460 active
6th District:
1,732 registered/1,256 active
7th District:
1,589 registered/1,192 active

A 38 year old Alexandria man has been indicted on a charge of sexual battery by an authority figure.
Joseph Brandon Proctor of Adamson Branch Road, Alexandria will be arraigned in DeKalb County Criminal Court on Monday, April 14. He was named in a sealed indictment returned by the Grand Jury Monday.
According to the indictment, “Proctor, between April 1 and April 30, 2013, did unlawfully have sexual contact with a victim, who at the time of the offense was thirteen years of age or older but less than eighteen years of age. The defendant (Proctor), at the time of the offense, had parental or custodial authority over the victim and used that authority to accomplish the sexual contact, constituting the offense of sexual battery by an authority figure”.
Proctor was arrested Wednesday. He is under a $50,000 bond.

Eighteen members of the DeKalb County High School, Future Business Leaders of America organization attended the Tennessee State Leadership Conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee this week. The following members made finals in their event: Jordan Wilkins, Taneah Cantrell, Maggie Mahaffey (Emerging Business Issues), Katie Parker (Client Service), and Bailey Hayes (Public Speaking 2). The following members placed in their events:
•Bailey Hayes: 4th place in Public Speaking II
•Katie Parker: 5th Place in Client Service
•Kelsey MacDonald and Ashley Medlin: 4th place Chapter Community Service Project.
The Chapter received the Gold Seal of Merit Award, placed 2nd in can tab collection with 52 gallons and received recognition for our donation to March of Dimes.

Cannon County still has a Cannon County High School Teacher in the running for Tennessee Teacher of the Year.
Cannon County High School’s William Freddy Curtis has been selected as High School (Grades 9 – 12) Upper Cumberland Regional Teacher of the Year and is still in the process for Teacher of the Year in Tennessee.
“Mr. William Freddy Curtis is a great asset to the Cannon County School System,” said Barbara Parker, Cannon County’s Director of Schools. “It is definitely an honor to be recognized by your school peers as Teacher of the Year and by your district as District Teacher of the Year, but to be recognized as Upper Cumberland Regional Teacher of the Year means that you have risen above some very stiff competition from 22 Upper Cumberland systems. This is a very prestigious award for Mr. Curtis and a statement of how excellent the teachers are in Cannon County.”
Curtis is a 28-year veteran of education. He currently serves as U.S. Government teacher at Cannon County, where he also teaches Sociology, AP U.S. Government and Politics. He is a former principal of West Side School in Readyville. He was chosen in the grades 9-through-12 division. “I really believe that being judged or compared to other educators is an affirmation that other colleagues value what you do,” Curtis said. “In our current era of Common Core Standards schools are being evaluated as an entire group, so we are all part of the team. All of us at Cannon County High School must strive for excellence with all of our students. This recognition means, to me, that I am a good team player, and that as a part of the team I am playing my position well. It is always good to get a pat on the back, but when it is your colleagues demonstrating that to you, it is pretty special.”
“Mr. Curtis is extremely enthusiastic in the classroom,” Parker said. “He loves to teach, and it shows. He always has the students foremost in his mind when he teaches. I was elated to have two Regional Teachers of the Year from Cannon County. Mr. Curtis is very deserving.”
Curtis has taught at the grammar school and high school level, as well as served as Principal at West Side Elementary School. His genuine desire to educate is a motivating factor. “I sincerely care about each and every student and want to make a difference on what each one of them think about U.S. Government, Sociology, and AP US Government and Politics,” Curtis said. “One thing I quickly learned from going from an elementary/middle Grades teacher to Principal to high school teacher is that students desire genuineness and spot a phony a mile off. High school students desire respect, and I give it to them, and thus earn theirs. My desire is to be an example of Civic and Christian virtues that our society is in great need of, and my short time in their lives will be a legacy that will live on longer than I will. My reward in teaching is observing each student come to a basic knowledge of US Government and seeing the light come on, that my subject is not boring, but exciting and challenging.”
The Tennessee Teacher of the Year Program is designed to promote recognition, respect and appreciation for teachers; to stimulate interest in teaching as a career; and to encourage public involvement in education.
This program is sponsored annually by the Tennessee Department of Education and the Niswonger Foundation.
The Tennessee Teacher of the Year represents Tennessee at the National Teacher of the Year competition, which is sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers and Scholastic, Inc.
Teachers of the Year are selected competitively through five cycles: Building, System, Field Service Center Region, Grand Division and State; and from three categories (levels of teaching); Grades Pre K-4, 5-8, 9-12.
Teachers selected at each cycle receive local recognition and awards underwritten by local sources. State recognition/awards include a banquet honoring the nine State Teacher of the Year finalists and certificates of appreciation from the Governor. In addition, the State Finalists and the State Teacher of the Year receive cash awards from the Niswonger Foundation.
The Tennessee Teachers of the Year will be selected in each category during voting in August.
Freddy and his wife, Trena, reside in Smithville, and have four grown sons – Matthew, Trent, Casey, and Evan Curtis. They have two grandchildren, Ella Mae – age 3 and Elliott age 7 months.