The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department arrested a 37 year old McMinnville man Saturday after finding components of a meth lab in his car.
Sheriff Patrick Ray says Brian Earl White of Old Shellsford Road McMinnville is charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, simple possession of schedule VI drug (marijuana), and simple possession of a schedule II drug (methamphetamine). White’s bond is $4,000 and he will appear in court on March 11th. On Saturday, March 6th while on a patrol, a deputy stopped a vehicle on Highway 56 south for a traffic violation. Upon approaching the automobile, the officer saw the driver putting something in a CD case that was positioned above his sun visor. The deputy asked White for his vehicle registration and insurance card. White replied that it was in the trunk. When White opened the trunk, the deputy saw a small propane tank, a small stove, and a container of liquid in the trunk. Also found in the vehicle’s floorboard area were two coffee filters that contained a white powdery substance. During a pat down search, the officer found two more coffee filters in one of White’s sock and a small bag of a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana in White’s other sock. Upon an inspection of the CD case, the officer found a coffee filter that contained a white powder that is believed to be methamphetamine. A set of scales was also found in a jacket that was lying in the passenger side seat of White’s vehicle.
22 year old Coty Lynn McCormick of Mohan Drive McMinnville is charged with simple possession of a schedule VI drug (marijuana) and simple possession of a schedule II drug (Oxycontin). Bond for him was set at $3,000 and will he appear in court on March 11th. On Monday, March 1st a deputy stopped McCormick’s vehicle on Midway Road for weaving. After the stop, the officer asked McCormick, who was the driver, for consent to search. He gave consent and the deputy found in McCormick’s pocket ½ of a pill that is believed to be Oxycontin. While searching McCormick’s vehicle, the officer found a small bag of a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana.
26 year old Ryan Lee Walden of Dale Ridge Road, Dowelltown is charged with theft of property over $1,000. He was arrested by detectives on Monday, March 1st. Sheriff Ray says on February 23rd, Walden took two diamond rings from a home on Dale Ridge Road, Dowelltown valued at over $1,000 without the owners consent. Bond for Walden was set at $25,000 and he will appear in court on March 25th. Detectives recovered the rings.
42 year old Carlos Reyes of Skyline Apartments McMinnville is charged with a second offense of driving on a revoked license. His bond is set at $2,000 and he will appear in court on March 11th. On Tuesday, March 2nd deputies received a complaint that Reyes, who has a revoked driver’s license, was operating a motor vehicle. The officer spotted Reyes on Highway 56 South and stopped him.
27 year old Bradley Shane Redmon of Sparta Highway is charged with a first offense of driving on a revoked license. On Wednesday, March 3rd, a deputy stopped Redmon after spotting him driving on Highway 70 East. The officer had prior knowledge of his license being revoked. Redmon’s bond was set at $1,000 and he will appear in court on March 17th.
51 year old Billy R. Huddleston of Adcock Cemetery Road Smithville is charged with driving under the influence and possession of a schedule III drug (Hydocodone). On Thursday, March 4th, an officer spotted a vehicle weaving in the roadway on Highway 70 east. After stopping the vehicle, the deputy placed Huddleston, the driver, under arrest. The officer noticed a strong odor of alcohol on Huddleston’s person and he had slurred speech. Huddleston submitted to field sobriety tasks which he failed. Huddleston was also found to be in possession of two Hydrocodone pills. Bond for Huddleston was set at $3,500 and he will appear in court on March 25th..
48 year old Roy Douglas Atnip of Pea Ridge Road, Liberty is charged with public intoxication. On Wednesday, March 3rd, a deputy arrested Atnip on Highway 70 west for his own safety after he was found to be crossing the roadway in an intoxicated state. Atnip had an odor of alcohol on his person. He was belligerent and unsteady on his feet. Atnip admitted that he had been drinking beer. Bond for Atnip was set at $1,000 and he will appear in court on March 18th.
21 year old Christopher Allen Summers of Dale Ridge Road Dowelltown was arrested on Sunday, March 7th after a deputy found him lying in a ditch on Dale Ridge Road. Summers had a smell of alcohol on his person. He was unsteady on his feet and he had slurred speech. When asked how much he had drunk, Summers replied “no more than normal.” Summers was charged with public intoxication and bond for him was set at $1,000. He will appear in court on March 18th.

The Tennessee Council for the Social Studies has named Smithville resident and Cannon County High School Teacher, Mr. William Freddy Curtis, as one of the Tennessee Outstanding Social Studies Teachers of the Year for 2010. Mr. Curtis will be honored at a luncheon and recognition at the Tennessee Council for the Social Studies Conference on Friday, March 12, 2010 in Memphis, Tennessee.
Mr. Curtis was nominated by CCHS Principal Tim Knox and Assistant Principal Bonnie Patterson, which consisted of a detailed application. The application included: letters of support, a professional resume’, current teaching assignment, and a narrative describing the organization’s criteria requirements. The narrative demonstrated academic excellence, utilization of the National Council of Social Studies curriculum standards, inquiry based skill development, democratic beliefs and values, citizen and community participation by students, and evidence of professional involvement in education activities.
Curtis stated, “I am honored and truly humbled to be nominated for this prestigious award. My superiors and colleagues have encouraged me in this endeavor. I am truly “blessed” to be doing something that I deeply love to do – teaching students about US Government and Sociology!”
Mr. Curtis is a 24 year veteran of the Cannon County School System serving as a teacher and principal at West Side Elementary School from 1986 to 2008, and currently serving as US Government & Sociology Teacher at Cannon County High School. He is married to Trena Braswell Curtis, 2nd Grade Teacher at Smithville Elementary School, and has four sons – Matt, Trent, Casey, and Evan Curtis. They reside at 288 Dogwood Circle in Smithville, TN.
The Tennessee Council for the Social Studies is an association devoted to providing information, resources, and support for all those involved in social studies education. This includes K-12 teachers, supervisors of instruction, and college professors, in the various disciplines interested in and involved in the social studies.

You can help Project Graduation and give your high school senior the gift of a lifetime.
If you have the winning bid, you can have a quilt top put together that represents your senior’s life. Using old t-shirts or other items, you will have a gift your senior will have forever that truly belongs to him or her.
You provide all of the materials for the quilt and Bessie Jones, grandmother of Layne Mathis, will put it together. Then you have it quilted to give to your senior.
The minimum bid is $110
Contact Kelly Garrett at 215-4455 to place your bid. You have until March 12th at 5:00 p.m. to place your bid.

More than $5,300 was raised during a three hour radiothon Friday morning on WJLE for the DCHS Class of 2010 Project Graduation.
DCHS teacher Chris Vance hosted the program and parents of high school seniors who serve on the Project Graduation committee answered phones, taking pledges during the drive. Several seniors were also permitted to leave school long enough to make a brief appearance on the radiothon to talk about their school activities and future plans and to answer phones.
Parents and students wish to thank everyone who supported the radiothon.
Project Graduation is an all night drug-free, alcohol-free graduation party for members of the DCHS Class of 2010 committed to having a safe, wholesome, yet entertaining celebration together for the last time as a class.
Amanda Ours, Senior Class President, says she is pleased with the results. “I’m very proud of the radiothon. I think we did an awesome job. We didn’t reach our goal but we still made an awesome profit. I’m really looking forward to project graduation. It’s the last time the senior class will be together as a whole so it’s very important to us and we’re very glad that DeKalb County has offered their support.”
Kendra Foutch, Class Vice President, says the support of the community is greatly appreciated. “It means a whole lot to us that so many have given to project graduation. It will keep all of the students who are graduating off of the streets. It will also keep us all together and have one last memory all together. Again, I want to thank everyone for supporting us today, pledging their donations, and helping us reach more than half of our goal.”
Donna Mathis, one of the parents, also expressed her appreciation. “We really appreciate everyone chipping in to help our seniors. As one grandmother put it, she just wanted us to keep her baby safe. That’s what our goal is, to make sure they have a safe place and a fun time while they’re there.”
Caroline Carter, secretary of the senior class, says the money will be put to good use. “It’s our last time to get together as seniors as a class. Sometimes when seniors get excited, their judgment can be clouded by excitement and that can lead to reckless decisions but our Project Graduation is drug free and alcohol free.”
” Each of our attending graduates, they’re going to receive a graduation goody bag and each one of the bags has the exact same thing in it. In the bags, there will be gift cards, gas cards, gift cards from clothing stores, restaurants, etc. Last year we had 110 attend (Project Graduation). This year we have 172 graduating seniors so we hope to get that number (attendees) up a little bit.”
“We’ll have drawings including one for seniors who have attended Project Graduation meetings. However many times you have attended the meetings, that’s how many times your name is put in the drawings.”
“The seniors will gather right after the commencement the night of May 21st and we will stay there (at the high school) from 11:00 p.m. until a certain time the next morning. Our theme this year is Mardi Gras. We’re going to design a tee shirt. The senior class will design it themselves and each attendee of Project Graduation will receive one.”
“We’ve asked to get some activities such as blow up rock climbing, the blow up slides, karaoke, a LIVE band or LIVE dee jay. We’ll probably have games like volley ball, basketball, and stuff that everyone likes.”
“I hope we have a good turn out because this is our last time together.”

An emergency act signed into law Tuesday night by President Obama will allow many of Tennessee’s unemployed more time to receive unemployment benefits. The measure extends the eligibility period from February 28 to March 30 to transition into existing extended benefit programs. The new law; however, does not add additional weeks of benefits to any of the existing federal extensions of unemployment insurance.
Beyond the first 26 weeks of Tennessee Unemployment Compensation, a claimant must complete each tier of extended benefits before moving on to the next. There were five extensions of benefits, and the deadline to transition into any new tier expired at the end of February. If the deadline delay had not been approved, approximately 14,000 claimants would have only been able to complete their current tier of benefits. All Federal extensions, including Emergency Unemployment Compensation (Tier 1-4) and the state Extended Benefits Program are paid by the U.S. Department of Labor.
“This is very good news for a great number of claimants who were approaching the end of their benefit period,” said Labor Commissioner James Neeley. “These individuals should know they’ll continue to receive their weekly checks without a break, and they won’t have to apply for anything to continue receiving benefits. The bottom line is this gives Tennesseans more time to ramp up their job search.”
Claimants drawing unemployment will continue to certify to the Tennessee Department of Labor and will receive a letter when their benefits are transitioning from one tier to the next. Claimants exhausting their benefits before March 30 will automatically transition and will not need to contact the Tennessee Department of Labor to apply for new tiers of unemployment benefits.
In addition to extending the transition deadline for all tiers of benefits, the deadline to apply for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s Federal Additional Compensation program (FAC) was also extended to March 30. This program adds $25 per week to all unemployment benefits. Beneficiaries who enroll prior to March 30 will continue to receive the FAC payments until October 9, 2010.

Congressman Bart Gordon announced the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant program will award $100,000 to the DeKalb County Fire Department for new firefighting equipment, which will help improve the county’s fire safety ratings and lower homeowner insurance premiums.
The grant totals $107,188 funded 95% ($101,829) in federal and 5% ($5,359) in local monies.
“Every day, countless lives are saved by the courageous efforts of Tennessee’s firefighters,” Gordon said. “Programs like the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program ensure our first responders have the equipment to work as quickly and safely as possible.”
The DeKalb County Fire Department will put the funds toward the purchase of new fire hose that will allow each truck to carry the required 1,000 feet of supply hose to improve the department’s ability to reach houses set far back from hydrants. The funding will also allow the department to purchase new nozzles, hand tools and an automatic hose washer to better maintain fire hoses.
The new package of equipment will help the county move toward lowering homeowner insurance premiums for DeKalb residents by improving its grade with the Insurance Services Office, which evaluates fire protection levels, according to County Fire Chief Donny Green.
“We’re very appreciative of Congressman Gordon’s help. He’s visited us at our department and come to our functions, and his support over the years has meant a lot,” Green said. “Without this funding, we wouldn’t be able to make these improvements and lower premiums for DeKalb County homeowners. With the economy being like it is, every little bit helps.”
Gordon has been a strong supporter of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, which has awarded more than 1,300 grants to Tennessee first responders since 2000, totaling more than $108 million. In November, Gordon, chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology, helped to pass the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act, which strengthens the AFG program and makes it more accessible to stations and departments suffering economic hardship.