Members of the DCHS Class of 2017 are asking for your support of Project Graduation.
Susan Webb, a DCHS Senior, urges you to stop by any DeKalb County branch office of Liberty State Bank to make a donation.
“I am a football cheerleader, tennis player, and a member of FBLA, Student Council, BETA, and the Literature Club at DeKalb County High School. More importantly, I am a member of the 2017 graduating class. We are raising funds for our Project Graduation event that will take place the night of graduation in May. We will have food and fun activities. It is designed to keep us safe from the devastating effects of drugs and alcohol. In order to hold this event, we must raise funds and request the community’s help. Please stop by your local branch of Liberty State Bank in Alexandria, Liberty, or Smithville and make a donation to our account. All help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support,” said Webb.

Tennessee’s Financial Responsibility Law now requires motor vehicle owners to maintain proof of liability insurance coverage in the event of a car accident or a verifiable exemption. The Department of Revenue has also developed an online system to verify financial responsibility in order to hold Tennessee drivers accountable.
Starting in 2017, uninsured drivers in Tennessee will pay fines and risk losing the right to drive their vehicles if they don’t have proper auto insurance or another form of financial responsibility in place.
The required minimum limits of your liability car insurance are:
*$25,000 for each injury or death per accident.
*$50,000 for total injuries or deaths per accident.
*$15,000 for property damage per accident.
The state’s new electronic insurance verification system matches your vehicle identification number (VIN) with your automobile insurance policy information. Rather than checking for insurance coverage at the time of registration renewal, the system will check for insurance coverage on a continual basis.
If the system cannot match your vehicle’s VIN to a corresponding policy, you’ll get a letter from the state asking you to visit www.driveinsuredtn.com and provide proof of insurance or another form of financial responsibility.
Make sure your VIN is correct on registration and insurance documents to avoid unnecessary notifications from the Department of Revenue.
If you do not respond to the request for information letter within 30 days, you will receive additional notices and potentially have to pay up to $125 in fines. You will also risk having your vehicle registration suspended and losing the right to drive your car if you fail to obtain automobile insurance or some other form of financial responsibility.
To learn more, visit www.driveinsuredtn.com or contact the DeKalb County Clerk’s Office. You may also email insurance.verification@tn.gov

State Senator Mae Beavers is reportedly considering a run for Governor in 2018.
The four term Republican Senator from Mount Juliet, who represents DeKalb County in the State Senate, has not yet filed any official paperwork and is still in the very early stages of a potential campaign.
Republicans Randy Boyd of Knoxville, former Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner and State Senator Mark Green of Clarksville have already officially declared and State House Speaker Beth Harwell of Nashville and U.S. Rep. Diane Black are considering campaigns. But Green is now being considered for Secretary of the Army by President Donald Trump.
On the Democratic side, former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean is the only formally declared candidate and Democratic House Leader Craig Fitzhugh is considering a run.

Car crashes are a leading cause of death for children 1 to 13 years old. Many deaths and injuries can be prevented by proper use of car seats, boosters and seat belts. Getting safety information and car seat instructions to parents and caregivers is crucial to saving young lives.
Sheriff Patrick Ray and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department are committed to ensuring the safety of your children. Car seats are essential to your child’s safety in the event of an automobile accident. Unfortunately, close to 90% of car seats are installed incorrectly and many children travel unrestrained.
The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department is partnering with the Tennessee Highway Safety Office in conducting a car seat safety check event. Trained car seat technicians will be on hand March 22 from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. at the Smithville Walmart, located at 515 West Broad Street, Smithville to check car seats and to make sure they are properly installed in your vehicle.
Sheriff Ray says “Every child deserves the chance to grow up and become an amazing adult; make sure your child has the chance. Please plan to visit us at this event.”

Tennessee’s 2017 spring turkey season opens on Saturday, April 1 and continues through Sunday, May 14. The state young sportsman hunt for youth ages 6-16 is March 25-26.
Spring turkey harvest numbers have been consistent for a number of years in Tennessee. Tennessee turkey hunters have passed the 30,000 harvest mark for 14 consecutive years during the spring hunting season.
Hunting hours for turkeys are 30 minutes prior to legal sunrise until legal sunset. Legal hunting equipment includes shotguns using ammunition loaded with No. 4 shot or smaller. There is no restriction on number of rounds in magazine. Longbows, recurve bows, compound bows, and crossbows are permitted.
Firearms and archery equipment may have sighting devices except those devices utilizing an artificial light capable of locating wildlife. Night vision scopes are illegal.
Bag limits are one bearded turkey per day, not to exceed four per season. Any turkeys harvested during the young sportsman hunt count toward the spring season limit.
More information on the 2017 spring turkey season can be found in the 2016-17 Tennessee Hunting & Trapping Guide. The guide is available at TWRA offices, license agents, and online at www.tnwildlife.org.

Retired educator and avid hunter Linda Franklin and her husband retired TWRA officer Ben Franklin recently returned from a hunting trip to Welaka, Florida where they each bagged an Osceola turkey.
With the kill, Linda has scored an American grand slam, having harvested a turkey from each of the four major subspecies in the United States, Eastern, Merriman, Rio Grande, and now the Osceola.
“We went to Florida because it’s the only place that has an Osceola turkey. That is the only one that I lacked having a grand slam. This was my third time down there and for me the third time was the charm. I will have to say in my defense that I have never pulled the trigger on one until this time. When I pulled the trigger, he fell,” she said.
While Linda is thrilled to have her first grand slam, Ben has four grand slams and is one kill away from scoring his fifth. “We’re going to Kansas next month to hunt the Rio again and if he gets one there that will be his fifth grand slam,” said Linda.

The Real Estate Team recently attended The Eastern Middle TN Association of Realtors Awards of Excellence Banquet at the Nashville Airport Marriott.
Three members of the team received the Gold Honor that represents sales in excess of $2.5 million and one silver honor in excess of $1.25 million.
Recipients’ include Tony Fuston, Betty Lattimore, Jennifer Hannah and Danny Conger. Some were saying this was the winners table for Dekalb County. The Real Estate Team strives for success and has added five new agents since October. They would like to thank all of our clients and DeKalb County for our continuing success. The firm is dedicated in representing the buyers and sellers in their best interest.

DeKalb County’s unemployment rate for January was 7.2%, up from 5.9% in December and above the rate of 5.8% in January, 2016.
The local labor force for January, 2017 was 7,670. A total of 7,120 were employed and 550 were unemployed.
County unemployment estimates for January 2017 show the rates increased in all 95 counties.
Jobless rates for January among the fourteen counties in the Upper Cumberland region were as follows from highest to lowest:
Jackson:9.1%
Clay: 8.9%
Pickett: 8.2%
Cumberland: 8.1%
Van Buren: 7.2%
DeKalb: 7.2%
Overton: 7.2%
Fentress: 6.8%
White: 6.1%
Smith: 6%
Putnam: 5.9%
Warren: 5.6%
Macon:5.2%
Cannon:5.1%
For the month of January, Davidson County has the state’s lowest major metropolitan rate at 4.1 percent, increasing from 3.7 percent the previous month. Knox County is 4.7 percent, an increase from the previous month’s 4.2 percent. The Hamilton County rate is 5.5 percent, increasing from a previous rate of 4.8 percent. Shelby County has a 6.3 percent rate, increasing from December’s 5.6 percent.
Tennessee and the U.S. have experienced an increase in the preliminary unemployment rates for January. Tennessee’s rate is 5.4 percent, increasing from the previous month’s revised rate by three-tenths of a percentage point. An increase of one-tenth raised the U.S. preliminary rate to 4.8 percent.
The state and national unemployment rates are seasonally adjusted, while the county unemployment rates are not. Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique that eliminates the influences of weather, holidays, opening and closing of schools, and other recurring seasonal events from economic time series.

A Cookeville man who failed to stop at a THP checkpoint in DeKalb County and then led State Troopers on a pursuit before crashing at Baxter Friday has been arrested.
(CLICK LINK BELOW TO VIEW MUG SHOTS OF PERSONS RECENTLY BOOKED AT THE DEKALB COUNTY JAIL- Intakes & Releases From: 3/20/2017 Thru: 3/27/2017)
Seagate Crystal Reports – REPOR_16.pdf (2.39 MB)
(CLICK LINK BELOW TO VIEW MUG SHOTS OF PERSONS RECENTLY BOOKED AT THE DEKALB COUNTY JAIL- Intakes & Releases From: 3/13/2017 Thru: 3/20/2017)
Seagate Crystal Reports – REPOR_15.pdf (2.52 MB)
Christopher Todd Montgomery, who was found with drugs, paraphernalia, and handguns, is charged with evading arrest by use of a motor vehicle, tampering with evidence, possession of schedule II controlled substance for resale/delivery, simple possession of schedules II, III, IV, & VI controlled substances and drug paraphernalia, reckless endangerment, possession of a handgun while under the influence of an intoxicant, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, driving under the influence 1st offense, driving on a revoked driver’s license, reckless driving, altering a license plate, and four other miscellaneous traffic offenses.
According to THP Sergeant Greg Tramel, State Troopers were conducting a seatbelt checkpoint on State Highway 56 in DeKalb County at the Putnam County line Friday when a vehicle traveling north failed to stop for the checkpoint. At that time, the driver threw what appeared to be drugs out of the window and continued driving north on State Highway 56 into Putnam County.
Troopers Brandon Jackson and Chris Delong pursued the vehicle on Old Baxter Road until it crashed east of the Boma Community Center in Baxter. No one was injured during the crash. The driver, Montgomery, was arrested. Contraband seized during this incident included seven bags of a clear rock like substance believed to be methamphetamine totaling 4.93 ounces, one bag, 6.6 grams, of marijuana, seven Xanax pills, three other pills listed as controlled substances, one .380 caliber handgun, one .22 caliber handgun, and various drug paraphernalia

Students will be able to receive up to five excused absences for personal illness during a school year without a doctor’s statement under a policy amendment adopted on first reading by the Board of Education Thursday night.
Under the current board policy, a doctor statement is required for all student absences due to illness in order to be excused. The amendment allows schools to accept notes from parents for up to five absences per school year. A doctor’s statement will be required for students who are absent after the fifth day of personal illness.
The amendment will be up for passage on second and final reading next month.
The board also adopted a policy on first reading which prohibits employees from accessing social media and networking sites through the schools network or by any other means (e.g. smart phones) during work hours. Passage of the new policy on second reading will be considered next month.
In other business, Director of Schools Patrick Cripps announced in his monthly report on personnel moves that Lindsey Bouldin and Nikita Johnson, both teachers at Smithville Elementary School have been granted a leave of absence as requested.