Paul Davis

80 year old Paul Davis of Dowelltown died Friday night at the V.A. Hospital in Murfreesboro. The body is at DeKalb Funeral Chapel. Arrangements are incomplete.

Fire Burns Hay Field

A fire Wednesday burned a hay field belonging to Grady Ray on Wright Bend Road in the Belk Community.
County Fire Chief Donny Green says firefighters received a call around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday that a hay field was on fire and that the blaze was getting dangerously close to structures in the area.
Members of the Keltonburg and Belk Stations of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department responded along with the brush truck and the Tennessee Division of Forestry.
The hay had been cut and mowed but had not yet been raked.
The fire burned the entire twelve acre hay field as well as an acre of an adjoining pasture.
The blaze got close to a barn and house but fire fighters were able to put it out before causing any damage to them.
Green says the fire may have started from the heat or a spark created by the using of the mowing equipment.
No one was injured.

Bobbie Jean Houk

70 year old Bobbie Jean Houk of Smithville died Wednesday at her residence. She was a Pentecostal and a retired factory worker. The funeral will be Friday at 1:00 p.m. at DeKalb Funeral Chapel. Toy Lawson will officiate and burial will be in the Bethel Cemetery. Visitation will be Thursday from 11:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. and Friday from 9:00 a.m. until the time of the service at 1:00 p.m. She was preceded in death by her father, Clarence Lee Neal; two sons, Jimmy and James Griffith; a daughter, Marie McBride; and a grandson, Stephen Patrick. Survivors include five children, Charles and his wife Phyllis Griffith of Alexandria, Maurice Griffith of Smithville, Deborah Page of Smithville, Teresa Griffith of Nashville, and Melissa Culwell of Nashville. Her mother, Nancy Lillian Neal of Smithville. Fifteen grandchildren and twenty three great grandchildren. Two brothers, Doug and his wife Kathy Neal and L.W. Neal all of Smithville. Four sisters, Loretta and her husband Junior Bain of Smithville, Linda Fay Knowles of Smithville, Patricia and her husband Chester Sanders of Smithville, and Elaine McGuire of Spencer. DeKalb Funeral Chapel is in charge of the arrangements. The family asks that donations be made, in lieu of flowers, to DeKalb Funeral Chapel to help with funeral expenses.

Baker, Clayborn & Tubbs Elected Aldermen in Alexandria

Derrick Baker, Shelia Clayborn, and Maureen Tubbs were elected Aldermen during the Alexandria Municipal Election Thursday.
Clayborn led the ticket with 74 votes (31.6%) followed by Baker with 72 votes (30.7%) and Tubbs with 52 votes (22.2%).
Barbara (Bobbie) Crawford, a write-in candidate, received 17 write-in votes on the machine and one vote by paper ballot.
James R. Walker received 15 votes.
A total of 91 people voted in the election including 86 on election day and five during early voting.

DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department Awarded Federal Grant

The DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department has been awarded a $241,410 U.S. Department of Homeland Security Operations and Safety Grant, U.S. Representative Bart Gordon announced.
“Many communities struggle to maintain EMS and firefighting services,” said Gordon, a member of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus. “Even though demands of EMS providers and firefighters have increased tremendously over the years, the resources they depend on to provide their life-saving services have not.
That’s why Congress initiated the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, which is similar to the highly successful COPS program that put more than 100,000 new police officers on the nation’s streets.”
Chief Donny Green said the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department will use this federal funding award to purchase 44 new self-contained breathing apparatuses (SCBA’s), or commonly referred to as “air packs”, which will allow for four SCBA?s at each of the 11 stations across the county. These SCBA’s cost a little more than $5,000 each.
Green added “Our county budget simply could not afford us to buy this essential safety equipment. The SCBA’s currently used by the department’s 77 volunteer firefighters are not NFPA compliant and do not offer the most up-to-date safety features that our volunteers deserve. The delivery of these SCBA’s will allow our department to be in compliance and provide a higher degree of safety for our 77 volunteer firefighters.”

Police Department Applicants Interviewed

Three applicants to fill vacancies in the Smithville Police Department were interviewed Tuesday afternoon at city hall by Mayor Taft Hendrixson, Vice Mayor/Alderman Steve White, and Smithville Police Department Officer in Charge, Steven Leffew.
Randy King, Joey Jones, and Steve Cowan have expressed an interest in being hired by the city as a police officer.
King, originally from Grundy County, now lives in Warren County and is currently out of law enforcement, working for a company in Jasper. He began his law enforcement career in Tracy City, where he became certified. For financial reasons, King left law enforcement and went into business for himself, before taking a job in Jasper. King was among the top ten in his class when he completed the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy.
Jones, a resident of White County, is also a certified officer and has worked for thirteen years for the White County Sheriff’s Department.
Cowan, who lives at Brush Creek, is a certified officer and is currently employed as a security officer for UMC Medical Center in Lebanon. He formerly worked for over 18 years in security at Tennessee State University, and spent a year and a half working for the Smith County Sheriff’s Department, before becoming employed at UMC.
Mayor Hendrixson says a decision on hiring some new officers could come soon and would have to be approved by the aldermen at the next regular meeting.
Meanwhile, Mayor Hendrixson says the police department is planning to change the working schedule of it’s officers to twelve hour shifts.

Alexandria City Election Set for Thursday

Three Aldermen will be elected Thursday, September 6th in the Alexandria City Election.
Voting will be held from 8:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. at the Kenneth Sandlin Center at the DeKalb County Fairgrounds.
The official slate of candidates for this election, in addition to the write-in candidacy of Barbara (Bobbie) Crawford include Derrick Baker, Sheila Clayborn, Maureen Tubbs, and James R. Walker.
Crawford’s name will not be printed on the ballot. Anyone who wants to vote for her will have to “write in” her name. The voting machines that will be used allow the voter to do this on the machine rather than requesting a paper ballot. According to Tennessee Election Laws paper ballots are only to be used in an emergency situation when voting machines are not available for use.
A total of four people voted early for this election including three by personal appearance and one by mail.

Kenith Wayne Byford

69 year old Kenith Wayne Byford of Dowelltown died Wednesday at his residence. He was a Baptist and a retired truck driver for Model City Auto Sales. A memorial service will be held Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at the Chapel of Love-Cantrell Funeral Home. Visitation will be Saturday from 3:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. until the funeral at 2:00 p.m. He was preceded in death by his parents, Orvil Lee and Helen Gertrude Murphy Byford and a granddaughter, Shanna Pinegar. He is survived by a daughter and son-in-law, Vicki and Corey Funk of Smithville. One granddaughter, Shelly and her husband Tim Hearn of Alexandria. Four great grandchildren, Victoria Tatrow and Katlyn Pinegar both of Smithville and Jaycee Johnson and Jayden Hearn both of Alexandria. One brother and sister-in-law, Jimmy and Jeanette Byford of Smithville. Love-Cantrell Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. The family has asked that donations be made, in lieu of flowers, to the funeral home to meet funeral expenses.

Lou Harrison Puckett

93 year old Lou Harrison Puckett of Smithville died Tuesday at DeKalb Community Hospital. She was a gardener, a retired farmer, and a member of the Buckner’s Chapel United Methodist Church. The funeral will be Friday at 10:00 a.m. at the Chapel of Love-Cantrell Funeral Home. Michael Carpenter will officiate and burial will be in the Burton-Ponder Cemetery. Visitation will be Wednesday from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m., Thursday from 2:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m., and Friday from 9:00 a.m.until the time of the funeral. Puckett was preceded in death by her husband, Richard Harrison Puckett; her parents, Noah Samuel Parsley and Nancy Elizabeth Vanhooser Parsley; brothers, Edward and Elmer Parsley; and a sister, Odell Shriver. Survivors include a son and daughter-in-law, Richard Hearon Puckett and Ann Nixon Puckett; granddaughters, Tecia Lou Puckett Pryor and Mary Ann Puckett; grandsons-in-law, John Pryor and Jack Barton; and great grandchildren, Harrison Puckett Pryor and Tess Annabel Barton all of Smithville. Sisters-in-law, Jewell Love of Woodbury, Rhea Nell Parsley of Chesterfield, Michigan and Sue Parsley of Logansport, Indiana. Love-Cantrell Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.

Enrollment In School System Down by 21 Students Compared to Last Year

Student Enrollment in the DeKalb County School System, after the first month of school, is down by 21 students compared to this same time last year.
Clay Farler, Attendance Supervisor, told WJLE Tuesday that system-wide, DeKalb County has an enrollment to date of 2,945, compared to 2,966 after the first month of school last year.
Enrollment is down by 13 students at Smithville Elementary School, down by one student at DeKalb Middle School, down by 16 students at Northside Elementary School, and down by 6 students at DeKalb County High School. Enrollment at DeKalb West School is up by 15 students.
Farler says one reason the enrollment number may be down at DCHS is because of the addition of the adult high school. Those attending the adult high school are not counted in the enrollment at DCHS.
The enrollment numbers include students in the four Pre-K classes at Smithville Elementary and one Pre-K class at DeKalb West School, all of which are not yet filled.
The enrollment numbers after the first month of school for 2007 and 2006 at each school are as follows:
DeKalb County High School-
Year 2007- 819
Year 2006- 825
DeKalb Middle School-
Year 2007- 527
Year 2006-528
Northside Elementary-
Year 2007-527
Year 2006-543
Smithville Elementary School-
Year 2007-645
Year 2006-658
DeKalb West School-
Year 2007-427
Year 2006-412