Smithville Police are continuing their fight against illegal drug sales in the city with numerous arrests having been made in recent days for Sale and Delivery of Narcotics.
The latest to be arrested include 22 year old Nicky Reese of 150 Kings Court Circle, Smithville; 26 year old Wayne Halton Hicks of 920 South Mountain Street, Smithville; 30 year old Robin Lawson and 24 year old Victoria Lawson, both of 284 Braswell Lane, Smithville. Bond for each is set at $40,000 except Hicks. His bond is $20,000.
Meanwhile, Chief Thomas J. Stufano says Smithville Police also responded to an Adams Street address where a concerned citizen called to report that an apparent drug deal had just occurred and remnants of that activity were in a front yard where small children were playing.
Chief Stufano says “Upon arrival police found a syringe that still had the needle and traces of fresh blood in it lying in the front yard. Also present were neighborhood children curious about the activity. The item was collected and disposed of as bio-hazard material. Biomedical waste can be a health and safety hazard due to the nature of the waste and may contain disease causing germs.”
According to Chief Stufano, “Smithville Police are finding these types of hazardous items throughout the city especially in vacant areas that are frequented by smaller children out playing. Parents and children are strongly encouraged not to handle these types of items and report suspicious activity immediately to safety officials. Police, Fire and Health professionals are trained to properly handle and dispose of bio-hazard material so that these items cannot hurt someone. ”
In another case, Chief Stufano says “On Sunday, March 25th 32 year old David Reyes of 274 Smith Road Smithville was arrested for driving a vehicle with no driver’s license resulting in a motor vehicle accident. Reyes was subsequently arrested and transported to the DeKalb County Jail under a $1,000 bond. Reyes also admitted to being an illegal alien form Mexico.”
Chief Stufano says ” The Smithville Police Department, in cooperation with its state and local counterparts, are committed to the safety and security of our residents and guests. If you see suspicious activity in your neighborhoods, take a stand and call the police! Remember your call could prevent a crime against your family and neighbors. Dial 215-3000 for police response or 911 only if an emergency. “

Another home healthcare worker is in trouble with the law.
Sheriff Patrick Ray says 36 year old Tammi Kelsor of Miller Road, Smithville was charged Saturday with theft of property under $500 after she allegedly stole a bottle of prescription pills from a lady in her care on the Old West Point Road.
Sheriff Ray says Kelsor allegedly took the woman’s prescription for a muscle relaxer to the Family Medical Center Pharmacy where she had it filled. She then kept the medication and even ingested some of the pills.
Her bond is set at $1,000 and she will be in court on the charge April 5th.
Meanwhile on Friday, 44 year old Bobbie Andrews of Jackson Street, Smithville was arrested and charged with driving under the influence while 35 year old Rhonda Lucci of Cookeville Highway was charged with driving under the influence by allowance (allowing someone to drive her truck knowing the driver was intoxicated).
Sheriff Ray says a county deputy pulled over the truck on Highway 70 east after he saw it weaving along the road. Andrews was driving but the truck belongs to Lucci.
Bond for both women is $1,000 each and they will be in court on the charges April 19th

The county commission Monday night, following a public hearing, again went on record pledging to reduce the property tax rate by a minimum of nineteen and a half cents, if the people of DeKalb County will vote to increase the local option sales tax from 1.5% to the maximum of 2.75% in a public referendum set for May 17th.
Last September, the commission raised the property tax rate by 39 cents to $1.90 per $100 of assessed value, after a public referendum to increase the sales tax rate failed at the polls in August. A reduction of nineteen and a half cents would roll the property tax rate back to a little over $1.70 cents per $100 of assessed value.
The commission, in February, authorized a second public referendum on the proposed sales tax hike and voted unanimously to go on record pledging to cut the property tax rate by nineteen and a half cents, if the referendum is approved. Monday night’s vote by the commission was a renewal of that committment.
All county commissioners present for the meeting voted to make that pledge including Elmer Ellis, Jr., Mason Carter, Jack Barton, Bobby Joines, Jerry Scott, Randy Caplinger, Wayne Cantrell, Jeff Barrett, John Green, Jeff Barnes, Marshall Ferrell, Larry Summers, and Willie Thomas. Chris Smithson was absent.
The DeKalb County Election Commission has set the date of the election for Thursday, May 17th.
This will be a county wide election. Early voting will begin Friday, April 27th and end Saturday, May 12th.
On election day, May 17th, the polling places will open at 8 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
The wording on the ballot will read:
“SHALL RESOLUTION 21-2-2007-1 PASSED BY THE DEKALB COUNTY COMMISSION ON FEBRUARY 26, 2007 PROVIDING FOR AN INCREASE IN THE LOCAL SALES TAX FROM 1.5% TO 2.75% WITH ONE-HALF (1/2) REQUIRED BY LAW AND THE REMAINDER AS PER AGREEMENT CONTRACTS, BE APPROVED?”
County Mayor Mike Foster says under the proposal, a greater number of people, particularly tourists, would shoulder the tax burden while giving property owners a tax break. “If tourists spend their money here, and we increase the sales tax, it would benefit us tremendously, and you let those people and those who work here but are not residents of DeKalb County pay their share. We would have to pay the sales tax too but if you look at the average homeowner and they get a $100 tax break, they would have to spend an extra $10,000 on something that pays sales tax to get back to being where they are now. We feel like the property owners are paying their share, and to give them a tax cut, we think is fair.”
Foster says overall the plan is actually more of a tax swap than a tax increase, with the proposed extra sales tax revenue to offset the proposed cut in the property tax rate, but it would provide sufficient funding to meet county needs for four to five years without any additional tax increases. “We’re estimating around $700,000 to $750,000 in new sales tax revenue under the proposal. We were estimating about $260,000 from Wal-Mart, but we are also realistic in that we know other businesses are going to lose some revenue, and that’s the unknown. I’ve talked to some business people, whose revenue is off considerably. So if we estimate that Wal-Mart will generate $260,000, there will probably be somewhere between $75,000 and $100,000 lost in other businesses, so we’ve taken that into consideration. But we still feel like that it will conservatively bring in about $700,000.”
Foster added that the proposed new revenue would not be enough to absorb the entire 39 cent property tax increase adopted last September
Only two people spoke during the public hearing.
George Davis said he favors the sales tax hike as a means of giving property owners some tax relief, but Joe Collins strongly voiced his opposition to both the proposed sales tax increase as well as the 39 cent property tax hike. Collins blamed Foster for supporting a 36 cent tax increase during his first term in 2003 and the 39 cent tax hike last year, after he was re-elected. Collins said the tax increase was not needed.
Foster says despite the tax increases, DeKalb County is still among the lowest taxed counties in the state. “There are no free lunches. It’s got to come from somewhere. Fentress, Macon, Overton, and Smith Counties which are of similar size to DeKalb County, are getting an average of over $1.2 million more in sales tax revenue than DeKalb County and their property tax rates are considerably higher than ours and several of them have wheel taxes. We have no wheel tax. I am proud of the job the county commission does in managing things. Is it a perfect world? No. Is there some waste? Absolutely. Where can you cut it (budget)? Cut positions. We’ve got the same number of positions we had eight years ago. We’ve added zero positions. In fact we’ve cut two positions this year. I don’t know how we stop inflation nor how we deal with anything except reality and that’s what these people(county commissioners) have tried to do.”

The body of a man surfaced on Center Hill Lake Saturday afternoon, believed to be that of 43 year old Bobby Joe Cosgrove of Cook Street, Cookeville who has been missing since Tuesday.
Sheriff Patrick Ray says a fisherman on the lake spotted the body in the water in the Coconut Ridge area, downstream a long distance from where the search effort was being conducted around Hurricane Bridge. The fisherman then called 911 to report the discovery around 4:19 p.m.
An autopsy is being performed on the body to help determine the cause of death.
Sheriff Ray says Cosgrove’s vehicle was found parked by the side of the road at Hurricane Bridge on Highway 56 north early Tuesday morning and the car contained some of his personal belongings. Based on what was found in the car, Sheriff Ray says authorities believe Cosgrove may have jumped off the bridge and drowned.
In addition to the Sheriff’s Department, others who aided in the search this week for Cosgrove were members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the TWRA, the DeKalb County and Putnam County Rescue Squads, and the Putnam County K-9 Tracking Unit.

The DeKalb County Legislative Body has called a special election to let the voters decide whether to increase the local option sales tax rate in DeKalb County from 1.5% to 2.75%
The DeKalb County Election Commission has set the date of the election for Thursday, May 17th.
This will be a county wide election. Early voting will begin Friday, April 27th and end Saturday, May 12th.
On election day, May 17th, the polling places will open at 8 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
The DeKalb County Commission will have a public hearing on the proposed sales tax refendum Monday, March 26th at 5:00 p.m. in the basement courtroom of the courthouse. Everyone is invited to attend to ask questions or make comments. The public hearing will be followed by the regular monthly meeting of the county commission at 6:30 p.m.
The wording on the ballot will read:
“SHALL RESOLUTION 21-2-2007-1 PASSED BY THE DEKALB COUNTY COMMISSION ON FEBRUARY 26, 2007 PROVIDING FOR AN INCREASE IN THE LOCAL SALES TAX FROM 1.5% TO 2.75% WITH ONE-HALF (1/2) REQUIRED BY LAW AND THE REMAINDER AS PER AGREEMENT CONTRACTS, BE APPROVED?”