Two people were injured in a midday two car crash Saturday at the intersection of U.S. 70 and State Highway 83 near Smithville.
Trooper Jimmy Tisdale of the Tennessee Highway Patrol says a 1996 Chevy Blazer, driven by 21 year old Phillip M. Lafever of Cookeville, was crossing U.S. 70 from Highway 83 when it was struck by 2001 Dodge Intrepid, driven by 39 year old Carrie L. Young of Smithville, who was traveling west on Highway 70.
The impact caused the Blazer to overturn on it’s top.
Lafever apparently wasn’t injured but Young was taken to DeKalb Community Hospital by DeKalb EMS.
Young’s eight year old and nine year old daughters were in the car with her. The eight year old was not hurt but the nine year old was taken by DeKalb EMS to the hospital.

Smithville Police Officer Mac Judkins has been named “Officer of the Month”.
The announcement was made Monday by Smithville Police Chief Thomas J. Stufano.
The commendation presented to Officer Judkins says “On behalf of the City of Smithville Police Department, I would like to commend you for your recent actions and diligent efforts in your capacity as Police Patrol Officer. Your determination and efforts this month in traffic enforcement specifically in the detection of drivers that were DUI has resulted in numerous arrests.
Due to your professional training in recognizing this type of serious hazard and taking immediate action, know that you have removed an opportunity for serious injury or death from their irresponsible actions as drivers. Your expertise enabled the citizens of Smithville, your fellow co-workers and guests of our area a safer passage while here in DeKalb County. You have served with distinction and are a credit to your profession as a Smithville Police Officer.
Additionally, your work ethic and tenacity during the month of January has shown your true commitment to the citizens we serve and your fellow officers.
I appreciate your input and current performance and for that you are hereby formally recognized and commended with a copy of this Commendation becoming apart of your permanent personnel record for all to see.
Congratulations on a job well done!”
The commendation was signed by Chief Stufano, Mayor Taft Hendrixson, and Police Commissioner Aaron Meeks.

A 33 year old truck driver was treated and released at DeKalb Community Hospital Friday morning after his tractor trailer rig overturned around 2:30 a..m on Student’s Home Road..
Sergeant Billy Prater of the Tennessee Highway Patrol says Sirvan H. Rasul of Pelican Rapids, Michigan was driving a 2002 Freightliner for the Premier Freight Exchange Company and was enroute to the Goggin Warehouse where he was to deliver 43,000 pounds of brake parts for Federal Mogul.
Sergeant Prater says the truck, which was traveling toward Magness Road from Keltonburg Road, overturned as it approached a narrow bridge. “As he was making his turn, the trailer tracked off the right side of the road, the edge of the roadway gave way, and the truck and trailer laid over on it’s side.”
The load crashed through the side of the trailer as it overturned spilling some of the cargo onto the ground.
Rasul was taken by DeKalb EMS to DeKalb Hospital with minor injuries.
Sergeant Prater says Students Home Road was closed nearly all day while the truck was unloaded, pulled upright, and the cargo reloaded onto another truck. Officers cleared the scene around 7:00 p.m. Friday night.
The accident was investigated by Trooper Keith Maddux of the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Others on the scene throughout the day included DeKalb EMS, DeKalb Emergency Management Agency Coordinator Charlie Parker, volunteer firefighters, and Troopers Brian Raymond, and Allen England of the THP among other volunteers.

DeKalb County Schools will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday because of flu like sickness among students and teachers
Higher than normal absentee rates at each of the schools had been recorded last week, but apparently not high enough to close schools. However Monday, it was a different story.
Director of Schools Mark Willoughby says the overall student attendance rate Monday was 78%, when it is normally around 96% at the elementary schools and 94% at the high school.
The following are the numbers of students absent at each school Monday:
DCHS- 210 (attendance rate 70%)
DeKalb Middle- 104 (attendance rate 79%)
DeKalb West-87 (attendance rate 79%)
Northside Elementary- 100 (attendance rate 80%)
Smithville Elementary-116 (attendance rate 80%)
Willoughby says there is justification for closing schools when overall attendance falls below 80%.
Willoughby says closing schools for a couple of days will hopefully keep the sickness from spreading and give those who are sick more time to rest and recover.

Plans are underway to correct seepage problems around Center Hill Dam. It’s a project that may take several years to complete and cost more than $220 million dollars.
Officials of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers say Center Hill Dam was designed and built in the 1940’s in a karst limestone foundation that is prone to seepage. Seepage is the movement of water through and under a dam. All dams have some seepage as the impounded water seeks paths of least resistance through the dam and its foundation. Seepage must, however, be controlled in both the velocity and quantity to keep the dam safe. Seepage can clearly be seen coming through the rock bluff formation near the dam.
Original designers recognized the nature of the rock and the potential for seepage through the relatively thin rim sections and acknowledged that maintenance would be required to keep the dam safe. The Corps has closely monitored seepage since the 1960’s and has completed several limited grouting programs in an attempt to slow and control the seepage. Grout is a mixture of sand, cement, and water that can be placed into drilled holes into the foundation soil and rock to close any openings.
Foundation conditions continue to slowly worsen because clay filled joints are eroding in the rock within the rims and dam foundation. If untreated, this erosion would eventually jeopardize the two earthen embankments (main dam and saddle dam) and the integrity of the rims. The Nashville District of the Corps of Engineers has recently received Washington approval to begin a major rehabilitation project to ensure the long term safety of the dam.
The approved rehabilitation plan includes modern concrete cut off walls constructed within the entire length of the main dam and saddle dam embankments. These walls will extend deep into the rock foundation to effectively cut off seepage through the embankments and therefore protect the earthen portion of the dams from internal erosion. The approved plan also includes placing balance stabilized grout (durable and long-lasting grout) beneath the entire dam and along both sides of the dam.
Fish depend on continuous cold water, which the seepage has historically provided. The Corps plans to replace the cold seepage downstream by replacing a small undependable hydropower unit in the powerhouse. The existing 55 year unit was intended to provide back-up power to start the larger turbines. It will be replaced by a new 2 megawatt unit that will produce hydropower and provide the optimal minimum flow downstream.
The total cost of the rehabilitation plan will likely exceed $220 million. The Corps expects major work will begin in 2007 and the entire rehabilitation will take 5-8 years to complete.
Plans to accelerate the work are being considered. Ongoing work includes design and base mapping. Drilling into the dam foundation for rock information has begun. Initial grouting is planned to begin in the summer of 2007.
This grout will make the dam safer by filling voids within the foundation. Cut off wall construction will likely follow the grouting and is anticipated to begin in 2008.

A DeKalb County family was left homeless by a midday fire Thursday.
County Fire Chief Donny Green says firefighters were called to the home of Nick and Stacey Robinson at 249 Pittman Road in the Four Seasons community around 11:20 a.m. after a passing motorist saw flames coming from the trailer home and phoned 911 to report it.
Green says the trailer was too far gone by the time firefighters arrived. The home and all the family’s belongings were destroyed.
No one was at home at the time of the fire and no one was injured.
The cause of the blaze is undetermined.
Member’s of the Midway, Keltonburg, Short Mountain Highway, Cookeville Highway, and Belk stations responded along with a tanker truck.
Green says the Robinson’s were renting the trailer and had no renter’s insurance. They have three small children.
An account has been set up for this family at DeKalb Community Bank and a donation from you would be appreciated.
The family is currently staying at the home of Gary and Wanda Russell, 2560 McMinnville Highway behind WJLE.
The are accepting donations of clothing, toys, furniture or anything that anyone would like to donate. They can be reached at 597-5886.
Sizes needed include Baby Boy 9 months old – wearing 18 to 24 months, diapers # 4; Little Girl, age 3 – wearing 4-5 clothes, 10-11 shoes; Boy, age 5 – wearing 6-7 clothes, shoes 3; Man – 36 X 32 pants – XL shirts – 11 shoes; Lady – 9 – 11 pants – M shirt – 8 1/2 shoe.

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, assisted by the Alexandria Police Department, may have thwarted an attempted arson while on a separate investigation late Monday night.
Sheriff Patrick Ray says 60 year old Wilburn Estes of Avant Circle, Alexandria and his ex-wife, 56 year old Margaret Lack of Liberty Hill Road, Alexandria are each charged with attempted arson.
They apparently went to a residence on Cemetery Street in Alexandria with the intention of getting revenge on a man who allegedly refused to pay $120 for some tools he bought from their son, 32 year old Hugh Don Estes, who was recently involved in a traffic accident and is now paralyzed.
Sheriff Ray says he, another county deputy, and an Alexandria Police officer went to the Cemetery Street residence around 11:30 p.m. Monday night on another investigation and as the officers pulled up to the home, they saw a man running from behind the house toward a parked car. The man (Estes) jumped in the car, and the vehicle sped away, driven by a woman (Lack).
Sheriff Ray says he pulled the car over about a mile down the road and the other two officers joined him after they finished up at the house talking to the resident on Cemetery Street. After gathering information from Estes and Lack, the officers released them, not yet knowing about the attempted arson.
A few minutes later, the resident on Cemetery Street called for the officers to return to his home, saying there were gas fumes in his house coming from the central heat and air unit. Sheriff Ray says upon further investigation, the officers found at the back of the man’s house, a box containing a big pillow and other clothing along with two gallons of gasoline, a rubber glove, and a dust mop.
The officers then went to the residences of both Estes and Lack and picked them up for questioning. Based upon the evidence collected and incriminating statements made by Estes, he and his ex-wife were charged in the case.

Rather than risk losing non-emergency police dispatch services for the town, the Alexandria City Council Tuesday night voted to enter into a contract with the DeKalb County Emergency Communications District (911 Board) and pay $26,000 a year in monthly installments for the city’s part in support of the operation.
All four aldermen in attendance voted “yes” including Charles Griffith, Sarah Walker, James Keys, and Jim York. Aldermen Eddie Tubbs and Jimmy Mullinax were absent.
For the last two years, the City of Alexandria has not been paying for the service and currently owes $52,000, but 911 Board Chairman Ron Rogers told the Mayor and Aldermen Tuesday night that the board had decided to forgive the past debt, if the city would make a commitment to make their $26,000 annual payment from now on and sign a contract with the board. Otherwise, the 911 board would give a 30 day written notice that while it would continue to dispatch all emergency calls, it would no longer provide non-emergency services for the City of Alexandria.
Alderman Griffith explained that the reason for non-payment was not because the city was trying to be difficult or didn’t want to pay, but because of budget constraints.
When the E-911/ Central Dispatch Center was in the planning stages, the DeKalb County Government, City of Smithville, and City of Alexandria agreed to appropriate funding for a non-emergency, twenty four hour a day, seven day a week answering service and direct dispatch of non-emergency calls for their law enforcement agencies.
In his presentation to the board, Bradley Mullinax, Director of Emergency Communications, says the DeKalb County Government and City of Smithville each pay $108,000 a year and the City of Alexandria’s part is $26,000. He says these figures for the cities are based on population size. DeKalb County E-911 funds the remainder of the costs associated with emergency and non-emergency dispatch personnel totaling approximately $135,000.
Mullinax explained that the city’s payment of $26,000 a year is not to provide the emergency 911 service because that is funded from charges of 65 cents to DeKalb County residents and $2.00 to businesses on their telephone bills. The 911 fees cover the response to 911 emergency calls and direct dispatch of those calls and for the 911 addressing service for the citizens of the county.
The city’s payment, he says, is to cover costs of answering and dispatching the non-emergency calls that are received from the citizens of the town. A non-emergency call is any call that does not pose an immediate threat to life or property.
Mullinax further explained that the city’s payment also covers costs of accessing information from the National Crime Information Computer (NCIC) system, for record management, and to record and provide information from callers and responders for the city.
Mullinax says the DeKalb County Emergency Communications District answers all emergency 911 calls and all non-emergency administrative calls for three law enforcement agencies including the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and the Smithville and Alexandria Police Departments, as well as three fire departments, DeKalb County, Smithville, and Alexandria; one EMS agency (DeKalb County Ambulance Service); and one Rescue Squad
Mullinax says if the City of Alexandria were to choose to go it alone and not contract with the DeKalb County Emergency Communications District, it would be much more expensive than $26,000 per year, perhaps as much as $95,000 for the first year and $80,000 per year thereafter in order to set up a dispatch system and to meet all the state and federal requirements to operate it.
Alexandria Police Chief Mark Collins later told the Mayor and Aldermen that the services provided by the Central Dispatch system were “crucial” to his department and that he would not want his officers pulling over anyone without those services, because it is too dangerous.
Since Collins has been Police Chief, the city has collected several thousands of dollars in fines from speeding tickets, and Collins says he believes that money could be a source of funding to offset the city’s costs of continuing the service with Central Dispatch.
Collins says neither he nor his officers write tickets to anyone unless they exceed the speed limit by at least twelve miles per hour, but there are enough of those, that the department could easily write as many as fifty tickets per month.
In other business, Alexandria Fire Chief Shelie “Pee Wee” Askew submitted a letter to the board announcing his retirement as chief, although he will continue to serve as a first responder.
The board voted to select Wesley Slager as the new Alexandria Fire Chief.
The board also voted to hire Cody Jenkins as a full time police officer. He will join Chief Collins and officer Chris McMillen on the force.
Chief Collins says there are sufficient funds in the budget to fund the position.