U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Park Ranger Gary Bruce was ready and recently took quick action that made a difference in several people’s lives.
In one incident, Dale and Kate Driskall, Park Attendants at Floating Mill Campground on Center Hill Lake, called the Resource Manager’s Office and advised that a boater reported almost hitting a swimmer in the lake. The boater indicated that the swimmer was struggling and didn’t seem like he could go any further. It’s unknown why the boater didn’t assist the swimmer.
After receiving the call, Ranger Bruce immediately drove to Hurricane Marina, boarded the Corps patrol boat and went to the scene, a short 5-minute boat ride away.
Ranger Bruce located the swimmer about 200 yards from shore. The 21-year-old man, who did not speak English, appeared to be totally exhausted, needing help from Bruce to get into the boat and put on a life jacket. Ranger Bruce then took the man safely to shore, where four friends awaited. One friend explained that the man swam to the island, about ½ mile away, and was swimming back. The man recovered and did not want medical assistance. Without Ranger Bruce’s quick action, it is quite possible that this young man would not have survived this incident.
Ranger Bruce is one of those rangers that seems to be there and ready when people need him. Just a few weeks later, Rangers Gary Bruce and Spencer Taylor were the first on the scene where a woman was injured after jumping off a bluff near Sligo Bridge. The injured woman was on a float in the water surrounded by her fiancé and friends when the rangers arrived.
Ranger Bruce contacted DeKalb Central Dispatch and was directed to transport the injured woman by boat to Sligo Marina where EMS would be standing by. She was carefully placed in the boat and immediately transported to the awaiting ambulance at Sligo Marina. She was diagnosed by paramedics as having a severe fracture to her right femur, was transported to Cookeville Regional Medical Center via EMS and later airlifted to Erlanger Hospital.
Although these two incidents clearly show the positive impacts the efforts of Park Rangers at Corps lakes have on individual lives, it is very difficult to determine just how many lives have been impacted and maybe even saved by the great work the Rangers have performed in communicating the importance of water safety to the public.
“The entire Ranger staff at Center Hill Lake has made it a priority this year to promote water safety awareness,” said Tim Dunn, Resource Manager at Center Hill Lake. According to Dunn, “Rangers have been able to spread the word about water safety not only at schools, county fairs, campgrounds, and other public events, but also through increased boat patrols. Through these efforts, we have been able to share information about water safety and the importance of wearing your life jacket to more than 25,000 people this year alone. The individuals that Ranger Bruce assisted were very fortunate that they did not lose their lives or have more serious injuries from not knowing the dangers that water presents. We hope that our efforts to encourage water and boating safety will continue to make a lasting impact on visitors to Center Hill Lake.”
According to Ranger Bruce, “Some ways that you can practice water safety and ensure that you and your family return home safely after a fun day at the lake are to:
· Learn to swim well and swim with a buddy.
· Know your swimming limits and ability: the distance across the lake or to islands is further than it seems.
· Avoid jumping off of cliffs or bridges.
· Choose a designated boat operator that doesn’t drink.
· Take a safe boating course.
· Wear your life jacket.”

Twenty two cases of influenza have now been reported among students in the school system as of Tuesday and most, if not all, are believed to be H1N1.
Last Thursday, Director of Schools Mark Willoughby told WJLE there were three cases of flu, but added that none were believed to be H1N1 because “We have not received any confirmed cases from the Center for Disease Control.”
However, during a meeting with the local media Monday, Willoughby said based on information from local physicians and health care professionals, he now believes the cases are H1N1, even though there has still been no official confirmation from the CDC. “The state of Tennessee is telling the doctors not to send any more specimens to be tested because the majority and close to 100% are coming back as H1N1 now. Last week we had three (cases) we thought had not been confirmed. This week we feel we probably have seventeen (cases of H1N1).”
Most of students with the flu are from the high school and middle school.
Willoughby says the number of cases may grow over the next few weeks but the problem has not reached epidemic proportions yet and there are currently no plans to close schools. “If this were January or February and we had seventeen cases of the flu, we’d be thinking we were doing pretty good but this is August. I do think there will be more cases. We’ve just started back to school. The kids are confined to the classrooms and whatever they have, children spread. I think we’ll see more of this in the next four or five weeks. Hopefully after the next four or five weeks, it’s going to go away or at least I hope it’s going to go away. But we’re going to be taking the precautions we need to in the schools. Custodians are disinfecting the door knobs, desks, and things like that. We’re keeping all the soap dispensers filled up. That’s some of the things we’re doing. Right now there’s no thought about closing schools but should this intensify, that will be one of the options we’ll have. We’ll just wait and see how this goes. We’re not used to seeing people with the flu in August and we have that right now. The ages we’re seeing it mostly is in the middle school and high school.
Deanna Pursinger, School Health Coordinator, has some advice for parents. “Just to let parents know of things they need to look for, the symptoms are real similar to the seasonal flu. The symptoms of novel H1N1 flu virus in people include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people who have been infected with this virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting.”
“The H1N1 is not any worse than the normal flu.” We had a child who was sick on Friday. The mother took that child to the doctor, got the anti virals, by Sunday that child was fever free, and that child is back in school today (Monday). Did not even miss a day of school. It’s not that bad, especially if you look for the signs and symptoms and get that child to the doctor.”
“CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after you have been fever free without any medication.”
“In seasonal flu, certain people are at “high risk” of serious complications. This includes people 65 years and older, children younger than five years old, pregnant women, and people of any age with certain chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, asthma and kidney disease.”
“Some universal precautions that people can take to prevent this are good common sense hygiene things such as covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
If children come to the school nurse or clinic and they have the flu like symptoms, the first thing we’ll do is take those kids out of the classroom, isolate them, call the parents, send them home and ask them to see the doctor to be checked to see if they do have the flu.”
Click here to learn more about H1N1http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/

Since Wednesday, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department has made arrests for drugs, assault, and indecent exposure.
Sheriff Patrick Ray says 29 year old Crystal Lachell Thompson of Highland Street Smithville was served with a state warrant on Wednesday, August 5th. The arresting officer conducted a pat down search and found two pills believed to be hydrocodone, two pills believed to be soma, and one pill believed to be oxycontin. Thompson was charged with one count of simple possession of a schedule II drug (oxycontin), one count of simple possession of a schedule III drug hydrocodone, and one count of simple possession of a schedule IV drug (soma). Thompson’s bond was set at $6,000.
While in custody of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, 34 year old Misty D. Shehane was charged Saturday, August 8th with assault after she caused a disturbance in the DeKalb County General Sessions Courtroom. Shehane had an altercation in the courtroom with another subject and when court officers tried to subdue her, Shehane took a swing at one of the court officers nearly striking him. Shehane also tried to kick the officers. Shehane will appear in court on August 20th on the charges.
Meanwhile on Friday, August 7th deputies responded to a call on Adcock Cemetery Road. When the officer arrived, the victim told him that she was walking down the road when a neighbor, 64 year old James Harold Davis also of Adcock Cemetery Road, yelled out the victim’s name. When the victim looked at Davis, he (Davis) pulled his pants down exposing himself. When Deputies approached Davis about the complaint, he told them he was sorry and he would never do it again. Davis was charged with indecent exposure and his bond was set at $1,500. He will appear in court on August 27th.

The Smithville Post Office building and a pickup truck received some damage Thursday morning when a motorist accidentally ran into them.
Smithville Police Lieutenant Steven Leffew, in the accident report, states that 87 year old Robert Eller was in a 1991 Dodge Caravan, backing from a parking space at the Smithville Post Office, when he collided into a 2000 Ford 150 pickup truck, belonging to Tommi J. Eldridge of Smithville, which was parked near Justin Potter Library. Eller’s Caravan then went forward colliding into the glass door at the Post Office.
No one was injured.
Smithville Post Master Mike Lynn recounted for WJLE what occurred.”We were inside working the mail and heard a big loud commotion. We went outside and found that a customer (Eller) who had parked outside the vestibule here, the little 6′ by 6′ opening we have, had backed up out of his parking space, went clean across the street and backed into a pickup truck parked in front of the library and damaged the truck pretty severely. He then pulled it back down in drive, came back across the street, jumped the sidewalk, and ran into the left side of our little vestibule that sticks out there. Fortunately there were no customers or anyone walking in the building at that time or it really could have been devastating. As it turned out no one was injured.”
Lynn estimates the damage to the building at around $2,000. “It knocked one of the doors off the hinges and knocked the frame back about a foot. It didn’t even break any of the glass on our windows so we were all lucky all the way around on that.”
“I called facilities in Atlanta and they sent field maintenance up here to look at it. They took the door off and they’re going to replace that whole front part. I’m going to estimate that it will cost maybe a couple of thousand dollars to get that front fixed back like it was.
As far as Mr. Eller’s van, I’m not sure but I think the front bumper was the only thing damaged on his vehicle as far as the Post Office is concerned. I don’t know exactly what happened to the back end of his vehicle when he went into that other truck in front of the library.”

U.S. Representative Bart Gordon has scheduled two additional telephone town hall events on August 21 for residents of Tennessee’s Sixth Congressional District. The telephone-based public
forums will allow residents to communicate directly with Representative Gordon, enabling them to share their concerns and ask questions about health care, veterans’ issues, the economy and other important issues facing Tennessee and the country.
“I have scheduled these events because I want to hear from as many of my constituents as possible, which will allow me to better represent Middle Tennessee,” said Gordon.
On Friday, August 21, Gordon will hold two separate telephone town hall events – one at 11:00 a.m. central time (CDT) and another at 5:30 p.m. CDT. Telephone town halls do not require participants to travel – they only require a telephone.
“There are a number of challenges facing our country right now, and there are no quick fixes,” explained Gordon. “I hope as many folks as possible will sign up for one of the telephone public forums.”
Residents of the Sixth District interested in participating in the telephone town hall events on August 21 can sign up by visiting www.house.gov/bart or by calling Congressman Gordon’s Murfreesboro office at 615-896-1986.
Registered participants will receive a phone call on August 21 shortly before the start of the telephone town hall for which they signed up. Participation is toll free and easy – upon receiving the invitation phone call on August 21, registered participants will hear simple instructions about how to listen, ask questions, and leave messages.
“These call-ins are just part of my efforts to understand the concerns of the more than 700,000 constituents across the 15 counties I represent in the Sixth District,” added Gordon.
Tennessee’s Sixth Congressional District includes the following counties: Bedford, Cannon, Clay, DeKalb, Jackson, Macon, Marshall, Overton, Putnam, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, and part of Wilson.