A fire Friday afternoon destroyed the home of Larry and Julie Brown at 242 Brown Lane in the Jefferson Community.
Central dispatch received the call at 2:44 p.m.
Roy Merriman, assistant county fire chief, said the fire appeared to have started from the utility or laundry room area of the home and spread from there. He said the cause of the fire has not been established for certainty but could have been triggered by lightning. Merriman says neighbors reported lightning from a passing thundershower at the time.
Merriman says while the fire destroyed the residence, firefighters were able to salvage some of the family’s belongings.
No one was home at the time of the fire and no one was injured.
Members of the Keltonburg, Blue Springs, and the Short Mountain Stations of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department responded along with Tanker 1 and mutual aid assistance from the North Warren Fire Department who sent manpower and a tanker. DeKalb EMS was also on the scene.

The DeKalb County Fair will feature several exciting events at the Lion’s Club Pavilion July 19th-24th including nightly pageants, the Vintage Fashion Show, and DeKalb IDOL among others.
The Junior Fair Princess Pageant will be held Monday, July 19th at 6:00 p.m. followed by the Fairest of the Fair at the Lion’s Club Pavilion. The Little Mister and Little Miss contest will be held Tuesday, July 20th at 6:00 p.m. The Little Miss Princess Pageant will be held Wednesday, July 21st at 6:00 p.m. followed by the Miss Sweetheart Contest.
Shan Burklow encourages anyone interested in entering any of these pageants to register on-line. “If you need to check out pageant information you can go to the DeKalb County Fair website at www.dekalbcountyfair.us or you can go to the www.studiosixlimited.com site and either way it will give you updated pageant details for your age group. Registration is $20.00 this year as opposed to $15.00. We’ve had a few questions about that but it has been a bargain for years and $20.00 is still lower than any pageant around. One other change in the pageants is that DeKalb County residents ONLY may register in every single category.”
Meanwhile, the Vintage Fashion Show is set for Thursday night, July 22nd following the Baby Show at the Lions Club Pavilion. “If you want to volunteer to be in the Vintage Fashion Show, you can sign up on-line or contact the Chamber of Commerce at 597-4163. We’re doing decades or sitcoms this year so if you have any epic character from a sitcom or a particular decade that you want to represent or if you have a costume that you’d like to donate or wear yourself be sure to contact us because now is the time for that” said Burklow.
DeKalb Idol will be featured on Friday night following the Toddler Show at the Lions Club Pavilion. “Instead of auditioning for DeKalb IDOL, you can just sign up. We’ve had so many people who want to participate but who can’t come out to the fair more than one night. So you can register on-line at www.studiosixlimited.com or you can register at the fair on Monday through Thursday from 6:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. We are not going to do text voting this year because the phone lines were so jammed last year from the voting. But we will have “People’s Choice”. So if you’re competing in DeKalb IDOL bring all your friends and family because that crowd appeal will be part of the people’s choice vote. It’s a $100 prize for people’s choice and a $300 cash prize for the winner” said Burklow.
Registration for the Junior Fair Princess Pageant will be Saturday, July 17th anytime from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Contestants must be 13 through 16 years of age. Participants must not be over age 16 by the date of the pageant. Contestants may wear any type of dress (short or long).
Registration for the Fairest of the Fair will be Saturday, July 17th anytime from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m.. This pageant is only open to DeKalb County residents. Contestants must be age 17 and not over age 20 by December 31st, 2010. Participants must not be, nor have ever been married. The winner must also agree to participate in the State Fairest of the Fair Pageant in January, 2011. Contestants should wear any type of dress (short or long). The Fairest of the Fair pageant will be Monday, July 19th following the Junior Fair Princess Pageant.
The Little Mister and Little Miss contest will be held Tuesday, July 20th at 6:00 p.m. at the Lion’s Club Pavilion. Registration will be Saturday, July 17th anytime from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m.. Contestants in both pageants must be 4 and not over 6 years of age by the pageant date. Girls should wear any type of dress. Boys should wear Sunday attire..
The Little Miss Princess Pageant will be held Wednesday, July 21st at 6:00 p.m. followed by the Miss Sweetheart Contest at the Lion’s Club Pavilion. Registration for the Little Miss Princess Pageant will be Saturday, July 17th anytime from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Contestants must be 7 and not over 9 years of age by the pageant date. Meanwhile, registration for the Miss Sweetheart Pageant will be Saturday, July 17th anytime from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Contestants must be 10 and not over 12 years of age by the pageant date. Contestants may wear any type dress.
You may register on-line for each pageant now at www.studiosixlimited.com
Every pageant will have a Miss Photogenic Contest. The winner will receive a sash and mini tiara. Bring a 5 x 7 photo or smaller size to registration or submit the photo on-line by July 16th.
The entry fee for each of these pageants is $20.00 per contestant, (cash only) payable at the time of registration. There will be a queen/king first and second place awarded in each category. Only one contestant per entry. Contestants must be residents of DeKalb County. Previous winners are not eligible in the pageants in which they won. Prizes will be awarded in each pageant.
For more information visit www.dekalbcountyfair.us or www.studiosixlimited.com.

The fifth annual Sales Tax Holiday is scheduled for Friday, August 6 and continuing through Sunday, August 8. The Department of Revenue is reminding Tennessee shoppers that during these three days of savings, you can save almost 10 percent on tax-free clothing, school and art supplies and computer purchases.
“The annual Sales Tax Holiday was designed with Tennessee families in mind,” said Governor Phil Bredesen. “The holiday provides much needed savings for all Tennessee shoppers and prepares children for success by making sure they start the first day of school properly equipped with items they need.”
The holiday begins Friday, August 6 at 12:01 a.m. and ends Sunday, August 8 at 11:59 p.m. During the designated three-day weekend, consumers will not pay state or local sales tax on select clothing with a price of $100 or less per item, school and art supplies with a price of $100 or less per item, and computers with a price of $1,500 or less.
“Last year’s tax-free weekend was extremely successful in giving back to Tennesseans, providing nearly $8 million in tax savings to Tennessee families,” said Revenue Commissioner Reagan Farr. “We are hopeful that all Tennessee shoppers will enjoy the immediate relief of the 2010 Sales Tax Holiday.”
Please visit the Sales Tax Holiday Web site at www.tntaxholiday.com to learn more about the items exempt from sales tax. The Tennessee Department of Revenue also assists consumers via e-mail, Salestax.Holiday@TN.gov, and through its toll-free statewide telephone hot line, (800) 342-1003. Staff is available to answer questions Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time. (Out-of-state and Nashville-area callers, please dial (615) 253-0600.)
In a continued effort to promote Tennessee’s sales tax holiday, the Department of Revenue has launched a new dedicated facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/TNTaxHoliday.
Examples of exempt items include:
· Clothing: Shirts, dresses, pants, coats, gloves and mittens, hats and caps, hosiery, neckties, belts, sneakers, shoes, uniforms whether athletic or non-athletic and scarves
· School Supplies: Binders, book bags, calculators, tape, chalk, crayons, erasers, folders, glue, pens, pencils, lunch boxes, notebooks, paper, rulers and scissors
· Art Supplies: Clay and glazes; acrylic, tempera and oil paints; paintbrushes for artwork; sketch and drawing pads; and watercolors
· Computers: Central processing unit (CPU), along with various other components including monitor, keyboard, mouse, cables to connect components and preloaded software (Note: While the CPU may be purchased separately, other items must be part of a bundled computer package in order to be eligible.) iPad’s are eligible for tax exemption, video games and consoles are not.

DeKalb Telephone Cooperative (d/b/a DTC Communications) will host its annual meeting on Sept. 18, 2010, at the DeKalb County Fairgrounds in Alexandria.
Directors will be elected in four exchanges, including the Auburntown (464), Gordonsville (683), Temperance Hall (548), and Woodland (765) exchanges.
Voting for directors will take place at the cooperative’s annual meeting on Saturday, Sept. 18. Thursday, Sept. 9, will be the last day to make changes to your membership for the 2010 election.
Only DTC members may vote, and each member must present identification. For a single membership, only that individual may vote. Either member of a joint membership may vote, but not both. In the case of a business membership, a business affidavit is required.
Individuals interested in becoming a candidate for a director’s position must meet the qualifications as defined in the bylaws and submit a petition by 5 p.m. on August 4th.
For questions regarding membership and voting guidelines, refer to the by-laws section included in the current DTC phone directory.

An employee of DeKalb Farmers Coop was seriously injured in a loader accident this morning (Wednesday) at the coop.
911 received the call at 9:56 a.m.
David Driver was taken by DeKalb EMS to DeKalb Community Hospital where he was airlifted by a Life Force helicopter ambulance and flown to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga.

Registration for the voluntary pre-kindergarten program in the DeKalb County School system will be conducted on Monday, August 2nd at Smithville Elementary School and DeKalb West School.
Children may be registered that day from 7:45 a.m. until 11:00 a.m.
Clay Farler, Director of the Pre-K program and Attendance Supervisor, says state funding provides for a total of four pre-k classes at Smithville Elementary School and one class at DeKalb West School.
Farler says eligible children must be four years of age by September 30th and their parents must meet the federal income guidelines. “Parents should bring their four year old child to registration along with the youngster’s birth certificate, record of a physical examination within the last year, and the child’s immunization record. The law, as of July 1st, has changed regarding immunizations as far as what’s required so parents should check with the health department or their doctors. I’m not sure if they have the forms ready for that yet but if they are able to get that by August 2nd, they need to bring that. If not, the state has given us a short amount of time as a grace period in order for parents to be able to get those in.”
“I also want to address some of the requirements for kindergarten. Of course, we have a pre-kindergarten program at Smithville Elementary and at DeKalb West School. We have four classrooms at Smithville Elementary and one classroom at DeKalb West. We must first enroll students who are four years old on or before September 30th of this current school year. So any boy or girl who would be four years of age on or before September 30th might qualify for the program. We’re also to enroll children who qualify for the free or reduced price lunch program. They are the first ones who have to be enrolled. Then after that, if we still have vacancies we are to enroll children with disabilities or children identified as English language learners or those at-risk for failure due to circumstances of abuse or neglect. The program is mainly for at-risk students and as I mentioned they have to be four years old on or before September 30th.”
“There is one classroom at both schools that we’re able to enroll three year old students who will be three years old on or before September 30th, if we do not fill the classroom with four year olds. We usually have quite a few more three year old children that apply than we are able to get into the program. So I would encourage parents to enroll their children. It is a great program. We’ve been running it for about ten years. We started out with two pilot classrooms, one at each school and then about five or six years ago we were able to start adding additional classes and now we’re up to four classes at the elementary school and one at the west school.”
“We can have up to twenty students per class of four year olds. If we do enroll any three years olds we must have a smaller number in that classroom. Each class has a teacher and an educational assistant who works with the teacher. Since we have four classrooms at the elementary school we even have another educational assistant who works there to help out with all the classes.”
For more information, contact Farler at 597-4084.

The Fifth Annual First Day of School Education Celebration for DeKalb County will be held on Monday, August 2nd from 6:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. downtown around the courthouse square.
Michelle Burklow, Supervisor of Instruction for Pre-Kindergarten to 6th Grade, says the event is free and all parents and students are urged to attend to help kick off the new school year. “Our goal is to provide an evening of activities, education, and enjoyment for the residents of DeKalb County. We will be having information booths, passing out school supplies, refreshments, and various activities for the students to participate in while promoting education.”
“This will also provide a time for our teachers and parents to come together to build a foundation for new and positive relationships, right from day one.”

“Our First Day of School Celebration is an opportunity for our schools to take a leadership role in re-enforcing and improving relationships among parents, teachers, students, and the community. This is the one day each year when it is both easiest and most important to enlist families as partners in our children’s education. This is a great time for us to engage our families and make them feel welcome into our schools.”
“So come out and join us. Everything is free that evening. We’ll have free school supplies, free food, snacks and lots of community people coming together to make this event possible.”
“I want to thank the many volunteers who put in hours and hours getting this event ready for our children. Jennifer Mitchell, Jamie Vickers, Pamela Poss, Angela Johnson, Suzette Barnes, Melissa Pirtle, Gina Denman, Lisa Norton, Danielle Collins, and Kelly Garrett are on the Education Celebration committee.”
“There are many volunteers, churches, and organizations that come together to make this event possible for our children so they are able to start school with new supplies and a great positive attitude.”
If you would like to help with this event please call Michelle Burklow at 597-4084.
This celebration is totally free of charge to those who attend so make plans now to join the fun downtown Smithville on Monday, August 2nd.

DeKalb County is seeking federal and state funds to help pay for costs of repairing local roads, including those around bridges, and for debris clean-up from the flooding that occurred May 1st and 2nd.
But in order for the county to receive Hazard Mitigation grant funds, it must be enrolled in the National Flood Insurance Program. Last week, the county commission authorized participation in the program, as recommended by the DeKalb County Regional Planning Commission.
County Mayor Mike Foster says by being enrolled in the National Flood Insurance Program, county residents living in the floodplain will have an opportunity to purchase flood insurance and the county will be eligible to apply for flood relief funds. “First of all it means we have to be enrolled in it to get this hazard mitigation money. We have applied to get the county benefits from the flood. In the past, you didn’t have to be a member of it or be enrolled in it (flood insurance program). The cities of the county are already enrolled in it and most of the flood areas are in Alexandria, Liberty, and Dowelltown and a few in Smithville. All this does (enrolling in the program) is bring the rest of the county in so that if a person has property, they can get flood insurance on it, even if it’s in a flood plain. Right now you can’t (get flood insurance). You can get insurance if you’re not in a flood plain, but if you live in a flood plain, you can’t (get flood insurance) unless we (county) are enrolled and that’s what this is about.”
“A person can still build in the flood plain, but he has to build his foundation above the 100 year flood plain. I think they (foundations) have to be at least three feet above the 100 year flood plain, so they (owners) can build up their lot in that spot and still build on it. The only areas we’re really talking about would be somewhere along Smith Fork Creek and probably below the dam. There’s probably seven or eight houses down through there that are in the flood plain. A few are in the flood plain along Smith Fork and a few of the other creeks.”
“In reality, we may not have but one a year that would build in that flood plain. If they do (build), what they have to do is have a surveyor shoot the elevation of the 100 year plain according to the maps we have and tell him (owner) where he can build his house and then we (county) have to go out and inspect it to see that he does that. Then, everybody who lives within the flood plain could purchase flood insurance if they want to. But, like I said there are very few flood plain areas in the county (outside the cities of Smithville, Dowelltown, Liberty, and Alexandria). Technically, a lot of the land around the lake is in the flood plain but it’s owned by the Corps so there’s not going to be any building in it.”
Foster says if approved for grant funding, FEMA would pay 75% and the state would fund 12.5% to reimburse the county for the repairs. The local matching obligation would be 12.5%, which could be met with in-kind work. “There’s probably six or seven bridge locations where the roads around them have some to a lot of damage. The roads to the bridges on Smith Fork have a lot of damage. There is some serious damage to the one at Dismal and another down stream on Lower Helton and they’re both fairly new bridges. One of them is very new but the flood waters actually went over the top of it and washed out part of the roads coming to the bridges. So far we don’t think there’s any damage to the bridges temselves but to the ramps on each end. We’ve also got some debris that’s washed in under two or three bridges that needs to be corrected. There’s also some minor damage to roads around bridges on Dry Creek and Sink Creek that need to be repaired.”
“We also have miles of roads that have been damaged where either the ditchlines were disturbed or washed out, or in some cases the blacktop washed off some of the roads. This grant money would help repair those areas. A lot of them are under the hill, as far as the roads washing away, but even some roads around the lake on some of the steeper roads had some damage. I know of four or five areas in particular, and some of them are also on top of the hill, where there was damage to ditchlines as rip rap washed out or they just need to be repaired. Kenny (Edge) has a list of those that we is working on.”