A boating accident on Center Hill Lake Saturday night claimed the life of one person and injured two others.
Dead is 41 year old Robert S. Schafer of Brentwood. Those injured were 36 year old Melinda M. McGee and 35 year old John Carter Collins both of Nashville.
911 received the call at 9:45 p.m.
TWRA Officer Tony Cross told WJLE that the boat, a 22 foot Cobalt runabout, was underway on the lake when it ran aground and overturned, pinning Schafer, the operator, underneath. He died at the scene. The crash occurred about three miles from Hidden Harbor Marina in the Raccoon Hollow area.
“It happened Saturday night between 9:15 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.” said Officer Cross. “Most folks who are familiar with the lake know about the raccoon hollow area. They have a ski jump. Its been there for a long time in the back of the hollow. The downstream side of the mouth of Raccoon hollow has a shallow point or flat area that comes out. The boat was traveling out in the main channel and, we think, was heading back to a house boat which was back in the hollow where there were a few house boats tied up near each other. We think they (victims) did not see the land there. It wasn’t a high bank or anything. It was just a shallow low lying bank, where you could look across and see the lights on the houseboats. We think they (victims) weren’t familiar enough with the lay of the land there. They started across that point at a pretty high rate of speed. There were several big rocks on the outer portion of the bank there and when the boat hit, it sort of slid around to the side and then flipped once. The two occupants (McGee and Collins) were ejected from the boat and that’s probably what saved their lives. The operator (Schafer) remained in the boat and was pinned underneath. The medical examiner will be able to tell for sure, but we believe (death) was instantaneous. It was very tragic. It was very dark (at the time of the accident) and they didn’t have any headlights on the boat but you’re not supposed to depend on your headlights to run on the water at night anyway. But you do need to be familiar with the area your traveling,” said Officer Cross
The accident remains under investigation by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
The two injured, McGee and Collins were brought by a TWRA boat to one of the ramps near Hidden Harbor Marina, where they were loaded aboard a DeKalb EMS ground ambulance and transported to a helicopter landing zone set up in a field on Hurricane Ridge Road. One of the victims was airlifted by Life Flight and the other by Life Force. They were reportedly flown to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville. Their injuries are not believed to be life threatening.
In addition to the TWRA and DeKalb EMS, others either at the crash scene or at the marina boat ramp rendering assistance were members of the DeKalb County Rescue Squad, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department, DeKalb County Emergency Management Coordinator Charlie Parker, First Responders, among others.

A criminal court jury of seven men and five women handed down a guilty verdict Friday afternoon against two men charged with initiation of a process to manufacture methamphetamine and reckless endangerment.
30 year old Scott B. Carroll, Jr. and 20 year old Francisco Bustamonte stood trial on the charges in DeKalb County Criminal Court. Judge David Patterson presided. The two men were accused of engaging in a process to make methamphetamine at a residence at 200 the Loop Circle in the Midway Community on January 23, 2011. The reason for the reckless endangerment charges was because the men were allegedly cooking meth in the presence of Carroll’s sixteen year old sister-in-law, a juvenile, placing her in danger of serious bodily injury from the chemicals which produce a strong odor that is toxic. Another man, 19 year old Wesley J. Hayes, is also charged in the case but he did not stand trial Friday. His case remains pending in court.
After two hours of jury selection, the trial got underway shortly after 11:00 a.m. then broke for lunch at noon. The trial resumed at 1:00 p.m. and was completed shortly after 3:00 p.m. The jurors retired to the jury room to begin their deliberations at 3:20 p.m. and returned forty minutes later at 4:00 p.m. with a verdict.
In addition to Carroll and Bustamonte being found guilty as charged in the indictments, the jury imposed the maximum fines in the case, $27,500 against each man. That’s $25,000 each for initiation and $2,500 for reckless endangerment.
A sentencing hearing for the two men has been scheduled for September 19th. Assistant District Attorney General Greg Strong told WJLE after the trial that Bustamonte faces a range of punishment of from 8-12 years as a range one offender while Carroll, who is classified as a career criminal, could get up to 30 years in prison.
The state called only three witnesses to testify in the case, Detective Jeremy Taylor and Deputy Caleb Meadows of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and Sheriff Patrick Ray. The case was prosecuted by Assistant D.A’s Greg Strong and Gary McKenzie. Carroll was represented by Allison Rasbury, Assistant Public Defender. Bustamonte’s lawyer was Smithville attorney Jim Judkins.
Detective Jeremy Taylor, who was a deputy at the time of the offense, testified that the sheriff’s department was called to come to the residence at the Loop Circle on January 23. The officers were tipped off that someone in the home may be making meth. When officers arrived, Detective Taylor said that the man who was renting the home gave consent for the officers to enter the residence. Once inside the officers made their way toward a bedroom. After knocking twice, Detective Taylor said Carroll opened the bedroom door. Inside he could see Carroll and two other men, Bustamonte and Wesley J. Hayes near a bathroom. All three men were wearing gloves. Carroll’s wife and 16 year old sister-in-law were in another part of the house and apparently not involved in the meth lab operation. Detective Taylor testified that he could see two propane burners in the bathroom sink that were still burning and on them were pyrex dishes. The bathroom, he said, also had a chemical smell consistent with that of a meth lab. When Carroll saw the officers, he placed his hands behind his head and said “It’s all mine”, according to Detective Taylor.
The men were then instructed to turn off the burners. In addition to the cookers and pyrex dishes, officers found other components used to make meth including a jar containing a tri layered liquid, a 20 ounce Sundrop bottle with a hole cut in the cap on the top which had a tube protruding from it, backpacks containing bottles with liquid, cooking heads, a zip lock bag of ammonium nitrate, propane cylinders, and baggies. Detective Taylor said it appeared the meth lab was in the “panning” or final stages of operation in which the liquids are converted to solids as finished product. A Hazmat company was later called to cleanup and dispose of the hazardous materials at the scene. Although no ephedrine was found, an essential ingredient in the manufacture of meth, Detective Taylor claimed it had already been added to the cook by the time officers arrived.
However attorneys for the defendants, Rasbury and Judkins claimed that without evidence of ephedrine, their clients could not be convicted of these crimes. During closing arguments, Rasbury said there was no testimony of any ephedrine pills or liquids having been found, nor any empty ephedrine boxes, nor was there any finished product of meth. Both she and Judkins also questioned why no testing was done on the liquids and components found at the scene to determine if they contained ephedrine.
Rasbury and Judkins argued that no evidence was presented to support the charge of reckless endangerment, putting the 16 year old in harms way. Rasbury questioned why only the one count of reckless endangerment, if officers were concerned about public safety since others were in the home at the time.
During his testimony, Deputy Caleb Meadows testified that as he arrived on the scene, he could smell a strong chemical odor which only became stronger when he entered the home. When asked by Rasbury if the chemical could have been an odor from a substance used by one of the women in the home who had been cleaning the floor, Officer Meadows said he did not see anyone cleaning the floor. Rasbury also asked why Officer Meadows did not make a written report.. Meadows said the policy of the sheriff’s department is for the arresting officer to do the reporting. In any event, Officer Meadows said he felt comfortable in relying on his memory in recalling details of this case.
Sheriff Ray testified as an expert witness on meth labs and explained for the jury the different types of meth lab operations. As photos of the evidence collected at the scene were projected on a screen and shown to the jury Sheriff Ray explained how the components shown in those pictures are typically used in a meth lab operation.
In his closing arguments on behalf of Bustamonte, attorney Judkins explained to the jury that all of the items found by officers in this investigation could be bought almost anywhere and that these are products that many people use in their homes regularly for legitimate purposes. Judkins added that just because these components may be consistent with the manufacture of methamphetamine, doesn’t mean they were used for that reason in this case. Judkins further stressed that there was no proof that any of these components belonged to Bustamonte, pointing out that Carroll had claimed responsibility for them as officers arrived when he said “it’s all mine”.
In his closing remarks, Assistant D.A. McKenzie told the jury that since the defendants were indicted for initiating the process to make meth instead of being charged with manufacturing the drug, it was not necessary to test the chemicals, because the act of initiating makes it illegal for them to engage in what they were found doing. In addition, he said there was a safety concern about toxic gases from the chemicals. McKenzie also questioned why Carroll would put his hands behind his head and admit to these items belonging to him, unless he knew he had been caught doing something illegal.
Sheriff Ray told WJLE after that trial that he was very pleased with the outcome of this case. “I am very proud of my department and the work that they do. Cases like this are the example we want to set that we are very serious about the illegal manufacture and sale of drugs in our county. I want to see more of these cases where an offender with multiple convictions of serious crimes get extensive jail time for their continued illegal acts,” said Sheriff Ray.
Bustamonte, already serving time in another case, was returned to jail after the trial while Judge Patterson revoked Carroll’s bond, pending the sentencing hearing. Carroll had been free on bonding before the trial.

A DeKalb County student at Carson- Newman College is a member of the National Championship Forensic Speech and Debate team.
Luke Willoughby said that the team, of which he is a member, competes across the country and has earned many special honors. “I’ve been at Carson Newman for the past two years. I’m a double major in political science and financial economics with a minor in law and policy. I’m very involved on campus. I serve as a student body vice president. I’m one of the youngest they’ve had since the early 1990’s. I’m also involved in the Carson Newman Forensics, which is not the CSI type of forensics, but the speech and debate type of forensics where I’ve been part of the National Championship team for the past two years,” said Willoughby
“The Carson Newman Speech and Debate Team has won the National Championship and individual events for the past two years. At one point in time, I was named the seventh best debater in the nation. Throughout the whole process, we travel the country throughout the year from North Carolina to Los Angeles, California. We have competed in smaller tournaments, such as here in Tennessee to tournaments in Miami, Florida. We usually win most all of them. We travel about ten times a year to ten tournaments. At Carson Newman, we’re expected to win at least eight or nine of them but when it comes to the big tournaments such as the state association tournament, which is like our conference tournament, we have won that for the past five years. This coming year the tournament will be held at Tennessee Tech University. As we travel we have a big time and learn a lot and that’s what our coach drills in our heads. Its not about winning but building community, having a family environment, and learning how to communicate efficiently for the workforce,” said Willoughby
“You compete as an individual. Its sort of like the golf team. Everyone is competing with their own individual score but at the end of the day everything is sort of combined. That’s sort of how forensics works. You are allowed to compete in a certain number of events. I do a persuasive speech each year, an after dinner speech in which you examine an idea or topic by the use of humor. I do parliamentary debate which is where you have a partner and you’re given fifteen minutes to prepare a brief and then you debate the opposing team. I do impromptu speaking which is where you’re given a quotation and then you speak on whether you agree or disagree with it. I also do an extemporaneous speech which is a limited preparation event, like impromptu, where they give you a certain question whether it be a domestic, political, economic, or international topic and then you’re given thirty minutes to prepare a speech with the research that you have on your computer. You cannot access the Internet. So its very important to be up to date on current events. I love it. Its something that has helped me as a student and also as a communicator,” said Willoughby
Carson-Newman College is a Christian, private, Liberal Arts institution, located in Jefferson City, some 25 miles east of Knoxville.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum recently acquired three furniture pieces from former Appalachian Center for Craft student Chris Shea. The museum wanted the forged iron and cast glass works for its permanent collection of notable American craft and decorative arts. The two cafe chairs and arthropod side table by Shea will be on exhibit at the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. beginning Oct. 1.
According to Shea, “The two and a half years I spent at the Appalachian Center for Craft gave me a great foundation of skills and knowledge that I still draw on every day. I’m grateful to have studied metal and blacksmithing under Professor Bob Coogan, worked in wood with Professor Graham Campbell, and for the many hours spent in the glass shop with Professor Curt Brock.”
“Objects in the Renwick Gallery have been a source of great inspiration to me for many years, living and working as I do in the Washington, D.C. area. I’m very honored and excited to have my work included in the nation’s premier craft collection.”
Smithsonian curator Nicholas Bell commented, “Over the past 15 years, Chris Shea has developed a compelling design language that combines traditional furniture forms, muscular ironwork and luminous cast glass in ways that are at once unexpected and oddly organic.”
The cafe chairs have become a signature piece for Shea, with a form derived from traditional bentwood furniture but executed in hot-forged steel, with joinery details more common to large architectural ironwork than fine furniture. The seats are cast in thick contoured slabs of translucent green glass set directly into the iron. The table is of similar design, with the name “Arthropod” referring to the phylum of creatures such as insects and crustaceans known for their hard, segmented organic structures.
Chris Shea designs and creates furniture, sculpture and architectural metalwork at his forge and studio outside Washington, D.C. In addition to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Galllery, his work has been shown at Wexler Gallery in Philadelphia, Woodson Art Museum, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, the National Ornamental Metals Museum and at SOFA Chicago with Maurine Littleton Gallery. A native of Marblehead, Mass., Shea studied at the Appalachian Center for Craft in Tennessee and at Penland School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Cornell University. Chris Shea’s glass work is created in association with the Washington Glass Studio.

A man arrested as a suspect in the strangulation death of his 81 year old aunt in Manchester this week was convicted less than a year ago in a DeKalb County arson case.
49 year old Jeffery Owen Smithson pleaded guilty last September in DeKalb County Criminal Court to arson and received a three year sentence. He was given credit for time served and was placed on probation for the balance of the sentence. Smithson was ordered to make restitution and stay away from the victims in the case. He was given jail credit of 432 days from July 15th, 2009 to September 20th, 2010.
In the Manchester case, officers found 81-year-old Virginia White strangled in her home along Woodbury Highway around 8 p.m. Wednesday. Smithson had reportedly been staying with her, but he was not there when police arrived. Mrs. White’s car was also gone.
The Manchester Times reports that Manchester Police in cooperation with Cannon County authorities apprehended Smithson at approximately 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon in the Ivy Bluff area of Cannon County.
Cannon County authorities spotted the 1989 Mercury Marquis that Smithson was alleged to be traveling in and called Manchester authorities.
Manchester Police Department investigators and Cannon County authorities approached the vehicle which was parked in the woods next to a bean field and found Smithson inside the vehicle. Smithson surrendered without incident after he was spotted sitting in the driver’s seat of Mrs. White’s 1989 Mercury Marquis.
Investigators said White recently took Smithson into her home to help him get back on his feet.
Reports say a concerned neighbor asked police to look in on the woman, and she was found beaten to death in the back bedroom of the house Wednesday night.
In the DeKalb County arson case, Sheriff Patrick Ray said detectives had been investigating Smithson for theft from a mobile home on Stoner Road near the Rollertown Road in the southern part of the county and through that investigation Smithson became a suspect in the arson case. He was charged on July 28th, 2009. Smithson allegedly went to the mobile home on June 28th, 2009, broke into the residence, and stole items from there. Smithson then allegedly set fire to the residence and fled. The fire caused extensive damage to the home.

Lighthouse Christian Camp is expanding its “Sing for Joy” Widows Home ministry.
Groundbreaking was held Wednesday for a second widows home. The first one was opened in 2006
Ben Chapman, President of Lighthouse Christian Camp, told WJLE Wednesday that he felt impressed to begin this ministry several years ago based upon the scriptural mandate of caring for widows. He said the goal and mission of “Sing for Joy” is to offer widows safe, independent retirement living with unlimited opportunities to serve in ministry. ‘God impressed on my heart some seven or eight years ago to do this under scriptural mandate to care for widows. The widows home here is called the Sing for Joy Widows Home. Its independent living for the widows that are in residence. It gives the widows the opportunity to continue to minister to others. Many widows today are so financially strapped, we wanted to relieve that financial burden and give them the opportunity to live in a place where they can be here full time. The children who come to camp here, they are all needy kids and the children are ministered to by these widows in our after school clubs, weekend retreats, and summer camps. The widows serve in many capacities. When we’re serving meals in the dining hall, they’re working there. They work in the office. They contribute in so many ways, giving them the opportunity to continue to feel fulfilled in their lives by ministering to others. God revealed to me that there’s no greater compatibility than between an elderly lady and these children that are very needy. The widows can receive the blessing of children as well as the children receiving the blessing of these ladies that are there. We built the first widows home in 2006. The home has been full for over a year now. We have four apartments, a common area in the home, and the widows are independent in their own living. They take care of themselves. I’ve been asked often about when we would build a second widows home and my reply has been, when we have a waiting list. So we now have that waiting list. We started construction Monday and had a groundbreaking on Wednesday to build another similar home, almost identical to the one we have now, to house poor widows,” said Chapman
Widows may continue to reside in the home as long as they can care for themselves, according to Chapman ” They can be here until such time that they would not be able to care for themselves. We’re not licensed like the Webb House to where we can provide any kind of physical care or medical care. So as long as they can care for themselves and can administer their own medications the widows home is available to them. We will provide transportation as needed. But all of our widows in the widows home now are able to drive and they take care of themselves. If they come to the place where they would not be able to do that (care for themselves) then we would assist them in finding other accommodations,” said Chapman.
The widows in residence pay rent, but Chapman said the cost is kept to a minimum. “The rent is very minimal, about $100 per month is the rent. That’s for most of the widows who are here now. Each apartment is metered and they pay for their own power bill, which is very inexpensive, usually no more than fifty to seventy five dollars per month. The widows have their own kitchen. They’re able to take their meals in our dining hall when we’re having camp or weekend retreats, they can eat with all the children. So their meals are furnished. But during the off season, during weekends, etc, they have their own kitchen. They’re totally self contained to where they can prepare their own meals. The widows home also has a common area where the widows can come out of their apartments into a common area. There’s a kitchen there. They can receive visitors and guests. The whole vision is that they can come out and take meals together if they so desire in the common area,” said Chapman.
Each apartment is spacious, according to Chapman, with storage space underneath”The building itself is 80 feet x 40 feet deep and each apartment is very spacious. Some independent living areas that we have been in are not as spacious as ours are. Our apartments have a living area and kitchen combination, a private bathroom, and a private bedroom. It’s a good size. Underneath the home, if they have other items that they wouldn’t be able to get in their apartment, we have storage underneath the homes. So each of the homes has a full basement underneath with compartments for storage underneath,” said Chapman.
If you would like to make a donation to help support this ministry, Chapman said it would be welcomed. “As always, we’ve had some donations that have just recently been made and that’s the way things are always done here at camp. We always believe God and when He says it’s time to move, we trust that the Lord will provide the funding necessary. So we’re believing in God and as the funding comes, we’ll be able to complete this home, hopefully by next March. We’re hoping to get it under roof before Christmas and then through the winter we would finish it up inside and have it open by March 1. We already have a waiting list. We have a couple of widows who are already waiting to come. But we have two apartments right now that we don’t have commitments on so if someone is interested we’d be glad to hear from you. Call here to get more information or if you would like to mail a check to support the ministry, our address is 205 Serenity Place, Smithville. We do have a matching gift offer available right now. Anybody who makes a gift to the Sing for Joy Widows Home, it will be doubled. If they give $100, $500, or $1,000, it’ll mean double that amount coming to us because we have a matching gift. If you know of a widow in need, who is scripturally qualified, we’d be glad to talk to that person. You can call here, our number is 615-597-1264 if you need more information about possibly being a resident,” said Chapman.
Pictured above left to right: Carol Ann O’clare, JoAnn Manning,Troy Kocher , Ermeda Chapman, Bro. Ben Chapman, Jerry Brown, Becky Buckley, Flora Currie and Chamber Director Suzanne Williams

The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) announced today it is aggressively seeking men and women who are interested in careers in law enforcement for a new Trooper Cadet Class slated to begin January 22, 2012. Applications will only be accepted from Monday, August 15 through Friday, August 26, 2011.
Individuals interested in applying for the position of State Trooper must be at least 21 years old, a U.S. Citizen and have a high school diploma or equivalent. No applicants with felony convictions will be considered. If hired, individuals must obtain a valid Tennessee Driver License, and are required to successfully complete a Level II background investigation, which includes a credit check and polygraph test. Recruits must also pass a physical agility test, as well as psychological and medical examinations, including a drug screening.
Those interested in and qualified for the position of State Trooper should submit an employment application to the Tennessee Department of Human Resources for approval to take the civil service examination. All applicants must apply online at http://tn.gov/dohr/employment/career.html beginning Monday, August 15, 2011. Applications will not be accepted after August 26, 2011. Once approved by the Department of Human Resources, applicants will be contacted to take the Trooper examination on one of three dates: August 30, August 31, and September 1. All examinations will take place in Nashville only.
There are currently 903 authorized commissioned officer positions within the THP. Trooper recruits will be assigned to vacant positions across the state upon graduation. The starting salary for a Cadet during Trooper School is $2,500.00 per month. Upon graduation and commissioning as a Tennessee State Trooper, the salary will increase to $2,767.00 per month and includes other benefits such as a paid pension plan, low cost health insurance and paid holidays. Uniform, equipment and patrol vehicles are also provided by the THP. With regular pay increases, a Trooper can earn $49,344.00 per year after 10 years of service under the current pay structure. Recruits are paid while in training. The Trooper Class will last 18 weeks.
For additional information on becoming a State Trooper, visit the Department of Safety website at
http://www.tn.gov/safety/thp/school.shtml. For more information about applications and testing, interested individuals are encouraged to contact the Tennessee Department of Human Resources Applicant Services Division at (615) 741-4841.

Director of Schools Mark Willoughby has hired the new assistant principals.
Willoughby, who made the announcement Tuesday morning on WJLE, said that Julie Vincent has been hired as assistant principal at Northside Elementary School and Karen Knowles at Smithville Elementary School. Sabrina Farler, who has been at DeKalb Middle School asked for a transfer to become the assistant principal at DeKalb West School. Kathy Bryant will be moving from Northside Elementary to take Farler’s place as assistant principal at DeKalb Middle School.
These assistant principals are needed, according to Willoughby, and they will help to ease the burden of increased teacher evaluations mandated by the state. “This is being done primarily due to the new evaluation system but really this is something that should have been done years ago. These are great people going into some needed positions and this will enhance the education of students in DeKalb county,” said Willoughby.
Although a total of $225,000 was budgeted to fund those positions from the school system’s BEP reserves, Willoughby said their salaries are not in the $70 thousand dollar range as some have speculated. The salaries actually range from $44,623 to $54,466. Contracts for the new assistant principals are for 10 months and two weeks.
Chuck Cagle of the Tennessee School Boards Association, who represents the DeKalb County Board of Education as legal counsel, talked about the new teacher evaluation requirements last week during a special county commission meeting. “We are now facing in education things that we’ve never had to face before and things about which we have very little control. Every school principal in your district has just watched the evaluations that he or she must perform increase by ten times. Prior to this evaluation system we evaluated tenured teachers twice in ten years and we evaluated probationary teachers for the first three years until they were eligible for tenure. Now, every teacher in DeKalb County schools will be evaluated annually, tenured teachers four times a year and probationary teachers six times a year,” said Cagle