The 14th annual Relay for Life in DeKalb County will be held starting Friday, June 3rd at Greenbrook Park, going all night until early Saturday morning, June 4th.
Relay For Life, the American Cancer Society’s signature event, is a fun-filled overnight experience designed to bring together those who have been touched by cancer. At Relay, people from within the community gather to celebrate survivors, remember those lost to cancer, and to fight back against this disease. Relay participants help raise money and awareness to support the American Cancer Society in its lifesaving mission to eliminate cancer as a major health issue. During Relay For Life events, teams of people gather and take turns walking or running laps. The events are held overnight to represent the fact that cancer never sleeps. Through the survivors’ lap and the luminaria ceremony, the people who have faced cancer first hand are honored, and those who have been lost to this disease are remembered.
But, Relay isn’t about taking laps — it’s about coming together in the fight against cancer. It’s a time to remember those lost to this disease and celebrate those who have survived. It’s a place where people connect with others, share the cancer experience, and find comfort and solace. And it’s an opportunity to build hope for a future where cancer no longer threatens the lives of the people we love.
As volunteers and donors, your efforts support research, education, advocacy, and services that allow the American Cancer Society to offer help and hope to people across the country when they need it most. By joining together at Relay, we celebrate life, friendship, and an opportunity to work to defeat cancer for future generations.
In 2010 in DeKalb County, the American Cancer Society provided 33 people with 92 patient services. Twenty five nights of lodging were also provided at the Nashville Hope Lodge along with gas for 155 trips to treatment through the Transportation Grant Program.
On June 3rd, the community will gather together as one group to help in the battle against cancer. At Greenbrook Park in Smithville, dozens of teams, volunteers, community leaders, and citizens will enjoy the annual Relay for Life event. Plans are to have lots of entertainment and food available that evening, starting at around 6:00 pm. Planning for the Relay is a year round event and the organizers hope that you will enjoy what they have in store for you. Relay is the largest community event held in DeKalb County. Please join in for this special night and have lots of fun helping raise money.

The Corps of Engineers will be conducting a periodic test of an emergency evacuation siren at Long Branch Campground, located directly below Center Hill Dam, on Monday, March 28, 2011 at 10 a.m.
This siren serves the Long Branch and Buffalo Valley Recreation Areas immediately below the dam. Additionally, neighboring private landowners downstream of the dam may possibly hear the siren. The test will last for approximately one minute.
This is only a test.
In the unlikely event of a breach of the dam, the siren will be activated and an evacuation plan put into effect to assist the visiting public in the Long Branch and Buffalo Valley Recreation Areas. Anyone with questions should call the Center Hill Lake Resource Manager’s Office at 931-858-3125.

A severe thunderstorm which apparently spawned a tornado blew through Alexandria Wednesday evening causing some structure damage to a few homes and outbuildings.
Two buildings on the DeKalb County Fairgrounds known as Jennings Produce and Jennings Barber Shop were completely destroyed. Heavy damage was also inflicted on the Alexandria City Park and the Alexandria Lions Club Softball Field.
The Mahome community between Alexandria and Watertown was also hit hard with damage to homes and barns and numerous uprooted or blown down trees.

Assistant Fire Chief for the City of Alexandria, Caleb Roth also reported damage at homes on East Main Street just off the town square in Alexandria. “We were dispatched out to a power line down in the street on East Main Street around 6:30 p.m. We got there with one engine and a squad truck with several personnel. We found power lines down. It appeared to be maybe straight line winds or possibly a small tornado touched down. Approximately five to seven houses had some damage. Lots of roof metal pulled off, siding, and furniture all over the place. We found ten to fifteen trees down in the area and power lines in the road. We did several patrols around the town and that’s about the most extensive damage we came up with. No one was hurt. We checked all the houses in this area and everybody was safe.”
Tony Griffith, who resides at 119 East Main Street in Alexandria, said he was at a gas station near his home when he learned that DeKalb County was under a tornado warning and that the storm was approaching Alexandria. Griffith said he got in his pickup truck and headed for home. He was about 200 yards from his house when he saw the debris from the storm blowing across the street. “I was coming up the road from the gas station when I saw stuff twisting and blowing across the road on East Main Street. It was blowing my pickup truck too. You could feel the wind. When I got home I ran into the basement and made sure everybody was okay.”
Griffith said the storm caused some minor damage to his home and destroyed a shed. Several of his neighbors also experienced damage to their homes although apparently no one was left homeless.

After more than three decades, the Smithville Water Treatment plant is getting a major overhaul and by the time the renovation is completed later this year, officials say the city will have a more state of the art facility which will continue to provide its customers with a clean, safe, reliable water supply for many years to come.
Work began last August by the W&O Construction Company of Livingston, who was awarded the construction bid in February 2010 by the board of aldermen at a cost of $2,542,000. The city has been awarded a $500,000 community development block grant administered by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development to help fund the project. But the bulk of the funding, $2,342,000 is being appropriated from the city’s water and sewer fund surplus.
The project at the water plant includes the installation of new high service pumps; new electrical breaker boxes, new storage tanks, new automated water filter control panel, new chlorinator, new liquid fluoride feeder system, the addition of a new standby generator, among many other renovations and improvements.
Mayor Taft Hendrixson said the city does not have to borrow the money because there are sufficient funds in the city’s water and sewer fund reserves to support the project.
During Monday night’s city council meeting, Mayor Hendrixson said officials of W & O Construction met with city officials last week to provide a monthly update on the project. “Their schedule says they will be finished in April and supposedly they’re on time. But then they said maybe some intake pumps may take longer. So we may be looking after April (before they’re finished) but according to everything on schedule now, they have all the new filters in and they are working. They backwash every eight to ten days instead of every two days. That saves us a lot of water and it’s also a lot easier to treat. They’re doing a lot of the electrical work down there. They have one high service pump installed and were working on getting another one out to put a new one in there. Our main problem with the plant now and has been for the last three or four months is the intake. We’ve had to spend some extra money down there to keep the intake going. But if you don’t get water out of the lake, you can’t make it. So we’re doing the best we can and we are keeping the water flowing. I think the water plant renovation is in good shape.”
Hunter Hendrixson, City Secretary-Treasurer, told WJLE Tuesday that “to date, the City has spent $1,477,187 on the plant renovations using Smithville Water and Sewer Funds. The City has been reimbursed $246,030 of the $500,000 CDBG grant. The J.R. Wauford Engineering Company is overseeing the project.”
The water treatment plant was originally constructed in 1966. The last major update to the facility was in 1978 when work was done at both the plant and the pumps at the intake on the lake.

Judge David Patterson sentenced several people in DeKalb County Criminal Court on Monday after they entered pleas in negotiated settlements with the prosecutors.
37 year old Anthony Wayne Cantrell pleaded guilty by information to reckless driving and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days on probation except for six days of jail time. He was fined $350.
24 year old Justin Clyde Hale pleaded guilty to theft over $10,000 and received a three year sentence to serve. The case is to run concurrently with a Putnam County case against him. He must also make $100 restitution.
24 year old Johnny Murphy, Jr. pleaded guilty to simple possession of a schedule III controlled substance and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days, suspended to supervised probation. Murphy was fined $250 and must undergo an alcohol and drug assessment and follow the recommended treatment. He was given jail credit of six days.
25 year old Jordan Thomas Adams pleaded guilty by information to reckless endangerment and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days, suspended to 90 days to serve with the balance on supervised probation. A second offense DUI charge against him will be dismissed. He must report to the jail on Monday, April 18th.
29 year old Michael Chad Owen pleaded guilty to three charges of aggravated burglary and received a three year sentence in each case, all suspended to community corrections. The cases are to run consecutively with each other for a total of nine years. He was given jail credit of approximately 13 months.
39 year old Pamela Jo Kelly pleaded guilty to a first offense of driving under the influence and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days, suspended to 48 hours to serve with the balance on supervised probation. She will lose her license for one year and she must pay a fine of $365. The term is to run concurrently with a violation of probation sentence she is serving in Cumberland County. Her probation here will run concurrently with her probation in Cumberland County.
32 year old David Gaines pleaded guilty to promotion of the manufacture of methamphetamine and received a two year sentence at 30% and then be on supervised probation by TDOC. He was given credit for time served from September 8th, 2010 to March 21st, 2011. Gaines was fined $2,000 and he must undergo an alcohol and drug assessment and pay for any cleanup costs.
50 year old Nickey Cantrell pleaded guilty to two counts of manufacture, sale, and delivery of a schedule II controlled substance. He received a three year sentence on each count to run consecutively with a current sentence against him for a total of six years probation.
32 year old Michael S. Saylors pleaded guilty by information to possession of a schedule II controlled substance for resale and received a three year sentence, suspended to supervised probation. He also pleaded by information to promotion of the manufacture of methamphetamine and received a two year sentence, suspended to supervised probation. He was released to time served.
24 year old Kenny W. Dyal, Jr. pleaded guilty to five charges of burglary. He faces an eight year sentence but a hearing will be held later to determine how the sentence is to be served.
34 year old Lynda M. Neville pleaded guilty in information to two counts of simple possession and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. She received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days in each case, all suspended to CPS probation. The sentences in the simple possession cases are to run concurrently with each other but consecutively with the drug paraphernalia sentence for a total of two years.
31 year old Jeremy Edward Woodard pleaded guilty to a first offense of driving on a suspended license and received a sentence of five months and 29 days, all suspended to supervised probation for a period of six months. He will lose his license for a period of time
62 year old David R. Driver pleaded guilty to a first offense of driving under the influence. He received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days to serve 48 hours and then be on probation. He was fined $365. Driver will lose his license for a period of one year although he may apply for a restricted license. He must complete the Alcohol Safety Education Program and complete an alcohol and drug assessment and follow any recommended treatment.
52 year old Eddie Lynn Taylor pleaded guilty to a second offense of driving under the influence and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days, all suspended to 45 days to serve. He will lose his license for two years and he must pay a fine of $615. Taylor must complete the DUI drug court program. After serving seventeen days, he will be furloughed into treatment.
53 year old William B. Seals, Jr. pleaded guilty to a first offense of driving under the influence and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days, all suspended except for 48 hours to serve. Seals will lose his license for one year but he may apply for a restricted license. He must pay a fine of $365 and complete the Alcohol Safety Education Program and an alcohol and drug assessment and follow any recommended treatment.
30 year old Christopher Sayle pleaded guilty to a first offense of driving under the influence and simple possession. He received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days all suspended to 48 hours to serve on the DUI offense and 11 months and 29 days, all suspended to CPS probation on the simple possession charge, but he’ll be on unsupervised probation after six months if there are no further problems.. The two sentences are to run consecutively for a total of two years. Sayle must pay a fine of $615 and he will lose his license for one year but he may apply for a restricted license. As a condition of probation, Sayle must pay the balance of his probation fees in another case in the amount of $2,450.
54 year old Terry W. Kent pleaded guilty to a first offense of driving under the influence and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days, all suspended to supervised probation except for two days to serve. He was fined $365.

Three people from Pea Ridge Road near Liberty are facing attempted first degree murder, aggravated arson, and especially aggravated robbery charges in Cannon County after allegedly trying to destroy a mobile home by fire with someone still inside last Wednesday, March 16th.
Mary V. Hill, James W. Hill, and Charlotte M. Hill, all of 4641 Pea Ridge Road Liberty were being held in the Cannon County Jail at last report under bonds of $2.5 million each.
The Cannon Courier reports on its website that the Hills were in the process of moving from the home of Lonnie Estes on Big Hill Road to 4641 Pea Ridge Road when an argument began over sheets and towels, according to Cannon County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Anthony Young.
According to the report, “Mr. Estes said that James Hill hit him with his (Estes’) walking cane,” Investigator Young said. “It broke, then he (Hill) hit Estes with a chair, knocking him to the kitchen floor. Estes said James Hill then went outside, got a gallon milk jar of gasoline, came back inside and threw it on the kitchen floor and set it on fire.”
Estes said the three Hills then left the residence, taking his wallet in the process.
The 68 year old Estes made it out of the house and called 911.
Investigator Young responded and rode in the ambulance with Estes to DeKalb Community Hospital to obtain a statement.
Estes was treated and released for a severe laceration to his head and also for multiple bruises to his face and body.
According to the Cannon Courier, the arson and bomb squad was called in to investigate the fire, which caused extensive damage to the kitchen and smoke damage throughout the residence.
Investigator Young said he then returned to the scene and obtained statements from friends and neighbors of Estes and they began searching for the Hills.
“We put out a BOLO and then initiated an area-wide search. They were found within 12 hours. After initially leaving the county, they returned to the residence on Pea Ridge Road and were apprehended there,” Investigator Young said.
The Hills are scheduled to make their initial appearance in Cannon County General Sessions Court on June 6.

In this week’s crime report from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, Sheriff Patrick Ray reports that 36 year old Jonathan David Culwell of Allen’s Chapel Road was issued a citation on Friday, March 18th for violation of the financial responsibility law. His court date is March 30th. He was involved in a two car accident and could not provide proof of insurance.
36 year old Autumn D. White of Chapman Hollow Road, Dowelltown was issued a citation on Friday, March 18th for simple possession of a schedule II controlled substance (Opana). Her court date is April 7th. Sheriff Ray said that on March 18th during a Department of Children Services home visit, a DCS worker found a schedule II controlled substance (Opana) in the hallway floor, believed to belong to Ms. White.
19 year old Travis Joe Davenport of Eagle Creek Road, Smithville was issued a citation on Friday, March 18th for violation of the financial responsibility law and violation of the child restraint law. His court date is April 13th. Davenport, who was traveling north on Mountain View Drive, was pulled over by a deputy. With Davenport was a three year old child sitting in the lap of a seventeen year old in the passenger seat. The child was not in a child restraint device and Davenport could not provide proof of insurance.
25 year old Eduardo Dimas Romo of Cecil Hale Road, Smithville was issued a citation on Sunday, March 20th for having no drivers license, violation of the financial responsibility law, violation of the open container law, and for causing a roadway hazard. His court date is April 7th. Sheriff Ray said that Romo, who was operating a motor vehicle, stopped in the middle of the roadway on Cecil Hale Road causing a road hazard. Romo could not provide proof of insurance and he had an open 12 ounce can of beer in a cupholder within his reach. A computer check revealed that Romo had no drivers license.