The final slate of candidates is set for DTC Communications’ election of directors next month. Directors will be elected in the Alexandria, Liberty, and Smithville exchanges.
Incumbents Bennie Curtis, Randy Campbell, and Ronnie Garrison are running unopposed in the Alexandria, Liberty, and Smithville exchanges, respectively.
Voting for directors will take place at the cooperative’s annual meeting on Saturday, Sept. 15. Gates to the DeKalb County Fairgrounds in Alexandria will open at 11:45 a.m., with voting from noon until 4 p.m. The business meeting will begin at 4 p.m. or once the last person in line at that time has voted.
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.
The last day to make changes to your membership or to be eligible to vote in the 2012 election will be Thursday, September 6.
DTC Communications is a member-owned telephone cooperative established in 1951. The cooperative supplies communication, entertainment, and security products and services to residential and business customers primarily throughout Middle Tennessee.

A celebration was held Thursday at Edgar Evins State Park to commemorate the park’s 37th anniversary and the 75th anniversary of the Tennessee State Park system.
The park was officially dedicated in 1975 and named after the father of Congressman Joe L. Evins, James Edgar Evins.
Carl Halfacre, park manager, who presided over the formal ceremony Thursday, explained how the park came into existence. “As early as 1949, our first term U.S. Congressman Joe L. Evins began a letter-writing campaign that lasted for the better part of 20 years, wanting a state park built on Center Hill Lake. It wasn’t until 1969 that those dreams and those wishes came to fruition when then State Senator Vernon Neal got a bill passed to appropriate money to build a state park.”
The man for whom the park is named, James Edgar Evins, “had been a school teacher, justice of the peace, a salesman and a businessman with several businesses in Smithville, had the first bus line from Smithville to Lebanon, and he was also the Smithville mayor and was also the state senator, to name a few of his endeavors,” Halfacre said.
Today, the park includes about 6,000 acres: 1,500 on north side of the lake and 4,500 on south of the lake, which is largely undeveloped.
During the celebration on Thursday, State Representative Terri Lynn Weaver and State Senator Mae Beavers read a proclamation to commemorate the anniversary, and Cornelia Overton and Joseph Overton, both great grandchildren of James Edgar Evins, performed the national anthem. Officials thanked everyone involved in the creation and maintenance of the state parks over the 75 years of their existence. There were also performances by James Westerfield of Murfreesboro who portrayed himself as James Edgar Evins and Charles Robinson who portrayed himself as Adam Dale, founder of Liberty. Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Bob Martineau and deputy commissioner Brock Hill also made remarks during the program
A traveling exhibit commemorating the 75th anniversary of Tennessee State Parks is visiting the parks. It includes information about the origins and heritage of the park system and the award won for the Best State Park System in America in 2007.
(TOP PHOTO: Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Bob Martineau, State Representative Terri Lynn Weaver, Ramble the Raccoon, and Deputy Commissioner Brock Hill)

While Smithville Police are keeping tight lipped about the double murder investigation on Tommy Harrell Street, WJLE has learned that investigators have talked to a man named David Dixon and that he may be a person of interest.
Apparently no charges have been filed in the case.
Police Chief Randy Caplinger has not given a public statement on this investigation since Tuesday night, apparently not wanting to talk without the okay of the District Attorney General’s Office.
Meanwhile, one of the victims in the double murder will be laid to rest Saturday.
The funeral for 55 year old Ramon Beacham will be tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. at the Chapel of Love-Cantrell Funeral Home. Mike Clayborn and Virgil Hibdon, Jr. will officiate. Burial will be in Whorton Springs Cemetery.
Beacham was found dead in his home Tuesday afternoon, apparently the victim of a shooting. The body of the other man, an Hispanic, was reportedly found beneath a pile of debris in the back yard of the residence. He too had been shot. WJLE has learned that his name is Jose Sagaon.
Local Mexican restaurants and stores have collection boxes apparently trying to raise money to send Sagaon’s body back to his home country.

School enrollment numbers are up compared to this time last year
Attendance Supervisor Clay Farler, during Thursday night’s school board meeting, said that county wide, the enrollment is currently 3,055 and could be as many as 3100 once all the pre-k students are counted. DeKalb County High School’s enrollment is currently at 869 where the 12th grade is at 201 students, higher than in the past for the senior class at this point in the school year. “There were only 847 students at DCHS on the fifth day of school last year. There’s 869 now and we pretty much have accounted for the no shows except for two or three. It’s a little larger number, especially at the high school,” said Farler.
“Mr (Danny) Parkerson’s school (DeKalb West) is about the same as last year. I think he’s got 435 students at the moment but that doesn’t include all the pre-K students there so it’s probably more like 440. The total throughout the county is 3,055. Of course, this will change some by next Thursday, the tenth day of school. That’s the official day everything should be accounted for. All students who haven’t shown up yet, we’ve got to track them down. We only have about 45 or 46 students that we don’t know for sure if they’re coming or not. It’s probably less than that,” said Farler.
“We also don’t have all the pre-K students on the roll yet but that was also the case last year. When they get added to the roll, there will be approximately 40 more students. So it will be pushing 3100 students county-wide. But like I said, there are several no shows that will probably come off that number. Even at that, we’ll probably still be up from last year. There are no grade levels at the present time that have under 200 students. They all have over 200 students except for Pre-K. The smallest class is the senior class or 12th grade. They are at 201 students at the moment. The largest class has been moving through year by year. Now they’re up to the sixth grade. They have 256 students county wide. They’re by far the largest class. Most of the other classes are between 210 students on up to 233 so all the classes from kindergarten to the 12th grade have over 200 students. We usually start at 175 to 180 students in the senior class. The fifth grade county wide is 241 students. The fourth grade is 235 and the third grade is 228,” said Farler.
Farler added that its hard to determine the number of students to anticipate at the start of school each year because there’s a lot of movement of families in and out of the county.
Meanwhile, Farler reported that for the first time in several years, three year old children will be attending pre-kindergarten at DeKalb West School. “There are two pilot classrooms in the county and have been since 2002. Those pilot classrooms can have three and four year old students. But the other three pre-k classes at Smithville Elementary School can only have four year old students. We’re already full in the four year old classes and we’re within one or two students being full at DeKalb West School and Smithville Elementary School mainly because they have three year old students in those classrooms. You cannot have a full 20 students if you have three year olds in the room,” he said.
Meanwhile, Director of Schools Mark Willoughby gave his monthly report on personnel to the school board.
Employment:
Carl Douglas Cantrell, substitute custodian
Rick Cross, special education teacher at Northside Elementary School
Bethany Davis, Transition Coordinator Teacher at DCHS
Michelle McManus, substitute cook
Diana Moon, teacher at DeKalb West School
Chris Moore, special education assistant at DeKalb Middle School
Joshua Odom, teacher at Northside Elementary School
Michael Shaw, teacher at DCHS
Kristen Kell, special education teacher at DeKalb West School
Transfers:
Holly Bain, transferred to Pre-K Educational Assistant at DeKalb West School
Katherine Ballard, full time School Psychologist
Brenda Bandy, transferred from DCHS to DeKalb West School
Shelly Gibson, transferred to Regular Education Assistant at DeKalb West School
Lynn Griffith, transferred from bus assistant to Special Ed Bus Driver
Debbie Knowles, transferred to new Special Ed Assistant position at Northside Elementary School
Daniel Lawson, transferred from sub bus driver to Special Education Bus Driver
James Donnie Lewis, transferred from sub bus driver to full time route
Paula Pinegar, transferred to Library Assistant position at DeKalb Middle School
Teresa Spencer, transferred to Special Education position at DeKalb Middle School
Carol Tallent, transferred to new Special Education Teacher position at Smithville Elementary School Kindergarten
Judy Wiggin, transferred from sub bus assistant to full time.
Resignation:
Jimmy Poss, bus driver

Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer will be visiting DeKalb County next week on his statewide “TDOT Projects Tour” in Region 2.
During this week-long tour, Commissioner Schroer, elected officials and transportation officials will travel by bus to view TDOT projects currently underway and those listed on the department’s “Three Year Program.” . The visit locally will be to Hurricane bridge on Thursday, August 16
The Region 2 Tour is the first of four tours that will be held in East, Middle, and West Tennessee. The Region 2 Tour kicks off in Cannon County on Monday, August 13 and will wind up in DeKalb County.
The TDOT Projects Tour visited DeKalb County last year, stopping to view both Sligo bridge and Hurricane bridge.
Hurricane bridge currently is down to only one lane of traffic, and it is being maintained and controlled by a temporary signal for the safety of the traveling public. The current weight postings of 10 tons for two-axle vehicles and 18 tons for vehicles with three or more axles will remain in effect and will be strictly enforced. This will allow for work adjacent to the north side of the bridge to continue. Further temporary lane shifts may be implemented by flaggers on an “as needed” basis to facilitate work as it progresses. Estimated project completion date is October 2013.