The Smithville Thunder is an elite 9U travel team comprised exclusively of local players. They have competed in travel tournaments throughout the middle Tennessee area and are headed for the BPA state and World Series tournaments at the end of the season.
“We just wanted to provide a process which would enable some of our better young athletes to experience the world of travel baseball without having to join a team from another community,” says head coach Danny Jenkins. “Being able to go and play with your friends instead of having to try to fit in with unfamiliar people and surroundings really enhances the experience for our guys.”
The team was organized by local parents and completely funded by local businesses and fundraisers at no cost to the players’ families. Coach Jenkins encourages everyone to look for the team’s plaque in area businesses and support those civic minded organizations.
Recent data indicates that almost ninety per cent of starters on high school baseball teams nationwide played on a travel team at some time. Coach Jenkins points to this trend as one of the primary reasons for the team’s existence.
“Our parents are aware that if their kids want to move ahead in baseball, this is their best opportunity in this small community where municipal recreation options are non-existent,” he says.

DeKalb County’s unemployment rate for May increased to 7.8%, up from April’s rate of 7.5%, but well below the rate for May, 2011 of 10.3%
The local labor force for May was at 9,930. A total of 9,160 were employed and 780 were without work.
DeKalb County’s unemployment rate for May was third lowest in the fourteen county Upper Cumberland region. Here’s how they rank highest to lowest
Picket County- 12.3%
White- 11.2%
Van Buren-11%
Clay- 9.5%
Cumberland-8.9%
Warren-8.9%
Fentress-8.7%
Jackson-8.7%
Overton-8.3%
Macon-7.9%
Putnam-7.9%
DeKalb-7.8%
Cannon-7.7%
Smith-7%
County non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for May 2012, released today, show the rate decreased in three counties, increased in 87 counties, and remained the same in five counties.
Tennessee’s unemployment rate for May rose to 7.9 percent, up from the April revised rate of 7.7 percent. The national unemployment rate for May 2012 was 8.2 percent, 0.1 percentage point higher than the April rate.
The state unemployment rate is seasonally adjusted while the county unemployment rates are not. Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique that eliminates the influences of weather, holidays, the opening and closing of schools, and other recurring seasonal events from economic time series.
Knox County had the state’s lowest major metropolitan rate of 6.0 percent, up from 5.8 percent in April. Davidson County was 6.7 percent, up from 6.5 percent in the previous month. Hamilton County was 7.4 percent, up from 7.0 percent, and Shelby County was 8.8 percent, up from the April unemployment rate of 8.3 percent.

Pastor Donnie Kelly of the Smithville First Assembly of God will begin a new radio program next week.
The program will be called “Inspirations For Today” with the purpose to inspire and encourage all those who listen in their “daily walk with Christ.” The program will air Monday through Friday at approximately 7:45 A.M. right after the 7:30 A.M. news.
The program will consist of devotions from God’s word as well as songs of inspiration. The musical selections will include soloist, choirs, praise and worship teams, and instrumental ensembles from the First Assembly of God and other churches in the community. Church and community activities and special events will also be announced on a timely basis.
A personal note from Pastor Kelly: “It is so great to be able to once again have a radio program on WJLE. It is also wonderful to be back in Smithville a community I enjoy ministering to so very much.”
“Thanks to all who have extended such a warm welcome to me and my family. Thanks to the Smithville First Assembly of God for inviting me to come and be their pastor, and for sponsoring this broadcast.”
“Please listen in to the broadcast of “Inspirations For Today” starting this Monday, June 25th at 7:45 A.M.”

A Grand Opening of the DeKalb County Community Center is set for Saturday, June 23 from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
County Mayor Mike Foster said everyone is invited to stop by to see the complex which includes a spacious new stage and auditorium, complete with a state of the art sound system and lighting; a game room for kids, a fitness room, a gym for playing basketball or volleyball, and a community kitchen called the “Internet Café”
Tony Luna, Assistant Complex Director, said refreshments and snacks are being donated by Bumpers Drive-in (Shrek to make an appearance) and there will be lots of door prizes including a few free memberships to be given away. “We’ll give away five free monthly memberships and a yearly membership to some lucky guy or gal who signs up. In our auditorium, we’ll have some LIVE entertainment at the stage. Starting at 10:00 a.m., my daughter, Mercedes Luna and Daniel Martin will start first. They play a lot of acoustic stuff and I think you will really like it. Right after Mercedes and Daniel, we’ll have another local band 11:00 a.m., Burning Years. They will take the stage and play for us about an hour or so. After that, we’ll have another LIVE band around 12:45 p.m. 61 Seconds, which is a local band and they will close us out. All of these bands are local people and it’s free,” said Luna.
“The whole facility is going to be open on the community center side of the building,” said Luna. ” If you haven’t seen the game room, we’ve got it altogether now. I would love for you to come out and see it. Our fitness room is up and going. We’ve booked over ninety members now. They’ve just hooked up surround sound, so you never know what kind of music we’ll be pumping in there for you to work out to. Come see our Internet Café. Eventually we’ll have a concession stand, where people who work out or just people who want to come and hang out can do that. We’ll have a TV in there. You’ll be able to buy snacks and drinks out of the community kitchen.. Everybody come out and see us. Like us on facebook. We do have a facebook page. Its DeKalb Community Center and fitness room,” said Luna.

A management restructuring has been announced for the four hospitals that are now part of the Capella-Saint Thomas health system, according to Mark Medley, President of Hospital Operations for Capella Healthcare.
“In May, we celebrated the new partnership between Saint Thomas Health and Capella’s four Upper Cumberland hospitals, launching our first steps towards creating a dynamic health system to expand services and access in the Upper Cumberland. This week, we’re initiating a management restructuring that will help us move to the next level.”
Effective immediately, Bill Little is full-time CEO for Highlands Medical Center (HMC) in Sparta (formerly White County Community Hospital). With the hospital’s million dollar renovation project starting later this year, the growing hospital needed the focus of a full-time executive. Little served as CEO for DCH and SRH for several years, adding HMC in July.
“Bill has done an excellent job dividing his time between the three hospitals and now we want to take full advantage of his expertise at HMC,” Medley said. “This enables the hospital to move forward without delay with the significant opportunities ahead,”
Effective Monday, June 18, Bob Luther became Interim CEO for DeKalb Community Hospital and Stones River Hospital. Physicians, hospital employees and community members may remember Luther as he previously served as CEO for DCH and SRH for three years, from 2006-09. Prior to that, he was with Attentus Healthcare as Senior Vice-President for Regional Operations, with responsibilities for five rural hospitals. He has also served as CEO for a number of other facilities including 300+ bed Saint Luke’s Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ; 194-bed Springs Memorial Hospital in Lancaster, SC; and 25-bed Colorado River Medical Center in Needles, CA.
“We’re delighted Bob has agreed to lead these two hospitals during this transitional time. He is a seasoned healthcare executive and will help us continue to make progress even as we are seeking the right person to take us into the future,” Medley said.
Additionally, Medley announced the creation of a new position, Market Chief Financial Officer (CFO), which will serve all four facilities. A nationwide search to identify the ideal candidate for this role as well as the new Chief Executive Officer for DCH and SRH has been launched this week.
“This restructuring and the creation of these new positions will help us fully realize the opportunity before us as we work together to continue expanding access to physicians and services, improving quality of care, and enhancing patient satisfaction for people throughout the Upper Cumberland region.”
About Capella Healthcare
Capella Healthcare partners with communities to build strong local healthcare systems that are known for quality patient care. With the philosophy that all healthcare is local, Capella collaborates with each hospital’s medical staff, board and community leadership to take care to the next level.
Capella and Saint Thomas Health formed an innovative joint venture partnership in May of 2012 to improve healthcare throughout Middle Tennessee. Based in Nashville, Saint Thomas Health includes five hospitals affiliated with Ascension Health Ministry, a Catholic Ministry that is the largest non-profit health system in the United States. Capella Healthcare, based in Franklin, operates 13 hospitals in seven states, including five in Tennessee. Together through Capella-Saint Thomas, they jointly own four hospitals in the Upper Cumberland region of Middle Tennessee, including River Park Hospital in McMinnville, Highlands Medical Center in Sparta (formerly White County Community Hospital), DeKalb Community Hospital in Smithville and Stones River Hospital in Woodbury. Capella is the managing member and the majority partner as well as the exclusive development partner for Saint Thomas Health across Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency will be participating in Operation Dry Water, June 22-24. Operation Dry Water is a national weekend of Boating Under the Influence (BUI) education and enforcement directed toward reducing alcohol and drug-related accidents and fatalities.
Members of the TWRA, Sheriff’s Department, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers met Wednesday morning at Hurricane Marina on Center Hill Lake to make the local announcement.
Operation Dry Water is held on a weekend near the July 4th holiday to give BUI enforcement high visibility during the peak boating season. The TWRA is teaming with the U.S. Coast Guard and the State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA). Operation Dry Water is being held for the fourth year after being launched by the NASBLA in 2009.
TWRA boating officers will saturate high traffic areas on reservoirs across the state. Along with the use of life jackets and other safety practices, officers want boaters to be aware of the effects and ramifications of alcohol use. The TWRA will be intensifying efforts to detect and apprehend boat operators who are operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
“Our TWRA officers attempt to identify and apprehend impaired operators throughout the year to ensure our waterways stay safe,” said Matt Majors, Investigator for TWRA’s Boating and Law Enforcement Division. “Without their dedication to perform this task, it would be certain that many more boating accidents would occur. Our officers will be out in force night and day, looking for people who did not heed the warning to ‘Never boat under the influence.’ ”
Operating a boat with a Blood Alcohol Content of .08 percent or higher is illegal in Tennessee, the same as operating a motor vehicle. Penalties may include fines, jail, boat impoundment and the loss of boat driving privileges.
Statistics show that more than 20 percent of boating-related fatalities are a result of alcohol use. Sun, wind, noise, vibration and motion intensify the effects of alcohol, drugs and some medications.
(Pictured left to right: TWRA officers Nick Luper, Marty Griffith, Tony Cross, Chief Deputy Don Adamson, Sheriff Patrick Ray, Gary Bruce of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and TWRA officers Jon Ryan, Jason Miller, and Kyle Walling)

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Justice has transferred to the state of Tennessee approximately 1,000 acres of undeveloped land in Cannon County, Tenn., as a result of a federal criminal conviction of two individuals for distribution of marijuana.
The transfer was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney William C. Killian for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Special Agent in Charge Harry S. Sommers of the Atlanta Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and U.S. Marshal Denny W. King for the Middle District of Tennessee.
The land, located on Short Mountain in Woodbury, Tenn., will be managed by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and will be known as the Headwaters Wildlife Management Area. Short Mountain is a critical habitat for plant and animal species, and contains the headwaters for three Tennessee watersheds. The property will be open to the public for small game hunting, hiking and wildlife viewing.
The land was forfeited to the United States as part of the 2007 federal criminal convictions of Morris Roller and Jeffory Carl Young for distribution of marijuana. Roller and Young are currently serving federal sentences of 200 and 224 months, respectively. The transfer was made under a law that allows the Justice Department to convey forfeited property to states for public use for recreation or conservation purposes upon request by the governor or chief executive officer of the state.
The Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division coordinated the transfer. The federal criminal investigation was assisted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation; Tennessee Alcohol Control Board; Warren County, Tenn., Sheriff’s Department; Hamilton County, Tenn., Sheriff’s Department; and Chattanooga, Tenn., Police Department.
“This land transfer highlights the benefits of asset forfeiture as a crime-fighting tool,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. “Our law enforcement efforts put an end to illegal drug production on this land and secured its preservation for years to come.”
“The transfer of this property was accomplished through the cooperative efforts of local, state and federal government agencies,” said U.S. Attorney Killian. “This historic conveyance of forfeited property, which is the largest transfer for conservation purposes in the past 15 years by the federal government to a governmental entity, will leave a lasting legacy of this wildlife management area for the state of Tennessee and its citizens. Now, rather than being used for growing marijuana or violating other laws, it will be used for recreational activities such as hiking, fishing and hunting. Russ Dedrick, my predecessor as U.S. Attorney, is to be congratulated for arranging this donation of land.”
A dedication ceremony was held last Wednesday on the land.
The Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Program allows for the transfer of federally forfeited real property to serve various purposes including: supporting state recreational, preservation or historic purposes; supporting a continuing federal purpose; and assisting a state or local government, or a non-profit entity, in carrying out educational, drug treatment, rehabilitation, housing and other community-based initiatives. Through these real property transfers the Asset Forfeiture Program contributes to our communities nationwide.