A severe thunderstorm, which may have spawned a tornado, has claimed one life and caused significant structure damage to homes, garages, and outbuildings in the Cookeville Highway area.
County Fire Chief Donny Green told WJLE that damage assessments are still underway. “We’re in the Cookeville Highway area and we have what appears to be a tornado touchdown. It may have touched down in a couple of areas of the county, one being off of Holiday Haven Drive, where it looks like we have a confirmed fatality. The second being at the end of Puckett’s Point. We’re trying to investigate at this time to see if it was the same tornado. Apparently we’ve also had significant damage in the falling water area which is around Johnson’s Chapel. We have responders here from our county and from adjoining counties. We’re still in the assessment phase. We’ve had significant structure damage but no reports of other injuries other than the fatality,” said Chief Green.
PLAY VIDEO BELOW OF COUNTY FIRE CHIEF DONNY GREEN
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for DeKalb County at 3:46 p.m. and central dispatch/911 received the first reports of damage two minutes later.
Local veterinarian Dr. Scott Little said he was at his residence on Ponder Lane when the storm struck “There was the weirdest noise. In fact my father texted me and said there’s a weird sound outside. And there certainly was. I got the kids up and put them into a closet. I was looking out the windows to see what was going on. When the wind started blowing really hard I went and got back in the closet and I guess it wasn’t sixty seconds later when I came back out that all the trees all around the house were blown down. They say it (tornado) sounds like a train and that is certainly what it sounded like. It was a constant sound. It wasn’t like anything I’ve ever heard. The sound lasted for maybe about two minutes and it was hard to tell where it was coming from. I would assume it was just the sound of the wind,” said Dr. Little
While the wind destroyed a garage belonging to his nearest neighbor Ronnie Burton, Dr. Little said his home didn’t get much damage. “It blew a window out but there wasn’t much damage to the house at all. A lot of trees around the house fell down,” he said
No one on Ponder Lane was injured

If early voting is any indication, turnout may be lower for the DeKalb County Democratic Primary and Tennessee Presidential Preference Primary than four years ago.
The DeKalb County Election Commission reports that a total of 696 people cast ballots during the early voting period from February 15-28 including 447 who voted in the Democratic Primary and 249 who voted in the Republican Primary.
In 2008, a total of 4,507 people cast ballots in the local and state primaries including 3,206 who voted on election day and 1,294 who either voted early or by absentee. There were seven provisional ballots cast.
In the 2008 Assessor of Property race alone, 2,903 people voted. There were three candidates vying for the Democratic nomination that year. This was the total vote for that race including election day and early voting/absentees.
A total of 3,057 voted in the Tennessee Democratic Presidential Preference Primary in 2008 which featured Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and other contenders for the nomination. In DeKalb County, Clinton received 2,410 votes to Obama’s 347. Three hundred voters went for other candidates.
In the Tennessee Republican Presidential Primary, a total of 1,344 voted locally four years ago with Mike Huckabee getting the most support in DeKalb County at 573 followed by 399 for John McCain and 267 for Mitt Romney. The rest of the votes were divided among the other candidates.
Polls at all sixteen precincts will be open across the county on Tuesday, March 6 from 8:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m.
WJLE will have exclusive LIVE local election return coverage when the polls close at 7:00 p.m. on AM 1480/FM 101.7 and LIVE streaming at www.wjle.com.

Operators of two local businesses, who previously couldn’t qualify for a beer permit because they were deemed to be too close to churches in their neighborhoods, filed new applications for a license Tuesday after the county commission changed the minimum distance regulations Monday night.
Debra W. Sacran of D& D Market is seeking an off premises permit to sell beer at the store she and her husband David operate at 7166 Short Mountain Highway, Smithville.
Viva Gail Johnson has filed an application for an on and off premises permit to sell beer at Jewel’s Market and Pizza on North Congress Boulevard, Smithville.
As WJLE reported Tuesday, the county commission Monday night voted seven to five to rescind the 2,000 foot rule that the county has had in place since 1939 and adopt 800 feet as the minimum distance required between a store seeking a beer permit, and a church, school, or other place of public gathering measuring in a direct line, the nearest point to the nearest point. From the building to the building.
Sacran was denied a beer permit in July 2009 because her store was measured to be only 856 feet from the Mount Pisgah Free Will Baptist Church. With the change in the minimum distance requirement to 800 feet, Sacran will now most likely qualify for a beer permit.
Johnson’s application was denied last October by the beer board because Jewel’s Market and Pizza is within 2,000 feet of the new First Assembly of God. She too will most likely qualify now that the minimum distance rule has been changed.
In an interview with WJLE Tuesday evening, Sacran said she and her husband are delighted with the county commission’s decision. “We are relieved with the conclusion. This has been an ongoing thing for us since 2009. All we’ve asked the entire time is to be able to compete and we’re very thankful that its over. I just want to thank those commissioners and folks behind the scenes that have understood that this needed to be done and that we needed to get off of a 1930’s law with the county. Our city (Smithville) has been up to date for a lot of years. We just appreciate that they (commissioners) understood that this was a business decision and that it was good for the county,” said Sacran
According to Sacran, it has become more difficult for small country stores like her’s to survive over time now that the larger retail chain stores have moved in. “When we came out here, Smithville did not have a Walmart. There was no Rite Aid. Many of the things that are going on in the city now were not even there then. We’ve found it harder and harder to compete and this economy has been very hard on all of us. All we’ve ever asked is to be able to compete fairly across the board,” said Sacran
The DeKalb County Beer Board will meet Thursday night, March 1 at 6:00 p.m. at the courthouse to vote on the acceptance of the Sacran and Johnson applications, along with another application for an on and off premises permit from a group filing as Back 9, LLC doing business as Riverwatch. The group is associated with the North Alabama Bank, Bank of LincolnCounty. Final action on approval of these applications will come during the April 5 beer board meeting.
Members of the DeKalb County Beer Board are Harrell Tolbert, Frank Thomas, Dick Knowles, Jim Stagi, Mack Harney, Robert Rowe, and Edward Frazier.

Tennessee Department of Transportation contract crews will close the Hurricane Bridge on State Route 56 over the Caney Fork River in DeKalb County to all traffic on Thursday, March 1 beginning at 8:00 p.m. and ending at 6:00 a.m. CST on Friday, March 2. The closure is necessary to allow the contractor to pour a portion of the new concrete deck. The work is part of a $26.9 million rehabilitation project which is scheduled to be complete in October 2013.
The work is weather dependent. If the contractor is unable to perform the work on Thursday evening, it will be rescheduled to take place on either the evening of Tuesday, March 6 or Wednesday, March 7 during the same time period.
Message boards will be in place to notify drivers of the closure. While the bridge is closed, all traffic will be redirected to the currently posted truck detour that utilizes I-40 at Exit 254 to SR-53. The bridge will be reopened to normal one-lane signal-controlled traffic by 6:00 a.m. the following morning. The current weight postings of 10 tons for two-axle vehicles and 18 tons for vehicles with three or more axles will continue to remain in effect and will be strictly enforced.
For travel and TDOT construction information visit the TDOT SmartWay web site at www.tn.gov/tdot/tdotsmartway or call 511 from any land-line or cellular phone. You can also receive traffic alerts via TDOT’s multiple Twitter feeds, including statewide traffic tweets @TN511 or Chattanooga area alerts @Chattanooga511. Smart phone users can use the TDOT SmartWay Mobile website at http://m.tdot.tn.gov/SmartWay/ to access TDOT’s SmartWay cameras and information on construction related lane closures and incidents on interstates and state routes.
As always, drivers are reminded to use all motorist information tools wisely and Know Before You Go! by checking travel conditions before leaving for their destination. Drivers should never tweet, text or talk on a cell phone while behind the wheel.