Time to Change Smoke Alarm Batteries

State Fire Marshal Julie Mix McPeak reminds Tennesseans to change the batteries in their smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors this weekend when they set back their clocks Saturday night for central standard time.
“Alarms, even those that are hard-wired, should have their batteries replaced regularly and should be tested monthly to ensure they are providing the proper protection,” McPeak says. “Use the extra hour we gain this weekend to make sure your home and family are fire-safe.”
Many fatal fires occur at night while the victims are sleeping. The smoke and toxic gases generated by a fire can cause people to sleep more deeply narrowing the chances of surviving a fire. A working smoke alarm can double the chances of survival by increasing the amount of time a person has to escape a fire in their home.
It is critical to install smoke alarms and replace batteries regularly. Twice a year is recommended. This reduces the chance of alarms chirping to indicate low batteries. All too often, a battery is removed and not replaced, putting a home’s occupants at risk. There’s no way to predict when a fire will occur, so even one night without an operational smoke alarm can be dangerous.
Here are some other helpful hints on the importance of smoke alarms:
•Install at least one smoke alarm on every level of the home, including the basement. For best protection, smoke alarms should be installed inside and outside sleeping rooms. Make sure everyone can hear the alarm and knows what it sounds like.
•For the best protection, equip your home with a combination of ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms or dual-sensor alarms.
•Smoke alarms with nonreplaceable (long-life) batteries are available and are designed to remain effective for up to 10 years. If the alarm chirps on these units, warning that the battery is low, replace the entire smoke alarm right away.
•Test alarms once a month using the test button. Replace the entire alarm if it’s more than 10 years old or doesn’t work properly when tested.
•Devise a fire escape plan with two ways out of every room and a common meeting place. Share and practice the plan with all who live in the home, including children.
•When a smoke alarm sounds, get out of the home immediately and go to your pre-planned meeting place to call 911.
For more information on making your home fire-safe, download and print the State Fire Marshal’s home fire safety checklist (http://tn.gov/fire/fsk/documents/checklist.pdf).
The State Fire Marshal’s Office is a division of The Department of Commerce and Insurance works to protect consumers while ensuring fair competition for industries and professionals who do business in Tennessee. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for daily fire prevention tips!

Linda Faye Cantrell

71 year old Linda Faye Cantrell of Smithville died Thursday at NHC of Smithville. She was a homemaker. The funeral will be Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at the Chapel of Love-Cantrell Funeral Home. Mark Bass and Roger Chapman will officiate and burial will be in Whorton Springs Cemetery. Visitation will be Friday from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Cantrell was preceded in death by her parents, Luke and Ovalene Fisher; a brother, Carl David Fisher; a daughter, Kathy Chapman; and two grandchildren, Kayla Malone and Michael Lanier. Survivors include three daughters, Wanda Davis of Oklahoma, Teresa and Frank Underwood of Baxter, and Tina and Tony Bess of Smithville. One son, Roger and Charlotte Chapman of Oklahoma. Nine grandchildren, Connie Hudson, Christina Platt, Tyler Davis, Mandy Chapman, Eric Chapman, Kathy Fansler, Brian Underwood, Scott Bess and Kelli Bess. Ten great grandchildren. Three sisters, Barbara Grissom of Rock Island, Maggie Grim of McMinnville, and Shirley Fisher of Smithville. Two brothers, Walter and Brenda Fisher of McMinnville and Luther Wayne Fisher of Sparta. Love-Cantrell Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.

Betty Jo Duncan

Betty Jo Duncan of Manchester died Thursday, October 24 at her residence. Ms. Duncan was the daughter of the late Oakley and Edna Stafford Mayberry. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a daughter, Pamela Smith. She was a homemaker. Survivors include 5 Grandchildren, Josh Cantrell of Manchester, Amy Young of Winchester, Tiffany Hobbs of Liberty, Stephanie Hobbs of Smithville, and Mitchell Hobbs of Manchester; 6 Great-Grandchildren. The funeral service will be conducted at 2:00 p.m. Saturday November 2 at DeKalb Funeral Chapel with Michael Hale officiating. Burial will follow in Hillview Cemetery in Alexandria. Visitation will be Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the service at 2:00 p.m. DeKalb Funeral Chapel is in charge of the arrangements.

Social Security Announces 1.5 Percent Benefit Increase for 2014

Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for nearly 63 million Americans will increase 1.5 percent in 2014, the Social Security Administration announced Wednesday.
The 1.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits that more than 57 million Social Security beneficiaries receive in January 2014. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 31, 2013.
Some other changes that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $117,000 from $113,700. Of the estimated 165 million workers who will pay Social Security taxes in 2014, about 10 million will pay higher taxes as a result of the increase in the taxable maximum. Information about Medicare changes for 2014 is available at www.Medicare.gov.
The Social Security Act provides for how the COLA is calculated. To read more, please visit www.socialsecurity.gov/cola.

Hospital ER Receives Health Stream Award

DeKalb Community Hospital’s ER Department was recently awarded Health Stream’s ‘Excellence Through Insight’ Award based on most improved patient satisfaction scores in an ER Department for 2012. (DeKalb Community Hospital reached a 99% overall satisfaction rating in 2012)
“We are honored to receive this award and are very proud of the hard work and persistence that our ER Department displayed to earn it,” said Sue Conley-CEO of DeKalb Community and Stones River Hospitals, “Patient satisfaction is very important to our hospital and that translates to quality of patient care from our staff.”
The award was presented at Health Stream’s Annual Summit at the Music City Center in Nashville, TN. Hospital’s from across the nation gathered in our state’s capital to acknowledge and honor recipients including Smithville’s own DeKalb Community Hospital.
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Pictured: Chief Medical Officer Dr. Erik Swensson of Capella Healthcare, ER Director Daniel Goodson and CNO Kim Frazier of DeKalb Community Hospital, Bobby Frist—President and CEO of Health Stream, and Sue Conley-CEO of DeKalb Community and Stones River Hospital.

Bounds Granted Parole

66 year old Gerald Wayne (J.B.) Bounds will soon be a free man.
Four members of the Tennessee Board of Parole have voted to release Bounds on parole. The decision was announced Monday afternoon.
Bounds has been in prison for 32 years and 8 months in the 1981 fatal shooting of 27 year old Sherman Wright of Smithville. He was tried and convicted of first degree murder later that year by a DeKalb County Circuit Court jury and sentenced to life in prison.
While parole has been granted, it may still be several weeks before Bounds is actually released from prison pending completion of a satisfactory release plan for parole supervision.
According to the Rules of the Tennessee Board of Parole “A grant of parole shall not be deemed to be effective until a certificate of parole has been delivered to the inmate, such inmate has voluntarily signed the certificate and the effective date has been reached.
“When an effective date of parole has been established by the Board, release on such date shall be conditioned upon the continued good conduct of the inmate and the completion of a satisfactory release plan for parole supervision.”
Bounds came up for his fifth parole hearing almost two weeks ago on Wednesday, October 16. The hearing was held at the Southeast Regional Correctional Facility in Pikeville where Bounds is incarcerated.
Two members of the Tennessee Board of Parole present for the hearing took different views on whether Bounds should be paroled. Board member Tim Gobble voted to deny parole for another year due to the seriousness of the offense. Board member Patsy Bruce voted to grant parole.
After the hearing, Bounds’ file was sent to the other members of the Tennessee Board of Parole. They reviewed the case and cast their votes. The voting continued until there were four concurring votes. In this case, four members concurred in granting Bounds parole.

Open Air Stage to be Completed Soon

A new open air stage under construction downtown will soon be completed and available to showcase a variety of community entertainment events.
“It’s coming along beautifully,” said Suzanne Williams, Executive Director of the Smithville-DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce. “We still need to get the cedar shakes on the roof. We’ve still got to get the electricity going and add safety railings and beautiful wide stone steps on the front but we’re getting close. We hope to have a big celebration in the spring to let everybody see it and enjoy it. We’re really looking forward to that,” she said.
The open-air stage, located in Evins’ Park begin the Smithville City Hall, is part of an effort by the Tennessee Downtowns Program Steering Committee to help revitalize downtown, Smithville.
In December, 2010, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development announced that Smithville was among 12 communities selected to participate in Tennessee Downtowns, a competitive community improvement program for cities and counties seeking to revitalize traditional commercial districts. Smithville was among several Tennessee communities with central business districts at least 50 years old which were eligible to apply for a downtown revitalization package. Mini-grants were also made available to local downtown business owners who wanted to join in the effort.
A total of sixteen Smithville building owners were awarded $500 in mini-grants by the committee for investing a minimum of $1,000 in exterior improvements to their buildings.
“I applied for the Tennessee Downtowns Program and we got accepted into that,” said Williams. “After we went through about a year of being trained and meeting all these different requirements, I was allowed to apply for a $15,000 grant which we got. We used $8,000 of it to do the mini-grants downtown. We had sixteen businesses or property owners that applied and if they made at least $1,000 improvements to the outside of their buildings we gave them $500 back. That went really good. With the $7,000 we had left, we invested in this open air stage which actually has become more beautiful than we imagined,” said Williams.
While the project has benefitted from generous donations, Williams said more money will be needed to finish it. “Gaius Overton, who is married to Mary Evins (daughter of the late Congressman Joe L. Evins), is an architect so he made us two models and didn’t charge us a thing for that. We picked the one we liked and we’ve been working on it ever since. The Smithville Rotary Club gave us an extra $1,000 and Middle Tennessee Natural Gas Project Hometown Help gave us another $1,500. I’ve still got to raise a little bit more money to finish it out,” she said.
“It’ll totally be available for public use. We look forward to having all kinds of art and music events and outdoor concerts once it’s finished,” said Williams.
Members of the Tennessee Downtowns Program Committee are Steve White, chair; Wade Smith, Alan Webb, and Mark Ashburn.

Danny Wilson Jackson

57 year old Danny Wilson Jackson of the Prosperity Community, died Monday morning at his residence. Born in Carthage, he was the son of the late Burse and Jimmie Lee Hall Jackson and was preceded in death by a brother, Timmy Jackson. Danny was a graduate of Gordonsville High School, a member of Prosperity Baptist Church and was employed at Five Star Vending Company. He is survived by his wife, Lynne Allen Jackson; son, Brian Jackson and wife, Teri of Watertown; daughter, Lori Smith and husband, Nick of Alexandria; grandchildren, Zoey Layhew, Waylan and Shiloh Jackson; brothers, Ronnie Jackson and wife, Roberta of Sykes and Jeffrey Jackson and wife, Denise of Hartsville; father and mother-in-law, Tom and Ladye Allen of Auburntown; brother and sister-in-law, Mike and Shirley Allen of Auburntown; nieces and nephews. The funeral service will be at 1:00 p.m. Thursday at Hunter Funeral Home in Watertown with Thurman Seber and Don Rigsby officiating. Visitation with the family will be from 2-8 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. till service time on Thursday. Burial will be at Prosperity Cemetery. Hunter Funeral Home in Watertown is in charge of the arrangements.

Helen Faye Bates Self

65 year old Helen Faye Bates Self of Smithville died Friday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. She was the daughter of the late Porter and Melissa Lamberson Bates. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, T.J. Self; Grandchild, Christina Byford; Brother, Grady Dale Bates; and a step-daughter, Linda Farris. She was a Baptist and a Homemaker. Survivors include 1 Son, Jeff Byford and Tara Clemmons of Hartsville; Daughter, Doris Byford and Ricky Thomas of Smithville; Step-Daughter, Vicky Ramsey; Sister, Betty Jo Cantrell of Smithville; Brother, Kenneth Bates of Alexandria; 13 Grandchildren and 1 Great-Grandchild. The funeral service will be conducted 2: 00 P.M. Friday at DeKalb Funeral Chapel with burial to follow in Cannady Cemetery. Visitation will be Friday from 10:AM until the time of the service at 2:PM. DeKalb Funeral Chapel is in charge of the arrangements.

Gary Ralph Young

73 year old Gary Ralph Young of McMinnville died Thursday at River Park Hospital in McMinnville. He was born April 21, 1940, in DeKalb County, TN, was a retired machinist with Magnetek Century Electric, a U.S. Army veteran, and attended Cornerstone Baptist Church. Mr. Young was preceded in death by his parents Johnny Cephas and Stella C. Thweatt Young.
Survivors include his wife Nancy Louise Young, McMinnville, TN, sister Barbara Ann (David) Cantrell, Smithville, TN, and a brother Carl T. Young, McMinnville, TN. Nephews Mark Young, John Young, and Anthony (Lisa) Cantrell, great nephews and great-niece Matthew, Andrew, and Laura Cantrell, and brothers-in-law Roy (April) Johnson, Jr., Bruce Johnson, James (Marcie) Johnson, Robert (Debbie) Johnson. Numerous other nieces, nephews, family members, and friends also survive.
A memorial service will be 1:00 P.M. Saturday, November 02, 2013, in the McMinnville Funeral Home Chapel. Bro. Kevin Burden will officiate. Military grave rites will be administered by American Legion Post 173 and V.F.W. Post 5064 at the funeral home. Burial of the cremated remains will follow at Nashville National Cemetery. The Young Family will receive friends Saturday, November 02, 2013, from 11 A.M. until 1 P.M. in the Chapel of McMinnville Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made at Relay for Life.
McMinnville Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.