An employee of the Tennessee Department of Transportation escaped injury in a truck accident Friday morning.
66 year old Roger Ruble of Overton County was traveling west on Highway 70 east in the Hillcrest area in a 2011 TDOT Ford Ranger pickup truck when he went off the right side of the highway and struck guide wires and two utility poles. The truck came to rest on its side.
Members of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department’s Extrication and Rescue Team were summoned to help remove Ruble from the truck.
Moments prior to the accident, Ruble’s truck sideswiped an eastbound pickup, driven by Randall Blaylock, knocking off a side mirror on the driver side door of Blaylock’s truck.
According to Trooper Chris Delong of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, who investigated the accidents, it is believed that Ruble suffered a medical condition which contributed to the mishaps.
Although DeKalb EMS came to the scene, Ruble refused transport to the hospital.

You are invited to the weekly coach’s meeting for the coach’s view of every Tennessee Football game. Coach To Coach is your weekly connection to your favorite team, driven by the Governor’s Highway Safety Program. The program will air again this college football season on WJLE AM 1480 and FM 101.7 Fridays at 5:00 p.m. and will repeat Saturday mornings at 9:00 a.m.
Former coaches Phillip Fulmer and Doug Mathews go Coach To Coach every week with one hour of intense football discussion. It’s just like you’re in the coaches’ meeting, talking offense and defense with the men who called the plays to win the big games.
Share the lessons from last week’s game. Breakdown the SEC slate. Talk about the issues inside college football. Coach To Coach comes your way every weekend, hosted by one of the state’s premiere sports broadcasters, Larry Stone.
Get inside the 2015 Tennessee football season. Go Coach To Coach with Phillip Fulmer and Doug Mathews, presented by the Delta Dental of Tennessee

A TWRA Hunter Education Course will be held at the Smithville Church of Christ on Friday and Saturday, August 28 & 29.
According to TWRA Officer Joe Fortner, the Friday class will be at 5:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
“Anyone who wants to hunt in the State of Tennessee born after January 1, 1969 must complete the course before they go hunting. You have to be nine years old before you can take the class,” said Fortner.
“Pre-registering for the class is the easiest way to sign-up. You can do that by going to www.tnwildlife.org. Click on the hunting section. That will bring you to the hunter education part of the website. You can sign up from there. If you don’t have access to the Internet and you show up for the class that will be fine. I prefer that you pre-register so that we will know how many to expect but if you don’t have access to the Internet that will be fine, just show up,” said Fortner.

The Smithville First Assembly of God Youth just recently attended the 2015 National Fine Arts Competitions held in Orlando Florida. They represented Tennessee in three categories including Large Human Video, Worship Dance Troupe, And Large Drama Ensemble. They came in 3rd out of 97 groups from around the world. Being one of the most active Youth groups in DeKalb County everyone around knows how they excel in Drama & Dance.
Relentless Student Ministries lead by Iain & Kassy Swisher & Josh Issac, started their journey in March when they competed at the Tennessee State Competitions held at Trevecca University located in Nashville. Relentless Students competed in 8 all original and self-choreographed categories taught by Josh Isaac & Kassy Swisher and came home with 7 winning state titles. The Titles included Large Human Video, Small Drama Ensemble, Large Drama Ensemble, Worship Dance Troupe, and Solo Worship Dance. The hardest decision was figuring out what they wanted to take to nationals.They couldn’t afford to take all 7. Relentless Students raised all their own money by having bake sales, yard sales, RADA, Donuts, Dinners, and Dinner Theaters. They left for their 9 day trip to Orlando on July 31st and was honored with top 3 out of 97 teams on Friday, August 7th at the 56th Assemblies of God General Council 2015 Fine Arts Celebration Ceremonies. DeKalb county should be proud of these teens who all represented our church, city, county, and state well. These students have chosen to use their talents to impact their schools and city in a positive way. Each student is very active in school activities as well. We have DeKalb Tiger Football Players, Cheerleaders, Mr. & Mrs. DCHS, and Tiger Basketball Players. These students strive to be that light in all that they do. It’s always great to see their hard work pay off. They embody the bible verse they wear on the shirts: Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good, and acceptable and perfect in the will of God.

A Watertown man was injured when his motorcycle rear ended a pickup truck Wednesday morning in Smithville.
71 year old William Taylor was taken by DeKalb EMS to Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital.
According to Captain Steven Leffew of the Smithville Police Department, Taylor was east on Broad Street on a Honda Goldwing motorcycle when he crashed into an eastbound 2010 Toyota Tacoma, driven by 33 year old Michael Auffinger of Liberty. Captain Leffew said the accident occurred as
Auffinger slowed to make a right turn into the parking area of Patty’s Restaurant. Auffinger was not injured.

Early voting begins Friday, August 14 for the Alexandria Municipal Election.
(CLICK LINK BELOW TO VIEW SAMPLE BALLOT)
alex ballot web site newspaper.pdf (9.29 KB)
Voting will take place at the election commission office at the courthouse in Smithville through August 29 as follows:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon and Thursday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The election is being held to elect three aldermen to four year terms and to fill the remaining two years of vacant or unexpired terms of mayor and two aldermen positions.
Candidates for Mayor are Tony Tarpley and Bennett Armstrong.
Those running unopposed for the two year aldermen positions are Danny Parkerson and Matthew Boss.
Kelly Pyburn, David Cripps, and John F. Suggs are each running unopposed for the four year alderman terms.
Election Day is Thursday, September 3

The Smithville Senior Center Advisory Board is seeking applicants for the position of Senior Center Director.
Responsibilities include development of the center’s overall work plan and supervision of the day to day operations. The Senior Center Director will also be responsible for HR management, fiscal budgeting, community events, and fundraising activities.
The director, or person appointed by the director, shall represent the center as a member of the local emergency management team to provide information on the needs of older persons.
Desired qualifications for this position are good verbal and written communication skills, computer skills, knowledge in recruitment and interview process, knowledge and ability of budgeting, and past experience of coordinating events in fundraisers.
Please mail or hand deliver resumes to:
Brenda Cantrell
c/o First Bank
200 West Main Street
Smithville, TN. 37166
The deadline for accepting applications is 5:00 p.m. on August 28, 2015.

Although two people were recently arrested in connection with a rash of car burglaries, the Smithville Police Department is still receiving reports of vehicle burglaries.
Captain Steven Leffew encourages people to lock their vehicle doors. “It appears that unlocked vehicles are being targeted. We would also encourage citizens not to leave valuables such as purses, wallets or purchases in plain sight as this may encourage thefts,” he said.

A Smithville man recently indicted in a shooting which occurred a year ago was arraigned in DeKalb County Criminal Court on Monday, August 10.
29 year old Jordan Adams was indicted by the Grand Jury on Monday, July 27 for attempted second degree murder and reckless endangerment in the shooting of 40 year old Jamie Murphy. The incident occurred on Juniper Lane, August 5, 2014.
The case was investigated by the Smithville Police Department.
According to the arrest warrants at the time, Murphy was shot once in the back shoulder and by another bullet which grazed his arm. He was taken by DeKalb EMS to DeKalb Community Hospital for treatment of his wounds. He has since recovered.
Murphy was reportedly behind the wheel of a pickup truck and trying to get out through the passenger side when Adams, who was standing outside the truck, allegedly fired rounds from a .25 caliber pistol, which struck Murphy. A male passenger in the truck with Murphy was not injured.
After the shooting, Adams allegedly got in a different pickup truck driven by another man and left the scene.
Lieutenant Detective Matt Holmes told WJLE at the time that he received an outside tip about the shooting and spotted the fleeing vehicle on Broad Street. He followed as the truck turned onto Dry Creek Road and then into the driveway of a residence. Lieutenant Holmes said he pulled in behind the truck to make a high risk stop, got out of his patrol car and ordered the two occupants in the vehicle to get out. As Adams exited the vehicle and went down, Lieutenant Holmes said he saw a handgun fall to the ground. Adams was then placed under arrest.
The arrest warrants alleged that “On August 5, 2014 Jordan Adams did shoot Jamie Murphy in the back as he attempted to flee his vehicle out of the passenger side door. Mr. Murphy was shot twice, once in the back shoulder and once as a bullet grazed his arm as he retreated. Mr. Adams left the scene and was located by Lt. Matt Holmes where he was found to be in possession of a .25 caliber handgun. Mr. Adams cannot possess a weapon due to being a convicted felon. Mr. Adams did fire multiple shots down the road where multiple people were outside and in or around the line of fire.”
Count 1 of the indictment against Adams alleges that “On August 5, 2014, Adams knowingly did attempt to kill Jamie Murphy, constituting the offense of Attempted Second Degree Murder. Count 2 alleges that Adams recklessly did engage in conduct which placed or which might have placed the citizens of DeKalb County in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury, said offense being committed with a deadly weapon, to-wit: a .25 caliber handgun, constituting the offense of Reckless Endangerment with a deadly weapon”.
Adams’ case will be back in court for settlement discussions in September and for negotiation deadline in October.