Smithville Police found two people including a convicted felon in possession of illegal weapons and drugs after being called to investigate a possible physical domestic at a local residence last week.
30 year old Michael George Rowland and 22 year old Jasmin Renae Rowland are each charged with Possession of a Schedule II drug with intent to sell. Michael Rowland is also charged with Felony Possession of a Firearm. He is a convicted felon out of Ohio.
On Friday, August 26 police were called to a residence to investigate a possible physical domestic. Upon arrival, they spoke with the Rowlands and asked Michael to step outside. During a safety pat down, an unloaded 38 Smith & Wesson hand gun was found on Michael and he removed four live rounds and one spent round from his pocket and turned them over to the officer.
After receiving consent from Jasmin to search, other officers inside the home noticed a small box wrapped in duct tape lying on the kitchen floor. They pulled back the tape and discovered it was a Marlboro cigarette box. Inside the box was a plastic bag containing approximately 1.6 ounces of a crystal like substance that tested positive for Methamphetamine. Also on the living room floor were two more handguns.
Michael Rowland’s bond is $20,000. Bond for Jasmin is $10,000. Both will make a court appearance on September 15.
34 year old Wayne Lattimore, 43 year old Gerald Kier, and 29 year old Brenda Lattimore were arrested for theft over $1,000 on Tuesday, August 16. According to police, these three individuals entered Wal-Mart on Sunday, August 14 at approximately 1:00 a.m. and could be seen on video surveillance taking an estimated $3,794.12 in merchandise. They were arrested and found to be in possession of several stolen items from Wal-Mart. Bond for each is $5,000.
59 year old James Walter Stone was arrested on Wednesday, August 17 for DUI and cited for simple possession. Stone was found passed out in his vehicle at Hardees. The engine was running and the gear in drive. Upon approaching the automobile, the officer spotted a syringe in plain sight. Stone was asked to submit to sobriety tasks to ensure he was not intoxicated. He agreed but performed poorly. During Stone’s arrest, a white pill bottle with no markings was found in his vehicle. Inside the bottle was a round yellow pill believed to be Suboxone. Stone’s bond is $1,500 and his court date is October 6.
33 year old David Matthew Hill was cited for theft of property from a local business on Thursday, August 18. He was spotted on video surveillance concealing merchandise before leaving the store.
32 year old Andrew A. Dillon was arrested for domestic assault on Monday, August 29. Police responded to a possible domestic and upon arrival found the victim outside on the porch crying and grabbing her arms in pain. After an investigation, police determined that Dillon assaulted the victim by striking her on or about the area of her face and upper body. Bruising was visible and she did seek treatment for her injuries at the emergency room of the hospital. Dillon sustained scratches inflicted by the victim while trying to get away from him. Police determined that Dillon was the primary aggressor and he was arrested without incident. His bond is $30,000 and his court date is September 15.
25 year old Ashley M Singleton was arrested for criminal trespass on Monday, August 29. Police received a call of a possible shoplifter at Wal-Mart. Upon arrival the officer spoke with Singleton and after interviewing her discovered that while she didn’t possess any items from the store she had received two previous trespass warnings from Wal-Mart in Coffee and Warren Counties. Her bond is $2,500 and her court date is September 15.
32 year old Veronica Lucille St. Hilaire was arrested on Tuesday, August 30 for disorderly conduct. St. Hilaire was at a residence on Dry Creek Road when she began yelling and using profane language toward another person there. At approximately 12:45 a.m. she was asked several times to leave and return to her own home but she refused and continued yelling and cursing. This incident occurred in a residential area where she could be heard by others in the immediate vicinity. St. Hilaire was placed under arrest and her bond is $1,500. Her court date is September 15.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation has announced that a contractor will be doing some repair work on State Route 141 in DeKalb County after Labor Day.
To correct issues with some cracking of the asphalt that has occurred in the pavement of the super elevated curve, the contractor must close the roadway to make the necessary repairs. This is scheduled to begin on September 6 after the Labor Day Holiday. It is expected to be closed for 2-3 weeks maximum during this time. The contractor has notified the school boards, local officials and 911 of the expected closure and signs will be reinstalled alerting motorists of the expected closure.
The work is apparently part of a slide repair between log mile 0.93 and log mile 1.10 which included grading, drainage, and paving.
The contractor is Jones Brothers, Inc.

The DeKalb Animal Coalition for the Humane Treatment of Animals is taking another step toward construction of a new shelter for the county.
The Coalition’s board members are expected to open bids next Friday, September 9 during a meeting set for 5:30 p.m. at the Smithville City Hall building.
Plans were to award a bid Thursday night during the regular monthly meeting of the Coalition but only one sealed bid was received. In order to give others more time who had earlier expressed an interest in submitting a bid, the board voted to extend the period to receive bids until next Friday.
“Two weeks ago we had five or six people here that thought were going to bid. Tonight we only had one sealed bid. They (coalition board) put it off until next Friday to give these other people time to get their bids in. The bids must be in by Friday, September 9 at 5:30 p.m. and then they (board) will have a meeting at that time to open the bids,” said Mike Foster, who meets with the Coalition.
According to Foster, the Coalition also hopes to be able to take advantage of its non-profit status to make tax exempt purchases of materials. “They want to take a look at their 501 c 3 status where they can buy the materials to save the sales tax and let somebody build it (shelter) to make this project as cost effective as we can so we can hurry up and get it going,” said Foster.
Once a bid is awarded, Foster said the Coalition expects construction to begin soon after. “We’d like to break ground right away. The water, sewer, electricity, and road are all there and Road Supervisor Butch Agee helped get the site prep done. It’s (shelter) going to be close to 3,000 square feet but part of that is dog runs so it’s really a 2,400 square foot building plus the runs on it. They are hoping they can get it in the dry and maybe get half of it open as soon as possible to get the (public) interest back in it to where people see something happening out there. They also hope to get some grant money to help operate it with feed and those kinds of things,” Foster told WJLE.
The Coalition Board also voted Thursday night to hire grant writer Amanda Mainord of Grasroots Planning & Consulting to search out grants. She is to be paid on a percentage basis if grants are awarded to the Coalition.
Last December, the City of Smithville entered into a 99 year lease agreement with the Coalition.
Under the plan, the Coalition proposes to build a new animal shelter on a four acre site near the solid waste transfer station, behind Tenneco off of Highway 70 east. The property, owned by the Smithville Industrial Development Board, was deeded to the city, which has entered into the lease with the Coalition, a 501 (c) 3 charity organization.
The goal of the coalition is for the county to have a permanent and safe location for neglected, abandoned and abused animals; to provide an alternative low-kill policy so these animals receive medical attention, reduce overpopulation, and be cared for until they can be placed in permanent homes.
The City of Smithville and DeKalb County have each donated $75,000 for the erection of a facility. The new shelter will take the place of a smaller one which has been in existence for years on county property but operated by the city behind the DeKalb County Highway Department Headquarters off Smith Road.
The city currently employs one full time person and one other person half time and also provides an animal control vehicle for the purpose of running the existing animal pound. Under the agreement, the city will continue to provide the personnel and vehicle to assist in the day to day operation of the animal shelter to be erected by the Coalition.
The Coalition operates a yard sale store and holds regular activities and events to raise funds in support of the new shelter.
Marsha Darrah, President of the Coalition, said more support and volunteers are needed. “We need people to give money and we need people to help with our yard sale store. We are very much in need of volunteers now to help operate the store and to help raise money. If you would like to help, you may stop by the store on Walnut Street or call me at 615-417- 2473 or Jim Wood 615-464-8561,” she said.
“We are very sorry that we are not yet able to take care of animals but we do have a program that we are joined with in McMinnville called “Paws”. We have a grant for our county and you can get your cats or dogs spayed or neutered at a very nominal fee or if you are on some kind of assistance you can get it done free,” Darrah told WJLE.

Wendy Askins, 55, of Red Boiling Springs, Tenn., pleaded guilty Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Aleta A. Trauger, to two counts of theft from a federally-funded entity, announced David Rivera, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. At the time of the offenses, Askins was the Executive Director for the Upper Cumberland Development District (UCDD), and also oversaw the daily operations of the Cumberland Regional Development Corporation (CRDC) and the Cumberland Area Investment Corporation (CAIC). UCDD and its related organizations received thousands of dollars annually in federal funds during the time Askins led UCDD.
During the plea hearing, Askins admitted that she used UCDD and CRDC funds to purchase a property she named Living the Dream. Living the Dream was supposed to serve as an assisted living facility for senior citizens. Shortly after purchasing the home, Askins and UCDD Deputy Director Larry Webb set up a company called L.A. Management to operate the senior facility. Askins subsequently converted a portion of the property that was owned by the public agency into a home for her daughter and herself. Her upgrades to the property included adding elaborate, luxury showers in the bathrooms used by the Askins; wiring another bedroom to service a tanning bed, and spending an additional $25,000 to erect a double-winding staircase.
Askins admitted she moved money belonging to UCDD and its components to Living the Dream bank accounts, without the approval of the boards of directors. Askins attempted to hide the unauthorized transfer of other UCDD funds by directing an employee to falsify the minutes of a board of director’s meeting, in order to conceal the fact that she had spent a total of $233,000 without board approval. She also admitted that she lied to the media, board directors, and UCDD attorneys about why the meeting minutes were incorrect.
Askins will be sentenced by Judge Trauger on October 28, 2016. Federal program fraud carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release following a term of imprisonment.
Larry Webb, a co-defendant, pleaded guilty to bank fraud on August 17, 2015, and is currently scheduled to be sentenced on September 19, 2016.
The investigation was led by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Internal Revenue Service- Criminal Investigation; the Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General; and the U.S. Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. The United States is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie N. Toussaint and William F. Abely.

WJLE’s “Fearless Forecasters” are returning for another season of college pigskin prognosticating today (Wednesday, August 31) at 4:30 p.m. After this week, the program will be on Thursday’s at 4:30 p.m.
This season’s regulars are Dewain Hendrixson, Scott Brown, Chad Kirby, Jeff James, Ricky Atnip, John Pryor, Joe Goodwin, and Darrell Gill. A different special guest will make an appearance each week. TWRA Officer Tony Cross will be the guest today.
The “Fearless Forecasters” pick who they believe will win in fifteen of the biggest or most interesting college football games of the week.
They also make an underdog selection each week, picking a team they think will win, even though that team is not favored to win.
The program is sponsored by Liberty State Bank, DeKalb County Ace Hardware, Middle Tennessee Natural Gas, Love-Cantrell Funeral Home, DeKalb County Insurance, DeKalb Tire and Service, and the Charles D. Atnip Realty & Auction Company.
Catch the “Fearless Forecasters” LIVE on WJLE weekly starting today.

In Tennessee, an estimated 950 men, women, and children die by suicide each year. More people die by suicide each year than from homicide, AIDS, or drunk driving. Suicide is the leading cause of violent deaths in our state, nationally, and worldwide, far above homicide and death due to natural disasters.
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among youth and young adults ages 15-24 in Tennessee and for the United States at large. According to the Tennessee Department of Health, there were 945 recorded suicide deaths in our state in 2014, at a rate of 14.4 per 100,000 people.
On Tuesday, County Mayor Tim Stribling and Smithville Mayor Jimmy Poss signed proclamations designating September as Suicide Prevention Month in DeKalb County and Smithville.
In 2014, the latest year for which county-specific figures are available, DeKalb County’s age-adjusted suicide rate was 15.6 per 100,000 people, translating into three reported suicide deaths. This number of suicides in DeKalb County for 2014 is the same as the previous year but the local rate is higher than the state average of 14.4 per 100,000 population for 2014 as reported by the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network.
Clay County had the highest suicide rate among the fourteen counties of the Upper Cumberland Region at 38.6 per 100,000 with three deaths. Overton County had the fewest with one death at a rate of 4.5 per 100,000.
Stewart County had the state’s highest rate at 52.7 per 100,000 with seven deaths. Decatur and Houston Counties reported no suicides in 2014.
DeKalb County’s suicide rate was at 16.6 per 100,000 in 2006 and 2007 with three deaths each of those years. But the rate soared to 48.1 per 100,000 in 2008 with nine deaths. The rate dropped to 26.5 per 100,000 with five deaths in 2009 but went back up to 37.4 per 100,000 with seven deaths in 2010. DeKalb’s suicide rate for 2011 was 26.5 per 100,000 with five deaths and 15.9 per 100,000 in 2012 with three suicides and 15.7 per 100,000 in 2013 with three deaths.
In almost all cases, suicide can be traced to unrecognized, untreated, or poorly treated mental illness. It can happen to people of either sex, any race or ethnicity, and any economic status. The average suicide death leaves behind six survivors—family and friends of the deceased—all of whom are at increased risk for a suicide attempt themselves. As if the emotional and psychological toll were not enough, suicide and suicide attempts cost the state of Tennessee $1 billion a year in medical treatment, lost wages, and lost productivity.
The Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network (TSPN) and its allies in the public health, mental health, and social service fields are joining forces to recognize the month of September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. During this annual observance, TSPN and its allies arrange several educational and memorial events across Tennessee. These projects help teach the general public about the problem of suicide and how it can be prevented. They also give us an opportunity to remember those lost to suicide; to encourage survivors of suicide, survivors of suicide attempts, and people who have triumphed over mental illness; and to recognize individuals who have made notable contributions to suicide prevention efforts in our state.
As part of this observance, mayors and county executives across Tennessee will receive proclamations declaring September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, which they will sign in support of our state’s Suicide Prevention Awareness Month efforts. These proclamations will be presented at the annual Suicide Prevention Awareness Day event, scheduled for 10:30 AM on Wednesday, September 14, at Trevecca Community Church, located at 335 Murfreesboro Pike in Nashville.
Details about the Suicide Prevention Awareness Day observance and other events planned across the state will be announced on the TSPN website (www.tspn.org). Additional information about Suicide Prevention Awareness Month is available from the TSPN central office at (615) 297-1077 or tspn@tspn.org.

DeKalb County Cross Country Team is making great strides this year
The DCHS Cross Country Team had a very successful meet this past Saturday (August 27th) at the Voyles Classic in Sharp Springs with
the Boys Varsity clinching a top 10 team spot and medals going out to two of their top runners.
Receiving medals were: in Girls Varsity, Mya Ruch (freshman), out of 141 varsity girls, placed 9th with a time of 22:18 and in Boys Varsity, Will Stephens (sophomore), out of 192 varsity boys, placed 17th with a time of 19:23.
A neck n neck finish with the next two top runner of the boys varsity team kept the spectators on their toes as Luke Bryant (sophomore) battled Bill Miller (freshman) for another high spot at the finish line. Bryant edged out Miller by 19th of a second with Bryant’s time as 21:25.10 and
Miller’s time as 21:25.29.
The Boys Varsity also clinched a top 10 finish, placing 9th out of the 23 Boys Varsity teams at the meet!
DCHS Cross Country Team competed again Tuesday, August 30th at the MSCCA Midweek competition at Warren Co. High School.
The Head Coach is Melissa Ruch and the Assistant Coach is Sonja House

55 year old Gary Cantrell of Smithville was airlifted to Vanderbilt Hospital Wednesday morning after he lost control of his 1993 Jeep Wrangler and overturned on Keltonburg Road.
Trooper Jason Cobble of the Tennessee Highway Patrol told WJLE that Cantrell was east on State Highway 288 (Keltonburg Road) when the Wrangler went off the right side of road, came back across the highway and overturned, before going off the left side of the road. The Wrangler came to rest on its side.
Cantrell was partially penned underneath the roll bar of the Wrangler. Smithville Police Chief Mark Collins, a County Fire Fighter, and another passerby came upon the wreck and stopped to assist. They were able to lift the vehicle enough to free Cantrell.
DeKalb EMS treated Cantrell at the scene and transported him to the Keltonburg Community Center grounds where he was airlifted by helicopter ambulance and flown to Vanderbilt Hospital.
Members of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department’s extrication and rescue team were summoned and enroute to the scene but were not needed after Cantrell was freed from underneath the vehicle.
The Keltonburg Station of the County Fire Department established the helicopter landing zone.

DeKalb Telephone Cooperative, Inc. d/b/a DTC Communications will host its annual meeting on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016, at the DeKalb County Fairgrounds in Alexandria.
Directors will be elected in the Auburntown, Gordonsville, Temperance Hall, and Woodland exchanges.
Incumbents Roy N. Pugh, James H. Dillard, Jr., Jimmy Oakley, and David Parker are running unopposed in the Auburntown, Gordonsville, Temperance Hall, and Woodland exchanges, respectively.
Voting for directors will take place at the cooperative’s annual meeting on Saturday, Sept. 17. Gates to the DeKalb County Fairgrounds in Alexandria will open at 11:45 a.m., with voting from noon until 3 p.m. The business meeting will begin at 3 p.m. or once the last person in line at that time has voted.
Only DTC members may vote, and each member must present proper photo 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 2016 election will be Thursday, September 8.
For questions regarding membership and voting, call DTC at (615) 529-2955.

DeKalb County High school seniors can now retake the ACT for free on October 22.
The statewide “ACT Senior Retake Opportunity” allows seniors at all Tennessee public high schools who took the test as a junior to retake the test regardless of socioeconomic status, according to the Tennessee Department of Education.
The ACT is used across the country as an assessment of college and career readiness. Many colleges require the ACT or the SAT for admission and the tests are often used to determine eligibility for scholarships.
“DCHS seniors received their wavier/vouchers last week with their registration codes and directions to register for the retake test on October 22 at any National test site. Each student will be responsible for their own registration, transportation, and documentation by the registration deadline of September 16th. Many students across the state will be registering, so register now to ensure your first site choice. By retaking the ACT, many students will gain valuable scores that will help in admission or placement into their technical programs, colleges and career choices,” said Lisa Cripps, Supervisor of Instruction for 7th through 12th grade in DeKalb County.
Historical ACT data for Tennessee shows that students who take the test again typically increase their composite score by one to three points, according to the state department of education.
That could make the difference for students to qualify for the HOPE scholarship by earning a score of 21 out of 36 and also would allow more students to avoid remediation courses when they get to college.
“Allowing students an additional opportunity to show what they know by retaking the ACT can expand the possibilities for our students’ futures,” said State Education Commissioner Candice McQueen.
The statewide goal is to have an average ACT score of 21 by 2020, according to the department. A score of 21 is the benchmark for college readiness according to the ACT.
As of August 2015, the state average score was 19.8.
The registration deadline for the October 22 test is September 16 and if students register late, they are responsible for paying the late fees. The retake voucher expires on the late registration deadline, Sept. 30, and can’t be used for another national test date.
If students were to pay to retake the test, the cost is $39.50 for the test and $56.50 with the writing portion, according to the department.
If you have questions concerning this ACT RETAKE opportunity please contact Lisa Cripps at 615-215-2107. And If any DCHS senior missed taking the ACT last year as a junior they may take it this year with the junior class on April 19, 2017. Just notify your school counselor
You may also visit http://tn.gov/education/topic/act-sat. for more information.