The DeKalb County Board of Education granted tenure to seven educators Thursday night during the regular monthly meeting held at DeKalb Middle School.
M2U02061 from dwayne page on Vimeo.
The following teachers were recommended for tenure by Director of Schools Patrick Cripps:
David Dixon, Jennifer Judkins, Kristen Van Vranken, Melissa Hale, Lisa Neal, Angela Johnson, and Allison Rigsby.
“These teachers have successfully completed the probationary period of five years and received evaluations demonstrating an overall performance effectiveness level of above or significantly above expectations as required for tenure. It is my recommendation that these teachers be granted tenure,” wrote Director Cripps
Doug Stephens, Vice Chairman of the Board read Cripps’ written recommendation. Stephens presided over the meeting in the absence of Board Chairman W.J. (Dub) Evins, III.
Meanwhile, Director Cripps gave his monthly personnel report to the board.
Employment:
James Owen as custodian at Smithville Elementary School.
Leave of absence:
Jennifer Shores, School Psychologist, leave as requested
Teresa Spencer, Educational Assistant at DeKalb Middle School, leave as requested
Sydney Gremmels, Teacher at Smithville Elementary School, leave as requested.
Principals Kathy Bryant from DCHS, Julie Vincent from Smithville, Elementary School, Karen Knowles from Northside Elementary, and Randy Jennings at DeKalb Middle School each gave reports on activities at their schools. (VIEW VIDEO ABOVE FOR THEIR COMMENTS)

A 43-year-old Smithville man, who was released from state prison on parole eleven months ago after serving more than twelve years in a 2002 DeKalb County murder case, is in trouble with the law again.
Melvin Eugene Turnbill was charged with burglary on Monday, February 8 at a residence on Pen Oak Drive in Cookeville. Two days before on Saturday, February 6, Turnbill was also arrested for a DUI in Cookeville.
Both arrests were made by the Cookeville Police Department
The Herald Citizen reports that Turnbill’s arrest on Monday came upon an officer being dispatched to a possible burglary in progress.
Upon arrival, Officer Kyle Farley found Turnbill at the front door of the home. He detained Turnbill in his patrol car while checking on the home and speaking with the residents there.
According to the homeowner, Turnbill tried to enter the home through both the back and front doors and that he may have found a key to the house in an unlocked vehicle outside the residence.
Officer Farley’s report states that “He (Turnbill) had unlocked the door at one point and was trying to push the door open”.
According to the report, a female resident said she held the home’s deadbolt in the locked position to keep the man from entering the home.
Officer Farley returned to his patrol car and asked Turnbill if he had a key to the house.
Turnbill admitted to having a key which he got from the unlocked car, as the homeowners suspected. He turned the key over to the officer
Officer Farley placed Turnbill under arrest for burglary of a motor vehicle and transported him to the Putnam County Jail. His bond on the burglary charge is $10,000 and he will make an appearance in Putnam County General Sessions Court March 7.
Turnbill was released from prison on March 9, 2015. He had been serving a 25 year sentence for facilitation of first degree murder in the September 2002 fatal shooting of Joshua Murphy in DeKalb County.
A co-defendant in the killing, Christopher Nicholas Orlando is up for parole next month.

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department has released a surveillance photo and video of the gunman entering Liberty State Bank Wednesday morning
Sheriff Patrick Ray is hoping the public can be of assistance in helping catch the robber.
As shown in the photo and video, the gunman was wearing a black jacket and hoodie as well as a mask . According to Sheriff Ray, the mask appears to be either a skull bandana or a neoprene face mask.

If you know of someone who owns this type of mask or bandana or if you are a business owner who has sold one recently, please contact the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department at 615-597-4935.
The gunman, believed to be a man, ran into the bank shortly after 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, approached a female teller, and displayed a weapon. The teller complied with the robber’s demands and the gunman fled the bank with cash. No one was injured.
Another person in the bank at the time witnessed the crime and called authorities at 8:07 a.m.. The robber appeared to be a white male, five feet, six inches to five feet, ten inches in height, wearing a black jacket with a hoodie on it.
A deputy was on the scene within five minutes of the initial call. Alexandria Police Chief Chris Russell responded to assist.
The case remains under investigation by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI.

The driver of a pickup truck responsible for a high speed traffic accident Monday night on Cookeville Highway near the Smithville city limits is facing charges pending the outcome of the crash investigation. But according to Sheriff Patrick Ray, there was no law enforcement pursuit of the truck driver at the time of the wreck.
No arrest has yet been made but the case is under investigation by Trooper Tommy Cooper of the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The name of the driver has not been released.
Trooper Cooper told WJLE that the driver of a 1998 Dodge 1500 pickup was north on Highway 56 when he struck a southbound 2012 Chevy Sonic, driven by 44 year old Danny Niles of Smithville. After hitting the car, the truck kept going until it went off the right side of the highway, struck a Smithville Electric System utility pole, and then plunged down an embankment. After the wreck the driver abandoned the truck and fled the scene.
Niles, who spoke with WJLE about the accident Wednesday, said he was traveling south on Cookeville Highway when he saw the truck heading toward him in his (Niles’) lane at a very high rate of speed, possibly as fast as 100 miles per hour. Niles said he swerved to the left trying to avoid a possible head-on collision. “He was in my lane and I made a left turn but he clipped my back rear passenger side. My car spun around and ended up in a ditch. He (truck driver) kept going. He went into the grass, hit a utility pole, and wrecked. He then got out and ran off,” Niles told WJLE.
Niles, who suffered cuts and bruises to his face, said he went to see a doctor Tuesday morning and discovered that he also had a broken finger and a mild whiplash.
While the truck driver was traveling at a high rate of speed he was apparently not being pursued by law enforcement at the time. Sheriff Ray told WJLE that a deputy was stopped in the southbound lane at the red light on Highway 56 and East Main Street near the Post Office when he saw the truck run the stop light speeding north. No officer was in pursuit. By the time the deputy turned around, he lost sight of the truck and did not engage in a pursuit. The wreck happened moments later.

WJLE’s web streaming service is back!
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As before, WJLE will continue to provide web streaming of our talk programs including local news, LIVE coverage of high school sporting events, Board of Education, Smithville City Council, and County Commission meetings, LIVE election returns, and other regular or special programs each month. WJLE does not LIVE stream 24/7.
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Thank you for listening to WJLE

A gunman held up Liberty State Bank in Liberty this morning (Wednesday) taking an undisclosed amount of cash.
Sheriff Patrick Ray told WJLE that someone, believed to be a man, ran into the bank shortly after 8:00 a.m., approached a female teller, and displayed a weapon. The teller complied with the robber’s demands and the gunman fled the bank with cash. No one was injured.
Another person in the bank at the time witnessed the crime and called authorities at 8:07 a.m.. The robber appeared to be a white male, five feet, six inches to five feet, ten inches in height, wearing a black jacket with a hoodie on it.
A deputy was on the scene within five minutes of the initial call. Alexandria Police Chief Chris Russell responded to assist.
The case remains under investigation by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI.
Investigators initially thought the robber to be wearing a red jacket based on a photo taken from the bank’s camera system. But that photo proved to be of poor quality. Another better quality photo showed the gunman to actually be wearing a black jacket and black hood.

Due to weather, The Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency (UCHRA) has re-scheduled the next commodities distribution for DeKalb County, for Friday, February 12 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the UCHRA Office 726 S Congress Blvd, Smithville, TN.
The distribution had been set for Thursday, February 11.
Everyone must present a valid UCHRA commodity card in order to receive commodities. To sign up or reprint lost commodities cards contact your local UCHRA office.
The Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, sex, color, national origin, religion, or disability in admission to, access to, or operations of its programs, services or activities.

Tennessee began giving students a new high-stakes standardized “accountability” test called “TNReady” on Monday — but it turned out the test wasn’t ready due to a technology failure from a state vendor Measurement, Inc.
As a result, school districts including DeKalb County will now take the paper version for Part I and Part II of TN Ready. The school systems were made aware of the problem in an email Monday from Candice McQueen, the Tennessee Commissioner of Education.
TNReady was designed to replace the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program and be administered to students entirely online.
“We were ready. Our technology department had us ready to go. Our kids had been practicing. Our teachers had been working hard preparing our students to do this test on the computers. We have done practice tests and things of that nature and we were ready to go but it (problem) was on the vendor side. The state side is where the failure occurred. It has nothing to do with our technology here. We had the bandwidth and the schedule worked out and were prepared for our students to take this test online,” Director of Schools Patrick Cripps told WJLE Tuesday.
School districts had a four week window to conduct the testing. DeKalb Middle School was set to start this week followed next week by DeKalb West, Northside Elementary School, and DCHS. The testing window for the first part of the exam started Monday across the state and was to run through March 4. The second part of the exam is to be administered in April and May. Because of the delay, the state is expected to extend the testing window.
Although four weeks were set aside for the testing, students would only spend a few days at a time actually taking the tests. “It really comes down to how many devices you can serve your students with. In the past students had a week or so to do the TCAP testing once they started. Now there is a window because counties cannot test all students at one time because of the limited devices they have,” said Director Cripps.
Students are to be tested in Math, English/Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science. Students in the lower grades in elementary school take the Stanford Achievement Test SAT-10 tests in April and May. Those tests are done by paper and pencil.
The state department will share the revised testing window with school systems by Thursday.

The struggles of a young boy dealing with autism is the focus of a new movie still in production, scenes of which are being filmed in Smithville and DeKalb County.
A crew was in town Sunday shooting scenes at F.Z. Webb and Sons Gifts. Filming has also been done at other locations here. Local homes, businesses, courthouse, landmarks, and people are expected to be seen in the movie. It is scheduled for release later this year.
“Missing Michael” is the story of 15 year old Michael Brooks, the middle sibling between 2 caring sisters, and the product of loving, hard-working parents. And though Michael looks no different from any other 15-year old boy, he is. He is autistic. He is loving and smart, and has an affinity for details, but sometimes he holds thoughts to himself, because by the time he’s ready to get them out, the moment has passed. But as you’ll also see, he’s not bothered a bit by late delivery of his opinion!
In any family, there are ups and downs, but you’ll see Michael’s resilience. With that advantage, he recovers after his father’s debilitating stroke and his mother’s accidental death. He misses his Mom, and his Dad is no longer up to their weekly chess game from the living room easy chair. But Michael comes out the other side bringing humor and wisdom into the lives of others. And he enjoys it! Laugh at his wisecracks! Hear him lay it out with a side-handed wit that leaves ‘em wondering…. until he’s safely out of reach!
Michael is also the inspiration for 19-year old sister Claire who is now struggling to keep herself and them together. And you’ll love how Michael adores his younger sister Emily, because after all, he is her big brother.
Claire finds that though her mother had proudly referred to her as an adult, she is now challenged to the core in her new role. With each pressing circumstance, she can only see a narrow road before her filled with pits and stumbling blocks with the complications of an embittered and imposing social worker, and a former boyfriend who feels neglected. But Claire discovers that her mother has left behind a journal – a connection that fills the expanse between them and imparts to her strength and courage, which she shares with her younger sister at a low moment for both of them.
Just before the final credits roll, you will truly be impressed as you experience first-hand the Brooks’ family working through their home-stretch struggles.
The Missing Michael story is captured with performances by Robert Biehn as Michael Brooks, Kelly Wyrick as his sister Claire, Poem Atkinson as his younger sister Emily, Helen Finnegan as Mom Marge Brooks, and David Parker as Officer Ken Taylor.
Chris Posen is the Writer, Director, and Producer of the film and Ken Robinson of Murfreesboro with ties to DeKalb County is Co-Producer and Director of Photography.
For more information about the film visit http://www.missingmichaelmovie.com.

The Smithville Municipal Airport is now selling jet fuel.
A new fuel farm was recently completed at the airport which provides jet fuel for the first time ever in Smithville. “Our old fuel farm has been removed at the airport. The AVGAS is completely gone. The old fuel farm. The new AVGAS and new jet fuel, fuel farm is up and running. Hopefully we’ll get more planes in here because of it. We’re the cheapest in this region,” said City Administrator Hunter Hendrixson during last week’s meeting of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen.
The new fuel farm was funded mostly by aeronautics grants from the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
Tracy Foutch, Owner of Foutch Industries, LLC was Smithville’s first jet fuel customer. He told WJLE Tuesday that having jet fuel available locally will mean a lot to businesses and industries and possibly contribute to future growth. “What the fuel does for our company personally is it gives us a quicker response to our customers. It also lets other businesses that are here and future business prospects come in and fuel their aircraft while they are looking around the area. It will also help the local economy because if people can come in here with their planes and fuel then they’re more likely to do that rather than go to other airports and spend that money with them,” said Foutch.
More than a year ago, the Smithville Aldermen approved the bid for the fuel farm project. The bid was awarded to the TPM Group upon the recommendation of the city’s airport engineer Craig Clairmont. TPM’s base bid amount was $544,920. The original grant amount for the fuel farm was for $330,000 but the state later approved an amendment to the grant for an additional $220,000 to cover the costs. The city, which had already paid a five percent local match of $16,500 for the grant, had to come up with an additional $12,250 for the local match of the grant amendment.
Meanwhile the city may soon hire a new airport manager. Three applications/resumes have been submitted from persons interested in the job. The city’s airport committee is expected to review the applications/resumes and make a recommendation to the mayor and board of aldermen. The deadline for submitting applications was last Friday, February 5.