The Alexandria Fire Department responded to a structure fire in the housing projects on Monday night, March 27 around 9:30 p.m.
The first engine arrived four minutes after the initial 911 call. Firefighters found heavy smoke coming from the front door, according to Assistant Fire Chief John Partridge. Alexandria Police officers had already arrived and evacuated all occupants from the house. The fire was quickly brought under control and fire damage was contained to a living room and kitchen, although the entire apartment received heavy smoke damage. The adjoining apartment was undamaged and the occupant was allowed to return after an investigation.
The occupant was not at home when the fire started, but arrived home and called 911 after encountering heavy smoke and heat upon opening the front door. The fire is believed to have been electrical in nature.
Members of the DeKalb County Fire Department and EMS also responded to the scene but were cancelled while en route.

The budget committee of the county commission will soon begin work on the 2017-18 fiscal year budget.
During Monday night’s monthly meeting, County Mayor Tim Stribling updated the commission on how much property tax revenue the county is expected to generate in the next fiscal year based upon assessments and the current property tax rate
“Assessments based upon estimated valuations of the property in DeKalb County are currently at $481, 473, 214 including industrial, commercial, residential, farm, agriculture, public utilities. The full value of a penny (1 cent of the property tax rate) is $48,147
“We will start on the budget figuring to receive $45, 147 per penny based on 93.77% collections and anything collected over 93.77% will be spread out over the various departments,” said Stribling.
The current property tax rate of $1.8335 breaks down as follows:
County General: .9535 cents
Schools: 61 cents
Debt Service: 12 cents
Road Department: 4 cents
Capital Projects Fund: 11 cents.
In other business, County Mayor Stribling gave a Trustee’s Report on behalf of Sean Driver who was unable to attend the meeting. “People were asking how collections were going on property taxes. As of March 23, 2017 the Trustee’s Office had collected 91.31% of the property taxes owed for 2016. In a comparison, one year ago on the same date the county had collected 92.68%,” said Stribling.
Four members of the DeKalb County Beer Board were appointed to an established term by the county commission.
The four members are Jim Stagi in the 1st district, Edward Frazier in the 3rd district, Rhonda Caplinger in the 5th district, and Johnny King in the 7th district.
Names of each appointee were placed in nomination by the county commissioners in their districts and then voted on by the entire county commission
Last year the commission voted to set terms for members of the beer board. All seven members serve as appointees and the terms are staggered with the 1st, 3rd, 5th, & 7th district positions being appointed in odd years. The 2nd, 4th, & 6th district seats are filled in even years. The beer board is to re-organize (name officers) every year.
In March last year Myron Rhody in the 2nd district, Robert Rowe in the 4th district and Leonard Dickens in the 6th district were appointed. Each term is for two years effective in April.
In other business, Joy Whitman was named to replace Danny Cowan as judicial commissioner. Cowan recently resigned effective April 17. The county’s judicial committee recommended Whitman for the position.
The county has three judicial commissioners including Whitman, Richard Jennings, and Tammy Ashburn.
Judicial commissioners are responsible for the issuance of criminal arrest warrants upon finding probable cause.

Alyssa Owen is the recipient of this week’s “Classroom Champion” award presented by Smithville Attorney Jim Judkins and WJLE.
Owen, daughter of Kevin Owen and Amanda Allen and step-dad Kobe Allen, is a student at DeKalb Middle School. Her siblings are Isabelle Allen, Kamryn Allen, Jordan Allen, Isaac Allen, Tia Owen, and Ramia Owen.
Alyssa recently received the honor and a special gift card from Judkins.
Owen is a member of the DeKalb Middle School Junior BETA Club, the S.A.D.D. Club (Students Against Destructive Decisions), and has helped with the DMS yearbook.
She enjoys piano, singing, reading, painting, and photography.
“Alyssa has been a wonderful student in all aspects during her years at DeKalb Middle School and we are so proud of her,” said Principal Randy Jennings.
In an effort to recognize achievements of students in the DeKalb County School System, WJLE has partnered with attorney Judkins in featuring a “Classroom Champion” each week for the next several weeks.
The name of the student selected each week will be announced on WJLE and will be featured on the WJLE website. Each student winning will receive a plaque and a gift certificate.
“This is our way of recognizing and celebrating the achievements of the future citizens and leaders of the community. It can benefit their learning and overall school atmosphere and climate. The students’ selection is based on academic performance, responsibility and work ethic, leadership abilities, and citizenship

In February 2017, Kristy Longmire, Juvenile Case Manager for DeKalb County Recovery Court went to New York City to attend the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges’ National Conference on Juvenile Justice.
This vital and important educational opportunity featured cutting edge information, state-of-the-art programs and current research in the juvenile justice system. Some of the featured topics included: alternatives to detention, trauma-informed justice, cross-over youth, deep-end youth, dating violence, ending solitary confinement, recidivism, indiscriminate shackling issues, disproportionate minority contact, LGBTQ issues in the juvenile justice system, sex trafficking of minors, juvenile drug courts and runaways and the Interstate Compact for Juveniles. It is vital to our local recovery court program that our staff and team stay up-to-date on the latest topics and trends in the field in order to best provide services for our clients.
All DeKalb County Recovery Court staff and team members attend training at least once annually. For more information on how to refer a teen to our program, please contact Coordinator Norene Puckett at 615-215-8690 or norene.drugcourt@gmail.com

Donny Green, DeKalb/Cannon Co. Farm Service Agency County Executive Director, reminds local farmers and landowners of the importance of timely crop reporting. Participation in most USDA programs requires annual reporting of crops and land use and requires a report of all cropland on a farm, even though the land may not be used for annually-tilled row crops.
Field Grown and Ornamental Nursery crops have unique crop years. As a result, they also have unique crop reporting deadlines. Below are the crop year period and the acreage reporting deadline:
Nursery Crop Year 2018—-June 1, 2017 through May 31, 2018
2018 Nursery Crop Reporting Deadline (field grown and container)—May 31, 2017
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office at (615) 597-8225, Ext. 2.