The Friends of DeKalb County Animals has two fundraisers planned in August to benefit the new DeKalb Animal Coalition Shelter:
The first is a Canoe & Kayak Poker Run on the Caney Fork River Sunday, August 6, 2017 at Big Rock Market/Caney Fork Outdoors River Store located at 1193 Wolf Creek Rd, Silver Point, Tennessee 38582.
Registration is from 9 am until 12 pm, cost is $30 per person to participate in the poker run. The actual float should take an average kayaker approximately 4 hours to complete. You may begin the float anytime between 9:30 am – 1 pm and be able to complete it by 5 pm. If you do not have your own kayak or canoe, all rentals from Caney Fork Outdoors will help the animals as Janice Martin, owner, has graciously offered to kickback $15 from each boat rental to the event. Canoes will rent for $45 (2 ppl can ride in a canoe for $45) and kayaks will be available for $40 each (1 person only). All rentals include PDFs, paddles, and boats-just bring yourself and coolers if you want to have lunch along the river!
The best poker hand/scorecard wins! All scorecards must be turned into last checkpoint by 5 pm in order to be eligible for prizes. The poker run is NOT a race; you simply register/obtain a score card, float the 7 mile stretch of the Caney Fork River between the Gordonsville Access boat ramp and the Bob Lowery Sr. Boat Ramp in South Carthage below the AG Center/Crump Ballfields stopping along the way at each of the 4 checkpoints to ‘draw’ a poker card. Your cards will be recorded on your score cards by the poker run officials. After 5 pm, all score cards submitted on time will be evaluated by poker run officials. The best 3 hands win! You do not have to be present to win. Winners will be contacted by Debbie Rowe to set up prize delivery times.
The Grand Prize, donated by our Sponsors Big Rock Mkt and Caney Fork Outdoors River Store is a $500 value, 2-night cabin getaway, kayak rental (a $2000 Jackson kayak), and a gourmet lunch.
2nd place donated by Kayla Miller of Salon Gallaria in Mt. Juliet, TN is a $100 Gift Certificate
3rd place is a kayak paddle donated by Friends of DeKalb County Animals
The last checkpoint in South Carthage, at the boat ramp, poker run participants will have the option to ‘buy’ extra poker cards for $5 each or purchase an entire new hand for $15. All proceeds go to opening and operating the new animal shelter located behind Tenneco on Transfer Station Road, Smithville, TN. All current and future fundraisers are public events posted on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1045907762211547/?acontext=%7B%22action_…
The 2nd fundraiser is a Kayak Raffle. A Jackson Rivera Kayak donated by Cindy Ward of Architectural Custom Cabinetry will be given away on Saturday, August 26, 2017.
Tickets are $5 each or 3 for $12 and are on sale NOW until the date of the drawing on Saturday, August 26, 2017.
Tickets can be purchased at the Mike Foster Mutli-Purpose Center on Wednesday, August 2 from 7-10 am and Thursday, August 3 from 3-6 pm. OR you can contact Debbie at 615-417-4623 to purchase tickets at other times.

As students are starting back to school, Jimmy Sprague, Transportation Supervisor for the DeKalb County School System wants to caution drivers to be aware of the rules and penalties for improperly passing a school bus.
“Buses will start running on August 7, which is an abbreviated school day. Our first full day is August 9. I want to let the public know that the buses will be running so please pay attention. We will have children at the bus stops to be picked up in the mornings and dropped off in the afternoons. Remember when the buses stop and the lights are flashing, don’t pass the buses because we’re either loading or unloading children. If you should be running late for work in the mornings, please don’t try to make up for lost time by trying to pass a school bus. Leave a little earlier to get to your destination to avoid the bus traffic. Nothing is as dangerous as when children are getting on or off a school bus, especially when there is traffic that doesn’t stop for a bus,” said Sprague.
Four lane highways are of particular concern. “For example Highway 70 (West Broad Street) in Smithville is a four lane with a driveable median and state law says if there is a driveable or paved median between the (east and westbound lanes) then all four lanes of traffic have to stop if a bus is picking up a child. If there is a non-driveable (grass or barrier) median only traffic going in the same direction as the buses have to stop. The state has been cracking down violators. It is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine. I want to encourage everybody to practice safe driving at all times but especially around school buses,” he said.
Sprague said all buses are in good condition and drivers are certified to begin the new year. “Our drivers have been certified this year. DeKalb County is blessed with an outstanding group of drivers. I go to meetings within our state transportation department and I tell them all, and I make no bones about it, DeKalb County has the best bus drivers in the state of Tennessee,” said Sprague.
The Tennessee law states: The driver of a vehicle upon a highway, upon meeting or overtaking from either direction any school bus that has stopped on the highway for the purpose of receiving or discharging any school children, shall stop the vehicle before reaching the school bus, and the driver shall not proceed until the school bus resumes motion or is signaled by the school bus driver to proceed or the visual signals are no longer actuated. Subsection (a) shall also apply to a school bus with lights flashing and stop sign extended and marked in accordance with this subsection (a) that is stopped upon property owned, operated, or used by a school or educational institution, if the bus is stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging any school children outside a protected loading zone.
All motor vehicles used in transporting school children to and from school in this state are required to be distinctly marked “School Bus” on the front and rear thereof in letters of not less than six inches (6”) in height, and so plainly written or printed and so arranged as to be legible to persons approaching the school bus, whether traveling in the same or opposite direction.
The driver of a vehicle upon a highway with separate roadways need not stop upon meeting or passing a school bus that is on a different roadway or when upon a controlled-access highway and the school bus is stopped in a loading zone that is a part of or adjacent to the highway and where pedestrians are not permitted to cross the roadway. For the purpose of this subsection (a), “separate roadways” means roadways divided by an intervening space that is not suitable to vehicular traffic.
Except as otherwise provided by subdivisions (a) (1)-(3), the school bus driver is required to stop the school bus on the right-hand side of the road or highway, and the driver shall cause the bus to remain stationary and the visual stop signs on the bus actuated, until all school children who should be discharged from the bus have been so discharged and until all children whose destination causes them to cross the road or highway at that place have negotiated the crossing.
It is a Class C misdemeanor for any person to fail to comply with any provision of this subsection (a) other than the requirement that a motor vehicle stop upon approaching a school bus.
It is a Class A misdemeanor punishable only by a fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for any person to fail to comply with the provision of this subsection (a) requiring a motor vehicle to stop upon approaching a school bus.
Be alert and allow our children to arrive to and from school safely without harm.

A teenager was airlifted after a two vehicle crash Sunday afternoon on Highway 70 near the intersection of Hurricane Ridge Road.
Trooper Mark Jones of the Tennessee Highway Patrol told WJLE that the 17 year old boy was driving a 2007 Pontiac G5 pulling from Hurricane Ridge Road to go east on Highway 70 when he crossed the path of a 1999 Ford F-150, driven by 45 year old Steven Glynn of Dale Ridge Road, Dowelltown. Glynn was traveling west on Highway 70.
Members of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department’s Extrication and Rescue Team were summoned because the teen was pinned in his car. The boy was picked up at the scene by a helicopter ambulance and flown to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville.
Glynn was not injured.
Members of the DeKalb EMS and the Sheriff’s Department were also on the scene.

A 56 year old Manchester man was airlifted after a midnight crash on Highway 70 east early Sunday morning.
The accident was reported at 12:03 a.m.
Trooper Bobby Johnson of the Tennessee Highway Patrol told WJLE that 56 year old Roy Gipson was driving a 2002 Ford F150 west on US 70 when he ran off right side of road and hit a utility pole causing power lines to fall on the truck. Not knowing if the lines were still hot, EMS and firefighters waited for a crew from the electric company to arrive to make sure the power was off before accessing the truck to get Gipson out.
Gipson was airlifted from the scene by a Life Force helicopter ambulance and flown to Erlanger Hospital.
Charges are pending. Trooper Johnson said alcohol was a factor in the crash. Gipson said he fell asleep while driving.
Members of the DeKalb EMS, Sheriff’s Department, and DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department were also on the scene.

A 29 year old Hartsville man lost his life on Center Hill Lake Saturday.
The body of Michael Stephen Davidson was recovered near Sligo bridge around 8:30 p.m.
During a recreation outing, the man jumped off a cliff into the lake at the old rock quarry near the bridge. When he didn’t resurface, 911 was notified.
Sheriff Patrick Ray said the call came in at 6:20 p.m.
Members of the Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad, TWRA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DeKalb County EMS, and DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department responded.
According to Dustin Johnson, Captain of the Rescue Squad, the body was located in about 28 feet of water. “We (rescue squad) had two boats out there dragging and using side scan sonar but the TWRA located the body using an underwater robot which they happened to have here this weekend. The body was then brought to the surface and we recovered it and brought it back by boat to the ramp at Sligo Marina,” Captain Johnson told WJLE. The body was then taken by DeKalb EMS to the hospital.
“We had a lot of help. Eighteen members of the Rescue Squad responded along with the Corps which had a boat out there and the TWRA, who had three boats and were also using side scan sonar along with their underwater robot. Thanks to everybody involved we made a recovery pretty quickly. We also want to thank the owners of Sligo Marina who provided us drinking water and a pontoon boat for us to use at the scene,” said Captain Johnson.

Two men have been indicted by the DeKalb County Grand Jury on rape charges.
47 year old Michal Lee Bailey, Sr. of Snow Hill Road, Dowelltown is indicted for rape while 19 year old Jacory Watson Vaden of Charles Vaden Lane, Gordonsville is indicted for statutory rape. Both were named in sealed indictments returned by the Grand Jury on Monday, July 24. Bailey was arrested on Friday, July 28 while Vaden was taken into custody on Tuesday, July 25. They will be arraigned in DeKalb County Criminal Court on Monday, August 7.
The indictment against Bailey alleges that “on or about the 2nd day of July, 2017 in DeKalb County, Bailey did intentionally, and or knowingly engage in unlawful sexual penetration of (18 year old girl) without her consent, constituting the offense of rape”.
The indictment against Vaden alleges that “on or about the 7th day of July, 2017 in DeKalb County, Vaden did intentionally, knowingly or recklessly engage in sexual penetration of (14 year old girl) and the defendant (Vaden) is at least four years older than her, constituting the offense of statutory rape.
The case against Bailey was investigated by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department. The Smithville Police Department investigated the case against Vaden.