Andrea Coleman, Fifth Grade DARE Essay winner at DeKalb West School. Pictured with Sheriff Patrick Ray and Chief Deputy Don Adamson
Karley Knowles, Fifth Grade DARE Essay winner at Northside Elementary School. Pictured with Sheriff Patrick Ray and Chief Deputy Don Adamson
New Sign Erected Outside of County Complex
Erin Cantrell-Pryor received over $212,500 in scholarships at DCHS Thursday, the largest total award presented to any student, including a $186,000 scholarship from Cornell University
Rawlin Vanatta, owner/operator of the White Possom Grille in Smithville, talked about jobs in the culinary arts during Career Day at DeKalb West School
DCHS Class of 2013 Scholarship Recipients at Awards Day
Singer/Songwriter Sam Mullins talked to 6th-8th grade students at DeKalb West School about careers in music at the annual Career Day, coordinated by School Counselor Bill Conger.
Junior DCHS Golfer Mallory Sullivan signs with Cumberland University to play golf after she graduates. Members of her family joined Mallory at the signing Thursday along with DCHS Coach Joe Pat Cope
School Board Votes 4-1 to make cuts in Tentative Budget for 2013-14. (OLDER PHOTO) (READ STORY UNDER LOCAL NEWS)
DCHS Principal Patrick Cripps, Valedictorian Taylor Leach, Salutatorian P.J. Carroll, State Rep Mark Pody, State Sen. Mae Beavers, State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver, and Director of Schools Mark Willoughby
Smithville Crime Stoppers Board meets with D.A. Randy York: Officer Matt Farmer, Shawn Jacobs, Randy York, Gayla Hendrix, John Daniels, Karen Caplinger, Mayor Jimmy Poss, and Phillip (Fluty) Cantrell
The Delta Kappa Gamma Society for Key Women Educators welcome new members Mandy Dakas and Kathy Bryant into the Beta Theta Chapter. Pictured with long-time members, Louise Frazier and Jenelle Pugh.
Sheriff Patrick Ray, detectives, deputies, and TBI agent Billy Miller examine Chevy Blazer pulled from the lake where Putnam County woman died after the vehicle ran into the water. (See Videos)
Chevy Blazer Pulled from Center Hill Lake at Johnson Chapel Boat Ramp. Putnam County woman died after the vehicle submerged in the water. Two others escaped unharmed (See videos)
Woman Dies After Chevy Blazer Runs off Boat Ramp and Submerges in Lake (SEE VIDEOS UNDER LOCAL NEWS)
Retiring teachers from Smithville Elementary left to right and their years of service. Ms. Jan Thomas- 35 years, Mrs. Sue Driver- 39 years, Mrs. Mary Pugh- 30 years
Cancer Survivors at Relay for Life
Presentation of the Colors by Boy Scout Troop #347 at Relay for Life
A 24 year old man, who allegedly used somebody else's 2006 Mastercraft X45 ski boat several times over the summer without the owner's permission to entertain friends on the lake, was sentenced Monday in DeKalb County Criminal Court.
Judge Leon Burns, Jr. presided.
Zachary Ross Hendrixson received a ten year suspended sentence after entering a guilty plea under a negotiated settlement to charges of vandalism over $10,000 and burglary of a boat. Under terms of the sentence, Hendrixson received six years for the vandalism and four years on the burglary charge, all suspended. The sentences are to run consecutively for a total of ten years. Hendrixson was given jail credit of 150 days. He must also make restitution of $1,000 to a victim in the case.
Hendrixson was indicted by the DeKalb County Grand Jury on Monday, November 29th for vandalism over $10,000 and joyriding. He was also indicted in a separate case, charging him with burglary and theft over $1,000.
Sheriff Patrick Ray said Hendrixson was arrested on Monday, July 19th after the owner of the boat took warrants against him. The boat, which was docked at the time at Hurricane Marina, apparently received some damage to the interior and exterior while Hendrixson was using it. The boat is valued at approximately $100,000.
According to Sheriff Ray, Hendrixson took the boat out on the lake several times. " He has been going down there since Memorial Day, taking people out on that boat, falsely claiming it belonged to his family. He even published pictures of the outings on his Face Book account."
When the owner discovered that Hendrixson had been using the boat, he had him charged in the case.
After a further investigation, Sheriff Ray said Hendrixson was also charged with theft of property over $1,000 for allegedly taking items off another boat."We started an investigation and found that he had stolen a surf board, a wake board, and life jackets from a boat at Cove Hollow Marina, valued at $1,180."
Meanwhile in other cases, 32 year old James Summers pleaded guilty to promotion of the manufacture of methamphetamine and sale of a schedule III controlled substance. He received a two year sentence to serve in each case and was fined $2,000. The sentences are to run consecutively with each other for a total of four years and concurrently with a violation of probation he is now serving. Summers was given jail credit from April 7th to December 20th.
42 year old William A. Cantrell pleaded guilty to a third offense of driving on a revoked license. He received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days to serve. He was also fined $50. The sentence is to run concurrently with two other cases against him.
25 year old Michael Snyders pleaded guilty to sale of a schedule II controlled substance and received a three year sentence, all suspended to supervised probation. He was given credit for sixty days of time served. Snyders was fined $2,000.
27 year old Christopher Pinegar pleaded guilty to theft over $10,000, burglary, and vandalism over $1,000. He received a total sentence of four years including three years in the theft case and two years for burglary and two years for vandalism, all suspended to supervised probation, except for 193 days to serve. He was given jail credit for 193 days. The burglary and vandalism cases are to run consecutively for a total of four years and concurrently with the theft sentence. Pinegar must make restitution of $8,000 in the vandalism case.
26 year old Sabrina Leighann Branham pleaded guilty to a first offense of driving under the influence and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days on probation, except for 48 hours to serve. She was fined $360 and her license will be revoked for one year.
21 year old Cody Murphy pleaded guilty to theft under $500 and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days on probation. He must make a $75 contribution to the economic crime fund.
30 year old Felicia Murphy pleaded guilty to a first offense of driving under the influence and possession of drug paraphernalia. She received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days on probation in each case to run concurrently with each other and a violation of probation against her. Murphy was fined $360 and she must undergo an alcohol and drug assessment. She will also lose her license for one year.
22 year old Timothy W. Patrick pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and three counts of sale of a schedule II controlled substance. He received a three year sentence in each of the drug cases to run consecutively with each other for a total of nine years. Patrick also received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days probation in the DUI case to run concurrently with the nine year term. Patrick will be on probation by community corrections. In the DUI sentence, Patrick must attend school, pay a fine of $360 and his license will be revoked for one year. He also pleaded guilty in a worthless check case, which will be dismissed upon his making restitution.
The City of Smithville apparently gets good marks in it's latest audit report.
John Poole, Hendersonville CPA, who performed the annual audit for the city, addressed the mayor and aldermen Monday night.
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Poole said there were no major deficiencies. "We didn't see any unusual expenditures during the year. We review a vast majority of the city's expenditures and there were no unusual items purchased. All items seemed appropriate for city business. The city does a pretty good job in the way that it pays it's bills. In my opinion, the city of Smithville and this board and boards that have served before you, have always been good stewards of the people's money. The city has very good reserves. If catastrophic things were to happen, the city has really good reserves that it could use to do the things it wanted to do. Not only do we have adequate reserves, but as far as the debt, the city literally has only two loans, one for some vehicles that we leased/loaned which the state considers a loan; and the other is the last year of a bond on the water system. All of these loans will basically be paid off next year so the city will almost be debt free. That is a great place to be in."
Poole said while the city showed a deficit in the water and sewer fund, the problem should be resolved next year, now that the city has raised water and sewer rates. "The area where most cities are having difficulties now in this economic slowdown we're in is in the utilities fund and that is no different here in the city of Smithville. This board is aware that the state has a requirement that at least every other year, you have to show a profit. In other words, you can't show a deficit two years in a row. So for the year ending June 30th, 2010, you can see we had a deficit of $81,000 (water and sewer fund). That has been very unusual for the city. The city, generally speaking, has shown surpluses. But it's just one of those things (that happened) because we haven't had a rate increase in a long time and we've seen all major areas of expenses go up including the cost of electricity, which went up 20% last year or eighteen months ago. Employee benefit costs, health insurance, we've seen increases in those. So that's really gotten us to this point. But I know this board has already taken action (to increase water and sewer rates) so that in 2011 that will not be a concern. You are to be commended. It's a tough thing to do (raise rates) but the state requires it and as this board is aware if you didn't do it, the state would have stepped in next year and done it for you and they would have set a much higher rate increase than what you would have because from their standpoint, they (state) don't want to see you back for the next ten years. In my opinion this board did exactly what it needed to do and you did it in a timely manner and I don't expect it to be a concern next year."
Poole said the city will also have to keep an eye on it's rate of water loss, which is currently at 19%. "There's something new this year. The state is concerned with utility operations, especially those that have water, in what they call unaccounted for water or water loss. The state has been gathering information for a couple of years and this is the first year that we have a standard that this board will have to be very concerned about going forward and that is unaccounted for water. Your rate of unaccounted for water is 19% which is very good. The state standard is 35%. In other words, if you're in excess of 35% you are a concern to them (state). But needless to say, being at 19% that is really good news. If you were over that percentage (35%) the state would ask you to start spending money to try and reduce that percentage. You should take great pride because 19% is an exceptional number and that is one of the things that I would be holding my water and sewer departments responsible for and if that number starts to creep up near 30% we would want to know what's going on and try to take action to reduce that but at 19% it's of no concern whatsoever."
In other business, the aldermen set the dates for all regular meetings of the city council for the calendar year 2011. The meetings will be held on the first and third Monday nights of each month at 7:00 p.m. on the top floor of the city hall building. The only exceptions are for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day in January; the fourth of July; and for Labor Day. No meetings will be held on those dates.
Public Works Director Kevin Robinson gave a brief update. "Within the next two weeks we're going to have the water tanks serviced and check the water level indicators on the tank. The one on Miller Road is not working correctly so we're going to have all those checked. We also fixed part of the street in front of the post office where the vehicles are rutting the pavement out. We've fixed that with concrete. And holiday garbage pickup. We're off on December 24th and 27th so garbage will be picked up on December 28th. We're also off on December 31st and that garbage pickup will be on January 3rd."
Gary Durham, city resident and taxpayer, addressed the mayor and aldermen asking that he be placed on the agenda at the next meeting to try and convince them to start working on a new 20 year plan. Durham said the city should establish a 20 year plan which would put the city in a better position to prepare for future needs regarding maintenance and or expansion of city services. The city had a long range plan covering the period 1984-2004 but Durham said it seems that nothing has been done in recent years to update or follow it.
