Phase One of Alexandria Downtown Project Complete

May 2, 2025
By:

The Smithville-DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce the completion of phase one of the Alexandria Downtown Project.

Three years ago, the Chamber applied to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development for Alexandria to be accepted into the Tennessee Downtowns Program. Following the town’s acceptance into the program, a Downtown Alexandria Committee was formed, consisting of Chamber Director Suzanne Williams, Ria Baker, Judy Sandlin, Pat Parkerson, and Phillip Holmes.

“The news of Alexandria’s acceptance into the program was incredibly exciting,” said Williams. “It marked the beginning of a journey to revitalize the downtown and attract new investment.”

Participation in the program required the steering committee to complete a year of specialized training before qualifying for a $15,000 grant to kickstart improvement efforts. The project’s primary goals were to launch renovations and generate renewed interest in Alexandria’s downtown to attract investors and businesses.

Completed Phase One Projects Include:

At Alexandria Medical Center, the entire building was power washed and all four exterior walls were painted.

At Junk n Jewels, a new front door and a new screen door were installed, and exterior painting and caulking were completed.

At the Tinsley Building, a new metal awning was installed.

At the Alexandria Masonic Lodge, the front brickwork was power washed; all exterior walls and rear doors were painted; the metal-framed windows were repaired, primed, and painted; broken and missing window glass was replaced; a new metal platform for the rear steps and landing was repaired and installed; the platform, steps, and landing were painted; two front plate glass windows were replaced; and the entry glass door was removed and replaced.

“With phase one complete, we’re preparing to apply for a $300,000 Downtown Improvement Grant this June,” Williams shared. “This funding will allow us to make major improvements to the remaining building exteriors.”

Committee member Ria Baker added, “These improvements are already making a visible difference, and we’re excited to see even more progress as we continue to move forward.”

Looking ahead, Williams announced that the committee moving forward into phase two will consist of Judy Sandlin, Pat Parkerson, Phillip Holmes, Dennis Slager, Suzanne Williams, Emily Bell, and Jamie Bates.

Williams also noted the growing interest from new investors in downtown Alexandria. “We’re excited about the momentum that’s building. Our state consultant, Bridgett Jones, has been instrumental in guiding us to make informed, impactful decisions.”

“We’re grateful to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development for this opportunity to breathe new life into Alexandria’s downtown,” Williams added. “These improvements not only boost our local economy but also enhance our appeal as a tourism destination.”

For more information about the Alexandria Downtown Project, contact the Smithville-DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce at 615-597-4163.

May 1, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

Graduation for the DCHS Class of 2025 is only two weeks away!

The commencement will be Friday, May 16 at 7 p.m. on the DCHS football field.

WJLE and participating sponsors are presenting a photo gallery of the DCHS Class of 2025.

Click on the link below to view the senior formals.

Photo gallery

Once you open the page, click each photo to view a larger image. The name of the senior you select is at the bottom of the photo.

There are 173 photos in the gallery divided up 48 photos to a page. After you view page 1 be sure to click the links for pages 2-4 (top or bottom of the page) to view the remaining photos.

WJLE thanks the sponsors for April as follows:

State Representative Michael Hale
DeKalb Funeral Chapel
Alexandria Auto Parts
DeKalb Prevention Coalition
FirstBank
Gill Automotive
Good Health Family Clinic
General Sessions and Juvenile Court Judge Brandon Cox
Register of Deeds Daniel Seber
County Clerk James L. (Jimmy) Poss
County Mayor Matt Adcock
Road Supervisor Danny Hale
Smithville Church of Christ
Smithville FBC (First Baptist Church)
Josh & Melissa Miller Farmhouse Realty the Miller Team
Crossroads Medical Group-Smithville Office (Family Medical Center)

WJLE thanks the sponsors for May as follows:

State Representative Michael Hale
DeKalb Funeral Chapel
Liberty State Bank
DeKalb Prevention Coalition
FirstBank
Gill Automotive
General Sessions and Juvenile Court Judge Brandon Cox
Register of Deeds Daniel Seber
County Clerk James L. (Jimmy) Poss
Assessor of Property Shannon Cantrell
Circuit Court Clerk Susan Martin
Smithville Church of God
Smithville Church of Christ
Smithville FBC (First Baptist Church)
Trustee Sean Driver
Bryan’s Auto Repair & Towing
Crossroads Medical Group-Smithville Office (Family Medical Center)
Josh & Melissa Miller Farmhouse Realty the Miller Team

April 30, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

A new policy adopted by the county commission Monday night regarding overtime pay for medical death investigators from the ambulance service isn’t setting well with Sheriff Patrick Ray.

A special called meeting of the county commission has been set for Monday, May 5 at 6 p.m. in the lower courtroom of the courthouse to revisit the medical examiner policy, specifically the compensation of employees and anything else pertaining to the medical examiner’s office.

Under the policy as proposed last Thursday night, April 24 during a county commission workshop, medical death investigators were to be paid fours (overtime per call) at an hourly rate based off their ambulance service salary. But during the regular monthly meeting Monday night, April 28 the proposed policy, as adopted by the county commission was changed from four hours to eight hours (overtime) that medical death investigators are to be paid.

County Mayor Matt Adcock gave an explanation prior to the vote Monday night.

“After doing a little bit more research we looked up the average salary for an MDI which is about $15 an hour so they were not making anywhere close to the $100 (per call) they were making before, so we took that average salary and multiplied it by eight. Because of it being an hourly salary its going to be taxed so they are going to have that (pay) check taxed, so it won’t be like the 1099 they got before. That is something that has been asked to be done,” said County Mayor Adcock.

The problem is, according to Sheriff Ray, the policy doesn’t provide a level playing field between the on-call MDIs and his own on call employees who often have to spend a much longer period of time at a scene and are not guaranteed eight hours of overtime.

According to Sheriff Ray, the MDI is on the scene to view the body and determine if the death is a natural death, suicide, or murder. After that, the MDI can release the body to law enforcement to complete the scene work. The MDI will also complete the paperwork to send into the state medical examiner.

“I used to be an MDI back when Dr. JC Wall was the medical examiner,” said Sheriff Ray. “ That was before you had to have a doctor, registered nurse, EMT, paramedic, or whoever you have to have now to do it. Back then there were no computers to send anything from. You had to do your paperwork by writing it down and faxing it in and there is no way it took four hours to do any of that. There might be a time where the medical examiner now might have to come and wait a few minutes to do something but all they are there for is the body. Once they release the body they can go do whatever they want. You (county commission) paid to train every EMS worker that is out there to be the MDI on the ambulance. They take the same information on their run sheets that goes to the state medical examiner. Other than putting it in a computer when they get back (from a scene) you can figure out how long that is. The county mayor can tell you how many pages that is to go out. What two pages? Its question and answer. Every one of them is the same,” said Sheriff Ray.

During Tuesday night’s budget committee meeting, Sheriff Ray said the rate of overtime pay MDIs are to get under this new policy is much more than what was discussed at the meeting Monday night.

“You (county commission) passed Monday night what you thought was $15 per hour (MDI pay) but that is not true. That is the standard rate ($15 per hour) for the lowest employee there (EMS) but that is not overtime pay. Those eight hours will be overtime at $22.50 per hour. One of the EMS people who works there makes $28 an hour so that’s $42 (per hour) for eight hours,” said Sheriff Ray.

If this policy remains in place, Sheriff Ray said he will be asking the county commission to amend his budget to provide for eight hours of overtime to his on-call employees. In fact, since the new policy went into effect Monday night, Sheriff Ray said he has already implemented the policy for his department. Should the county commission rescind the new medical examiner policy regarding eight hours of overtime pay for MDIs, Sheriff Ray said he would rescind a similar policy for his department.

“At the last budget meeting we had, the budget committee had requested the MDIs to be paid a minimum of four hours overtime for their work. I spoke to all of you that if this happened, I would be requesting the same for all of my staff,” explained Sheriff Ray. “I have a detective, a court deputy, and a correctional officer on call 24 hours a day. Detectives may come in and work two hours and complete their task such as a home death or break in. Court deputies come in for inmate transports or mental patient transports and may complete their task in less than three hours. Correctional officers may have to come in and go to the hospital to sit with an inmate for two hours or our female correctional officers may have to come in and strip search a female for less than ten minutes. None of these employees who are on call is paid unless they are called into work. I think my employees off time and especially when they are on call and can’t leave the county is valuable time to them. I am the only county department that I know of that has to do this because we are understaffed”.

“Since you (county commission) have developed a pay plan and this plan passed at the county commission meeting Monday night with all voting “yes” for paying an on-call MDI eight hours overtime per call, I also started Monday night after the meeting the same plan to all of my on-call employees if they are called into work. If they are required to come into work, they will receive, at the minimum, eight hours of overtime pay,” said Sheriff Ray.

“If my overtime budget will not sustain the added expense of the overtime pay, I will be asking the commission for a budget amendment. Also, without knowing what these added expenses will cost in the next budget year, I would also ask you tonight to add extra monies to the overtime budget for all of the Sheriff’s Department and Jail employees overtime to fulfill your commitment of the MDI overtime allowance you gave them,” Sheriff Ray said.

In a prepared statement, Sheriff Ray further explained the duties of his employees and the MDI during a death investigation.

“Sheriff’s Department Detectives are paid when they respond to a death scene, from when they check in on the radio at their residence and they are paid until they arrive back at their residence. The detectives are responsible for the death scene. The MDI is responsible for the body”.

“If a death requires an autopsy, the MDI will contact a transport service for the body and notify the state medical examiner of what they have. Most of the time it is a local transport service”.

“If the death is believed to be of natural causes, the MDI will call for an ambulance if available and will set up a transport for the body to the emergency room or the MDI will call a local funeral home of the family’s choice and wait for the local funeral home to arrive. If the funeral home is out of town, the MDI should set up a transport with an ambulance to the hospital”.

“The sheriff’s department’s role is to investigate the death for foul play. Detectives will collect statements from witnesses, sketch a drawing of the crime scene by taking measurements of the position of the body where it lays”.

“Most all of the deaths that are believed to be suspicious in nature require a search warrant for the property or the residence. That is obtained by collecting evidence for probable cause, drafting a search warrant, having a criminal judge in Cookeville to sign the search warrant and then executing the search. All of the crime scene is photographed. Evidence is collected at the scene and brought to the sheriff’s department for safe keeping in the evidence room. If the victim has been transported to the hospital, the detective will respond to the hospital for pictures of the body. Detectives will also obtain arrest warrants from the warrant commissioner”.

“Here are the total scene hours (the most time-consuming cases) on four deaths this last year until today (April 29) for sheriff’s department detectives from checking enroute until completed.”

“Murder 6 hours”

“Murder 7.5 hours”

“Suicide 4.5 hours”

“Murder 4 hours and 40 minutes”

“As you can see, 7.5 hours was the longest time on the scene”

“Today (April 29) we had a home death. A deputy was dispatched at 9:41 a.m. and finished on the scene at 10:58 a.m. Total time 1 hour and 17 minutes. The death was not suspicious in nature”

“The MDI (who is supposed to be off shift at EMS) checked enroute at 9:46 a.m. in an ambulance causing the ambulance to be taken out of service”.

“The MDI completed time was 11:07 a.m. because the MDI transported the deceased to the funeral home (1 hour and 21 minutes). MDI will also have to send paperwork to the state”.

“As you can see most “at home deaths” have been natural causes and require minimum paperwork and officers are not on the scene very long”, said Sheriff Ray.

The budget committee Tuesday night temporarily tabled the proposed 2025-26 sheriff’s department and jail budgets along with other categories of the overall county general budget after imposing a temporary freeze on new spending until the jail construction issue is resolved. Exceptions were made for county employee step raises and state mandated pay increases for county public officials.

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