Man Facing Contraband Charge After Tossing Cigarette to Inmate During Court

July 25, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

A man is facing a contraband charge after tossing a cigarette to an inmate during court.

21 year old Robert Stephen Derrick of Toad Road, Dowelltown is under a $7,500 bond on a charge of contraband in a penal institution. He also has a failure to appear warrant against him for an earlier offense of leaving a treatment facility before being discharged. He will be in court on the contraband charge July 29. Derrick is being held without bond for the failure to appear and will answer to that warrant in court on August 23.

Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on July 15 while in the General Sessions courtroom, Derrick was observed throwing something to a DeKalb County inmate who was also present in the courtroom. It was found to be a tobacco cigarette intended for a prisoner at the jail.

A Woodbury man will be in court this week after being arrested for breaking into a building on Sparta Highway in May.

21 year old Nicholas Miles Herlong of Woodbury is charged with burglary and vandalism. His bond totals $12,500 and his court date is July 29.

Sheriff Ray said that on May 15 Herlong broke out several windows before entering the building but was later caught within one mile of the scene by law enforcement. Herlong was bleeding heavily from his arms upon his arrest and blood stains were found in the building he is charged with breaking into.

28 year old Dalton Grady Moore of Cookeville is charged with driving under the influence. His bond is $2,500 and he will be in court July 29.

Sheriff Ray said that on July 13 a deputy spotted a gold Toyota traveling west on West Broad Street leaving its lane of travel several times. He conducted a traffic stop and spoke with the driver, Moore who was fidgety and appeared to be under the influence. Moore submitted to but performed poorly on field sobriety tasks. He also refused to give a blood sample so a search warrant was obtained for a blood draw from him. Moore admitted to having used marijuana prior to getting behind the wheel to drive.

24 year old Braxton Kain Bennett of Smith Road, Smithville is charged with assault. His bond is $4,500 and he will make a court appearance September 30.

Sheriff Ray said that on July 7 Bennett, while incarcerated in the DeKalb County Jail was observed on surveillance camera getting into a physical altercation with another inmate inside the jail annex cell. Bennett slammed the other inmate to the floor resulting in an injury to the back of his head. Bennett then struck the victim in the face once with his right hand. The injured inmate was transported to the emergency room of the hospital for treatment.

46 year old Kevin Donald Bogle of Fuston Hollow Road, Alexandria is charged with simple possession of a schedule I drug. His bond is $3,500 and he will be in court August 5.

Sheriff Ray said that on July 16 a deputy was on Allen Ferry Road when he spotted Bogle operating a jeep knowing that he did not have a valid driver license. The officer stopped the vehicle and spoke with Bogle who admitted that he had syringes in the jeep. Prior to his arrest, Bogle was searched and found in his left pocket was a white waxy substance believed to be Heroin.

30 year old Jerry Wayne Perry of King Ridge Road, Dowelltown is charged with driving under the influence. His bond is $2,500 and he will make a court appearance August 12.

Sheriff Ray said that on July 17 a deputy received a phone call about a stranded motorist on Cookeville Highway past Big Hurricane Road. Upon arrival the officer spoke with Perry, the motorist. Perry said he had driven the vehicle from the Shell station at Silver Point to this location. Perry had a strong odor of alcohol on him and his speech was slurred. He also admitted to having consumed a shot of moonshine twenty minutes prior to the officer’s arrival. Perry submitted to but performed poorly on field sobriety tasks. He was then placed in custody.

July 23, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Its almost football time!

The DeKalb County High School Tiger Football Program is gearing up for the 2021 campaign now that the TSSAA dead period requirements have passed and practices are underway with sights set on the season opener at Warren County on Friday August 20 at 7 p.m. WJLE will have LIVE coverage.

During Tiger Media Day Friday, Tiger Coach Steve Trapp talked about what’s in store for this team over the next month.

“At this moment (Friday) we are in our second week back in after the dead period. Our first week was helmet only. This week is considered the heat acclimatization period so we had to do two days in helmet and then three days in helmet and shoulder pads. We will have a sleep over camp on Friday night and then wake up and have a practice Saturday morning. After that Saturday practice we will have covered everything we need to cover. From that point on it’s about making it better and then tweaking it to whoever we are playing for that week. After this week we will go full pads. We will have a scrimmage next Friday, July 30 against Gordonsville there. The following week, August 6 we will have a scrimmage at home versus Friendship Christian. Those start times typically are at 6 p.m. and then the week after that we will have a Jamboree on a Saturday, August 14 at Gordonsville and we will play Clay County for two quarters,” said Coach Trapp.

“We have a lot of guys coming back with a lot of experience. For some it will be their first opportunity to make a name for themselves in this program but we have a lot of confidence and faith that they will do that. There are a lot of juniors and seniors out there on the field. I think we have one sophomore who will be a starter. Last year we had a freshman. It’s about who can get out there and produce but we feel like we have a lot of quality guys this year,” Coach Trapp continued.

This year a new assistant coach will be roaming the sidelines with Coach Trapp and the other assistants.

“Our new coach is Dalton Stallings. He will be working with the running backs and safeties. He got hired in to lead our new ISS program here in the school system. We are excited to have him on board. He has been a great addition and fits in well with the culture of our coaching staff,” said Coach Trapp.

Stallings will be filling the void left by former assistant coach Thomas Cagle, who is succeeding David Gash as Assistant Principal. The other assistant coaches will be returning including Corey Rathbone, Michael Shaw, Brad Trapp, and Luke Green.

The same foes from last year will make up the 2021 DCHS Football Schedule with the exception of Goodpasture, a private school from the Nashville area, which will replace Grundy County. As for the region, the Upperman Bees, a familiar regular season opponent of the Tigers in recent years, will be joining DeKalb County and the other four teams that make up Class 4A, Region 4.

“We have been in a region with them before but now they are moving up from Class 3A to 4A so they will be in the Region with us (DeKalb County) Livingston Academy, Macon County, Cumberland County, and Stone Memorial. The addition of Upperman is the only change in the makeup of Region 4. We like challenges and this gives us a chance to step up even more,” said Coach Trapp.

In addition to the region foes, the Tigers will also again meet Warren County, Cannon County , Smith County and Watertown this fall

The 2021 DCHS Football schedule is as follows (* Region Opponent):

August 14: Jamboree at Gordonsville: 7 p.m.

August 20: Warren County- Away: 7 p.m.

August 27: Smith County-Home: 7 p.m.

September 3: Macon County*- Away: 7 p.m.

September 10: Watertown-Away: 7 p.m.

September 17: Cumberland County*-Home: 7 p.m.

September 24: Cannon County (Homecoming): 7 p.m.

October 1: Livingston Academy*- Away: 7 p.m.

October 8: BYE- NO GAME

October 15: Upperman*- Home: 7 p.m.

October 22: Goodpasture- Home: 7 p.m.

October 29: Stone Memorial*- Away: 7 p.m.

July 23, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County recorded a banner year in net collections of local option state sales taxes for the 2020-21 fiscal year which ended June 30.

According to the Tennessee Department of Revenue, net collections (County and Four Cities Combined) were up each of the 12 months during the fiscal year (July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021) compared to the same time period in 2019-2020. The best performing month for net collections in 2020-21 was January at $602,647 (reflecting December activity). The weakest month was March (reflecting February activity) at $399,784.

In 2019-20, the strongest month for net collections was January, 2020 at $488,761 (reflecting December activity) and the weakest month was February, 2020 at $340,857 (reflecting January activity)

DeKalb County’s share of local option sales tax collections for June 2021 outperformed the same month in 2020 by more than $45,000 according to the Tennessee Department of Revenue. For the county and the four cities therein combined collections were up by more than $53,000.

DeKalb County brought in $167,815 in June, 2021 compared to $122,195 for June, 2020.

Three of the four cities within DeKalb County also hauled in more local option sales tax revenue.

The comparisons between the two months for each municipality are as follows:

Smithville: $350,327 (June 2021), $336,123 (June 2020)

Alexandria: $28, 637 (June 2021), $36,471 (June 2020)

Dowelltown: $3,366 (June 2021), $2,613 (June 2020)

Liberty: $9,078 (June 2021), $8,414 (June 2020)

NET COLLECTIONS (LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX): $559, 225 (June 2021), $505, 818 (June 2020)
June sales tax collections reflect previous month activity