Five DCHS Athletes Compete in Track and Field Meet

March 25, 2021
By:

Five DeKalb County High School Athletes recently competed in their first track and field meet running for the Warren County Team.

Aaron Gottlied, Ella VanVranken, Cadee Griffith, Maleah Ruch, and Ally Beneke competed in Cookeville Tuesday night, March 22.

Sophomore runner Aaron Gottlied placed 5th out of 24 runners in the 1600 meters with a time of 5:16.52 and 2nd in the 800 meters with a time of 2:15.91.

Freshman runner Ella VanVranken had two second place finishes with a time of 5:33.83 in the 1600 meters and a time of 2:36.27 in the 800 meter race.

Freshman runner Cadee Griffith finished 5th out of 19 runners in the 800 meter race with a time of 2:51.49 and she had a 4th place finish in the 400 meter race with a time of 1:11.30.

Freshman runner Maleah Ruch finished the 400 meter race with a time of 1:22.77.

Ally Beneke finished first in the womens high jump leaping 5-02.00. She also had a 2nd place team finish in the 4×200 meter relay with a time of 1:58.62 and a 5th place finish in the 4×100 meter relay with a time of 1:00.61.

Athletes from Cookeville High School. White House High School, Goodpasture Christian School, Warren County High School, Watertown High School, Livingston Academy, Macon County High School, Donelson Christian Academy, and Upperman High School participated in the track and field event.

DeKalb County has a coop agreement with Warren County. A coop agreement allows athletes from smaller schools without teams and facilities in a sport to participate with a larger school.

March 24, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

A 42 year old man is facing a burglary/theft charge after he stole a 2006 Dodge Ram pickup truck belonging to the City of Smithville Fire Department Tuesday morning.

Mark Beall drove off in the truck which was parked at the fire station downtown. Beall was later pulled over in the truck and arrested in McMinnville.

The truck was easy to spot as it is decaled “Smithville Fire Rescue” on both sides. Equipment was mounted on the pickup and it had $2,000 worth of extrication tools in the back of the truck.

A report filed by Smithville Police Officer Travis Bryant states that “On Tuesday, March 23 at approximately 6:59 am I received a call from (Fire Chief) Charlie Parker and was asked if the 2006 Dodge Ram fire truck was in the fire department bay. I walked next door and observed the bay door open and the side door to the fire hall open. I notified Charlie Parker that the truck was missing and immediately issued a “Be on the lookout” or BOLO with central dispatch for a stolen truck.

Charlie stated that he received a call from one of his firemen that had seen the truck on Keltonburg Road, A short time later he (Beall) was stopped in the vehicle by McMinnville Police and Warren County Sheriff’s Department officers. The truck with mounted equipment was valued at $8,000 and there was approximately $2,000 worth of extrication equipment in the back of the truck. The truck and equipment were recovered ” the report stated.

Officer Bryant further stated in his report that “During the course of the investigation, camera footage was recovered which showed the outside of the City Hall/ Smithville Police Department building for several hours. During that time he (Beall) was observed looking in windows and possibly tampering with a police car. Camera footage recovered shows him (Beall) outside from around 11:00 p.m. until about shift change at 6:00 a.m. When an officer pulled up he (Beall) is seen going around the rear of the building to avoid police. It was a short time later that the truck was observed on Keltonburg Road,” the report concluded.

March 23, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

The Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad is getting the financial help it needs from the county to organize a Swift Water Rescue Task Force.

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the county commission voted unanimously to appropriate $18,000 from the general fund balance as an extra contribution to the Rescue Squad to train and equip up to fifteen volunteers for the task force. That comes to a little less than $1,200 per person.

The task force is being created due to an increase in DeKalb County swift water rescues in recent years, including two just last month.

The task force, to be led by the Rescue Squad, will also include volunteers from the DeKalb County, Smithville and Alexandria Volunteer Fire Departments and possibly local law enforcement officers and others who would be specially trained and equipped for swift water rescues.

“We would have fifteen sets of gear but I would like to have more than  fifteen personnel on this team but to start off with I want the equipment for fifteen. We will probably have more people on the list and they can go to school too but they will use the gear we will have. We won’t have to buy gear for every single person (more than fifteen). They can use each other’s gear. I think fifteen sets of gear will be significant to keep on hand although the gear will need to be replaced over time as it wears out,” said Rescue Squad Captain Dusty Johnson.

Second District Commissioner Myron Rhody pointed out that more volunteers might be needed to ensure enough people are available to answer a call when a swift water emergency occurs.

“You may have fifteen members but there might only be six or seven show up on a call or if you had thirty members you might not have but eight or ten respond so you will have enough gear to equip up to fifteen if they show up,” said Rhody.

The Rescue Squad, made up of volunteers, is a non-profit organization and not an entity of county government. It receives an annual contribution from the county of $26,000 for its services which includes searching for drowning victims, cave/rope rescues and searches for missing persons, etc. But in most cases, neither the rescue squad members nor volunteer firefighters and other emergency first responders locally are specially trained in water rescues. This additional $18,000 contribution from the county to the rescue squad will be earmarked just for this special training and equipment.