December 5 Voting Deadline Approaches for 2022 FSA County Committee Election

November 28, 2022
By:

2022 FSA County Committee elections are underway as ballots were mailed to eligible voters in Local Administrative Area (LAA) # 3 (DeKalb County) on November 7.

December 5, 2022 will be the last day to postmark voted ballots returned by mail, or to deliver voted ballots to the local FSA office.

The following candidates were nominated, and determined eligible, as candidates in the 2022
LAA # 3 election:

Bart Lay: Mr. Lay resides in the Keltonburg Community where he owns and operates a beef cattle farm. Bart recently retired as Agency Manager for DeKalb County Farm Bureau and currently owns a land surveying business.

Shawn Puckett: Mr. Puckett resides in the Four Seasons Community where he owns and operates a beef cattle farm. Shawn is employed with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and is a member of the Board of Directors at the DeKalb County Farm Bureau.

Write-in nominations can be accepted on ballots. However, the write-in nominee must meet eligibility criteria and attest to his or her willingness to serve, if elected, by signing a nominating petition. Agricultural producers were encouraged to submit candidate names during the nomination period that ended August 1, 2022.

Ballots returned by mail must be postmarked no later than December 5, 2022. The DeKalb/Cannon FSA County Committee will meet on December 13, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. to canvass and tabulate the ballots. This meeting will be held at the Smithville USDA Service Center and is open to the public. The newly elected committee member and alternates take office January 1, 2023.

November 28, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Although “Lucy” is given lots of attention at the DeKalb Animal Shelter its still not the same without her siblings. You see all of them have been adopted and are placed with loving homes of their own. Why not make sure Lucy has a home too? Adopt her today!

Lucy is the WJLE/DeKalb Animal Shelter featured “Pet of the Week”!

“Lucy is about five months old. She is super sweet and a super cuddly cat. All of her brothers and sisters have been adopted so she is the last remaining in the litter. We want to find her a good home for the holidays. She is an all-around good kitty cat. She has been spayed, micro-chipped and is up to date on everything. Her adoption fee is only $40,” said Shelter Director Emmaly Bennett.

“Visit our website at https://www.dekalbanimalsheltertn.com/ to see Lucy’s picture, fill out an adoption application and we will call you to come in and meet her,” said Bennett.

The shelter is open Monday-Friday from 8 to 4 and Saturday from 8 to 12 at 186 Transfer Station Road.

November 27, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

We are all familiar with baby changing stations in public restrooms as they provide a great service for parents when they are out and about. But what if you have an elderly or disabled person who has the same needs?

Sarah Cripps, local attorney and a member of the Tennessee Council for Developmental Disabilities, addressed the county commission during a committee meeting of the whole Tuesday night asking that adult-size changing tables be obtained for the courthouse and perhaps other county facilities regularly open to the public. Cripps said grants are available to help fund the cost of them. She also asked that the county update the restrooms in the courthouse to make them more handicapped accessible.

“I wanted to make you aware of some grant funding that is available for putting an adult size changing table in any space that is regularly open to the public. There are adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities as well as many aging seniors who can’t fully participate in the life of a community because they don’t have facilities available to them for hygienic toileting and privacy. I would ask you to consider that. The grant is super easy to apply for and if approved it would defray all or part of the cost to purchase that kind of a table and perhaps put one in the courthouse,” said Cripps.

“Another issue I have noted is that there is not one single ADA compliant toilet in the entire courthouse. I feel like we have public spaces and its my duty as a taxpayer and the duty of all of us to maintain them and make them accessible, not just to sighted people who can walk on two legs but to all of us. I am proud of our public buildings, and I would encourage you to consider making our public spaces ADA accessible,” Cripps continued.

Cripps said toileting is a common need for adults who are aging or have disabilities and other conditions. Many adults and children need access to changing spaces that are larger than a baby changing table. She said everyone deserves a safe, dignified, and clean toileting experience. Without adult-sized changing tables, those who need them must choose between changing in an unhygienic setting – like on a restroom floor – or remaining isolated from the community if they experience incontinence issues.

Adult-size, height-adjustable changing tables promote community inclusion. They offer safe, private, and hygienic toileting options to everyone. Approximately 200,000 Tennesseans, 4% of the population need help with one or more activities of daily living, such as toileting.

The State of Tennessee is offering grants to increase the availability of adult size changing tables.
Applications may be made through the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities for a grant of $5,000 per changing table. The program will pay for 200 tables across the state.

In April, the Tennessee General Assembly voted to invest $1 million to increase access to adult-size changing tables across the state. Because of this advocacy, the Department of Transportation has agreed to install changing tables in all rest areas and welcome centers and the Department of Environment and Conservation has agreed to install changing tables in all state parks.