High School Sports Players Read to DWS Students

March 2, 2022
By: Bill Conger

D.C.H.S. students treated the elementary age students at DeKalb West School today (March 2) to a special reading time. It was part of the nationwide reading celebration that takes place every March 2 on Dr. Seuss’s birthday. Players, managers, and cheerleaders picked their favorite Dr. Seuss book and read to students in PreK-5th grades. Librarian Amanda Mullinax coordinated the event at the school. Across the country, thousands of schools, libraries, and community centers participate by bringing together kids, teens, and books.

The celebration continues Thursday night at DWS with “Full Steam Ahead for Camp Read S’More,” a family engagement night from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Experiments, minute-to-win-it contests, a book hike, and more fun activities are lined up. Students STREAM Fair (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, and Math) projects will be on display.

March 2, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

For the first time in nearly two years, Tennessee County Services Association (TCSA) members convened in person for the annual County Government Day February 28 – March 1. The event was held at the Downtown DoubleTree Hotel in Metro-Nashville Davidson County.

Four members of the DeKalb County Commission attended including Susannah Cripps Daughtry, Janice Fish Stewart, Julie Young, and Jenny Trapp.

County Government Day presents an opportunity for county government officials—including highway officials, county mayors and commissioners–to network with their state legislators at the Capitol where they conduct their business. Two years ago, this event was disrupted by the tornado that came through downtown Nashville and left a path of damage across Wilson, Putnam, and other counties. At this time last year, the Cordell Hull building – home to legislative offices—was closed to the public during the pandemic and large group gatherings were prohibited.

“County Government Day was educational and a great way to network with people who hold the same office in other counties. It provided an opportunity to share information and ideas. We heard Penny Schwinn, Tennessee Commissioner of Education, speak about the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement, which would transition Tennessee’s K-12 public schools to a student-based funding approach. The TISA will change the way the state funds public education. A change hasn’t been made in about 3 decades, so it was exciting to have the person in charge of the program educate us directly and field questions about the new funding approach,” said Commissioner Daughtry.

March 2, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The number of voting precincts in the county has been reduced from 15 to 12.

Beginning with the May 3 primaries, the Belk, Dowelltown, and Edgar Evins State Park precincts will be closed and those who have voted there will cast ballots at different locations.

Those who were voting at the Dowelltown Community Center have been assigned to vote at the Liberty Community Center precinct; those who were voting at Edgar Evins State Park have been assigned to the Temperance Hall precinct; and those who were voting at Belk have been assigned to the Keltonburg precinct. The action was taken last fall by the DeKalb County Election Commission.

After reviewing the precincts, election officials said there were two factors in combining three voting locations: costs and the labor pool.

“Polling places are not provided free of charge,” Election Commission Chairman Walteen Parker and Administrator Dennis Stanley said in a joint statement. “The workers are paid, there is a cost to programming voting machines, and there is a cost to the materials provided at each precinct.”

“It has also become increasingly more difficult to find the number of workers needed to man 15 voting locations. These moves provide more flexibility in administering the entire process,” the two added.