Beneke State Champ! Van Vranken top 10 at TSSAA-D1-AAA State Track and Field Meet

May 28, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Ally Beneke has done it again! The Tennessee Tech signee and DCHS Graduate took home 1st place for the second year in a row in the women’s high jump. She cleared a new personal record of 5 feet 8 inches on her final attempt jump at the TSSAA D1-AAA Track and Field State Meet held on May 25th at the Dean A. Hayes Stadium at MTSU.

Junior, Ella Van Vranken placed in the top 10 with a 9th place finish in the 800-meter run. This was Van Vranken’s third trip to the State meet as she competed there her freshman and sophomore years as well.

Congratulations to these two athletes for representing DeKalb County through Warren County track co-op.

May 28, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

An award-winning DCHS Fighting Tiger Band member will be furthering her education and talents at the collegiate level.

Serenity Burgess has received a $20,000 scholarship from Cumberland University in Lebanon and will become a member of the Phoenix Marching Band, an elite high impact, woodwind, brass and percussion performance group.

Burgess made her commitment official in a recent signing at DCHS.

Joining Serenity for the signing were her parents, Josh and Tristan Burgess, grandparents Jerry and Tammy Maynard, and her siblings.

A 7-year band member, Serenity played flute and piccolo for the DCHS band and earned her position as drum major for the second year in a row.

“She was a great leader in the band and will be greatly missed,” said DCHS Band Director Don Whitt. “Serenity was a flute section leader, and also the drum major for the past two marching seasons. She ranked a very high superior rating at our competitions this year and received the second highest award in the DeKalb Band Program, The Louis Armstrong Award for outstanding musicianship,” said Whitt.

Burgess had been in the band since 6th grade and had also been a member of the color guard.

“I was interested in joining band when I was a kid,” Burgess said. “I thought the marching band was cool. I loved seeing the band perform in the Homecoming and Christmas parades.”

“I have enjoyed the friends and family and being able to connect with people on a different level. It’s like communication through music. One of my most meaningful experiences while being in band would be getting drum major. I thought I would try out to see if I was meant for it, and it has turned out amazing.”

Burgess said her plans are to major in Education for a future career as an elementary school teacher.

Cumberland University offers music education to all students wishing to take private lessons, music courses, or to participate in one or more of their instrumental or choral ensembles. Students there can earn Associate or Baccalaureate degrees in General Music, Music Performance, or Music Education. The Band Director at Cumberland University is Dr. Wayne Ray.

May 27, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Many business owners in DeKalb County and across the state will be affected by a change in requirements for obtaining a Minimal Activity or Standard Business License.

According to the Tennessee Department of Revenue, any business with annual gross receipts of more than $3,000 but less than $100,000 must obtain a Minimal Activity License. Previously, the requirement was for businesses with annual gross receipts of between $3,000 and $10,000. Any business with annual gross receipts in excess of $100,000 needs a Standard Business License. These changes apply to tax years ending on or after December 31, 2023.

These business licenses are to be obtained and renewed annually through the local county clerk’s office.

Business owners affected by the changes will be notified by letter from the Tennessee Department of Revenue that they will no longer be renewing by use of TN Tap, the department’s online payment platform.

“We have been told that the Department of Revenue will be analyzing all those TN Tap accounts in the fall and that they will be sending letters out to each of those account holders with gross receipts of between $3,000 to $100,000 to notify them that they will no longer be using TN Tap to renew but must do so with the County Clerk’s Office. For those businesses that still have sales and use tax accounts on TN Tap, they will retain that account and will continue to pay their sales and use tax through TN Tap,” said County Clerk James L. (Jimmy) Poss.

According to Poss, the changes announced by the Department of Revenue will create more activity in the county clerk’s office.

“Its going to increase the number of people we see locally and increase the number of transactions that we process locally in the office. Those numbers will go up because the majority of our accounts are standard business license accounts. We currently have very few minimal activity accounts,” said Poss.

For more information on the changes announced by the Tennessee Department of Revenue click the link below

https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/revenue/documents/notices/business/bus23-08.pdf