Jimmy Womack Reappointed to DUD Board

July 23, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Jimmy Womack has been reappointed to a new four-year term on the DeKalb Utility District Board of Commissioners.

County Mayor Tim Stribling announced his appointment of Womack during Thursday night’s county commission committee meeting of the whole.

Womack is one of three members on the board who serves DeKalb County. Each term is for four years.

By law, the DUD board must submit the names of three nominees to fill each position, listed in order of preference. The list of nominees submitted included Womack, Jimmy Herndon, and Mack Harney in that order to the DeKalb County Mayor.

The general provisions of Tennessee Code Annotated (State Law) TCA § 7-82-307 provide that the utility board members must submit three nominees, listed in order of preference, to the county mayor (where the vacancy exists). The county mayor has the authority to appoint one of the nominees to the vacant position on the board or reject all of the nominees. If the county mayor rejects all three nominees, then the board of (utility) commissioners has to submit three additional nominees to the county mayor for consideration.

The DUD Board is made up of five members, three from DeKalb County (Jimmy Womack, Kerry Davis, and Hugh Washer), one from Cannon (Roger Turney), and one from Smith County (Danny Bass). The terms are staggered.

July 22, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

A total of 1,272 people has cast ballots during early voting through Friday for the August 4 elections including 1,215 in person and 57 by absentee. From the total, 993 have voted in the Tennessee Republican Primary and 219 in the Tennessee Democratic Primary while 60 have voted only in the General Election without participating in either state primary.

The municipal election turnout through seven days is as follows: Smithville Municipal Election- 350; Alexandria 34, Liberty 21, and Dowelltown 15.

The Friday (July 22) turnout was as follows:
Courthouse: 164 total including 159 in person and 5 absentees, 126 (GOP Primary), 34 (Democratic Primary), 4 (General Election Only), 42 (Smithville Municipal Election), 5 (Liberty Municipal Election), 3 (Alexandria Municipal Election), 1 (Dowelltown Municipal Election).

The Thursday (July 21) turnout was as follows:
Courthouse: 219 total including 203 in person and 16 absentees (Assisted Living/NHC), 154 (GOP Primary), 48 (Democratic Primary), 17 (General Election Only), 72 (Smithville Municipal Election), 1 (Liberty Municipal Election), 1 (Alexandria Municipal Election), 2 (Dowelltown Municipal Election).

Early voting times are as follows at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Smithville: Mondays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesdays 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.; Wednesdays 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.; Thursdays 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. until Noon. Early voting will also be held again in the western part of the county on a limited basis. The DeKalb County Fairgrounds will be the site of early voting on July 25 from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. Each early voting site is for any properly registered DeKalb County voter.

July 22, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The 2022 high school football season is less than a month away and Tiger Pride excitement is building in anticipation of the 60th year of Tiger football at DeKalb County High School.

The annual media day event was held Thursday at DCHS where coaches, players, cheerleaders, and managers posed for photos and spoke with the local media about the upcoming season.

With 12 seniors on the team, Tiger Coach Steve Trapp, who is starting his 18th year, isn’t necessarily concerned about experience but there are key positions that will have to be filled with the loss of senior talent from last year including all-around athlete Isaac Knowles who is going on to play collegiate football at Tennessee Tech.

“We have a veteran club with a lot of juniors and seniors who have played a lot of football for us so we are anticipating some good football. Offensively we lost Isaac Knowles. He was one of 6 or 7 seniors last year and 3 or 4of them really produced for us and although we can’t replace what Isaac did for us individually as a group, we are expecting our returning guys to take care of business. We have 3 or 4 of our receivers back and 3 of our offensive lineman back so we have to fill in some spots there. Our quarterback is returning, and we have a four-year starting running back coming back so we have a lot weapons on the offensive side that have really looked good so far in summer workouts and 7 on 7s. Defensively we had to replace some people in the secondary and some inside backers but it’s a pretty solid core and they have looked really well also,” said Coach Trapp.

A brand-new video display board has been installed at the Dr. John L. Vanhoosier football stadium and is now working and ready to go for the season opener against Warren County on August 19 in Smithville. The 16 x 10 video board is incorporated with the existing scoreboard and will feature opportunities for video replays of game highlights and statistics, advertising sponsorships, and interaction for the fans, all to enhance the game night experience.

The DCHS 2022 Football Schedule is as follows:
REGION OPPONENTS (*)
August 19: Warren County- Smithville 7 p.m.
August 26: Smith County-Carthage 7 p.m.
September 1 (THURSDAY): Macon County*-Smithville 7 p.m.
September 9: Watertown-Smithville 7 p.m.
September 16: Cumberland County*- Crossville 7 p.m.
September 23: Cannon County-Woodbury 7 p.m.
September 30: Livingston Academy* (HOMECOMING)-Smithville 7 p.m.
October 14: Upperman*-Baxter 7 p.m.
October 21: Goodpasture-Goodpasture 7 p.m.
October 28: Stone Memorial* Smithville 7 p.m.

WJLE AM/FM will have LIVE coverage of each week’s games and LIVE streaming at www.wjle.com