Bradford Sentenced for Burglaries

December 14, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

A man charged in a Joint investigation by the Smithville Police and DeKalb County Sheriff’s Departments in a rash of Mini-Storage unit burglaries appeared for sentencing in DeKalb County Criminal Court on Wednesday, December 13.

46-year-old Robert Bradford entered a plea by criminal information to four counts of burglary and received a total of eight years all suspended to probation except for one year to serve. He was given jail credit from June 12 to December 13, 2023.

Bradford was arrested on Monday, June 12 after a search warrant was executed at his home where several stolen goods from the storage units were found along with other items believed to be stolen from May 23 through June 12.

23-year-old Mercedes Leighann Hegwood entered a plea by criminal information to aggravated burglary and received a three-year sentence all suspended to supervised probation. She is also under a restraining order to keep away from the victim. The offense occurred on November 1, 2023.

29-year-old Callie Marie Donna Combs entered a plea by criminal information to reckless driving and received a sentence of five months and twenty-nine days all suspended to probation to be supervised by the Cannon County Recovery Court. The sentence is to run concurrently with a Cannon County case against her.

Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on February 22, 2022 a deputy was summoned to a traffic accident and discovered that Combs was the operator of a vehicle involved in the crash. Combs was found to be drowsy, and her speech was slow. She also performed poorly on field sobriety tasks. Although Combs submitted to a blood test a search warrant was obtained for a blood draw from her. She was originally charged with driving under the influence.

December 13, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Who will be crowned the College Football Play-off National Champion?

Find out what the WJLE Fearless Forecasters think Thursday, December 14 at 4:30 p.m. during a special Bowl Game edition show.

The Fearless Forecasters will be picking winners in all 40 plus bowl games including the CFP semi-finals as well as the eventual CFP National Champion.

Grant James remains the leader among WJLE’s Fearless Forecasters picking college football winners heading into the bowl season.

Grant has a record of 148-62 followed by Ricky Atnip at 145-65, Scott Goodwin 144-66, Jared Davis and John Pryor each at 143-67, Chad Kirby 142-68, Dewain Hendrixson 141-69, Scott Brown 138-72, and Darrell Gill 137-73.

For the week on the last show, Ricky Atnip, Scott Brown, Scott Goodwin, and John Pryor each went 10-5, and Darrell Gill, Grant James, Jared Davis, Chad Kirby, and Dewain Hendrixson were each at 9-6.

Two Fearless Forecasters hit their underdog picks on the last show. Grant James added six points to his total as Alabama defeated Georgia 27 to 24 and Chad Kirby picked up 9.5 points with Washington’s upset of Oregon 34-31.

Overall, Jared Davis still leads in underdog points with 47.5 followed Ricky Atnip with 33.5, Dewain Hendrixson 30, Darrell Gill 18, Chad Kirby 16, Scott Goodwin and John Pryor each at 12.5, Grant James with 9 points and Scott Brown 2.

Catch the Fearless Forecasters on WJLE Thursday at 4:30 p.m. on AM 1480/FM 101.7 and LIVE streaming at www.wjle.com.

The program is sponsored by the Charles D. Atnip Realty and Auction Company, DeKalb County Ace Hardware, Middle Tennessee Natural Gas, FirstBank, DeKalb County Insurance, Gill Automotive, Love-Cantrell Funeral Home, Davis Auto Body, and Domino’s Pizza.

December 13, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

DCHS senior basketball standout Conner Close entered Tuesday night’s game against Smith County in Smithville “close” to reaching a milestone.

Needing only five points to gain entry to the prestigious DCHS 1,000-point club, Close wasted no time. After just under three minutes into the game, Close had done it scoring the first 5 points of the contest giving his team an early lead and etching his name forever in the annals of Tiger basketball history.

The game was stopped momentarily with 5:42 left in the 1st period to mark the accomplishment. Coach Joey Agee presented Close a 1,000th point game ball as fellow players, family, friends, and fans gave Close a standing ovation of applause and cheers. Close finished the night with 15 points and a total of 1,010 for his high school career as the Tigers defeated the Owls 66 to 56. The night was even more memorable as the Lady Tigers evened the score with the Owlettes winning 50 to 48 after losing to them only a week ago at Carthage 67-44.

In the boys game, the Tigers trailed 16 to 14 after the 1st period and 26 to 23 by halftime. The Tigers jumped out front 47 to 34 after the 3rd period and went onto win 66 to 56.

Jordan Parker led the Tigers in scoring with 23 followed by Conner Close with 15, Dallas Kirby 14, Alex Antoniak 8, Jon Hendrix 4, and Seth Fuson 2.

Last week the Tigers beat the Owls 59 to 49 at Carthage.

The girls game was tied at 13 by the end of the 1st period, 19 to 19 at halftime and 33 all at the end of the 3rd period. In the 4th quarter, the Lady Tigers outscored the Owlettes 17 to 15 and won 50 to 48.

Chloe VanVranken scored 16 followed by Ella VanVranken 15, Allie Melton 13, and Tess Barton with 6.

Both the Tigers and Lady Tigers improve to 5-4 and will travel to Cannon County Friday night, December 15. Action begins with the girls game at 6 p.m. followed by the boys contest and WJLE will broadcast both LIVE.

In the earlier meeting on November 28 in Smithville, the Tigers beat the Lions 54 to 52 to start their now five game winning streak but the Lady Tigers lost 53 to 46.