Megan Moore Wins GOP Nomination for Board of Education in 5th District

March 5, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Political newcomer Megan Moore won the DeKalb County Republican nomination for the Board of Education-District 5 in Tuesday’s primary.

Moore defeated Tom Walkup 191 votes (58.95%) to 133 votes (41.05%).

Two precincts make up the 5th district and Moore carried both, County Complex and Johnson Chapel. She also had more early votes/absentees than Walkup.

Moore will be unopposed in the August DeKalb County General Election. She will succeed Jamie Cripps on the school board from the 5th district. Cripps did not seek re-election. The term is for four years.

Here’s how the vote breaks down by precinct:

Early Voting/Absentees combined: Moore-71; Walkup-59

County Complex: Moore-68; Walkup-49

Johnson Chapel: Moore-52; Walkup-25

Meanwhile 6th District Incumbent Board of Education member Jason Miller won the GOP nomination for re-election unopposed with a total of 287 complimentary votes. Miller will be unopposed in the August DeKalb County General Election. The term is four years.

Constable candidates in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th districts ran unopposed in the DeKalb Republican Primary Tuesday and will be unopposed as GOP nominees in the August DeKalb County General Election. The terms are four years. There is no constable candidate in the 6th district.

The nominees in each district and their complimentary vote totals are as follows:

1st District: Tyler Cripps- 272 votes

2nd District: Danny Adamson-302 votes

3rd District: Incumbent Travis Bryant- 298 votes

4th District: Incumbent Lane Ball- 308 votes

5th District: Incumbent Mark Milam- 335 votes

7th District: Jeremy Neal- 176 votes

Meanwhile Judge Shawn C. Fry received a total of 1,637 votes in DeKalb County. He was unopposed for the newly created Criminal Court Judge position in Part III of the seven-county 13^th Judicial District. Fry was appointed to the judgeship last year by Governor Bill Lee.  He will be unopposed in the DeKalb County General Election. Upon his election in August, Judge Fry will serve until September 1, 2030. Thereafter, the judge of part III shall be elected to a full eight-year term.

In DeKalb County, Donald Trump received a total of 2,242 votes to 312 for Nikki Haley in the GOP Tennessee Presidential Preference Primary while President Joe Biden, who was unopposed in the Tennessee Democratic Presidential Preference Primary, received 185 votes in DeKalb County

March 5, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County Assessor of Property Shannon Cantrell is enroute to a third term after defeating challenger Amy Clare Lockhart in the DeKalb County Republican Primary Tuesday.

Cantrell, the Republican nominee, carried all 12 precincts including early voting and absentees for a total of 1,566 votes (61.90%) to Lockhart’s 961 votes (37.98%). He will be unopposed in the August DeKalb County General Election. The term is four years.

A total of 2,897 people voted in the March 5 DeKalb County Primaries including 1,743 on election day, 79 by absentee, and 1,075 during early voting.

The breakdown by precinct is as follows:

Early Voting/Absentees combined: Cantrell- 598; Lockhart- 433

Alexandria: Cantrell-107; Lockhart-64

Temperance Hall: Cantrell-42; Lockhart-25

Liberty: Cantrell-97; Lockhart-54

Snow Hill: Cantrell-53; Lockhart -29

Church of God: Cantrell- 119; Lockhart-87

Rock Castle: Cantrell-17; Lockhart-11

Courthouse: Cantrell- 102; Lockhart-64

Johnson Chapel: Cantrell-61; Lockhart-23

County Complex: Cantrell-93; Lockhart-48

Keltonburg: Cantrell-111; Lockhart-50

Blue Springs: Cantrell 72; Lockhart-30

Church of Christ: Cantrell-94; Lockhart-43

March 5, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Together We Soar!

The administration and staff at Northside Elementary held a celebration last week to commemorate the school’s having made the list of Tennessee’s highest performing schools and districts.

The staff was treated to a barbeque lunch, and they cut a cake to mark the accomplishment.

In a report released last month, the Tennessee Department of Education gave hundreds of schools including Northside Elementary “Reward” status for the 2022-23 school year, meaning they demonstrated high levels of performance, met specific goals to improve performance or both.

First year Northside Principal Angela Johnson said the “Reward School” honor was hard earned by the educators at the school and well deserved.

“Today we are celebrating that Northside Elementary is a Reward School and that designation was given to us by the Department of Education,” said Principal Johnson. “Its based-on performance and growth in the school. Its also for schools that have an overall federal accountability score greater than or equal to 3.1 out of 4.0. We are celebrating our teachers, faculty, and staff and all their hard work as a team. They have held themselves to high standards and accountability and we wanted to recognize them in this way to let them know how proud we are,” said Principal Johnson.

“As my first year here, I am proud to be a member of Northside Elementary and for this opportunity. This award shows that the teachers and staff here hold themselves to high standards and are working very hard to help our students succeed. This is a great accomplishment that these teachers have made,” added Principal Johnson.

Director Patrick Cripps and central office staff along with school board members were invited to join the school faculty and staff for the celebration.