Sign Up For Sensory-Sensitive Santa Christmas Visit

November 26, 2023
By: Bill Conger

Meeting Santa Claus is an exciting time for most children. They can hardly wait to sit in his lap and tell him all the gifts they want under their tree on December 25th. But for some children who struggle with sensory issues, facing the jolly old man is not a jolly experience. That’s why Kids Express Therapy Services is offering a Sensory Santa experience for the second year in a row.

“This event is for children with special needs who would not be able to tolerate a typical Santa experience,” Kids Express Owner/Speech Pathologist Alyssa Conger, SLP-CCC, said. “Siblings are also more than welcome!”

“A sensory-sensitive Santa event is geared toward children with special needs, who may have a difficult time attending similar events that other children enjoy,” says Kids Express Owner/Manager Alyssa Conger, SLP-CCC. “Things like loud noises, long lines, and excessive visual stimulation can trigger meltdowns in children who cannot process sensory information the same way we do. Our event is by appointment only, which eliminates long lines, and reduces over-stimulating noises and sights. We will also be providing devices for communication in the event that children have difficulty telling Santa what they want.”

“Many children are afraid of Santa at first, and that is not unusual, but for the kiddos with sensory issues, the entire process may be problematic before they even see the big guy in red,” Conger adds. “Bright lights in a shopping mall, the smell of foods in the food court, lines and crowds of people wearing brightly colored clothes and too much perfume; children crying or pressing into their personal space, etc. can be powerfully overwhelming to them.”

The Sensory Santa Christmas will be held December 9 from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at Kids Express Therapy. It’s located at 612 Congress Blvd, Suite C, the former offices of dentist Dr. Duke. However, families must sign-up in advance to meet Old Saint Nick.

The purpose of making an appointment is to prevent long lines. Children who have difficulty with sensory processing often get over-stimulated with waiting in line.

To sign up for the free meet and greet with Santa, go to the Facebook page using the QR code or the link provided below. If you have any questions, please contact the office at 615-697-3442.

https://form.everestwebdeals.co/?form=f840ccc416bd09836deefc87a8610aad

November 24, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

From natural disasters to fires, auto crashes, law enforcement investigations, and search and rescue operations, emergency response efforts need reliable communication channels to coordinate their efforts when seconds count.

For years, the DeKalb County government has operated with a radio system made up of conventional analog technology to communicate between central dispatch and local law enforcement agencies, fire departments, EMS, and rescue squad. But over time, the system’s technology has become antiquated and more unreliable. According to Brad Mullinax, Director of the DeKalb Emergency Communications (E-911) District, the time has come for the county to invest in a new system upgrade.

During Tuesday night’s meeting of the whole, Mullinax urged the county commission to begin making plans to update the county’s mobile and fixed radio transmission technology and to join the Tennessee Advanced Communications Network (TACN) which provides first responders the ability to have additional coverage to talk on the radio with surrounding state communication towers during major events and disasters. In order to take advantage of the TACN network, Mullinax explained that all county responder radios will need to be replaced. Although necessary, its a move that may prove to be costly.

Mullinax has made some members of the commission aware of this concern in previous committee meetings, but this was the first time he brought it to the attention of the entire county commission.

“The DeKalb County Government current radio system consists of antiquated technology with many components in excess of 20 years old,” explained Mullinax “These components were provided to the county on some of the first homeland security grants awarded after the tragic 9/11 attacks in New York City. The system is made up of conventional Analog technology similar to some of the first cell phones. In addition to the older technology, the FCC in 2013 mandated that all public safety radio systems modify their transmissions to narrowband technology. This mandate severely weakened the radio coverage in our county. Shortly after the mandate, the 911 district and county government with assistance of some grant funding added tower locations to help mitigate the problem,” Mullinax continued. ”The equipment that the county currently owns has recently been declared “end-of-life” and can no longer be serviced. The 911 district and county have worked diligently to secure parts from local and online vendors and even individuals to make repairs in the past, but those parts have now become hard to locate. Most recently, the county suffered a catastrophic lightning strike at the main transmitter site that has essentially eliminated one of our tower sites from our network. As a result of the above mentioned, we experience problems many times with portable radio reception coverage for our emergency responders in remote areas of the county, especially in low areas around the lake. Additionally, large buildings such as schools, hospitals, businesses and some residences make it currently impossible to communicate inside the building. We estimate that only 40-50 percent of our county has adequate portable radio coverage,” Mullinax explained.

“We have secured estimates to upgrade our existing sites with the addition of new sites to improve our radio coverage and mitigate the problem of non-serviceable products, but the costs of those upgrades and replacing the radios required to use them are financially prohibitive. Therefore, we are recommending the county take advantage of the state of Tennessee’s Advanced Communication Network (TACN). We have met with officials from the state and they have indicated there are no costs associated with coming over to their system. The TACN system is very robust with multi-site redundant technology that has a track record of being up 99.9% of the time. The system is built to meet or exceed the APCO digital P25 standards and will meet the demands of our county well into the future. Additionally, the state is responsible for all repairs, maintenance, upgrades to the system. The P25 system is standard for most if not all of the state of Tennessee agencies and would allow the county responders to be fully interoperable with many local, state, and federal agencies. This would prove very important in the event of a mass casualty incident or natural disaster,” said Mullinax.

“We have been working on this project for close to a year by obtaining quotes, securing agreements with the state and attempting to obtain surplus radios from the state of TN and other sources. In order to take advantage of the TACN network, all county responder radios will need to be replaced. Based on field testing by our office, we estimate the addition of a vehicle repeater, replacing the responders mobile and portable radios will yield a vast improvement in radio coverage. The new technology will mitigate our current risks of public safety radio failure, improve responder safety and efficiency while also making our schools safer. The price associated varies based on radio manufacturer and model of radio. We are currently working with multiple vendors to secure the best prices for the technology that will meet the needs of our county. However, we do expect prices to continue to increase after the new year, so taking advantage of end of the year pricing will likely prove beneficial by at least reserving some of the equipment from vendors,” Mullinax concluded.

Currently, TACN supports 58,000 local, state, and federal government users statewide. In the last year alone, over 30 additional agencies have made the decision to join TACN to experience the statewide communications interoperability and the cost savings it delivers.

The county commission has not yet acted on Mullinax’s recommendations.

November 24, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Unemployment rates in most Tennessee counties including DeKalb remained below 5% in October, according to newly released county data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).

DeKalb County’s October jobless rate was 4.6%, up from 4% in September and higher than the 3.7% unemployment rate recorded in October 2022.

The local labor force for October, 2023 was 8,174. A total of 7,801 were employed and 373 were without work.

Tennessee’s seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate in October was 3.3%. That’s just 0.2 of a percentage point above the all-time low jobless number of 3.1% which was last recorded in August.

Unlike the statewide unemployment rate, county unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted to account for different seasonal events that can impact employment.

Eighty-eight of Tennessee’s 95 counties recorded rates lower than 5% in October. The remaining seven counties had rates that were greater than 5% but lower than 10%.

Rates decreased in six counties across the state during the month. They held steady in 16 counties and increased in the remaining 73 counties.

For the second consecutive month, Moore and Sevier counties had Tennessee’s lowest unemployment rates. Moore County’s rate came in at 2.6%, which was unchanged from the previous month. Sevier County’s rate was 2.7%, which accounted for a slight increase of 0.1 of a percentage point from its September rate.

Perry County had Tennessee’s highest unemployment rate in October. Its new rate of 7.9% was 3.2 percentage points higher than its September rate. Warren County saw the second-highest rate for the month. Unemployment there increased by 3.5 percentage points from 4% to 7.5%.

As we head into the holiday season, Tennessee employers are searching for dependable employees to help with the increase in customers. Tennessee’s American Job Center Network can help match Tennesseans to new employment opportunities. An interactive locator map can guide job seekers to the center closest to them.