School Shooting Threat Determined to be a Prank

August 25, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

A sigh of relief!

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department is now reporting that a school shooting threat, phoned in to a local Dollar General Store Thursday evening, has been determined to have been a hoax committed by two North Carolina teen boys (ages 14 & 15) who were using a cell phone to make random prank calls. The boys apparently had no connection to DeKalb County and made calls to several other places in Tennessee.

According to Chief Deputy Brian Williams, the call to the Dollar General Store on Short Mountain Highway was traced to a phone in Kernersville, North Carolina. The caller asked the clerk if the store carried cap guns (toy guns), stating that he was planning to carry out a mass school shooting. The store reported the call to central dispatch who then contacted the Sheriff’s Department. Other agencies were also notified including Homeland Security. Authorities in Kernersville, North Carolina were alerted as well, and they made contact with the teens and their parents. The boys allegedly admitted to making the prank call together. Although the kids were apparently not taken into custody at the time, the incident remains under investigation.

After learning of the threat Thursday evening, the local school district and law enforcement officers  sent a notice to parents that extra safety precautions would be taken at the schools on Friday.

Director Cripps’ entire statement to parents  was as follows:

“Late in the evening on August 24, the administration of DeKalb County Schools was contacted by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department concerning a potential shooting at one of the schools. The call originated out of state and no school was identified as being a potential target.”

“We would like to remind all citizens of DeKalb County that the safety of our students is our utmost concern, and we will continue to be proactive in ensuring all students remain safe. Local law enforcement is currently working with Homeland Security to identify the caller who is believed to be out of state. Additional security measures will be taken by state and local law enforcement throughout the school day”, said Director Cripps.

August 24, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County Tiger football program has a four-game win streak over the Smith County Owls since 2019 and are hoping to make it five wins in a row Friday night as they host their northern border rivals in the first home game of the 2023 regular season under brand new lighting and in a stadium with a new set of expanded bleacher seating and larger press box.

The start time of the game has been changed from 7 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. due to this week’s oppressive heat and humidity. WJLE will have LIVE coverage on AM 1480/FM 101.7 and on the LIVE Stream at www.wjle.com with the Voice of the Tigers John Pryor and Luke Willoughby.

Last year’s game between the Tigers and Owls went right down to the wire with a game winning field goal in the closing seconds to give DC a 17 to 14 victory.

Smith County will be no pushover again this year. The Owls won their season opener at Gordonsville last week 25-19.

The Tigers will have to shake-off last week’s 34-27 loss at Warren County, but Coach Steve Trapp believes the team has put that disappointment behind them.

“It was another one of those games where, at the end of the night we had to tell our players, you played hard enough to win but you made too many mistakes to be victorious. A lot of credit goes to Warren County because they continued to play. We started off about as good as you could start with four plays and two touchdowns, and our defense had a lot of stops. I hope the biggest lesson these guys learned was that each individual play is a game within itself, and you have to stay locked in and focused. I hope they learned a lot about themselves. There have been a lot of games where we have been just a little bit short. I don’t like that feeling. It’s a gut punch but I have a lot of confidence in these guys. They have bounced back as far as the way we have prepared, and we are excited to get back out there and try to get this taste out of our months,” said Coach Trapp.

After four straight losses to the Tigers, Coach Trapp knows the Owls will be hungry for a win against them.

“They have been a good football program for many years and there have been some really good football games between us. Coach Dyer does a great job down there. They are a big team, and they have a lot of seniors. I was looking at their starters today and offensively ten of them are seniors, so they have a lot of experience. They have a freshman quarterback, but he has a great skill set. He can throw it. He does the RPO. He’ll tuck it and run it. You have to be in place in every single facet when you are on defense. Offensively for us, they fly to the ball, and they are big up front on that side. It’s all the same guys over there so we understand what kind of game we are in for. That was the kind of game we were in for last year. We are up for the challenge. I have a lot of confidence in our guys that we can go out here and if we do what we are supposed to do the way we are supposed to do it I have confidence we can get the job done,” said Coach Trapp.

WJLE’s Pre-Game shows begin with “Coach to Coach” at 5:00 p.m. featuring former UT assistant coach Doug Matthews with Tennessee Titans Radio Broadcaster Dave McGinnis and broadcaster Larry Stone talking Tennessee and SEC football.

“Coach to Coach” is followed by “Murphy’s Matchups at a special time this week at 6:30 p.m., a look at Tennessee High School Football from Murphy Fair with commentary on games and coaches’ interviews.

“Tiger Talk” airs at a special time this week at 7:00 p.m. with the Voice of the Tigers John Pryor interviewing Coach Steve Trapp and Tiger football players Jordan Parker, Chris Pulley, and Austin Nicholson.

Kick-off is at 7:30 p.m. with play-by-play coverage on WJLE from the Voice of the Tigers John Pryor and Luke Willoughby. Listen LIVE on WJLE AM 1480/FM 101.7 and LIVE Streaming at www.wjle.com.

Last week’s Tiger offensive stats as provided by Coach Trapp:

RUSHING:
Malachi Trapp-16 carries for 167 yards and a touchdown
Briz Trapp-15 carries for 69 yards and two touchdowns
Ari White-1 carry for 1 yard
TOTAL: 32 carries for 237 yards and 3 touchdowns

RECEIVING:
Malachi Trapp- 2 catches for 26 yards
Jordan Parker- 4 catches for 22 yards
Jon Hendrix- 2 catches for 13 yards
Marquez Chalfant- 1 catch for 23 yards
Trace Hamilton-1 catch for 22 yards
TOTAL: 10 catches for 106 yards and 1 touchdown

RETURNS (KO AND PR)
Marquez Chalfant- 3 returns for 61 yards
Ryan Lyons- 2 returns for 39 yards
TOTAL: 5 RETURNS FOR 100 yards

GAME TOTAL: 47 PLAYS FOR 443 YARDS AND 4 TOUCHDOWNS

PUNTS:
Marquez Chalfant- 4 punts for 132 yards (2 inside 20)

EXTRA POINTS: Adrian Prater 3 for 3

FIRST DOWNS: 15

August 24, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

It’ll soon be election time again!

The first election cycle in 2024 will be the DeKalb County Democratic and Republican Primaries to select nominees for the offices of Assessor of Property, Constable (districts 1-7), and Board of Education (5th & 6th) districts along with the newly created position of criminal court judge-Part III in the 13th judicial district. The primaries will be held on Tuesday, March 4th in conjunction with the Tennessee Presidential Preference Primary.

Candidates for the county primaries may begin picking up qualifying petitions from the DeKalb County Election Commission office Monday, October 16, 2023 and the qualifying deadline is Thursday, December 14 at 12 noon. The voter registration deadline for the March 4th primaries is February 5 and the early voting period will be Wednesday, February 14 through Tuesday, February 27. The Absentee ballot request deadline is Tuesday, February 27, 2024.

Independents wishing to run for Assessor of Property or Constable (districts 1-7), Board of Education (5th & 6th ) districts, or for criminal court judge-Part III in the August 2024 County General Elections must also qualify by noon on Thursday, December 14 at 12 noon.

Party nominees and independents for these offices will run in the DeKalb County General Election on Thursday, August 1, 2024 and those elected will take office September 1, 2024.

The incumbents in these offices are Assessor of Property Shannon Cantrell and Constables- 1st District: Waylon Kyle, 2nd District: Darrell Johnson, 3rd District: Travis Bryant, 4th District: Lane Ball, 5th District: Mark Milam, 6th District: Jason Brown, and 7th District: Johnny King.

The school board seats up for election in 2024 are currently held by Jamie Cripps in the 5th district and Jason Miller in the 6th district.