Early Voting Turnout Tops 1,200

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

July 22, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

A Native American artifacts show will be held Saturday, July 23 at the Mike Foster Multi-Purpose Center from 8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. and proceeds will benefit the Imagination Library. Admission to the event is free. Parents come and bring your children.

The artifacts show will feature displays ranging from arrow heads to pottery and some items will be available for sale or trade. “I think we have about 55-60 tables. We sell the table (space). It cost $15 for the table per person and that money goes to pay for all the expenses of the show and any money left is donated to the Imagination Library,” said Mike Foster, one of the event organizers.

“Tennessee has probably three or four major shows of this kind and this is one of them so we want to invite everybody to come to see the artifacts. I think you will be pleased with what you see”.

“We will have people who will be buying and selling as well as displaying their artifacts but a lot of trading also goes on between the collectors”, said Foster.

“I like shell beads so I will have a lot of them there along with bone work and tools they (Native Americans) used but I guess the main attraction is flint including arrow heads, spear points, and things like that but there will be some pottery too. I even have a wooden bow from the 1600’s time frame. We’ll have collectors here from Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama among others”.

“You can probably go to any museum in the state of Tennessee and you won’t see the amount of quality and the number of artifacts you will see there. It’s really enjoyable for people who like history or artifacts and it’s free so come on out Saturday because you’ll see some really good collections,” Foster concluded.

The show is sponsored locally and by the Volunteer State Archaeological Society, a non-profit educational organization devoted to the study of prehistoric America. This society is one of the largest of the independent state societies affiliated with Central States Archaeological Societies.

For more information contact Mike Foster at 615-418-5957.