Tigers Look to Cap Spirit Week Activities with Homecoming Win over Cannon County Tonight (Listen to WJLE’s Tiger Talk Program Here)

September 24, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Students at DeKalb County High School have been celebrating Homecoming with Spirit Week activities and it will conclude today (Friday) with a parade and a football game tonight as the Tigers host the Cannon County Lions.

https://www.wjle.com/tiger-talk/

The Tigers improved to 2-2 and evened their region record at 1-1 last week with a home victory over Cumberland County snapping a two game losing skid.

The Tigers opened the season with a 33-14 win at home over Smith County but lost to Macon County 32 to 29 and at Watertown 38-20 before getting back in the win column last week against the Jets.

The Lions are 3-2 with wins over Webb School 42-16 and Lookout Valley 39-0 and Sequatchie County forfeit to Cannon County due to Covid exposure. The Lions have lost to Monterey 35-6 and to Cascade 25-0.

Tiger Coach Steve Trapp said he was proud of his team’s performance last week in the absence of starting quarterback Briz Trapp who was sidelined due to an injury during pre-game warm-ups. He was particularly impressed with talented wide receiver Isaac Knowles who came in at quarterback and scored four touchdowns himself in leading the Tigers to victory.

“ I am really super proud of my team. With our quarterback Briz getting injured during warm-ups the team went out and did their job. We put Isaac back there at quarterback because we have a lot of confidence in him. Getting the ball in his hands is not a bad game plan at any time. Really though it was about making sure everybody came together to do their job and that is what we want them to do every game. I’m proud of how our guys handled it,” said Coach Trapp.

As for Cannon County, They have a similar look to what we have seen the last couple of years. They have a plan and scheme. Their M.O. (modus operandi) is going to be first downs. They want to grind out that clock and keep our offense off the field as much as possible. When they can do that and they are effective at it then they have a great opportunity to be successful so for us defensively its being able to get off the field with three and outs and getting the ball back to our offense. Offensively for us its about being efficient on first downs so we have a better opportunity to be efficient on third down. We just have to be prepared for any wrinkles they may have,” added Coach Trapp.

Kick-off will be tonight at 7 p.m.

WJLE’s pre-game shows begin with “Coach to Coach” at 5 p.m. featuring former coaches Doug Matthews, Dave McGinnis, and broadcaster Larry Stone.

“Murphy’s Matchups” airs at 6 p.m. featuring the Guru of Tennessee High School Football Murphy Fair.

“Tiger Talk” begins at 6:30 p.m. featuring DCHS Coach Steve Trapp and Tiger Football Players Isaac Knowles, Will Farris, and Brady Hale. John Pryor, the Voice of the Tigers, is the host of the program.

WJLE’s “LIVE” play by play coverage starts at 7 p.m. with 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.

September 24, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County’s share of local option sales tax collections for August 2021 outperformed the same month in 2020 by almost $52,000 according to the Tennessee Department of Revenue. For the county and the four cities therein combined collections were up by more than $83,000.

According to the report, DeKalb County brought in $197,196 in August 2021 compared to $145,266 for August 2020.

Three of the four cities within DeKalb County also hauled in more local option sales tax revenue.

The comparisons between the two months for each municipality are as follows:

Smithville: $343,060 ( August, 2021), $312,786 (August 2020)

Alexandria: $27,092 (August, 2021), $26,879 (August 2020)

Dowelltown: $2,795 (August 2021), $3,388 (August 2020)

Liberty: $10,867 (August, 2021), $9,454 (August 2020)

NET COLLECTIONS (LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX): $581,011 (August 2021), $497,775 (August 2020)

August sales tax collections reflect previous month activity.

September 23, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

The public will get to take a tour of the new Smithville Police Department building soon.

The City of Smithville has scheduled an open house for Sunday, October 17 from 1:30 p.m. until 3 p.m.

“We would like to invite the community out for snacks and a time to look through the new police department. This will also give the community a time to meet our city officers. We are very excited that our officers will have a new spacious building to work in,” said Mayor Josh Miller.

“We are grateful to the mayor and aldermen and the citizens of Smithville for this facility. Our entire police department staff and I are looking forward to moving into the new building once its furnished and some finishing touches are made. This is something we are all proud of and believe the community can take pride in it as well. We invite everyone to come out and see us during the open house,” said Smithville Police Chief Mark Collins.

The contractor, Boyce Ballard Construction of Murfreesboro, got the bid for construction of the police department building at $2,395,000 but the city issued up to $2.5 million in bonds for the project. Following a ground breaking ceremony on September 4, 2020, construction began on the building but weeks later the work ground to a halt after Boyce Ballard Construction encountered unsuitable soils on the site. The city and contractor eventually agreed to split the cost to remedy the problem and construction resumed. The city’s portion was up to $50,000. Since then the city has had a few other add-ons.

The facility has a total roofed area of 12,800 square feet which includes a 1,400 square foot sally port. It encompasses a front lobby, records clerk office, hallways, three holding cells, armory, conference and training rooms, offices for the chief, captain, detectives, and other officers, rooms for records, evidence, investigations, filing reports, locker room, electrical room, closets, restrooms, and break room.