Near tragedy at Smithville pool
By Chris Tramel

A young Smithville girl is recovering in the hospital after having a harrowing experience at the Smithville City Pool. The child was found floating in the water, not breathing and with no pulse.

According to Smithville Police, the incident occurred at 4:38 p.m. on Sunday, June 14, at the Smithville Golf Club, at 430 Golf Club Drive. It was then that E-911 dispatcher received a call reporting a possible drowning at the clubhouse swimming pool.

Officer Scott Davis reports that three-year-old Kadee Griffith of Banks Pisgah Road was discovered by her father, Chris Griffith, floating in the water. The man quickly jumped in and pulled the child from the pool, handing her to Kim France, an RN in attendance at the pool party. According to authorities, France and others worked on the child, performing CPR for four or five minutes until DeKalb EMS arrived at the scene.

Chris Griffith reported that he, Kadee, and her seven-year-old sister were enjoying the day at the pool party when the incident occurred. He says that he never heard any struggling and that, one minute, she was standing by the pool, and the next minute she was floating lifelessly. He says that everything happened so fast that he doesn't know what happened.

EMS worked on the child as a Lifeforce air ambulance was called to the scene. Smithville firefighters were also called to the scene in order to set up a landing zone on the golf course's driving range. From there, the girl was flown to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville, where she remains in intensive care.

Mr. Griffith reports that Kadee is doing well and is now off of a respirator. He says that the girl is alert and talkative and is continuing to be under observation.

High winds rip barn apart

Last Thursday afternoon, high winds, and what some on the scene claim to have been tornadic activity, ripped through a barn near Robinson Road in Smithville. The barn was violently thrown, sending splintered wood piercing through the roof of a home and other debris scattered across the property.

Debris was found across Robinson Road, and into an adjacent field. The flying debris and winds damaged the back corner of the home and destroyed a carport. Two vehicles were damaged in the activity, but no injuries were reported.

DeKalb faring better than others during hard times
By Chris Tramel

As the U.S. economy continues to struggle and unemployment rates soar, local officials say DeKalb County is faring far better than other counties in the state. While sales tax revenue is off slightly from last year, property tax collections have remained steady and the local unemployment rate is edging downward.

According to County Mayor Mike Foster, local sales tax receipts are off some six percent from last year. He says that during the 2006-07 fiscal year, the County collected $187,316 in sales tax revenue and Smithville took in $444,287. Of the $1,846,093 total sales tax collections, including collections for Alexandria, Liberty, and Dowelltown, the Local Purpose fund for schools, took $1,168,291.

After the Sales Tax Referendum passed and was implemented in July 2007, sales tax revenue doubled. The 2007-08 Fiscal numbers show DeKalb County took in $291,225 in Sales Tax, with Smithville taking in $821,456. Of the total $3,280,063, the Local Purpose took $2,089,632.

Foster says that while the figures for 2008-09 are still incomplete, the revenue collected is not far off last year's. According to Mayor Foster, DeKalb has collected $296,902, with Smithville collecting $764,420, with the month of June still not reported.
Foster says the local towns of Alexandria, Liberty, and Dowelltown, as well as the City of Smithville, have an agreement with the County that has been in affect since 1967. In addition to the mandated fifty percent of Sales Tax revenue earmarked to go into the local purpose fund, the cities put in an additional sixteen percent. "It's really progressive thinking," Foster said. "And with the Sales Tax referendum, the cities are still seeing an increase in revenue over what they were getting before."

In 2007, DeKalb County voters passed a referendum that increased the local option sales tax and lowered property taxes from $1.70 to $1.46 per $100 of assessed value. Foster says even with the lower property tax rates, revenues have remained steady. "We have actually experienced some growth in our area, so we are seeing around the same property tax collections as we saw with the higher rates," Foster explained. "Our property tax rate is the third lowest in the state. That makes us look attractive to businesses and industries, as well as local property owners." Foster says that $4.3 million of total tax revenue went to fund local schools. The remaining funds are used to operate the DeKalb County Jail, Sheriff's Department, DeKalb EMS, DeKalb Fire, and the Solid Waste Department, as well as the library and other county programs.

Foster says that so far, DeKalb County has received very little federal stimulus funds, with most money going to the wealthier areas of the state like Nashville and Knoxville. "We are getting little tidbits here and there," Foster said. "We're still hoping we may."

 

Several arrested on drugs, DUI charges
By Chris Tramel

DeKalb County deputies made several arrests last week with charges of drug possession, DUI's, and theft.

Sheriff Patrick Ray told The Middle Tennessee Times that on Monday, June 8, a deputy on patrol spotted a vehicle on Short Mountain Highway of which authorities had knowledge of the driver having a suspended license. The deputy stopped the vehicle and arrested 21-year-old Homer Anthony Petty, II of Banks Pisgah Road for driving on a suspended license. Petty's license was revoked for failure to satisfy a citation in Smith County on August 18, 2008. Petty was given a $1,000 bond and will appear in court on June 24.

On Wednesday, a deputy on patrol in the northern part of the County spotted a vehicle sitting on the side of the roadway on Cookeville Highway. According to Sheriff Ray, as the deputy was talking to the driver, he spotted a bag of marijuana lying in the passenger side seat. A box was also found in the driver's side door pocket that contained a set of scales that is believed to have been used to weigh the marijuana.

Authorities say 24-year-old Joshua Rhyan Cripps of Hodges Road, Smithville, was arrested for possession of a schedule VI drug, marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. His bond was set at $3,000 and he appeared in court on June 11.

On Friday, deputies, while on patrol in the eastern part of the county, stopped a vehicle for a light law violation at Highway 70 and Johnson Chapel Road. Upon speaking with the driver, Sheriff Ray says the deputy noticed the driver having slurred speech and being unsteady on his feet. Sheriff Ray says that after the subject failed field sobriety tasks, deputies asked for consent for blood to determine the subject's alcohol content in his blood. The subject refused and then took off running. The man, 53-year-old Gary Wayne Stockton of Austin Bottom Road, Baxter, was caught a short way down the road.
Stockton was charged with driving under the influence, evading arrested and was written citations for violation of the implied consent law and no tail lights. He was given a bond of $2,500 and will appear in court on June 25.

On Saturday, deputies stopped a vehicle for a traffic offense at Highway 56 South and Old Blue Springs Road. The driver, 25-year-old Claudie Dewayne Odom of Ash Avenue, Cookeville, was found to be driving on a suspended license. Sheriff ray says Odom's license was suspended for failure to file insurance after an accident he had in Putnam County on March 10, 2008. Odom was handed a $1,000 bond and will appear in court on July 23.

On Sunday, deputies investigated a complaint about a theft where 45-year-old Denise Ann Jauregui of Morgan Drive, Smithville, allegedly went into a house on Short Mountain Highway and entered a bedroom. There, authorities say she took $3,900 cash from a wallet.

According to Sheriff Ray, deputies found Jauregui and she did admit to them that she took the money. She was arrested for theft of property over $1,000 and was given a bond of $10,000. She is due to appear in court on July 2. Deputies were able to recover $2,728 cash from Jauregui.

 

Freshman Academy showing success
By Valerie Laprad

Director of Schools Mark Willoughby is pleased with the preliminary statistics for the Freshman Academy, which began two years ago at the DeKalb County High School. During the regular meeting of the DeKalb County Board of Education last Thursday, Director Willoughby presented a promising report to the Board members. He said, "The [Freshman Academy began] as a small learning community, sort of a smaller school within a school. We were hoping to see the results of increased academic performance and a decrease in discipline. I have some statistics for you and I happen to think they are impressive.

"For the students that had at least one F in a class, it went from a 32 percent in 2006 to 13.3 percent in 2008.

"On discipline, in 2006, 30 percent of freshmen students that were sent to the office had a suspension; in 2008, there were only 6.1 percent of students that were sent to the office that received a suspension. Alternative School went from 7 percent to 2.8 percent. Corporal punishment went from 63 percent [in 2006] to 8.5 percent [in 2008.] Written reports went from 26 percent [in 2006] to 2.3 percent [in 2008.]

"Those are some notable accomplishments that were made in the Freshman Academy. Dr. Hendrix, the principal, the assistant principals, and all the staff [at the high school] have worked hard to help achieve this success and I think they are all to be commended. Students should be commended also because they are the number one reason why we did it and we are seeing the results that we had hoped to see."

Director Willoughby told The Middle Tennessee Times that the decrease in discipline issues has a direct effect on the better overall grades in all subjects at the high school and that the Freshman Academy is proving to be a good thing for the school.

In other business, Director Willoughby also presented his written personnel report to the Board.

Since last month, Suzanne Williams has been hired for the 2009 - 2010 school year as a substitute bus driver.

Candice Scarbro, a teacher at the DeKalb Middle School, received a leave of absence, as requested.

There were three resignations, which included Ashley Barnes, Guidance at the DeKalb Middle School, Benita Byars, School Nurse, and Heather Cornelius, an Educational Assistant at the Northside Elementary School.

Two educators have retired, including Pat Barnes, a teacher at the DeKalb Middle School, and Dr. Carol Hendrix, the Supervisor of Instruction for grades 7 - 12.

After several visits to the issue, as well as a Special Called Meeting, the Board approved plans for a new football field house at the high school, with construction set to begin around December 1, 2009. For more information on this, see the related story on Page 8 of this week's issue of The Times.