County Mayor Wants County Commission to Re-Constitute Beer Board

September 22, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Membership constituting the DeKalb County Beer Board may soon change.

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the County Commission will be asked by County Mayor Matt Adcock to abolish the current citizen member makeup of the beer board and make the county commission itself the beer board.

For years the beer board has consisted of one citizen member from each of the seven districts in the county. The current members of the board are Jim Stagi in the 1st District, Myron Rhody in the 2nd District, Bobby Johnson in the 3rd District, Robert Rowe in the 4th District, John Hummer in the 5th District, Leonard Dickens in the 6th District, and Johnny King in the 7th District.

All seven members serve as appointees of the county commission and the two-year terms are staggered with the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th district positions being appointed in odd years. The 2nd, 4th, and 6th district seats are filled in even years.

County Mayor Adcock said he believes the beer board would function better if the county commission itself served as the beer board.

Meanwhile, the county commission will reorganize as it does each September naming a chairman and chairman pro temp to serve for the ensuing 12 months.

County Mayor Adcock currently serves as Chairman of the commission and fifth district member Larry Green is the Chairman Pro Temp.

The agenda for Monday night’s meeting also includes appointment of committees and officials, and action on committee reports, financial reports, and budget amendments, and notaries along with any other business properly presented. A public comment period will also be afforded the public.

The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, September 25 in the auditorium of the County Complex’s Mike Foster Multi-Purpose Center.

September 22, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

The DCHS Tigers (3-2) are riding a three-game winning streak and hoping that momentum continues tonight as they head east to face the Stone Memorial Panthers at Crossville,

Kick-off will be at 7 p.m. and WJLE will have LIVE coverage on AM 1480/FM 101.7 and on the LIVE stream at www.wjle.com.

After an 0-2 start to the season with disappointing losses to Warren (1-4) and Smith (4-1) counties, the Tigers have put together back-to-back to back wins over Livingston Academy (2-3), Watertown (2-3), and Gordonsville (2-3).

Last year the Tigers lost to the Panthers at home on senior night 29-28 in overtime. Tonight, DC faces a 4-1 Stone Memorial team whose only loss of the season was last week to Meigs County 33-25. Stone Memorial has beaten Cookeville 25-20, Sweetwater 40-16, Cumberland County 35-0, and White County 28-26.

Reflecting on last week’s 21-7 homecoming victory over Gordonsville, Tiger Coach Steve Trapp said both the offense and defense played well although there is room for improvement going forward.

“Sometimes on offense we will run to set up the pass and other times we will pass to set up the run. The biggest thing for us is to always be ready and prepared to execute whatever is needed and on this particular night they did a good job. Still, we saw some first down inefficiencies and had a couple of plays where we had multiple penalties and some of those are things like after the whistle mistakes that should be controlled. That was frustrating to see but at the end of the night we hung our hat on that defense and they are the reason we have been able to do what we have. We did give up a touchdown in the second half on special teams and we don’t like that but ultimately we got more points than Gordonsville and won the game,” said Coach Trapp.

Although they have better overall records, DeKalb County (3-2, 1-0 Region) is undefeated in the Class 4A, Region 4 Region standings with Upperman (5-0, 3-0 Region) and Stone Memorial (4-1, 2-0 Region). The other four teams in the Region are Macon County (4-1, 1-1 Region), Cumberland County (2-3, 0-2 Region), Livingston Academy (2-3, 0-2 Region), and White County 2-3, 0-2 Region),

A win tonight for the Tigers would keep them in the hunt for the regular season Region title with five games left in the campaign.

Coach Trapp said the Tigers will need to bring their A-game.

“Defensively we will need to make sure we are in the right spots and ingrain in our brains the things we want to do to counter what they want to do. Offensively, we have to make some plays. As we tell our guys all the time, we have to be good at our base stuff, but as we get deeper into the season and especially with these region games we have to be able to tweak and create some of those explosive plays while being able to executive and move the football because it all comes down to moving the chains and getting first downs. Its easier to do that when you are good on first down so that third down efficiency is better. You want those manageable situations. We also must take care of the football because turnovers and penalties will kill you. Hopefully we will play a clean and aggressive football game and come out with what we want in the end,” 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 6:00 p.m., a look at Tennessee High School Football from Murphy Fair with commentary on games and coaches’ interviews.

“Tiger Talk” airs at 6:30 p.m. with the Voice of the Tigers John Pryor interviewing Coach Steve Trapp and Tiger football players Wil Farris, Ari White, and Jordan Parker.

September 22, 2023
By:

U.S. Representative John Rose (TN-06) recently joined three House Members, Reps. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (GA-01), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), and Debbie Dingell (MI-06), in introducing the Neighborhood Options for Patients Buying Medicines (NO PBMs) Act. The legislation would improve options and access to prescription drugs for seniors, bring pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in alignment with Medicare plans, and ultimately allow seniors to shop at their local pharmacy.

The bill would also modernize Medicare and prevent PBMs from discriminating against pharmacies that are willing to contract with them, helping seniors to seek care closer to home. Under Medicare Part D, plan sponsors are required to (i) have standard terms and conditions that are “reasonable and relevant” and (ii) allow any pharmacy willing to accept the terms and conditions to participate in the sponsor’s network. This bill would explicitly ensure that PBMs are required to comply with this standard, bringing them in line with plan sponsors.

“Independent pharmacies are integral to the health care needs of rural communities in Tennessee and across the country,” said Rep. Rose. “We should protect them by holding PBMs accountable. I am proud to support this bipartisan, commonsense legislation on behalf of Tennessee’s independent pharmacists and patients.”

“Seniors should be able to fill their prescriptions at the pharmacy that works best for them, not the PBM. Especially in rural areas, including Georgia’s First Congressional District, access to your local pharmacy is critical. I’m proud to lead this bipartisan bill, which will allow independent pharmacies to compete on a more level playing field and bring accountability to PBMs,” said Rep. Carter.

“We must hold pharmacy middlemen accountable by ending practices that steer patients away from their preferred community pharmacists while driving up their prescription drug prices. Our bipartisan legislation will close anti-competitive loopholes that PBMs use while ensuring small pharmacists are given reasonable contract terms to provide patients with fair prices on the medications they need,” said Rep. Krishnamoorthi.

“All Americans, but especially seniors, should be able to conveniently access their necessary prescriptions. However, we too often hear about exploitative PBM practices complicating access to the pharmacies seniors depend on,” said Rep. Dingell. “Independent pharmacies are often an invaluable resource in underserved communities, and this legislation will ensure they can compete. Not only will it improve PBM accountability, but it will ensure seniors can get their medications closer to home and at the pharmacies they trust.”

The NO PBMs Act is supported by the National Community Pharmacists Association, American Pharmacists Association, National Association of Specialty Pharmacy, and the American Pharmacy Cooperative, Inc.

“Every day across the country, pharmacy patients get letters from their PBMs telling them that they have to start using a PBM-owned pharmacy. Or they get a letter stating that their current pharmacy is no longer ‘preferred’ in the plan network,” said American Pharmacies President Laird Leavoy. “The letters often imply that scripts may no longer be filled at non-PBM pharmacies. It’s alarming and confusing to older patients, who out of fear often switch their business to the PBM’s pharmacy. Steering is a conflict of interest that decreases transparency and competition in the pharmacy services market. It drives up pharmacy care costs while harming patient care, especially in rural and medically underserved areas.

U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) introduced a companion bill in the Senate.

U.S. Representative John Rose is currently serving his third term representing Tennessee’s Sixth Congressional District and resides in Cookeville with his wife, Chelsea, and their two sons, Guy and Sam. The Sixth District includes Cannon, Clay, Cumberland, DeKalb, Fentress, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, Van Buren, and White counties as well as portions of Davidson, Scott, Warren, and Wilson counties. Representative Rose is an eighth-generation farmer, small business owner, and attorney, and currently serves on the House Financial Services Committee and House Agriculture Committee.