WJLE Recognizes DCHS Class of 2025 (View Photo Gallery Here)

April 1, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

WJLE and participating sponsors are presenting a photo gallery of the DCHS Class of 2025 in April and May.

Graduation is set for Friday, May 16 at 7 p.m. on the DCHS football field.

Click on the link below to view the senior formals.

Photo gallery

Once you open the page, click each photo to view a larger image. The name of the senior you select is at the bottom of the photo

There are 173 photos in the gallery divided up 48 photos to a page. After you view page 1 be sure to click the links for pages 2-4 (top or bottom of the page) to view the remaining photos.

WJLE thanks the sponsors for April as follows:

State Representative Michael Hale

DeKalb Funeral Chapel

Alexandria Auto Parts

DeKalb Prevention Coalition

FirstBank

Gill Automotive

Good Health Family Clinic

General Sessions and Juvenile Court Judge Brandon Cox

Register of Deeds Daniel Seber

County Clerk James L. (Jimmy) Poss

County Mayor Matt Adcock

Road Supervisor Danny Hale

Smithville Church of Christ

Smithville FBC (First Baptist Church)

Josh & Melissa Miller Farmhouse Realty the Miller Team

WJLE thanks the sponsors for May as follows:

State Representative Michael Hale

DeKalb Funeral Chapel

Liberty State Bank

DeKalb Prevention Coalition

FirstBank

Gill Automotive

General Sessions and Juvenile Court Judge Brandon Cox

Register of Deeds Daniel Seber

County Clerk James L. (Jimmy) Poss

Assessor of Property Shannon Cantrell

Circuit Court Clerk Susan Martin

Smithville Church of God

Smithville Church of Christ

Smithville FBC (First Baptist Church)

Trustee Sean Driver

Bryan’s Auto Repair & Towing

Crossroads Medical Group-Smithville Office (Family Medical Center)

Josh & Melissa Miller Farmhouse Realty the Miller Team

March 31, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

Could the county win a legal challenge by enforcing the county powers act on two proposed quarry operations and a cryptocurrency mining company?

During Monday night’s monthly meeting, the county commission voted to seek consultation from a Nashville law firm with expertise in advising local governments on such matters.

Since the county commission adopted the county powers act last October, some members of the public have argued that the three companies — the McMinnville Energy LLC cryptocurrency mining and the Jones Brothers and SRM quarries should be subject to the County Powers Act claiming they were not already “in operation” when the commission passed the local regulations.

The county commission now wants to know where the county stands legally.

“The county attorney (Hilton Conger) gave me a law office name in Nashville that specializes in county and municipal services and Hilton has recommended it,” said Commissioner Larry Green. “We can get a consultation down there probably without charge. Hilton has agreed to go. I would like for as many of us (county commissioners) that can go, schedule a meeting, and get a consultation just to see where we are as far as where our county powers act would apply,” said Green.

(VIEW VIDEO OF ENTIRE MEETING BELOW)

Conger said the firm he is recommending is better suited than him in advising the county on this issue.

“It looks like the county is headed toward three lawsuits with SRM, Jones Brothers, and McMinnville Energy or the Crypto Mine,” said Conger. “We need to see what this is going to cost. This is way above my pay grade. This firm handles these sorts of things. They just did one for Trousdale County where a quarry was trying to come in over there and were successful in that. The attorney needs to talk with the commission and discuss the costs, legal strategies, and that sort of thing. You couldn’t vote on it then, but you would have an informed decision. I think you need to do that and the public needs to know what you are going to do,” said Conger.

“If we could get a group to go down there and see what they say and then we will bring it back to the commission. There wouldn’t be any decisions made. We would just get a consultation, bring it back to the commission, and tell them what we found out,” Green explained.

Conger said a case involving similar issues originated in Grundy County months ago and has now made it to the state supreme court. Oral arguments will be made before the state’s high court in May and Conger urges all to get online to listen.

“In Grundy County, Tinsley versus Grundy County was a lawsuit that was filed in Grundy County over these same issues. Its in the supreme court of Tennessee right now. On May 29th at 9 a.m. you can go online to the administrative office of the courts and listen to the oral arguments before the Tennessee Supreme Court and hear the arguments that are made pro and con over these issues that we are discussing here but the Supreme Court will not decide it then. That’s another factor. It was heard in the Court of Appeals in February 2024. Its just now going to be argued at the Supreme Court level in May, 2025 and they (Court) will take their own sweet time about rendering a decision. They don’t rule from the bench like judges in circuit court,” said Conger.

If it should go to court, Conger warned that it could be costly to the county in legal fees.

“The public has asked many times why haven’t you done anything? Why haven’t you sent a cease-and-desist letter? why haven’t you filed a lawsuit? These things cost money and I’m not talking about me (county attorney). I personally asked the county mayor of Grundy County how much all this has cost. They tried it in Chancery Court. They tried it in the Court of Appeals and now they are in the Supreme Court. He said approximately $100,000 in legal fees. This is no small undertaking. And we are talking about three (companies). I think you need to do your due diligence. Go down and talk to this attorney because that’s what they specialize in. They assist counties in these types of things. Get their opinion about your chances and the costs its going to take,” said Conger.

Commissioner Greg Matthews reminded the commission that pursing this issue could result in a legal battle.

“I said numerous times that we knew this was going to happen. We knew there isn’t going to be three businesses lose millions of dollars and now we have possible pending lawsuits. Its not everybody in this county’s job to pay fees for lawsuits for things that does not affect them. They (companies) were here before this was passed. We all knew they were here. We tried to go back and throw some wrenches in their plans and now they have kinda had enough of us,” said Matthews.

During the public comment period, Lucas Antoniak and Steven Cantrell said it is time the county enforced the county powers act. Both thanked members of the county commission who attended the TDEC public hearing Thursday night.

“There was a public hearing (Thursday night) regarding SRM’s application for a wastewater permit to release into Drivers Branch from the SRM quarry on Snows Hill which is the headwater of Dry Creek,” said Antoniak. ” We learned a couple of things at this meeting. SRM had not submitted their completed wastewater permit to the state until November 13, 2024, a full two weeks after the county powers act was passed and enacted by the county commission on October 28 effective immediately”.

“In 2023 the state legislature amended the Tennessee code via a bill 559 to state that property owners should expect that the merits of a permit application will be judged on the law in effect at the time of application. Given that SRM had not submitted this permit application, nor the one required by TDOT for highway access until well after the passing of the county powers act, they should not qualify for consideration of the acts’ grandfather clause. In fact, on their own website as of today SRM does not list the Driver Road quarry as currently in operation”.

“Several speakers including myself also pointed out that this company has a history of state violations and non-compliance as was the case here when TDEC stopped work twice at the North Driver Quarry for operating without the required permits”.

“SRM does not qualify for the grandfather clause of the county powers act and its up to our county mayor and county commissioners to inform them of this. Failure to enforce the county powers act which has broad support from the citizens of DeKalb County could create legal liabilities no one wants or needs,” said Antoniak.

“This past Thursday, a hearing was held by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation on consideration of a permit by SRM for a proposed quarry on Snows Hill”,” said Cantrell during his public comments.

“For those who could not attend, I wish to highlight the following key items from both the informal education seminar prior to the formal hearing, and the formal hearing itself”.

“If TDEC approves a permit for SRM, it does not negate or supersede any local zoning, planning, or county ordinances that may be in place that would prohibit mining locally. Nor do local or county restrictions such as zoning, planning, or county ordinances prevent the issuance of a water permit”.

“There are only 10 inspectors to inspect mining operations of over 550 operations statewide. As a result, the state relies on the operators for testing twice a month”.

“If damage is made to neighboring properties of the mining operation, the property owners only recourse is to sue the operator. The state can only fine for certain issues, a max of $25,000”.

“Fortunately, we have the County Powers Act; however, if the County fails to enforce the Act the county could also be held liable for damages”.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to stop slow rolling the issues before you concerning the crypto center and the two quarries”.

“The Crypto Center has grown dramatically and its growth or continuing growth is reflective of the $1,000,000 electric deposit they had to pay Smithville Electric”.

“I don’t know where we are concerning the two quarries. But in regards to the Snows Hill site. SRM was forced by the State to take equipment from the site, so it cannot claim grandfather status”.

“It is time to enforce the County Powers Act especially in the apparent lack of respect for the County government and the County’s taxpayer based on the latest information of their continuing refusal to respond to your correspondence,” said Cantrell.

March 31, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

The Jail Committee of the county commission has scheduled a meeting for Monday night, April 7 at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the county complex to discuss potential locations for construction of a new jail and for the first time the committee will engage the public in a question-and-answer period during public comments.

Although the issue was on the agenda for discussion during Monday night’s regular monthly county commission meeting, jail committee chairman Larry Green moved to table it until April 7.

“We have actually had a couple of properties that became available late and Tony (Luna) has done a real good job of summarizing every piece of property that we are looking at. I would like to table this motion until next Monday night and have a jail committee meeting and in the public comment section let people ask us questions and we will give an answer as to why we are doing certain things and moving in certain directions so the public will know exactly what we are thinking,” said Green.

The commission approved Green’s motion.

Last Monday night during a workshop, the commission identified two potential locations for a jail which had not been previously discussed including 33 acres on West Main Street and 71.5 acres known as Smith Road properties on Smith Road. Since that meeting, Green said two other available properties have been mentioned including 40 acres on Robinson Road and 84 acres on Twilla Lane. The jail committee will discuss these potential options along with the property near Walmart on West Broad Street and the existing jail location on the public square.

Meanwhile during the public comment period Monday night, several people including Jonathan Bradley, Darcie Cripps, and Kathy Slager, addressed concerns about the county’s perceived direction on the jail issue along with Paul and Jodie Miranda who live on Creekside Drive in the Smith Road neighborhood near where a possible jail location is being considered. Jodie Miranda suggested that the county consider building the jail on the 15-acre county owned transfer station property instead of the locations under consideration on Smith Road and West Main Street.

“My family and I have lived on Creekside Drive in the middle of the Smith Road neighborhood for over 5 years now,” said Paul Miranda. “I’m here with information and voice my total opposition to consideration of the new county jail being built on the Smith Road property located about half a mile directly east of Northside Elementary School. Property originally purchased and approved for annexation into the city limits for a large residential development. Per the city mayor’s office that Smith Road property would not have been annexed into the city for building a jail”.

“I worked in law enforcement for 30 years with two different sheriff’s departments. Three years in two different county’s jails. The rest of my career as a deputy sheriff serving my community and putting criminals in jail. My wife for over 16 years at the same county jail. We have expertise with the types of clienteles that go in and out of a county jail cell and their unpredictability inside and outside of custody. To me, it’s obvious that the Smith Road location is not remotely suitable for a jail or a county complex. But current Tennessee state law allows county governments to buy land and not have to abide by any zoning restrictions as long as they build county facilities on the property. Yes, they can build whatever county government facilities they want”.

“Regardless of current plans talked about, if they later decide to add a county mental health facility or a county drug rehabilitation center, they could. And the notion about ball fields on the same property is just ridiculous. That’s an attempt to put lipstick on a pig and tell us it’s Miss America. As a parent and baseball coach, I’m certain people don’t want to have their kids playing ball right next to a jail”.

“Anyone released from this proposed jail site, would either go through the current residential neighborhoods on Smith Road toward Highway 70, if they don’t wander down other neighborhood streets. Or they go toward Cookeville Highway, into more densely populated and growing parts of the neighborhood, directly to the Northside Elementary School property. This could be every day, morning, noon, and night. I know from experience, not everyone getting out of jail has a ride to pick them up. So, vehicle and pedestrian traffic coming in and out of the area will increase.”

“Such close proximity to an elementary school, already designated for multi-million-dollar expansion to take students from Smithville Elementary should be a disqualifier. In an era of school safety and security to keep kids safer, anything that lowers current school safety and security standards should be rejected right out of the gate. Not one tax dollar should ever be spent that potentially makes a school even one percent less safe”.

“In the last year, six new family homes have been built and sold on West Smith Road. Nineteen more are being built in the next 12 months, designed to attract first time home buyers. With another proposed 120 home development off Twilla Lane. Exactly the kind of growth Smithville city wants. Not the growth the county commission is proposing. Homes close to an elementary school and downtown areas are especially desirable. Being right next to a county jail, not so much”.

“In closing, I hope everyone realizes that this is not just a Smith Road neighborhood, district 4 issue. Its an all of Smithville and DeKalb County issue. This particular decision affects every family with a child or children at Northside Elementary, those who will come from Smithville Elementary, and future parents and families that move into DeKalb County. Its truly a multi-generational decision. So, as a commonsense community, we can send a clear message of NO for this proposed location. As I’ve already said, its not just the Smith Road neighborhood. Its everyone’s neighborhood,” said Paul Miranda.

“I too strongly oppose the plan to purchase property on Smith Road or West Main Street to build a jail in a residential neighborhood, close to a school,” said Jodie Miranda. “A jail on either property would be dangerous for the community’s children and citizens”.

“I’m very familiar with incarcerated individuals and jail overcrowding, after 16 years as a correctional officer in California. I spent five years in the classification unit interviewing inmates and deciding where they should be housed. I’m well aware of the caliber of people arrested and the violent crimes of some county jail inmates. I do not want those citizens near my family or neighbors”

“The jail I worked in was overcrowded, so the court imposed a capacity limit. When the jail hit its max cap, the inmate with the nearest release date would be released early. This was a temporary fix to a permanent problem, so the county looked for property to build a second jail an hour north of the main jail. After years of searching, grant and funding issues, and battles with the community over location, rural acreage was bought in 2008. Fourteen years later, in 2022, the jail finally opened. It was a long process, but the county listened to the citizens’ concerns and found something that everyone agreed upon. They didn’t grab a piece of property that wasn’t a good fit just because the jail had to go somewhere”

“I also worked in the transportation unit, where I transported thousands of inmates to court, to more city and county jails than I care to remember, and every state prison within a six-hour radius. During my nine years of transporting inmates, not once did I encounter a jail or prison that was built in the middle of a residential neighborhood. There’s a reason for that. Its unsafe”.

“A dangerous situation happened while I worked one evening. A fire quickly surrounded the jail, and with no time for handcuffs, close to 300 inmates were evacuated. Unrestrained and escorted by only four officers, they walked over a mile to safety. The route they walked included no residential neighborhoods, and that was due to the county’s wise decision and forethought to build the jail away from homes. Unexpected situations can and will happen”.

“Many issues exist with building a jail on Smith Road or West Main Street. A jail would drastically reduce home values, pose a safety risk for families, diminish privacy, add noise, and bring in undesirable citizens. Traffic would be created by patrol vehicles, staff, and public doing inmate related activities like visitations, bail, and pickups. Northside Elementary School has a lot of traffic, which will increase after adding the new school. A jail, and possibly courtrooms, dispatch center, sheriff’s department, and EMS, built right down the road is an infrastructure nightmare”

“Lastly, please consider building on the 15-acre county owned transfer station property. The city owns a 20 acre parcel with a small portion being used as a dog park and parking lot. The city’s acreage is next to the county transfer station property, and acquiring some of the city’s acreage would add additional land for a jail. You recently discussed selling the county owned property located behind the police station to the city. If the county and the city work together, maybe an agreement could be made that benefits everyone,” said Jodie Miranda.

« First ‹ Previous 1 2 10 11 1213 14 22 112 2569 Next › Last »