4-H Members Recognized at State Level

October 15, 2020
By: Leigh Fuson

In a typical year, 4-H members from across Tennessee would have gathered at an annual event called “Roundup” at either UT Knoxville or UT Martin. During Roundup, youth participate in service projects, leadership and teambuilding activities, and have lots of fun with their friends from across the state. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, unfortunately this was not able to happen. Another big part of TN 4-H Roundup is the awards ceremony where project winners are recognized and thousands of dollars in scholarship money is awarded.

In order to still recognize these hardworking youth, a virtual ceremony was held on October 1st and aired on the Tennessee 4-H Facebook page. Among these individuals were three Dekalb County 4-H members: Clayton Crook, Jacklyn Kleparek, and Lily Martin. These youth completed a project portfolio last spring in their respected subject areas. Crook, a 2020 DCHS graduate, was named a state finalist in the Beef project and Martin, current Senior, in Nutrition, Health, and Fitness. Kleparek, a current Sophomore at DCHS, was named the Level 1 state winner in the Electric project and receives the Horizon Award. This pyramid shaped trophy symbolizes a 4-H’ers quest to explore new horizons as they develop life skills. It also comes with a $500 scholarship to UTK or UTM. This was DeKalb County 4-H’s first state project winner in almost ten years!

Another special ceremony also takes place at 4-H Roundup and was replaced with a virtual event: Vol State. Vol State is the highest level of recognition that a 4-H member can achieve in Tennessee 4-H. Recipients must be an active Honor Club and All-Star member and be recommended by their 4-H Agent. This year, there were 68 new Vol State recipients, including Lily Martin. Lily has been an active 4-H member since the 4th grade. Among her accomplishments are being on the state winning Outdoor Meat Cookery Team, state and national winning Poultry Judging team, attending the National Healthy Living Summit in Washington D.C., and serving as the DeKalb County Healthy Living Ambassador.

Although these awards were given out differently this year, they are still an honor to receive and have required a lot of hard work and dedication. Congratulations to these DeKalb County 4-H members! To learn more about 4-H and how you can get involved, please call 615-597-4945 or email lfuson2@utk.edu. 4-H is a proud part of UT/TSU Extension, the UT Institute of Agriculture, and the TSU Cooperative Extension Program. UT/TSU Extension provides equal opportunities in programs and employment through the cooperation of county, state, and federal governments. Programs are open to all people regardless of race, color, sex, national origin, or disability.

October 14, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for approximately 70 million Americans will increase 1.3 percent in 2021, the Social Security Administration announced today.

The 1.3 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 64 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2021. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 31, 2020. (Note: some people receive both Social Security and SSI benefits). The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Some other adjustments that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $142,800 from $137,700.

Social Security and SSI beneficiaries are normally notified by mail starting in early December about their new benefit amount. Most people who receive Social Security payments will be able to view their COLA notice online through their personal my Social Security account. People may create or access their my Social Security account online at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount.

Information about Medicare changes for 2021, when announced, will be available at www.medicare.gov. For Social Security beneficiaries receiving Medicare, Social Security will not be able to compute their new benefit amount until after the Medicare premium amounts for 2021 are announced. Final 2021 benefit amounts will be communicated to beneficiaries in December through the mailed COLA notice and my Social Security’s Message Center.

The Social Security Act provides for how the COLA is calculated. To read more, please visit www.socialsecurity.gov/cola.

October 13, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County High School Football game at Macon County this Friday night, October 16 is in the running for the Tennessee Titans High School Game of the week and Tiger fans are urged to cast their votes on line today at https://www.tennesseetitans.com/community/game-of-the-week

Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, October 14.

The Titans High School Game of the Week program, presented by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, is designed to recognize excellence in high school athletics.

Each week throughout the season, a panel of media members select the top matchups from around the state. These nominations are then eligible to be selected as the Titans High School Game of the Week.

Other games in the running this week are Oakland at Riverdale, David Crockett at Tennessee High, and Hardin County at Lexington.

Fans are encouraged to vote for their preferred matchup throughout the week right here at https://www.tennesseetitans.com/community/game-of-the-week. The game with the most votes will become the Titans High School Game of the Week, with the winning head coach being named the Titans High School Coach of the Week.

Each Coach of the Week will receive a grant from the Tennessee Titans in the amount of $1,000 to benefit their school’s football program.

Through the Coach of the Week program, the Titans have donated more than $230,000 in grant funding to high school football programs across the state.

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