Juvenile Court Judge and Sheriff Urge Parents and Students to Take School Threats Seriously

September 19, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

In light of recent events locally, across the state and throughout the country, Sheriff Patrick Ray and Juvenile Court Judge Brandon Cox wish to take this opportunity to remind parents, students, and the community about the seriousness of making threats of mass violence against schools.

In a prepared joint statement, Sheriff Ray and Judge Cox said, “Just this week, we have had three (3) students appear in Juvenile Court to be arraigned on delinquent petitions alleging violations of the “Threat of Mass Violence” (statute codified at Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-16-517).”

“While we often deal with juveniles violating this statute, it applies equally to everyone and is a Class E Felony”.

“According to the statute, threats of violence, even if not intended to be carried out, are considered criminal offenses under Tennessee law. Students who make these threats, whether verbally, in writing, or online, will face serious charges in Juvenile Court and a significant disruption to their lives. Even prior to a hearing on the petition, those charged with violating this statute may be subject to being placed in juvenile detention, will be prohibited from attending school or any school related activities, may be required to wear an electronic monitor, and will be required to undergo an evaluation. If convicted, the juvenile can be placed in the custody of the State of Tennessee until they are nineteen (19) years old. AND IT DOES NOT MATTER IF THE INDIVIDUAL MEANT TO CARRY OUT THE THREAT OR IF IT WAS A JOKE!”.

“We want to stress the importance of open communication between parents and students. Parents, please talk to your children about the implications of their words and actions, especially on social media. Help them understand that making a threat, even as a joke, will not be tolerated. Students must be aware that there is no room for error when it comes to the safety of our schools”.

“We must remain vigilant in our efforts to ensure the safety and security of the students and staff at our schools. If you are aware of a threat of mass violence you must report the same to law enforcement or school officials. Failure to do so is a Class B misdemeanor which may result in jail time. It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure our schools remain safe and secure environments for learning”.

September 19, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Alex Woodward is the front runner among WJLE’s Fearless Forecasters with the best record picking winners for the first three weeks of the college football season.

Alex has compiled a record of 30-15 followed by Scott Goodwin at 29-16, Dewain Hendrixson 28-17, Darrell Gill, Ricky Atnip, Scott Brown, Chad Kirby, and John Pryor each at 27-18, and Grant James at 25-20.

For the week, Alex Woodward was 13-2 followed by Chad Kirby and Scott Goodwin each at 12-3, Dewain Hendrixson 11-4, Ricky Atnip and Scott Brown each at 10-5, and Darrell Gill, Grant James, and John Pryor each at 9-6.

Two of the forecasters hit their underdog picks last week including Ricky Atnip who got on the board with 8 points as Memphis knocked off Florida State and Alex Woodward got 4.5 points with Washington State’s upset of Washington.

Overall, Darrell Gill leads in underdog points with 23.5 followed by Dewain Hendrixson 15, Ricky Atnip 8, Grant James and Alex Woodward each with 4.5, and Scott Brown with 4 points.

Today (Thursday) the Forecasters will be picking winners in the following games:

Utah at Oklahoma State, Kansas State at BYU, USC at Michigan, California at Florida State, Baylor at Colorado, Virginia at Coastal Carolina, Arizona State at Texas Tech, Illinois at Nebraska, Michigan State at Boston College, Florida at Mississippi State, Iowa at Minnesota, Arkansas at Auburn, Vanderbilt at Missouri, Tennessee at Oklahoma and in the NFL the Green Bay Packers at the Tennessee Titans.

Catch the Fearless Forecasters on WJLE today (Thursday) at 4:30 p.m. on AM 1480/FM 101.7 and the LIVE stream at www.wjle.com.

The program is sponsored by the Charles D. Atnip Realty and Auction Company, Middle Tennessee Natural Gas, FirstBank, DeKalb County Insurance, DeKalb County Ace Hardware, Gill Automotive, Love-Cantrell Funeral Home, Wilson Bank & Trust, and Domino’s Pizza.

September 19, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County Election Commission Office may be moving from the courthouse to the county complex within the next few months subject to funding.

During a meeting Tuesday night, the county commission’s public works committee voted to approve the plan of Election Administrator Dustin Estes using both unfinished spaces at the complex in what was designed for the county mayor’s office. Not only would the move provide more space for the election commission to operate but ensure tighter security at the courthouse.

Estes presented his floor plan to the committee a month ago but it was not drawn to scale showing exact square footage measurements. He returned to the committee Tuesday night with a more detailed plan.

“I came last month and officially requested to move our offices from the courthouse to the county complex,” said Estes. “Since then, I presented the same information to the commission workshop where Commissioner Larry Green requested a more detailed floor plan that was to scale. That is what I am providing you tonight,” he said.

“The current square footage of what we occupy with our offices (courthouse) and storage is 1,269.7 square feet. Including the courtroom calculating the area which we use for early voting is 873.75 square feet. In total we occupy 2,143. 5 square feet,” said Estes.

“I have also enclosed details of both unfinished areas at the complex. Looking at the proposed unfinished space #1, not including the bathroom because that is space we would not be able to use unless it was knocked out, is 1,140.69 square feet,” Estes explained. “Comparing that to just our office and storage space (courthouse) we are actually short 120 square feet. If you add on the unfinished space #2, not including the IT closet, that’s an additional 1,123.45 square feet so in total we come out ahead about 200 square feet,” he said.

“If we include early voting within close proximity to where our offices are located (complex) we would need both spaces. The alternative would be our offices being on the county offices side of the complex and early voting on the opposite community center side,” said Estes

According to Estes, “If we are only granted one space at a bare minimum with the unfinished space #1, I would request that we knock out the bathroom to open that up to give that much more space. But it is workable to have early voting and our offices together by occupying both unfinished spaces, #1 and #2 at the complex,” Estes said.

County Mayor Matt Adcock said based on action taken at the last meeting of the public works committee, he randomly selected three construction companies for quotes to renovate the unfinished spaces at the complex. Two of them responded. One provided a quote of $88,000 and the other was for $157,200. The third company never came back with a quote.

“These contractors came and I met them there at the rooms and showed them everything that needed to be done. I shared with them the first layout that Dustin had given us and asked them to give us a quote to make this happen,” said County Mayor Adcock.

Committee member Andy Pack made a motion to proceed with Estes’ plan to use both unfinished spaces for the election commission office and for the budget committee to decide on the funding source. Member Glynn Merriman offered a second to the motion. Others voting in favor were members Sabrina Farler, Myron Rhody, and Chairman Mathias Anderson.

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