DeKalb 4-H Grilling Team Finishes Third in State Competition

December 21, 2021
By:

After winning the Central Region 4-H Grill Master Challenge contest, the DeKalb County 4-H grilling team went on to compete in the State Competition and finished third. The team was comprised of Avalynn Smullen, Paul Oliver, Riley Fuson, and Lilly Waggoner. They competed against eight other teams from across the state that had placed in the top three of their respective regions. Along with the team placing third for the entire state, Lilly Waggoner was the second highest scoring individual in the poultry category.

The contest is comprised of four different species: beef, pork, lamb, and poultry. Each contestant cooks a cut from one of the species and submits it for judging along with a copy of their recipe. A special thanks goes out to C&S Farms, the Smithville Food Lion store and the DeKalb County Cattlemen’s Association for helping to sponsor the team.

Since Lilly Waggoner finished second in the poultry category, she was invited to go on the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference held in Louisville, Kentucky and compete in the Turkey BBQ contest where she competed against 4-H members from across the nation. In that competition, along with grilling, she also completed an oral presentation on the turkey industry and placed seventh overall. Congratulations to these young people for their hard work throughout the Fall.

December 21, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Full time DeKalb EMS personnel are getting a pay raise to start the new year

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the county commission approved a recommendation from the health, education, and public welfare committee to increase the pay of full-time ambulance service personnel by $3.00 per hour and to adopt a budget amendment of $72,975 from the general fund balance to pay for it through the rest of the fiscal year, January 1-June 30.

The ambulance service is budgeted for 20 full time positions but there are currently only 13 on staff. Director Hoyte Hale said it has been difficult to retain and attract full time employees because the DeKalb EMS is not pay competitive with surrounding counties. Hale said this increase in pay will help.

The pay raise will be applied to the EMS wage scale which tops out with 20 years of service.

DeKalb EMS staffs 2–24-hour trucks and a day truck Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. EMS staff operate on a 24/72 schedule meaning they work 24 hours on duty and 72 hours off duty.

Second District Commissioner Myron Rhody made a motion to approve the $3.00 per hour pay raise and adopt the budget amendment and First District Commissioner Julie Young offered a second to the motion.

Fifth District Commissioner Jerry Adcock said while he does not oppose a pay raise, he doesn’t think how it is being applied is fair to EMS staff with more seniority and he tried to table the motion.

“I would like to make a motion that we table this. It’s not fair for somebody who has been working for EMS 10 to 15 years with advanced studies to get the same $3.00 per hour raise as the person who has been there a year or two. Why not give those up higher (more seniority) more than $3.00 per hour and give those below (less seniority) less than $3.00 more per hour. We should sit down as a commission or committee and work on this and not do it as a knee jerk reaction thing and make any raise we give retroactive to the first of the year,” said Adcock.

“We already have a step increase (EMS wage scale) so the more years and education you have the better your pay is but it’s probably not enough. The upper group probably needs a little more pay but there are pay raise step increases for them,” said Commissioner Rhody.

Seventh District Commissioner Bruce Malone asked if an additional $3.00 per hour would be enough to keep current ambulance service employees from leaving for better paying EMS jobs.

“Is it enough? Will ambulance service employees be willing to stay for $3.00 per hour more? Is this a band aid? Will we be back here again in two months (to revisit this)? I think our ambulance employees are underpaid based on what was presented to me (by EMS Director Hoyte Hale) Thursday night (during a committee of the whole county commission meeting),” said Commissioner Malone.

“This is the first step to make sure we can hire new EMTs and hold onto the EMTs we have now,” added Fifth District Commissioner Anita Puckett. “The issue of disparity in pay for the more skilled EMS staff can be brought before the budget committee next spring but this ($3.00 per hour raise) will get the lowest paid EMT employee within range of what those are getting paid in surrounding counties,” she said.

The pay raise and budget amendment were approved on a 10-1-1 vote. Fifth District Commissioner Jerry Adcock voted against it based on his claim of unfairness and Sixth District Commissioner Matt Adcock abstained because he is employed by the ambulance service and has a conflict of interest. Two members were absent.

December 17, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Have you seen 29-year-old Matthew Braswell?

Local and state authorities have been looking for Braswell since he fled into the woods after a crash on Ponder Road Friday morning. His whereabouts remain unknown.

When he is found Braswell will have some explaining to do to law enforcement officers.

According to Trooper Bobby Johnson of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Braswell was a passenger of a 2006 Chevy Tahoe, driven by 26-year-old Danny Phillips of McMinnville when they were spotted by a resident going through the mail of his mailbox on Ponder Road.

As the resident came out of his home to confront them, the truck sped away but then went out of control and struck several trees at the edge of the road. The two men then bailed out of the truck and fled into the woods. Phillips was quickly captured but Braswell got away and hasn’t been seen since. Even Braswell’s girlfriend claims she has not heard from him. Phillips was transported by DeKalb EMS to Ascension Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital and later taken to Vanderbilt Medical Center where he remains hospitalized.

Local and state authorities including members of the Smith County Sheriff’s Department’s K-9 unit conducted a ground search for Braswell Friday but to no avail. A THP helicopter flight crew was summoned Monday to join the effort with an aerial search but there was no sign of Braswell other than his white and gray jacket, which was found in the woods about a half mile from the crash site.

Authorities are concerned about Braswell’s condition fearing that he might still be out there in the woods somewhere with serious injuries from the wreck. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and possibly a white tank top shirt. He stands six feet tall and weighs 150 pounds. His hair is brown in color, and he has facial tattoes. His last known address is Lebanon.

If you have seen Braswell or know of his whereabouts call the Tennessee Highway Patrol at 423-954-2130.

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