Driver of Stolen Van Involved in Crash Pleads Guilty to DUI and Evading Arrest

September 13, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

The driver of a stolen van who led Smithville Police on a short pursuit before crashing the vehicle in January was sentenced in DeKalb County Criminal Court Monday

34 year old Michael Brandon Colwell entered a plea to charges of driving under the influence and evading arrest. He received a sentence of six years on the evading charge but was granted TDOC probation after serving 281 days in the DeKalb County Jail. His sentence for the DUI is 11 months and 29 days to serve 48 hours in jail. He was fined $350 and will lose his license. Colwell must also attend an alcohol safety school. The sentences will run concurrently as one six year term and concurrently with a Warren County case against him. He was given jail credit of 251 days.

The incident occurred at around 9:32 p.m. on Tuesday, January 2.

According to the police report and arrest warrant, Sergeant Travis Bryant of the Smithville Police Department attempted to stop a white Nissan Quest van for speeding 53 miles per hour in a 40 miles per hour zone. “I attempted to stop the van for a traffic violation. I did observe the van increase its initial speed after I initiated both lights and sirens on my marked patrol vehicle. The vehicle did not stop and continued to flee until the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed at the intersection of Dearman Street and Bright Hill Road. The driver, Colwell was arrested without incident.

“Colwell was found to be unsteady on his feet and he had slurred speech. Colwell stated he had drank a lot of alcohol. Colwell had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath and person. Due to the circumstances of the stop, field sobriety was not administered,” according to the complaint.

During the crash investigation, police learned that the van was stolen.

“Colwell said he took the van without consent or knowledge of the owner. The owner discovered her vehicle missing and notified law enforcement of the theft on January 3 at 9:45 a.m. The van was crashed when Colwell attempted to flee from law enforcement on January 2. The vehicle was recovered with major damage. The value of the van is estimated at $5,000,” according to the complaint

September 13, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

As part of its community outreach, the Smithville Church of God has adopted DeKalb Middle School and hosts regular after school events for those students and others who want to participate.

Students were treated Wednesday afternoon to food, fun and games, inflatables, and a free concert by Christian Rap artist B-Shoc

Pastor Chris Moore said the idea is for the church to be more involved in the community and especially with youth.

“I believe it’s a vital for our churches in the community to reach out as part of community service to take care of our schools and to provide safe, clean, fun environments for them,” Moore.

The church has sponsored after school youth events for several years but expanded its outreach with the adopt a school concept last fall.

“We have hosted after school youth church events for the last eight years. The official adoption we did at the middle school started in the fall. We started out doing some simple projects like landscaping, painting, and providing teachers supplies. We wanted to be a partner with the school. In fact a majority of the students here today (Wednesday) are from the middle school. We bused in around 70 kids this afternoon straight from school to here as part of our after school program. There are other projects we do. Every sporting event they have either me or my youth pastor goes and prays over their events. We are also heavily involved with their Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). Every Wednesday we go and help with their music. We just want to be involved. I wish we could do the same for every school,” said Moore.

Students can even earn school credit in some cases for attending an after school event. “Some of the after school programs offer kids credit for attending if they come here. It goes on their record that they attended an after school program,” Moore continued.

The church hosts the after school events twice a year and all the food and fun are provided at no charge.

“It’s completely free. We feed all the kids. We provide transportation if necessary for some of them. There are a lot of games and fun but more than anything we are providing them a good, solid, clean, safe environment. With all the things out there in the world I think it is important that our churches do that. Parents are longing for good places for their kids to go and hang out. We want to be able to make that happen here at this church. You never know how a small thing like this can really impact them and change their lives forever. We always host a big rally at the end of the night. Tonight (Wednesday) we had Christian Rap artist B-Shoc. His real name is Bryan Edmonds. He has an amazing testimony. He travels all across the world doing this. His raps are very easy and very fun. All ages can get involved from 7 to 70 and its all to glorify the name of Jesus Christ which is what we are trying to do,” said Moore.

Bryan Edmonds (aka B-SHOC), was raised in a Christian home in the small town of Toccoa, GA. He gave his life to Jesus at a very young age. B-SHOC spent most of his childhood with a tennis racquet in his hand. He attended Garner Webb University on a tennis scholarship.  At GWU, he was named All American and won a NCCAA College Championship.

His love for music began at the age of 16 when he was introduced to hip hop. It was love at first beat. The beat moved him in a special way, so much that he pursued a music career. After many years in the studio and mastering his talent, the music developed a whole new lifestyle for him, which landed him in the night clubs many nights of the week. As his success grew, and he partook of the lifestyle that came with it, depression set in. Something had to change.

He then understood for certain that nothing in the world would satisfy his heart like Jesus Christ. After leaving the night scene, and a lot prayer, the love for the beat still remained. He began writing and recording music about Jesus and his life using the same style of beat. Knowing this was not popular in churches, and that critics would arise, he was dedicated to do God’s will for his life.

Since then God has opened many doors for B-SHOC, traveling the country, and packing concerts full of energy and excitement for Jesus. Thru his concerts and music, he prays more people come to know Jesus and develop a closer relationship with Him. He gives ALL Glory to God.

September 13, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Chad Kirby has pulled ahead of the pack among WJLE’s Fearless Forecasters for the best record picking winners during the second week of the college football season.

Kirby had the best record last week at 11-4 and he is 22-8 overall for the first two weeks of the season. Also last week, Darrell Gill and Scott Brown were each at 10-5 while Will Graham, Ricky Atnip, Dewain Hendrixson, Grant James, John Pryor, and our special guest Rhea County Girls Basketball Coach Darvin Gill each went 9-6.

After the first two weeks, Chad Kirby is in the lead at 22-8 followed by Scott Brown, Ricky Atnip, and the guests (Larry Green and Darvin Gill) tied for second place at 20-10. Darrell Gill, John Pryor, and Dewain Hendrixson are each at 18-12. Will Graham is 17-13 and Grant James is 16-14.

Four of the forecasters hit their underdog picks last week. Scott Brown grabbed the lead with 14 points picking Colorado State to upset Arkansas. Will Graham got on the board with 13 points picking Kentucky to upend Florida. John Pryor is in third place with 11.5 points although he picked up no extra points last week. Chad Kirby now has 5 points after his upset pick of Arizona State over Michigan State, and Dewain Hendrixson picked up 3 points with Duke’s win over Northwestern. He now has a total of 4 points for the first two weeks.

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

Florida State at Syracuse, West Virginia at N.C. State, Boise State at Oklahoma State, Washington at Utah, Georgia Tech at Pittsburgh, Boston College at Wake Forest, Ohio State at TCU, USC at Texas, Duke at Baylor, Missouri at Purdue, North Texas at Arkansas, LSU at Auburn, UTEP at Tennessee, Vanderbilt at Notre Dame, and in the NFL the Tennessee Titans at Houston.

Today’s special guest is Isaac Gray, Minister at the Smithville Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

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

The program is sponsored by the Charles D. Atnip Realty and Auction Company, Middle Tennessee Natural Gas, Liberty State Bank, DeKalb County Insurance, Gill Automotive, Love-Cantrell Funeral Home, and DeKalb County Ace Hardware.

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