DeKalb County Folks Lend a Hand to Tornado Survivors

March 11, 2020
By: Bill Conger

People from DeKalb County joined in the efforts to help the survivors from last week’s tornadoes that ripped a path of destruction through several middle Tennessee counties. 14 people from DeKalb and 10 people from Cannon County left last Saturday (March 7) in a disaster relief trailer from Elizabeth Chapel Baptist Church to team with the Tennessee Baptist Association Disaster Relief in Cookeville.

“We went out and assisted home owners in cleaning up where their houses were completely gone, trying to find belongings that were still usable in the rubble, and trying to aid in anything we could do for those people,” said Aaron Young, Salem Baptist Association’s Disaster Relief Director, who lead the team to Cookeville.

Young says volunteers helped in an area where the tornado had progressed to category EF-4.

“Pretty much anything that was in the path of that was completely destroyed,” Young said.

One of the volunteers, Daniel Leslie, youth pastor at Elizabeth Chapel Baptist Church, has personal ties to Putnam County. A former Cookeville resident, he lived on the side of town where the tornado stormed through. Prior to the team’s trip, he paid a visit March 4 to the home of one of his friends.

“It used to be a beautiful brick home that’s just completely gone,” Leslie says. “The highest point out there was actually the front porch. Everything else had fallen underneath where the front porch had gotten up to. It had all just collapsed.”

The youth minister says helping the survivors of the tornado gave him and the other volunteers an opportunity to put into practice his recent Bible lesson on Philippians 1:21, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

“It’s not about the things that we have; it’s about the lives that we’re given a chance to live,” explains Leslie. “We had actually just talked at church Wednesday night with my youth group about Philippians. This was another opportunity for them to live out their lives as Christians. They get to have a chance to live and to be. That’s what matters. That’s what God has given us an opportunity to do. I got to see both of those situations. There was the death, but there also were those that were spared. Looking at the destruction—there was nothing left—there is no way they should have lived through what they did, but they get that opportunity to continue to live out their lives through the gospel.”

Leslie says the volunteer effort was about more than cleaning up debris.

“There was a lady that lived just behind the houses that we mainly worked at. She was in shock. Her mind was everywhere, and we got to talk a lot to her and her son and encourage them. That’s another part of the disaster relief effort … helping the families recover emotionally too.”

Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief has set up a command center in Cookeville and Nashville, and they will be there until no one is asking for help. Young has worked two previous disasters, but he was stunned by the number of volunteers who showed up.

“We’re called the Volunteer State, and you could really see why. There was almost too many volunteering. You hate to say that, but it was impressive how many people were just showing up and helping out. They were just neighbors helping neighbors.”

March 10, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

47 year old Christopher Nicholas Orlando has received good news from members of the Tennessee Board of Parole

Orlando is serving a 35 year prison sentence for facilitation of first degree murder in the death of 20 year old Joshua Murphy. He is incarcerated at the Morgan County Correctional Complex in Wartburg, Tennessee. A previous conviction against Orlando for possession of cocaine ran consecutively with the murder case and expired in 2009. Orlando’s sentence in the murder case is due to expire in 2039. He has served almost 18 years.

Members of the parole board held a hearing for Orlando on Thursday, March 5 and voted to recommend his release. The decision was finalized on Friday, March 6, according to Rachel A. Hitt, Staff Attorney for the Tennessee Board of Parole. At his last parole hearing two years ago, Orlando was denied parole due to the seriousness of the offense.

Murphy was shot and killed in a secluded area in the Laurel Hill Community at the end of Old Eagle Creek Road on Sunday, September 15, 2002. His body was discovered three days later. Officials said Orlando and a co-defendant, 48 year old Melvin Turnbill suspected Murphy of stealing methamphetamine. Orlando was tried and convicted of the crime by a DeKalb County Criminal Court Jury in April, 2004.

Turnbill entered a guilty plea to facilitation to first-degree murder in September, 2003 and was given a 25-year sentence. Turnbill was granted parole in March 2015 after serving more than twelve years but he ran afoul of the law again in Putnam County and was sent back to prison in 2016. Turnbill was again granted parole after a hearing in 2018.

In previous parole hearings Orlando has said he was sorry for the death of Murphy and for the first time took responsibility for being the triggerman in the shooting. He initially blamed Turnbill for actually committing the murder.

March 10, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

Services offered by the DeKalb County Clerk’s office are many and often times so are questions about them.

In an effort to better inform the community, County Clerk James L. (Jimmy) Poss is hosting a public forum on Thursday, April 9 at 6 p.m. in the County Complex Multi-Purpose Auditorium.

Representatives of the Tennessee Department of Revenue and Tennessee Highway Patrol will join Poss and his staff in sharing information and answering questions during this forum.

“This is an opportunity to provide some clarification on specific topics and offer insight into the partnership between the local and state level departments in completing daily transactions for the residents of Tennessee,” said Poss.

“Representatives of the Tennessee Department of Revenue’s Vehicle Services Division and Taxpayer Services Division along with the Tennessee Highway Patrol will be at the forum. In fact, the Tennessee Highway Patrol and Vehicle Services Division have collaborated to share a PowerPoint presentation which will mainly focus on specific plates and title and registration, such as, medium speed, commercial and farm plates etc. They will also review the requirements that are mandated with Heavy Vehicle Use Tax and 2290 form. The Taxpayer Services Division will answer questions concerning sales and use tax, business taxes, etc. We truly encourage your attendance as this will be a great opportunity to meet multiple agencies to ask questions or just listen to beneficial information,” said Poss.

“These departments serve individuals as well as businesses. Your county offices and state departments have worked closely to organize and compile important information for this event in an effort to provide you (citizens) with clarification in regards to specific topics or to simply offer an opportunity for you to meet some of the representatives that work in your local and state departments. Please make plans to attend this public forum and share our invitation with friends and family,” Poss concluded.

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