Allie Eaton Wins “Best of Show” at DeKalb Art Exhibit

May 19, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Allie Eaton in the 6th to 8th grade category won “Best of Show” while Naziah Martinez from the 1st to 2nd grade Division captured the “People’s Choice Award” in the DeKalb Schools Art Exhibit held Saturday at the County Complex. The annual event was sponsored by the Smithville Study Club. Dianne Hawkins is the President of the club. Susan Hinton is the Art Chairman.

Students from Kindergarten to 12th grade participated in the art exhibit. All students who attended received a color certificate. All winners earned a ribbon and color certificate. First place winners also received a medal and a gift certificate from the Art Garage in Smithville.

This year’s art exhibit winners are as follows:

*Division 1- Kindergarten
1st Place- Haverly Merriman
2nd Place- Kenedie Seifert
3rd Place- Cheyenne Puckett
4th Place-Scarlet Nowak
5th Place- Lizzy Pedigo
Honorable Mention- Jayden Ladd

*Division 2- 1st-2nd grades
1st Place- Ansley Snow
2nd Place- Layla Hale
3rd Place- Naziah Martinez
4th Place-Monyca Perez
5th Place- Ashlynn Fox
Honorable Mention- Dyanna Martinez

*Division 3- 3rd-5th grades
1st Place- Katie Pedigo
2nd Place- Gavin Gillespie
3rd Place- Aroly Palamo
4th Place-Eli Diego
5th Place-Evelyn Farmer
Honorable Mention- Brian Cantrell

*Division 4 (Middle School)- 6th – 8th grades
1st Place-Allie Eaton
2nd Place-Lily Quistauard
3rd Place-Brenna McBroom
4th Place-Braylon Williams
5th Place-Eli Colwell
Honorable Mention: Isabella Williams

*Division 5- 9th-12th grades
1st Place- Nathan Hall
2nd Place- Hannah West
3rd Place- Sierra Sobotka
4th Place-Katie Linder
5th Place-Julian Kurtz
Honorable Mention- Nikki Watts

May 18, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

The season has come to a close for the DCHS Tigerette fast pitch softball team.

After losing to Upperman in the region tournament championship game in Smithville on Thursday 5 to 4, the Tigerettes traveled to Soddy Daisy for the Class 3A sectionals and lost 13 to 1 on Friday.

The Tigerettes wrap up the year at 20-14 overall with a District 7-3A championship.

May 17, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

If or when the county budget committee asks the county commission to adopt a bond resolution to build a judicial center the project description may be broadened to include expenditures for possibly a new fire truck and two new ambulances.

During its meeting on Tuesday night, the budget committee voted 4 to 2 against forwarding a recommendation to the commission to adopt a bond resolution not to exceed $65 million for the construction of a judicial center at this time. But before that vote, the budget committee voted unanimously to include in the bond resolution a total of $910,000 ($425,000 for a new fire truck and a total of $485,000 for two new ambulances) to be funded from any excess proceeds or interest income from the bonds.

The reason for the move was to keep from having to spend so much from the county’s capital projects budget in 2024-25. That fund is designated for capital outlay expenditures such as building improvements and purchases of county vehicles, etc.

Steve Bates, the county’s fiscal agent/financial advisor, warned the budget committee that if all the capital projects funding requests were left in the budget for 2024-25, the fund would be “going into cash” (reserves) by $1,087,873.

To avoid that, Bates suggested that the fire truck and ambulances be funded in the bond resolution along with construction of the judicial center. That would remove a total of $910,000 in spending from the capital projects fund along with cuts of $184,890 for EMS sleeping quarters and a generator for the new Liberty Fire Hall which are not being funded. That puts the total 2024-25 capital projects expenditures at $1,518,158 with revenues exceeding spending by $7,017 for the year and a projected fund balance of $1,660,974 by June 30, 2025.

“You might want to consider taking some of these expenditures out of capital projects and adding them within the bond resolution in the event you don’t need all the money you are going to borrow for this judicial center,” said Bates. “I think we will earn enough interest income and to the extent you have some monies left over you might be able to pick up these costs without taking this (capital projects fund) into cash. You would leave the project description in the bond resolution broad enough to capture anything you would have had to deplete your cash for just as a back-up. If there should not be enough money left over, we could always come back and amend the budget and put it back into capital projects. The bond resolution project description can be for construction of the judicial center, county buildings, and emergency response vehicles,” said Bates.

Again, the budget committee Tuesday night, voted 4 to 2 not to forward to the county commission a recommendation for adoption of a bond resolution for the judicial center and other projects at this time.

Other capital projects funding requests remaining in the proposed 2024-25 budget (yet to be approved) include the following:

*Another $100,000 in seed money for the future development of a new public safety building to house a fire truck in the Wolf Creek community putting the total amount of seed money set aside at $250,000

*$640,000 for 75 new county fire department portable radios under the new Tennessee Advanced Communications Network (TACN) system should the county’s regional application for funding through the FEMA Assistance to Firefighter Grant not be approved.

*Four new sheriff’s department patrol cars totaling $165,000.

*9,964 for the cost of purchasing and installing a new mobile radio for an ambulance being bid out this year.

*67,142 local grant match for an ambulance funded by a Community Development Block Grant

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