DeKalb County 4-H 3-Peats as Regional Champs!

September 8, 2021
By: Johnny Barnes Extension Agent & County Director

The DeKalb County 4-H Grilling Team has done it again! For the third straight year of competition, DeKalb County 4-H is Regional Champions. The senior high team comprised of Avalynn Smullen, Riley Fuson, Lily Waggoner and Paul Oliver won first place at the Central Region 4-H Grill Master Challenge. The Competition featured 4-H teams and individuals from all over Middle Tennessee. 4-H members in the 9th-12th grades compete in the senior high division with 6th-8th grades being in the junior high division. Each 4-Her grills either a pork, beef, lamb, or poultry product and submits for judging. DeKalb County’s junior high team placed fourth in their division.

Along with team accomplishments, several of the members excelled individually which propelled their teams to the top of the contest. In the Sr. High division, Lilly Waggoner was the champion in poultry and Paul Oliver was the lamb champion with Avalynn Smullen coming in eighth in pork. In Jr. High, Trinity Young was the champion in pork and Ben Barton was the lamb champion. Also in the top ten were Wade Evans third place in lamb, Cali Agee fourth in pork, Kylynn Smullen sixth in poultry, and Hannah Keith ninth in beef. The competition was held on August 26 at the fairgrounds in Lebanon, TN.

The senior high team will now go on to compete at the State Contest which will be on October 23 in Knoxville where they will compete against the champions from West and East Tennessee. DeKalb County was the State Champions in 2018 and State Runners-Up in 2019 and this team hopes to continue that success. No competitions took place in 2020 due to Covid. A big thank-you goes out to C&S Farms and Food Lion for helping to sponsor. Good luck to these kids at the next round of competition!

September 8, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

The number of COVID cases in DeKalb County has gone up since Friday.

According to the Tennessee Department Health, DeKalb County had 370 active COVID 19 cases Tuesday, September 7, which is up from 346 on Friday, September 3. Forty six new cases were recorded in DeKalb County on Tuesday alone.

At last report a total of 7,849 people (38.3%) have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine and 6,437 (31.4%) are fully vaccinated in DeKalb County.

There have been 59 deaths in DeKalb County since the pandemic began in March 2020 and 98 have been hospitalized.

Over the last seven days, (August 31 – September 6) DeKalb County had a case count of 227 for a daily case rate of 158.3 per 100,000 residents.

For the most recent 14 days, (August 24- September 6) DeKalb County’s case count was 458 for a daily case rate of 159.7 per 100,000 residents.

For the 14 days prior (August 10 to August 23), the case count was 231 for a daily case rate of 80.5 per 100, 000 residents.

From March 5, 2020 to September 7, 2021, DeKalb County has had a total of 3,670 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 for a daily case rate of 32.6 per 100,000 residents.

Over the last 7 days the average percent positive was 32.4 %.

The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) wants to remind Tennesseans that COVID-19 vaccines are the best defense in preventing the continued spread of the virus. Vaccination rates across the state have increased over the last month as the state experiences a surge in COVID-19 cases due to the highly contagious Delta variant.

Individuals seeking more information on the COVID-19 vaccines can visit covid19.tn.gov or www.vaccines.gov to schedule an appointment with a local vaccine provider.

September 8, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

A 55 year old man who led Smithville Police on a 12 mile pursuit from the city limits to Silver Point over two years ago was sentenced Tuesday in DeKalb County Criminal Court.

Marty Tallent entered a plea to evading arrest and received a two year sentence to serve. He was given jail credit of 242 days

Smithville Police Chief Mark Collins told WJLE at the time that the incident began on the morning of August 12, 2019 when then Lieutenant Detective Matt Holmes spotted Tallent in front of him driving recklessly in his Volkswagen Jetta on South Congress Boulevard near the New Life Pentecostal Church.

“He (Lieutenant Detective) Holmes noticed a vehicle acting strangely in front of him (on South Congress Boulevard). That vehicle (Tallent’s car) then just stopped in the middle of the road in front of Holmes,” said Chief Collins.

Holmes could be heard on the police scanner reporting to central dispatch that he (Tallent) kept braking trying to get him (Holmes) to hit him.

“Tallent then pulled over to the shoulder and back into oncoming traffic before doing a uturn causing an approaching motorist to almost wreck,” Chief Collins continued.

According to Police, Tallent flipped Holmes a bird as he made his getaway.

Lieutenant Detective Holmes then turned around and gave chase as Tallent headed north on Congress Boulevard running through traffic lights speeding out of town. Chief Collins, Captain Steven Leffew, and Officer Will Judkins joined the pursuit which continued often at high speeds on Highway 56 north (Cookeville Highway) out of the city.

Chief Collins eventually took over as the lead officer in the pursuit and tried to ram Tallent’s car as the chase neared Interstate 40 at Silver Point in Putnam County .

“As we were nearing the church at Silver Point running 60-70 miles per hour I noticed there was a lot of traffic so I thought now would be my time. When he (Tallent) hit his brakes like he was going to stop in the line of traffic, I tried to get around to slow him down but when I pulled up beside him he rammed me in the passenger side of my patrol car but I was going fast enough that I was able to get in front of him. Tallent then got onto the shoulder of the oncoming lane and tried to pass me but I rammed him and the impact sent his car into a yaw before it shot across the road toward the driveway of a residence. Lieutenant Detective Holmes then rammed Tallent’s car and it spun around before coming to a stop,” said Chief Collins.

The officers jumped from the patrol cars and drew their weapons as they approached Tallent but they placed him under arrest without incident.

Putnam and DeKalb EMS responded but no one had to be transported to the hospital although Chief Collins sustained a sore foot from the incident.

The patrol cars driven by Chief Collins and Lieutenant Detective Holmes were damaged and taken out of service at the time.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol investigated the crashes

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