Body found in Center Hill Lake last week now identified as that of Baxter man

April 14, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The identity of a body found floating in Center Hill Lake last Wednesday has now been released.

In a statement released Wednesday evening, Sheriff Patrick Ray said “As per the autopsy, the body in the lake has been identified as 37-year-old William Houghtaling Jr of Baxter. He was reported missing out of Cookeville City by the Cookeville Police Department in March 2022. The evening when the body was found, I contacted the District Attorney General’s Office and requested the assistance of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation due to a possible multi-county case. (Putnam and DeKalb) District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway requested the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to assist the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department with the case. No other information is available,” said Sheriff Ray.

The body was found floating face down in the lake Wednesday afternoon (April 6) at the Johnson’s Chapel Recreation area only a few feet from the boat ramp in about 3-4 feet of water.

According to Sheriff Ray the body was nude except for the pair of socks he was wearing, and identification was found tucked in one of the socks which matched that of Houghtaling.

The discovery was made by a fisherman

“A man came to the area to check the lake to see if it (lake level) was up because he was going to go fishing when he noticed something near the boat ramp. At first, he thought it was an animal but as he got a closer look, he found it to be a human body. Because of the poor phone service in that area, the man went to the top of the hill to call 911 which did a transfer to White County and then the White County 911 center transferred it to DeKalb County,” added Sheriff Ray.

April 13, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

A total of 106 people cast ballots today (Wednesday) on the first day of early voting for the May 3 DeKalb County Democratic and Republican Primaries.

Twice as many people voted in the local Republican Primary as the Democratic Primary

Here’s how the total breaks down:

TOTAL—106
In person—92
Absentee—14

Republican—71
Democrat—35

Early voting will run through Thursday, April 28 at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Smithville with limited hours at the Fairgrounds in Alexandria for the DeKalb County Democratic and Republican Primaries. This is the first time both political parties are having a local primary to select nominees for the general election.

“Voters are reminded these are primary elections and they can only vote in one of the elections,” said Dennis Stanley Administrator of Elections. “Under state law, a voter cannot vote in two primaries which are held at the same time, such as is the case on May 3rd.”

Stanley encouraged voters to study the ballots and make their decision which primary they wish to vote in before heading to the polls, either for early voting or election day.

Early voting hours in Smithville are as follows: Mondays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Wednesdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Thursdays 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. to Noon.

Early voting hours in Alexandria will be Tuesday April 19th from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Monday April 25 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

All properly registered voters can vote early at either location. Early voting will not be held on Good Friday.

April 13, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The 2022 DeKalb County School District Teacher of the Year is Amanda Mullinax, a librarian and media specialist at DeKalb West School

Mullinax got a surprise visit to her classroom Tuesday for the “John Isabell Memorial Award” presentation by Director of Schools Patrick Cripps, DeKalb West School Principal Sabrina Farler, Assistant Principal Joey Agee, Supervisor of Instruction Michelle Burklow and Federal Programs Supervisor Dr. Danielle Collins. As part of the honor, Mullinax also received a school bell award, a floral arrangement, dinner gift card, and a certificate granting her a day off from school.

“I am very honored, overwhelmed, and blessed to be acknowledged for what I put into my job because of my students. I love what I do, and I love my students. I try to do the best for them each and every day and I think that is all anybody could be asked to do,” said Mullinax.

“Each year we select a Teacher of the Year from each school, but the “John Isabell Memorial Award” is for the whole district. Ms. Mullinax exemplifies what a teacher is. She loves her students, and they love her. She also has knowledge of the curriculum content and how to get that information across to her students. Ms. Mullinax is not only regarded highly by her students but by her peers as well,” said Director of Schools Patrick Cripps.

“Ms Mullinax shows the love and compassion for every student, every day and it shows in her work. She shows the heart of what a teacher should be and works over 100% every day in her job. She is an amazing lady, mother, spouse, and teacher and it shows in her walk every day,” added DeKalb West School Principal Sabrina Farler.

Mullinax, who is in her 21st year as a career teacher, was among five local educators who were recognized Tuesday for being chosen by peers as “Teacher of the Year” at their schools. The others were Kindergarten teacher Cristy Spears at Smithville Elementary School; 5th grade math and science teacher Sarah Storey at Northside Elementary School; Teresa Jones, a seventh-grade math teacher at DeKalb Middle School; and Gary Caplinger, a CTE residential and commercial construction teacher at DeKalb County High School.

In addition to the visit to Mullinax, Director Cripps and school administrators paid a call on the other four teachers at their schools Tuesday to present their school level “Teacher of the Year awards.

This is the 15th annual Teacher of the Year observance.

Mullinax came to DeKalb West School from the Smith County School District. Her first 11 years were in the classroom, and the past ten years she has served as the librarian at DWS. She has a bachelor’s degree in Multidisciplinary Studies (K-8), a master’s degree in Library Science, and an Education Specialist Degree in Reading from Tennessee Tech. She worked in the Tech Education Department library during her student teaching and assisted with the library at Union Heights Elementary School in Carthage, where she formerly taught.

Dr. Kathy Bryant, Supervisor of Instruction for Grades 6-12, said the School System Teacher of the Year can choose to compete at the District and Region level with hopes of vying for the state title.

“Teachers are first nominated and voted upon within each school for Teacher of the Year by their peers at the school level. Once a teacher is identified as Teacher of the Year he or she can apply to be District and Region Teacher of the Year and can go from there to the state. That consists of basically selling themselves and talking about everything they have done throughout their whole career to be deserving of Teacher of the Year. Its actually a lot of work. Sometimes we have teachers that do not wish to compete. They are very happy with being Teacher of the Year at their school. Regardless we are proud of our Teachers of the Year and would put them up against anybody but when they are able to compete regionally and at the state level that is big,” said Dr. Bryant.

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