Former County Landfill Employee Sentenced

March 14, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

A former DeKalb County Landfill employee, charged with fraudulent use of a credit card for allegedly using a county government fuel card for personal use, was sentenced in DeKalb County Criminal Court Tuesday, March 12.

55-year-old Mark Randall (Truck) Robinson entered a plea to the charge and received a sentence of two years all suspended to supervised probation. He must make restitution to DeKalb County of $2,443.
The case was investigated by the Smithville Police Department.

According to the arrest warrant, “Mark Robinson did use the DeKalb County Government gas card to fill his personal vehicle with gasoline. Mr. Robinson was employed by the DeKalb County landfill. Mr Robinson used the card multiple times. The first offense was on June 21, 2021 to the last offense September 11, 2022. The total amount of gasoline taken was $2,962.66. Mr. Robinson did not have consent to use the gas card for personal use. This offense did occur in Smithville,” the warrant stated.

Robinson was terminated after the incident was discovered.

Meanwhile, 46 year old Robert Jason Francis entered a plea by criminal information to possession of methamphetamine with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver. He received an eight-year sentence but will be on supervised probation. He must forfeit his firearm. Francis was also fined $2,000. He was given jail credit of 80 days.

Francis was one of two people found with methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and weapons during a traffic stop Friday, December 22, 2023.

Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on December 22 a deputy pulled over a purple Ford Ranger for failing to maintain its lane of travel. Both Francis and 45-year-old Rachel Lynn Spurlock were in the vehicle. During a search, the officer found 8.52 grams of a crystal-like substance believed to be methamphetamine along with four glass pipes with residue, two straws with residue, a spoon, two scales, and 25 small baggies. Francis had in his possession two- 22 caliber revolvers and a 22-caliber long rifle. The officer also found seven white rectangular pills and a clear baggie believed to be Tramadol in Francis’ possession.

Spurlock’s case apparently remains pending in court.

March 13, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

The Smithville Mayor and Aldermen on Monday, April 1 will consider first reading action on proposed ordinance 523 to rezone 10.8 acres of property adjacent to Walmart from R-1 residential to C-1 commercial. The property belongs to Sullivan Walter Homes, LLC.

(Click PDF link below for larger view of plat)

https://wjle.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/SullivanPartialReZone.pdf

The site is located from West Broad Street by the entrance to Walmart on the north side extending to the southwest corner of the Walmart property on the south side. On the west side, the site is near other properties including a portion of Oakhaven Subdivision.

Tonya Sullivan explained that while Sullivan Walter Homes, LLC owns the entire 45-acre property in that area (zoned R-1 residential), the request is to only rezone a portion, 10.8 acres of the property to C-1 commercial. According to Sullivan, a portion at the front of the site (near West Broad Street) is already zoned C-1 commercial.

“We are trying to go back even with Walmart . The rest would remain for future housing development,” said Sullivan.

The mayor and aldermen will conduct a public hearing on the proposed 523 ordinance rezoning on Monday, April 1 at 6 p.m. at city hall.

March 13, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County is among 93 of the state’s 95 counties that experienced an uptick in unemployment during January, according to new data released by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

The January jobless rate in DeKalb County was 4.4%, up from 3.8% in December, 2023 and above the 4.1% rate for January, 2023.

The DeKalb County labor force for January, 2024 was at 7,738 and employment stood at 7,394. A total of 344 were unemployed.

Holiday employment that ended at the start of the new year is one of the leading factors that caused an increase in county unemployment rates across Tennessee in January 2024. While statewide unemployment numbers are adjusted to consider the impacts of seasonal labor, county unemployment rates are not adjusted.

Unemployment did decrease in Fayette County during the month and remained the same in Hardeman County.

Unemployment rates came in at less than 5% in 86 counties across the state, and rates were 5% or greater but less than 10% in the remaining nine counties.

Williamson County recorded the state’s lowest unemployment rate in January at 2.5%, which was an increase of 0.2 of a percentage point from December’s rate of 2.3%.

Moore, Robertson, Rutherford, and Cheatham counties had the next lowest rate of 2.7%, followed by Sumner, Wilson, Dickson, Davidson, and Macon counties, which all had a rate of 2.8% for the month.

Meigs, Perry, and Cocke counties each had Tennessee’s highest unemployment rate in January at 5.7%. For Meigs County, that was an increase of 1 percentage point. In Perry County, the rate increased by 1.6 percentage points. January’s rate inched up 2.1 percentage points in Cocke County.

As reported on February 29, Tennessee’s statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January increased 0.1 of a percentage point to 3.5%.

Nationally, seasonally adjusted unemployment remained unchanged between December and January at 3.7%.

Job seekers can find a variety of services online and at no cost. From a virtual American Job Center to information on adult education programs to the Tennessee Office of Reentry, it is all available at TNWorkReady.com.

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