BackPack Program Helps Feed Hungry Students

November 13, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County School District has approximately 8% of the student population that goes hungry on a regular basis, with meals provided at school being their main source of food.

The DeKalb County Coordinated School Health BackPack Program was established in 2009 to help students with food insecurity. Through this program, students in need receive a bag of non-perishable food items to be taken home every weekend during the school year. When funding allows, extra food is sent home on breaks and food boxes are delivered to each student’s home for Christmas break.

This program is funded solely on donations from individuals, churches, civic organizations, and grants. Due to these generous donations and grants, the BackPack Program has maintained its ability to feed each participant of the program thus far. However, funding is not always consistent or guaranteed. “We currently have the highest number of participants in this program’s history. We are struggling to keep up with the needs of our students, as food prices have risen tremendously,” said Elise Driver, CSH Coordinator.

“We are continuously seeking donations of food and/or money to sustain our program,” she said. If anyone would like to donate to the BackPack Program, please contact the CSH Coordinator, Elise Driver, at elisedriver@dekalbschools.net or 615-215-2118.

November 13, 2024
By: Bill Conger

He died the way he lived—serving others. Smithville native Bobby Mingle was helping the survivors of Hurricane Helen’s flood damage in western North Carolina in mid-October when tragedy struck. Affectionately known as “Hoss,” Mingle joined volunteers from Faulk Trucking to rebuild one of the bridges that had been displaced. After seeing the people suffer there, he longed to help their lives.

“When the opportunity came up to go over there, his eyes just lit up,” his widow Priscilla Mingle recalls. “It was something he could do. He could drive a truck.”

On Friday, October 18, Mingle was driving his dump truck on a mountain when he started having problems with his brakes.

“He went over the side of the mountain,” Mrs. Mingle says she was told. “They said that he was telling them that his brakes were hot and that they weren’t working. They told him they would adjust them when they got to the bottom, but he didn’t make it to the bottom.”

At first Mingle was able to talk to people who rushed to his aid and told them to call his wife to tell her he loved her. By the time the ambulance arrived Mingle was dead. EMTs were able to resuscitate him and headed to Johnson City Medical Center, but his widow says he died two more times on the way there.

“They took him into the emergency room, cut him open, and massaged his heart to get it going again. They told me that it didn’t look good and that he had broken bones in his neck. He had bleeding on both sides of his brain when they picked him up.”

Bobby Mingle died two days later, but the dash between the birth and death date on his grave marker tells the story of a strong Christian witness and devoted servant. A member of the Smithville Nazarene Church, Mingle was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver due to diabetes on August 16, 2016. He desperately needed a liver transplant, and at the end of 2018 Vanderbilt Hospital called to say they had found a potential match.

“When we got down there to Vanderbilt, they told him it matched another person that was waiting,” Priscilla says. He accepted the decision with grace.

“He just smiled and said that the person needed it more than him and that His God would get him another one. It was always like him to put people before him. He gave a great testimony because I wasn’t the one that was sick, but I was upset – not at God or nothing like that — but it was like, ‘he’s such a good person; why couldn’t he have got it?’”

But she says God miraculously provided another liver the next year. Throughout his sickness, Mingle, who was bed-ridden 18-20 hours a day, would still be in church on Sunday mornings and looked for ways to continue serving.

“He loved our little church, and whatever was asked of him, he tried his best to do. If he was able and had the means to do it, he would do it.”

Mingle earned another nickname the “Banana Pudding King” for the large tub of the desert he would make for the Christian event, “Walk to Emmaus.” In addition to that ministry, he would always share his love of Jesus with others.

“He would go up to complete strangers and start up a conversation which would usually lead to Jesus. By the time he got through talking to them, he had told them his story and what God could do for them.”

His devoted wife of 37 years is trying to adjust to living without the love of her life, but she holds dear her heart the precious memory of the person Bobby Mingle was.

“I want him to be remembered as a good person that loved God and his family and anyone that he met.”

November 13, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

A Murfreesboro woman was found with meth and marijuana during a traffic stop.

35-year-old Elizabeth Eileen Esposito of Murfreesboro is charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver, driving on a suspended license, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a controlled substance (marijuana) for sale and delivery.

Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on November 8 while patrolling Short Mountain Highway a deputy spotted a red Jeep Gladiator cross the center line. The officer pulled it over and spoke with the driver, Esposito. A strong odor of marijuana emanated from the vehicle. During a subsequent search, the deputy found a black purse with two clear baggies of a crystal-like substance believed to be methamphetamine including one which weighed 0.88 grams and the other 0.87 grams with a total baggie weight of 1.75. grams. Also inside the purse was a glass pipe with crystal like residue and burn marks on the outside of the pipe. In the middle of the console was a clear baggie with a crystal-like residue. When asked if any marijuana was in the vehicle, Esposito said half an ounce was in the middle console. The deputy looked and found three baggies of a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana in the middle console with a combined baggie weight of 23.13 grams. Esposito admitted that her license was suspended and a background check through central dispatch confirmed it.

29-year-old Matthew Allen White of Blue Springs Road is charged with public intoxication. He is under a $1,500 bond and his court date is November 21. Sheriff Ray said that on November 7 a deputy was dispatched to a residence on Blue Springs Road due to a verbal argument complaint. Upon arrival, the officer spoke with White and a woman who stated they had been in a verbal argument. White continued to create a disturbance and made several statements in regard to the deputies returning to the residence. He was then placed under arrest for public intoxication.

29-year-old Andre Black Hyatt of Sparta is charged with driving under the influence and possession of a handgun while under the influence. His bond is $5,000 and he will be in court November 21.

Sheriff Ray said that on November 9 a deputy was east on Sparta Highway looking for a vehicle involved in a hit and run accident. He spotted a silver two door Nissan 350Z, pulled it over, and spoke with the driver, Hyatt who smelled of alcohol and had red watery eyes. Hyatt admitted to consuming alcohol prior to driving. He got out of the vehicle and submitted to but performed poorly on field sobriety tasks. Hyatt had in his possession a Beretta 9-millimeter firearm.

39-year-old Amy Lynett Knowles of Cedar Street, Liberty is charged with public intoxication. Sheriff Ray said that on November 9 a deputy was summoned to Cedar Street, Liberty where a nude woman was spotted walking down the road. Upon arrival the officer confronted the woman who was completely nude and standing in the middle of the street. She appeared to be under the influence and was taken into custody.

36-year-old Terry Ray Barnes of Rock Island is charged with possession of legend drugs without a prescription, possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver, resisting arrest, and simple possession of marijuana. His court date is December 5.

Sheriff Ray said that on November 10 Barnes tried to avoid arrest at the Midnight Express on a General Sessions Court hold without warrant against him for aggravated assault, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, possession of unlawful drug paraphernalia, and failure to appear. During the detainment process, Barnes dropped a package containing six orange round pills, 5.89 grams of a white powdery substance believed to be Fentanyl, and 4.24 grams of marijuana.

34-year-old Timothy Ryan Lawson is charged with violation of probation. His bond is $3,500 and he will be in court November 21. Sheriff Ray said that on November 10 a deputy was called to Poss Road and upon arrival spoke with Lawson who was sitting in a tent with the protected person named in the order standing in front of the tent speaking to him. Lawson was arrested for being near someone he was supposed to keep away from according to the order of protection.

64-year-old Paul Edgar Rowland of Hawkins Drive is charged with domestic assault. His bond is $3,500 and he will be in court November 21. Sheriff Ray said that on November 11 Rowland allegedly punched his wife in the facial area during an argument and according to her left a mark on her lower back where he had allegedly stomped her.

18 year old Meagan Michelle Madden of Fisher Avenue is charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia. Her bond is $4,000 and she will be in court on November 21.

Sheriff Ray said that on November 5 a deputy pulled over a red Dodge Journey on North Congress Boulevard and spoke with several people in the vehicle including Madden. A subsequent search of the automobile was conducted and inside one of Madden’s bags was a baggie containing a crystal-like substance believed to be methamphetamine with a bag weight of .89 grams. Madden admitted that the bag with the items inside belonged to her. Madden also had two straws with a crystal-like residue.

A co-defendant with Madden, 52-year-old Marina Gay Skinner of Fisher Avenue is charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver; driving while in possession of meth; possession of drug paraphernalia; and simple possession of a schedule VI drug. Her bond totals $59,500 and she will be in court November 21.

Sheriff Ray said that Skinner was the owner and driver of the red Dodge Journey pulled over by a deputy November 5 on North Congress Boulevard in which Madden was arrested. A subsequent search of the automobile was conducted and inside one of Skinner’s bags were two bags of crystal-like substance believed to be methamphetamine. One of the bags weighed six grams and the other weighed 1.06 grams with a combined total weight of 7.06 grams. Also found was a scale usually used for the resale of narcotics with a crystal-like substance and a glass pipe with residue. Skinner admitted that the bag with the items inside belonged to her. Skinner was asked if she had anything on her and she handed the officer a baggie with a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana with a total weight of 1.54 grams.

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