Dr. John L. Vanhooser Stadium Undergoing Transformation at DCHS (View Video Here)

May 24, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

The Dr. John L. Van Hooser Memorial Stadium at DCHS is undergoing a transformation this summer with the addition of new bleachers for the home fans and expansion of the Dr. Jere Hale Press Box. All the work should be completed in time for the first home football game against Smith County on Friday, August 25 at 7 p.m.

After graduation on May 12, Coach Steve Trapp said work began to remove the old bleachers, which seated about 600, to make way for the new ones which will set on a concrete pad and accommodate around 1,300 stretching from 14-yard line to 14-yard line.

“Over the last two Saturdays we have been out here working to get all the old bleachers out of the way and this week they have started the grade work for the concrete pad for the new bleachers,” said Coach Trapp.

“Before we probably could have seated about 600 people on the home side with what he had originally but with these new bleachers we are more than doubling that to about 1300 seats. This will include 150-156 VIP seats on the low section under the press box in the middle. The bleachers will also be handicapped accessible. In addition to the concrete pad for the bleachers, we will put down concrete in the area in front of the concession stand so no more grass will be there. It will be sort of a concourse area there and we may even set up tables as we clean things up a bit on the home side,” Coach Trapp said.

Another level is also being added to the existing press box to better accommodate the media and coaches.

“Its got pretty packed in there so to make everything feasible for everybody to have a good spot to work and have good views we are adding a third level to the press box and will change the roof up a little to make it match everything else. With the new light system, we need people up there to operate that control panel as well as the video board we added last year. Of course, we also must have plenty of room for the scoreboard operator, PA announcer, radio and TV announcers along with my coaches and camera crew,” said Coach Trapp.

The new lights have already been installed around the stadium which will not only provide for better illumination of the field but will feature flashing light show capabilities to add more excitement to the game night experience.

“We got rid of the old lights, poles, and overhead wires and now the sight lines are much better. It brings a much cleaner look to the stadium,” Coach Trapp said.

“We are grateful for all the help from Smithville Electric System and the crew that came in and put up all the lights. The project started at the end of March and we got them up to make sure they were ready to go by graduation,” he said.

“I want to thank the fans for their support as well as the Junior Pro program because they have always helped us out along with all the parents in the Booster Club over the years. There have been so many of them. Of course, we couldn’t do anything without the blessing of the school district so I want to thank the school board, especially for the bleachers and the lights because that is something we could not have done on our own, but everything else that has been done we have been able to do that on our own with volunteer help from the community. This stadium has been a nice place but its going to get scaled up quite a bit this fall,” Coach Trapp concluded.

The season kicks off on Friday, August 18 at Warren County followed by the home opener August 25 against Smith County.

All games start at 7:00 p.m.

WJLE will have LIVE coverage each week.

The DCHS 2023 Football Schedule is as follows:

REGION OPPONENTS (*)
August 18: Warren County- McMinnville 7 p.m.
August 25: Smith County-Smithville 7 p.m.
September 1: Livingston Academy*-Smithville 7 p.m.
September 8: Watertown-Watertown 7 p.m.
September 15: Gordonsville (Homecoming)- Smithville 7 p.m.
September 22: Stone Memorial*-Away 7 p.m.
September 29: Macon County*-Smithville 7 p.m.
October 6: Cumberland County*-Smithville 7 p.m.
October 13: BYE WEEK
October 20: White County*-Sparta 7 p.m.
October 27: Upperman* Baxter 7 p.m.

The Tigers will also compete in a pre-season Jamboree at Smith County on August 11.

May 24, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Its been four years since the property tax rate in DeKalb County was increased but another one may be coming soon.

During Tuesday night’s meeting, County Mayor Matt Adcock informed the budget committee that the county’s financial advisor Steve Bates is recommending that the tax rate be increased by almost 27 cents per $100 of assessed value (.2692) and that all the increase go into the county general fund. If approved this would amount to a total county property tax rate of $2.00 per $100 of assessed value, an increase from the current tax rate of $1.7308.

Four years ago, the county commission at that time increased the property tax rate by 29 cents per $100 of assessed value to $2.1235 but after reappraisal two years ago property assessments changed, and the county’s certified rate dropped to $1.7308 although the new rate was expected to generate about the same total amount of local revenue as the previous year.

According to County Mayor Adcock, revenues have not kept up with expenditures in recent years forcing the county to use more of its fund balance (cash reserves) to balance the budget each year. For the current fiscal year, the county general operation is expected to dip into its fund balance by up to $1.7 million dollars. According to Bates, County Mayor Adcock said a tax increase of .2692 cents would get the county general fund out of the red and into the black (at least $54,582) by the end of the 2023-24 year.

The budget committee has not yet acted. County Mayor Adcock said its up to the committee whether to accept Bates’ recommendation for a .2692 tax hike, recommend a smaller increase, or recommend no increase at all. Ultimately whatever the budget committee recommends will go to the full county commission which will make the final decision on the tax rate with passage of the budget.

County Mayor Adcock said he believes Bates’ recommendation is a good one and warned that doing nothing would risk the county ‘s financial situation getting worse going forward.

If approved as recommended by Bates, the county property tax rate would break down as follows:

County General: $1.2583, up from the current level of 0.9891 cents
Highways/Public Works: 0.0326 cents (no increase)
General Capital Projects: 0.0733 cents (no increase)
Debt Service: 0.1060 cents (no increase)
General Purpose Schools: 0.5298 cents (no increase)

Total proposed tax rate: $2.00, up from current level of $1.7308 cents

May 24, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Sheriff Patrick Ray is sounding the alarm about a growing number of accidental calls to 911 and hang-up calls. Between the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, Smithville Police Department, and Alexandria Police Department, central dispatch has logged 713 such calls since January 1, 2023.

Part of the problem, according to Sheriff Ray is due to people having smartphones and smartwatches with settings that automatically call 911 if a fall is detected.

“Since January 1, 2023 DeKalb Central Dispatch has seen a significant increase in false or abandoned 911 calls, where someone accidentally calls 911 but hangs up before anyone answers. In response to this, we are asking people who accidentally call 911 to stay on the line and to be aware of any settings on their devices that might trigger an automatic 911 call,” said Sheriff Ray.

“Every 911 call that comes into Central Dispatch is answered, but if no one is on the line, the dispatcher will call back until someone picks up which can take several minutes and take time away from responses to real emergencies,” he said. If you accidentally call 911, we ask you to stay on the line and let the dispatcher know the call was an accident. Also, a deputy is required to respond to the location of the call to make sure there is no emergency,” he added.

Sheriff Ray is also asking people to be aware of any settings on their smartphones or smartwatches that could trigger an automatic 911 call. Smart Phones and Apple Watches have factory settings where you can push a button multiple times to automatically call 911. “We have answered 911 calls where the caller had a Smartphone in their pocket while working outside and the buttons were accidently hit numerous times and called 911,” said Sheriff Ray.

There is also a “crash detection” program on SmartPhones. When the phone sustains a jar or jolt, some phones will start a countdown and then call 911. “This sometimes happens when a person drops their phone or is riding a motorcycle or lawn mower and the phone is jarred or jolted. The phone triggers the 911 call.”

“Also, we see where people try to shut down their Smartphone and accidently swipe the SOS Emergency Call button instead of powering it off,” Sheriff Ray continued.

“We are asking the public, if they use any of these emergency features on their phone, to please be aware of what can happen. 911 accidentally dialed calls take up valuable time to answer for our dispatchers and officers and there is also an expense for responding to them,” he said

The numbers of accidental 911 calls by Department since January 1, 2023 are as follows:

DeKalb Sheriff’s Department
911 Disconnected Phone Calls- 33
911 Duplicate Calls- 5
911 Hang ups- 240
911 Transfer Calls- 5
911 Wrong County Calls- 11
911 Wrong Number Calls- 138
Total Calls 432

Smithville City Police Department
911 Disconnected Phone Calls- 24
911 Hang ups- 147
911 Transfer Calls- 6
911 Wrong County Calls- 2
911 Wrong Number Calls- 83
Total Calls 262

Alexandria Police department
911 Disconnected Phone Calls- 4
911 Hang ups- 9
911 Wrong Number Calls- 6
Total Calls 19

Combined total of 713 accidental 911 calls

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