(UPDATED) Early Voting Turnout Brisk for August Election

July 24, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

Turnout for early voting has been brisk even with COVID-19 concerns. Although requests for absentee ballots have been up, many people are coming in person to vote as well.

A total of 779 people have taken advantage of early voting for the August 6 elections through Friday, July 24.

According to the DeKalb County Election Commission Office, 111 people cast ballots Friday including 104 in person and 7 absentees. Of that number 85 voted in the Tennessee Republican Primary, 24 in the State Democratic Primary, and 2 voted only in the DeKalb County General Election without voting in either state primary.

The City of Smithville vote stands at 246 total through Friday including in-person and absentee ballots and property rights voters. Twenty five people voted Friday.

For the first seven days of early voting a total of 504 have voted in the Tennessee GOP primary, 249 in the Tennessee Democratic Primary, and 26 have voted only in the DeKalb County General Election without voting in either state primary.

Early voting started Friday, July 17 and runs Monday to Saturday until Saturday, Aug. 1 in the downstairs courtroom of the courthouse.

Hours for early voting are Mondays 1-5 p.m.; Tuesdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Wednesdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Thursdays 2-6 p.m.; Fridays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Election day voting at all 15 precincts will be from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 6.

July 23, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

Unemployment rates in a vast majority of Tennessee’s 95 counties including DeKalb continued to drop in June, according to new data from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Seventy-four counties had lower jobless rates for the month, as Tennessee continues to reopen after many businesses closed in the spring to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

DeKalb County’s Jobless Rate for June was 11.6%, down from 15.7% in May but still well above the 4.7% rate in June, 2019.

The DeKalb County Labor Force for June, 2020 was 7,330. A total of 6,482 were employed and 848 were without work.

Unemployment did increase slightly in 17 counties during the month and remained the same in four counties.

Williamson County recorded the lowest unemployment rate in June. At 6.7%, the rate dropped 0.4 of a percentage point when compared to May’s rate.

Crockett County’s rate of 6.8% was Tennessee’s second-lowest figure for the month, down 0.3 of a percentage point from May. Pickett County had the third-lowest rate at 7.2%, down a 0.5 of a percentage point.

Shelby County had the state’s highest rate of unemployment in June. Its figure jumped 1.8 percentage points to 13.2%.

Grundy County was just below Shelby County at 13.1%, which represents a 3.8 percentage point drop from May’s rate of 16.9%.

Knoxville had the lowest unemployment rate among Tennessee’s three largest cities at 9.5%, which is a 0.3 of a percentage point decrease from the month before. Nashville had a rate of 12.1%, down 0.2 of a percentage point from May. Memphis saw a 2.4 percentage point increase in unemployment between May and June to 12.1%.

Tennessee’s statewide unemployment rate decreased for the second consecutive month. The June 2020 seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 9.7%, down 1.3 percentage points from May’s revised rate of 11%.

Nationally, seasonally adjusted unemployment dropped by 2.2 percentage points in June, going from 13.3% to 11.1%.

July 23, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

For the past month the DeKalb County School District has been seeking a response from parents on whether they want remote learning for their children due to COVID-19 with the reopening of schools on August 3.

Of the district’s 2,873 student enrollment, a total of 533 (18.6%) have been signed up for remote learning as of Tuesday, July 21. For the five individual schools, the numbers break down as follows:

*DCHS: 824 enrollment (143 remote learners) 17.4%

*DeKalb Middle School: 578 enrollment (109 remote learners) 18.9%

*Northside Elementary School: 573 enrollment (134 remote learners) 23.4%

*Smithville Elementary School: 502 enrollment (83 remote learners) 16.6%

*DeKalb West School: 396 enrollment (64 remote learners) 16.2%

Unlike this past school year, the school district will use the same digital platform for all grade levels and parents should be prepared to understand how to make use of it and to practice its operation with their children.

Director Patrick Cripps has announced that all DeKalb County students in grades K-12 (almost 3,000) will be provided a chromebook (computer) for the 2020-2021 academic school year for use in the classrooms and at home.

“Every student in the school system will get a 1:1 device (computer) to take home. We will expect our teachers to not only communicate with our parents digitally but be prepared to assign lessons through the Edgenuity platform,” said Cripps.

The DeKalb County School District is offering a “Parent Digital University” for those with children in the school system.

Parents are urged to view the videos below (available in English and Spanish) to better educate themselves on the use of the digital educational platform being offered by the school district in preparation for remote learning from home .The videos will equip you with the tools necessary to help make your child successful in the DeKalb County School System.

(Video below in English)

(Video below in Spanish)

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