DeKalb County Records 2nd COVID-19 Death

August 6, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County has recorded a 2nd death from COVID-19 just over two weeks after the first one.

According to the Tennessee Department of Health, DeKalb County has 331 confirmed cases of COVID-19, as of Thursday, August 6. A total of 4,817 have been tested since March with 4,486 negative results and 331 positive and 2 deaths.

The DeKalb County Health Department’s testing hours are Monday-Friday from 9am to 12 NOON every day.

At 331 cases, DeKalb County ranks 6th highest in the 14 county Upper Cumberland region behind Putnam with 1,677 (16 deaths), Macon 855 (13 deaths), Warren 476 (4 deaths), Cumberland 398 (6 deaths), and Smith 429 (4 deaths ). Other counties in the region with COVID-19 cases are White 246 (5 deaths), Overton 155 (1 death), Cannon 136, Jackson 112 (1 death), Fentress 79, Clay 71, Van Buren 35, and Pickett 30 (1 death)

(Click Link Below for COVID-19 Prevention Tips)

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html

August 6, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

A woman who assaulted another with a golf club last month will be in court next week.

47 year old Billie Jo Morris of King Court Circle, Smithville is charged with aggravated assault. Her bond is $1,500 and she will be in court August 13. Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on July 9 Morris caused bodily injury to a woman while using a weapon (golf club). A deputy was called to the hospital where the victim had gone for treatment after being assaulted. The victim said Morris struck her in the right arm with a golf club at a location on King’s Court Circle and tried to hit her again but she (victim) was able to get control of the golf club. The victim had bruising and swelling on her right arm and an injury to her left arm after falling to the ground upon being hit.

53 year old Joel Acuna Delacruz, Sr. of Old West Point Road, Smithville is charged with domestic assault. His bond is $5,000 and he will be in court date is August 20.

Sheriff Ray said that on August 1 Delacruz caused bodily harm to his wife by hitting her in the back of the head with his hand. A deputy was called to the Delacruz home on Old West Point Road due to a domestic disturbance and spoke with the victim who said she and her husband, Delacruz had been arguing and that he hit her causing a knot on the back of her head. A witness confirmed her story.

The man who was charged last week with escape after getting away from officers while being transported from the courthouse to the jail is facing more charges.

41 year old James Ricky Ashford, Jr. of Delong Road, Smithville is charged with driving on a suspended license and theft of property. His bond is $3,000 on these charges and his court date is August 13. Sheriff Ray said that on July 30 a deputy spotted Ashford driving. Ashford’s license have been suspended since November 1, 2018 for failure to show proof of insurance. The theft charge is due to Ashford stealing a pair of handcuffs during the escape incident last week.

27 year old Michael Brady McGhee of Pack Circle, Smithville is charged with criminal trespassing. His bond is $1,500 and he will be in court August 20.

Sheriff Ray said that on July 28 a deputy was dispatched to Vanatta Subdivison in Alexandria due to an unwanted guest on the property. Upon arrival the officer spoke with the homeowner who said she did not want McGhee on her property. McGhee refused to leave even after being told he needed to go.

August 6, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The County Commission welcomes input from the public and now for the first time procedures have been established to provide time for public comment at regular County Commission meetings and “Committee of the Whole” workshops.

During the regular monthly meeting last Monday night, July 26 the commission adopted Rule 16F regarding Public Comments along with separate provisions as part of its new policies and procedures manual. Basically the Rule allows for persons to speak for three minutes at the end of the meeting, whether it be at a Regular Monthly Meeting or a “Committee of the Whole” meeting.

Fourth District Commissioner Janice Fish Stewart, who is also Chairman of the Commission’s Policies and Procedures Committee, said she wants the public to understand that this measure is not intended to “discourage” but to “encourage” public participation.

“The one thing we are striving for is transparency,” Commissioner Stewart told WJLE.

In addition to public comments, the policies and procedures, as adopted by the county commission, establishes rules on the general conduct of business before the county commission.

“Until now the County Commission has never had policies and procedures but now we have them in place to help us function better and more orderly as a commission”.

Commissioner Stewart said the committee determined that a rule should be adopted for a public comment period at County Commission meetings and modeled the county’s policy after what the Smithville Mayor and Aldermen and Board of Education already have in place for their meetings.

“Based on some recent events we found we did not have a policy that allowed citizens of the county to speak at the “Committee of the Whole” or at the County Commission meetings. We wanted something in place to make the County Commission and all the business of the county transparent to the citizens of the county and to make sure that at both meetings the public had an opportunity to come and speak about anything they wanted to speak about. During our search for a policy that was working for other areas we found that both the school board and the City of Smithville have a policy that allows residents to speak for a three minute period on any topic they would like to. I think with the school board they (public) have to give a two week notice ahead of time in order to get on the agenda. All we did was follow suit with what they do,” said Commissioner Stewart.

Unlike the school board’s policy, the public does not have to give a two week notice before addressing the county commission but there is a three minute time limit and public comment is reserved for the end of each meeting.

“We want DeKalb County citizens to know that we encourage and invite them to come out to our meetings to speak on anything that is of interest to them that they would like our help with,” said Commissioner Stewart.

The county commission typically has two meetings each month including the regular monthly session on the 4th Monday night of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the courthouse and a “Committee of the Whole” workshop formerly referred to as an “All-Committees” meeting which takes place on the Thursday evening at 6 p.m. prior to the Monday night regular meeting in the courthouse or any other day agreed upon by a majority vote of the County Commission.

Under Rule 16F, citizens of DeKalb County will be permitted to make public comments at the end of each regular monthly meeting of the “Committee of the Whole” or the “Regular Meeting” in accordance with the following:

*The person desiring to speak should rise, address the Chair, and when recognized, state their name and address.

*After providing the required information, the person shall be allowed to speak for a period of three (3) minutes on any matter of concern.

*All comments shall be directed to the Chair. The Chair may address questions to individual Commissioners, but in no event will the citizen be permitted to call names, question the integrity or motive of the individual Commissioners or the County Mayor or make personal or derogatory comments.

*The Committee of the Whole (County Commission) will not consider any item addressed during this time. Issues raised may be referred to appropriate persons for response at a later date or may be scheduled for discussion by the Committee at a later time.

*It is the responsibility of the Chair to maintain order at County Commission meetings.

*The Committee of the Whole (County Commission) may impose a more restrictive time limit if a large number of persons desire to speak. If a large number of speakers are present to address an issue, the Committee of the Whole (County Commission) may set a limit on the total time allowed for all speakers or ask that a Spokesman be named to speak on the issue.”

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