Early Voting Turnout Stands at 792

October 19, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

A total of 792 people have cast ballots in DeKalb County on the first six days of early voting for the State and Federal November 8 elections.

According to the local election commission, 113 voted in person and 36 by absentee for a total of 149 on Wednesday. On Thursday, 142 voted including 140 in person and 2 by absentee; Friday, 140 cast ballots including 138 in person and 2 by absentee; On Saturday, 91 voted including 90 in person and 1 by absentee; on Monday 122 voted including 110 in person and 12 by absentee; and on Tuesday, 146 in person and 2 by absentee.

Early voting is underway through November 3 at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Smithville and for one day at the Fairgrounds in Alexandria.

Sample Ballot

Times for early voting are as follows: Mondays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Wednesdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Thursdays 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. until Noon.

The early voting date at the Fairgrounds is Thursday, Oct. 27 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m..

The hours for voting at the 12 precincts on Election Day, November 8th are 8 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Voters will be making their selections for Governor, Congressman and State Representative and voters in the 4th district only will have a candidate for Constable to fill an unexpired term. In addition, voters will be making their choices on four constitutional amendments.

October 19, 2022
By:

The 28th Annual DeKalb County Angel Tree Project signups are coming soon. Friday, November 11th has been chosen as the application date. It is one day only. There are NO EXCEPTIONS. Application time is from 8:00 am until 7:00 pm at the First Baptist Church Life Enrichment Center, 101 West Church Street, Smithville under the carport.

Applicants must be DeKalb County residents. Children from birth to no older than age 12 by December 25, 2022 are eligible. You must bring photo identification and a bill with the correct current DeKalb County address of the person applying. You must also provide social security cards and birth certificates (Mother’s copy is okay) for all children listed on the application. Guardian paperwork for temporarily placed children is acceptable. Documents are returned to the applicant, only the application is kept. Please make sure you fill out the application as completely and accurately as possible.

If an applicant cannot appear in person, their application can be submitted by someone else as long as all of the required information and documentation is presented. Come prepared with all of the necessary documentation to complete your application between 8:00 am and 7:00 pm on Friday, November 11th. This is the only day that applications will be available and accepted. NO EXCEPTIONS. Due to continued COVID 19 issues, face coverings are required and social distancing practices will be observed. For additional information please contact Laura Stone (text only please) at 615-464-7135. Remember you only have Friday, November 11th to complete and turn in your application.

October 18, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The State Highway 56 construction project is running behind schedule and the contractor, Jones Brothers, LLC has asked the Tennessee Department of Transportation for more time to complete the project without penalty.

The bid was awarded in 2019 for the project which extends almost 8 miles from south of the Warren County line in DeKalb County to East Bryant Street in Smithville.

TDOT Public Information Officer Rae Anne Bradley spoke with WJLE and said that the state is building largely two lanes with 10-foot shoulders along the route.

“This consists of construction of bridges and paving from south of the Warren-DeKalb County line to East Bryant Street. Construction began in September 2019. The contractor is Jones Brothers Contractors, LLC. The original bid amount was $43,691,948 and the current contract bid amount including change orders is currently at $44,047, 150. The current approved adjusted completion date for this project was August 17, 2022. However, the contractor has notified us (TDOT) that a request is being made for some additional time due to some additional work items in this project. Once we receive that request it will be reviewed and a determination will be made whether or not additional time is given to this contract,” said Bradley.

“When this contract is completed, it will be a two-lane highway (one lane in each direction) and there will be some left turn lanes at various side roads but inside the Smithville city limits near the end of the project there will be five lanes (two in each direction) with a continuous dedicated center turn lane. It will transition from two lanes to five lanes approximately 1,100 feet south of East Bryant Street,” Bradley continued.

Although the contractor has been behind, Bradley said Jones Brothers is now making great progress. “The contractor has made several traffic shifts throughout the project. Traffic has been shifted onto portions of the new state route 56 alignment on detours, runarounds, and still on existing parts of state route 56 so once grading and paving is completed around log mile 3.75 traffic will be shifted onto a large portion of the new alignment that extends into the Smithville city limits. This is tentatively scheduled to take place in November or December depending upon their schedule,” said Bradley.

“We are really encouraging drivers to use caution through this area especially at the intersection of state Route 288 and State Route 56 as well as the intersection of Ferrell Road and State Route 56 because these intersections have experienced quite a few changes over the past few months where they have made improvements to those,” said Bradley.

The new road is being built adjacent to the old road with several sections crossing over or tying into the existing route. The new roadway will consist of two to three travel lanes depending upon location with 10-foot paved shoulders and the design will accommodate left turn movements to access connecting streets.

From south of the Warren County line to College Street in Smithville will be two lanes (one lane in each direction) with left turn lanes at connector roads. From College Street to the New Life Connection Center, 750 South Congress Boulevard will be three lanes (one lane in each direction) with a dedicated center turn Lane. From the New Life Connection Center to East Bryant Street will be five lanes (two lanes in each direction) with a dedicated center turn lane.

There is a new traffic signal at the East Bryant Street and State Route 56 intersection (very end of the project). Other intersections along the corridor have been or are being adjusted to safely connect with the new alignment including Arnold Road (Gene Vaughn Road), Sink Creek Road, Magness Road, State Route 288 (Keltonburg Road), County House Road, Jacobs Pillar Road, South Tittsworth Road, and South College Street.

In addition to realignment, the planned design includes eight box culverts and construction of two new bridges. One is a three-span bridge over Pine Creek and the other is a two-span bridge over Sink Creek. There is also a triple barrel box culvert at Cappy Springs which is part of the construction project. This triple barrel box culvert is labeled as a bridge due to its size under the roadway.

Additional safety improvements include new guardrails, paint, and markers.

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