Its Show Time! (View videos here)

June 30, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Its show time in Smithville as the Fiddlers Jamboree and Crafts Festival returns to town with thousands expected to flock to the acclaimed festival. Each day, Friday and Saturday, July 1 & 2 begins at 9am with over 35 music and dance categories, streets full of hand-made crafts, and food booths galore.

The Community Chorus headlined a pre-jamboree patriotic program Thursday evening at Evins Park downtown joined by the Smithville Select Dancers and the DeKalb Dancin’ Delights led by Mary Ann Puckett.

The Chorus will be featured again on the Jamboree Stage as part of the Official Welcoming Ceremony Friday evening around 6 p.m. along with the posting of colors and brief remarks by local government and community leaders. A United States flag and a Tennessee State flag will also be presented by State Senator Mark Pody and State Representatives Terri Lynn Weaver and Clark Boyd to the persons who have traveled the greatest distances to get here, both from inside and outside the country. Fiddler’s Jamboree Craft Awards will be presented during the weekend for “Best of Show”, “Best Appalachian Craft”, “Best Newcomer”, and “Best Craft Display”.

The Kody Norris Show country bluegrass band will be honored on Saturday, July 2 at 5 p.m. as the 2022 Blue Blaze Award recipient followed by a mini-concert performed by the band on the main stage.

Meanwhile, the Grand Ole Opry has agreed to invite the 2022 Grand Fiddle Off Champion to play a ‘fiddle tune’ for the Opry square dancers live performance during a selected show. (TBD)

Preliminaries will be held in the following categories on Friday, July 1:

Old Time Appalachian Folksinging (Solo); Junior Clogging (ages 13-39); Junior Buck Dancing (ages 13-39); Old-Time Appalachian Folksinging (Duet, Trio, Quartet); Dobro Guitar; Mountain Dulcimer; Hammer Dulcimer; Novelty Event (Spoon Clacking, Jug Blowing, Washboard, Tub, Saws-Appalachian); Autoharp, Gospel Singing (Solo); Country Harmonica; Old Time Banjo; Youth Square Dancing (4 Couples-8 Total Dancers); Gospel Singing (Duet,Trio, and Quartet); Mandolin; and Old Time Fiddle Band.

The top three acts in each category will be called back for the finals on Friday night and a first, second, and third place will be awarded.

On Saturday, July 2, preliminaries will be held in the following categories:

Junior Old Time Appalachian Flatfoot dance (ages up to 39); Senior Old Time Appalachian Flatfoot dance (ages 40 and over); Senior Buckdancing (ages 40 and over); Senior Clogging (ages 40 and over); Bluegrass Banjo; Junior Fiddlers (ages 13-39); Flat Top Guitar; Contest Fiddle for the Neil Dudney Award; Bluegrass Band; Senior Fiddlers (ages 40 and over); and Square Dancing (4 Couples-8 Total Dancers).

Preliminaries will be held in each event and then the top three finalists will be called back Saturday night to compete for first, second, and third place.

The winners of the Junior and Senior Fiddling competition will square off for the Grand Champion Award, the Berry C. Williams Memorial Trophy at the conclusion of the festival.

Meanwhile, the National Championship for Country Musician Beginners will be held Saturday afternoon, July 2 during the Jamboree featuring competitions for children, up to age twelve, in the categories of Buck Dancing, Clogging, Dobro Guitar, Mandolin, Five String Banjo, Flat Top Guitar, and Fiddle.

Preliminaries will be held in each event and then the top three finalists will be brought back to compete for first, second, and third place.

One child will receive the Best Overall Instrumental Entertainer Trophy Award and the top fiddler will get the James G. “Bobo” Driver Memorial Trophy.

WJLE will broadcast most of the on-stage entertainment LIVE on AM 1480/ FM 101.7 and LIVE Streaming at www.wjle.com.

For more information on the festival, go to www.fiddlersjamboree.com

June 29, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

New data released by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development showed unemployment rates increased slightly during May in each of the state’s 95 counties. Even with the minimal increases, 93 of Tennessee’s 95 counties including DeKalb maintained rates lower than 5% for the month.

The DeKalb County unemployment rate for May was 3.9%, up from 3.4% in April but still below the rate of 4.5% in May 2021. The DeKalb Labor Force for May was 7,990. A total of 7,676 were employed while 314 were without work.

Williamson County recorded the lowest jobless rate in the state for May. At 2.3%, its rate increased 0.3 of a percentage point from April’s revised rate of 2%. Moore County had the second-lowest rate at 2.5%, a 0.4 of a percentage point increase when compared to the previous month.

Perry County’s rate came in at 5.5%, the highest in the state. That represented a 0.4 of a percentage point increase from April’s rate of 5.1%. Bledsoe County had the second-highest rate in May at 5.1%, also a 0.4 of a percentage point increase for the month.

The increase in county unemployment followed the slightest uptick in the statewide unemployment rate in May. Tennessee’s jobless number inched up to 3.3% in May, just 0.1 of a percentage point higher than the state’s all-time low rate of 3.2%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) calculates county and statewide unemployment rates differently. It does not factor in seasonal impacts on data when determining county unemployment rates, while it does seasonally adjust the statewide unemployment number.

Nationally, May’s unemployment rate mirrored April’s rate of 3.6%.

Job seekers can find all the resources and the services they need to start their search, all in one place. TNWorkReady.com is the site to find a new job, develop new skills, or find classes where adult learners can earn a high school equivalency diploma.

One-on-one help with a Career Specialist is also available at nearly 80 American Job Centers located in counties across Tennessee.

June 29, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

An Alexandria woman accused in a knife attack on her boyfriend has been charged with aggravated assault.

37-year-old Pamela Lynn Salas of Walker Creek Road, Alexandria is under a $6,500 bond and will be in court July 14.

Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on June 26 a deputy was summoned to a residence on Walker Creek Road due to a report of a physical domestic involving a knife. Upon arrival, the officer spoke with a man who said that he and his girlfriend, Salas, had gotten into an argument before Salas picked up a knife and began trying to cut him with it. The man did receive a cut on his arm from the attack.

A Liberty man who tried to flee on foot while being served with a warrant has been charged with evading arrest.

49-year-old Ricky Shannon Nokes of Pea Ridge Road is under a $2,500 bond and he will be in court on July 14.

Sheriff Ray said that on June 20 a deputy went to a residence on Pea Ridge Road to serve a Cannon County warrant on Nokes. Upon arrival the officer informed Nokes that he had a warrant for his arrest, Nokes fled on foot but he was later taken into custody at a neighbor’s home where he had locked himself in a bathroom.

38-year-old Marcus Anthony Williams of Peytons Road, Pleasant Shade is charged with domestic assault. He is under a $10,000 bond and will make a court appearance on July 14.

Sheriff Ray said that on June 20 a deputy spoke with a woman who said that four days prior on June 16 Williams had held her down, leaving bruises on her knees and refused to let her leave. Williams was later taken into custody and charged in the case.

47-year-old Joseph Nathaniel Bragg, Jr. of North Congress Boulevard, Smithville was charged on June 20 with violation of an order of protection. He is under a $3,000 bond and will make a court appearance on July 14.

Sheriff Ray said Bragg was knowingly at the residence of a woman he was supposed to keep away from according to an active order of protection against him. The woman was home at the time.

An intoxicated woman found in the road on Allen Ferry Road last week has been charged. 37-year-old Tiffany Rayl of Highland Avenue, Smithville is under a $1,000 bond and will be in court July 14 on a public intoxication charge.

Sheriff Ray said that on June 21 a deputy was dispatched to Allen Ferry Road to conduct a welfare check of a woman who was reported to be lying in the road. Upon arrival the officer found the woman, Rayl in the roadway trying to get into vehicles passing by. She was determined to have been under the influence of narcotics.

52-year-old Russell Albert Summit, Jr. of Parker Lane, Manchester is charged with driving under the influence and driving on a revoked or suspended license. He is being held without bond pending a court appearance on August 11.

Sheriff Ray said that on June 21 a deputy was dispatched to the area of McMinnville Highway due to a report of a man sitting slumped over behind the wheel of his vehicle parked at Whorton Springs Baptist Church. After Summit was awakened the officer asked him to step out of the vehicle. Summit was unsteady on his feet and had a strong odor of alcohol on him. Summit submitted to but performed poorly on field sobriety tasks. A background check through central dispatch revealed that this was Summit’s second offense of DUI and that his license was suspended.

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