The American Red Cross has opened a satellite office in Cookeville to better serve the residents of the Upper Cumberland Region.
The Nashville Area Chapter oversees services to 36 counties, including Putnam, DeKalb, Clay, Jackson, Overton, and White.
The new office will be located at One South Jefferson, Suite 201, Cookeville, in the old First National Bank building on the square and will be managed by Cookeville native, Mary Frank Madera (Swaim).
Madera returns to Middle Tennessee after serving the Chattanooga Area Chapter of the American Red Cross as Director of Development. Ms. Madera has held executive positions with diverse nonprofits including United Way, Cheekwood and TPAC. She is a graduate of Tennessee Technological University, the inaugural class of Leadership Putnam, and a 17-year Rotarian and current member of the Cookeville Rotary.
“I am so happy to be back home in Cookeville,” says Madera. “The Red Cross mission to prevent, prepare for and respond to disasters and other emergencies has never been greater.”
On its very first day, the Red Cross provided a canteen effort for volunteers in the Overton County search and rescue, assisted a retired Staff Sergeant through their Services to Armed Forces, and extended financial assistance to a family of three whose house had burned down the night before.
Madera hopes past volunteers will come by and say hello. “We need their experience not only to serve during crisis but to help us grow our services across the Upper Cumberland—ensuring that the Red Cross is there for our neighbors in their time of greatest need.”
The new office plans to also offer Lifesaving Skills Courses including CPR, First AID and Babysitter’s Training as well as volunteer orientation classes for Upper Cumberland residents who wish to become a trained Red Cross volunteer. The vision of the Nashville Area Red Cross is to recruit and train 10,000 volunteers throughout the region, making Middle Tennessee the safest and most prepared region in the country. This satellite office is another step towards that goal, as the Red Cross increases its presence in the Upper Cumberland.
The Red Cross Cookeville Office will be open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 8 am – 4pm and can be reached at (931)528.3475.
For media inquiries, please contact Jill Gorin, Spokesperson for the Nashville Area Red Cross, at (615) 456-2250.
The Red Cross provides services to victims of disaster, such as a residential fire, flood, tornado and other emergencies. Other services include CPR/AED/First Aid training, services for our armed forces and their families, including mental health counseling and communication in the case of a death, birth, illness or emergency, and tracing for families separated from their loved ones due to civil unrest in their native country.
About the Nashville Area Red Cross: The Nashville Area Regional Chapter oversees 36 counties and six Red Cross community chapters in Middle Tennessee. The 17 counties served directly by the Chapter include: Cheatham, Clay, Davidson, DeKalb, Dickson, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Robertson, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, Van Buren, White and Wilson counties. The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization, led by volunteers, that provides relief to victims of disaster and helps people prevent, prepare and respond to emergencies. The American Red Cross is not a government agency. All disaster assistance is free, and is funded solely by local donations. To make a gift, call (615) 250-4264.

Election ballots for the DeKalb Farm Service Agency’s local committee election have been mailed to all eligible voters in Local Administrative Area # 2, the western portion of DeKalb County. Ballots must be completed and returned in person or postmarked no later than December 1, 2008. The Committee will meet December 2 to canvass, tabulate, and elect a committee person to represent farmers in the western portion of DeKalb County (Local Administrative Area (LAA) #2, currently represented by County Committee Vice-Chairperson
Randy Campbell.
The farmer-elected committee is your voice in USDA’s programs here in DeKalb County. Members of the committee work with area farmers to maintain the local focus on many USDA programs, inform people of what’s available, and help producers understand how the programs work. “Committee members work to help shape national programs into working local programs,” says Donny Green, County Executive Director of the DeKalb County Farm Service Agency.
Jack Campbell was nominated as a candidate and will be the only candidate listed on the ballot. Write-in nominations are accepted and should be written on the official ballot. All candidates must meet eligibility requirements to hold the office on the Committee.
Once eligible voters receive their ballots, careful attention should be given to the instructions provided on the ballot that outline proper procedures for voting in this election. Voters can vote for only 1 nominee listed, or can write-in only 1 eligible candidate on the ballot. Voted ballots can be mailed back to the DeKalb FSA, or can be hand delivered to the FSA.
All ballots must be returned, or postmarked, by December 1 in order to be considered valid. Ballots will be opened and tabulated in a public meeting at the DeKalb County USDA Service Center, located at 647 Bright Hill Street in Smithville, at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 2. Contact the DeKalb County FSA office at 597-8225, ext. 2 for more information.
FSA committee elections are open to all voters without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, or disability.

DeKalb County voters chose John McCain, Lamar Alexander and Bart Gordon overwhelmingly in their respective races Tuesday.
McCain, the Republican Senator from Arizona, carried all 16 DeKalb County precincts, plus early voting and absentees to easily out-distance Illinois Senator, Barack Obama, in their race for the White House. McCain earned 4,085 votes in DeKalb County to 2,832 for Obama, the Democratic candidate.
Meanwhile, incumbent U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander also carried all 16 DeKalb County precincts, early voting and absentees, earning 3,914 votes to 1,861 for Democratic challenger, Robert D. Tuke. Incumbent Sixth District Congressman Bart Gordon also completed a clean sweep of DeKalb County, and led the local ticket with 4,852 votes to 1,108 for Independent challenger, Chris Baker.
A total of 7,190 DeKalb County voters turned out for the election, including 4008 early voters and absentees combined and 3,182 on election day for a total of 53.69%
Complete DeKalb County election return results can be found at http://www.wjle.com/node/37.

Republican Terri Lynn Weaver will succeed long-time Democratic State Representative Frank Buck in the House of Representatives from the 40th Legislative District.
Weaver defeated Democratic challenger, Cleveland Derrick Bain in all three counties of the district, and garnered 57-percent of the total vote. Weaver finished with 11,288 total votes to 8,540 for Bain, who earned 43-percent of the total vote. Ray Amalfitano, the Independent candidate, received 817 votes district-wide.
DeKalb County had the closest vote total in the race, as Weaver earned 3,223 votes to 3,188 votes for Bain, a difference of only 35 votes. The largest margin came from Macon County, where Weaver accumulated 4,098 votes to 2,095 votes for Bain. In Smith County, Weaver earned 3,967 votes to 3,257 votes for Bain.
Weaver carried 11 of the 16 DeKalb County precincts including Belk, Blue Springs, Cherry Hill, Dowelltown, Edgar Evins State Park, Johnson’s Chapel, Liberty, Middle School, Rock Castle, Snow Hill, and Temperance Hall.
Bain carried 5 precincts including Alexandria, Church of Christ Annex, Courthouse, Elementary School, and Keltonburg. He also had a majority of the combined early/absentee vote.
A total of 7,190 DeKalb County voters turned out for the election, including 4008 early voters and absentees combined and 3,182 on election day for a total of 53.69%
Complete DeKalb County vote totals can be found at http://www.wjle.com/node/37.

Should the public be allowed to speak at a city council meeting?
For years, the public has been given the opportunity to speak near the end of most, if not all, regular Smithville City Council meetings. However, Mayor Taft Hendrixson and City Attorney Vester Parsley, Jr. said Monday night that the council does not have to open the floor for public comments, except during a public hearing, which has been advertised. The mayor, at his discretion, may also grant a request from individuals to be included on the agenda, in advance, if they wish to speak to the board during a meeting.
Monday night as the aldermen concluded their business, Mayor Taft Hendrixson sought a motion to adjourn without asking for public comments. A move that didn’t set well with three of the aldermen, especially Tonya Sullivan.
Alderman Steve White made a motion to adjourn and Alderman Cecil Burger offered a second to the motion, but when it was put to a vote, Aldermen Tonya Sullivan, Willie Thomas, and Jerry Hutchins’ Sr. voted against adjourning the meeting. So for nearly twenty minutes, the meeting remained in session as the mayor and aldermen sat quietly around the meeting table with no business left to transact.
The discussion began as follows:
Mayor Hendrixson: “Since the board has nothing else, do I have a motion to adjourn?”
Alderman Sullivan: “No, I think you have to open it up to the public.”
Mayor Hendrixson: “No ma’am, I don’t have to.”
Alderman Sullivan: “Is there some reason we’re changing the format from what we normally do?”
Mayor Hendrixson: “When you open the floor, you need to probably announce, and Mr.(city) attorney you can tell me if I’m wrong on this, for a public hearing. When you open the floor, you have a public hearing. You have to advertise that you’re going to have a public hearing and we haven’t advertised that we’re going to have a public hearing tonight on anything.”
Alderman Sullivan: “I’m not sure why we’re changing our format. That’s all I’m asking. I wasn’t aware we were changing that. I don’t have anything else to add but we typically open it up to the floor. You normally give them three minutes to speak.”
Mayor Hendrixson: “I think we may have been in error on that.”
Alderman Sullivan: “For years?”
City Attorney Vester Parsley, Jr.: ” There’s no reason that we have to open the floor to anything. If people want to put something on the agenda, I think you could have a policy to allow them, at some time before the meeting, to ask to be put on the agenda, but there’s absolutely no reason to open it up. It may have been a custom but there’s no law that says we have to open it up to the public.”
Alderman Sullivan : “We tend to want people to be involved and then we don’t want to allow any opportunity.”
Mayor Hendrixson: “I think from here on out, If you want on the agenda just let me know and I’ll get you on the agenda. You’ll be on the agenda and we won’t have to have a public hearing.”
Alderman Sullivan : “That’s normally at your discretion.”
After the nearly twenty minute stalemate, Alderman Sullivan made the following motion. ” Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we allow the public to speak. I put that in the form of a motion that they are allowed at least five minutes to speak at the end of each meeting, when properly called upon. I put that in the form of a motion. If we need to advertise for a public hearing then we need to be advertising. These meetings are advertised and I will not be a part of silencing the audience or the citizens of Smithville. It’s always been our policy that you allow, through the most heated times during my year of service, you have allowed the public to speak under your tenure and I will not be a part of you silencing them for whatever reason.”
Mayor Hendrixson : “I’m not silencing them. They can get on the agenda if they like.”
Alderman Sullivan : “Yes sir, but normally you call for people to speak, if they like to and I’m putting that in the form of a motion at this time. I’ve been here for the most heated discussions in a year’s time and you never silenced anyone. You allowed everybody to speak. I’ve stayed here to nearly eleven o’clock at night at times to hear the public. That was their prerogative and their right and we need to be listening. I don’t know if there’s anybody here that has anything to say, but I think it is wrong to adjourn this meeting without giving the opportunity.”
Mayor Hendrixson: “I think most every meeting from the state legislature on down, if you want to speak you need to get on the agenda.”
Alderman Sullivan : “I put this in the form of a motion, to allow, at the end of a meeting, the public to ask questions if they desire or to speak if they desire (for) five minutes. You (mayor) limited them to three (minutes). Roberts Rules of Order says they can have up to ten (minutes). I think five minutes would be appropriate.”
Aldermen Sullivan, Thomas, and Hutchins voted in favor of the motion.
Mayor Hendrixson then asked Sullivan, since her motion passed, if it went into effect immediately or at the next meeting.
Alderman Sullivan responded, “I won’t adjourn this meeting until the public has an opportunity to speak.”
Mayor Hendrixson then relented saying “I’ll open it this one time, but I’m going to get directions from the attorney on whether it’s considered a public hearing or not, before I will do it again.”
Alderman Sullivan answered, “If it turns into a public hearing and we need to advertise then that’s what we need to do. We don’t need to change things in the middle of the stream.”
Mayor Hendrixson then turned to the audience and asked if anyone wanted to speak to the board. No one did.
The meeting was then adjourned on a 5 to 0 vote.

With the cold temperatures on the way and rising energy costs some people may resort to burning wood in fireplaces and wood stoves for home heating this winter
Bradley Mullinax, Lieutenant and Fire Prevention and Safety Officer for the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department offers some helpful tips for the prevention of Chimney Fires.
Get an annual chimney check. Have chimneys inspected annually, and cleaned as necessary, by a qualified professional chimney service technician. This reduces the risk of fires and carbon monoxide poisonings due to creosote buildup or obstructions in the chimneys.
2. Keep it clear. Keep tree branches and leaves at least 15 feet away from the top of the chimney.
3. Install a chimney cap to keep debris and animals out of the chimney.
4. Choose the right fuel. For burning firewood in wood stoves or fireplaces, choose well seasoned wood that has been split for a minimum of six months – one year and stored in a covered and elevated location. Never burn Christmas trees or treated wood in your fireplace or wood stove.
5. Build it right. Place firewood or firelogs at the rear of the fireplace on a supporting grate. To start the fire, use kindling or a commercial firelighter. Never use flammable liquids.
6. Keep the hearth area clear. Combustible material too close to the fireplace, or to a wood stove, could easily catch fire. Keep furniture at least 36″ away from the hearth.
7. Use a fireplace screen. Use metal mesh or a screen in front of the fireplace to catch flying sparks that could ignite or burn holes in the carpet or flooring.
8. Install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Place detectors throughout the house and check batteries in the spring and fall. When you change your clocks for Daylight Savings Time, remember to check your batteries.
9. Never leave a fire unattended. Before turning in for the evening, be sure that the fire is fully extinguished. Supervise children and pets closely around wood stoves and fireplaces.
10. Annual inspections are recommended, performed by Certified Chimney Sweeps. These chimney sweeps have earned the industry’s most respected credential by passing an intensive examination based on fire codes, clearances and standards for the construction and maintenance of chimney and venting systems. The National Fire Protection Association also recommends that all chimneys are inspected on an annual basis.

Sheriff Patrick Ray says Halloween night was relatively quiet in DeKalb County.
Deputies answered only 13 calls Friday night. Sheriff Ray says those calls included two burglar alarms, two vehicle lockouts, one domestic call, six investigation calls, one reckless driver call, and one loud music call.
The Sheriff’s Department also conducted saturated patrols Halloween night across the county and joined the Smithville Police Department in setting up Sobriety Check Points. A road block was set up on Highway 70 East where a total of 57 vehicles came through. There was one arrest and 4 citations issued..
Sheriff Ray says 23 year old Raymundo Desirena Gilberth of West Spring Street Smithville was arrested for no driver’s license. Gilberth was also issued a citation for an open container of beer in his vehicle. Gilberth’s bond was set at $1,000 and he will appear in court on December 4th. Citations were also issued after K-9 Officer Patrick Britain and the dog “Banshee” searched for drugs around vehicles at the check point.
Those receiving citations were 51 year old David Seabolt of Johnson’s Chapel Road Sparta for simple possession of a schedule VI drug (marijuana). Banshee alerted on Seabolt’s vehicle and detectives found a small amount of marijuana and a pair of hemostats.
44 year old James Douglas Weston Jr. of Darky Springs Road, Sparta was issued a citation after Banshee alerted on his vehicle. Deputies found an unlabeled pill bottle containing a small amount of white pills believed to be Xanax. Weston was issued a citation for simple possession of a schedule IV drug (Xanax).

An elderly woman was awakened by a smoke alarm Saturday night after a fire started in the laundry room of her home from a clothes dryer.
County Fire Chief Donny Green says Virginia Jones, who lives alone at 242 Delong Road, off Jefferson Road was in bed when she was awakened by a smoke alarm in her home. She discovered that the house was filled with smoke and that the clothes dryer in the laundry room was on fire. She called 911 and firefighters were dispatched to the scene.
Chief Green says firefighters, upon arrival, saw heavy smoke coming from the house and fire in the laundry room and clothes in the dryer were on fire.
Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire but heat and smoke damage spread to areas of the home near the laundry room.
Jones was taken by DeKalb EMS to DeKalb Community Hospital for observation.
Chief Green says it appears the clothes dryer overheated due to an obstructed vent which sparked the fire.
Members of the Keltonburg, Belk, and Blue Springs Stations responded along with DeKalb EMS and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department.