The Smithville water treatment plant will begin fluoridating the city’s water supply again starting Tuesday, January 10, according to Secretary-Treasurer Hunter Hendrixson.
Though neither a state or federal requirement, the new liquid fluoride system was installed as part of the rehabilitation of the water plant, according to the wishes of city officials and members of the general public
The city stopped fluoridating the water more than three years ago after the old powdered fluoride feeder system broke down..
At the April 6th, 2009 meeting, Smithville physician Dr. Steven Cooper and dentist Dr. Mitchell Tatum addressed the Smithville Mayor and Board of Aldermen asking that the fluoridation be re-activated for the benefit of the citizens.
Concerned citizen Gary Durham, who first raised the issue several weeks prior to the April 6th meeting, expressed his concern that the city never fixed the problem when it occurred and that city leaders never notified the public when the fluoride treatment had been discontinued
At the April 20, 2009 meeting, the aldermen voted 5-0 to re-activate fluoridation of the city’s water supply
At that meeting, Alderman Steve White made a motion that the treatment be started again, and to let the public know when, but that the city first consult with officials of Wauford Engineering Company about whether the new fluoride machines should be installed at that time or included as part of the design of the rehabilitation of the Water Treatment Plant. Tonya Sullivan, who was also Alderman at that time, requested that any needed safety equipment to support the fluoride treatment procedure also be purchased before the process is begun.
Instead of repairing the old system, city officials later decided to include a new liquid fluoride feeder system in the bid specs for the rehab of the water treatment plant. The construction bid for the overall rehab project was awarded to W&O Construction of Livingston in February 2010 and the work began in August, 2010. The rehab project is now almost completed.

Sheriff Patrick Ray has released the “Activity Report” from his department for the calendar year
January 1, 2011-December 31, 2011.
The report shows a total of 7886 incident calls for the year. According to Sheriff Ray “These are dispatched calls, not self-initiated calls (incidents that officers respond to on routine patrols). Self-initiated calls are not included in these counts:
The report breaks down as follows:
Calls Reported
Wrecks- 758
4 wheeler calls- 61
911 calls- 205
Abandoned Vehicles- 18
Animal calls- 320
Assaults- 37
Armed Suspects- 14
Fires and Fire Alarms- 153
Break-ins- 594
Burglar Alarms- 476
Child Custody Exchanges- 24
Children in roadway- 12
Civil Matters- 48
Debris in roadway- 61
Disturbing the peace- 147
Deaths- 33
Domestic violence- 512
Drownings- 6
Drug trafficking- 66
Funeral Escorts- 266
Extra Patrols- 54
Fights- 111
Gas drive-offs- 8
Harassments- 40
Indecent exposure- 3
Investigations- 427
Vehicle lockouts- 982
Medical Assists- 213
Possible D.U.I.- 171
Public Intoxication calls- 15
Rape- 7
Reckless Drivers- 316
Recover Property- 51
Robbery- 18
Seizures- 17
Shots fired- 71
Shop lifter- 4
Stranded motorists- 118
Someone threatened- 100
Stabbing- 5
Attempt/ and Suicide calls- 33
Suspicious persons/vehicles- 552
Traffic Hazards- 93
Trespassing- 15
Unruly juveniles- 43
Unwanted guests- 192
Vandalism- 85
Wanted Persons- 80
Welfare checks- 251
Total 7886 incident calls

DeKalb County would remain in U.S. Representative Diane Black’s 6th Congressional District under a proposed redistricting plan released on Wednesday.
Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey (R-Blountville) and Speaker of the House Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) released their joint proposal to redraw Tennessee’s nine congressional districts on Wednesday to equalize populations and make them more compact and based on logical groupings of communities of common interest.
The 2010 census revealed that three of Tennessee’s districts deviated from their ideal population of 705,123 by more than 80,000 people. Federal law requires that congressional districts be exactly equal in population.
The 6th district is currently made up of Bedford, Cannon, Clay, DeKalb, Jackson, Macon, Marshall, Overton, Putnam, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale and a part of Wilson County.
The new 6th district would consist of seventeen counties including Cannon, Clay, Coffee, Cumberland, DeKalb, Fentress, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Robertson, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, White, and Wilson along with small portions of two counties, Cheatham and Van Buren.
CLICK LINK BELOW TO SEE PROPOSED NEW CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING MAPhttp://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/redist/Tennessee%20Cong%20Map.pdf
Under the plan, Congressman Black would be losing Bedford, Marshall, and Rutherford County but she would pick up Coffee, Cumberland, Fentress, Pickett, White and all of Wilson County, as well as a small portion of Cheatham and Van Buren Counties.
In addition to equalizing population counts, Harwell and Ramsey said their proposed map would correct decades of illogical gerrymandering by Democratic-led legislatures and better recognize Tennessee’s regional distinctions.
Under the Speakers’ proposal, all three East Tennessee districts would be entirely in East Tennessee and both West Tennessee districts would be entirely in the West Grand Division. Four districts would be anchored in Middle Tennessee and no district geographically resembles the sprawling 4th and 7th districts of the last two decades.
To meet the strict zero deviation population mandates set down by federal courts, the plan splits just eight counties, two fewer than the 10 counties split in the map approved in 2002.
Counties divided between two districts include: Shelby, Benton, Van Buren, Maury, Cheatham, Campbell, Bradley, and Jefferson. Four of those eight divided counties are predominantly located in one district, with less than two precincts separated into an adjacent district.
Shelby County, with a population of 927,644 is larger than a single congressional district by itself. For thirty years, Shelby’s population was scattered among three separate districts but under the Speakers’ plan, Shelby would be split between just two districts.
The voices of the state’s two large federal installations, Ft. Campbell and the Oak Ridge Department of Energy facilities, would become more unified under the Speakers’ map than they were in the 2002 map, with Roane and Anderson Counties, fully united in the Third District and Stewart and Montgomery Counties united in the 7th district.
Eight of the nine districts will have at populations that are at least 14% new if the map becomes law. Only the First District, cordoned into the state’s northeastern corner by North Carolina and Virginia, will remain essentially unchanged from the 2002 map.

One person has already picked up a petition to run for the school board in the fifth district.
Kevin D. Hale of Dearman Street plans to seek the position currently held by W.J. (Dub) Evins, III.
Petitions for the 5th and 6th district school board races can now be picked up at the DeKalb County Election Commission office.
School board members, who run as non-partisan candidates, are elected in even-numbered years in August with the membership being staggered. In August 2012, members in Districts 5 and 6 are to be elected. The qualifying deadline for this election is NOON, April 5.
Sixth district member Bruce Parsley, who was elected to the school board in 2008, resigned effective December 31, 2011. Parsley told WJLE Friday that the reason he stepped down is because he is furthering his education seeking to become a teacher. He is already serving as a substitute teacher. Under state law, teachers apparently cannot serve as members of the board of education.

Lindsay Locke, Acting County Executive Director of the DeKalb County Farm Service Agency, says the DeKalb FSA County Committee met in regular session on Tuesday, December 6 to canvass and tabulate the ballots received in the 2011 Local Administrative Area (LAA) # 2 County Committee Election. The deadline to return ballots was December 5.
Jack Campbell was re-elected to serve as a member on the Committee representing LAA-2. His second term began January 1, 2011. Mike Conley was elected as the 1st Alternate.
In addition, the Committee held its Organizational Meeting on December 6, 2011. The Committee selected Timmie Adcock to serve as Chairperson, Jack Campbell to serve as Vice-Chairperson, and Mary Sanders to serve as Member.
Locke says that the DeKalb FSA County Committee and office staff wishes to express their appreciation to voters in LAA-2 who participated in the election by voting and returning their ballots. “The local County Committees are a very important part of Farm Service Agency’s program delivery and administrative processes. I do not know of any other agency providing federal programs that can say that the delivery and decision making efforts are made on the local level by a farmer-elected committee,” added Locke.
For more information about FSA’s County Committees or other program inquiries, call 597-8225 (extension 2) or come by the DeKalb County Farm Service Agency office at 647 Bright Hill Street in Smithville. You can also visit the agency’s web site at: www.fsa.usda.gov.

The Infinity Athletics Allstars received 2nd place at their latest competition at Nashville Municipal Auditorium on Saturday, December 10th.
The next event will be the last Tennessee competition on Saturday, February 11th at Nashville Municipal Auditorium. Then, the final competition will be the Cheersport Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia February 17-19th. Anyone interested in coming to a competition to support the All Stars and needs more information, please call Infinity Athletics at 215-9050. We would like to thank everyone for all their support.
Pictured are Top Row (L-R): Coach Jennifer Sykes, Kenzie France, Shaunta Koegler, Madison Colwell, and Callie Mulloy
Bottom Row (L-R): Shelby Sprague, Chloe Sykes, Emme Colwell, and Alley Sykes
Not Pictured: Katherine Clendenen

The DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department has been awarded a $103,950 U.S. Department of Homeland Security Operations and Safety Grant, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander announced.
Even though demands of EMS providers and firefighters have increased tremendously over the years, the resources they depend on to provide their life-saving services have not. That’s why Congress initiated the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, which is similar to the highly successful COPS program that put more than 100,000 new police officers on the nation’s streets.
Chief Donny Green said the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department will use this federal funding award to purchase a new 4 X 4 brush/quick attack vehicle to replace the old and unreliable 1975 homemade brush truck. This vehicle will be used in the department’s county wide operation and will be a huge asset in helping firefighters access areas around Center Hill Lake.
DeKalb County will only have to provide a 5% local match for the purchase of this new vehicle awarded in this grant. Chief Green says that the department appreciates the support of County Mayor Mike Foster and the DeKalb County Commissioners for agreeing to provide the 5% local match for this grant.