News 2012

The American Legion Post 279 will meet tonight at the Cannon County Senior Center.  Dinner will be served at 5:45 tonight and the meeting starts at 6:30 p.m.  The Cannon County Board Of Education had previously scheduled a recessed meeting of their regular monthly meeting from last Thursday.  The recessed meeting originally was scheduled tonight as thoughts were a final Cannon County Budget would have been approved.  With the County Budget still in the works, the meeting for tonight has been cancelled and will be rescheduled for Thursday August 9th, immediately following the regular school board meeting  

Robin Hood  comes to Manchester  Auditions are rolling into Manchester Thursday July 26 and Friday July 27 from 5:30-7:30pm at the Duck River Electric Co-Op Auditorium in Manchester at 213 East Fort Street at Auditions are open to kids ages 5-14. No previous theater or musical experience required. Those auditioning are asked to come prepared to sing a one minute portion of their best song a cappella or with CD accompaniment (CD player provided). This production is brought to you by Help Out Inc., a local 501(c)(3) education based non-profit which brought you the well received 2011 Cinderella (Hometown Original Musical) last summer. To find out more information, visit the website at www.HelpOutInc.org  

Have you been contacted by someone claiming to be from your utility company, promising the U.S. government will aid your payments through specially approved funds? The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance’s Division of Consumer Affairs warns utility consumers to be on guard: Your personal information is at risk.Consumers that are contacted are being advised to provide Social Security numbers. Once a consumer provides this information, a bank account number is given, supposedly to fund payments. But, the bank account numbers being provided to victims are fake and consumers’ payments are being returned.
“There is no such federal utility payment assistance program,” said Consumer Affairs Director Gary Cordell. “However, utility customers seem to be falling for the ruse, making it one of the more successful scams in recent times. Victims often share the information with family and friends, who also fall for the scam before learning the truth.”
Scammers find victims through all the usual channels: emails, bogus Tweets and Facebook messages. They are also reported to be going block by block, knocking on residents’ doors and handing out leaflets encouraging people to pay their bills with the bogus account information. Scammers also tend to prey on people looking for a shortcut or for the promise of free or easy money. Word of mouth playing on that theme also appears to help this scam spread.
“One reason the scam is spreading is because it seems to work – at first,” said Cordell. “Before the local utility company gets wise to the bogus account numbers being used, the payments are processed and initially credited to victims, who receive payment confirmation notices. Only later, the payments are rescinded.”
If you are contacted by one of these scammers:
 

Do not provide your Social Security number, credit card or banking information to anyone requesting it over the phone or at your home unless you initiated the contact and feel confident about to whom you are speaking.

If you receive a call claiming to be from your utility company and feel pressured for immediate payment or personal information, hang up the phone and call the customer service number on your utility bill.

Never allow anyone into your home supposedly to check electrical wiring, natural gas pipes or appliances unless you have scheduled an appointment or have reported a utility problem. Always ask for – and verify – proper identification.
If you have questions about your utility’s conduct, contact the Tennessee Regulatory Authority at www.tn.gov/TRA.

DTC Communications is proud to announce its sponsorship of the annual DeKalb Idol talent competition at the DeKalb County Fair in Alexandria, Tenn. DeKalb Idol will be held Friday night, July 27, in the Lions’ Club pavilion at the DeKalb County Fairgrounds. DeKalb Idol will immediately follow the Toddler Show, which starts at 6:00 p.m. at the pavilion.“DTC is excited to take on this popular competition, after it was initially announced it would no longer be held,” said Tom Duggin of myDTC3, who will help to oversee as well as serve as host of this year’s DeKalb Idol. “There is a tremendous amount of talent in this area, and DeKalb Idol has become an extremely popular event at the fair. We hope that along with some of the changes we are making to this year’s Idol that it will continue to grow and be a fan favorite at the DeKalb County Fair.”
The biggest change will be in the amount of prize money to be given away to DeKalb Idol winners. The $300 prize to the first place winner will remain the same; however, a $200 award will be given to the competition’s runner-up, and $100 will be awarded to the third place participant, marking the first time monetary awards have also been given to Idol runners-up. In addition, the People’s Choice award will remain in place, with $150 going to the competition’s fan favorite.
Registration for DeKalb Idol will take place the evening of the competition, Friday, July 27, starting at 5:30 p.m., behind the Lions’ Club pavilion. The age restriction for the competition has been lifted; however, only the first 20 contestants to register will be allowed to compete. There will be a $10 registration fee to be paid at the time of registration. All past DeKalb Idol winners are welcome to participate in this year’s competition, and the contest is open to any contestant, whether he or she resides in DeKalb County or not.
A panel of three judges with affiliations to the music business will be on hand to score the contestants. The initial field of up to 20 contestants will be given a 30-second showcase in the first round to display their talents to the judges’ panel. The field will then be trimmed to the Top Ten, with each of those contestants allowed to sing a full song. Three finalists will be chosen from the Top Ten, again with an opportunity to sing one last song for the judges. First, second and third place will be determined from the three finalists, with the People’s Choice being selected from any of the Top Ten contestants.
Singers are urged to have three different songs available for performance, as it will be required to sing a different song in each round. Either instrumental or pre-recorded accompaniment is welcome. Contestants will be scored on vocal ability, stage presence, appearance and audience response. The decision of the judges will be final.
“We want the best talent from all over to come to the DeKalb County Fair to be a part of this year’s DeKalb Idol,” said Duggin. “Being so close to Nashville and having myself seen so much local talent up close, I know there’s no shortage of good singers out there. We hope to put on the best DeKalb Idol yet for visitors of the DeKalb County Fair.”
For more information on DeKalb Idol, contact Tom Duggin at (615) 464-2402.

The Cannon County Commissioners have come through in helping an elderly Cannon County lady get water to her home in the Gassaway Community.  Ms. Eleanor Watkins who lives on Blair Branch Road and has been having problems since March when her well dried up is now on track to have a tap and water line run from the Dekalb Utlity District owned waterline to her home.  Commissioner Jim Bush has been instrumental in getting this project started.  The project will cost a total of $3400 and a trust fund has been set up at the First National Bank entitled the Eleanor Watkins Water Line.  Several businesses, organizations and churches have contributed to the fund to help raise the $3400.  More help is needed.  People are urged to stop by the First National Bank and donate to the fund.  All money from the fund will be used to take care of the water line. With the tax appropriation rate and 2012-2013 budget approvals on hold till possibly the August 14th meeting.  The Cannon County Commissioners looked at a few items that were submitted before the Saturday meeting at the Courthouse during their regular July meeting.  There were seven commissioners present, Chairman Bob Stoetzel, Russell Reed, Mark Barker, Jim Bush, Todd Hollandsworth, Clint Higgins, and Tony Neal.  Absent was Jimmy Mingle, Kevin George and Kevin Mooneyham.  Thea Prince who is the head of conducting a study of the Solid Waste Program gave an update to the commissioners   There are three options that the County has in taking care of their solid waste.  One is to keep it under the control of the county like it is now.  The second option is to privitize it to a solid waste company.  The third option is to turn it into a solid waste transfer station which would allow waste from other counties to come into Cannon County.  After Ms. Prince presented those three options, the Commissioners wanted to know more details about the second and third option as far as cost effectiveness and efficency.  The next step will be to get examples of other counties that are using privitizing and waste transfer station methods.
Commander Bobby Ferrell of the American Legion Post 279 approached the commission to give some highlights about what the American Legion Post does for the community.  Commander Ferrell made it clear he wasn’t asking for any funding.  Commander Ferrell spoke in length about the the Kansas City sanctioned BBQ event in October
Ricky Cope, Director of the Cannon County Ambulance Service updated the Commission about the Heart Monitors the Ambulance service will be needing soon.  Some of the Monitors are wearing out and Mr. Cope has turned in a grant request for the state to fund some of the monitors.  Mr. Cope also spoke about a new ambulance the service needs.  Grant money has been awarded in the amount of $15,000.00  He also said that he can use some of the $36,000 in his budget line item of equipment funds, however the county will need to come up with the rest of the money.  It’s an estimated costs of $105-$115,000.  The motion was made and passed to get three bids and award one of those bids for the ambulance.
The State mandates that when a County Commission meets, they get paid.  The minimum payment is $25.00 per meeting.  Several Commissioners were against the state mandate but had to vote for a resolution that would ensure the payment of the commissioners.The motion failed 5 votes to 2.  The issue will be reconsidered at the next meeting
The Commission passed a motion to allow the Cannon County Schools to purchase property behind the football and softball fields for $30,000.  Voting no on the matter was Russell Reed.  
The next meeting of the Cannon County Commissioners will be Tuesday August 14th
 

The 2012 WBRY Career Women’s Luncheon will take place Friday, July 27 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.The event will take place at the Cannon County Senior Center at 609 Lehman Street in Woodbury.
The Luncheon will feature a well-known area speaker, a catered lunch, door prizes, and awards given out in the areas of Community Activist of the Year, Secretary Of The Year, and Entrepreneur of the Year (Career Woman Of the Year). 
Tickets are only $15.00 and can be purchased at the door.
The WBRY staff organizing the event would like to know who is planning to attend for the purpose of getting an idea on how much food to prepare, tables and chairs to set up, etc. They ask that you RSVP by calling office manager Brandy Lafevers at 615-563-2313 or by emailing brandy@wbry.com.
 
Also the staff is taking nominations for the awards. If you would like to nominate someone in one or all three of the categories, please email Brandy with that information.
This great event serves as an opportunity to network, fellowship and honor the ladies of the Cannon County Community.

Although there weren’t any final budget recommendations made during last nights Cannon County Budget Committee meeting, there was a decision rendered when it came to the funding of schools.  The Budget Committee voted 4 to 1 to move 4 cents from the school’s portion of the property tax and place it into the county general fund.  During the fiscal year 2011-2012 the school’s portion was 90.5 cents.  During this fiscal year of 2012-2013 the portion will now be 86.5 cents.  It’s estimated at the end of the fiscal year the ending fund balance will be $775,384.00.  With this decision it will trim the ending fund balance June 30th 2013 $83,000 which would bring the total ending fund balance of $692,384.00.  This is still a healthy fund balance for the schools and no changes to the appropriations of the actual budget will need to be made.  In another significant move, the Committee decided on contributing $1500 to the Cannon County Chamber of Commerce.  The Chamber had originally requested $10,000.00 but the question arose about how much the city of Woodbury gave.  Because the Town of Woodbury only gave $1500 the County felt they just needed to match the amount that Woodbury has contributed.  The Committee then went through the budget again.  They trimmed $2000 more off of the Election Commission budget to bring the total to $167,571.00.  They also trimmed $2000 from the Ambulance Service budget which will appropriate $886,056.00 to the department.  The Committee also looked at the first time added section of the Medical Examiner, who’s budget is $16,919.00.  The next meeting of the Cannon County Budget Committee will be July 24th at 7:00  

Woodbury Police Sergeant Lowell Womack has been promoted to the position of Assistant Police Chief effective today.  Womack has been on the Woodbury Police Force since 2007 in a reserve officer position and elevated to full time in 2008.  In 2011 Womack was promoted to Sergeant.  Assistant Police Chief Womack said he is looking forward to assuming the new role and responsibilities.  He also wishes to thank both Chief Kevin Mooneyham and the people of Woodbury for their continued faith and trust in him  

The Cannon County Budget Committee will be in full force tonight taking a serious look at more cuts and making more decisions as they work toward putting together a recommendation of a final budget for the 2012-2013 fiscal year.  Last week at the budget committee meeting, the committee trimmed off over $40,000 of requested money by the various departments.  The Budget Committee is also looking  into giving county employees as much as a 3 percent raise this year.  The meeting tonight starts at 6:00

Could Gaylon Sissom be the new Cannon County High School Head Softball Coach?  That’s the request of Cannon County Principal Tim Knox and Athletic Director Michael Dodgen to the Cannon County Board Of Education when they meet tonight for their regular monthly meeting. Coach Sissom served as a non faculty assistant coach with the Cannon County Lionettes Basketball team under former coach Tara Soloman James and assistant softball coach for three seasons. Since he has the required five years experience he is eligible to become a head coach under any of the TSSAA sanctioned sports.  The position became open after Brent Bush resigned to become the football coach at the school.  Other items on the agenda have the board looking into approving the Pre K and I D E A budgets for the 2012 2013 school year, they will all discuss the Director of Schools Barbara Parker’s annual Evaluation and Contract  The meeting takes place at the Woodbury Grammar School at 6:00