News 2017

The Upperman Lady Bees look for opportunities and before an opposing team knows it, a three point deficit can stretch to a double digit lead in mere seconds.  Friday night in Woodbury all it took was a two possession stretch with 33 seconds left on the clock in the first quarter and a Upperman lead of two ended up with a Lady Bee lead of 9 after Cannon committed two turnovers.  Even though the Lionettes lost, they were able to keep it competitive falling by 19 76-57.  Maleah Scott scored 19 to lead the Lionettes. The Cannon County Lions were looking for their second consecutive win in a row and first district win of the season in the boys game.  The Lions kept the game at their pace and the score stayed low giving the Lions a chance to score a big win.  The fourth quarter saw the lead change five times as Upperman was able to hit key free throws in the closing minutes to sneak out of Woodbury with a win 39-36.  Wade Love led with 18 points for the Lions
Lions and Lionettes will next play Smith County in Carthage Tuesday night.

The first Saturday of the month of December brings the Christmas Parade to Woodbury as it has been typically called Lions Club Saturday.  The Woodbury Lions Club starts the Saturday morning off with Pancakes with Santa taking place at the Woodbury Lions Club Building starting at 7 in the morning till 10A.  Everyone is invited to come out and meet Santa and get your picture taken with him.  Then at 12 noon it’s the Woodbury Christmas Parade as one of the biggest parades kicks off the Christmas season with various floats, emergency response vehicles, churches and more participating.  The day concludes with the Lions Club Tour of Homes Saturday evening.   

The “dream” job of being the head football coach of his alma mater turned quickly into a nightmare for T.J. Daniel and after five losing seasons and in the midst of controversy involving wrongdoing allegations, Daniel was relieved of his head coaching spot as the football coach of the program.  Daniel’s career record was only 4-46 and 1-28 in Region 4-3A football.  His teams have been outscored a total of 1943-394 in his five years.  The program is currently under a 16 game losing streak and has not won a region game in three years.  Allegations of Daniels being involved in wrong doing came out a few weeks ago.  Although it isn’t clear if any of the allegations were a factor in the decision.  Former director of schools Barbara Parker made the decision to fire him as a football coach Thursday afternoon but could not fire him as a teacher because no criminal charges have been brought against him.  The investigation into the allegations brought forth by members of the football team are still underway.  Cannon County High School principal Mike Jones said that he is now looking for a coach.  Mike Atwood who has been an assistant under Daniels is serving as the interim coach until a head coach can be found.

Two teams square off in the first district matchup of the basketball season as Cannon County meets Upperman in Woodbury.  The Lady Bees unveiled their State Championship banner Tuesday night before rolling over Bledsoe County.  The Baxter team has been unchallenged through 6 games with their closest opponent being a 9 point win over Shelbyville.  Most of their wins have been by 40 or more points.  The Lionettes come into tonight’s contest having won two in a row.  The Lions notched their first win of the season Saturday night against Nashville Central Christian.  They also witnessed how good the Upperman team can be last week when they beat Glencliff at the Mitch Wilson State Farm Classic.  Both teams lost to Warren County early in the season.  Gametime tonight at Robert A Harris Gym is at 6:00.  WBRY will have the live broadcast on AM-1540, FM 107.1 WBRY and streaming live on our website at wbry.com.  

Donny Green, County Executive Director of the DeKalb/Cannon County Farm Service Agency, announces that the 2017 FSA County Committee Election is underway as ballots were mailed to eligible voters in Local Administrative Area (LAA) # 2 (DeKalb County) and Local Administrative Area # 4 (Cannon County) on November 6th. December 4, 2017 will be the last day to postmark voted ballots returned by mail or to delivery voted ballots to the local FSA office.
Grant Williams is the only candidate nominated for LAA # 2 (DeKalb Co.). Grant has been certified as an eligible candidate. Mr. Williams operates a beef cattle farm in the Dale Ridge Community.
Javin Fann is the only candidate nominated for LAA # 4 (Cannon Co.). Javin has been certified as an eligible candidate. Mr. Fann produces corn, soybeans, and wheat on his family farm and is completing his second term on the DeKalb/Cannon FSA County Committee where he currently serves as the Vice-Chairperson.
Write-in candidates can be accepted on ballots. However, the write-in candidate must meet eligibility criteria and attest to his or her willingness to serve, if elected, by signing a nominating petition. Agricultural producers were encouraged to submit candidate names during the nomination period that ended August 1, 2017.
“The FSA county committee system is unique among government agencies, because it allows producers to make important decisions concerning the local administration of federal farm programs. All eligible farmers and ranchers, especially minorities and women, are encouraged to get involved and make a real difference in their communities by voting in this year’s elections,” says Green.
To be an eligible voter, farmers and ranchers must participate or cooperate in FSA programs. A person who is not of legal voting age, but supervises and conducts the farming operations of an entire farm, can also vote.
Eligible voters in DeKalb County LAA # 2 or Cannon County LAA # 4 who did not receive a ballot can obtain a ballot at their local USDA Service Center. December 4, 2017 is the last day for voters to submit ballots in person to local USDA Service Centers. Ballots returned by mail must be postmarked no later than December 4, 2017. The DeKalb/Cannon FSA County Committee will meet on December 5, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. to canvass and tabulate the ballots. This meeting is open to the public. The newly elected committee member and alternates take office January 1st, 2018.

Barbara Parker is no longer the Director of Cannon County Schools.  By a vote of 3-2 Parker was removed from the position and transfered to a teaching position at Cannon County High School. This was the result of Thursday night’s special called meeting of the Cannon County Board of Education.  Both chairman Bruce Daniel and school board member Javin Fann claimed the reasoning for the move primarily had to do with TNReady test scores and Cannon ranking low in them.  Neither chairman or any school board member would comment as to the reason why they were seeking to remove Parker immediately instead of waiting until the end of the school year when her contract expires.  It was pointed out that the Board had to let Parker know by December 31st if they intended to renew her contract and keep her in the Director’s seat since her contract was coming up in July.  Bruce Daniel made the motion to remove Parker, Javin Fann seconded the motion and board member Shelley Walkup voted to remove Parker.  Board members Nathan Sanders and Tim Powers voted against removing her. Powers spoke up at the meeting and expressed his concerns over taking such action in the middle of the school year and how much that could have an adverse effect on the outlook of the schools in Cannon County.  Both Sanders and Powers asked questions of those against Parker in which no clear concise responses were given.  After the decision on Parker, Javin Fann make a recommendation to place William Freddy Curtis, a government teacher at Cannon County High School as the interim director of schools.  Mr. Curtis was not present at the meeting.  The recommendation passed on a 3-2 vote as well with the same Board members voting the same way. 
The tape delay broadcast of the meeting will air Friday morning in its entirety starting after the local and area news at 8:00 on AM-1540/FM107.1 and streaming live on our website at wbry.com

A crowd is expected tonight at the Cannon County Board of Education’s special called meeting.  The meeting was announced at the end of the regular meeting back on November 9th when Chairman Bruce Daniel called for it so the Board could vote on terminating the contract of Director of Schools Barbara Parker immediately.  Parker’s current contract expires at the end of the school year.  The controversial issue was brought up in September’s meeting when Daniel pushed for the termination then.  Rest of the school board which was taken by surprise at the sudden move wanted to give Ms. Parker the opportunity to consult with lawyers.  It was also found out that there is a procedure that must be followed in order for the issue to even be presented.  The matter wasn’t on the agenda for the October and November meetings until Daniel made the announcement at the end of the last meeting.   Chairman Daniel who is spearheading up the attempt to remove Parker from the position has not given an official reason for doing so.  WBRY news asked Chairman Daniel who just responded that we needed to talk to Mike Jennings his lawyer.  Speculation centers though around Daniel’s son TJ who is the head football coach and teaches history at Cannon County High School.  Last month serious allegations were brought to light involving Coach Daniel with some of allegations criminal in nature.  Those allegations are still under investigation which is expected to wrap up soon.
Tonights meeting will take place at the Woodbury Grammar School Cafeteria at 6:30.

A Cannon County Man had more than turkey for Thanksgiving after Coffee County Sheriff’s Deputies found drugs in his car during a search.  According to thunderradio.com  Jeffery Neal Foster age 46 of Woodbury was stopped for a traffic violation by Coffee County Deputy Blake Simmons on Interstate Drive in Manchester.
When the deputy walked up to the vehicle he says he saw a long firearm in the back seat.
According to the arrest warrant, Simmons says that Foster was acting very nervous while he was checking the man’s driver’s license. The warrant goes onto say the deputy asked Foster if he had been drinking and the man said no but allegedly said he had smoked some marijuana earlier. Deputy Simmons then ask if there was anything illegal in the vehicle and Foster allegedly said no. The deputy asked if he could search the vehicle and according to the warrant Foster said yes. When the officer was searching the man’s person for safety reasons he allegedly found in the man’s left front pocket approximately 62 grams of meth. The officer also found 3 grams of marijuana, several baggies, a set of scales and a glass pipe. Also, allegedly located was a rifle and a handgun.
Foster was booked in at the Coffee County Jail under charges of manufacturing/delivering/selling/possession of a controlled substance, schedule VI drug violation, unlawful drug paraphernalia uses and activities and illegal possession of a weapon. He was later released on a bond of $16,000. Foster is to appear in Coffee County Court Feb. 12, 2018.
 

Early Voting for the Tennessee Senate 17th District started Wednesday in Cannon County.  Voting will be held at the Cannon County Elections Office on West Main Street.  The race is between candidates Mary Alice Carfi who is running on the Democratic ticket.  Her opponent is Republican candidate Mark Pody.  Early voting for the December 19th election will take place Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11A till 2, Tuesday and Thursday from 4-7P and Saturday from 9A till noon.  

A meeting of the DeKalb/Cannon County Amateur Radio Club will be held on Thursday, November 30th , 2017 – 6:30 PM at the DeKalb County Complex, 722 South Congress Blvd., Smithville, TN 37166. All local amateur radio  operators and those interested in amateur radio are invited to attend.
The DeKalb/Cannon County Amateur Radio Club is an affiliated club of the American Radio Relay League.  Call 615-597-9563 for more information or check out the
club’s webpage at http://www.dccarc.org.